English Dub Review: Mashle: Magic and Muscles “Mash Burnedead and the Magic of Iron”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Mash and Dot are spotted by Silva, a Lang dorm student known for his bad behavior. Silva offers a bet on whether the boys can endure five hits each of his magic. Silva says he’ll give up a silver coin if he can endure, and Dot says he’ll take hits for Mash, too. Dot withstands ten hits, but Silva reveals the brutal reality. Looking on, Mash takes decisive action.

Our Take:    

A simple class assignment in the forest took a massive detour thanks to a psychotic Lang student named Silva. Not only is he part of the Lang dormitory that plots to steal the other students’ coins, but he also comes equipped with Iron Magic, which he uses to damage Dot’s lungs. But, of course, it’s not without its “surprising” twist involving Lauren being Silvia’s partner. By that, I mean completely obvious, considering her attempt to seduce Mash in the previous episode.

The episode then has Dot and Mash joining forces to tackle Silva’s dangerous challenge, which has them withstanding his iron magic. However, Dot took in all the hits, including the five hits aimed at Mash, which left him barely unconscious, allowing Silva and Lauren to berate him for his perseverance. But, of course, their cruelty is the last thing they make, as they’re treated with a gigantic piece of satisfying karma from Mash. After crushing Silva’s iron magic, Mash used Silva’s ten-hit challenge against him by delivering two powerful punches to the Lang student. Then, after swatting away the giant forest scorpion like a leaf, Mash gives Lauren the biggest German suplex she’ll never forget. Let’s see if she can seduce her way out of that.

This episode continues to showcase horrible people getting their asses handed by Mash, with Silva and Lauren being no exceptions. These are still my favorite parts of the show. It’s not just because of how hilarious they display Mash delivering wicked power moves, but also due to my immense enjoyment of seeing these nasty people receiving karma. Yes, that includes that seductive bitch Lauren, who doesn’t deserve to be loved after what she said to poor Dot.

Of course, the episode has another nod to the Harry Potter franchise, which occurs during a flashback showcasing how Mash got into the Adler dorm. The unicorn-like skeleton sorting the students into their dorms is a highly amusing reference to the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Additionally, the skeleton reading Mash’s mind full of cream puffs was another highlight regarding the show’s comedy.

Amid the show’s entertaining conclusion to its first half, we learned more from Lance about the Lang dorm’s nefarious purpose regarding their quest to steal coins. The Lang students are led by Magia Lupus, seven noble students obsessed with preventing commoners from becoming Divine Visionaries, with the leader, Abel, taking charge. These nefarious students will likely provide a challenge for Mash to face in the season’s second half, which will probably be the most thrilling and hilarious fight of his life, mostly the latter.