A long-haired and even long-legged magical girl performs an elaborate dance of hand gestures under a starlit sky. Despite the danger around her, she is incredibly optimistic. Her earnest motto reads: “In the name of the moon, I will punish you!” lovable.
Usagi Tsukino’s middle school alter ego Sailor Moon and her gang of lookalike classmates on planets teases a lot back in the day, but when viewed through a modern lens, Sailor Moon can seem, I don’t know, a touch melodramatic. I mean, can you imagine trying to capture that kind of idealism and camp today? He came across as farcical, funny, and completely insincere. Right, it will be, and that’s great.
Magical Destroyers is a 2023 gem of a magical girl anime produced by Bibury Animation Studio and based on the concept and characters of illustrator/designer Jun Inagawa. Since the first episode only dropped this past April, there isn’t much to watch yet, but from what I’ve seen so far, it feels derivative, unique, and incredibly self-aware all at the same time. In other words, I love him.
Get a great deal from this engrossing premise: In the dystopian near future of Akihabara, Japan, outlawed otaku gangs wage war against an evil and literally faceless regime that seeks to wipe out all traces of fandom across the nation. But there is hope. Only the aptly named otaku Hiro and his trio of magical girls have a chance to restore order in Japan and let people do exactly as they please. The plot drew me like a costumed performer to the Los Angeles convention.
It was the first time I saw an otaku concept treated in this way. Hunt for a model car appreciation? Or to own AKB48 stickers? The idea is a bit too on the nose considering that the individuals portrayed in the show are only from the fringe imagination. These people really exist! Is the show a tongue-in-cheek homage to these obsessed fanatics? Well, if you stick to the after credits (which is a surreal fever dream in and of itself), the events of the next episode are summed up in hand-drawn sketches and narrated with an off-camera voice giving the impression that the whole thing is just creation. For some obsessed fan. How do you get meta? The show looks like a set of Japanese nesting dolls, as do all the participants in an otaku-inspired joke. Starting from the main spring of inspiration, it takes one’s knowledge.
Jun Inagawa is clearly an otaku and he has a soft spot for all of them. According to an interview he gave with Adidas on SNS GT Tokyo, British culture was his number one poison, so much so that he only started drawing after falling in love with Damon Albarn’s anime troupe Gorillaz. Coincidentally, his work has much in common with Gorillaz illustrator Jimmy Hewlett. The characters are a little tense, left a bit unpolished, but undeniably great. The Magic Destroyer’s insane team’s initial storyboard and designs were so captivating that they were It was praised for the first time in the installations Before the anime and made a great impression on the eyes.
In fact, you’ve never seen magical girls like Inagawa before. With an actual war on Earth being waged against Akihabara and the world of its geeks, a grittier, tougher – and sexier, frankly – caliber is needed for the ladies of distinction. The innocent sweethearts of Sailor Moon, they are not. Anarchy-chan has all the pent-up rage and vanity of punk rock, while its counterpart Blue is a certified nymphomaniac (but, you know, in a charming way). Then there is you. A gas mask wearing a drug addict wielding a syringe would make a better Yandere than a maid in a coffee shop. As bizarre and incompatible as these characters may seem on paper, they actually blend seamlessly into the world of Magical Destroyers, especially when considering that the Three Ladies may have been written simply as a way to get the piss out of his magical girl kind. .
For example, when the going gets tough for the Otaku Hero and his soldiers, these gals do what magical girls do best and transform, which they do pretty much every episode. The difference here is that the show seems to be incredibly self-aware and in its own genre. The transformation of each girl in and of itself is a lot longer than it should be (I suspect on purpose). Seriously, for all the girls to finish their dances, it’s like a minute and a half of straight contest. I couldn’t help but laugh when I looked at my watch.
I’m also a constant admirer of the show’s grip on mood and presentation. One minute, the episode’s trajectory seems to head straight into a predictable plot trope, only to take an exit ramp into the absurd and then straight back into the drama, which has the same effect as jumping from an ice bath into a jacuzzi. For example, one of my favorite scenes in the show revolves around our protagonists taking on a rival – and significantly older – otaku gang on a bridge over the now polluted Kanda River. Instead of getting everything dramatic in a classic fight, a chicken fight in the river ensues, which not only provided plenty of fan service via bikinis, but also featured a poignant comparison about otaku life in the ’80s versus today.
Each part sinks into the pleasure center of my mind, but Episode 6 seems to weigh the heaviest. It’s filled with sentimental memories ranging from the girls’ origins to a nostalgic look back at resplendent Akihabara before the war, all covered in adoration. Moreover, there was not much laughter. Conversely, the sight of the overweight men throwing Pokemon balls that turned into bombs at the soldiers was more real than funny. Magical Destroyers had already made their way into my heart with their initial strange concept, but now the seed of Inagawa’s sympathy was fully sown. Otaku are just people who like to do their thing, kind of like all of us. We’re all free to dust off our Gundam models, dig out our old train sets, polish our vinyl and enjoy this awesome anime. Keep working your magic, girls.
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