Night Wizard [review]

On Tuesday, May 24, 2011 0 comentarii




Type: TV
Episodes: 13
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Oct 2, 2007 to Dec 25, 2007
Producers: Hal Film Maker
Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Magic, Shounen
Duration: 25 min. per episode
Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Synopsis
Night Wizard. A term given to those whose mission is to protect the world from impending darkness. Renji Hiiragi is one such Night Wizard, who is constantly called on missions, even though all he wants is to be able to go to school and graduate.

However, his latest order was to protect Elis Shiho, who is a new transfer student at his academy. Being dragged into the Astronomy Club by Renji's childhood friend, Kureha Akabane on her first day at school, Elis soon realises that she too, has the power to become a night wizard, after possessing one of seven secret Jewels, the Jewel of Kindness.

Along with Renji and Kureha, Elis now begins her fight and her new life, as a Night Wizard.

Review

ART SECTION: 7

I must say I was surprised. Most fantasy anime really suck in battles but this one had some basic strategy in it. It was not just people screaming and throwing fireballs. Well… most of it was… But several important battles were based on some sort of revelation or sideway trick. Some may call this Deus Ex Machina but I personally expected much less from such a series and thus I liked it. In fact, the battles are the best thing I noticed.

Beyond that, the depiction of the world is a very nice blend of our normal one with that of epic phantasy. Modern day cities and schools, packed with wizards, monsters, flying fortresses and the like; wow I was amazed again. To be honest, most monsters were carbon copies of one another and most uniforms were more fetishes than practical; but hey, I am a sucker for fantasy.

Going further, the visual effects were generally pleasing. Lots of neon glow, hovering runes and magic missiles filled the screen and gave me a funny Jrpg feeling (not a surprise, the series really is based on a game). The only thing I didn’t really liked was how everything seemed to pop out of nowhere. “No kidding Einstein, that’s why they call it magic” you may say. Well, yes, truly magic self excuses everything. But the series does not implement total magic devises. Many things feel like science fiction, as many characters use laser canons, bazookas and the sort of weapons that don’t count as magical by default. And yet, look, the battle starts and the characters summon huge Claymores, rocket launchers (including their ammo!), and steel shields, literally out of thin air. That kinda felt lame.

In all, as far as animation goes, the blend of normal with fantasy was done in a generally pleasing way, so seeing high-schoolers turning into male barbarians carrying neon glow Claymores and girls turning in black-clad, mini skirt, perky witches felt more pleasing than stupid.

Points are lost for the simple reason that there wasn’t that much battle choreography (much less realism) during the fights and because the series lacked cinematic optical tricks I am so fond of.



SOUND SECTION: 6
Unlike the animation, the music didn’t have much to back things up. Besides some beatty music themes here and there, the rest of it (voice acting, sound effects) didn’t strike me as much. So, I only give a bit above average.



STORY - CHARACTER - OVERALL SECTIONS: 4
Here comes the nasty part. Take the most cliched school-life story and mix it with the most cliched epic fantasy story. The result is Night Wizard. It would be a lot more interesting if it had some REAL plot twists or surprises but it didn’t. Even the cast is nothing more than a typical blend of romance archetypes with D&D character classes. Not bad by itself but none evolved or did things I haven’t already seen in a thousand Jrpgs. In all, Story and Characters serve less than an anime of such a blend should deliver. That is the only reason Value gets dragged down along with the other two.

ENJOYMENT SECTION: 5
If it weren’t for the weird blend of normal with fantasy, this section would also be a 4. But, since I am a sucker for Jrpgs, I just gave a bit more. That is all.

VERDICT
Just skip the story parts and stare at the pretty lights during battles.

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