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Now in Japan
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Friday, 11 May 2007 17:00 |
 Was that really the suckiest ending that ever did suck!? Oh GAINAX, masters of the duff ending, thou hast been thrown from your throne by quite possibly the most gratuitous use of the Reset Button™ that I've ever seen. And Magikano had been doing so well until, oh, about the mid-point of episode 13. I feel cheated...
12 - Is it Really the Time of Awakening?!
It's New Year, and the celebrations are in full swing at the Yoshikawa homr. As usual, Haruo's being tortured by the girls - Marin and Yuri have dropped by (just to check on how he's doing, of course), while Maika and Ayumi are getting along as well as ever (ie, they're not). Oh, for the days of peace and quiet. But Haruo's beginning to have some strange thoughts - it seems his magical powers are about to awaken, and even Maika's hammer of doom isn't about to stop them. For Ayumi, that's just fine, as the end of her curse is looking so much closer now - but there's something she doesn't know about the nature of Haruo's powers...
13 - Is the Really the Last Episode?!
Ayumi and the others are determined to save Haruo from Michiru's clutches - so with Ayumi receiving a little magical boost from a certain pair of cursed nekopantsu, the gang head for the world of magic and a showdown with the little sister from hell. Her connection to Harup has given Michiru a serious boost to her magical ability (and a questionable new taste in clothes, apparently) - her powers are now far beyond anything Ayumi and co can deal with - but on seeing the girls defeated by Michiru, Haruo's powers finally awaken fully. And that's not good...
First, the good. There's some good humour in episode 12, which is the last of the really funny stuff (what humour there is in 13 just feels out-of-place), and all the girls get their moments to shine before the Big Red Button™ is hit. And you get to see Michuru doing some very suggestive things to Haruo, while wearing a very skimpy outfit.
Now, the bad. The method of stopping Haruo transforming into the Demon King is simple enough - at the point where his transformation is about to kick in, rewind time for a year. Rinse, repeat, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. The "revelation" that Haruo, Ayumi, the other girls, everyone has been living the same year over, and over, and over again for The Maker knows how long, and will continue reliving it over, and over, and over again for The Maker knows how long, just leaves you wondering why you bothered. Ayumi's curse? Irrelevant. Michiru's schemes? Irrelevant. Haruo's chosen girl? He doesn't choose one, but if he had it would be irrelevant - it would all just be rewound by a year and played back all over again, Groundhog Day-style. That's not an ending, it's a complete copout.
Over the whole series, Magikano has been great fun - it's completely mindless, sure, but it's done such a good job of making me laugh that I really didn't care how shallow it was. If you're going to put plot points into any series, though - like say, Ayumi's curse - then they really do need to be resolved, and not just tossed away in favour of a reset ending. Either do it right, or don't do it at all. Magikano was so close to being a damn good little comedy distraction, but this ending really doesn't do it justice. Disappointing. |
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