Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
RemanTheArchean
A powerful mage is sent back in time to undo a screwup. This show is a solid line of tropes played straight-up, and with decent execution it's enjoyable if you're a fan of them. There's a clear power fantasy aspect with semi-explicit power rankings, the MC concealing his power level, people underestimating him, etc. though that's only part of the focus. There's a magic academy and nobles that are pompous to the point of absurdity as well. Then there's the love interest who's literally named "romantica" and... yeah, it's about as tropey as you can get.
The thing that makes this fun is that it's not absurdly rushed like many other low-quality anime plotlines are, and the core group of the MC, the love interest, and the femboy sidekick have decent chemistry and are entertaining to watch. The…
Read at the sourceMitsotakiShogun
The first time I watched this I was positively surprised because it was better than what I had expected, and I gave it a 7. Now I've finished rewatching it, and I'm downgrading to a *lenient* 6.
The animation is meh overall, there were a couple interesting/memorable moments for sure, but when it comes to the fights it becomes almost atrocious. Magic is very uninspiring, and Pram's sword-"fighting" has got to be one of the most boring, exaggerated crap I've seen. We're in 2025, and we're no strangers to even crappier animation, so let's move on.
The story has so many cuts and holes. At one point, there was a "chess" game (extra pieces, inconsistent & stupid rules) that was supposedly a major plot point, but we weren't even shown the outcome. I decided to look it up. I found the chapter on…
Read at the sourcePrashantttt
To be honest, the first two episodes were actually amazing. I loved the tension and the setup. It really felt like this anime was going to be something special. But after that, it completely fell apart and turned into your average piece of trash isekai.
Like I said, the start gave me hope, but the characters ruined everything. Most of them are annoying and not even worthy to remember. Romantica is the biggest problem. This bitch should have died in the first episode and the MC should have let her die. She is ungrateful, annoying, untrustworthy, and easily the shitest thing about the show.
Then we have Pram. You can add a girl, a boy, or even an old man, but a character who looks like a boy and acts like a girl is just weird here. I don’t know if he was gay or what kind of creature this c…
Read at the sourceVTkrrishblaze
Really just a mid anime is the best way to describe it. Just a good show to watch in the background while gaming or doing errands, has in interesting variation of a popular story trope, but really just falls short in capturing the viewers interest in its entirety. You never feel like rooting for anyone, and while some character dynamics interest you, namely the girl from alpha class with our MC (i'm forgetting character names and I just finished the show LOL), their dynamic is the most intruiging part of the show, everything else is just really stale.
Overall not bad, but not great so just mid.
Read at the sourceTharr
Interesting. I thought it was obvious (that the anime is sht), but the recommendations section is almost equal. As usual, most people talk about the source or how they felt, instead of just saying facts about this anime. So, here I am. I'll keep it shot because I really don't wanna talk about it too much.
Visuals. Meh. Meh all around. Designs, landscape, vfx, animation, cinematography, fight choreography etc. Oh, actually the teacher has a somewhat decent design. And the "old" version of Azest. The rest is meh or downright bleargh, starting with Pram.
Audio. Again, meh. OP and ED are forgettable, both songs and visuals. The soundtrack is also meh, although they used a lot of different tracks and in par with the scene. So I guess, thats one good thing. Ok, and maybe also the mixing levels…
Read at the sourceKaydansnk
This is underrated so I chose to overrate it. As per-usual, those who read the source material are heavily influencing the negative reviews 🙄 and consequently hurting the author and their prospective fan base. No better way to say “I really enjoyed your book” than by hitting them straight in the wallet amiright?
Moving on.
There are not even an eighth as many “returnee” anime’s as there are mangas/manhwa etc and it’s a crying shame, I hope this statement ages like milk in the future 😌
So that aside, this anime was great. The characters were all distinctive, and art was well drawn and captivating and the story was cohesive. Anime is not known for its subtlety, but this one hit the subtle in the spots where it was needed and the “in your face” when it wasn’t.
It is compared to Irre…
Read at the sourceArchangelEST
Returner's Magic is a show that's a mix of fairly common fantasy tropes that manages to put together a sufficiently interesting story and characters, along with passable production values.
Animation / Art / General Visuals - 7/10
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There's nothing wrong with the show per se, but it doesn't really impress in any way either. Everything is pretty standard for a moderate budget adaptation.
Sound / Music / Voice Acting - 7/10 ------------------------------------------
The show has some cool battle themes, but ultimately nothing overly noteworthy.
