Knight's & Magic is a unique gem, and the only mecha of its kind to explore what goes on behind the scenes of combat. We get a unique perspective into the mechanics and engineering of our favorite colossal war machines, in here called Silhouette Knights, but it's still the same old mechs we've come to know and love... I'll be it with a fantastical twist. This isn't just another mecha, it's a love letter to the genre, to the plamo nerds who engross their time and energy into endless new kits, and to the dreamers who'd give anything to design and pilot their very own robot.

We follow Ernestie, a reincarnated programmer who met his end to the almighty truck-kun disguised as a kei car. This isn't your typical isekai garbage where the MC is born with the ability to fly or something; Ernie comes from a noble house which puts him in a better state than most, but his OP ability is the knowledge he carried with him from his previous life- the original Myne, but in this world pretty much everyone has magic to some extent. What sets our MC apart from the rest is that magic is coding, and as a genius programmer he learns magiC++ quick. His years of assembling models of varying grades means he has a more than primitive understanding of mechanical engineering, meaning he can quickly make stark improvements to the existing hardware.

This is my second rewatch, and the reason I come back to this mecha in particular is because no other in the genre focuses on the people below the pilots. Sure, Votoms has the side cast and whatever shenanigans they get up to, but I'm talking about the engineers, the repair crew, the logistics teams. I've talked with some friends about how awesome it'd be to get a Cells At Work style mecha anime that focuses on the background characters rather than the pilots. Sure, you'd still get the fights, but we're here for the people who do everything else... and it's sad to say that K&M is the closest and pretty much only attempt at this, yet nobody really knows it exists.

If you liked Iron Blooded Orphans, if you're sick of modern Bandai forgetting there's more than just plamo kits to move, if you're more of an isekai or fantasy fan and want a taste of something fresh, if you wish there were more competitors breathing life into the mecha genre, I HIGHLY encourage you to watch Knight's & Magic. As someone who's been called a certified hater of everything, I cannot recommend this anime more, and I'd give anything to see it brought to games, continuing adaptations, maybe even have it inspire more outside the box mecha like Eighty-Six. I love this anime, and if I've convinced you to give it a watch or maybe even a rewatch, I hope you do, too.