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MANGA.TOKYO > Anime Reviews > Spring 2019 > Gunjou No Magmel Episode 8 Review: The Old Man and Fields of Coffee

Gunjou No Magmel Episode 8 Review: The Old Man and Fields of Coffee

by Sofia Evangelidou

4 years ago

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Gunjou no Magmel (Magmel of the Blue Sea) Anime Visual

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This episode didn’t differ at all from the previous ones and it was all about the man VS beast theme. The plot is nowhere to be found and it seems like all we ‘ll get from Magmel is independent episodes full of cliches. So, what kind of story did we have this week?

Plot

This time, the protagonist was an old man whose whole village (including his beloved daughter) was brutally murdered by a beast. So, he closes his cafe and spends his whole life trying to take revenge. By the end, he succeeds, with a little secret help from Inyou. Not a bad storyline, though not an original either.

It was a quite predictable episode which didn’t manage to amaze me. During the whole time it was very easy to foretell what’s gonna happen and Inyou with Zero kept looking like support characters instead of mains. Up to this point I have got really bored of Magmel, since it appears that it has nothing new to offer to its audience. I‘m not saying it’s trash, but there should be at least a small connection between the episodes and it really bothers me that the main characters don’t seem to have any strong motive.

Episode Highlights

Wink wink: My favorite part from all this was when the creepy eye-fruit tried to be cute and winked. I was like ‘awww’, till Inyou dropped it. Because he clearly lacks in emotions.

Slow Motion: The gigantic beast seemed pretty fast and flexible in the first place. It attacked from beneath almost like a white shark, so it was very funny to see it walking and striking in slow motion during the village massacre or its final battle with the old man. Maybe it’s suicidal? Who knows…

New beginning: The ending was extremely heartwarming and it moved me. It was so sweet that his soul was redeemed and he managed to continue with his life by reopening his small business. Though, it’s hard to understand why he opened a cafe in Magmel in the first place. This continent is full of wild animals and human-eating plants, so I wouldn’t call it ‘business-friendly’.

Comments

Sadly, we still don’t see any character development and most of the side heroes steal the spotlight from the mains. Zero manages to make this anime more enjoyable to watch, but her humor and cuteness are not enough. Plus, she hardly differs from other Lolis. The morals are still good and mostly positive, but the story is always about a supporting hero whom we will never see again and 24 minutes are very little time to get attached. Magmel needs to be introduced better, as well as Inyou’s and Zero’s goals. The setting needs to be more fascinating and the epic eastern-style music has to return. There was so much potential and it was thrown off a cliff. Pierrot really disappointed me once again and Magmel’s plot is all over the place.

‘What if it’s about protecting someone dear to you?’

The series’ quality seems to drop even more in each episode and it’s quite hard to expect this to alter at this point. I am curious about how it will end, since the story doesn’t move to any direction till now. What do you think of that?