First Impressions / Trinity Seven

「魔道士(メイガス)と錬金術(アルケミスト)」 (Madou-shi (Meigasu) to Renkinjutsu (Arukemisuto))
“Magus and Alchemist”

Arata manages to survive Akio’s attack, so it’s off to the beach because … look, don’t ask questions. Swimsuits!

Tension? What Tension?

The magical-fantasy-action-harem series I like the best are able to mix serious tension, goofy (even slapstick) comedy, and shameless ecchi in equal measures. This week Trinity Seven pulled its punches in the former. Starting off the episode at the beach completely stole any tension from the Arata-is-destroying-the-school scenes, because we knew he would survive and remain in everyone’s good graces. Okay, let’s be serious—we knew that would happen anyway. Meta-knew. There’s almost no chance they’d kill off the main character or exile him, given the tone of this story. But there’s a difference between knowing logically (but wondering, still wondering) and knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt. When it enters nada-shadow-de-doubt territory, tension evaporates.

Which I’m criticizing, but then again, is it the point of the show? And is it why I’m watching it? Mostly I’m watching it for quirky haremettes and a harem lead with a personality and a sex drive. (It remains bizarre that that’s a rarity.) But I wish the action would punch at the level I expected it to. Though part of that will be getting past all the exposition first.

Thema: Control

I have a soft spot for spell breakers, dispellers, anti-mages, and the like. It’s the joy of seeing Kiritsugu rampage through the magician ranks, or seeing Touma punch an arrogant esper in the teeth—it feels good to see someone so powerful shorn of their gifts. The wrinkle in Arata’s case is that he’s not an underdog—he’s a monster, if anything. So the joy of giving a bunch of haughty magus their comeuppance is missing, but the pleasure of seeing the main character strip a lot of girls is in full force. What’s with Matsuoka Yoshitsugu-voiced characters magically stripping kawaii haremettes? (Come back soon, Issei.) I do hope it goes somewhere, instead of remaining a punchline like Negi’s ecchi wind sneeze. And I think it will, and control seems a smart Thema if he’s going to try to tame the Breakdown Phenomena. But for now it’s all back to the ecchi.

The best part, comically-speaking? Arata stripped himself too. I cracked up! It felt so typical for the haremettes to lose their clothing, until that happened. I’m glad we can poke some fun at the male lead too, through more than just haremette violence.

The Other Trinity Seven

Kurata Yui (Murakawa Rie) didn’t leave a huge impression on me. I assume they were going for enigmatic, but aside from deploying the onii-san card, Akio holds more interest for me. As for the final Trinity Seven, the one who looks an awful lot like Selina … I don’t know. The OP and ED seem to have spoiled part of her for us—we know what she looks like, so she’s either an alter ego, a doppelganger, or a twin. (Twin is my guess, due to oppai size, but please, nobody spoil me.) I am curious as to why she’s missing though, so not all is lost. But compared to the legitimate concern about whether some of the Seven Deadly Sins are alive in the other Seven Deadly Sins show, I don’t believe it here. I guess they’re really not going for tension. It’s all about the laughs and the service so far.

Copying Other Magus’s Magic

Arata is so overpowered, I’m hoping they start tossing some challenges his way or this could get boring. (Or just all harem fun time, though since he’s admirably focused on saving Hijiri, I doubt he can just sit still and screw around all the time.) Him being able to copy other magus’s magic, despite this apparently being unheard of, is a perfect example. I did enjoy how he did it before he knew it was impossible, though. Often it’s those who don’t know what’s impossible who make the greatest strides, because they don’t stop themselves from doing great things. Either that or Arata is just hax.

Looking Ahead

Can I look ahead to more Levi-san? She’s the best. Between her and Arata, somebody is always thinking, doing, or saying what I would. That swimsuit with a scarf doesn’t hurt either. Levi-saaaan!

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – Swimsuit episode! Another Trinity Sseven is introduced as Arata gets his Thema, & then breaks a rule of magic #trinity7 03

Random thoughts:

  • Did all those people who were evaporated during the Breakdown Phenomenon come back? Because otherwise that’s some dark subtext.
  • I’m so jealous, Levi-san. Damn.
  • Was her swimsuit magic too, or is his magic an all-purpose Dress Break? Or PLOT HOLE?

Check out my blog about storytelling and the novel I’m writing at stiltsoutloud.com. The last four posts: Flawed genius, Steal like an artist, Between novels, and From me to you. For book updates, please sign up for my mailing list.

Full-length images: 01, 03, 04, 06, 15, 19, 25, 29, 31, 36.

 

Preview

37 Comments

  1. Arata has the best magic ever. I will say I like all the trinity seven so far. I’m really curious about Yui but I loved her eyes. Im really wanna know whats going on with the one that disappeared but judging from Selina’s relation she must know something?

    VsAllGaming
    Reply

      1. I read a fair amount of it years ago when I was bored once. It doesn’t really improve. The problem is that this is a WAY too common plot in current anime/manga/LNs. Especially in harem ones. The hero with hidden powers who is surrounded by a group of hyper-competent female magicians/fighters/super-people and has the ability to copy their abilities is REALLY common. Heck, Madan to Vanadis (or whatever that’s called, the one with the archer) is the very same thing right now.

