Hey all, I’m back with another Anime Sunday with an older series my younger brother made me watch. It’s my “Mashle: Magic and Muscles” Episode 01 Impressions.

Plot: The barebones of the plot is that every character in the magical world of the series has some kind of mark on their face, which means they can use magic, except for the main character Mash who just doesn’t particularly care and works out instead. Honestly, the entire thing was not to my liking as it relies way too much on gag humor. I can see how things like Harry Potter inspired the creation of “Mashle.”

Characters: The main character Mash is a teenager, and his adopted father constantly tells him to not go into town because he clearly doesn’t have any magic powers or skills since he has no face marking and there’s a death warrant out for those who don’t wield magic. His adoptive father Regro was a background note in this first episode, so I’m not sure if he’s even a secondary character.

Art: The animation is pretty good which isn’t surprising since A-1 is the studio behind it. It’s not ufotable quality, but it’s still really good.

Music and Sound: The music fits the episode, clearly playing up the gag humor.

Honestly, the first episode wasn’t particularly noteworthy for me, though I did end up watching it in the English language dub which isn’t my usual thing, but I was watching it with my brother, so he got to choose how it was voiced. The voice acting in the episode was pretty much on par with what I expected, which is mediocre in the extreme. It’s probably better in Japanese, but the plot is enough of an issue that I won’t bother watching the series again.

Overall: An okay series. Those who enjoy gag humor will probably enjoy it quite a bit, but I personally didn’t enjoy it quite as much.

For those who like: Comedy, Fantasy, Gag Humor, and Adventure.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.