First Impressions / Series Introduction / Snapshots

「真剣で私にかかってきなさい!!」 (Maji de Watashi ni Kakatte Kinasai!!)
“Come at Me Seriously!!”

Rather than a premiere, the first episode of Majikoi looked like a finale. They skipped opening sequence, featured nonstop action for a good twenty minutes, and ended off with scrolling credits in the sunset. The character introductions came at a feverish pace starting with the five main heroines — Kawakami Momoyo (Asakawa Yuu), Kawakami Kazuko (Tomonaga Akane), Shiina Miyako (Hyousei), Mayuzumi Yukie (Gotou Yuuko), Christiane Friedrich (Itou Shizuka) — and even went on to feature the likes of Kuki Ageha (Matsui Naoko) from Minato Soft’s other adult visual novel, Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore de — something that I thought would’ve been saved for later. In effect, this came off as more of a pilot episode than a premiere, where studio Lerche was demonstrating exactly what they’re capable of in hope of snagging this adaptation. They definitely impressed on several fronts, particularly with the visuals and animation that looked a lot better than I expected. The frantic progression during the all-out battle between Class S and Class F was a little hard to follow, especially for those who haven’t played the game (myself included), but fit the idea that this is a pilot episode animating the “meatier” parts of Majikoi.

The other possibility is that this really is the finale and the producers have opted for a cold open. Considering how I didn’t think much of this adaptation originally and how I’m now somewhat intrigued now, I can say first-hand that it worked well in grabbing my interest if that’s the case. Even if I can’t fully comprehend everything that’s going on because of the overwhelming number of characters introduced, it’s still really easy for me to enjoy the action and see how Class F is going to pull an upset on Class S, thanks to our main protagonist/tactician, Naoe Yamato (Kamiya Hiroshi). We’re also given indirect introductions to his close friends, Kazama Shouichi (Konishi Katsuyuki), Morooka Takuya (Suzumura Kenichi), Shimazu Gakuto (Kusao Takeshi), and transforming robot Cookie (original form: Ogata Megumi / second form: Fukuyama Jun), whom I was able to quickly identify having done my research into this series. At the same time, there was a little bit of build-up slipped in via the flashbacks, where Yamato confessed to Momoya and is trying to get her to go out with him by proving his worth, so it wasn’t like this episode was completely jarring to watch. The battle itself was similar to the non-lethal competitive war-game seen in DOG DAYS, crossed with the class division by grades seen in Bakatest, so it was pretty easy to take at face value too.

The real question is where things go from here. Of all the series I researched for the Fall 2011 Preview, Majikoi was one of the titles that I had some of the least knowledge about. Suffice to say, it’s already surprised me in a few ways from a story standpoint, as have some of the support cast from Class S — Kuki Hideo (Nakamura Yuuichi), Fushikawa Kokoro (Mizuhashi Kaori), Margit Eberbach (Mizusawa Kei), Oshitari Azumi (Ashiro Megu), Aoi Touma (Yusa Kouji), Sakakibara Koyuki (Hitomi), and Inoue Jun (Sugita Tomokazu). The series features quite a cast to say the least, and they’ve even tossed in Matsunaga Tsubame (Nagatsuma Juri) from the visual novel’s sequel, Majikoi S. Again, if this is a cold open to the series, it definitely worked in piquing my interest. I’m quite curious to see how the high school side of things play out now that I’ve gotten an in-your-face, over-the-top introduction to the cast. In all likelihood, I’ll be quietly following this series too. Seriously.

 

End Card

74 Comments

  1. I was rather surprised at this series so far.
    I originally expected this to have at least some service, but it was fairly clean, which is always a good thing in my book, as I view excessive service a turn-off.

    Kim_Pine
    Reply

    2. I was expecting an “ikki tousen” type deal when I saw the preview. Completely expected every sword slash to magically just cut clothes, every punch to have so much energy that clothing is shredded. Every girl knocked out to lay with their legs spread/ rear up for panty shots. Instead it was rather clean and featured a lot of male characters. I am quite surprised and enjoying the show.

      However I will say this. I am sad the show starts off with the main character confessing his love MULTIPLE times. Because it pretty much eliminates any chance the other main cast girls have. There is no point in rooting for the likes of mayazumi or christiane when they all like the same person and that person has already shown absolutely no interest in them in favor of the “main” female lead.

      I hope this wasn’t the last episode or there is no romance at all in the series as the series just “ended” with him rejected.

      bijyu
      Reply

  3. Finale, pilot, premiere, whatever you want to call it, this first episode kept me enticed the entire time and left me wanting more. As long as they keep up the action and don’t switch entirely to a harem romcom, consider me hooked.

