Anime Review: Chiyu Mahou no Machigatta Tsukaikata

There’s nothing like being dragged into another world to fight a demon lord. It’s a story that has been told over and over and over and over and over (ad infinitum). Chiyu Mahou no Machigatta Tsukaikata (The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic) is one of those shows with a comedic twist. Having read the first volume of the manga a while back, I thought that I would check it out. Does the anime hold up to the printed version?

Let’s go…

The Story

An ordinary teenage boy, the cutest girl in school, and a super-polite dream guy who is on the student council. Just your average trio of main characters minding their own business when two of them hear a gong. Suddenly, a magic circle appears underneath them and they are summoned to another world as the heroes that will save the kingdom from a demon lord.

So far, this describes just about every isekai story out there but there is a bit of a twist. Kazuki and Inukami were meant to be summoned as heroes since they could hear the gong… Usato, on the other hand, couldn’t hear it and was summoned accidentally. While they were being measured for their aptitude, Kazuki had an affinity for light magic while Inukami had an affinity for lightning magic. Just for kicks, Usato takes the test and the orb glows green. He has a rare affinity for healing magic!

The king wants to hide this power as a woman named Rose shows up. Kazuki and Inukami accidentally mention the green color of the orb so Rose snatches Usato and storms off with him! Rose is the leader of The Rescue Team and is known for BRUTAL training methods. Usato is about to begin his new life under Rose’s guidance…. Much to his chagrin.

Usato then undergoes a HELLACIOUS training regimen filled with running with weights on, being thrown into a forest to fend for himself, and carrying insanely heavy objects. The majority of the series is spent witnessing Usato’s training until it’s time to face the armies of the demon lord.

The Characters

Ken Usato is our main character for Chiyu Mahou with an affinity for healing magic. As a character, he’s about as plain as white rice; however, there’s a bit of a charm to him. Obviously, he’s very resistant to the thought of Rose’s training but the more he undergoes the torture she puts him through, the more he appreciates it and becomes a better person for it. It doesn’t harden him completely as he still has his doubts and reservations but he does become more mentally prepared to face the challenges that are to come. There is a nice moment after the battle where he is praised by Rose for his efforts and he does break down showing that he yearned for her acceptance this whole time and was overwhelmed when he finally received it. Then again, he is only seventeen so it is to be expected. Even though he wasn’t the most layered main character, his simplicity still worked well for the series.

Kazuki Ryuusen is one of the student council members summoned to the world as a hero. He has an affinity for light magic and, like Usato, is about as plain as white rice; however, unlike Usato, he isn’t all that charming or endearing. He stays plain and is pretty one-dimensional because of it. He’s just the typical “want to do good” character who doesn’t truly have any qualms outside of his natural protests after being summoned to the world against his wishes. Once he gets over that, there isn’t anything to him outside of his admiration for Usato’s ability to adapt to this world and get stronger.

Next is Suzune “Senpai” Inukami. Now we have a character with layers that serves as one of the main sources of comedy for this show. In the real world, she came off as this prim and proper member of the student council. She was also considered very popular and very beautiful by the other students. So much so, that she was considered too unapproachable. That all changes when Usato realizes that she’s just a massive otaku and gaming nerd. I know… every anime fan’s dream girl. While she feels bad at first about Usato getting summoned with them, she quickly forgets that when she sees his sexy six-pack. After that, she’s pretty open about having a thing for him… even if Usato is dumber than a box of dead, wet rats and can’t realize it. Needless to say, she’s pretty fun and steals the spotlight whenever the show decides to give it to her which, honestly, is not as much as I would have liked.

Next, we have Rose… the demonic (not literally) leader of the Rescue Team and Usato’s master (or trainer but let’s be real… she’s his master, if you know what I mean.) Rose does have a backstory and even though the anime does explain it, apparently, just mentioning it wasn’t enough. We get two full episodes dedicated to Rose’s backstory, how she lost her rescue team, how that affected her, and caused her to become as hardened as she is. All she wanted to do was make sure that anyone else she trained came back alive. That was more important than anything else in the world to her which is why she put Usato through such hell. She’s also the main source of comedy by way of the rigorous training she puts Usato through. Plus, she can be VERY intimidating which can instill a laugh or two. Honestly? Rose stole the show and is, hands-down, the best character here. I mean, they gave her two out of the thirteen episodes for a reason.