Story - 7/10
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While full of common fantasy tropes, the story is fairly interesting. A young man who studied magic and adventured for 10 years with countless friends and colleagues, get…
Read at the sourcejackreacher1992
The story did have some potential considering the manwha already has a built in fanbase. However, the studio did it so half-heartedly that a story that deserves 7 or 8 out of 10 becomes a 2 really and averages out at 4 or 5. The characters feel forced, the MC's determination feels half-assed, but the biggest drawback is the animation. It's not that it's the worst, it's just weirdly slow and clunky, like worse than mid 2000s video game, same with dialogue- it felt like something written and acted by AI. It walks such a weird line of rushed or skipped plot but super slow dialogue and animation. Like when you're watching a video buffer but it's not buffering actually. Yet it skips all the elements that might have made me care about the side characters or their motivations or something along t…
Read at the sourceBenx2019
I think this is my new benchmark for average. It's not awful, but an average anime isn't really worth your time. The animation is cheap. Lot's of cg, none of which looks particularly good. The none cg action scenes are fine, but pretty average. The detail is pretty average overall, but occasionally the character detail is pretty decent. The story has a good premise, and fair world building, but the overall execution leave something to be desired. Pacing is fairly good most of the time, a couple of episodes drag, but overall it's fine. Voice acting is average town, slightly grating, not a ton of emotion, but some. So not good at all, but average for dubs :). I actually liked a fair number of the tracks in the ost, and the ED is quite good. The op is kind of generic, but fine. Overall this i…
Read at the sourceRowinHaddick
As someone who watches and enjoys silly but fun action and fantasy, I hoped this would at least be that. However, this show committed 2 sins that I cannot tolerate: (1) It Bored The Hell out of me and (2) It confused me to no end. While usually I might write a review detailing the traditional aspects of a show and their qualities, everything in general was so mediocre that I didn't want to explain why everything was at best a 5/10. Instead, I will cover two things in this review, how it committed the aforementioned 2 sins.
(1) Boredom - No Stakes, Bad Action, No Way To Measure Strength.
- When something has no stakes in it, you tend to start to ask yourself why you should care about what is happening. This was the case here. The first couple of episodes is as the synopsis says and then i…
Read at the sourceShinkuo
Have you ever thought to yourself "Hey, this manga would be great as an anime! Why hasn't it been done yet?"
That was me with this show--- about 5 years ago when I first started reading the Manhwa.
After completing it I can safely say it absolutely FLOPPED and did not live up to expectation like with Attack on Titan or Mushoku Tensei. But looking back on it, the signs were there and realistically even with better animation or editing this was about the level of quality to be expected.
I will put it here if you don't want to read the following ramblings: This is show is not very good, is kinda boring, but provides a bit of entertainment if you like Isekai, Fantasy Academy stuff.
I can't comment on the Manhwa since I only read maybe a hundred chapters years ago and honestly don't rememb…
Read at the sourceAvroraa
The anime stays true to the manhwa, faithfully adapting each scene without rushing or cutting corners. While this loyalty is appreciated, it becomes a double-edged sword. The animated series could benefit from injecting its own creativity, especially in the battle scenes. The manhwa excels in showcasing stunning battles through illustrations, but the anime feels somewhat lackluster in comparison. A bit more original animation could enhance the overall viewing experience. Nevertheless, the story and pacing remain solid, leaving only the animation as a minor disappointment for those craving a bit more flair in the action sequences. Oh right, the opening songs are bangers, though!
Read at the sourceShQdowK
"A Returner's Magic Should Be Special" is an engaging adventure that breaks from the standard amidst a sea of animated stories. The narrative is compelling and maintains the viewer's interest throughout, which is a rare quality in and of itself. The tale is a breath of new air.
ᴛʜᴇ ᴀɴɪᴍᴇ ʜᴀꜱ ᴀ ᴘᴏᴏʀ ᴊᴏʙ ᴀᴛ ᴀɴɪᴍᴀᴛɪɴɢ ᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ꜱᴄᴇɴᴇꜱ, ᴅᴇꜱᴘɪᴛᴇ ɪᴛꜱ ꜱᴛʀᴏɴɢ ꜱᴛᴏʀʏᴛᴇʟʟɪɴɢ ᴀʙɪʟɪᴛɪᴇꜱ. ᴛʜᴇ ꜱʟɪɢʜᴛʟʏ ʟᴇꜱꜱ ᴘᴏʟɪꜱʜᴇᴅ ꜰɪɢʜᴛ ꜱᴄᴇɴᴇꜱ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀɴ ᴀɪʀ ᴏꜰ ɴᴏꜱᴛᴀʟɢɪᴀ, ᴄᴀʟʟɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴍɪɴᴅ ᴇᴀʀʟɪᴇʀ ᴀɴɪᴍᴇ ɢᴇɴʀᴇꜱ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀꜱ ᴜꜱᴇᴅ ʟᴇꜱꜱ ᴀᴄᴄᴜʀᴀᴄʏ ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴀᴅ ᴇʀʀᴀᴛɪᴄ ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀ ꜱᴡɪɴɢꜱ. ᴡʜɪʟᴇ ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴘᴇʀᴄᴇɪᴠᴇ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴀ ɴᴇɢᴀᴛɪᴠᴇ ᴀꜱᴘᴇᴄᴛ, ᴏᴛʜᴇʀꜱ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʜʀᴏᴡʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴛᴏ ᴀ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄᴀʀᴇꜰʀᴇᴇ ᴇʀᴀ ᴏꜰ ᴀɴɪᴍᴇ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛɪᴏɴ.