    Bass.EXE
    Reply

  9. Meh, i’ll give this one some time to show me everything it got. I’m just afraid that things would go 180 degrees from this point on. Hoping that won’t happen.

    Anime>sleep Otaku
    Reply

  11. As far as i’ve researched, Maji de Watashi ni Koishinasai(MajiKoi) was the top selling Eroge of 2009 and 2nd overall. And as Divine mentioned it has a God-tier cast. And I heard it’s as much hentai as Fate Stay Night. However, this anime’s adaption has over 50 hours of reading time and over 10000 lines for each heroine. That may be a problem unless this anime is going to be 24-26 episodes. I just hope they can get my VN adaptions right.

    swayze101
    Reply

    1. FSN also takes about 50 hours of reading for one arc. It only have 3 arcs though, which makes it smaller in total then this one. Story based VN like FSN are enormous when it comes to content. Following all the paths is similar to reading an entire series of books.

      Znail
      Reply

  13. I’ve played the game and it was one of the best VNs I’ve played. Lots of comedy, action, a thrilling plot. The episode was kinda jarring for me though, I don’t see why they had to do this, but if it makes more people watch this, then I’m cool with it.

    Kaosu
    Reply

  14. Having played through the game, I loved watching the characters go about in the battle, though I seriously had hoped that they’d start from the start. This episode definitely felt like a pilot episode, or an OVA for people who’ve finished the game itself.

    Spinarakk
    Reply

    1. I was not impressed except for some of the fight sequences. At the least I would have watched if the girls were attractive, but the chara designs just don’t appeal to me.

      SOSAnimeBoy
      Reply

  18. I’m looking forward to this one. Crazy and over the top fun with rather interesting and wacky characters, if the visual novel is anything to go by. Certainly something that could turn out great.

    Zreon
    Reply

  20. The characters seem ok, but I was taken aback by the “tactics” used by the main character. The episode seemed to constantly emphasize the fact that class F had a far smaller number of troops than class S, and downplay the fact that they had a far superior number of quality troops, i.e. heroes. So their “disadvantage” is arguably far less severe than we are led to believe. And Yamato’s “tactics” basically involved throwing “hero” characters all over the place to make up for their deficit in numbers.

    Now, I have no problem with simplicity in battle tactics. Dog Days had a similar premise and equally simplistic battles, but the tactical aspect of battle was never that show’s focus- it was made clear from the beginning that the focus would be on the hero characters. If Majikoi did the same, I would have no problems with the show whatsoever. But here the main character is made out to be a genius tactician of some kind- when there was no real tactical finesse to be seen at all in this battle- mostly just “hero play” like in Dog Days. Where tactical finesse is made out to be one of the show’s central points- and there is little to none to be seen, I can imagine myself getting bored rather quickly…

    Zen
    Reply

    1. well its not going to be a realistic warfare textbook if that’s what you’re expecting.
      teh source material wasn’t remotely that serious.

      but your “there was no real tactical finesse to be seen at all in this battle- mostly just “hero play”” summation skims over a lot of details that would answer your “tactical finesse” problem to a certain degree.

      you ignore the fact that in theory Yamato pretty much anticipated every move S Class made.
      he anticipated Fushikawa’s blind retreat AND where she’d retreat to.
      he anticipated the maid squad’s secret blitz for F Class’s general.
      etc etc.
      all that was confirmed in the dialogue (i.e. his various hero unit commanders stating such and such happened just as Yamato predicted it would).

      sure he had a lot of “hero units” as you put it, but all the hero units in the world mean nothing if you place them all at Points A, B, and C and your opponent attacks Point D.
      being able to read your opponent’s tactics and knowing where to move your troops is pretty important for a tactician.

      second, you skim over the meat of his tactics which was to divide S Class up and ambush.
      even when using his hero units, it was always within the context of an ambush.
      he hardly resorted “hero play”, which i’m gathering means you feel he was simply throwing hero units at the problem (which would be a fairly accurate description of Dog Days, yes).

      if he was really doing that, he would have just gathered them all into a single unit and bee-lined straight for Hideo (something he didn’t do until he had Hideo’s main guard unit isolated).

