Review of Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor

Do you want to know what is worse than listening to a main character giving speech #194903450919235890943938200 billion quadrillion about the power of friendship and how he is going to protect everyone? When you find out the writers were being completely serious and there is no punchline whatsoever. Akashic Records could have at the very least been a decent ecchi romantic comedy, if it wasn't for the fact that it doesn't seem to understand how bad its own plot devices are. Compare to a better anime like Konosuba. Does Konosuba have a good story to it? Oh god no, it absolutely does not. But hereis the kicker: Konosuba is fully aware that it is bad and brilliantly takes advantage of its inherent badness to self parody at every chance it gets. That's how a show like this ironically avoids being bad - by not taking itself seriously and having full self awareness that the best way to be a fantasy-comedy is to go full slayers. Akashic Records unfortunately does not share this self awareness, nor does it understand what makes this kind of show good.

Instead of trying to find ways to make all this nonsense entertaining, the writers try to pan off the standard tacky "mamoru" and "I am strong because I have friends!" elements as if they actually count as good storytelling. The result is that instead of being funny and enjoyable, Akashic Records ends up being cringy and generic. It makes you feel like the show was written for very young children, but at the same time this is an R-rated anime where the female students are all wearing ridiculously revealing school uniforms and violence is everywhere. So who was this show made for exactly? Who knows. Whatever the case, Akashic Records is bad. It's not ironically bad, it's just bad.