Review of Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor

tl;dr: A series that does most things really well in general, but rushes through them to the point that it doesn't feel like it at times. This series has a lot of solid aspects, though it feels like it didn't get to capitalize on all of them. The cast of characters are interesting enough and all the main characters get solid development. They aren't tremendously likable, and the heroines aren't particularly original, but they're easy enough to empathize with. Glenn himself was pretty unique and seeing him establish relationships with others and deal with various problems despite his peculiar personality was interesting. The plot itself sofar is also really solid with good world building surrounding it, though as is generally the case with light novel adaptations its only begun telling the story and a lot of plot threads are still hanging. There were some interesting themes regarding justice, power, and having a place to belong, and though they were cliche they were implemented solidly enough with the ending being a great place for the series to end thematically. The action was also solid all the way through, with the final episode especially being great in this regard. And it was also positively hilarious, much more than I expected, when it tried to be. The biggest issue for the series though is that it felt rushed. This is very evident in both the really fast pacing, and some aspects such as them skipping a lot of OPs and EDs in order to fit in more content per episode. The end result is that while it manages to hit the points it needs to thematically and emotionally and all the points it probably wanted to convey are indicated, it moves too quickly and they don't have enough time to sink in. I feel this is also one of the reasons that there wasn't enough of the amazing comedy. Hence, while it does most things right, to some degree it just doesn't feel like it has that much impact.

The art and character designs were really solid and surprisingly memorable. The animation was solid. The OP was great and ED was solid enough, though I remember both of them less than most shows due to them being skipped so often. The soundtrack wasn't particularly memorable.