English Dub Season Review: Mashle: Magic and Muscles Season One

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Set in a magical world in which an individual’s position within society is defined by their power and skill with magic, Mash Burnedead (Aleks Le) is a young man without so much as an ounce of magic in his blood. In order to live a peaceful life with his adoptive father, Regro, Mash will need to become a Divine Visionary, a title that is only given to exceptional students from the Eastern Magic Academy. Despite having no magic whatsoever, Mash goes to the magic school, determined to survive and show the world that muscles can beat magic.

Our Take:

Mashle: Magic and Muscles is an anime adaptation of a manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Komoto. It is produced by A-1 Pictures and directed by Tomoya Tanaka, with Yōsuke Kuroda handling the screenplays. Hisashi Toshima created the character designs, while Masaru Yokoyama composed the music. The opening song is “Knock Out” performed by Taiiku Okazaki, and Philosophy no Dance performs the ending theme song, “Shū Cream Funk”.

In a world where magic exists, everyone possessing these powerful skills is deemed superior to those without. However, only one person has a particular kind of magic that’ll forever change this balance: his muscles. Many shows involving people attending magic academies usually have a unique student whose powers can surpass even the superiors, including The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World. While it may seem unfair to everyone else, it’s also mildly amusing to see the main character surpass their low expectations in surprising and hilarious ways.

Unsurprisingly, Mashle: Magic and Muscles is another addition to that category but with one noticeable difference. Instead of having the main character possess magic more powerful than the rest, this series has a character who doesn’t have any but compensates with incredible strength that can withstand any spell thrown at them. Who knew an anime like this could convince viewers about the satisfying reward of exercising daily? But was this change enough to graduate to the top of the class? Surprisingly, yes. Like everyone else who enjoyed Mashle, I, too, was impressed by how entertaining and uniquely humorous this series turned out.

Think of the show as a mixture of Harry Potter and One Punch Man. The former part is quite apparent, as it contains multiple elements resembling those from the fantasy franchise, especially the episode titles resembling the Harry Potter installment titles. Another example is in “Mash Burnedead and the Magic of Iron”, with the unicorn-like skeleton resembling the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. For One Punch Man, Mash Burnedead resembles Saitama in their muscular physique and immense strength, but he’s more gullible than the powerful superhero. It’s the best of both worlds for the fantasy franchise’s fans and those who enjoyed shows involving overpowered characters, including One Punch Man. Luckily, I am one of the people who love both of these things, so it’s like this series was made for me.

So now that we know the concept of Mashle, how was the execution? Well, it’s pretty much what you’d expect from a magic academy show featuring an OP main character. However, it’s also the most fun I had from the genre. The show’s tone is as dense as Mash, with the humor having a satirical and quirky feel to the genre’s cliches. At points, it periodically overshadows the serious moments with the characters’ awkwardness, resulting in its tonal shift being sudden. This could’ve made the show tonally imbalanced and idiotically mindless for anime fans and casual viewers. It felt that way after watching the first episode, but it gradually improved as the series progressed. From its humorously bizarre appeal to Mash surprising people with his strength, the series delivers a magical balance of comedy and fantasy that isn’t too overbearing for the eyes and ears.

As for its story and characters, Mashle is a basic magic academy show involving good magicians battling evil magicians, with the main character caught in the middle. If you’re expecting its storytelling to be as emotionally riveting as the last few Harry Potter films, including Deathly Hallows, you might not get that from its light-hearted tone. Then again, we’re only at its first season, so it’s possible that the later seasons might take that route. However, if you wanted a fun and satiric depiction of its genre tropes, Mashle casts almost all the right spells to keep the magic train going. While some of its narrative beats don’t work as well as others regarding the execution, it’s suitably paced and consistently entertaining enough to punch out of its genre barrier.

Mash has the usual traits you’d expect from other male anime characters, such as logic-defying abilities, a kind and selfless personality, and a permanently deadpan expression that often turns people off. When executed correctly, a character like Mash can create an interesting and often humorous arc that takes advantage of their persona. Saitama from One Punch Man worked well for me because he was bored from being too powerful. It’s evident that Mash’s arc is nothing like Saitama, but that doesn’t make him less enjoyable. Sure, his IQ isn’t as high as his power level, but it’s part of the show’s comedic timing that led to some unexpectedly hilarious rewards. Aleks Le did a remarkable job portraying Mash’s deadpan expression through his vocal performance.

As for the rest of the characters, the English dub cast was suitable for their performances, even though none of them were as memorable as Mash. While some characters have personalities that seem one-note, including the lovestruck Lemon (Anjali Kunapaneni), a couple of them can be a bit too obnoxious for their own good. One of them is Dot Barrett (Benjamin Diskin), a hot-blooded and easily irritated student who’s jealous of Mash for unintentionally winning Lemon’s heart. Dot can be periodically annoying due to his loud voice, but he compensates for his shining moment in the tenth episode, “Mash Burnedead and the Divine Visionary”. The other is Tom Knowles, a senior at the Adler House and a member of the Duelo team. He has an overbearing personality that’s almost as bad as Dot’s. Thankfully, Tom only appears in a couple of episodes.

A-1 Pictures has delivered some impressive work over the years regarding the animation quality, with the notable ones being Fairy Tail, Sword Art Online, and last year’s Lycoris Recoil. It’s not just because of how it displays the action scenes but also the comedy moments between the characters. Mashle: Magic and Muscles has those elements that make the series a perfect fit for the studio. Unsurprisingly, the show’s animation proved me right regarding how it translates the manga to anime form. It provides a solid amount of vibrant glimmer in its action and comical presentation to depict a uniquely quirky approach to the genre.

Overall, Mashle: Magic and Muscles offers an equal amount of muscles and spells to reinvigorate the magic academy genre easily. It’s far from fantastical regarding some of its supporting characters and familiar narrative beats. However, it packs a punch in its entertainment values and parodical comedy to deliver a refreshing experience that’s both magical and suitably powerful. Thanks to its voice cast, solid animation style, and direction for the concept, Mashle is the most fun I had from a magic academy anime this year. With the show’s second season already confirmed for release next year, expect us to revisit the muscular magician sooner rather than later.