First Impression: Knights and Magic

Synopsis

A mecha otaku admired for his programming skills finds himself reborn into a world of knights, magic, and monsters. But there are not just any knights, but rather large metallic robots called Silhouette Knights, run by brave soldiers known as Knight Runners. After witnessing a Knight Runner defeat a monster, the now reborn boy name Ernesti wants nothing more than to become a Knight Runner and be able to pilot his own Silhoutte Knight.

The Good

The first noticeable point of interest for the series would be the androgynous features of the main character. Generally, when it comes to the protagonists of these types of stories, they are designed to be plain looking or have one distinctive feature such as their eyes and hair. But in this series the character makes themselves out to be a rather effeminate male which is rare and interesting twist in character design.

On the note of designs, the designs of the robots and the backgrounds were very well done in terms of details and palettes and as stated, the protagonist himself. His story was not too long winded but was established enough that we get his general persona. Rather than having great power off the bat we see the effort and studying that he puts into acquiring his dream of becoming a Knight runner and in just a single episode it is quite impressive.

There is a certain depth to this that holds great potential to the story and the characters including a but of humor with the fanaticism that the main character holds for the mech. Overall, the protagonist is a refreshing breath of air in design and personality, the plot holds potential and the art did well in detail.

The Bad

Here again is a the formula of an otaku being reborn into another world with a special quality to him and a specific knowledge that acts as his boon in the series. In the most basic of sense the character is but an intelligent otaku though quick thinking he may be. Then there is the concepts of the side and extra characters; barring the dwarves character they are quite generic as well.

With the plot, though interesting it may be, the transition could have been better. At the rate of the episode, it was as if the story was on fast forward with how much time was skipped without even a still image of the development of the characters. Case in point, the two siblings and Ernesti’s meeting, one scene they’re talking about meeting to practice magic, then comes the black screen marking years later and we see the trio being proficient in magic, resulting in a rather lacking flow in transition.

Overall, as unique as the main character’s design may be, he is still like many of the other characters like him in personality. On the opposite spectrum, while the siblings may be established in character, their designs leave much to be desired. Most of all the transitional flow in the time skips could have been executed much better as well.

Conclusion

There is much potential to be found with the series, the main character concept while general has some cleverness in it in terms of his development and creating new ideas. His design as well is something new for this type of story but the same can’t be said for the side characters who are the opposite. While the execution of the plot was well done, the transition in it could have been much better to ease the flow of the story.

Rating: 7.5/10