Finally, we have Kuro Kishi, aka, the Black Knight. While she is introduced late in the season, she is very powerful, very skilled, and… VERY KAWAII!!! Ahem… I mean, she’s probably everyone’s new favorite waifu who also develops a thing for Usato. While it hasn’t happened in the anime, I’m pretty sure that if there is going to be a second season, we can expect a love triangle to form between Usato, Kuro, and Suzune. Even though she’s been around for a cup of coffee, she quickly became one of my favorites! She leaves that much of a first impression!

There are other minor characters including a fox girl oracle named Amako but her involvement is so minute (for now) that there isn’t much to talk about her without spoiling some things so, I’ll just say YAY FOX GIRL (but not too loudly, she looks underaged and I don’t need the FBI knocking on my door!)

Art, Animation, and Sound

Okay… Shin-Ei Animation handled Chiyu Mahou and I have to say… it just kind of looked flat… in some areas. The character design was pretty good. I loved the Rescue Team’s white outfits as well as Suzune and Kazuto’s armor. Those were cool. They absolutely knocked it out of the park with Kuro’s black knight armor, and the characters themselves were, well, a bit generic-looking and didn’t really stand out too much. When the main characters look only slightly better than all of the “NPC” characters, then you know that they didn’t try as hard as they could.

The only big noticeable quality was their eyes. They sure put a ton of effort into giving them deep, vibrant colors which makes me wonder why they couldn’t put that level of effort into the rest of the designs. It was a little jarring to see Suzume with these gorgeous eyes and then her armor looked flat… as if they were in a hurry to draw all of the details so they didn’t spend a lot of time making it look as good as it could. It was a bit of a contrast to the point where it was noticeable on more than one occasion.

The animation was okay-ish as well. They could have put in a bit more time and I swear it was in episode 11 or 12… during the battle, that one of the NPCs skipped a couple of frames while being tended to by Usato. Mistakes like that shouldn’t make it past QC but yet, it aired. I was impressed with the fight between Usato and Kuro, though. Plus, the grain texture they used for some of the dramatic stills was pretty good; however, because of stuff like that, it was very easy to tell where the budget was spent and where it was withheld.

The soundtrack was okay. It fit the fantasy theme but nothing was over the top nor did anything stand out. I feel that this is becoming a common problem in anime these days. The soundtracks are feeling like they are just “there.” Then again, I may just be spoiled because every time I have gushed about a soundtrack, it was by Hiroyuki Sawano, Yoko Kanno, Yuki Kajiura, or Kevin Penkin. Take any soundtrack by them and compare it to here and it’s a night and day difference. I know not every show has the budget to have an amazing soundtrack but surely a little more effort could be put into work with what you’ve got. The ED was okay… about what you would expect and the OP was great until the vocals kicked in. Not a fan of that vocal sound.

Overall Thoughts

I will say that Chiyu Mahou was a bit better than what I expected it to be. Anime shows of this type can either go one of two ways. The first would be to have all of the characters scream at each other and try to pass it off as comedy, or they can just use situational comedy to make us laugh while sparingly using screaming characters to fill in the blanks. They went for the latter which means that the annoying screaming character trope was kept in check and, therefore, was quite tolerable. As someone who LOATHES that screaming comedy style, I’m very happy they chose to use it where it fits.

Chiyu Mahou also had some dramatic moments; however, there weren’t too many of them. Amako’s vision caused some drama, the fight against the demon lord’s army was also dramatic, and (of course) Rose’s backstory and the episodes dedicated to her hit you in the feels. Usato’s praise was a tender moment that I didn’t expect but it was a nice touch. Usato and Kuro’s forming bond was also an “aww” moment that truly sold me on the Kuro character, too.

I must say that Chiyu Mahou hit the right notes but not in an extravagant way. It was satisfying to watch but it’s not a show that’s going to win any awards. Despite that, though, if you’re looking for an isekai fantasy adventure with a bit of a twist, this will be a good show to marathon that I think you can walk away from not regretting that you wasted your time on. The only true gripe that I have is that the show doesn’t live up to its title until one moment and one moment ONLY in the middle of the battle against the Black Knight. Outside of that, Chiyu Mahou has nothing to do with the title at all… the fact that it took that long to get to the point is a bit of a disappointment but all of the entertaining moments that it brings quickly make you overlook that little nuance.