Customer Reviews

Maburaho: Volume 1

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In our world respect and social status depend on money. In the world of Maburaho, the commodity is magic. While everyone can perform it, people are divided by how powerful it is and, more importantly, for this series, HOW MANY TIMES you can use it! Someone like Kazuki Shikimori, who can only use his magic 8 times is seen as one of the lowest forms of life there is. So what is he doing at the exclusive Aoi Academy, where only the most powerful magic users are supposed to attend? The reason is that over 50 of the most powerful magicians who ever lived are his ancestors. Kazuki might not have a lot of power (or maybe he does?), but it is believed that his CHILDREN will have great power. So as soon as the girls at the school learn about it, they want to get into his jeans....I mean pass on his genes! Just around this time a girl named Yuna shows up in his room, claiming that she is his wife! And then there's the buxom blonde bombshell Kuriko who is pretty blunt about what she wants from Kazuki. Lastly, there's Rin, the samurai traditionalist who would rather slice him in half than marry such a weakling. There's also another catch. After Kazuki uses his magic 8 times, he dies!

Maburaho is a very funny show, and while it brims with sexual tension, it never gets right out obscene. It's a comedy so you just hope nothing tragic happens in the end or starts to bring in weighty issues. The Japanese voice acting is great and the animation is good. Much like Chrono Crusade, the humor is a little tempered by the fact that every time Kazuki uses his power, he gets closer to losing his life. The best extra on the disk is an interview with person who translated the series into English. He has a lot of insight into Japanese culture and the translation process. Also features openings/closings, Japanese promos, and art.

I have always been a fan of live action film. Only occasionally will I sit down to appreciate a comedic or adventuresome cartoon. To me, anime became popular if it involved the act of collecting and battling. It was not until one day I noticed some cover art for Maburaho that I was intrigued by this genre.

And I am pleased to say that this has altered my opinion of anime altogether. It wasn't the medium that I disliked, but the various plots that I had seen before that caused me to dismiss it.

The story revolves around a young adult named Kazuki Shikimori. He feels downtrodden because his magic count is depressingly low compared to his peers at a magic-user's school. Then one day he finds himself being sought after by three gorgeous classmates. Later he discovers that he is a critical heir in a long line of famous magicians, and that his children would most likely become extremely powerful magic users, thus the reason for his three tagalongs.

The show has great moments of comedy, tenderness and suspense. I watched the first four episodes and was pleasantly surprised. I can't wait to see how the rest of it turns out. I have high hopes for it though.

If you don't like heart warming, sappy, charming anime, then this isn't for you. There's a lot of cliche's here, but it's well put together. The characters are interesting and the plotlines are comedic and entertaining. I'll be watching this one often.

I run the anime club of my local college, and we are part of ADV's ADVocates program. They send us lots of free stuff, and last month they sent us the first two sample episodes of this series. Having viewed them both, this series does look promising.

At the Aoi Magic Academy, Kazuki Shikimori is the apparent loser of the group. The story is that all people have the inherent abitlity to use magic a certain number of times. The average for the school is around 8,000, though some characters exceed this number greatly. Kazuki is only able to use it 8 times, and after that point he literally will turn to dust.

However, despite that fact, he is quite powerful when he decides to use it. And even though he himself isn't that impressive, his bloodline is. Aware of this fact, three girls target Kazuki in order to gain his love (and his DNA). Yuuna Miyami seems to really love him, school hottie Kuriko Kazetsubaki seems to have more shallow intentions, and Rin Kamishiro would rather kill him instead (shes being forced by her family). Of course, after the nature of his bloodline is revealed, he instantly becomes more popular with all the girls in the school...and just the opposite occurs with the male half :D

I've heard good things about this, I'll probably buy it once this semester ends. This review is based on those first two episodes (I'm sure volume one contains at least 4). Gave it 4 stars because of that fact.

Acording to Anime News Network, the release date for Volume 2 will be 6/14 (day before quarterly taxes are due).

One day a boy named Kazuki who seems to be a loser among the popular status goes to his school not knowing about the special gift that he possesses. In his school most students are valued by their ability to use magic and how powerful they are, but for kazuki he just seems like an average human with the amount that he is given. Most people in his school averages up to using about 8000 times worth of magic, where as Kazuki can only use it 8 times. So exactly whats the deal with that? It seems unfair to Kazuki, but when these girls one day start acting weird around him something seems fishy. One of the hottest female students in the school, Kuriko Kazetsubaki, is after him, but why? All of the sudden a girl appears in his room claiming to be his wife, Yuna Miyami. Last but not least a girl named Rin is also after his genes, well sorta......but you get the idea. Are these girls truly after his love or are they just interested in his genes? Find out after watching this new wonderful anime!!!!

Well, to begin with a few words about the storyline (Just keep in mind that the storyline refers to the entire series and therefore SPOILERS will be included!!!)

If you are looking for Mechas like FMP or Evangelion, a deep emotional like Mirage of Blaze or The Last Exile and so many others, than you should skip this one.

If one the other hand, you are looking for something like Oh! My Goddess, a harem anime, romantic and action comedy etc. than you are definitely in the right place.

The story unfolds in a world similar to the ones we already know with the difference that many people are able to use magic and werewolves, ghosts and so forth is something that people are accustomed with. The place: A High-School that consists of students that are able to use magic. The catch: Each student has a specific number of times that can use his or her magic and if used up than will turn into dust (basically, die).

