Story:
It might sound ridiculous but I did have high expectations of the story. And surprisingly, it wouldn't be completely wrong to say there were more or less three plot lines:
- All girls are twisted, Good and Evil
- Have those girls ruin magical girls
- Have the main trio fight the quarter of bad girls.
Each of them was funnier than the other. Gushing is a show you can't take seriously. And once you don't, you will realize just how funny this show is. (If you are taking it seriously, you will just end up with boner.)
While I don't think we can talk about "arcs" per se, the three main plots explored in the 12 episodes are done lightly, and in a way that keeps you entertained. In other words - you won't be bored, because there is always something happening.
Animation:
No complaints. The show was running smoothly, the boob animation was funny and I loved the way they did explosions or flowers popping up on the screen. It's traditional, nothing that screams bad quality.
Art:
Didn't love it, but liked it enough! While at moments it looked weird, they kept the quality at medium. And that is always a great thing - if you slip up, it's not so obvious and you can still go all out on important times! Working on half-hentai might be hard (we're talking attention to detail), but everything ecchi looked fine - flushed faces, sweat, boobs... Good quality.
Characters:
I obviously have to talk about Utena first. Utena is the main character, the "bad" girl. While some might argue that she didn't have much of a character development and more of a coming-out-of-her-shelf, I think she changed the most. From the "this is too much I don't want to do this" to head of Enormita - that isn't just her perverted self that achieved that!
She was great. I loved her the most from the whole show and I thought she was incredible. Of course she slipped every now and then, but it added to her character. I especially loved the little detail of her stars increasing the more f*cked up she got.
And don't even get me started on the way she beat lord Enorme. It was so clever!
I didn't care too much for the other characters. I found Kiwi funny, Korisu adorable. Nemo and Matama had a great relationship (tho a bit unhealthy). As for their powers, I think all of them were interesting and nicely picked for the story.
From the magical girls, I liked Sayo the most. Of course, the anime focused on her the most too, which let us enjoy her a bunch. The point where she almost broke and Utena became disgusted by her was especially important to me and her new form is really beautiful. I am going to catch up with manga some other time and I am very curious to see just how much she changed. As for Haruka, I hated her the most. Even more than Kaoruko (who had the best chemistry with our Kiwi).
I live for the characters and I live for their relationships/friendships.
Music:
Opening - had nice vocals, but the song didn't slap too hard. It gets an "ok" from me.
Ending - ending is the best music this show produced. It was soft, it felt like Sunday afternoon and the vocals were great. 10/10, thank you.
Insert song - Loco Musica's L.O.V.E.Ly Loco♡ was the worst thing I ever heard, but it was so hilarious, I even posted it on my blog. I was so crazy when I was listening to it... Hilarious. It gets "what the fuck ♡" from me.
Entertainment value:
We get three levels of censorships - all different in audio quality, if I am not mistaken. Pick yours!
I watched the one with censored moans and bottom body parts. Still, I got to see much more than I asked for. While I understand the anime was about the nudity/sexual stuff, I didn't care for it, and didn't need it. It wasn't bad though - it made me laugh more times than it made me cringe or regret watching it.
Some of my favorite jokes come out of breaking 4th wall such as:
I loved how we got the usual "secret form" jokes, namely the: "she can't be her! they look too different!":
~~(Excuse the piss-poor quality)~~Overall, I don't think I was bored once.
On the worse side, a lot of time they dragged into the fights children. I do not like and can't forget or forgive that they had the magical girl naked and the kids were watching her. This wasn't something that needed to be done. They chose to do that. WTH. Bye.
Conclusion: it's a must watch <3
Gushing Over Magical girls is a strangely wonderful story about weird friendship that will keep you confused-horny while you grin like an idiot because the humor is just that good. It looks great, it has two or three dark twists and promises for what will happen later in the story, it has a lot of cute girls that give us plenty of fanservice.
It's not what you expect, but oh boy, will you be happy you watched it!
If you have any doubts, don't have them. Even I, as someone who doesn't like hentai, who doesn't like Mahou Shoujo enjoyed it to the fullest. It just is that good. 10/10