Mysteria Academy is a prestigious magic school that teaches magic without discrimination to the three factions (men, gods, demons), who usually are engaged in battle with each other. Two of the academy’s students are Anne, a princess and honor student, and Grea, a princess born from a dragon and a human. – ANN
Streaming: Crunchyroll
Episodes: 10
Source: Game (offshoot of Rage of Bahamut)
Episode Summary: Anne and Grea are two princesses who are as different as can be. Anne is confident and talented, with magical powers befitting her high status. Grea is the child of a human and a dragon and a quiet, sweet soul. Together the two form a bond of friendship that benefits from their differing personalities and makes their time at Mysteria Magic Academy much more fulfilling.
One day Anne is dragged away to aid in the quelling of an angry library spirit, and the aftermath keeps her there for some of the cleanup. Loyal Grea waits at their meeting place until the sun begins to set. Anne is surprised and touched that Grea waited, and the two go off to have their evening meal together.
Impressions: It’s been quite a while since I watched Rage of Bahamut, so rather than dwell on this series’ connections to that larger franchise I think it might be better just to take it on its own merits. The series has also been delayed over two years, for reasons unknown; its planned release in April of 2016 was scrapped, its production staff changed, and its premiere rescheduled and broadcast to relatively little fanfare this season. I won’t begin to speculate on the behind-the-scenes drama surrounding what appears to be a pretty low-profile supplement to Cygames’ game-related anime franchise. Whatever the situation may be, the end result is a fairly pleasant, though unremarkable, short-form fantasy character drama.
The episodes are relatively short; while I probably could have saved the series for my short-form round-up, at 13 minutes and change the episodes are just long enough and seemed to have enough narrative “meat” to make a stand-alone review possible. The episode length does serve to truncate the drama a little bit and necessitates the trimming of extraneous dialog and tension-building. The events move at a pretty quick clip, and while there’s never confusion about what’s going on, it does feel like certain things, specifically Anne’s relation to and confrontation with the fiery spirit in the library, are happening without enough background explanation. It’s like just a small piece of exposition is missing which leads to a feeling of disconnectedness.
So far this isn’t a major issue, because the episode seems less plot-based and more focused around the character relationship between the two protagonists. Their interactions thus far mostly serve to emphasize just how different the 2 young women are; Anna’s voice and movements are loud and large and her personality is outgoing, while Grea is very reserved and seems shy (going against what one might expect of a half-dragon humanoid). The two have a very cute rapport that could be interpreted as vaguely romantic, though Grea’s frequent blushing could just as well be due to her shyness. Whether romance or friendship, it’s clear that opposites really do attract; it’s the characters’ complimentary personalities that makes their friendship charming.
The last few minutes of the episode are a comedic aside devoted to Owen, Princess Anne’s court paladin and personal bodyguard. Serious and devoted to his duty, his background hovering is mostly amusing due to how uncomfortable and out-of-place he looks wearing a school uniform. That said, his sidebar is kind of an odd addition to the episode that doesn’t add that much besides a little bit of background; whether Owen branches out from his role as comic relief to something more substantial remains to be seen.
The episode’s setting is well-rendered and stately and the character designs and animation are pretty nice, too. What’s interesting to me, though, is that despite its relative quality when compared to many other anime, I find myself missing the exciting, grandiose, and fluid animation that made Rage of Bahamut exciting to watch. The two series are very different and this one seems more restrained overall, but it’s not without its share of action – there’s an entire scene where Anne and her comrades battle a spirit with their magic. I would have liked to see something more impressive, though with the series’ production issues I suppose that piece could definitely have been impacted.
This seems like it could be a fairly enjoyable, bite-sized character-focused fantasy series. It will likely hold more interest for those who play the related game or who are bigger fans of the other related anime series, but even looking at it as a standalone it’s fairly entertaining. One could definitely find worse ways to spend 15 minutes.
Pros: The first episode tells a cute, character-focused story. The episodes are short and to the point.
Cons: It sometimes feels like some information is “missing” due to the short run-time.
Grade: B-