Teika’s big idea is to have everyone talk to Kohana overnight, in the hope that their voices will reach her subconscious. One by one, they enter her hospital room alone and say something true to their character. Rintaro, for example, talks about how much he loves her smile and even makes a confession of his feelings for her! Kanato thanks her for looking after him, something which apparently no one has ever done for him, and he also encourages her to smile. Louis says he doesn’t want to dance if Kohana can’t dance with him, and thanks her for helping him to realize his feelings for dancing, namely that he loves it with all his heart and wants to continue practicing it. Monet, the whiny little brat, berates Kohana for leaving him to deal with life on his own and tries to bribe her to wake up by telling her he’ll (gasp!) eat raw carrots for her. Aoi keeps his words short but simple, thanking her for helping him to return to the world of light.

Naturally Teika is last, and he thanks Kohana for “saving him” and bringing light to his world. No one had ever told him they loved his singing, just that he was really good at it, and Kohana’s proclamation of “I love your singing!” has stuck with him. Teika asks her how they should help her wake up, and out of desperation he starts to sing, which provokes a very small reaction in Kohana.

This gives Teika an idea: they will hold an art session for Kohana right in her hospital room. Everyone performs their magical art, and their sparkles blend together beautifully. Inside Kohana’s subconscious the guys manifest with swords, and they start to slash away the thorny vines holding her mind captive. Their singing causes light to break through the clouds in Kohana’s mind, and she can see their sparkles raining down on her. As they sing to her about how important she is as a person, and that she must be true to herself, Kohana has the realization that even if she can’t arrange flowers like her mom or even use her magical arts at all, she’s still herself.

With that epiphany, Kohana’s subconscious is instantly transformed into a land of flowers with butterflies everywhere. Two hands shove her forward and Kohana sprouts a large pair of glittery wings of her own. The hands are revealed to belong to Kohana’s mother Sakura, and the two share a few brief moments together before Kohana flies up above the Earth where the guys are waiting for her.

Back at school in the real world, the Scala Artista are reborn not from glass but from what look like sakura (cherry blossom) trees. Petals rain down yet again over the school’s campus, and everyone watching knows that things are alright again.

Now that Kohana is “cured”, the event committee goes ahead with their Halloween party as planned and it’s a huge success. Everyone on the committee has dressed up, and their costumes are pretty neat. Everyone on the event committee is helping out, and Kohana helps comfort a lost child at one point with a small bouquet of flowers. We see that her sparkles have transformed from snowflakes into butterflies and she’s able to use her magical art without punishment again.

As the festival passes by quickly, each of the guys talks about how important it is to enjoy the present moment with each other because soon some of them will be graduating, and next year the committee will have some different members. After the parade the committee gathers to put on their play about “Sleeping Beauty”, and it’s a big hit of course. Teika even kisses Kohana (as part of the play, haha)!

Later in the evening after the festivities are over, the committee regroups back at their headquarters where the discussion turns to talk of hosting a Christmas party! Wow they sure don’t waste any time eh??


Final Impression

Story: I was pretty impressed with the pacing, as the story progressed much more quickly than I thought it would and extra events were included in the final few episodes that I didn’t think would make the cut. Each bishounen typically got their own episode, but together they only took up half the season and the rest of the episodes were devoted to putting on the Hoshi Festival and then Kohana’s personal struggles. The twist with Kohana’s illness at the end was appreciated, even if it never posed a serious threat and was resolved in the span of an episode.

In a nutshell, Magic-kyun! Renaissance promises to be a light-hearted reverse harem, and that’s what it delivers so I really can’t complain too much.

Characters: I think the cast is my favourite thing about this title. It follows the standard formula of each bishounen being a different personality, and they’re all so wildly different from each other that they’re each entertaining in their own way. I feel like certain characters had deeper backstories than others, but everyone’s past was covered. Juri was also a fantastic character and had her own strengths, though we didn’t get to see any of her backstory.

That being said, because this is a reverse harem there usually isn’t too much character growth outside of the main two or three characters. Kohana doesn’t change much outside of the final episode, but Teika experienced a lot of personal growth and Monet comes to mind as well.

I do appreciate that the Kohana x Teika pairing never really took root, although I feel like there was definitely some set-up for that couple. I guess Hundred spoiled me and now I keep expecting the main character to actually pick a romantic partner, even though I’ve been told it usually doesn’t happen. *shrug*  Either way, Teika gets to give Kohana a quick kiss but we don’t see her reaction. If there’s a season 2, maybe their relationship will progress some more?

Music & Animation: FANTASTIC! Musical animes are starting to grow on me I think; after Dance With Devils, Magic-kyun! Renaissance is the second musical anime I have covered.  I enjoyed all of the songs, and I thought it was neat that the seiyuus for all the guys perform both the opening and ending themes together under the group name ArtiSTARs.

And the animation? THIS ladies and gentlemen, is how you blend together 2D and 3D animation. The “sparkles” are beautiful and don’t take away from the 2D animation at all. Magic-kyun! Renaissance is beautiful and I loved every minute of it.

Overall thoughts: I’ve been with AAB for one year now, and this show easily makes my top 3 list of favourite shows. While sometimes I found myself wishing for some “real” conflict or danger, the reality is that most reverse harems are not like that and so it’s somewhat unfair to expect something from a show that says it’s full of fun and romance. Which is exactly what we get, by the way. The characters are unique, there’s romance and hot guys, and oh did I mention that the music and animation are kick-ass?? I definitely recommend giving this show a watch, especially if you’re a fan of musical anime!

 

Final Score: 10/10