Inside every diabolical agent of evil beats a heart ready for love. Or maybe that’s just Mira (played by Yūki Ono). But Mira’s a professional and a lieutenant of the evil organization. He has standards to keep and quotas of defeated magical girls to meet. And then there are those adoring henchmen watching his every move. Can he save face while melting into a lovey-dovey mess? MahoAku, or The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies (Katsute Maho Shojo to Aku wa Tekitai Shiteita), will answer that question in bite-sized 12-minute chunks.
MahoAku is a story of star-crossed lovers. Playing Juliet to Mira’s Romeo is Glass Happiness, the magical girl alter ego of Mimori Byakuya (voiced by Mai Nakahara). She’s overworked, underpaid, and harassed by her drunkard familiar, who sells lewd videos of her magical girl fights online. She’s the princess of hard times, and if her name wasn’t a tip-off, then just wait until she faces something really dangerous (wink wink). Such as level 1 slimes. Good thing she has an evil archenemy to look after her.
Let’s see if this clever spin on the magical girl genre is worth watching.
The Real Battle Between Good and Evil
We love the fantastical battles between good and evil that are a staple of pop culture. However, stories about heroes defeating villains work better when we can identify with the protagonists. We don’t care about world domination. Not really. We’re concerned about fetching the kids on time, paying our taxes, and having enough money for the newest anime figures at the end of the month. MahoAku smashes the mundane and magical together to give us a relatable rom-com. Relatable but never dull or emotionally draining. MahoAku keeps the relatability fun.
Mimori is relatable because we’ve all experienced hard times. We sympathize with Mira because many of us are calculating math-heads who act awkwardly around the opposite sex. We’ve also staunchly defended our identities, as if we were defending our manhood, and had to eat humble pie. I used to jokingly repeat Cartman’s “screw you, hippy” line. Then, I married a hippy.
Similarly, Mira tries to convince himself that he’s still a bad guy who’ll defeat Mimori. Nobody’s listening, dude. Fools like us should keep our feet planted firmly in our mouths.
Funny Fan Service is Fun for Fans
J-List fans appreciate seeing some skin. Fortunately, MahoAku has plenty of fan service — considering each episode’s length — and the show uses those blush-inducing moments to comedic effect. Nothing too heavy, mind. But we can enjoy the animator’s skills of rendering massive mommy milkers to throw Mira off his game. Concentrate, Mira, concentrate.
Fan service is welcome until it makes us uncomfortable. So, if you want to enjoy the show, we need to stop and talk about Mimori’s age for a moment. She’s half Mira’s height! And, considering you can’t swing a star-tipped staff without hitting a high school anime girl, it’s easy to assume she’s just a kid. But she works the late shift at a convenience store. In Japan, that’s a job only available to adults. But we’ll excuse you for feeling strong loli vibes coming from Mimori. The creators built her that way to break Mira’s heart. Frame by frame. That’s the joke. She’s useless, fragile, and immature by design. Mira is powerless to resist her puppy-dog pout. Rescue that stray, Mira-kun!
Watch MahoAku for a Fun Take on Magical Girls
Most J-List fans will love MahoAku. Especially if you loved Gushing over Magical Girls. Heck, if you have fond memories of Sailor Moon, give MahoAku a watch. I enjoyed every episode, from the first. However, the series took off for me in episode 6, which introduced a tiny little terror. I won’t spoil it for you.
Akiyo Ohashi directed MahoAku for Bones, the production studio. Yuniko Ayana wrote the scripts, while Haruko Iizuka created the character designs. Music for the series was composed by Mayuko. The anime adaptation is based on the yonkoma (four-panel comic) by Cocoa Fujiwara. The anime just ended its run on September 24th.
I give MahoAku a solid four Chibi Megumi rating. I enjoyed the humor, while the shorter episodes pitched perfectly for my busy schedule. Yūki Ono and Mai Nakahara delivered a stunning performance, and their heartfelt duet is the cherry on top. Watch The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies on Crunchyroll.
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