Mashle: Magic and Muscles season 2 review - A fun refined sequel with an anti-climatic end

With the season finale of Mashle: Magic and Muscles season 2, the action comedy anime has finally come to an end. While fans must have wished for a strong finish for the anime's second season, the plot, as available from the source material, saw the anime end its sequel season with a mid-season-like episode.

Mashle: Magic and Muscles has been quite a popular series since its days of manga serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. Thus, when the anime was finally announced by A-1 Pictures, fans were very excited. While the action-comedy anime wasn't the greatest magic-based anime, it turned out to be a fun watch for casual anime watchers.

Disclaimer: This article reflects the author's opinion.

Mashle: Magic and Muscles season 2 review: Everything A-1 Pictures did well in the sequel season

Mash Burnedead as seen in season 1 opening theme (Image via A-1 Pictures)

Looking back at Mashle: Magic and Muscles season 1, there were several flaws, that if fixed, could have made the anime more popular. That's just what A-1 Pictures did for the series' second season.

For almost any anime, the opening theme becomes a huge reason to garner new fans. Most anime fans reportedly did not like the opening theme song Knock Out by Taiiku Okazaki for the series' first season. However, A-1 Pictures seemingly made sure that the opening theme song for Mashle: Magic and Muscles season 2 ended up a banger.

For this, they hired Creepy Nuts to create and produce the song Bling-Bang-Bang-Born. The anime theme song immediately became a hit on social media, garnering new fans to check out the anime just because of the opening theme,

Mash Burnedead as seen in Mashle: Magic and Muscles season 2 (Image via A-1 Pictures)

Following that, A-1 Pictures focused on the anime's plot pacing. In the previous season, it seemed like every episode was meant to introduce a new character and conclude a plotline as well. In comparison, Mashle Magic and Muscles season 2 was paced in a much better manner. The events moved at a much better pace, not rushing to fit in all the information.

Unfortunately, this also ended up being a flaw for the sequel season, however, that will be discussed in the latter section.

Margarette Macaron as seen in Mashke anime (Image via A-1 Pictures)

In addition to the opening theme and pacing, A-1 Pictures also focused on the series' battles. In the previous season, it seemed like the anime was only trying to make protagonist Mash Burnedead look cool in battles. This essentially lost fans' interest as they were certain that the protagonist was going to win every fight.

Instead, Mashle: Magic and Muscles season 2 saw the anime focusing a lot on the antagonist characters, hyping them up for their big battles. These instances were evident from how Carpaccio Luo-yang, Margarette Macaron, and Innocent Zero were initially introduced in the series. Not only was the artwork better, but the anime also made sure to make the action moments much smoother.

With such signs of progress, fans can expect Mashle: Magic and Muscles anime to soon return for a third season.

What went wrong with Mashle: Magic and Muscles season 2?

Mash as seen in the anime's finale (Image via A-1 Pictures)

Considering the anime's action-comedy genre, Mashle: Magic and Muscles season 2 went as well as it could. Unfortunately, the improvements A-1 Pictures brought to the anime concerning pacing backfired.

This is because the anime's key storyline concerning the initial conflict with Innocent Zero finished in episode 11, leaving episode 12 with next to no key events. Such progression led to an anti-climatic finish for Mashle: Magic and Muscles season 2.

The anime could have simply featured the scenes involving Innocent Zero's exit and Mash saving Easton as part of the finale. Such developments as part of the finale might have escalated fans' emotions even higher, leaving them anticipating the series' next season. Instead, the anime's finale looked like a post-arc epilogue.

Final thoughts on Mashle: Magic and Muscles season 2

Wahlberg and Mash as seen in the anime (Image via A-1 Pictures)

Mashle: Magic and Muscles, as fans would know, is an anime that parodies the most common tropes on television. This is especially evident from the series' similarities to Harry Potter, One Punch Man, and Black Clover. While many avid fans of anime might feel like watching the anime might be a waste of time, it is far from that.

Mashle: Magic and Muscles allows fans to witness a fresh take on some of the most popular tropes together with a huge load of comedy sprinkled over it. Hence, even if fans did not want to watch it for the plot, it is definitely a fun watch. With that in mind, If fans have watched Mashle: Magic and Muscles and liked it, they would definitely like the second season. If not, one can skip the sequel season.

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