Review of Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor

Akashic Records is a fantasy light novel adaptation that is about, shockingly, an overpowered protagonist that has both a harem and is at a magical academy. I know shocking material for fantasy anime; however, I will say that remarkable the show is not an isekai series with the protagonist instead just being an overpowered mage for some reason. However, despite not being an isekai series Akashic Records still falls into the same story pitfalls as most generic isekai series and just comes off as another bland overpowered fantasy series with the only shocking aspect being the magic academy’s uniform choice. Set predominately in an academic settingthe series focuses on the protagonist Glenn, personal journey of evolving from a perverted lazy shut-in, to a perverted lazy instructor. Don’t get me wrong as the series progresses Glenn is shown to not only be a competent instructor as he breaks down the rules of the world’s magic system to both the audience and students in an easy-to-comprehend manner, but also seems to generally care for his students. However, before that growth occurs the viewer is unfortunately forced to watch Glenn flounder around the first few episodes as he not only struggles to act his age but also stays off an FBI watchlist. I know this initial impression is meant to give the viewer a point to see Glenn grow; however, due to his poor introduction I struggled to ever truly take him seriously, and even by the series end he never latched onto me as a character.

Okay so the mc might be terrible but surely the side cast can save the plot or at the very least try to carry the series? Unfortunately, while Glenn might have been annoying and childish he at least saw some character growth something that completely missing from the side cast. First, you have the prim and proper student Sistine who serves as the series mandatory tsundere, as well as candidate A for developing an odd romantic relationship with Glenn. As a by the books tsundere, she is fine; however, outside of her romantic on and off feelings for Glenn her character doesn’t have much happening in the show. She is the best friend of Rumia, who actually does have some purpose and she has a fixation on wanting to unlock the mysteries of ancient floating civilization, but despite bringing it up a couple of times in the earlier episodes it is never brought up again so who cares. Besides Sistine is her best friend Rumia whose single defy trait for the series is that she is a magical MacGuffin that serves as the show’s damsel in distress. Seriously in a twelve-episode series, all but one of the show's arcs is about her being kidnapped and Glenn having to rescue her. In fact, every single plot point of the series can be summed up as a new school event occurring, Rumia gets abducted during a school event, Glenn fights a generic magic secret society, villain fights Glenn only for him to unveil a new magical ability and save the day. Repeat about four times and just swap out Rumia for Sistine during the final arc and you have the entire series. Outside of the core trio you also have the magic police due of stoic Albert who has little to no character info, and the Re=L whose personality is that she has the mind of a doll and a really dumb name.

If you haven’t guessed already I wasn’t particularly thrilled about Akashic Records; however, if there was one oddly strong standout about the series it has to be the show’s magic system. The first few episodes take great strides to break down the rules of the world’s magic system going so far as to divulge the inner workings of incantations and how to morph and bend spells by altering their pronunciation and incantations. It was an aspect that truly felt unique for the series and was constantly being added to throughout the show with each hostage citation needing new SWAT tactical magic, heck the show even briefly has a magic tournament arc.

Sadly, while the magic system goes a long way to establish the world of Akashic Records as a unique setting for a fantasy anime, its visuals and soundtrack leave much to be desired. The art style and music of the world are so painfully generic that it is barely worth mentioning with only the character designs partially standing out and even then not for a particularly positive reason. The school uniforms for the female students are bizarre, and probably the first thing you notice about the series, with their uniforms being divided into two halves attached by belts with fully exposed bellies. It is very strange and is never mentioned or explained throughout the series. Outside of that Sistine has cat ears for some reason that unique right, and Glenn has a glove fixation. Yeah, the character design isn’t particularly great, but sadly for the villains, it's even worse. The main villain of the series and leader of the secret magical society is an evil maid who is never named and is always dressed up in a maid uniform for no particular reason, and the final villain of the show is the all-powerful evil carriage driver. The only bright spot design-wise is the fight scenes have some visual flair and degree of strategy mostly due to the magic system.

I can not say with a straight face that Akashic Records is a good show or even worth viewing. It is a painfully generic series with a world and characters that never try to break free from their stereotypical fantasy molds. The story is stuck on an endless loop of hostage rescue, the characters lack both good design and dialogue, and there are little to no character developments. If you need an academic fantasy anime respect your time and watch anything else.