Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Kranst
The second season of Mashle: Magic and Muscles - The Divine Visionary Candidate Exam Arc continues to make haphazard use of parody to mask its uninspired writing. The line between satire and imitation is thin. Moreover, this repetitive approach requires the comedy to land without exception. In this case, predictable storytelling, nonsensical solutions, and eccentric personalities are less humorous and more a lack of sincerity and substance in the narrative. Furthermore, none of the obstacles presented, whether various trials, minor antagonists, or Innocent Zero, had weight. And unfortunately, the animation ranged widely from short, well-animated scenes to still, panned frames. Though the soundtrack still slaps!
Read at the sourceAntonyAV
This second season continues the adventure of Mash and his troop of generic followers, with not many changes as far as jokes (incredibly repetitive and basic: boring at this point), the creativity well dried like midway through season 1 and it shows. The writing is sort of like a parody of a lot of things, but since it is subpar it comes off as ripping off many concepts from things like Harry Potter and One punch man without absorbing anything worthwhile.
Anything that made me want to watch another season evaporated long ago, this season is just a collection of challenges and fights with very low quality animation (looks ok if you watch in 2x speed, which you should do if you want to watch this piece of garbage), the story is so mind-numbingly bad that it feels hard to even pay attention…
Read at the sourcehexashadow13
The second season of Mashle picks up right where the first season left off, Mash being exposed as lacking magic. The powers that be give him a respite due to the fact that he can serve as bait to Innocent Zero. However that respite is predicated on him still being in the running for Divine Visionary. And that leads to Mash participating in The Divine Visionary Candidate Exam, which is the focus of this season as you would expect from the title. Though its called an exam, it’s a competition with the worst performers each round being eliminated from the running. And as you would expect from such an anime, the competitions are heavily combat focused.
Mash is still overpowered and that plays into a lot of fun moments. However, there are less moments as compared to last season. Instead, this s…
Read at the sourceiliketohavepeis
tl;dr: So this went a full on action anime, I mean, it's a tuneful change for sure, but i'm not sure about it.
Season 2, it does better than season 1 in some areas, but also lacks some things that season 1 had.
Plot, imo, its better, but also, not a the same time????? Idk how to feel about it, because it went from a fantasy comedy with a twist on the op/bland mc with stiff characters and mid plot. To a full on action anime with more stunning visuals and cooler animation, way more side character action and Mash actually having tough challenges, but also losing the comedy and adventure feel of season 1, even if I don't feel like it was an adventure anime to begin with. And the divine visionaries thing, cool I guess. but they are the fbi, so I was always a bit iffy about them.
Characters, F…
Read at the sourceopening_god_999
Would’ve given it a higher rating if it weren’t for her. Mashie and Muscles had a lot going for it—the story was solid, the pacing was decent, and some of the scenes were actually pretty entertaining. But seriously, that one character ruined so much of it for me. I mean, she’s just so annoying. Every time she opened her mouth, it pulled me right out of the moment. It’s like the writers tried way too hard to make her quirky or funny, and it just ended up being grating. If they had toned her down—or better yet, cut her out entirely, I’d probably have enjoyed it a lot more. I don't even remember her name...
Read at the sourceOneeSama
Disappointing.
It starts fine, but becomes extremely boring by the end.
The show shifted towards a more plot-oriented story rather than a comedy parody.
Felt like I was watching another trash magic isekai's final boss battle.
Overwhelming strength, multi-episode fights, long ability explanations with back-and-forth counters, summoning of excessive or gigantic monsters, sappy flashbacks of friendships giving the good guys the power to push forward. blah blah blah.
The comedy runs dry with the same jokes repeated over and over. It was great in the first season, but became excessive this season. You already know the drill: A new foe appears that is considered top-tier, they duke it out, the MC struggles a bit at first but then is completely unaffected by their magic, the MC beats the dayligh…
Read at the sourceAnimeExplorer21
After the way Season 1 ended, I was beyond excited to see where the story would go next. Mashle: Shinkakusha Kouho Senbatsu Shiken-hen picks up right where it left off, and things escalate quickly. Mash is still pushing forward toward his goal, but this time, he faces a far greater threat than just becoming a Divine Visionary—the sinister organization Innocent Zero. These guys aren’t just strong; they’re insanely overpowered and terrifyingly smart, forcing Mash to rely on not just his brute strength but also his wits to survive. And damn, did he deliver. Just when you think he’s backed into a corner, he counters in the most jaw-dropping ways that leave you grinning like an idiot.
