First Impressions / Kenja no Mago

「史上最強の魔法師集団」 (Shijou saikyou no Mahoushi shuudan)
“The Mightiest Corps of Magicians Ever”

Well we wanted super serious isekai battle shenanigans in KnM, and I dare say we got said actions this week. From big explosions to big fight hints, KnM sacrificed some of its slice of life splendour for the sake of making things go boom, and I dare say it wasn’t half bad. Sure the show won’t be winning points on originality (it’s established fact by now), but even in the most conventional of scenes it still knows how to keep things fun.

Considering KnM was always going to end on some form of cliffhanger, the way this final arc is playing out makes a lot of sense. Demonoids attack innocent town, Shin and the Ultimate Magicians (insert complementary snicker here) literally fly in to save the day, and the big bad in Schtrom himself belatedly shows up to help keep the momentum going. Cue final showdown between our two magical powerhouses, another stalemate and promise of round three later, and boom let the light novel sales commence. Simple in practice of course, but KnM still manages to add some flair. Schtrom for example, as anyone who’s seen last episode can remember, was supposedly unaware of this attack even taking place. How did he find out, and (more importantly), wind up coming in to save his compatriots? We’ll probably find out one way or another once the inevitable pre-fight clash of viewpoints happens, but it’s sure a funny development considering Schtrom is supposed to be finished with the world and doing anything in it ever again. Who knew, I guess leadership can be a burden.

The primary fun though doesn’t rest as much with Schtrom’s (and his subordinate’s) upcoming duel as much as the actions of our good guy crew this time around. Much like with the training arc previously and Shin’s lack of monopoly over his magical powers, we got a full face of equally strong and crazy magicians effectively steamrolling the competition with barely an eyelash batted. Gary Stu saving the day and rescuing all the damsels in distress? Not so much here, as key examples were helped by others, too busy saving themselves, or outright removed from the action. I’ve said it before, but KnM’s ability to keep its isekai trappings under control by emphasizing the secondary cast really helps add strength and longevity to the series as a whole. Just having Shin share the weekly spotlight makes some otherwise boring events more entertaining than they have right to be, and ensures that when the brown stuff finally hits the rotary device Shin won’t be the only one who can possibly save the day. Mind you he still will likely be the one who does (because main character), but thanks to the hilarious carnage witnessed this week, the conclusion is definitely up in the air.

There may be only one episode of KnM left, but it’s setting up to be the most lively of them all.

13 Comments

  2. This is a series that isn’t really taking its antagonist too seriously.
    I really can’t imagine how the last episode is going to wind things up
    because they’re in the middle of an arc right now (I guess they’ll exit
    after the city battle, but it won’t really make sense overall). Oh well.

    I think the first part of the series was pretty fun, but kinda went into
    meh territory the last 3/4 episodes.

    mac65
    Reply

  3. I don’t remember Shtrom doing anything at this point in the manga and he certainly wasn’t part of this battle… anime original ending incoming? Nope, just checked and he’s not a part of the current arc in any significant way.
    Don’t count on a 2nd cour then it seems…

    Gotta agree with mac65 though: fun little show at first, but it got meh in the latter half. Would recommend the manga instead as it has more stuff to it, the manga had some really brutal things in it that the anime goes out of its way to censor/remove, and is a better read/watch, even despite the more extreme mood swings in story-telling.

    There’s a ton of isekai shows, but I must admit it’s really hard to find a good one. Tate no Yuusha is the only that’s been good/great for the most part (a few episodes where things went stupid not counting) imo.

    NinjaSyao
    Reply

    1. Second season was always going to be a long shot even if KnM was more popular. These types of adaptations are primarily for source material publicity, which at least KnM arguably succeeded at. Certainly one of the better derivative isekais to pop up of late 😛

      Pancakes
      Reply

  4. They are going for an original ending here.The web novel has Schtrom, Maria, and others watching, but not participating. The light novel has Schtrom, Maria, and others ignore the demonoids after the empire is destroyed. And the manga is close to the anime but Maria and Schtrom doesn’t show up.

    Song Huang
    Reply

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