For many girls in N-City, playing the popular social role-playing game Magical Girl Raising Project is as close as they could come to being a real magical girl. However, for some rare players, that dream can become a reality. One such girl is Koyuki Himekawa, who receives a notification one night that she has been selected to become a magical girl, her in-game avatar Snow White.
As Koyuki and other chosen players in the city begin helping those in need, they all receive yet another notification: the admins have decided that they want to reduce the number of magical girls. Whoever collects the least amount of Magical Candies—which are awarded for their magical girl activities—in their competition each week will lose their powers. But when a real-world tragedy happens to the first player that drops out, they are shown the repercussions of losing their abilities. As more participants inevitably lose the competition and more twisted rules are added, the girls soon realize that their "contest" is actually a desperate fight for survival.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
3xTripple
This anime in 8 words: “Anticlimactic Magical Girl Death Game With Wasted Potential ” Yes, this is just another magical girl dark twist anime. Unfortunately, it's not that great of one either and here's why: This is what a series looks like when it tries to have emotional shock factor, but fails because it's only 12 episodes long and has too many characters. When characters die, most of the times you won't even care because there are too many of them and you don't ever know their backstory until the episode of their death. This series has a damsel in distress, innocent, naive main protagonist. Thereare no moral messages to be gained from this anime and no overarching reasons for the events that happen. It’s, simply put, excessive “just because” death-game violence. However, I believe it's still worth watching if you like seeing violence and/or the death of magical girls.
I want to note that I actually did enjoy watching the series for the most part, but this is from my unbiased perspective as a person who has seen a lot of anime. It will probably be a lot better to the people that haven't seen as many anime.
This being a thriller, you should go into series expecting there to be intense, edgy battles and deaths. Most of the characters could have been expanded upon, but weren't, and that largely took away from the potential of the series. I honestly believed that it started off with the potential to be outstanding, but it quickly went downhill once the death game began. The great characters started dying off too quickly without me building any attachment to them. The main protagonist “Snow White” was excessively naive and innocent throughout the whole anime. Consequently, I did not enjoy almost any time she got screentime after the first few episodes because every side-character was significantly more interesting than her.
Story: 4/10
The basic premise of the story is that ordinary people were selected to become magical girls while playing a magical girl phone game. They are then forced into a death game where the magical girl with the least amount of "candies" at the end of the week dies. They initially gained these candies by performing acts of goodness, but Fav (the Kyubey knockoff) continuously adds in new elements that push some of the magical girls to kill each other instead. This is definitely not a "psychological" series; you can tell as it presents itself in the cliche, archetypal, non-unique characters. Taking that into consideration, I feel that the writers tried, but failed, to portray powerful concepts like friendship, desperation, loss, and psychological twists. This is largely because they introduced these archetype characters with amazing potential, but then got rid of them just as fast. Unfortunately, the fast pacing and the anticlimactic ending left me with feelings of wasted potential as I finished.
Art: 7/10
The art was nothing outstanding, but pretty good. There wasn’t anything particularly unique about it. I enjoyed the battle scenes and the fluidity of the animation. The characters were a bit too colorful and cute for me personally, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The brightness of the characters in combination with the dark background made the series feel less dark and more lighthearted.
Sound: 6/10
Non-unique, average, unmemorable ost. Although, the ending theme was relatively nice. Both the opening and the ending didn’t really suit the anime. Music was a bit too lighthearted for what was happening.
Characters:4/10
As I mentioned before, most of the characters die soon after they’re introduced. I liked most of them because of their diverse personalities, but I don't think you will be getting any new favorite characters out of this anime. If this anime was a real magical girl series with the same characters and similar deaths, I feel that it would have been significantly better. Most of the characters had great potential for development, but I could not form any attachments to any of them because of their short screen time and lack of backstories until the moment before their death. It was such a waste… *shakes head*
Enjoyment: 6.5/10
All things considered, it was alright. Never watching it again, but I don’t regret watching it at all. The fighting and characters were enjoyable enough for me to continue watching it this season. I looked forward to seeing what would happen in each new episode, but the end of the series made me feel that it’s just anticlimactic overall with nothing to be gained from the resolution (not even satisfaction). I would watch a season two to see where they go from here because it's still entertaining nonetheless.
Overall: 6/10
I can't give this series any higher than a 7 because it wasn't really that good and no less than a 5 because it certainly wasn't below average overall.
Bottom line: Would I recommend this to you?
If all you want is the gore/killing, then absolutely.
If you want a great story, then no it’s just wasted potential.
If you want both, then try Madoka Magica, Fate/Zero (anything but Ilya from the "Fate/" Series), Akame Ga Kill, or Mirai Nikki.
If you want a similar concept that’s better imo, then try Madoka Magica, Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha, or Btoom.
Hope this helps you make your decision! If so, let me know by clicking helpful! If not, let me know why you disagree~
MozillaFennekin
“I kinda like it when a lotta people die.” --George Carlin Sometimes, all you need is kill. Ing. That’s what I was looking for with Magipro. I was a little stressed, you see. I was in a weird spot at the beginning of the season: pets dying, mothers hospitalized, promotions at work, dads who live forty miles away and need rides to work another forty miles away. Oh my god. I have RESPONSIBILITIES?! Tough times call for easy viewing. I wanted something that I didn’t have to think about. Something fun. And the synopsis of Magipro fit the bill. Magical girls killing each other? Don’t carewhy, I wanna see it. People dying is sensational and thrilling. Violence, murder, blood, death, despair! Sometimes, all we need is a little action. Fantasy is for the things we don’t want to experience. It’s all just for fun. Kill to thrill. It’s no fun ‘till someone dies.
And that’s why… I was actually disappointed with Magipro when it started. They give an obvious implication that things will go very wrong for everyone on screen, but if it weren’t for that small foreshadowing then this would’ve been seen as nothing more than a mediocre mahou shoujo anime. It starts off with talking. Then more talking. Followed by more fucking talking. Then the main character gets a template-level transformation and runs around town helping strangers over some exposition and incredibly light music. Where’s the charm? Where’s the MAGIC? Being a magical girl sounds really fucking boring given this show’s depiction of it. Madoka Magica was such a thrill because it had a really interesting depiction of magical girls until things got really fucked up. In Magipro, dying is the most interesting thing you could do.
I need to pause for a moment to calmly explain to you, kind readers, that if you continue comparing a show that is nothing more than a bloodbath to a complete deconstruction of an entire genre, I will find you, rip your arms off, and recreate Sentarou’s drum solo from the pilot of Kids on the Slope using your severed limbs as drumsticks. Please stop making this retarded comparison. The shows have nothing in common beyond being dark magical girl shows, and Magipro doesn’t even hold a candle to Madoka’s spectacle.
Now, back to the review.
Soon enough, the killings begin! ...In the form of really soft and boring deaths. Magipro is more of a competition in the beginning with the weakest link getting killed off. This is then revealed to the other girls by a couple people gathering info and sharing it around. They then complain by gathering in a chatroom and arguing with something that that is way too obviously a combination of Kyubey from Madoka and Monokuma from Danganronpa. Yawn. Where’s the drama? Someone just fucking DIED for fuck’s sake! Where’s the intensity?!
Alright, so eventually they start killing each other… it’s kinda nice, but also… I dunno, tame? No single fight nor death stuck out to me. There’s not much else to the show beyond magical girls killing each other, so you’d think this would be played up much more. Nah, no one had a crushingly brutal death, it’s more like they just lost in a fight and death was more of a side effect. I’d recommend seeing your doctor if you get a side effect of death, though. But there IS a lot of blood. Blood is fun, so the more there is, the better. One scene had multiple characters die in the same place, with blood splashing over some other characters. I jerked off to it. It was art.
