Maburaho 10/10

I've seen alot of harem anime and Maburaho stands above all others. Hell, this show has more going for it than most shows period. This is not a frivolous 10/10, this show earned it.

The 24 episodes of Maburaho aired back in 2003-2004 and the technical side of this show was extremely good. The backgrounds were very nice and looked like outlined watercolour paintings with alot of soft colours. The character designs were extremely well done and the girls are all well animated and attractive (this is of course a must in a harem anime). One thing that struck me as impressive was how much design work went into all the extra characters where your average show would just draw a bunch of generic people. The quality of this series also manages to maintain a very high quality throughout all the episodes. The music is excellent and stands as one of my favourite scores of all time (maybe my favourite). The OP is especially good and the ED isn't too shabby either. All the VA's are excellent as is standard in most anime with only Elizabeth bugging me a little.

This the story of Kazuki Shikimori. He's been accepted into the prestigious Aoi Academy, a special school for those particularly gifted in magic in a world where everyone has some magical ability. The problem is that Kazuki can only use his magic eight times then his body will turn to ash and he'll die. On top of that in this world the amount of magic you possess somewhat determines your social status so Kazuki comes in somewhere near the bottom.

One day he arrives home to his dorm room to find a girl in her underwear getting changed. After some screaming we find out she's Yuna Miyami who's there to become Kazuki's wife. At the same time two other girls, the blonde and buxom Kuriko Kazetsubaki, and the small samurai girl Rin Kamishiro, are being ordered by their families to marry Kazuki as well and bear his children. It turns out that Kazuki has a large number of impressive wizards in his family tree and since no-one in his family has exhibited any special magical power his children stand a very good chance of becoming amazingly powerful. Yuna doesn't really care about this and neither does Kazuki's childhood friend Chihaya Yamase who moves away without ever telling him how she feels.

It's quickly revealed that not only does Kazuki likely have impressive genes but his few spells, if cast, could be some of the most powerful ever. As the first half of the series moves forward, Kuriko and Rin, who started out not thinking too highly of Kazuki, start to fall for him as he uses his magic to help them and others. In episode 12 his final two spells are used to cure Yuna of a virus that was robbing her of her magical power and she's saved in the nick of time. Kazuki is not as lucky and turns to ash.

Of course things can't end like this and Kazuki ends up as a ghost. The remaining episodes introduce the sister of the school doctor who is keen to capture Kazuki for her ghost collection and prevent the girls from discovering how to return Kazuki to life. It turns out that his ashes are with each of the girls he has feelings for and should they be returned he'll return to life but lose his memories. The remaining episodes deal with the girls admitting to themselves how much they care for him and their decision as to whether or not to go through with reviving him.

This series had a very original premise and the characters were very interesting for a harem anime. The episodes never dragged and I also thought the mix of comedy and drama throughout the series was extremely well balanced. Many people don't care for the harem premise in general and the wishy-washy or clueless main leads they usually have but in this case he actually has realistic cultural reasons to feel inferior to his peers and his insecurities are more believable than in most shows. With the great visuals, music, and an original and well executed story I grant this show my highest honour.