Covering a short-form anime this time around. These days, I tend to only cover short-form anime if it’s directly part of a show that I’ve previously reviewed (i.e. the OVA extras included in the Blu-Ray releases). Plus, because it’s they’re short-form, I potentially have a harder time writing about them. I’m giving The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to be Archenemies a whirl however because it is running at 12 and a half minutes per episode. That’s long enough for the show to be eventful enough and it’s short enough that I could maybe afford to cover it alongside whatever two normal-length anime I do decide to cover. I also just enjoy this first episode enough that I want to give it a First Impressions post.
The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to be Archenemies begins with Mira (Yūki Ono), the lieutenant of an evil army (they’re more or less just referred to as such), attempting to invade the world with a giant monster. His plan is soon thwarted by a magical girl named Byakuya Mimori (Mai Nakahara). Although Mira is technically the biggest obstacle in the army’s plan, Mira quickly falls in love with her. As a result, he spends the next encounters hanging out with Byakuya and treating her to some food, under the guise of him conducting research on magical girls and making sure that his archenemy is in good shape so that he’ll defeat her fair and square.
Being a slice of life show, I expect the plot to progress very slowly, if at all. Like, maybe something significant will happen down the line but right now, the show appears to just be a series of fun interactions between the two main characters. At least with the premiere, I do find the experience to be quite charming. In particular, I like how one-sided the romance is right now. Mira is so clearly smitten with Byakuya but that drives him crazier because he is supposed to defeat her. Meanwhile, Byakuya does admit to enjoying Mira’s company but she is otherwise oblivious to the lieutenant’s feelings, often spurring them unintentionally for comedic effect. Suffice to say, there’s a very cute dynamic between the two main characters.
By far, the strangest and most surprising element in the show is how bad Byakuya’s life actually is. The poor girl lives alone, works part-time, volunteers at a care facility, and that’s all in addition to her work as a magical girl. She barely has enough time to sleep and eat properly. Even crazier is the revelation that her mascot companion actually teamed up with a landlord so that Byakuya’s living situation is so bad that she’d be incentivized to become a magical girl. That feels ripped out of a much darker magical girl anime. It is funny how extreme the show goes here but goddamn, let the girl live! At the same time, this weirdly brings out a sense of sincerity to the plot. For one, it gives Mira another reason to encourage Byakuya to give up. Not only is he is infatuated with her, he also thinks that she deserves a much better life. At the same time, Byakuya’s resolve makes him respect and like her even more. Second, it can also explain why Byakuya enjoys Mira’s company. To her, these weird little hangouts are probably a reprieve from all the stuff she has to put up with every day.
Oddly enough, I am actually mixed on the show being 12 and a half minutes per episode. On one hand, it’s appealing run time, especially for a slice of life anime. On the other, I did enjoy the first episode enough that I was honestly disappointed when it ended so quickly. I wouldn’t have minded if the episode was full length. That said, the fact that I want to see more is a good sign for this show.
Watch The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies on Crunchyroll
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