One good thing about all the deaths is that they come at a pretty alarming rate. Perhaps it’s for the anime’s benefit that few people die in the early episodes, because that means multiple deaths in each episode later on. That’s when things get fun.
The way things play out can be interesting. Magical girls form pairs or teams, leading to tag-team fights and surprising betrayals. The drama is surprisingly decent, but it’s not too hard to throw in a bunch of crazy shit happening with a cast of sixteen characters. But still, it was nice to see certain bitches get double-crossed and some deaths can be unexpected. Except for… you know, the ones that happen about five minutes after someone’s backstory is revealed. Death flags are thrown around a lot, and that’s no fun. It’s like hearing what you’re gonna get for Christmas. I can’t be surprised about getting a PS4 and now Christmas sucks. Thanks, Trump.
The characters aren’t that good since they’re all meant to die anyway, but I still found myself rather amused by most of them. Many of them have their own idea of what it means to be a magical girl, and their access to power twists their mind a little. Say what you want about how bitchy Ruler is, she was one of the strongest characters. But none can compare to best girl TOPU SPEEDO. She wears a big witch hat and rides a broom. Everyone else go home. Anyway, the characters are just adequate--when the backstories are timed well, they’re actually pretty satisfying. Seeing a person’s life before their transformation and how much they’ve changed was interesting.
However, NONE of the above can be said about the main character, Snow White. She is an utterly atrocious character. There might as well have not been a lead, because she literally does jack shit besides cry, get upset, cry, lament about people dying, cry, and complain about her definition of being a magical girl not getting across to anyone else. Tough luck, bitch, go fucking murder people. I need to watch things die at a good safe distance, and you’re not helping. Why is she here? Can her parents please pick her up?
I mean, it’s cool that she’s the innocent character who cries about death all the time, but the fact that she isn’t even around for 80% of the time means she probably gets less screentime than several other people. Kinda hard to consider her the lead at this point. If she were at least part of the action and tried interfering with people every now and then, I could get behind her involvement, but I’m not joking when I say that she did nothing in the entire season. She makes Yukiteru Amano look like Yuno Gasai.
Their designs are pretty great for the most part and have a lot of detail and personality to them, but uh… what’s with all the fanservice? No, I’m not about to go “WAHHHH! THERE’S CLEAVAGE IN MY ANIME, MAKE IT STOP!!! WAAAAAAHHHH!!” It’s just weird when half the girls have big tits and wear super revealing and tight-fitting outfits to compliment their big tits, and the other half are practically flat and wear more creative and cutesy outfits. I don’t mind fanservice as a whole, and some sexuality is always expected, but goddamn, Magipro. Why don't you just dispense paper towels at the start of every episode? Top Speed still the hottest though. Get a witch hat, idiots.
But the best thing, of all things… are the names. Goddamn do these characters have beautiful names. Ripple. Calamity Mary. Winterprison. Hardgore Alice. Izetta the Last Witch. Holy fuck these are edgy. That’s so cool. I love them so much. I like edgy things because I like having fun every once in a while and don’t need to look mature by putting down teenage angst. I embrace it when it doesn’t go too far because it’s fun. Magipro is fun. It can afford to be a little edgier, though.
So, Magipro had some good moments. It ultimately delivered on its promise--a bunch of cute girls dying. It did what it was asked to, but didn’t exceed expectations nor disappoint. It was just a perfectly adequate job. Watching it was tiring at first, but I found myself having fun after a few slow episodes. In the end, that’s what matters, even if it could’ve been better. I recommend it for that, but I’m sure there are much better battle royales out there. Hell, I would actually say that Mirai Nikki is unironically better. Might need to put a trigger warning somewhere, though.
I gave it a 5 because that’s average. It’s not a low score, it’s the midpoint between 1 and 10. Don’t blame me for having “low scores” if you think 7.7 is “average”.
Oh, I guess I forgot the art and sound sections. Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yep they exist. Alright, got that taken care of.
Story - 5/10
Art - 5/10
Sound - 5/10
Character - 5/10
Enjoyment - 5/10
Top Speed - 55/10
Overall - 5.5/10
Favorite character - PM me Top Speed hentai
Favorite episode - not 9 that’s for fucking sure
Recommendation level - Medium
LeaderTGW
Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku, yet another entry for the "dark and edgy" as well as unnecessarily sophisticated "mature" magical girl genre. The Magical Girl Raising Project took a creative risk to introduce the completely original and unique concept (*major sarcasm) of the dark side of Mahou Shoujo‘s to audiences. Plot: Girl(s) with ``surprise surprise’’ problems in the real world distract themselves from their problems by playing a free to play (*with micro transactions) magical girl game on their android or IOS devices. But! Get this, in the game The Magical Girl Raising Project, one in tens of thousands of people to get to be areal "magical girl” even guys apparently... that’s a spoiler for another day. Besides the unwanted shock at the beginning of the series, the plot of the story was for the magical girls’ to race each other and collect more "magical candies" than their competitors. You know, a sweet and fun game that young girls would probably play… maxing out their parent’s credit cards on the micro transaction, but I digress.
All of this changed however, and the edginess kicked in. Instead of working together to defeat the common evil, the girls instead start killing each other because that is the easiest and most logical solution to solving problems.
The edginess and darkness that the story adds for shock value is simply repulsive. There was too much effort made to try and set this title apart from similar mahou shoujo titles with unique rules stipulations. Often time given out by some sort of creature or deity. I felt that the entire story was supposed to be going for “uniqueness” and there is no doubt that the staff reached their goal however, somewhere along the lines the staff got too involved in trying to recreate the same ``dark & edgy’’ formula seen in titles like Yuuki Yuuna is a hero, and Mahou Shoujo Madoka. So to a certain extent it just feels like watching a knock-off version of YuYu or Madoka.
This approach took away a lot of the good parts and redeeming qualities that the story had to offer. Rather than focusing on a story that branches out more on the game and characters, you’re greeted to a blood fest rumble where the main focus leans on shock value and a darker narrative. The story feels too constricted as well as repetitive with it's choices in storytelling. The most noticeable patterns are plot twist, shocking moments, and of course blood and gore. There are lighter times however; they are kept to a minimal. Only to be used when they need to add a quick plot twist. Because of the lack of freedom in the story, I found it difficult to remain engaged and satisfied with the events taking place in the story.
The animation for Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku is impressive nonetheless! Lerche is a pretty reputable studio putting out hit titles like Assassination classroom, Danganronpa, School-Live (*maybe not so much) and of course Monster Musume. All shows with amazing visuals and special effects. I found myself most intrigued by the battles in rising project, which should be no surprise. The destruction of scenery coupled with the determination and fear on most girls’ faces while fighting were well displayed. I felt like the visual tension between the characters made most fight scenes feel more dramatic too.The best fights where the animation felt clean and fluent had involved Calamity Mary and Cranberry. So I would highly recommend watching them in action. I mean you know a battle is done right when you want to go back and re-watch it.
The soundtrack fits the atmosphere of the battles. The well composed songs create a good amount of tension and exciting during events throughout the anime. While I felt the soundtrack was good, I did feel like it lacked the replay value and lasting effect that puella magi madoka magica soundtrack had. That aside, the voice actors were pretty good. I felt like each actor did an amazing job representing their perspective characters and giving them personality… except that dog girl whose name I cannot remember, and I’m too lazy to go close out of word and Google it. I’ll probably edit this out… or not.
