MUSAIGEN NO PHANTOM WORLD

DESCRIPTION

CAST

NOVEL ActionMusaigen no Phantom World
SPECIAL ComedyMusaigen no Phantom World: Limitless Phantom World
OVA ActionMusaigen no Phantom World: Mizutama no Kiseki

REVIEWS

• 

  Zaphkiel

  80/100
  KyoAni keeps things fresh

  __The Age of Phantoms__ __Introduction__

  I haven't been keeping up with anime thanks to school. The last time I tried to pick up seasonal anime (surprisingly Summer 2015), I ended up only being able to finish a few shows. I decided to slow things down and pick up 3 shows from Winter 2016. Of course, one of them had to be Kyoto Animation's first show of the year. Musaigen no Phantom World takes everything cliche but makes things look pretty and feel fresh.

  __Story__

  The premise is quite interesting. Due to an accident at a certain laboratory, a virus has escaped and now everyone can see these random ghosts/monsters called Phantoms. It's not that this virus created these monsters but now human brain chemistry was altered so we can perceive them. Occasionally, the intro to each show actually dives into the psychology behind certain events in the show. I thought this was pretty cool, especially with that real world link.

  But what would a show about monsters be without superpowers? Children born after the incident are born with specific powers that help combat these Phantoms. The main story focuses around our hero, Haruhiko Ichijou, and the girls he fights with. While this is a commonly used formula in anime, I enjoyed Musaigen's take on this. Normally, shows like to introduce some corny plot where the MC gains some OP superpower and there are too many waifu wars each episode. However, Musaigen keeps a weekly pattern of fighting a new Phantom each time. It kept things pretty fresh actually.

  There's a hot spring episode (by far my favorite) and one where the characters visit an imaginary world created by one of them. One episode has a Haruhiko who has reverted back to his childhood form so the girls have to babysit him (it was really cute, I won't lie). Because you don't have to digest a silly plot with silly development, you can really just sit back and enjoy what's happening in the moment.

  __Characters__

  Probably the part about the show that screams cliche is its characters. Haruhiko is as cookie-cutter as it gets. The girls (Mai, Reina, Koito) have varying personalities from Mai's boldness to Koito's cool-girl attitude. There's a girl for everyone as they pretty much fit common female character types. And if you don't like any of them, there are plenty of other well designed characters too (honestly, best girl could be anyone of the random side girls in the class).

  Some characters stick to their traditional molds but their interactions were still fun to watch. I can understand why it might be a turn off to some but I've seen my fair share of the harem genre. This isn't a harem and the characters are very tolerable. Getting to know them through each episode was a rewarding experience for me.

  __Animation and Sound__

  Oh. My. Word. If you've read my other reviews, you'd know that I'm a KyoAni fanboy. But Musaigen no Phantom world killed it in terms of animation and sound. Especially the sound.

  

  First off, the animation. Very smooth battle sequences. They were very pleasing to the eye. Also, the costumes that some characters wore completely changed their looks and it was cool to see how different KyoAni could make them appear. And of course, backgrounds and other locations look vibrant and alive.

  _My favorite girl_ _KyoAni wins_ _Just look at the design of these girls! (The girl on the far left accurately depicts me during this episode)_

  There is a bit of fanservice in the first few episodes (especially the first) so be warned. The first few times in the first episode didn't sit well with me and I even contemplated dropping the show. However, it doesn't last forever (at least the in-your-face boobs/panty shots). The swimsuit episode is definitely fanservice, but it's nowhere near as extreme.

  As a musician, I have high standards for soundtracks. Usually shows like this don't really have OST's worth mentioning but this one definitely is. It was jaw dropping at how well it was composed. Mad props to Effy. My favorite song is definitely the main theme: Phantom.

  When this song begins to play, things definitely get really hype. And I mean HYPE. I was really surprised to hear such a great song in a show like this. There are many other tracks worth mentioning too but I'll let you listen to them in the show. Overall, very impressed in the music section.

  __ Personal Enjoyment__

  I was a bit worried at first after the first episode once I saw the fanservice. It was very in your face. I personally can't stand that kind of fanservice and I've seen enough fanservice that I can tolerate it most of the time. I had wondered if KyoAni, my favorite studio, had become a sellout. Was this in order to earn more views? But I stuck with the show because I had faith in them and they didn't disappoint. The studio surprised me as it made me enjoy elements of shows I had first watched when getting into anime. Even though things were predictable at times, I had a lot of fun during the journey.

