New season, new shows, and where would we be without our fantasy anime? Specifically, the not-quite fantasy sub-genre where the magical main character leaves a strong party to join another. Tag along as I preview The Banished Court Magician Aims to Become the Strongest, and the nuances of where its story starts off versus where it seems like it’s going.
Who Banishes the Banished Court Magician?
Young court magician Alec, four years out of magic school, is adventuring with Prince Regulus one day when the prince banishes him. Fires him more like, because being a court magician sounds like being a soldier, but for magic. It’s hard to feel sorry for Alec, though. It turns out that years ago, his initial magical instructor, Eldas, told him not to become a court magician, but he did it anyway.
So why did Alec set himself up for firing? Of course, he has excuses. He tells his friends he needs a reliable income to support his dad, for instance. What he wants is to prove commoners can be special, awesome magic users too, as opposed to nobles monopolizing magic. Sort of. His mentor, Eldas, was once a court magician and fired for supporting commoners. Alec wants to prove that Eldas was right.
Struggling with Story
Which is where I had to ask: how can the prince fire a magician working for the king, even if he’s a commoner? The Banished Court Magician Aims to Become the Strongest doesn’t explain that. Later on, the king reveals he’s been hiring commoners intentionally to assess their value in key roles, so if anything, Regulus is ruining his father’s plans by firing Alec. But all right, we need a banished court magician, so we get one. I tried not to worry much about the firing having legitimacy.
Where Must a Banished Court Magician Go Next?
Adventuring, of course. This is a fantasy anime after all. Everyone we care about is an adventurer. Except the rules tell Alec he can’t adventure deep into dungeons for two years, as he doesn’t have a guild license, and they progress on a time-based seniority system. Luckily, he has the friends he abandoned after magic school. They have ranks, and they know a convenient guild master who can authorize Alec.
The Power of Glaze
Now, up through the second episode, there’s not much story. Alec has more flashbacks and backstory than an active plot. This is where I began questioning the premise of The Banished Court Magician Aims to Become the Strongest. Alec was valedictorian in his school. Alec fights the S-ranked guild master and seemingly only doesn’t win because he runs out of mana (the anime doesn’t explain this well). The guild master gave him his license regardless, because of how strong Alec was. His friends also gushed over him, talking about how overpowered a fighter he is with attack magic or a sword. They complain that the prince would only let him use support magic — his weakest subject. Worse, it’s revealed that he not only has written a plan to beat the hard floor the prince was stuck on but must have beaten it several times to do so.
If Alec is already so powerful that all the strongest people we meet are impressed by him, where does he have to grow? If he has apparently defeated what we’re told are the most brutal challenges, off-screen no less, what can challenge him?
Reveals Aren’t Growth
At the end of episode two, the dungeon reveals a threat. Alec and his party teleport part of the way but still have to fight their way to the main threat. Alec shows off swordsmanship and unique spells. He isn’t learning or growing. I would expect a character aiming to become strong to learn, not reveal secrets that happen to mean they were powerful all along. Unfortunately, reveals are what The Banished Court Magician Aims to Become the Strongest has leaned on so far whenever any threat pops up for Alec to defeat.
The Banished Court Magician is Plenty Strong
With its reliance on flashbacks and reveals, The Banished Court Magician Aims to Become the Strongest doesn’t live up to its premise. It reminds me of a player’s backstory for their role-playing game character. Alec is the powerful main character, not a good student, not an apprentice, and not on a journey of growth. Not so far. It is going somewhere, but the trip seems to be one of glazing over Alec.
This is an anime I’d mainly recommend to people who like their main characters more powerful than anyone else, and where that power has a better explanation or tells us rather than shows off, at least in the slower first couple of episodes. Want premise to match content? I suggest the anime, May I Ask for One Final Thing?, instead.
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