The enjoyment of the series would have to be the fighting. I would’ve said drama however, Magical girl rising project is the kind of show where the drama tends to drag on. It goes on to the point where you’ll probably lose interest and skip forward a little.
Overall the show isn’t “bad” as in “the worst thing ever.” It’s just full of too many cliché’s and predictable moments depending on how experienced you are when it comes to watching anime. If there were any changes that needed to be made for the shows second season, if green lit. I would hope that they use an approach that isn’t so… one-sided. I want to see more than just violence and drama. I would like to see more into the characters daily lives and happier moments that last longer than 6 minutes (in screen-time.)
I gave Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku a 7/10 because I felt like despite all of the problems the show presents, it still manages to captivate audiences with its intense fights, drama, and unique cast of characters.
Chinaz
Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku - One more "Mahou Shoujo" to the collection I realize there are "mahou" animes but I do not understand why they have to be so bad. Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku is an example of how a "magical" anime manages to be tragic. The synopsis tells us that there is a social game called "The Magical Girl Raising Project" that allows one of them to be chosen to be a "magic girl" within a group of people (hence the tone "mahou" of the whole anime), which means she will have extraordinary physical abilities as well as magical powers that differentiate from the rest fromthe humans. What happens next is that, in a district where there are 16 girls, the administration thinks it should reduce the number of "magic girls" where each one should consume some "magic candies" but something becomes twisted and then the anime turns out into a giant plotwist for survival.
Since the concepts of "mahou" animation from Cardcaptor Sakura to Madoka Magica, mahou anime were always in a fan idea, yet it is not exactly a genre that can be enjoyed to the fullest because it is not generally interesting, so it is normal to people ignore it. Unlike other anime of the same genre, Ikusei Keikaru is everything but original, this series lives basically and during the episodes, the typical cliché. It's pretty clear that every character who has (or counts or shows) a backstory is pretty much a victim of each episode.
In a certain part of the story, the writers should have decided that the anime alone was not edgy enough, unless the characters passed on their way of life as a form of currency. It's a little hard to understand, but let's just say it's like stepping on legos, it hurts but then it's okay. In terms of art, the anime is horribly bad, not as bad as Dangaronpa for example but it is down the middle. The design of the characters is a disaster and honestly it was the part that I really didn't liked in the series. When I say that art is bad, I am also talking about the characters.The anime starts from the first episode to be defined with the tag good vs bad so it is possibly what "feeds" the series. In fact, no character is able to "save" the series because in general, the characters are very limited.
An "mahou" anime can not have more than four characters as main characters and even then four is already a lot, the ideal is really three for each fight or a goal and better the anime mahou, in general.Now, the problem resides in the Rest of the characters, this rest is all those that appear in two or three episodes and die without having their moment of the series. The more the part of the series that has each person has an arc, half of the episodes neither serves for nothing by that person is dies and is dies, all was in vain.
I had this anime in my plan to watch because I was missing the animes that came through in the old days and that I came to see more recently, but I was not expecting anything like this. This anime is super annoying and I advise no one to see it, unless you are a person that is an undisputed hardcore fan who thinks that all animes are really good but still (Mahou Shoujo) Ikusei Keikaru proves that no.
LegendAqua
Ohhh not another dark reconstruction of the magical girl genre...yes, but it's also it's own thing at the same time. Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku has a social game of becoming magical girls turned battle royale and sure on the surface it looks like a Puella Madoka Magica ripoff just under a "social game setting", but as much as Puella Madoka Magica comes at you with it's dark themes so suddenly without warning, Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku goes for the more slower approach and giving us some VERY well done anti-villains along the way. In terms of characters, it is one of greatest strengths towards the entire "BattleRoyale but under the social game schema", but it has it's ups and downs concerning if it's towards the more level-headed peaceful characters or the more psychotic ones. If it's towards the peaceful characters, LA gets it that some want to keep to the "rules" of the game, but it leads to be too naive of the plot at hand and the more obvious being having an easy target on you, the easiest towards this goes to Sister Nana voiced by Saori Hayami, Snow White voiced by Nao Touyama (especially at the start) and Top Speed voiced by Yumi Uchiyama. On the other spectrum, the more psychotic characters actually makes the anime's plot move forward and alot more interesting what with their character backstory as to how they became magical girl and for what reasoning, as much as this statement kinda of sounds like what Fav voiced by Kurumi Mamiya, the mascot of the Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku (and obvious Kyubey stand-in), but in terms of plot and interest, the anime wouldn't been this interesting enough, anyways the more psychotic characters that fit this bill going to Cranberry voiced by Megumi Ogata, Calamity Mary voiced by Kikuko Inoue and Swim Swim voiced by Inori Minase (halfway through anyways)
The characters do bring up themes of morality especially from Top Speed, it even brings themes of gender disparity especially from La Pucelle voiced by Ayane Sakura (slight spoilers...but La Pucelle is Snow White's male childhood friend...no LA didn't do a typo, anyways since La Pucelle's interest to magical girls at an early age and was humiliated by his friends, it kinda reflects the ACTUAL audience especially those in the male demographic who watches it..LA doesn't know if it's meant to be a jab at the audience or it's being self-aware that the audience are mainly males and maybe due to the atmosphere of the anime, it makes sense)
The plot twists really comes in the form of the characters true identities/backstories and how their deaths comes be in the end, some do get a short backstory after their deaths, some goes more into greater detail in order to motivate the other magical girls. What the only flaw to some of the death plot twists comes in form of the backstory coming in as a hint to who's gonna die next (not always but it comes up as a major predictability). Nonetheless the plot twists varies in how it's executed. LA also thinks that because of this, it's less Puella Madoka Magica and the more referenced in this review, Battle Royale.
As much as deaths are concerned however, LA will say at the very least that due to the major "villains" presented and given backstory on, they at the very least helps makes the entire "Battle Royale" schema along with the interesting villains propel the plot and makes it all the more interesting what some of the more unhinged and utterly psychotic villains there are, don't forget the magical girls' morals getting put into question along with their social mobile game turn into "survival"...and quite later on "slaughter".
The animation by Lerche, it had quite the crisp animation especially concerning the character designs and battle animation and the more brutalized deaths (seemed Lerche is going Danganronpa levels of animation detail). The animation at best was consistent for the majority of the animation, though LA rarely in the later episodes saw the animation dip slightly but not to the point LA wouldn't have distracted LA.
In terms voice acting, the majority of the voice cast did exceptional, with some standouts going to Kikuko Inoue, Inori Minase and Manami Numakura who voiced by Ripple. As much LA wanted Nao Touyama to be LA's favourite in this section, she did at best, her typical genki girl archetype though towards the end of the anime she showed a bit more, no LA's favourite voice actors would go to Kikuko Inoue and Kurumi Mamiya who voiced Fav.
The ending was at best, showing Fav's true colors and at the same time, it was solely a satisfying ending, though the "final battle" felt slightly anti-climaxed, nonetheless, it made sure the anime ENDED without any hint of a second season, it concluded the anime quite nicely with all thing considered even with it's slight anti-climax.
Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku maybe seen as another ripoff of the dark magical girls trying to STILL ride on the coat-tails of the Puella Madoka Magica, but for all LA can see, it's definitely trying to be it's own thing and sure the allusions of Madoka are there (Snow White's pink hair, her indecisiveness, the dark themes, a mascot character with ulterior motives etc.), but as LA said at the start of this anime review, it's definitely trying to be it's own thing under a Battle Royale setting with interesting villains and peaceful characters that quite frankly should have been another genre but nonetheless their contrasting personalities towards the social game and it's rules and even better the plot twists to finding out Fav has lied to them raises it as an interesting development. Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku may have it's issues and weakness but they are weighed in favour of it's strong focus, it's themes, questionable villains and indecisive heroes and Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku to be it's own thing.
