Magikano

[gia]

Review through episode 4, no spoilers.   Originally posted on my blog.

Grade to date: B-
Don't let the weird Sailor Moon look-alike in the maid getup riding a broom during the opening sequence throw you off-- this show's got its own style entirely.

When I watched the opening of this show, I was pretty iffy. I mean, it looked like it was a combination of Negima, Mahoromatic, and one of those awful Sailor Moon hentai ripoffs or something. I elected to maintain my journalistic integrity (*cough*) and for the sake of the people, venture forward, and was pleasantly surprised...mostly.      

So obviously it turns out that this is more a parody than anything. Not as fierce a parody as, say, Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi (see ANN entry), nor quite as zany as the classic Dragon Half (see ANN entry), but it's still pretty funny-- they even play on the classic "whoever they see first they'll fall in love with" spell (watch the first episode to see who-- or, uh, what --poor main character Haruo falls for.

True to form, Haruo is a hapless hero who lives with his three sisters, who are-- unbeknownst to him --witches. They are also remarkably affectionate to their older brother, especially eldest sister Maika (this is the second show this season to have a sister with an onii-chan complex (that isn't a hentai), by the way-- see Kagihime. What's up with that?).

Also true to form, the three sisters each have their own weird quirk. Youngest sister Chiaki is a greedy money-hoarder, middle sister Fuyuno eats tons of food and exercises a lot to makeup for it, and I already mentioned Maika's slightly worrisome brother-love.

Misfortune appears on Haruo's doorstep in the form of Mamiya Ayumi, another witch who works in their house as a maid and schemes to make Haruo a man (*cough*) in order to remove a curse that was placed on her in childhood, or something equally far-fetched that allows her to prance around in as little clothing as possible trying to seduce him.

As for Haruo himself, he gets beaten up a lot (mostly by his sisters, interestingly, who have to smack him with memory-erasing hammers every so often). Oh yes, his sisters have chosen not to let Haruo know that they're witches so that he can "live a normal life." Which, of course, he doesn't, but he doesn't really know that, the poor bastard.

Overall, it's a cute show with some potential, though there are much better shows if you're seeking a real laugh-out-loud blast. It only gets a minus because thus far, very little of it has been really original or creative.