A Certain Magical Grimoire

Hm…I’m not sure whether i like this anime or not just as yet but it shows promise in being a typical festival of groping, clothes ripping and misunderstandings. While I’m not a particular fan of this genre, i can still say that the animation for the episode was decent and that we’ve introduced the main cast in full by the end of the episode (well, the important ones at any rate). That combined with a seemingly staple story, and you’ve got something that anyone can sit down and enjoy (at least for now).

We begin off with Karasuma Yoich, samurai and mountain boy, trained in the swordsmanship of the Kamikaze style. Having grown too strong, his father directs to him the city to gain experience to temper his already awesome sword skills. Of course he has to stay to someone (or some peoples in this case) and his father send a letter (via arrow) to the home of the Ikaruga family, comprised of 4 sisters - Ibuki, the oldest and the instructor of the dojo, Ayame, the tsundere one of the bunch, Chihaya, the glasses wearing apsiring mangaka, and Kagome, the youngest and the shyest - whom agree to take him under their wing as long as he stays in the city.

But anime being anime, the journey from the mountain to the city centre is frought with perils as Yoichi struggles against delinquients (who he readily defeats), well-meaning officers of the law, reading elevator floor signs, women’s change boothes, and the occasional unexpected train trip all the while meeting up with the 4 sisters who have no idea who he is. Through it all, we do see that he is a well meaning guy who just always ends up in the wrong situations through mishaps and understandings - in the end some people do to. Ibuki does finds him and takes him home in the end, and surprise, surprise, the other sisters already have their misconceptions about him (especially Ayame).

Truth be told, this wasn’t a bad first episode and while I’m not entirely hooked on the idea of excessive cleavage staring and revealing, the story and character development may keep me watching (at least for a while longer). Solid animation and mildly amusing character designs are what seem to be the strong points - pity about the mediocre opening and ending theme. A good series to follow if you enjoy guys just being, well, guys. I’ve included the opening and ending themes below as well alongside my usual screenshots (with the gallery here ). Enjoy.

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