      Bob
      Reply

      2. @Bob
        He anticipated, and what- he simply planted more hero units as easy fixes to each situation… Tactics isn’t about easy fixes- it’s about making the best of a real disadvantage, and turning an advantage into absolute victory, it’s mind over mettle. It’s psychological warfare. The way the battles here are played makes it seem like the heroes are the only thing that matter- several units rush out of the forest in an ambush, apparently to make up for a deficit in numbers- but oh wait, the deficit barely matters at all because most of the enemy is taken out by the 2-3 hero characters; the rest of the dudes may as well not be there at all…

        I get it, the whole Bronze Age Greece feel of OP’ed heroes like Achilles and Hector taking on an entire army solo is extremely exhilarating, which is why these tales survive to this very day- but reality is very different; battles are not won by the hands of one or two heroes, they are won by the faceless everyman; tactical finesse is the hand of brilliant tactician who is able to inspire and command these everymen towards victory.

        What I can’t condone about Majikoi is that it’s a show that claims to focus on tactical finesse, when none is really portrayed at all. The so-called “tactics” in this episode were pretty much expressed mostly through dialogue (I anticipated this, I anticipated that, Oh no, ambush! sort of statements)- with very little actual animation time dedicated to it- instead the bulk of the animation was dedicated to flashy hero battles, in effect giving off the impression that the troops didn’t matter very much at all compared to the heroes who were (appeared to be doing) the bulk of the work.

        It’s basically a more pretentious version of Dog Days which claims an element of tactical finesse, when it really does little more than acknowledge the existence of tactics, while focusing on hero battles just like the latter show. I don’t even find Majikoi to be a bad show (I actually enjoyed the action), I simply find it to be slightly hypocritical in the sense that our lead is supposed to be a “genius tactician” but really, tactics aren’t the main focus of this show at all. Certainly it serves a TV show better in my opinion (easier) simply to focus on heroes because it is a good way to develop characters that people will care about, but I find it rather self-contradictory and misleading when they talk about tactics, but do little to portray it competently in the show in of itself- the reality is that tactics was never the main focus, and should not be treated as such- this is a “heroic fantasy” not a “tactical warfare.” In short, I wasn’t the one who skimmed over the tactics, the writers were- they downplayed the tactical aspect of things to the point of insignificance in comparison to the heroic warfare aspect, claiming to add an “intellectual” element to the show, when it really is nigh bankrupt in that department…

        It is if course, possible to balance elements of “heroic fantasy” and “tactical warfare.” A manga series which does this pretty well is Drifters by that guy who wrote Hellsing. Certainly, a significant amount of time is devoted to heroic warfare, but tactical finesse is emphasized as well, with whole chapters dedicated to logistics, tactical planning and morale boosting- the heroes are certainly important here, and play larger than life roles in battle, but the everyman isn’t forgotten either- they aren’t just faceless cannon fodder, they’re acknowledged as a crucial element to victory, and are even given the limelight at times.

        The action was pretty good, and I did like the characters, so I’ll definitely continue to watch this one. There is the possibility they may delve more into the tactical aspect of things as the show progresses, and that this episode’s focus on heroic warfare was really a flashy character intro of sorts, but judging from the atmosphere, I doubt it. I will enjoy the show for what it is, which seems to be a character-centric heroic fantasy, not an intellectual tactical thriller. Whether I enjoy this show in the long run will depend far more upon characterization than any tactical element, given the reality of what it is. All I’m doing here is pointing out discrepancies and weaknesses as an objective critic, and one of this show’s greatest weaknesses is that it misrepresents itself. Majikoi will need to be true to itself to keep my attention- focus should remain on characterization, rather than the show’s less-than-stellar tactical aspect- otherwise my prediction of boredom, may just come to pass…

        Zen
        Reply

      3. Zen, I think you’re aware of it by now, but you’re always way to hard on things. They even skipped the OP -and- ED sequences, yet this episode was packed with events. If you wanted to see some of Yamato’s finer strategies, then expand the Kawakami War into a 3000-line sequence of events and you’ll get your tactics. Originally there were about three times as many named units (ex. Black, White, Fushikawa) as they displayed in the anime, and of course all the minor ones (i.e. not led by a hero character) are cut out. Also a lot of the White and Black Squadron’s decisively timed thrusts were left out, again, due to time constraints. In a series like Death Note this entire war would have been dragged out into a least a third of an arc. I think as an animated, engaging introduction to the characters it did a splendid job.

        Also at what point did they sell the Majikoi anime on the emphasis on war tactics? Hmm? All I seem to remember from the PVs and press releases is a lot of bare skin and fighting and maybe some mention of comedy. I never heard about this show that “claims to focus on tactical finesse.” Nothing will ever match your expectations if you always choose to set them higher than where things are after seeing them.

