English Dub Review: Hina Logic from Luck & Logic “Even Presidents Fall From Trees”

Well, I’d say this episode was pandering to all the yuri lovers, but it’s so adorable, I don’t care.

Overview (Spoilers)

Summer break is over, and only half the school year is left. Those seniors in the ALCA are up for some career counseling. After all, with the world at peace, Logicalists aren’t needed for militaristic purposes. Yuuko is having difficulty figuring out what she wants to do since her covenant powers only make her good at cleaning. In the meantime, Mizuki pines for Yuuko’s attention. She tries for one last chance to be alone, the Bon Dance Contest at the local festival. Unfortunately, Yuuko mistakes her intention and invites all the young’uns along, too. Disaster strikes when the contest medal is stolen by a raven, and everyone transforms to hunt for it. Afterwards, Mizuki’s moment alone with her favorite girl comes, and they encourage each other along the life paths that they both want to take.

I’m just gonna go out on a limb and say I like Mizuki. She’s a hilarious goofball. The show sets us up with more than enough evidence that her feelings for Yuuko go beyond mere friendship and breach into sexual territories. If you’re thinking that, I won’t say you’re wrong. However, let me present you with another theory. The two of them have been friends since kindergarten, and Mizuki is more than aware that Yuuko is the type to plow ahead with taking care of others, without taking any time to think about herself. Mizuki’s prince charming routine is intended to constantly remind Yuuko of her worth, and to ensure she feels cherished, feeding her as much as she gives to others. This is suggested in how Mizuki tracks Yuuko’s moods each morning, trying to see how much effort she has to put out to keep her beloved friend happy… either that or she’s a creepy, lesbian stalker who desperately wants into Yuuko’s yukata. Even more, after she hears that the sweet, matronly girl goes commando. Oh, well. Take your pick.

This relationship mirrors the friendship between Liones and Nina. On the surface, the episode presents a few of Nina’s actions as the beginning of a “more than friends” attitude to American audiences. We see her reach out to hold Liones’ hand and share food with her. We also see her get extremely embarrassed at seeing Liones in the buff below and is shy when asked to dance. However, let me be the voice of reason again. Nina is a girl who has been on the outskirts of society for most of her life. Liones is her first actual friend, and one who doesn’t understand the meaning of the word “filter”. Whatever impulsive thought goes through her head, she does it. Nina acts shy and embarrassed not out of romantic feelings, but because she is going out on a limb with being friends. Every step and action is a new one, and she has no clue if she’s doing it right. She loves being around Liones because the little princess makes her feel she can be brave enough to do what she feels, too. This is how they mirror the other relationship. One is unsure of themselves and their path, and the other’s off the wall nature pushes them to be more of who they really are.

Mizuki also brings up an interesting point, and one I hope they play with as a plot for the series. With the world at peace, Logicalists have nothing to do. But, surely, there are some dissidents out there. As fighting breaks out, Logicalists will find themselves being torn away into one faction or another, and the world will descend into Covenant-fueled war. Mizuki’s dream is to transform the ALCA into an organization that makes Logicalists into a force to prevent and stops these wars from happening, acting somewhat like Jedi Knights and Consulars. They would be ambassadors first. As people who are adept at reaching an understanding with a foreigner, they would be shoo-ins to help others broker treaties. If things fall apart, the ALCA is neutral to the dispute, and step in only to maintain peace and stability. This is a great plan, actually. Refocus from defending against threats without, and work on stabilizing what’s inside. Of course, her version of ALCA is also the world where Yuuko could shine. Her calm spirit and inoffensive power set make her the perfect ambassador and teacher.

Our Take

As much as that possible point excites me, my hopes for this series developing an over-arching plot is dying a slow, torturous death. You know, like being tied down as a bamboo shoot grows up through you to impale you over several days. That kind of death. The series is just too devoted to the slice of life and cuteness and doesn’t really care about going anywhere. In that way, it’s kinda like Ouran High School Host Club. The focus is more on the characters. I’d be okay with this, but it took us a while to reveal enough about each girl to be interesting. This episode and the previous one were both good at character development and worked on multiple characters at a time. If the show continues as it has from these two episodes, I think I can be okay with it lacking plot.

The animation didn’t have much to write home about. Since this is a magical girl show, all the high-end animation is bunched into the transformation sequences, which are used as clips from then on. Otherwise, the episode didn’t really want to bother with high-end animation. The background art is good, though, as is the character designs for the yukatas. They were cute, yet understated and tasteful. The voice acting was fine throughout, with Elizabeth Maxwell (Yuuko) and Amber Lee Connors (Mizuki) taking the forefront. I felt like both characters came off rather genuine, and there really was a connection between the two. This is part of the basis of my theory about their relationship. Mikaela Krantz’s Yayoi only annoyed me in two lines, so… improvement?

Though the episode lacked strong plot, it was good at character development. Art and voice acting took more of an emphasis on animation, and I’m fine with that. As such, I give this episode eight hedgehog-shaped treats on a stick out of ten. No seriously, that was cute, what was that thing?