English Dub Review: Mashle: Magic and Muscles “Mash Burnedead and the Origin of the Greatest Magic User”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
In exchange for his life, Wahlberg attempts to whittle down Innocent Zero by manifesting Thirds, which opens the true power of his wand.  Innocent Zero manages to escape the spell using his superior magic.  Fallen into a desperate situation with no escape, Wahlberg is saved by…none other than Mash Burnedead himself!  The battle between father and son is about to unfold!

Our Take:
After a close save by Mash, the muscular non-magic user is ready to test his might against his “father”.  However, Innocent has one last trick up his sleeve to possibly turn the tide of the season’s final battle.  Before the fight, Innocent steals Wahlberg’s spatial magic to gain the upper hand, but fortunately for Mash, it isn’t without a significant downside to his unlimited power.  Without the immortality needed to withstand multiple stolen abilities at once, Innocent is highly likely for his body to break down.  While Mash was able to throw a couple of good punches at Innocent, it wasn’t enough to rout him, as the villain retreated to recover from his affected body.  However, Innocent offered a parting gift before his departure: a giant monster formed by the bodies of his demonic minions hellbent on destroying the school.
Even though the fight against Innocent Zero was short-lived, Mash’s confrontation with Innocent’s monstrous minion is unsurprisingly satisfying for a crucial reason.  The academy students finally look past Mash’s magic-less cover and see him as a loyal person doing the right thing, all while he’s playing tug of war with the beast.  With the support of his friends, Mash manages to destroy the monster, saving the school once again.  Since the series is about Mash fitting in at a school filled with students with magical abilities, the penultimate episode offers a satisfying and often amusing closure to Mash’s quest for acceptance from the magic-filled society.  Unfortunately, Innocent Zero has left to fight another day.  Maybe that would be the topic for the sequel that was just announced last month.