Mikagura School Suite

Episode 3

I really don't want to admit that Mikagura School Suite is just another teenage action show looking to catch a ride on the Kill la Kill bandwagon. I want it to be as energetic and free-spirited as it looks, and I'd also like to see it throw the standard genre storyline out the window. However, when it buckled down and set up a tournament ladder for the main character to climb, holding out hope suddenly got a lot more difficult.

This episode opens with Eruna riding high after winning her first club battle. She brags her way through an interview with the school newspaper and marches triumphantly to Seisa's house to bask in the glow of victory. Seisa isn't terribly impressed, however, and challenges Eruna to a practice battle with her permanent club membership on the line. An overconfident rookie taking on her upperclassman isn't exactly a recipe for success, and Eruna ends up getting her butt kicked in dramatic fashion. With her membership in the going home club revoked, she decides to start a club of her own and work her way up to a rematch.

The problem with this episode is that it has to clamp down on the show's trademark energy in order to move the plot along. No amount of bright colors and quirky characters can disguise what is ultimately a very by-the-book plot development. Eruna needs to get knocked down a few pegs so that she can have something to strive for throughout the rest of the series. It's a good and even necessary direction for the show to take, but the sense of lively individuality that permeated the first two episodes gets lost in the process. The result is half an hour of reasonably well-written genre tropes instead of a delightfully crazy sensory overload.

The good news is that most of Mikagura School Suite's less obvious strengths remain intact. Eruna is still an entertaining heroine, and her constant fantasies and delusions are still cute and funny enough to be worth their screen time. A few members of the supporting cast are also beginning to come into their own, especially the representatives from the art and astronomy clubs. While it's still in need of a more substantial plot, the show at least has a good sense of fun to it. Even as it went through some very predictable motions, I caught myself smiling more than once.

The inconsistent animation quality remains my biggest concern. As soon as anyone starts running or jumping around during an action scene, the visuals go downhill in a hurry. Eruna and Seisa both take on very odd proportions while they're in motion, and their heads don't always look particularly human. I'd rather have some sloppy animation than uninspired pans across still images, but it still feels like the wheels are going to come off at any moment. When your art style is one of your chief selling points, that's not a good thing.

I'm still enjoying Mikagura School Suite, but it's put itself in a very precarious spot. If the next few episodes can't find a way to advance the story without diluting the sugar rush energy, then we're going to have a problem. A series like this is like a shark: it needs to keep moving if it wants to stay alive. Maybe that purple-haired girl from the opening credits will mix things up once the series finally gets around to telling us who the heck she is.

Rating: B-

Mikagura School Suite is currently streaming on Funimation.

Paul Jensen is a freelance writer and editor. You can follow more of his anime-related ramblings on Twitter.