Juarez
Well, I was expecting this willl be kawaii girls anime to be enjoyed for this season.The fact is, as you can check that FALL 2016 is full of mahou shoujo. Then I decided on a whim to choose this, and I don't regret it at all. There are two main reasons: The first reason is.. a lot of types of mahou shoujos!yes, each with different ability. I thought that it would be interesting to see them battle each others. And it is executed very well I say. The battle scenes are not much, but they are pretty good. Sometimes they are not fight heads on buttrick each others, which is interesting to watch too.
Another reason is.. there are some plot twists in this anime. No, I'm not talking about how they'll die here. Anyone who see this anime will be able to conclude, which one will be dead next time after watching few episode, because the pattern is repeated. But there are some minor twists in the story that are unexpected, which make this show enjoyable to watch until the end. I bet you'll not be able to tell which one that will survive until the end, because some of them are not really stand out at the beginning.
There are another good things from this show, like the OP and ED. especially ED which is really suit the mood. some interesting psychological story telling, although not too deep. That is understandable considering the length of this anime is only 12 episode, and with so many characters too. Good thing that there are almost no useless fan service here.
So my final verdict is, you can enjoy this anime as simple fantasy action anime, don't expect too much on psychological aspect (go for madoka or even wixoss series for that). also, beware that there are gore and bloody scenes here, I think that's not for everyone to enjoy.
Nishmo
Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku is a Hunger Game-esque anime at its core that attempts to bring in an array of "characters" with varying magical talents in an attempt to show an edgier side of the Magical Girl genre. Through a mobile app game, girls are chosen by the magical entity Fav for unknown reasons, but they accidentally selected too many girls to become magical girls, and so now they all need to compete in a competition of either gaining the most candies or killing each other (someone will die by the end of the week regardless) in order for them to survive. ------------------------- Story: 3/10 Story-wise, Ikusei Keikakuis filled to the brim with nothing but terrible cliches. It became clear that any character whose backstory was shown was very likely to be among the victims of that episode, and if that wasn't enough, they made sure to try to employ every type of sympathy-tool for the casual audience as they possibly could.
Character death not sad enough? Oh, well, they were pregnant. Also a housewife. Or they helped the homeless. Maybe they were bullied in school. They had found love. Their friend witnessed their death. Or maybe all of the above because this anime really has no dignity in its story. Death means nothing in this show, but I will explore that later on.
At some point in the series, the writers must have decided that the show just wasn't edgy enough unless the characters spent their life force (measured in years of their life) as a form of currency. I don't particularly count this as a spoiler because it hardly has any actual relevancy in the anime. It's just that they needed something to increase the variety of action in the show, so they added new items and they needed to make it "dark" for their teenage audience who thinks they're dark lords, so they made them use 'years of their life' as currency.
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Art: 5/10
At first it doesn't really look bad to me, but the more I look at it, the more I'm slightly repulsed by it. I mean, the combat is kind of okay, but the proportions on the characters are pretty bad and the designs themselves are fairly unimaginative. The combat scenes can be alright, they're nothing special or worth noting, but they at least can have a moment of something at least looking decent.
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Sound: 6/10
Probably the best part about the show is its sound. Not even so much the music, which relies on a set few soundtracks to play on repeat through every single episode. It's mostly the magical sound effects that give life to the series. If not for those, this anime likely wouldn't be heralded by much of anyone. My rating for this might actually be more of a case of, "It's good by comparison to everything else" rather than it being good as a standalone entity, but I'll stick by my rating of its sound quality for now.
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Character: 2/10
For the most part, the characters in Ikusei Keikaku are defined by their abilities and where they fall on the good vs. evil spectrum, with barely anyone at all falling in the middle. Either they're hardcore good or hardcore evil. Even characters that are super evil and have been killing off characters for the duration of the series are given backgrounds that try to "redeem" them and try to make the audience have sympathy for them, which really shouldn't work for anyone who isn't just watching for mindless entertainment.
Characters will either be "I will defend the ones I love!" or "I will protect myself by killing those who stand in my way." This is pretty much the case for absolutely everyone with maybe one or two exceptions.
This anime falls drastically to the curse of having too many characters. That might not always be a problem, there are plenty of anime out there that have a wide cast array but still manage to make them feel like more than plot devices. For Ikusei Keikaku, it's more that each character is a cameo appearance until they have their own arc. How do you know its their arc? The episode will introduce their backstory and say "hey, maybe there's an actual character here" moments before killing the character off and stopping any hope of feeling any legitimate attachment to the characters.
If you feel anything for the characters, I feel like I can definitively say you don't actually like the characters, you just like the atmosphere and the fact that the anime is forcefully telling you to care for them. It's not a natural "I care for these characters because they're good," it's a "I feel obligated to like this character in order to enjoy the series."
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Enjoyment: 2/10
I originally saw this anime and was really anticipating it probably more than anything else in the season. And as it started, I detracted on that position almost immediately. After the exhaustively obvious formula of who is going to die next was figured out, it wasn't really worth caring for any of the characters. Not in that it was a defense mechanism for me not to care, but because the anime didn't give me a reason to care. The anime just kills characters and hopes that you're sad at the concept of meaningless death as long as they toss in some crying friend or sappy flashbacks at the moment of death.
The most enjoyment I got out of it was laughing at how abrupt or sudden a death was. There's no actual reason to care for any of the characters because they never provided a reason to care, so attachment was out the window from the get-go. It was hard for me to look at this anime and even see the worldbuilding aspect of it because you can just see that the writer just wanted to showcase magical fights in a "dark setting where hope is hard to find."
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Overall: 3/10
Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku is desperate for reaction. It tries everything it can to force reactions from the audience rather than letting the audience feel things by themselves, and in doing so, comes across as petty and undignified. It's nothing more than a disappointing cash-grab that has nothing to offer anyone in any form.
gnerkus
In recent years there has been the rise of a sub-genre of anime I’d like to call ‘moe flip’. In this sub-genre, cute characters are immersed in harsh conditions, often brutal, that are unlike what the characters represent by their looks alone. These shows engage the audience through their shock value; having cute characters commit brutal actions or transform into psychological monsters. The masterpieces in this sub-genre go beyond the shock value and deliver compelling characters. Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku is a ‘moe-flip’ show that excels in delivering great shock value but fails to present meaningful characters. [Magical girl battle royale] Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku, or Magical GirlsRaising Project (MGRP for short), is a fantasy thriller adapted from a light novel of the same title by the studio Lerche who’ve also created other ‘moe-flip’ shows as Gakkougurashi. The story revolves around magical girls (mahou shoujo) who are forced to fight each other for their survival. Himekawa Koyuki, also known as the magical girl Snow White, is thrust into a role so different from what’s she’s dreamed of and tries to stick to her ideals. This task becomes increasingly difficult as the high stakes slowly reveal the monsters that have hidden in the midst of the magical girls.
[Lukewarm reception]
MGRP initially received a lukewarm reception when it began airing on the 2nd of October, 2016. People who’d gotten wary of the abundance of ‘moe’ anime were turned off by the character designs, calling it another ‘moe’ show. It’s magical girls theme didn’t help either - but its shock value did. With the first flip, the first death of a magical girl, the interest waxed. And when the show revealed its most influential character, it gained a steady following. This interest was maintained by the shows consistency in delivering shocking events albeit with the absence of a good plot.
