Well, just finished watching Maburaho, so I think it's time to review the series. I need to talk about plot to do this one, so I'll give some spoilers here, using the spoiler code I talked Chris into implementing.
First, the general overview of the series. The universe is one where magic is common and well-known, but operates under specific rules. People get a finite number of magic-uses, and if they use them up, they immediately die.
Kazuki is blessed and cursed at the same time. He's an incredibly powerful magic user, powerful enough that he can get in a dedicated magic school, even though he can only use magic 8 times. He's powerful enough that girls are assigned to mate with him to add his genes to their family... Sounds like a typical harem show, right? (Not overly ecchi, but mature themes abound.)
Well... spoilers for the latter part of the series
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The series goes from okay to really good when Kazuki uses up all of his magic. It's very hard for the girls to get his genes when he's no longer corporeal. This is the first series that I've seen that's gotten significantly better when the main character dies.
The second half of the series is about the girls relationships to Kazuki. While some of them were his childhood sweethearts, the other two had the excuse of going after his genes. With no genes to speak of, they're forced to come to terms with their relationships to him. And that's what's interesting.
The ending (eps 23-24). Caution, big spoilers:
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The last arc features the girls giving Kazuki back his ashes, which will let him turn back into a human. But there's a catch... if he gets the ashes back, he will lose his memory of them. One of the girls, his childhood friend Yamase, doesn't want him to lose his memory, while his other girl Yuuna wants him to be human again. So they have to resolve that issue... and they eventually decide to make him human again.
The credits roll, and we think that he's lost his memory...
And after the credits, he's back, except now he's split into a whole bunch of Kazukis, all of whom has his complete memory. And that's how the series ends, with a whole new dilemma on everyones hands.
I don't mind it much, because they actually did a good job of resolving the ghost arc. And the series really did get much better in the second half, so I wouldn't mind a second series, if it ever comes out.
While the second half of the series was better than the first, overall Maburaho was a good series. I thought it was just going to be another harem show, and it was, but it really twisted that premise quite a bit. Maburaho isn't a great show, but it's a good one.
![[TAB Mascot Girl]](/files/0_mascot.png)
