Mashle - Season 1

"It's One Punch Man goes to Hogwarts, nothing more and nothing less..." says Meon, and he's right. When he said this about the manga about half a year ago, I thought this was just the thing for me. Unlike Meon, I love Harry Potter books even after having read them last in 2020, and I still love the series, although I am aware of its many shortcomings. I also fondly remember Saitama from One Punch Man and its style of humor. Simply put, if you like two main ingredients in a dish, you will surely love the whole meal, right? Well, not necessarily... My surprise was great when, already in the first episode, I didn't find Mashle funny at all. Yes, it was exactly as I had imagined the series; it was like Saitama going to Hogwarts, and most of the jokes were delivered exactly as you would expect. I often anticipated the punchline, and instead of being happy about it, it ruined all the fun. This is probably part of the biggest problem I have with the series, which Meon described like this: "The series lacks its own identity; it's just Saitama at Hogwarts." What saves Mashle: Magic and Muscle for me - the reason why I give it 5.5/10 and still want to watch the second season, are the fights. They are not particularly original, and you can quickly figure out many ways in which Mashle can defeat his opponents without magic, but watching them is usually very satisfying. The creators can build up these fights and create an overall atmosphere around them so that I always get to the point where I start rooting for the hero and enjoy every blow he delivers to the opponent because I feel it's well-deserved. The story also intrigued me a bit despite being relatively simple and fairly predictable. I still keep thinking that it might surprise me with something someday, somewhere. So, in the end, I don't feel the urge to make a YouTube video entitled "Listening to Meon ruined Mashle: Magic and Muscle for me," this review is enough for me to admit that he was right, but fortunately, he hasn't killed my interest in the show yet..." (2023.06.30)