[Ended] Yokuwakaru Gendaimahou: Small Play

It's not the story is bad. It's just when I finished it, it feels not nearly as satisfactory as I was hoping for. Where I was hoping for a grand plot, end up being only a small plays. This is quite a disappointment consider the chemistry between the two major characters is so exceptionally good.

Final scoreboard:

Drama: 73 (Not that good)

Comedy: 81 (Ok in the beginning, not so towards the end)

Action: 76 (Nothing impressive)

Art/Animation: 80 (Acceptable)

Sound/Music: 80 (Not too impressive)

Character: 80 (Great chemistry, but didn't cash in)

Plot: 76 (Somewhat disappointing)

Ending: 80 (Not that great)

Re-watch value: 30 (Probably don't even want to see it first time)

Overall: 75 ~ Very Disappointing

Recommendation: This ought to be one of the biggest disappointment of the season. I would not recommend this to average anime viewers.

Yokuwakaru Gendaimahou: The Perfect Duo

Currently finished: Episode 3

Certain actors/actresses work well together, I think the same applies to voice actors/actresses in animes too.

In Yokuwakaru Gendaimahou, Haruka Tomatsu (戸松遥) and Ai Nonaka (野中藍) make such an interesting duo playing the two main characters: Yomiko and Koyomi. Just imagine Corti from Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica (or if you are not familiar with Polyphonica, Lala from ToLoveRu although here she sounds more like Corti than Lala) clashes with Fuko from Clannad. Not only they are two of the most characteristic voices in the industry, the personalities in their voices work so well against each other, it makes this anime much more interesting than it would have been without them.

On a separate note, I think they went just a little bit overboard on the fan service. Right now it's still at a acceptable level. I hope they don't go push the limit on that.

[New July 2009] Yokuwakaru Gendaimahou

Japanese title: よくわかる現代魔法
Info: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10356
Watch Online: http://www.crunchyroll.com/library/Yokuwakaru_Gendai_Maho
Genres: Comedy / Magic
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: Yumiko wants to become a modern day magician. But on her way to find the magic school, she was hunted by a mysterious man.

First impression score: 88 ~ Interesting

Recognized voice talents: Haruka Tomatsu (戸松遥) as Yumiko Christina Ichinose. She's been a quite fast rising star in voice acting community. Ever since her debute role as Corti from Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica, she has been Lala from ToLoveRu and Nagi from Kannagi. To me, her voice is always immediately recognizable due to the energetic playfulness. She has fastly become one of my favorite voice actress.

Ai Nonaka (野中藍) as Koyomi Morishita. Her voice sounds very familiar, but I couldn't pin it down where I've heard it recently. After a little search, I found out that she is the voice of Imoko from Sora Kake Girl, as well as Fuko from Clannad.

Personal comments: There is a OVA episode "00". Though it does help on understanding certain part of the episode one, overall, I feel more confused while equipped with the knowledge from episode "00". So you might want to hold off on watching episode "00" until later. The concept of modern magic seems to be no more than computer programming. In fact, the "magic program" code they showed in episode 1 is written in C++!! Are they trying to imply C++ is the "magical" programming language?!