[A thin plot]
The entire plot - or most of it - of MGRP is told in the first two episodes of the show. As with most ‘moe-flip’ shows, the pacing is not slow; the ‘flip’ often happens early. The first episode introduces the two main characters, the Magical Girl Rising Project which is actually a mobile game, as well as a few supporting characters. The second episode introduces the major conflict of the show through the death of one of the magical girls. Afterwards, the show became a series of battles with the occasional backstory employed for emotional impact. Unfortunately, this was ineffective as there was too little time to get invested in the characters; a lot of the characters died too quickly. MGRP was a victim of its large cast but there were a few standout characters that drove the story.
[Diverse characters but not much development]
Koyuki is the designated main character, as identified at the beginning of the show and has a few recognizable traits that define her. She’s pure-hearted, diligent and passionate about being a magical girl. As a result, she’s the least prepared for the changes that occur after the game’s mascot, Fav, announces that it’d need to cut down the number of magical girls. She grows during the course of the series, becoming bold enough to choose to rescue people at the risk of being attacked and killed by another magical girl. But at different points in the first few episodes she often has more battle-hardened and mentally strong characters come to her aid. One of those characters is Sazanami Kano, also know as the magical girl Ripple.
Kano is one of the few characters in the show that’s well-developed; there are many scenes of Kano outside her magical girl persona unlike most of the cast. She’s introduced as indifferent to the system and the other magical girls but becomes more involved after a traumatic event. She’s stronger than Koyuki psychologically and isn’t afraid to battle with the other magical girls. But Koyuki and Kano are not the most influential characters in the show; that title goes to Sakayagi Ayana, also known as the magical girl Swim Swim.
It’s difficult to state how compelling Ayana is without spoiling parts of the show. She’s a product of the new system created and uses it to her advantage.
Unlike other magical girl shows that feature high school girls, MGRP has a vast array of characters. There are high school girls, a girl in middle school, an office lady, female college students, a lesbian couple and even a boy. This diverse cast is further augmented by their diverse skills and brilliant character design.
[Great character design with a glum mood]
Each of the magical girls has a unique design that reflects their ability. In fact, all but one of the designs for the characters and their skills were picked by the girls (and boy) themselves. For example, Ruler looks like a princess complete with a cape and sceptre and her ability is to force anyone in front of her to obey her commands. Tama’s ability lets her dig 1m wide holes in any surface and she looks like a dog. The character design is made more remarkable by the art style and the overall mood.
While the character art and art within the game is done in a cute style, the background art is not. The backgrounds are mostly done in washed out colours and most of the scenes are at night. This gloomy mood is complemented by the often sober music.
[Fitting music but immemorable scores]
A good aspect of MGRP’s music is that there’s almost no cheery tunes; the tracks always seemed to propel the ominous mood of the show. Unfortunately, they seemed generic; one of the tracks even sounded like it was from a retro video game.
MGRP was enjoyable for its take on the magical girl sub-genre and its shock value. It’s diverse cast made it easier to connect to its characters. A fan of brutal thrillers would find this worth watching.
Mistrals
Character deaths done right are one of my favourite things in fiction. The absolute gut punch of losing a character I cared about, the ways the story's cast will play off of it and develop, and the impactful, irreparable tone shifts. You've already read the score I'm giving this, so I'm sure you realize none of that applies to Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku. It isn't hard to look at Ikusei Keikaku and see exactly what will go wrong with it. It's a one-cour show trying to tell the story of sixteen different magical girls -- and if that wasn't already a difficult enough task, it's a battleroyale where this expansive cast get butchered.
In other words, the show rides or dies on one specific thing: making me care about these characters and the tragedy that befalls them. It has far less than an episode to do that per character (even before I consider the focus on major characters, the world-building, the set-up, etc.).
The end result is a bunch of meaningless edge and gore as the show introduces characters, develops them for /maybe/ three minutes, and throws them into a blender. Any punch the initial chaos or 'twist' has gets sucked out after episode beyond episode of the exact same formula repeated ad nauseum. It quickly loses any feeling of genuineness when it only exposition dumps a character's backstory right before they're killed in the most underwhelming, blink-and-you-might-miss-it ways. Any impact most of these deaths would have is quickly erased as the show moves onto the next one, and any lingering callback or development it tries to make feels half-baked and hackneyed. Even the fights are often pretty lackluster and can feel rushed through, which is rather problematic when they're one of the core attractions of the show.
That all being said, the most frustrating thing about Ikusei Keikaku is that I care /just/ enough to get frustrated by it. Most of the character concepts and designs are compelling, and there's a fair bit of creativity put into the designs, personalities, and backstories behind them. A trans magical girl, a pair of lesbian lovers, even a buddy cop dynamic -- any one of these could be taken and fleshed out so much more. There's all sorts of differing motivations behind them, and in hindsight I've only grown to appreciate them.
Unfortunately, the show also decides to kill most of the interesting characters quickly and focus primarily on the least likeable and unique of the bunch. This only serves to aggravate the aforementioned issues.
Mild spoilers ahead (though I'll try to avoid the specifics). Our protagonist Snow White is yet another Madoka clone. She's a goody-two-shoes who just wants to help everyone and be friends with everyone and... dear god does this character not have a place in this story. I get what they were trying to go for -- a contrast between the incredibly dark storyline and the cliche heroine. However, what we end up with is a character who doesn't want to participate in the death game because she's too much of a good person... and she indeed doesn't. She continues to survive purely off other characters protecting her/dying for her, or just the blind luck of not being targeted. All the while she wallows in misery about her friends dying and how terrible the world is and just... exists. She's never really directly plot relevant so much as just observing, but even then, the show spends more time away from her than not. Whenever her struggles show up, they're simply not very interesting and a distraction from any meat in the show.
The other main character Ripple is among the least memorable characters in the show. I don't really have anything against her, but her only real personality and charm revolves around her relationship with Top Speed -- beyond that she's a cliche sullen teenager that the show doesn't really do anything special with.
Finally, the third significant character is a major antagonist, Swim Swim. Her power is interesting, but beyond that she's 7 years old and acts like it almost the entire time. Unsurprisingly, an antagonist with the mental capacities of a toddler isn't compelling in the slightest. There's not really much more to say about her, either.
There's a few other things I could pick at (Fav is an embarrassingly blatant attempt at ripping off Kyubey, the initial tone of the show doesn't shift gracefully into the dark 'twist' [which isn't even a twist because it's the entire point of the show], and the ending's character arc resolution feels strange and unimpactful [albeit the source material continues from that point, so it may play off it in more interesting ways]), but there's not much to say about them. The production quality of the show is fine but unremarkable, and the opening and ending songs are both solid but nothing too special.
For closing thoughts, I will at least say that I can't bring myself to really hate this show because I was almost interested in it. I can't say I'd ever recommend watching it, but if you really want to see some mediocre kill-em-all action, you'll find it here.
wolfwing
This was a rather strange anime, but I very much liked it, the characters are all interesting, and each are unique, and of course you have the obligatory chars you love to hate, and those you just outright hate. Watching this series unfold I was never really 100% sure how it would win, The story itself is really cool, others have compared it to different anime, but maybe it's just my lack of seeing many but I found it different enough that I ddn't notice or care. Visually I would say it's not too bad either, giving you enough of what you want, withoutgoing too far, from what I understand the manga and anime are a bit darker, but it didn't bother me that it lacked some of that here.
I would give this series a definite recommendation, and suggest anyone thats curious about it checking it out, it's a good strong 8 out of 10 for me.
