Magic-Kyun! Renaissance - Sparkle, Sparkle, Arty Sparkle.

I started watching this Anime series mostly because of reading the Episode review on Anime Feminist which compared it to Fruits Basket, an Anime series I loved when I was younger, and stated the fact it was "one of the few Anime directed by a woman". I'm always on board with that and supporting women in fields that lack diversity, so I watched it. I'd heard good reviews about it before and so went in with possibly too high expectations. Maybe it's this almost "Reverse Harem" type series that I'm not too into but it just felt a little... flat. Sure, some of the characters were appealing (*ahem* Suminomiya Aoi *ahem*) but I just felt that their motivations and backgrounds were cliche and generic. That whole "trying to follow in your parents footsteps" thing just seemed to be recycled from so many other series - maybe my own family relationships meant I couldn't relate, I don't know - that it just didn't vibe with me.

The story is about a school for kids who possess a type of "Magical Art" - art skills that are so good they create sparkles. And I love sparkles, so I was drawn to the concept. The series centres around a young woman, Aigasaki Kohana, who's following in the footsteps of her mother, applying to the school to develop her own magical art. For the most-part, the series is about Aigasaki Kohana bringing together a group of the most talented students in their field to arrange a big art festival. The problem is that these talented students have their own problems and personal differences which makes bringing them together a difficult task - playing into that whole "troubled artist" trope that annoys me, probably one of the many reasons why I couldn't get on with this series.

The art-style was nice. It wasn't mind-blowing but the colours were vibrant and the character design was pleasing. The sparkles were cute but I personally didn't like the 3D effect of some of them - but that's just my personal tastes.

The soundtrack was catchy, but by the second or third episode I was skipping through it. It wasn't bad, but I wasn't prepared to keep listening through a binge-watching session. The songs throughout were a nice touch too and I did feel like they brought a pleasant atmosphere to the episodes.

Without including spoilers I just found that the characters were a little cliche and stereotypical - all that "troubled artist" stuff - and the relationships seemed forced. I know there's only so much you can do in 13 episodes but it just seemed that it strong bongs were created too quickly or built merely off the enjoyment of each others "Magical Art". While that seems like a nice way to form friendships, I feel that there needs to be more to it than that, more reason for characters coming to form such relationships as the one in this series.

The one saving grace, without revealing to you what happens, was the second-to-last episode where suddenly everything happens and it literally had me on the edge of my seat. That episode alone made this series worth trawling through the slow opening episodes and sticking with this Anime.

TL;DR: A cute series that's got some beautiful effects, great musical numbers and a good concept to it, but the relationships seem forced and the characters are a little cliche and stereotypical. However, if you can move past that and keep going, you'll find a satisfying ending.