        SlashZero
        Reply

      4. You misunderstand me, good sir. I’m not hard on shows at all. Quite the contrary, in fact I am very easily entertained, and will enjoy just about any show, even terrible ones like Dragonaut, and controversial ones like Seikon no Qwaser. I simply evaluate everything I watch with an impartial, critical eye; pointing out whatever I may think is wrong with them, and predicting possible directions that the producers might take which could make things better or worse; that is the only reason why I write the things I do.

        You must understand that if I sound critical about something, it is only because that is exactly what I am attempting to accomplish, and nothing else- being critical; which has nothing to do with whether I actually enjoyed the show/episode or not.

        Now, I absolutely love the movie Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King; it is indisputably one of the greatest movies of all time; the winner of 11 Oscars alongside Ben-Hur and Titanic. But as an objective critic, if I have to, I am fully capable of writing an entire book’s worth on what I thought was wrong with the movie, which would possibly make many people think that I hated it- and they would be mistaken; really I loved the movie, I am simply able to disassociate myself from that love and render what I think is an impartial evaluation- same goes for Titanic, Ben-Hur and any anime shows. It’s not that I think that they’re bad, or hate them, but all things have their weaknesses- even things that I happen to love- and I am able to acknowledge that fact.

        And even for shows that do not suit my fancy, I am able to disassociate myself from my dislike and acknowledge that they have a lot of value, therefore constituting an excellent work of art. Take something like Bridget Jones’s Diary for example. I don’t fancy that movie in the slightest, but having said that, I am still able to disassociate my dislike and acknowledge that it was a quality work of art, with strong characters that people could very easily identify with. I might write something about what I think that movie did right which may actually make it seem like I liked it- but anyone who makes such a derivation is misled; all that it would represent is the fact that I thought it was a good movie- divorced entirely from whether I actually liked it.

        Same goes for my comments on Majokoi, or on any other show. Not once did I use the word “bad” in my above comments. I merely desired to point out what I thought was one of the largest weaknesses of a show that I actually did enjoy, and that I do really think is pretty good, and enjoyed a lot.

        And none of what I wrote expressed my “expectations” in any way. It simply reflects my first impressions of a show which is just beginning through an objective, critical eye. I don’t “expect” a show to go in one direction or another. I simply attempt to predict whether a certain direction, if taken “would bore me” i.e. diminish the quality of the show, or otherwise, attempt to see how things might be made better.

        And my only point here is that the first episode misrepresents the show for what it is to a certain degree; upon first impression- it has nothing to do with what I “expected” Majikoi to deliver; the only thing I ever “expect” from any show is that it be objectively “good,” whatever that may be, regardless of my personal preferences; completely detached from the more subjective notions of “enjoyable” or even “fun.” I understand that at times I use the words “enjoy” and “good” interchangeably, and that this can be confusing. But I ask that you would forgive me, for it is but a simple mistake of colloquialism- one can hardly be expected to be concise and articulate when writing comments on the fly. Understand that whenever I write something like “enjoy” or “like” 99% of the time I am actually referring to being objective “goodness” or “quality” unless explicitly stated otherwise.

        So does Majikoi deliver in the “good” department; the only department that matters to me? It’s obviously far too early to tell, and all I was doing above was delineating one wayward possibility that I thought would take the show away from being objectively “good” i.e. focusing on the tactical aspect of things which is misleadingly (un)important in a story that is really far more character-centric.

        The aspect which I think is “weak”- (“weak” defined as “unimportant”) in this show, in comparison to series like Death Note or Drifters, is the tactical aspect, and as far as I am concerned it should remain weak, both in presence and in substance. Let me clarify things. In my first comment I said, “Where tactical finesse is made out to be one of the show’s central points- and there is little to none to be seen, I can imagine myself getting bored rather quickly…” What I meant here was that the issue of “tactics” had too much of a presence in the first episode, with not enough substance thrown in to justify that degree of presence- which is, to me a shortcoming. It is a problem when producers seem to give off the message that something is important by giving it a lot of presence in dialogue, but do not treat it as such in the actual substance, affording a scarce number of scenes to addressing it- that is all I am trying to point out; something that I thought was an obvious flaw in this first episode, which the show should really move away from down the road. And not once did I say that it was a fatal, or even a severe flaw- I merely pointed it out and fleshed it out; severity was never touched upon, but perhaps I did allude to the potential severity when I called Majikoi “a more pretentious version of Dog Days”- which is basically what it will become if the creators continue down this road with vehement fervor.

