Magic Maker: How to Make Magic in Another World follows Shion as he is given a chance to relive his adolescence in a fantasy world where he can tap into his passion for learning magic, which is almost non-existent in this world. Or so Shion initially thinks. On a fishing trip, Shion, Marie, and their friend Rose go to a lake where they find trout that can radiate glowing orbs of magical energy. Which is.....weird. No adults can see this, and only some children can, which makes me wonder, wasn't there at least one kid who went on a boating expedition with their family, only for the lake trout to turn things into a Pink Floyd laser show? More importantly, why, of all things, did the story choose to land on fish as sources of magical energy? We find out later that there might be some magic stored in rocks that shoot out lightning, which in itself is fine--I've played enough Pokémon to know that Rock-types can learn Electric moves from time to time, so this clears. Still, though, with electric rocks that are magical runes, you'd think more people would be aware of magic in this world. But I digress.

The first half of the series puts Shion's love of learning magic to the test. He practices magic in his backyard, he's forced to fight goblins who want to harm his family, and he even lectures the audience about the art of magic in a few cute little asides. Shion's family in this world is very loving, and older sister Marie is smothering and overprotective in a way that's cute to watch, despite some brother-sister relationship cliches popping up here and there.

A few years pass, and things get a bit more dramatic in the show's latter half when Shion has to cure Marie from a lethargic illness spread by wraiths, and it's an arc that weighs the show down a bit. Another time skip causes three years to pass in the blink of an eye, and despite the looming threat of disease and wraiths, nothing good, bad, or ugly crosses our main lead as he continues to try to magically heal his sister back to health. The anime doesn't explore Shion's feelings or the psyche that comes with the burden; Shion does what he can to better his magical ability with some other characters, and nothing more. While not the most egregious thing in the world, it's still disappointing since it wastes so much potential character and story development.

I wasn't in awe of Magic Maker, but I didn't dislike it either. One thing I will say about Magic Maker, however, is that it felt like a better version of Dahlia in Bloom at times. Both series reincarnate their leads into other worlds to make magical things, although Magic Maker's animation is more lively, the characters have more depth, the premise of magic-making is more focused, and best of all, I wasn't slammed with episodes devoted to boardroom meetings. There might not be a whole lot memorable here, but if you're in the mood for some light fantasy that kickstarts things with virgin wizard memes and weird magical fish, Magic Maker might be the anime for you.