The story resolves around our main protagonist, Kazuki, who is the typical looser guy (at least at the beginning, as it usually happens to the harem animes) but is the descendant of the most powerful magicians, meaning that his son will become the strongest magician ever; but has two main `problems': 1. Can use his magic only 8 times (which proofs to be super strong) and b. all females of the high-school will try to get his genes which will create the entire comedy!

Then we have the other three main female protagonists: Yuuna, who claims that she is his wife and lives together with him, Rin who is a samurai girls (and at the beginning would prefer to kill him) and Kuriki, the super hottie and super rich girl who would like to seduce him.

Apart from it, the story will mainly resolve around these four protagonists, the relationships they will create, the adventures they will encounter (they will have to deal against a ghost-hunter when Kazuki will turn into a ghost for a while) and of course what choice Kazuki will make...In addition, you will be introduced to various other characters who will influence the outcome of the story as well.

Last but not least, Kazuki has a good heart and will try to help the others in his own expense and everything will depend on a promise he made when he was very young (or should I sea, two promises ;-) ).

As for the animation: It is good, compare it to the one of Oh! My Goddess and you will have a very good picture.

The music is good, starts with a nice pop/rock song and ends with a ballad.

The dub, is good done as well; but to be honest as well, I have seen better dubs as well but still it is a good one.

As for the extras, it has the typical stuff: Not credit opening/ending, trailers etc.

As for the storyline: It is very good, has a good character development, solid and has a few twists in it (but we also should keep in mind that we compare it for its genre as it is).

To the most `interesting' question: Buying it or not? To begin with, the price is the typical one that you most probably will find out there, therefore, having watched the entire series I can recommend the shows so that you can have a different and funny magic/romantic/comedy in your collection.

I hope that I could help you with this review :-)

The storyline is, every person on the planet is born with a specific amount of magic within them. The magic is judged in how powerful and how many times it can be cast. Every person has a certain cast amount, and once their "gas tank" runs empty, they turn to ash and die. Most people have enough magic to last them until they're old and grey, save one. Kazuki Shikimori has only 8 times to use his power before it kills him, but his powers are unfathomable and his lineage gives his offspring the potential to be recklessly powerful magicians. Now 3 lovely ladies from the 3 top magic houses are after him. Two wanting his seed, and the third wanting him dead.

I've only watched the first few episodes and I can already feel myself becoming bored with the series.

It's based around a formula that has been, done, redone, and done again in the anime world. A regular or below average guy is minding his own business, when "something special" is discovered about him (or not depending on the series) all of the sudden beautiful women are throwing themselves at him left and right and "hilarity" ensues.

The Tenchi series (OVA/Tokyo/Universe/GXP), Love Hina, Video Girl Ai, Please Teacher!, Møuse, *Golden Boy (*which is one of the actually enjoyable ones)
All are animes which use this formula and I'm sure the true count is twice as long as this list.

Here's my prediction: a villian will be introduced, we will learn the full extent of his powers as he battles to protect the women who are infatuated with him. And it will end without him choosing ANY of them to be his wife. It seems that the creators of anime of this variety like to keep their main hero a single man only so they can continue to milk the series for all it's worth. It took an OVA and two movies for the main character in "Love Hina" to finally choose a woman to be with, and Tenchi has had 4 OVA's, 2 movies and he STILL hasn't choosen one of the girls.

I urge you to consider renting this first before you buy it. $25 is quite a bit for one DVD and nothing leaves a more bitter taste in your mouth than *spending +$100 on an entire box set (buying disc by disc) and being left with a completely anti-climactic ending. (*Rune Soldier)

This was one of the best animes i've seen so far! It's so funny and interesting. My favorite charater is Kuriko. But anyway, Maburaho is about Kazuki Shikimori, a high school student who is the loser of the school! He isnt popular with the ladies and he has an extremely low magic count. (He can only use his magic 8 times before he turns to dust!) But all of a sudden 3 lovely girls come out of nowhere, things get a bit difficult for Kazuki. Do they want his love, or his genes? I highly recomend this DVD!!

Maburaho Is one of the new magic anime series to come out it's a bit kiddy at first but as you get threw the first few episodes this show gets really interesting. It has a new concept to it it's like the teenage harry potter not that I'm comparing the two but they have the same concept, but with a lot of twist to it. Kazuki shikimori Is a young high school student at a school for kids who have the gift of magic the big monkey wrench thrown into this story is that these magicians can only use their power a certain amount of times. Everyone in the school can use their magic thousands of times except for shikimori he only has the power of 8 times now this is really funny because he gets made fun of over this but it seems like he has the strongest power in the whole school but he can't show it because after he uses up all 8 he turns to ash.

The plot of Maburaho is three young women who also attend his school who's families are plummeting in magic worth because of bad mistakes in the past, they need shikimori's genes or to help them have his kids because his family tree is filled with great magicians and his child will be one too but shikimori is still a and really doesn't want to race threw marriage and then child birth at the age of 15.

I don't think shikimori will be much help because I don't think the greatness in his family skipped him at all bassically I think the big twist in this is his child will probably be a dud and shikimori is the great magician they keep throwing little hints all threw the first episodes.This show is really good so far it's very funny the animation is great and so is the magic play. There's a bit of high content in this but they turn it into hilarious comedy.

If you've seen Love Hina or Ah! Megami Sama I'm sure you would enjoy Maburaho. It has the same kind of humor and displays it just as well. This is a good buy and more importantly a must see series.