  __Conclusion__

  I don't regret picking up this show. I expected hype and KyoAni delivered. If you can get over some silly anime tropes and fanservice, this show will be very enjoyable. Musaigen no Phantom World is the kind of show you'd pick up after watching something heavy. It allows you to not have to worry about plot and just enjoy the ride. I found myself enjoying common anime tropes once again. If you like KyoAni's style, definitely watch this. It's as well animated as their past works.

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• 

  A570N

  79/100
  La seule raison qui justifie de regarder cet animé : Kyoto Animation.

  # **Myriad Colors Phantom World** *(Disponible sur **[Crunchyroll](https://www.crunchyroll.com/fr/myriad-colors-phantom-world)**)* --- ***Synopsis*** >Dans le futur, un groupe d’adolescents a la capacité de combattre des créatures surnaturelles. Surnommées *Phantoms*, ces dernières apparaissent parfois dans notre monde. Ils sont également confrontés à une organisation secrète qui tente de tirer profit de ces monstres. Au cours de leurs actions, ces jeunes élèves découvriront ainsi la terrible vérité sur le monde qu’ils habitent… *Source : Crunchyroll* --- ***Histoire*** Globalement, la série présente un potentiel assez grand, notamment du point de vue scénaristique. Bien que celle-ci se découpe en deux parties, la structure des épisodes reste identique tout au long de l’histoire. Haruhiko aux côtés de Lulu présente un aspect qui sera le thème de l’épisode : scientifique (en général lié aux capacités du corps humain) ou historique. Ensuite, un *Phantom* directement lié aux explications de Haruhiko fait son apparition et son équipe doit alors le sceller s’il s’avère être maléfique, ou essayer de comprendre ses intentions. Une fois cette étape terminée, l’épisode se termine avant d’enchaîner sur le suivant qui correspondra à l’arrivée d’un nouveau *Phantom*. Suite à la première partie qui consistait à présenter les différents protagonistes et la constitution de l’équipe anti-*Phantoms*, l’intensité a fortement diminué et les épisodes sont devenus redondants. La structure que l’on retrouve à chaque épisode devenait répétitive et même lassante par moment, tant la fin était prévisible. Cela n’aurait pas été le cas si l’histoire avait pris un côté plus immersif voire plus sombre. Il a fallu attendre les deux derniers épisodes pour que l’enjeu devienne enfin intéressant. Des informations sur le traitement de certains *Phantoms* ont été révélées, et on a eu droit à un combat final vraiment prenant et bien mené. Mais la fin a malheureusement été bâclée et laisse le spectateur s’imaginer sa propre suite, sans même proposer des éléments propices à une deuxième saison. --- ***Personnages*** **Haruhiko Ichijô** Le genre de protagoniste que j’apprécie, même s’il est loin d’être parfait. Il compense son manque de capacités physiques par de vastes connaissances et démontre sa valeur progressivement, jusqu’à devenir l’as de l’équipe. Assez maladroit, il sait néanmoins prendre soin de son entourage. **Lulu** Bien qu’elle ne brille pas vraiment par son intellect, elle est espiègle et passe son temps à taquiner Haruhiko, ce qui donne parfois lieu à des scènes assez hilarantes. Le gros bémol est que l’on ne sait quasiment rien ni sur ses origines, ni sur sa rencontre avec Haruhiko. Il a encore fallu attendre le dernier épisode avant d’avoir un début de réponse mais qui ne sera malheureusement pas développé. C’est dommage car il y avait matière à lui donner un rôle plus important dans l’histoire. **Mai Kawakami** Mon personnage favori de cette série. Elle peut parfois manquer de tact et même se montrer plutôt violente, mais est bourrée de qualités. Elle sait être ouverte et aider les autres quand il le faut. L’épisode où Haruhiko retrouve son apparence d’enfant en est la preuve puisqu’elle a pris soin de lui comme une grande soeur. C’est pour toutes ses raisons que je regrette que son passé n’ait pas été plus développé car j’ai comme l’étrange impression que sa vie antérieure est liée à celle de Haruhiko. **Reina Izumi** Personnage très adorable. Une jeune fille assez timide au premier abord mais qui est en fait profondément gentille et respectueuse envers ses aînés. Bien que j’aurais aimé en savoir davantage à son sujet, c’est le personnage qui a été selon moi le plus développé. **Koito Minase** Comme on peut s’en douter, sa rencontre avec Haruhiko va la changer, mais ce changement s’est avéré être trop brusque à mon goût. J’aurais aimé que l’on s’attarde plus sur son passé et que Haruhiko prenne le temps de la comprendre et de l’aider à changer. Elle qui s’était opposée à rejoindre ses rangs, elle finit par se lier d’amitié du jour au lendemain avec toute la bande comme si d’un seul coup tout allait mieux, alors que Haruhiko n’a rien fait d’exceptionnel pour la changer. **Kurumi Kumamakura** Sans doute le personnage le plus adorable de cette oeuvre. Bien qu'elle ait réussi à trouver sa place dans l'équipe grâce à Haruhiko, elle reste essentiellement une source de comédie puisqu'elle reste en retrait lors des affrontements. --- ***Visuel*** Comme on pouvait s’y attendre de leur part, le travail visuel de *KyoAni* est irréprochable. Les décors et les personnages tout en couleur correspondent parfaitement au thème surnaturel et les combats sont animés avec brio. Mais ce qui est représentatif de ce studio, ce sont les expressions faciales des personnages qui sont comme toujours très fluides, très percutantes et extrêmement proches des mouvements réels. Ils démontrent ainsi une nouvelle fois leur polyvalence et nous prouvent qu'ils ne sont pas en reste lorsqu'il s'agit d'adapter une oeuvre d'action. --- ***Audio*** Rien d’extraordinaire à ce niveau : l’[opening](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym0VnSi8NYA) est bon sans être sensationnel, et j’ai une préférence pour l’[ending](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhUdpk9psEk) dont la musique est meilleure à mon goût. Les OST quant à eux sont corrects sans être incroyables. Comme pour le scénario, c’est l’aspect visuel qui compense. --- ***Appréciation*** Cette oeuvre aurait réellement pu rencontrer un franc succès si autant d’aspects scénaristiques comme les relations ou le passé des personnages n’avaient pas été aussi superflus. Les personnages sont malgré tout attachants, le côté comédie est plaisant, et l’animation est un sans-faute. Au final, tous les ingrédients étaient présents pour que le résultat soit subjuguant, mais la recette a simplement été mal suivie. Ce n'est pas pour autant que je n'ai pris aucun plaisir à la visionner, bien au contraire. Des personnages aussi attachants et une animation d'une telle qualité auraient presque suffi à me satisfaire entièrement et l'ensemble démontre une nouvelle fois pourquoi ce studio est mon préféré. Néanmoins, il est préférable ne pas s’attendre à tomber sur un chef-d’oeuvre, mais plutôt sur une série de qualité satisfaisante qui fait l’affaire pour passer le temps. --- >Histoire : 7.5 Personnages : 8 Visuel : 9 Audio : 7.5 Appréciation : 7.5 **Note globale : 7.9** **Merci infiniment de m'avoir lu jusqu'au bout !** ***Review écrite le 13/06/2020***
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• 