One thing I’ve always loved about Mashle is how Mash values his friendships. No matter how strong the enemy is…
Read at the sourcedougoftheabaci
I mean... It's fine. It has some moments when the comedy kinda works but it really wants to be a fight anime and the fight animation is really bad. Lot of static pans, no real fluidity or sense of weight. If you're looking for an anime to scratch your fighting itch this isn't it. If you're looking for an anime to scratch your comedy itch this isn't it.
If you're looking for an anime that features people constantly monologuing and expositing in your face rather than progressing the plot, character arcs or basic action? Oh man, this is the anime for you!
Season three needs to really lean into the comedy or it needs to really ramp up the fight quality because this isn't it.
Read at the sourcenetaraxia
To be completely honest, I kind of just skipped massive amounts of scenes through the first season, so maybe that's why I think this sequel is far better than season 1.
The intro (and outro) is a complete banger, that much everyone can agree on. The plot is not unique, so is the animation. I wanted to find another anime like One Punch Man, which is why I wanted to give it at least one last try. While I do genuinely believe this has potential, I just think there's too many unnecessary monologue-- however, don't get me wrong, there were actually scenes that're funny as fuck that gives off OPM feels.
But yeah, overall, it's a good anime to binge-watch all in one night if you can't sleep and need a good laugh with some action.
Read at the sourceCookie111
Simply Ok. It is a funny parody but I found it could be boring throughout it wasn't until the final episode or two that I was intrigued which is why my rating is 6 not 5. Also, the same things they poked at in the first season repeated which wore out the enjoyment, it actually made it slightly irritating and made me feel very little for the characters The animation can be cool at times and Yes the opening is fun but that doesn't cover the problems with the series.
Overall a good parody but I wouldn't look for more past that. It is something to watch when you want to turn your brain off
Read at the sourcemaoginko
Mashle: a perfect example that sometimes the heart of a show and a great soundtrack can be more important than plot or depth.
Honestly, i watched the whole show in one go so this is less a review of the second season and more of the show as a whole. At first this show annoyed me. It seemed to be more or less Harry Potter but with more eugenics, an extremely OP mc, and less good character and story writing. Mash (the mc) is a very one note character. He likes cream puffs and his loved ones. He's seriously as dumb as a doorstop and extremely dense borderline purposely obtuse. What teenager can't open a damn door without breaking it because every single time he doesn't know if they're push or pull doors??? He's overconfident to a fault and yet is so ridiculously overpowered to the point that…
Read at the sourceBlackBusterMAL
English.
A second season that already gives us a purpose to continue watching the entire series and eagerly await a new season.
What I mean by the above, the fact that in the first season they only showed us a typical parody story that went nowhere, with this season they already show us what they want to aspire to in the following seasons and it is specific. We already have a main villain and a purpose for the end of the series which is the defeat of Innocent Zero, without leaving aside the constant comedy of each episode and the speed they show us in the battle that in other animes would take up to entire seasons to happen.
Without a doubt Mashle shows us with this season the quality of the episodes that it can have and the variety of magic and iconic characters that it can give us.
Then…
Read at the sourceResting_Bonfire
Mashle: Shinkakusha Kouho Senbatsu Shiken-hen
Another example of how a good comedy doesn't need a serious or real plot.
Magic and Muscles was one of the most creative series you can find and definitely something many would have wished for. We have a world very similar to Harry Potter, a silly and super strong protagonist and perfectly spiced macabre silly humour.
That was the recipe for success, nothing more. The writer should have kept exactly what we had in the first season. The pacing was decent, the story was amusing and everything had a well-built joke at the end. Instead in the second season they had to build up a shounen and give 2 episodes long fights for the enemies.
