English Dub Season Review: Muhyo & Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation Season One

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Toru Muhyo is the youngest executor of the Magical Law Association. He works with his assistant Jiro Kusano a.k.a Roji to solve supernatural cases together. They get a few clients and become friends with a medium named Nana. During their trip to the Magical Law society, Muhyo’s old classmate, Enchu, causes a large incident with forbidden magical law. Furthermore after an incident at the Magic Prison they fight against powerful spirits while there’s a traitor among them. The duo continues to work and take down Enchu and his evil group.

Our Take:

Muhyo & Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation is a 2018 anime by Studio Deen. At first the anime had a slow start introducing the characters and developing the worldbuilding of the Magical Law society. The first episode establishes what magical law is, how it works, what executors need to replenish their power, the types of evil spirits. Later it gets into the tools and society of the magical law users. Even though it’s slow in the beginning it kicks off with the incident at the Magic Prison. It leads to darker themes which I will get to in a bit. The animation for the series is simplistic and occasionally repetitive, but that’s just for Muhyo judging on the spirit with their crime.

For starters the main characters are Muhyo (Todd Haberkorn) and Roji, two young guys solving supernatural cases together. They’ve got the dynamic of a short and rude person with an insecure but kinder person. Now Muhyo knows his worth as the youngest executor in magical law history and his personality reflects this. Thankfully he doesn’t let it get to his head with how much of a celebrity he is in the magical law society. His strict dedication to giving out the proper punishment for evil spirits is unparalleled.

The anime doesn’t reveal how he and Roji became partners, but despite his personality, Muhyo does care about Roji in dangerous situations. The second half of the season proves it when they have to send a very evil spirit to hell. He performs multiple judgements on several spirits. Then he uses a contract that requires several executors to send the Face-Ripper Sophie to hell. That’s not to say he’s invincible as he later exhausted himself after that contract with the envoy from Hell.

Next there is Jiro Kusano a.k.a Roji (Khoi Da) and his kinder personality balances against Muhyo’s more abrasive personality. However there are times where his indecisiveness gets annoying especially in crucial moments where his actions matter the most. At least there’s visible progress for his skills going from simple spells to more complex ones. Furthermore he does eventually trust in Muhyo and works on his role as his assistant.

Then there are the recurring characters like Nana the medium and Yoichi, Muhyo’s old classmate and a magical law judge. They basically help with mixing things up Muhyo and Roji’s cases while explaining the magical law terminology and tools. Although Yoichi’s pervertness is cringy, he does have a serious intellectual side to him. Muhyo’s partnership with Roji gets more clarity with Youichi talking to Roji about Muhyo.

Now let’s talk about the second half of the first season, because it gets dark with one of the villains. For starters the Magic prison where they house powerful ranking spirits spikes up the horror for the anime. The Face-Ripper Sophie is a powerful spirit and her actions later lay waste to her jailers’ skin. The anime peaks with her role in the Magic Prison incident. It later leads to more interesting conflicts and developments for Muhyo and the others. Furthermore like most of the cases the anime displays the spirits’ reason for their actions as contradictory as it might seem. In Sophie’s case she wanted to go to parties, but her older sister wouldn’t let her because of her ugly appearance.

Then there are the villains that fell to the dark side because of certain circumstances. Soratsugu Madoka a.k.a Enchu (Mark Whitten), Muhyo’s old classmate and Rio (Cherami Leigh), their former teacher and an Artificer of magic tools are such examples. Both of them turned into traitors and worked actively to bring down the Magic Law Association. Enchu’s downfall was his mother’s passing and Muhyo getting the promotion instead of him which leads him down the road of insanity.

Similarly enough Rio’s undoing was due to the older executors in her neighborhood not helping her when her mother was killed by a evil spirit. Was I expecting commentary on adult office politics and harassment in Rio’s story? No, but it made her breakdown and motivations more developed than Enchu’s insanity turned obsession with Muhyo. However her mentorship with Muhyo’s old classmate, Yu Abiko a.k.a Biko (Bonnie Gordon) was heartwarming. It sets up the anime for another season with the unresolved resolution between Enchu’s group and Muhyo’s group.

Overall it was a decent anime with a supernatural touch to laws and society. If you’re looking for a supernatural anime with a twist then this anime is good to watch.