The Niche I Needed The mahou shoujo genre is in desperate need of a transformation, between the mindlessly miserable drolatic mimics of Meguca Maduca and the currently airing Precure, options are oppressively limited. Alternative mahou shoujo has ironically become so indistinguishable and commonplace that it’s in desperate need of an alternative. Consequently, Precure has maintained an incredibly consistent level of popularity and solidified itself as the platinum standard of traditional mahou shoujo. With almost no competition to challenge its annual accent to a new peak in the mahou shoujo mountain range the franchise seems completely unstoppable.

Despite or perhaps in spite of this one series managed to gain and maintain my attention throughout its 12-episode run. A series that despite unfortunately being helmed by a notoriously monetarily minded and creatively bankrupt production studio managed to surprise me. A series that in spite of the mahou shoujo genres current inspiration insufficiency and lacklustre landscape manged to stand out whilst sharing a genuinely interesting perspective on the genre it’s proud to represent and its current predicament.

Kabushiki Gaisha Magi Lumiere explores the mahou shoujo genre through the fantastically magical economic and political system known as Capitalism. A mysterious and slightly less abysmal version of the noise form Symphogear called the Kaii have started wreaking havoc across Japan. And presumably the rest of the world but possibly not, Japan seems particularly susceptible too colossal chaos creating creatures, could have something to do with one of those nukes they had dropped on them. The Japanese Government has decided the only logical thing to do is to utilise its strongest and most magnificent asset, mahou shoujo’s.

Thanks to the Kaii’s rampant rampages Magic has become incredibly industrialised leading to a technologically advanced hybrid of Magic being the norm. Admittedly the mitralisation of magical data doesn’t really make sense to me and seems completely ridiculous but then I remember the overwhelming absurdity and general silliness of the plot, and it doesn’t seem so significant. All this has led to a massive demand and a massive boom in corporations specialising in the contracting of mahou shoujo’s. But it’s not all as cooperate and sanitised as my brief description makes the series sound, in the shadow of the many major conglomerates are just as many small start-up companies. Whilst unfortunately many of these start-ups disappear without ever getting noticed, some companies with the right combination of skill, determination and most importantly aesthetics manage to make a name for themselves, and one of particular note is…

Magi Lumiere Co. LTD. “It’s not about the size of the Mahou Shoujo in the fight, It’s about the size of the fight in the Mahou Shoujo.” – Rocky… Probably

A comparatively miniscule company form the behemoth business that figuratively and literally tower over them, Magi Lumiere is the scrappy and spirited start up I can’t help but love. A company that’s striving to be more than just surviving, with employees that want nothing more than for it to be thriving. Whilst Magi Lumiere might only have enough employees to count on one hand they have more than enough heart to make up for it. Magi Lumiere’s personnel have a lot of personality, and so with that it’s probably about time I stop referring to the character’s as just simply employees and properly introduce them.

Meet the Team
Hitomi Koshigaya
The series starts with two bikers who find themselves unfortunate enough to be dragged into hunting a murderous Kaii, simultaneously these two bikers find themselves fortunate enough to be protected by a maven of eliminating Kaii. Effortlessly balancing between the bikes is the strongminded and skilled spellcaster Hitomi Koshigaya. A blonde badass confident and capable enough to singlehandedly slay even the most nightmarish of Kaii. Hitomi at first glance may look more like a sukeban than a mahou shoujo, but despite appearances she’s both dedicated to her job as a mahou shoujo and also to Magi Lumiere. At the start of the series Hitomi is Magi Lumiere’s only mahou shoujo, sticking by the struggling company regardless of the opportunities that her skills could easily afford her.

Whilst incredibly loyal and unconditionally honest we never learn much about Hitomi’s life before the series or more importantly before joining Magi Lumiere. An overall positive of Magi Lumiere is its reserved pace, this leaves a healthy amount of intrigue surrounding certain aspects of the show and in Hitomi’s case gives an element of mystery to what seems to be a pretty upfront character. Although Niko hints that she based her style of broom riding off famous Mahou Shoujo, Drive Coco (what do you mean you haven’t seen it, get off my review and going back to lurking you damn filthy tourist.) so maybe she’s just a secret mahou shoujo fanatic. What she definitely is though is an excellent mentor to…

Sakuragi Kana
Diligent and determined, Sakuragi Kana would be the perfect employee if she could only get employed. When we first meet Sakuragi, she is painstakingly pragmatic, her self-proclaimed best attribute being her studious nature. Unfortunately, Sakuragi dedicates so much time to thoroughly researching the companies she’s interviewing for that she finds herself promoting the company rather than herself. Although rather ironically, it’s during what looks to be another failed interview that Sakuragi volunteers herself in helping to defeat a Kaii, and who should she be helping but Magi Lumiere’s Hitomi Koshigaya. Thanks to this encounter Sakuragi ends up becoming Magi Lumiere’s 2nd mahou shoujo and that’s where I’m going to stop for her. Sakuragi’s journey of self-discovery is the core of the series and also one of the best aspects of the series too, her arch is worth enjoying unspoiled.