Not only that, the pacing was disastrous. The scenes dragged on forever, especially the final fight. It was j…
Read at the sourceMelioDasOfir
*No spoilers in the review*
I can't understand people who don't like the series, especially season 2, season 1 has its "charm", maybe it's less action than the second season but it shows the plot perfectly and what's going to continue for the next seasons, season 2 itself is very excellent in terms of action, Presentation of characters (I really connected with the characters) The conclusion is that after the second or third episode you have to give her a chance to get into it. Personally, it's hard for me to see any downsides because I loved and enjoyed the season so much.
Overall I give the second season a 9.4/10 masterpiece.
Read at the sourceKongregate
The opening was the only thing that saved this show to be honest. This season just became repetitive real quick. The new characters being forgettable did not help as well. Problem occurs/enemy appears , a sticky situation ensues.... CREAM PUFF. POW POW PUNCH.... over and over and over. I genuinely liked the anime the first season and thought that this had good potential as it reminded me of One Punch Man in terms of entertainment. But cmon.... felt like the show did not try at all to level up and showcase more to the audience. I honestly thought of dropping this show at one point but continued through because I liked the first season. No suspense. Every character was super annoying other than 1 or 2 of the main characters.
Read at the sourcepetrekov
The first season of this anime was fine; for many, it was great, and I understand why. But honestly, it wasn't quite my cup of tea from the start. Still, I rated the first season 6 out of 10 as decent, slightly above average. However, the second season... Well, the creator tried to make everything bigger, more epic, with abilities becoming increasingly nonsensical, and they kept using the same formula for everything. As a result, for me, it’s a much worse experience in every aspect. The first season perfectly balanced fantasy and parody, but in the second season, it simply doesn’t work. The abilities are absurdly overpowered, and the main character only stands a chance against them either by luck, due to the opponent's stupidity, or simply because the ability was designed in such a way tha…
Read at the sourceShirogari
In the second season of mashle the story mostly strays away from being a Harry Potter parody and starts doing its own thing. Whether this is a good or bad thing is up to you.
The main storyline in the anime is quite interesting still. The world as a whole resists Mash's existence and he has to contend with all kinds of different people, ranging from powerful to peasant, demanding his execution. The discussions that take place around whether Mash should be allowed to live are often genuinely interesting but it is also cringe when his friends stand up for him because of how little of a personality they have. The fights are also still neat but they are not frequent enough, don't feature mash enough and suffer from characters narrating every single action that happened, often saying the same…
Read at the sourceDISKOWN
The second season of Mashle: Shinkakusha Kouho Senbatsu Shiken-hen attempts to build on the charm of its predecessor but ultimately falls short of its potential. While it retains the same level of humor and comedic timing that made the first season enjoyable, it struggles to offer anything particularly fresh or engaging.
This season’s humor, though consistent with the first, often leans on generic jokes that could fit into nearly any series. Rather than leveraging the existing storyline and characters of Mashle to introduce something unique, the jokes frequently feel recycled, missing the fresh elements that could set them apart. While some moments are still funny, they lack the original absurdity that distinguished the first season, leading to a sense of repetitiveness that diminishes th…
Read at the source---Hyouka---
Animation: 8
Comedy: 8
Story: 7
Soundtrack: 8
Let’s start with the “bad” part.
The anime continues to have certain issues from the first season that bother me, such as the excessive explanations. It feels like the director and writers see the audience as a bunch of illiterate fools who can’t understand anything without detailed explanations, which isn’t necessary at all.
The fights remain static due to this excessive talking/explaining. Battles like Wahlberg’s could be much better if the anime didn’t pause every 10 seconds to explain something. Now that we’ve pointed out the bad, let’s get to the good.
The anime has greatly improved in terms of magic, and as a result, the fights have also gotten much better. They’ve stopped being a repetition of the same magic over and over and are now…
Read at the sourceSteamwood
The fun core of the show is still here with the goofballs that orbit Mash and Mash's own insane antics, but it loses some steam in the last few episodes this season. There are a few amazingly animated pieces throughout, but also some really, really cheap looking stuff as the final fight arc drags on a bit too long.
It loses a little focus on what makes Mashle really pop when it drags too much without a good joke to punctuate the heavier stuff, which is unfortunate. Still, I'll be watching the next season and it is still very enjoyable for the first few episodes, and if you aren't put off by the weird rap I'd say this OP is one of the best in a decade, it's so lively and fun!
Read at the source