        And it’s too specific of a plot to keep coming back to. General use of ninjas/shinigami/magic kung-fu are okay because they’re non-specific enough that they allow some variation, but the harem of magic warriors who he takes powers from that are USUALLY in a school with him (score 1 for Vanadis not being in a school) is a really specific setting. They should just have a crisis crossover where all these magic schools have a tournament and the harem leads have to battle each other with their stolen powers. That would be epic.

        KaleRylan
        Reply

  6. @Stilts

    Was her swimsuit magic too, or is his magic an all-purpose Dress Break? Or PLOT HOLE?

    Oh come on Stilts. I know you dont really care about that. All that matters is that she got stripped! Throw logic and reasoning out the damn window and enjoy the echiness!

    The only gripe I have with this episode is that Mirai didnt get stripped! She is actually my favorite haremitte tied with a certain big boobed blond twintail girl.

    I just love serious girls, especially when they go dere dere. Mirai also gets bonus points for being a loli

    Ginobi47
    Reply

  7. My $0.02

    Rather than Arata, it’s the Astil Manuscript that is hax. She’s the one doing most of the work…

    And a couple not-really-but-I’ll-spoiler-them-anyway comments:
    Re: “I do hope [the stripping magic] goes somewhere”
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Re: “Kurata Yui didn’t leave a huge impression on me”
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Re: “Did all those people who were evaporated during the Breakdown Phenomenon come back”
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Shiden
    Reply

  8. Even though he is getting kind of OP right now… At least I don’t think it will turn for the worse like that other magic anime last two seasons.

    Also, just like how evil cannot triumph over the good, Arata as a demon lord candidate wouldn’t be able to overturn Shiba Tatsuya almighty lord Tatsuya just yet.

    Zerixis
    Reply

  11. So they took Issei’s Dress Break and combined it with Negi’s strip sneezing (unintentional side effect), lol.

    I also like Akio immediately. Just liking the tomboyish personality yet still looking pretty feminine too.

    And now, best swimsuit!

    Personally, I’ve been liking either Levi. Akio, or Lilith.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
    Reply

  12. Plot exposed by holes! Area of Effect Dress break is the shit!

    Arata is hax, but the expression of it is interesting. OP is balanced (temporarily) by insufficient knowledge & experience to use it to its fullest– which I expect to be realized by equally OP challenges & situations by end series.

    Dress break harem antics is definitely more fun than watching Tatsuya explain things for 2/3rds of the anime and the girls fawn over him the rest of the time.

    Drasca
    Reply

    1. The manga is just better period. Of course, I ended up dropping the manga, but I’m pretty sure that was more due to the slow releases and college getting in the way. *sigh*, I think I might pick the manga back up and just read it along side of this. Dang why can’t all anime adaptions have ufotable’s budget and quality!

      Zprgmr
      Reply

  16. Answering the question for Stilts without spoiling: They will explain what happens to people who get absorbed by the breakdown phenomena if they follow the manga as well as they have been. Should actually be happening soon if memory serves correctly.

    I think the only differences with the manga so far are some of the jokes have been toned down to be appropriate for TV. I know the manga translation had “I remember him telling me to violate them” instead of “Something about making you guys my pawns.” when they were referring to what the headmaster said at the beginning(That part was also toned down by the way. lol)

    For those that are curious, we are through Chapter 7 so far.

    Ulvric
    Reply

  18. Delusions of Lilith-sensei. Deredere Lilith-sensei. Bikini-clad Lilith-sensei.

    My ecchi metre of the week has reached its target. :p

    There doesn’t seem to be a lot going on in this episode aside from further exposition and explanation on Arata’s powers and him trying it out, but that’s fine with me. I have to say Arata as a main character is fun to watch, and I’m pretty sure the story will pick up, according to my fading memory of the first parts of the T7 manga.

    Owaranai
    Reply

  19. Three episodes and I still have no idea what the hell most of the characters are talking about when they open their mouths. I’m somewhat reminded of Mahouka’s technobabble, and it doesn’t help that somehow everyone finds Arata to be the most talented, most interesting, most extraordinary person in the universe. And while I like crude humor, the strippy/gropey style in this show just isn’t working for me. Dropped.

    Hochmeister
    Reply

  21. Been enjoying this actually. It’s like DxD, doesn’t take itself too seriously and doesn’t make me feel brain dead while still providing me my quota of ecchi. DxD is king in that department of course. Lets hope it has enough plot to get through the season! Quite like the cast at the moment too 🙂

    Ngai
    Reply

  22. Speaking of Highschool DxD, The producers have given green light for a Third Season!!!
    We’ll have to wait for Issei’s comeback. In the mean time, let’s enjoy this show as it’s substitute.

    GP-1301
    Reply

    2. “If” that is true, then it means that lilith is always thinking about perverted thing but her behavior won’t allow that to surface. Otherwise, she would have gone all the way with arata.

      GP-1301
      Reply

    3. It’s more specifically, Lust. Which leads to the power of creation, in other words, Lilith is an Alchemist. The Themas tends to be the opposite of the nature of it’s user – for example, Arata prefers normalacy despite his thema of Imperium, Lilith is a prude despite being in Luxria Archive, Airin is a stoic despite being in Ira Archive, Levi is incredibly selfless despite being in the Invidia (Envy) archive, and so on. How the rest of the Trinity Seven contradict their archives directly are of course, spoilers.

      Andmeuths
      Reply

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