  Rarity

  50/100
  My friend told me this was a credible harem anime... He lied to me

  (My friend tricked me into watching this show and it was a mixed bag. Here are my random musings. They are not nearly as detailed as the Smartphone review.)

  

  So I came into this show expecting a normal harem anime and was quickly disappointed. This show feels 100% like a harem up until they recruit Kurumi (Bear Loli) since most harems spend their early eps piling on girls. So I tried to not treat this show like a harem even though it employs some of the most blatant harem tropes:

  

  The protagonist is repeatedly physically assaulted for comedic effect, often by the girls (Mai’s headlocks, and Reina’s overhead tosses). It might be an exaggeration to call this a harem trope, but it occurs in enough harem shows to make me always associate this occurrence with them.

  

  The girls all have some intimacy with the protagonist. Multiple times it seems like Mai might have feelings for the protag. At the end of the episode where they defeated the Cerberus, Koito (Singer girl) also seems like she might have feelings for the protag. Reina (Kirby) and Bear Loli each got dragged into their own personal episode with the protag. However, these romantic possibilities were ignored until the scene at the dining table in episode 11 where Enigma (Mewtwo) dredged them up perfectly. Hell even the scene in episode 12 where protag and Ruru had to kiss to save the day was basically a PG version of how they defeated Darkness in To Loveru (aka the protag having to use sexuality to save the day).