        As I said in my second comment, “…focus should remain on characterization, rather than the show’s less-than-stellar tactical aspect…” And I meant exactly what I said. Majikoi is a character-centric show; therefore the producers should treat it as such and focus on the characters without over-inflating the presence of a comparatively insubstantial tactical element, which they seem to have done in this first episode. The producers should not up-play; i.e. make strong and element of the show which is meant to be weak, i.e. less important. All I tried to do here was to differentiate Majikoi from other series and point out what it really is, and how it should be treated by the producers down the road, in order to improve quality- no “expectations” involved. That is all.

        Zen
        Reply

  21. Remember what I wrote in your fall preview comments, Divine? Don’t underestimate this show 😉

    I have to admit though that I was pretty flabbergasted that they opted to pick the final battle of the Momoyo path as intro *lol* … and that it actually led to a rejection (allowing other girls’ paths). I wonder if they will follow up ep2 with the normal introduction or continue to waltz across the game content.

    Oh yea – don’t expect too much of the usual dating sim harem stuff. Majikoi is primarily an action comedy (the game is, too).

    Mentar
    Reply

  22. I didn’t expect the first episode to be like this XD. This was more fun than I thought it would be. Never imagined a VN adaptation to be like this. Then again, this was no typical VN. Definitely watching at least a few more episodes of this one…

    x
    Reply

      2. It’s true that for an anime adaption they normally would go for the main heroine, but considering there’s a true ending I was hoping they would take up that route. Of course this is just the first episode and given that Yamato gets rejected, I’m hoping that they will still move into the true route.

        Saying that, did anyone else here expect cookie to have legs???

        Aero
        Reply

  27. i have to admit before i watched this episode, i was pretty sure this anime was fan-service. but i’m glad that wasn’t the case tbh, and also the fight scenes were pretty interesting to watch. i need to watch more of this to make ultimatively judge this anime but i’m glad the ‘harem leader’ isn’t some dumb idiot, he actually has brain.

    Medoi
    Reply

  29. I can’t say it is keeping my attention. An entire episode with just fighting; it dragged on for too long, cold open or not. Some fanservice would have made it more enjoyable to watch…

    Luke
    Reply

  30. That was rather hectic. I sometimes complain about slow starts, but I think this one falls on the other extreme; this start was overwhelmingly quick. I’ve actually been put off a bit, since I can remember exactly 2 names out of the entire cast of characters. Maybe that’s good enough for now.

    Going see a few more episodes to see where this goes (having never touched the VN), but I wasn’t particularly impressed with the hectic combat. With such a gigantic cast I worry that they won’t have enough time for appropriate characterization and development.

    Delwack
    Reply

  32. It’s interesting that Divine said this was more like a finale than a premiere. Now I can see that this anime could play out in reverse order like Touka Gettan or stuttered order like Haruhi OR just split up parallel endings like Kimikiss. I just think the character relationships are too close and this type of ordering would be better for development.

    xcswmboy
    Reply

      1. Actually she is not, what makes you think that? That Kokoro was briefly shown trading blows when she ambushed Chris in the animated game OP?

        Kokoro is a “talk haughty, talk down to people, but don’t deliver” kind of character. Definitely not at Chris’ level, and besides, she ran into an Ambush.

        Mentar
        Reply

  37. Not bad for its 1st ep, though I have no idea what’s going on half the time. The cast doesn’t really appeal to me that much..only recnognize a few up there. Regardless, l was quite entertained…I think…

    Nhelraios
    Reply

  41. Yeah, glad the studio didn’t made this into a fanservice fest!
    Well,since from what I read before Majikoi won’t get a weekly blogpost, any thought of blogging (until at least) episode 2, Divine? :p

    zeroyuki92
    Reply

  49. I think the reason we anime viewers dislike harem so much is not because of the maian character’s personality but because of the almost asexual attraction the MC’s has with the girls. harems are wishfullfillment for both male and female viewers. For females its because we all wish we could have a guy like that; a guy who respects us and wouldn’t try take advantage of us in any way, shape, or form. For males, its because they wish girls could be like some of the heroines whether it be the tsundere, the shy girl, or the relative. I learned a long time ago that when it comes to harem shows just shut the brain off and enjoy the ride.

    texasroper
    Reply

  50. This is actually not a harem show as the group of friends it is centred around consist of 4 guys and 5 girls.

    I hope they will do a time skip back to follow the VN after this intro as the fun is the characters and their interaction.

    Znail
    Reply

  51. Hey very good summary of the episode, but I can’t seem to see one special pic (the one with Tsubame Matsunaga waving her hair after her appearing) in large mode. I always get the message “no hotlinking, visit randomc.net to view this image”. >:

    Luppi
    Reply

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