Agent_Redacted
I spent 288 minutes watching magical girls killing each other. It was a confounding experience. Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku is a series about random girls getting selected as a candidate to become a magical girl. What you'd expect afterwards is them working together in order to repel evil from their world which is stained by evil demons and monsters. But no. Instead, you get to see them kill each other relentlessly for pretty much no valid and/or appealing reason at all. A normal anime watcher would probably find this anime shit. However, I am abnormal. This level of edginess is just about right forme. But the story wasn't that good so the edginess alone doesn't really impress me enough. Still, seeing retarded kids die once in a while isn't so bad. Therefore this anime was perfect for me at the time.
The only thing this show lacked was a good ending. The one currently is quite bland I thought I was watching Twilight all over again.
Recommended to those who wants to see a magical girl battle royale with a mediocre story.
OtherFritz
There is a certain genre of Magical Girl anime with darker themes that arose in the wake of Puella Magi Madoka Magica's success; a genre that has developed a reputation for being shallow, derivative, overly edgy and generally lacking in quality. Magical Girl Raising Project is one such anime and it must be said that it very much lives up to the genre's less-than-favourable reputation. The anime has a fairly simple premise, centred on a death game which (as the title suggests) features a cast of magical girls. Unfortunately, the creators evidently failed to understand the appeal of either genre, resulting in a joyless unfocusedmeander of an anime that fails to take advantage of its own ideas and presenting its audience with disappointment after disappointment.
One of Raising Project's biggest issues is its extensive cast. With more than sixteen characters to keep track of over the course of only twelve episodes, the anime spreads what little time it has for character development extremely thin. As a result, most of the cast have little in the way of proper motivation or characterisation, with maybe a smattering of largely irrelevant backstory at most. What's worse is that the show makes poor use of the characters it does have. Generally, the more likeable or potentially interesting a character is, the sooner you can expect them to be killed off, meaning that the last third of the anime consists largely of unengaging fights between glorified extras, only occasionally stopping to check in on Koyuki "Snow White" Himekawa, the requisite do-nothing pacifist protagonist who can be summed up as a shallow Madoka Kaname expy with all the character's depth left out.
In terms of plot and themes, Magical Girl Raising Project is a messy directionless trudge through a valley of exposition and action scenes, punctuated by the occasional flashback or character moment that serves no greater purpose than cueing up the audience to feel sad when the character in question dies. While a good Death Game anime would use its premise to raise questions about the ethics of survival by pitting good people against each other, this is impossible in Raising Project, as half of the cast consists of cold-blooded remorseless murderers. Yes, literally half of the cast; that wasn't hyperbole. This makes it all the more galling when the anime attempts to generate sympathy for one of the underdeveloped murderous psychopaths just as they're about to die.
Another common direction for both Magical Girl and Death Game anime is the clash of ideals, in which the protagonist's idealism and refusal to make moral compromises is tested against both the harshness of the scenario they find themselves in and the cynical self-serving attitudes of the antagonists. Naturally, due to Raising Project's shallow characters and constant use of a meandering "and then" style of storytelling, this angle is also squandered, with Snow White surviving as long as she does due to her irrelevance to the events of the story, as well as the occasional rescue, rather than any virtue or ability that she possesses. Even the show's moment-to-moment storytelling is poor, fraught with poorly established and inconsistent rules, characters that just stand around or forget about their abilities when the plot requires it and other such contrivances occur even in plot-critical moments.
To conclude, Magical Girl Raising Project is as lacking as one would expect. Too derivative and blatant in its intent to be subversive, too clumsily constructed to tell a compelling story and too overstuffed with with half-baked characters to get the audience invested; Raising Project is a resounding failure in every regard and in no way can I recommend it. There are plenty of Magical Girl anime and Death Game anime better than this one, so there's effectively no reason to waste your time on it.
FireEmblemIke24
The battle royale theme is no stranger to the anime medium, with many series incorporating it in their storyline from Mirai Nikki to the Fate Series just to name a few. The method of execution is what usually enamours the audience, which is a quintessential requirement for its overall success. Now can be it done with magical girls? The answer is a yes but the degree to which it is provides an entertaining storyline is variable. Anyone who is well versed with a last man standing format should have a complete grasp of the problems associated with it. The conspicuous social experiment that enables a totalof 16 magical girls battling each other to the death sounds amusing at first. The chosen participants are selected on a purely random scale each with their fair share of problems to boot. It looked rosy at first with the magical girls conversing with each other in the common chat room, only to take a sinister turn moments later. The news of the passing of the friendliest magical girl instilled fear and worry which was only going to get worse from this point. A battle royale truly begins when the first participant dies and Nemurin was the catalyst for the violence and destruction that soon follows.
The rules for the social experiment need to be addressed as I find it to be a major concern of mine. The objective in the magical girl raising project is to avoid getting the least amount of magical candies which are obtained through honest good deeds that signifies one being a Samaritan. The reward for aiding the vulnerable populace is clear but to me becomes irrelevant for the magical girls. Why waste your time when you can simply kill other magical girls to fulfil the requirements of the game? This quota in place holds no significance for the murderers who have no qualms about ending another’s life which include the public. It’s either dying by having no magical candies or being murdered by another magical girl. This is such an ideal scenario for a devout pacifist…
The game-master who oversees the pandemonium Fav is a pure mystery at this point. This fluffy and shrewd AI thing that only appears through holograms (through the communication devices) is just incompetent in my eyes. The thing isn’t even neutral like you expect him to be and is aligned with a certain magical girl in the social experiment. Fav is unjust, there is no concise and clear instructions made despite having an initial rundown on the rules. During the experiment, Fav is always adjusting the rules which can be agitating in my eyes as a third-party spectator. For example, always reducing the total numbers of magical girls limit to better ‘distribute’ the magical candies. I’ve explained it above and this shows you why it’s just a simple killing game with no substance.
The level of violence and profanity is a tad bit excessive in my opinion, with the show presenting majority of conflicts as being gore-fests meant to shock the viewer in all means possible. Death plays a pivotal role in how the characters develop, with many of them being direct casualties thus I find it redundant that some mourn for their allies despite being informed of the consequences. What the series performs well in are the number of alliances that is evident between participants. The concepts of deceit and betrayal is magnificently done with certain plot twists arising because of that. The amount of backstabbing witnessed in this social experiment is a valid representation of human behaviour when dealing with a life or death situation. The idea of being pitted against one other is detrimental for one’s frame of mind and this anime does a superb job at portraying the despair and bleakness.
This was also going to be a complaint of mine from the beginning and so you could do say that it was inevitable. Plot armour is deemed to be one of the most exhausted plot conveniences. If you have main characters such as Snow White and Ripple, it is only natural you expect them to make it till the end. The same rules apply to overpowered characters such as Cranberry and Swim Swim who display abilities that are overbearing compared to other magical girls. The survival of the fittest concept works wonders in a battle royale format considering it weeds out the weaker participants that die off first. This show could have been a great subversion if it tried to do things differently but instead we got the usual which is disappointing.
The characterisation of the cast is a bit mind boggling at times. Every single magical girl is given flashbacks which I find to be quite lazy and uncreative. The show is being melodramatic when it presents the sad backstory of a girl/boy trying to evoke emotion out of me. Every character has similar unfortunate circumstances making it difficult to differentiate characters based on prior experiences. The only one I can think of would be Top Speed who had a relatively normal backstory, she is not a deranged individual and exhibits qualities that of a kind and endearing person. The only dynamic characters I find even remotely interesting are Ripple and Swim Swim who’ve had various setbacks and proactively learn from them.
The animation by studio Lerche (Assassination Classroom, Gakkougurashi!) is well produced and there isn’t anything being sub-par in quality. The action scenes which are frantic and erratic are well produced and goes hand in hand with the colouring scheme which just adds to my immersion. The art style which includes the character designs is generally pleasant. The designs for the magical girls are very cute and adorable (would be a discredit to lolis) which is synonymous with the sub-genre. Each character was given a unique selling point making it easy to recognise them instantaneously.