  Anyway, enough about why this show felt like a harem. To be honest this show kept switching up its tone all season. It was a comedy (fighting the pantie stealing UFO), a drama (Kirby’s shit relationship with her parents), a dementia (The fucking cat mansion ep) and a supernatural battle show (various fights, but best shown in episodes 11-12) and it never focused enough on one genre to master it.

  These concerns apply to each character now that I think about it:

  Protag is basically a reasonable albeit bland guy, who doesn’t gain any real character development until episode 11. He just makes his boring speeches and gets acted upon by the girls/plot. The problem was that I didn’t find his suffering funny (after Kirby threw him out the window the 2nd time, I just started feeling genuine pity). Why was this? He was just too reasonable. For me to enjoy watching a character get harmed repeatedl,y there must be a good reason. His long boring speeches really didn’t make me want to see him get hurt in every single ep… (outside of episode 12 when he was being stupid)

  Mai (Big sister) was also a reasonable character, but they never really dug into her background. She’s suffering from crippling poverty in ep 1
  and by episode 11... she’s still poor,
  They gave her a really good character motivation and then only brought it up twice. The episodes where she was the focus were some of the better ones though and I’m saddened that she didn’t get more focus. In episode 12 when she grabbed protag’s face before the final battle though I was hyped.

  

  Reina (Kirby) was painfully bland to me. Growing up with Goku, I’m not enthused by a character who eats a lot. She seemed gay for Mai, but this plot point was forgotten after episode 5 and She was pretty much just there for her power to be brought up as to why it wouldn’t work in any given crisis. I wish they expanded on the plot with her parents (who we literally never even see). It seemed like another interesting plot point that the anime swept under the rug. Tbs in episode 12 she too had a godly line when she called out Protag’s bullshit.

  

  Kurumi (Bear Loli) was really annoying. I know she was just an inexperienced kid, but I found her input consistently useless. Albrecht (the bear) was cool, but that’s not saying much. I was enjoying the show until her focus episode. That ep was really weird, like REALLY REALLY weird. I haven’t seen a setup that strange since Saturday morning cartoons. Basically, Kurumi never really clicked for me and was easily the weakest character in the whole show. It could also be because she did the least in episodes 11 and 12.

  Koito (Singer Girl) was pretty good if only because her “dere” at the end of the Cerberus episode was the most quality Tsundere I’ve seen in ages. Also, to her credit she was the one actively trying to find Enigma in episode 12 to save the day.

  I enjoyed Ruru the most throughout the show. She was the only one who just worked for me being consistently funny and cute. I was a bit let down in her focus episode and also her connections to Protag in episode 12 felt incredibly rushed… Despite this, I was never truly upset with her character.

  So I can’t help, but reference episodes 11 and 12 because they were ACTUALLY INSANE AND GREAT. The show became laser focused on a really cool plot and actually gripped me for the full two episodes. Why couldn’t this be the whole series? Cool fights against dangerous phantoms that were a clear threat to humanity. Two of the phantoms were in the character’s heads (the bunnies and the bears), the Cerberus, pervert UFO and the monkeys were all isolated incidents (NOT THE SCHOOL’S CHICKEN COOPS/temperature), the cats weren’t truly malicious either. Other than the crazy sentient firework and the evil sandbox there were no really credibly evil phantoms until episode 11.

  WHERE SUDDENLY THE HOT VAMPIRE PHANTOM MEWTWO DESCENDED UPON THE SCHOOL!

  

  It truly felt like I was watching a different show. I was yelling at the screen, “DUDE THAT’S NOT YOUR MOM, IT’S A TRAP!” I was into it. This show could’ve been a really great series where they fought EVIL phantoms with drama and high stakes. Instead we got weird shit as the show tried to be a jack of all trades, master of none…
  .
  Final Score:

  Episodes 1-4: 7 of 10 because it still feels like a budding harem

  Episodes 5-11: 5 of 10, watch only for the acid trips and quality animation

  Episodes 12-13: 9 of 10, they took a show that I was really hating and made me briefly love it.

  Now real quick because it seems like I’m mad at this show for not being a simple fight of good vs evil. My thoughts are if you are going to try to have a super nuanced show where some monsters are good and some are evil, then it needs to have a stronger genre focus.
  This show could’ve been a decent harem, a passable comedy, a great shounen or a creepy dementia and outside of the last two episodes it was just a complete mess.

  Do yourself a favor and just watch episodes 1-4 and then 11-13. (Episode 11 set up the mommy issues decently)

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