First Impression: Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc.

Kana Sakuragi is a new graduate looking for employment. She’s carefully prepared and a diligent worker, but unfortunately, she’s not the on-the-spot thinker that her potential employers are looking for. Kana’s greatest strength is her excellent memory, which may not help in her interviews but will come in handy when a “kaii,” a devilish monster, bursts into the room during an interview! But she won’t realize that until later; first, an exterminator needs to be brought in to deal with this menace. And when kaii are on the attack, who you gonna call? Magical girls! Kaii are a pestilence on the world, and magical girl businesses are booming as they deal with them. On the smaller end of the magical girl corporations is Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc.; they’re called in to manage this specific ice beast, with the bold Hitomi Koshigaya taking the lead. Unfortunately, the kaii has gotten out of hand, and Hitomi will need some assistance—and she’ll find it uniquely in Kana’s ability!

Episode one of Magilumiere is a mixed bag. There are hints here that this series could be lovely and special (and indeed, volume one of the manga is excellent), but the animation and storytelling aren’t smooth. The characters don’t always look great, with strangely angular faces in some scenes. But the original material does shine through the mediocre execution in certain spots, particularly in the world-building. I love certain aspects of the show, like the very idea of magical girl companies and this focus specifically on a small magical girl business. The things that worry Hitomi feel oddly familiar, like overwork and poorly designed technology. The tech, too, is fun, as the series seems to imagine the kaii as beasts with some sort of digital element; they’re attacked through powers connected to digital technology and secured through a device that’s a meeting of Ghostbusters‘ ghost traps and thumb drives. Speaking of the attacks, the melding of CGI with 2-D animation is up and down, mostly because the CGI is very realistic-looking and beautifully rendered (if dim) and it doesn’t always match up well with the traditional animation. The series looks best, though, when there’s a focus on the brightness of the fight scenes. The magical girl transformation scene in episode one looks similarly flashy, though Hitomi’s facial expressions and movements are awkward. One more thing—I like the shoot ’em up feel of the fights; to me, it adds another layer to the series that’s engaging, though again, the foibles in episode one might be enough that I’ll eventually leave this series behind. I hope not, because the manga is heartfelt and creative—and here’s hoping that goodness eventually shines through.

Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc. is streaming on Prime Video.

Twwk
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6 thoughts on “First Impression: Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc.”

  1. Hmm, sounds interesting. I kind of like the idea of a modern magic girl series where it’s a career choice rather than some poor middle schooler that’s pressured into saving the world.

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