Kazuo Nikoyama
Both a magical engineer and magical girl enthusiast Niko is an essential part of the team. Although while his placement in the industry may seem like a given considering his slight/major obsession with mahou shoujo’s, Niko provides an interesting insight into the hardship of working for something you are passionate about. After entering a magic development contest during high school, Niko found his project being rejected. Discovering that his passion and knowledge amounts to nothing in a world where magic has simply become no more than a tool.

Finding himself fearing a job working with magic would only crush his passion Niko decided to focus on magic solely as a hobby. That’s until his unconventional yet undeniable technical skills alongside his apprehension to sacrifice aesthetics earnt the attention of Mage Lumiere’s president who managed to convince Niko to join them. This added backstory makes Niko more than just another socially anxious otaku archetype and gives him some personality that another series might not have bothered with.

Kaede Midorikawa
Midorikawa is very plain, which is probably not a very good way to start this description, but I repeat, Midorikawa is very plain, and that’s ok. His appearance is so non-descriptive I don’t really know what to say and he’s so dedicated to his job that we practically know nothing about him beyond Magi Lumiere, and that’s ok. Midorikawa though is much like everyone else at Magi Lumiere, incredibly passionate about his work and possibly above anyone else devoted to the company and its president. Handling HR, PR, and a bunch of other acronyms I don’t know the meaning of Midorikawa’s job is much like his character, handling all the work that seems insignificant but helps keep the company afloat.

Kouji Shigemoto
Shigemoto is beauty. As fabulous as Versailles itself, Mahou Sanchou Magical Kouji is an aesthetic obsessive. Everything from his spellbinding stare, the spectacular stream of hair that effortlessly flows to his waist, his beautiful and absolutely breath-taking smile, and the magnificent outfits he pulls off so casually is for the art of aesthetic. But it’s not just his own appearance that he obsesses over but the appearance of Magi Lumiere as well.

Aside from Magi Lumiere we’re given an insight into two other mahou shoujo companies, AST, and Miyakodo. AST are a company exclusively interested in results; they have a superior tech advantage over many other companies and a demandingly vicious work environment. Meanwhile Miyakodo are aesthetic extremist to such an extent that they not only operate as a mahou shojo business but also as a modelling agency and as cosmetic product developers too. So, on one side a company derived of any charm or true individuality, a bleak and borderline oppressive work environment that treats its mahou shoujo’s with little regard. Mahou shoujo’s who show up, suffer, get the job done and leave. And on the other side a company all about appearances but that still has an incredible amount of passion and a genuine desire to inspire. A company that despite its size has managed to resist treating it’s employees like glorified advertisements flying around the city promoting their products and allowed them to maintain their individuality. It’s fairly obvious what both these companies represent but where does Shigemoto’s Magi Lumiere stand in all of this? Shigemoto has created a company with a warm and welcoming environment where the only results that matters is the happiness of the customers and his employees. The world under capitalism provides everything, everywhere all the time and in comparison too the giants that are trying to do everything, everywhere all the time Shigemoto’s Magi Lumiere is trying to do what only it can do.

Product Overview
Now I’ve painted a pretty positive picture of Magi Lumiere, でも, there are also some negatives. Starting with the obvious it’s produced by J.C. Staff. Quality control is poor the series can look pretty good or pretty terrible. There are probably 3-4 decent look Kaii throughout the whole series, there’s a significant amount of brooms floating across the screen rather than flying, the backgrounds are often very lifeless, and the characters could have been far more expressively animated. But unfortunately, that’s just J.C. Staff, whilst they’ve never been technically the most proficient studio it’s sad to think they once made Utena, Azumanga Daioh, Alien 9 and Toradora all of which I consider to be classics. And although the characters are all likeable, they’re not overwhelmingly amazing which is by extension probably a flaw of the whole series, good but nothing amazing. But hey I enjoyed it far more than I expected to and I’ll most likely watch the 2nd season and probably check the mangu too. And perhaps with some further world building, character development and an increase in production value Magi Lumiere and can really make something of itself. Soooooo yeah, good on Magi Lumiere it provided some tasteful commentary on the mahou shoujo genre and capitalism as a whole through a fun story with a likeable cast to guide you along the way. Soo whilst it may not be perfect, nor for everyone I’m still going to ask you too give Magi Lumiere a try and hopefully you enjoy it as much or more than I did.