The music composition is done by Iga Takurou who is a relative newcomer with hardly any titles worth mentioning. The opening was standard for a show but the ending was fantastic listening to repeatedly as it complemented the background scenery. The insert music used within the show usually only manifested itself in the intense scenes, where events leading to deaths were made better through careful track selection. There were plenty of occasions in which individual piano scores were used during somewhat miserable scenes which I found was appropriate. The music is not the selling point of the show as other aspects such as animation are much better.
I’m not really impressed with anything apart from the animation and art style which are top notch for its setting. The plot however is kind of forgettable and certainly needs to be revised to give a better experience. This is adapted from a light novel, so you may check that out if this series is to your liking. The lack of clarity with the game rules is probably its downfall which is a shame as it had much more to offer.
BBlade-From-Gaia
The greatest failure of this series is the lack of characters importance. I'm not kidding, I note that, with exception of one, the characters are become or cliche or unidimensional villain. This anime is the best example from a light novel compressed adaptation. I don't know the quality of the original material, however, this detail is notable. However, is entertaining. I special critizice the fleeting appearance of the many magical girls characters and the lack of the shock factor in many deaths. However, I praise the loyalty and respect from the series essence of the final chapter. Note: the blood and the violence excess doesn't meangood quality.
Jakeman95
So, this series attempted to do something unique with the magical girl genre; turn it into a real battle royal. However, in it's attempt to do that, it completely gutted itself and ruined any potential it had. I'll start with the good things. The character designs were somewhat unique. Despite feeling like some of the characters were blatant rip-offs of a certain other magical girl series, there were also several that had super unique abilities and how they used them were well designed. Especially Swimswim, I liked her ability... even if at times it felt like they didn't quite stick to itfully.
The art and animation for the series was also above par. I wouldn't say it was anything groundbreaking or specifically a reason why you should watch it, though. The voice acting was also pretty good.
The story was... bearable. For what it was worth, I didn't want to drop it expressly at any point, but that's probably because I quickly realized it wasn't going to have any potential and instead just let myself be pulled along for the ride.
However, that's about where the good points end.
For detractors, where do I start? How about the fact that they started with by far too many characters. 16? Really? Is that necessary? If you need to end up chopping half of them out (or more), how are you going to give them any type of proper character development? You have 12 episodes, 16 characters... that's not even an episode worth of mild character development per character...
Due to this, none of the characters get any solid character development. Not even our "main heroine" who, tbh, isn't that main. With the lack of development, this leaves you without any type of character connection or relatability, so you have no reason to emphasize with the characters as they hit the chopping block. On top of that, with the speed they do it, and lack of any backstory before they lose, you never get to the point of really wanting one to last till the end. Yeah, they kind of steer you towards a few you don't want to see win, but you're more wanting to see them lose than care about others winning.
So remember how I said they don't get any real development before they lose? That's the kicker, when they do lose, THAT is when they get a very small semblance of trying to build a backstory. Talk about bad story telling. The writer obviously doesn't know wtf they're doing. Yes, attempt to give me a reason (poorly told ones at that) to like the character after they've ALREADY LOST! What's the point in doing it now?
Another thing they tried to do, but didn't do too well at, was emphasize the shock factor. You could tell what happens to characters when they lose long before they "revealed" it. You also knew what the purpose of the whole thing was. I mean, look at the title... (I might have used rearing instead of raising, personally, though). There was no surprise. The only surprising event was how early they removed the one chance they had of trying to make the viewer empathize with the main heroine (hint: EP6).
Next, the shrinking of the number of "winners" they could have through out the series was horribly done. There was little planning, little lead up, and no reasoning (other than our obvious end result reason) given. "Oh, we just need to reduce the number" is not a well written reason. Come on, even I could give a more convincing reason than that and write it in a way that it didn't feel shoehorned in just as a story driver.
Next, the one orchestrating all this, Fav, was a shitty antagonist, and another example of the author not knowing how to write a good story. It's importance entirely revolved around nothing more than to prod the girls. It wasn't trying to stick to some moral high ground, or be actually evil... it couldn't commit to anything. Too many times did it prod or give information it shouldn't have, only to then say that it's just a observer and shouldn't be influencing the events.
Further, the rabbits foot usage. So, this for me was the crucifix that marked the series as poorly written and even more terribly executed. There is a more appropriate, more emotional scene (for the MC that is, not for us) for it to have come into play than when it did (hint: EP10). That is when this should have kicked in, considering it was there and there were far more emotions flying around from our MC. But poor writing struck again, and it only ended up being used as a shallow (and poorly executed) plot driver.
All in all the story telling was pretty bad, to be honest. So many things were written out of order, there was no character development, no shock & awe, no getting the viewer to feel invested in the characters or the story... and there was no satisfying ending. They never gave an any purpose as to why they were trying to "raise them". All they said was to find the strongest... but for what? Why? What good would it do for them? But I would say there was one good aspect to the story, and that was what I'll call the underdog factor when it came to which characters lasted the longest and earned the most... uh... wins.
The last detractor that I'll cover was, and this may be due to my personal like of the series, but how much it felt like it stole some of it's items from Madoka Magica. Our "main heroine" feels very much like Madoka, who doesn't honestly do that much through out the series, and is instead attempted to be further driven into depression to have her be there at the end to make some final event happen. Calamity Mary is, well, a partial rip-off of Mami. Her fighting style and abilities are fairly similar and they both have unstable personalities. And then there's the Homura copy, who I won't say who she reminds me of (as that's spoiler I feel), but the character is your reclusive, kind of dark feeling, black hair, I'll do things my own way type of character. Only thing missing is the backstory between the two (but again, this series doesn't have any of that anyway). On top of that, we have a poor Kyubey rip off, Fav. He's has a similar but different white design, is "misunderstood" (sort of), is alien to the story's world, and is there for some "greater good". Come on... if you're going to try this, at least make the core set of characters look different!
Summary:
So all in all, the series is decent if all you want is a battle royal with magical girls, but if you're looking for anything beyond that, you're in for a massive disappointment, and I'll tell you you're better off looking other series (may I suggest Mirai Nikki or Akame ga Kill).
fastghosthunter
Few reviewers will be able to express eloquently the trainwreck that is this series. In nearly 12 eps, Mahou Shoujo Ikusei Keikaku turned a unconvoluted premise convoluted, obtuse, unfocused, and just outright weird. The entire core of Magical Girl Raising Project was inspired from Puella Magi Madoka Magica, a critically acclaimed gem from 2011 that received praise for subverting the magical girl genre. It really blows that one of the few if only merits of the series is inspired from another, arguably better series made several years ago. The main content of Magical Girl Raising Project is watching Magical Girls perform brutal violence. The first fourepisodes had great pacing, shocking twist, and established the characters. Then it proceeded to drop the ball on every single plot point. Character motivations cease to make sense, the lack of logic becomes hard to ignore, and the one track mind homicidal maniacs ruin any sense of attachment that I had towards the series.
Mayoiga, another obtuse, but surprisingly good, anime shares some commonalities. They both have very brief cutscenes interjected clumsily episode after episode to provide backstories for the characters, and both shows are unintentionally funny at moments. While Mayoiga was bad, there were redeeming qualities. Magical Girl Raising Project is a trainwreck and not an entertaining one. Crucial characters will disappear for episodes
on end and plot points that you think would have been resolved in prior episodes pop back up for seemingly no reason.