I find great resonance in the way the characters' bond is portrayed. The relationships shown in this series touch a nerve, e…
Read at the sourceMoonlitMizore
This show felt like a strange mix between World Trigger and Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei / The Irregular at Magic High School. It was a fun enough watch, but nothing particular special or stand-out was in it. (Not a spoiler, this is covered in episode 1:) The "going back in time to prevent a terrible future" time-loop part of the story is uncommon but not anything original. Overall it's slightly above mid in my opinion, and I enjoyed it enough. However the entire show felt very rushed and suffers from bad pacing. Not sure if the source material also moves the plot as fast or if it is an anime only issue, but if the show had been better paced it would have felt much better.
I will keep an eye out for a second season for sure, though.
Read at the sourceakitaattribute
The writing is a 6 or a 7. At times it's eh, at times you say "This is better writing than shows like SAO". It's just inconsistent. The animation is also wildly inconsistent. Sometimes it's decent. Sometimes you see a door blown up behind a "magic barrier" 4 scenes before that actually happens. Quality control on this show was not up to par.
The characters are fairly likeable. The constant throwbacks to episode one are an annoying trope of isekai anime that I could do without. Just imply it. Stop constantly flashbacking and ghosting in your "past self" for no other purpose than to remind the audience that you lived a past life.
The show has a good direction though. I'd watch a second season.
Read at the sourceSuperAdventure
Honestly this anime started off kind of cliche, and that should have been enough of a warning to avoid it: demon lord/dragon thing that threatens mankind is defeated by “the heroes” yawwwwnnn… but wait! They didn’t quite defeat it- BOOM!!
MC is reincarnated… that canard again. The MC, who is oddly named Desir, has to go back in time with his reincarnation and do it all over again- but this time actually defeat the monster in the end. Okay, that’s not a terrible idea. It puts me in mind of an old movie where a man is tragically murdered, and he’s committed too many sins to get into heaven, so he’s told by an angel he has to go back and figure out his own murder…. in both cases this is a storytelling concept that isn’t original but it CAN be interesting if done right.
So the real challenge…
Read at the sourceZxmbie37
This is a disappointing adaptation, so much so that I felt inclined to write my first review.
The animation is clunky, there’s endless dead time and still frames, with several key details altered or completely discarded from the source material. I genuinely struggle to find anything redeemable from an adaptation perspective.
The fact that they skimmed over 10 chapters of plot and world building in a 30 second montage at the end of the last episode was especially painful.
The only reason I don’t rate it lower is due to the source material.
If this was my first encounter with the series, I probably would’ve dropped it by the first or second episode.
Read the manhwa instead, and forget this adaptation exists.
Read at the sourceCatFish21sm
The series is good. I really enjoyed the Manwha, it was something different. Thought the anime adaptation skips throgh four archs in one season. I have mixed feelings about that. The archs that were skipped over had a lot of character building in them that was almost completely skipped over in the anime. On the other end, they did cover all of the important stuff that needed to be covered and I'm not sure if everybody would want to stick arround for two or three seasons of character development. So this very quick run through of the first part of the series was probably necessary if they want to continue with this anime in the future. Personaly though I think that the final 3 episodes should have been the first six episodes in the next season.
All of that said I would overall recommend th…
Read at the sourceFlacion
What would you do if you failed to save the world? What if you had one more chance? What would you do differently? That is what this story is trying to tell, the story of a second chance.
A Returner's Magic Should Be Special is about how Desir failed to save the world and now gets a second chance, by traveling back to the start of his time in a magical academy. We then follow him trying to change what happened originally, to hopefully change the outcome of the world's possible end.
The plot is very much about the growth of characters and to start building up knowledge and power, so they can stand together. Through this do you see how Desir hopes to have people more prepared and change the mistakes that originally happened. Which is done through some interesting arcs that help show the wo…
Read at the sourceKANLen09
A Returner's Magic Should Be Special — Tell me why manhwa series like author Chugong's Solo Levelling get all the hype with next season's much anticipated anime adaptation, rather than this "special" show that frankly (and really) isn't all that special to begin with.
Japan's equivalent of South Korea's manhwa (or Webtoons as we simply call them today), the material has made headwaves in its own country for decades, so much so that its industry has effectively blown up in the same way that we now experience Japanese manga for authors to pursue fame and fortune. For every piece of the genre pie that we can easily get through manga, Webtoons also have their own iterations, with the only difference being in full colour, as opposed to the black-and-white manga standard. And in this season, we…
Read at the source