'Mashle: Magic and Muscles' Season Two Review: The comedy is still there, but too similar in story to Harry Potter

[namiks]

A few days ago I reviewed the first season of Mashle: Magic and Muscles and mentioned how it managed to take over from the success and inevitable decline from One Punch Man's hype; an anime that took the incredibly strong protagonist against the world idea and placed it oddly into a mockery of Harry Potter's universe. It had been a while since I last watched anything new within the anime world, but this show managed to catch my attention and was a fun surprise. It didn't take me long at all to get through the second season as a result, which felt as if it had taken things to the next level in terms of its all-out action sequences and comedic elements. This second season took a bit more of a turn in its narrative to display the actual examination process for Mash and his friends as they encounter various powerful foes all equally attempting to reach fame with the title obtained from winning. Mash's risk with losing the examination is his life, to which he'd be sentenced to death for being a person incapable of conducting magic. With the examination taking place and Mash's muscles really being put to the test, the show introduces a new direction to maintain the freshness and give new challenges. All while a new threat arrives under the name of Innocent Zero; this character is effectively just Voldemort. As you can see, the Harry Potter influence didn't really go anywhere despite a bit more of a difference in its narrative within this second season.

Mash not only now has to win the exam and prove himself to the world that wants to sentence him to death, but also save the school and ultimately the world from greater threats that seek to increase their personal powers. This season stretched itself out a bit more with fights that lasted a bit longer than usual, and this was with the character development that was needed to set the stage a little more for Mash, with the new threats coming into play. I liked that this season gave a bit more focus on the side characters that Mash now calls friends, without the season taking too much time away from Mash and the fun that makes the show so entertaining. Again I annoyingly have to revert back to the One Punch Man references: a major downside to One Punch Man's second season was its strange divergence from the protagonist with far too much of a focus on characters that just didn't have much charisma or interest to them. This second season of Mashle didn't feel that way at all, instead utilising those side characters and showing their importance despite not having major connections or impacts to the greater story. Perhaps, instead serving as reasons as to why Mash deserved to life having seen the willpower of those weaker than him, and how even they stand up to fight against those clearly stronger than them.

Not only did this focus more on the side characters give them a little more depth and pace things a bit more, it also added to Mash's character and his reason behind being so ruthless sometimes. There are often scenes in which Mash just goes straight for the action, refusing to talk and immediately jumping into the punches. I love these scenes, but giving them a reason that justified it felt a bit more impactful. Turning Mash from just a teenager that ended up in this strange environment and fighting for his own freedom, but someone that's willing to fight for the freedom of others and to serve justice. A little more of a hero rather than purely selfish reasons. Another thing worth noting was that this season's quality had no difference from the last in terms of its animation. Everything seemed the same, and it was actually this second season which really pushed the show into popularity with its more viral opening. That said, with more attention to the friends Mash has found, they don't serve a whole lot of purpose in the greater scheme of things. It's not as if they manage to pull out some impressive feat and really contribute something in a particular episode, it's more the metaphor that this season wants to display.

It's clear that this season is aimed at taking things a bit more seriously going forward. While it had its moments, it felt like a change of pace that was set to introduce a much larger story to come. The attempt at survival for the protagonist now extends beyond attempting to win something at a school, but to fight harder against a group of villains. With this, it was also highlighted that Mash is part of something greater, with his existence being something similar to the Horcrux idea in Harry Potter. I'm not sure how I feel about this side of the story though. While I have enjoyed the jokes and references to the world of Harry Potter, the fun of Mashle is that he's meant to just be an ordinary teenager that just trained a lot and holds nothing particularly special about himself. But if you remove that and make him something special, some of that weight is then lost as it's no longer just about chance and confidence when it comes to his intense fight scenes even if he isn't capable of magic, as there is something still somewhat mystical and prophetic about him. It seems the show wants to continue with that notion of the Harry Potter side of things, perhaps a little too tightly than I'd have preferred.

Though I actually assumed season two would've been the final one. That the show would've sped through the examination side of things and came to an end. But I haven't read the manga and I assume it does run on for a while. This is something I didn't really consider while watching. I won't bother reading it to find out what comes next, but I do wish it would've maintained that comedic element of mystery to it regarding Mash and his abilities. The next season seems to be quite a while away, so I guess I'll have to be patient to see what happens next.

Comments

[logen9f]

I watched a few episodes of this and somehow wasn't able to continue. There was once episode where they were playing Quidditch? 😅

[namiks]

There was once episode where they were playing Quidditch? 😅

Yep. :^)

The side of it that mocks Harry Potter can be fun at times, but sometimes it also relies on that side of things a bit too much. It's a really dumb anime for sure but I kinda enjoy it for that.

[logen9f]

Also because of this anime, we are now buying creampuffs when we go to the mall 😅

[wittyzell]

I can't relate to One Punch Man because I haven't seen it yet but I could relate to the Harry Potter scenes. I think when they made this anime, they have HP in their minds.

[namiks]

Yeah they absolutely just took the premise of Harry Potter and threw in a character that can't do magic but is just stupidly strong instead.

One Punch Man's first season was incredibly strong by the way! The second season is almost universally hated. And the third season has been almost a decade in production at this point... Not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. That much time usually hints at production struggles and lots of the production going through different hands.

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