Netflix recommended this anime to me. Maybe they thought that since I loved Avatar: The Last Airbender, I would enjoy this action anime where there are fire-magic wielding fighters and wind-magic wielding fighters and oh, my, elements!Well . . . I almost gave up after 4 episodes and decided it wasn't worth my time, but then for some reason I kept coming back to watch it until, lo and behold, I'd finished the whole damn thing.
The two main characters are Kazuma Yagami and Ayano Kannagi. The Kannagi family is a powerful family of fire-magic users. Kazuma used to be a Kannagi, but he got kicked out of the family and banished for sucking at fire magic and losing to Ayano in a fight. But he is now pretty much invincible as a wind magic user, thanks to his making a "contract" with a wind spirit. Or something like that. He's pretty cool, I suppose--cocky, arrogant, powerful, and cute. But all in all kind of flat as a character since he doesn't really grow at all--even his stint as an evil bastard at the end of the season wasn't all that exciting. As one review I read notes, the fact that he is 'The Contractor' and uber powerful makes the action scenes kind of . . . boring (it's the "Steven Seagal Syndrome"). He's so powerful that he can't lose, so it really takes the edge off all action scenes. I guess the scene where he kicks his dad's ass is pretty cool, but . . . meh, overall, just meh.
Ayano is the reason I almost stopped watching. Her character is incredibly, incredibly annoying, although at least she's not the simpering, wimpy crybaby type of weak woman that they usually have in anime. By contrast, she's fiery, hot-tempered, loud, and crazy. (And the annoying anime women trend continues.) Must they pick people with incredibly annoying voices to voice women? Always? Also kind of annoying is Kazuma's little brother, Ren Kannagi. I almost had to stop watching because their voices were so annoying.
But I guess Kazuma and Ayano both had some good moments as characters. By the end Ayano kind of redeemed herself--her divine flame was pretty cool, although I wish they had made her grow more as a character instead of just being the impetuous hot-tempered hothead that screams all the time. I guess in spite of all the show's flaws, it was moderately entertaining or I wouldn't have bothered to finish it.
I mean, there were so many problems with the show, from the nonsensical plot to the lack of compelling characters to the not-that-great (but decent) action scenes to the awful dialogue, but my main problem with it was that the so-called 'love' story between Kazuma and Ayano was just so a) forced and b) UH, HELLO, AREN'T THEY COUSINS!!!!? Why is Ayano's dad trying to set her up with HER COUSIN?!? (//edit: Ok, apparently they are second cousins. But still. They are related!)
Well, I really should not have wasted all that time on this series, but it kind of roped me in with the whole elements thing. And a cute guy never hurts--Kazuma kind of looks like Seto Kaiba from Yugioh, haha. Oh dear, I'm a fangirl. Overall, I'd give this series a 'soso.' Decently entertaining, but nothing deep or meaningful, and very annoying at parts.
Sigh. I'm going back to Avatar: The Last Airbender. Now that's some cool element-bending.
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