Review of Gushing over Magical Girls
So, you like magical girl shows? Then look no further, this anime has everything that's good in it. Cute girls? Check. Great characters and friendships? Check. Amazing fights and powers? Check. Good villains? Our protagonist is one of them, so ABSOLUTELY check. Character development and wholesome moments? Well, check. Great Music? Check. Comedy? Please, I was laughing every single episode. "-Okay, okay, that's all cool, but what about the plot? And why is there an ecchi tag?" "-Well, the plot is... interesting... and what ecchi tag? I'm surprised this isn't hen... never mind, nothing". Disclaimer: let's just say that this anime isn't for everyone, but if youknow what you're about to watch or liked the first few episodes, and can look past that they're underage, then you'll like the whole show, it'll get more interesting later on.
A "brief", spoiler-free (as the whole review) summary before I express my opinion (you can skip this if it's too long):
For the most part, we follow our main protagonist, Hiiragi Utena, who is an extremely shy girl with no friends as she gets recruited into an evil organization by a "mascot", there's one problem however: She has to fight the ones she admires the most, the Tres Magia. This is where it all starts. She realizes that she's a sadist through and through, and now she has the means to do just as she pleases. There are a lot of BDSM-oriented things she does and so much nudity that I'm surprised that it isn't hentai sometimes. However, as you guessed, she isn't the only one in the organization. There are other girls who fight the magical girls, and we get to see their dynamics and interactions, as well as the Tres Magia's. Oh boy, how good their interactions are, it's incredible. I won't say anything more in this matter, let's just say that it seems there's a deeper plot to it than it seems in the background.
I'll start with the characters. Every character in the show has a motive or something to fight the Magical girls, and they're all written so well. Their personalities, interactions and relationships are interesting, but most of all, FUN (including the Tres Magia). Personally, I love all of them. The slice-of-life bits are really wholesome, I liked them maybe a little too much.
The fight scenes are very... interesting, but epic (mostly) to say the least, but in a really good way. The animation most of the time is great, fitting for the show, I like the art style too. The erotic scenes are done amazingly as well, often borderline-hentai (as I mentioned previously).
Fun fact: There's not a SINGLE male character in this anime, not even in the crowd anywhere. I don't know the cause of it, maybe they just aren't drawn, but it might be possible that it'll be explained in a future season (which I hope is coming soon), which explains why everyone(?) is a lesbian. Just a little attention to detail.
Next up: music. I adore both the OP and ED songs, I was humming and moving around like an idiot after like the 5th episode to the OP. Both songs really fit the anime, the ED is sung by all the Enormita girls and it's really chill, while the opening is the polar opposite, REALLY catchy and upbeat. The lyrics align with the anime as well. I never even thought about skipping them. The
battle and the soundtrack (un)surprisingly good too.
The comedy is hit-or-miss for most people, but this is where this anime peaks. Every single episode is packed with fun interactions, battles, and it isn't the same gimmicks all the time (however, there's a CERTAIN character who'd like to go somewhere and says it all the time), there were lots of different ways it managed to entertain me. I was grinning from start to finish, apart from a few more serious moments. The voice actors were amazing, most of the cast's first main role is in this anime, my personal favorite was Fuuka Izumi, who voiced Utena perfectly.
All in all, let's just say I was "gushing" over this show.
9/10: I recommend it to everyone who isn't deterred by big amounts of nudity and lewd moments.
*This is my first ever review on MAL, so take that into account (what an anime to start with, I wouldn't have guessed myself)*