And just to beat a dead horse. At the very least I could say that this show delivered something worthwhile thematically. Nope! not at all. Approach this show with caution because it is patience testing and a complete mess.
MontuBGTB
Magical Girl Raising Project brings the gore and intense action but other aspects of the show leave a lot to be desired. This anime may not be the best overall show but I am still glad I watched it because it succeeded in packing in some awesome and intense gory action sequences. The storyline is pretty basic but the overall theme of magical girls fighting each other to the death through brutal action sequences and twisted super powers was pretty entertaining at times. One of the reasons these actions sequences were so much fun is because the powers of the magical girls are smartlyvaried. There are girls with gun skills, speed skills, melee skills, and interesting other super powers. This keeps the action and suspense interesting throughout the show because it is hard to predict which girls would win which matches. The extreme gore and all out horror themed settings/backdrops also added to the action because it created a “no strings attached” exploitative feel to the series and as a fan of horror this kept me looking forward to each episode so if anything this anime definitely isn’t boring. The action was well paced and well-crafted consistently throughout the show and the sleek and modern animation style added an incredible amount of detail during these bloody sequences. The animation also elevated the fear and intensity of the character expressions adding to the horror action elements of the show.
Unfortunately while this anime’s horror action is fun to watch the rest of the show is pretty shallow. The first disappointing aspect of this show is the characters. The main character Snow White is supposedly the moral compass of the show. However, she is incredibly flandarized as an overly cutesy and naïve person. Because of this, I never connected to her as a character because she was not multi-dimensional. This was made worse by the fact that her character never changes from the beginning of the show to the end. The rest of the side cast is annoyingly underdeveloped as well as the show tries to develop every member of the side cast but fails because there are over 16 other magical girls besides Snow White and there are only 12 episodes in the series. Therefore, we learn about the backstories of every girl but besides their backstories there is hardly any time to connect with any of them emotionally. The other way in which this affects the show is that some of the magical girls are clearly more interesting and unique then others so certain characters feel annoyingly sidelined. Personally, I wanted to learn a lot more about Hardgore Alice and Calamity but we never got the chance. Overall, there were no bad characters but no characters who I felt a connection to either.
Another problem with this show is the overall storyline. It is a very standard “fight to the death” storyline. It is tightly wound and entertaining. However, it is nothing new or unique in today’s current times and it does feel like wasted potential as the writing often alludes to greater ideas but it never takes that leap to become something amazing. On top of that there are certain “aspects” that are clearly “inspired” by Madoka Magica. I won’t go into them in detail to avoid spoilers but it was something that held the show back from becoming its own unique experience. Overall, the story isn’t particularly bad but it is very linear and standard.
I am still glad I watched Magical Girl Raising Project because of the fighting sequences and as a fan of horror it was fun at times. However, the rest of the experience was to lackluster for me to recommend this to those just getting into anime or those searching for a memorable experience. If you like lots of bloody action and horror elements you will probably enjoy this but for anyone else I’m not so sure.
VivavideoUser2x
To be brief, this was a very enjoyable watch if you want a thrilling death game with cute characters.Surprisingly, the story doesn't fall into the trap of being too edgy and some actual tension was built and the ending very satisfying. But about halfway through the characters do faulter and the editing was all over the place. i do appreciate the gore and the intensity yet at the same time there was some sense of a facade that the show had with its overall cute tone and art style. Its like Mirai Nikki, but not AS trash and its waaaaaay better than Magical Fucking GirlSite.
Overall-7
(A pretty low 7,but a 7 nonetheless)
Marvelman810
So, I'll be honest with you, I was really hyped for this show. Sure, it was being done by a studio that isn't very well known, but the premise pulled me in. Studio Lerche also did a good job with Magical girls fighting to the death. Sure, it probably wouldn't be a masterpiece, but at least it would give me what I expected. A good battle royale, kill-'em-all. Sadly, that wasn't really what I got. Instead I got a boring piece of trash. Magical Girl Raising Project is about 16 girls who all become magical girls because of this mobile game. What a bunch ofcasual gamer trash! They then have to compete among each other to survive. They compete by collecting magical candies that you get from helping people, although we never actually see these magical girls helping people. Kind of odd. They then turn to murdering each other, and the show forgets that the competition was about magical candies and helping people, not who can murder more people. Honestly, this side of the anime showed much more promise. Sadly, the show can't follow up on the potential and the disappointment was crushing. Despite this, there is one form of entertainment that the story brings to Raising Project. Laughing at how poorly executed it was.
So, I'll be honest with you, again, after my expectations were crushed just like my will to live, at least the fight scenes could be decent, and I could have not TOTALLY wasted my time on this show. To quote Donald Trump-sama, "Wrong". Besides the fact that each and every fight in this anime that is literally about fighting each other is bad, they are also weighed down b the fact that Raising Project crams all of a characters development in ONE EPISODE. Bravo! So, the structure for an episode where someone dies basically goes like this. 2 characters fight. 1 beats the other. Right before said defeated character dies, all of her development is crammed into that 1 episode. To be fair, some characters that die didn't get the privilege of Studio Lerche giving them any development at all.
Ok, so the protagonist probably doesn't deserve her own paragraph, but I don't know how to write so, eh. The protagonist of this instant classic (if you couldn't tell, that was sarcasm) is known as Snow White. As a protagonist, she fills many roles, like helping to move the pilot forward, like any good character. Unless you're a pussy and don't believe in murdering other people. Don't be a pussy like Snow White. She ultimately does nothing to advance the narrative, a horrible trait to have as protagonist. She is super whiny, which becomes a bore to watch after like, 1 second. So, yah, she sucks.
[SPOILER ROUND]
Yah, this show sucks. I think I've established that. What I haven't established is some of the specifics of why this show sucks. Or basically, why the ending sucks. If you haven't seen the show, its best to skip this paragraph and go straight to my closing thoughts and scores. Let me just say, Magical Girl Raising Project was an interesting ride. It will most likely be one I remember for awhile, even if it is for the wrong reasons. I reached the end of the show, and there will only two girls left. Snow White (the whiny bitch), and Ripple (look at those tits!). One thing this show did well was character design. Ripple's design was always mediocre, but in the final scene, she actually looks badass. Of course, this scene takes place months after the events of Magical Girl Raising Project. Apparently, Ripple and Whiny Bitch have been helping people since Monokuma from Dangan Ronpa was destroyed. They fight, and the show ends at that. This is probably the best scene in the entire show, and is actually not half bad. It almost shows some synergy between the girls, and it is the nicest-looking scene in the show. The roller coaster ride is over, and it is now up to us, the community, to give our final judgement on the show.
[CLOSING THOUGHTS]
Magical Girl Raising Project was a clusterfuck that couldn't decide on what it really wanted to be. Did it want to deconstruct the genre, or be a simple battle royale? The character designs look nice, but I can't help feeling there wasn't one true vision behind them. Some look like big-titted hookers, while others look like traditional magical girls. Also, these are the most un-magical girl magical girls ever. Being one seems extremely lame. Wow, I get to jump around on buildings. And I also get to jump on buildings. And I guess murder people? If this show didn't call itself mahou shoujo, I would have never guessed. Slightly off-topic, but damn were there a lot of plot holes. Maybe not SAO-level plot holes, but still. Overall, this show was just kind of average. Nothing stands out as especially horrid, or good. Would I recommend it? Eh, probably not, unless you want to watch everything the Fall 2016 anime season and to offer.
Art: 6/10
Story: 4/10
Sound: 5/10
Characters: 3/10
Enjoyment: 5/10
Favorite character: Ripple
Favorite episode: 12 (The show ends)
Recommendation level: Very low
Overall: 5/10
