Anime Rebirth

Review - Mahoujin Guru Guru

Review by Roriconfan

Prologue
This series was made solely for old JRPG fans. It makes fun of all the clichés we have seen in 70’s and 80’s 2D role playing games, such as the early Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy series.

Animation & Sound: 6
The first impression is REALLY BAD! Very simplistic characters and backgrounds, backed up with cheesy pop songs. I almost gave up on watching the series because of it. But, I showed some patience and my opinion improved a bit.

Yes, the Animation & Sound department sucks, but this way, it also increases the comedy factor. Why? Because instead of having serious-drawn characters going chibi (stupidly deformed) in comedy scenes, we have chibi characters jumping back and forth between serious-drawn and super chibi! It made every joke funnier, even the mediocre ones.

Also, the whole bright color palette and heart-warming music makes you feel that you are watching a fairy tale, like the ones we used to read in picture books when we were little. You expect to see a kiddy story with simple battles and no real violence or nudity. But then… HELL BREAKS LOOSE… and you get to laugh by being bombarded with jokes about getting naked, crisping enemy monsters and helping people only for food and money.

I tell you, the anime Slayers had similar humor but it made it clear from the start that is a comedy. Here, you expect one thing and then get another. I liked that a lot… Of course, that still doesn’t make Animation & Sound to deserve a high mark. Just a bit higher than what they first appear to deserve.

Story: 5
Nothing complicating. A demon lord appears and a legendary pair of a witch and a knight are prophesized to appear and fight him. The story takes place in a typical phantasy world with humans living in isolated and fortified mid-evil cities and a vast countryside brimming with wandering monsters. The hero and the witch are still kids who complete quests, defeat monsters and hoard better equipment to Level Up and get strong enough to fight the demon lord. There is a thin story continuity although it can essentially break down into stand-alone story arcs of individual quests. You won’t watch this series for the story. The parody is given all the focus.

Characters: 6
A boy and a girl are the protagonists that are destined to become legendary heroes and defeat the bad demons. They begin with the premise to be kind, brave and good-hearted but end up screwing everything up with their selfishness and superficial way of thinking. A veeery funny girl-drooling boy and a veeery funny cute/shy girl, overflowing with jealousy and vanity.

Supporting characters include a woman’s exotic belly dancing old man (!!!), an archmage in the form of a poodle (!!!), and a pair of a knight and a witch who believe they are the real protagonists in the story. All of them veeery funny as well.

Character development is almost non-existent but their personalities have a strong presence. You sometimes get fed up with their stale behavior but they are otherwise adorable.

Value & Enjoyment: 7
It is so funny I simply loved it. One third of the time was quite boring but the rest of it was a fine parody of all those cheesy SNES RPGs I played years ago. Made me consider worthwhile all that time I wasted on them.

Verdict
Mommy, mommy! My retro RPG came to life! … And it’s saying bad words! Can I keep it? Pleeeease!