This review may contain spoilers
Extremely underrated, fantastic show!
Getting this out of the way first: Yes, despite 2 boys being depicted kissing onscreen, this is not actually BL, lol, yet it's also not very straight, either-- the main character is originally female, yes, but after the events at the end of the show, the MC will only have a male body for the foreseeable future (until and unless the MC can get a new wish granted to switch back, which might be next year but also might be never, if the MC can't win said wish either of the next 2 years); and the endgame love interest is depicted as pansexual (since whatever gender the MC's physical form has now or might have in the future doesn't matter to him at all, he only cares about who the MC is as an innate person).
Anyway, this is ostensibly a goofy high-tech + lightly-magical fantasy featuring a bizarre all-boys academy that not only teaches... uh, *whimsically,* lol 😆 (I mean, it is hilarious, but the teaching that is seen onscreen actually also does all have a really good point to it! 👍), but also hosts a yearly live-streamed competitive reality game show to crown the 'Greatest Man,' a unicorn that grants wishes (although not precisely in the ways that the ones bestowed with the wishes are originally hoping/expecting...), Harry-Potter-esque talking-picture books, a sassy narrator, etc.... and yet, it still has such a *ton* of heart and such completely serious character work that it is actually *really* compelling! 👍👍
The acting-- minus the random background extras of course, as well as one or two of the more-minor friend-group characters (who aren't bad, just slightly stiff at times, lol)-- is really good as well; in fact, the acting by the guy who plays the MC for a good chunk of the runtime of the series is *stellar* (the way he changes the *entirety* of his body language for the role-- without any unnaturally-exaggerated movements!-- is incredible; you absolutely 100% believe that it's a girl in there!). And there's another actor who also somehow does something extremely subtle with their own body language (particularly something with their facial expressions) that somehow clearly shows their real nature as well. 👍
There are also some really good messages in here, as well as some great character arcs. And speaking of the characters: All of the main characters pretty much feel like real people, with natural mixes of positives and flaws. So, even if there are some occasionally-unrealistic situations due to the fantasy-ish setting or whatever, all of the characters actually have very realistic reactions, and make understandable decisions-- both some good, and some very bad 😅-- based on their own personal situations and established characterization. There are no out-of-character moments here. And all of the emotions hit well, too. (Oh, and I also really appreciate that characters either overhear/are told things or just figure things out on their own very quickly, so any misunderstandings or the like very thankfully don't last long, either!)
Finally: Something you have to know about me is that I personally really hate the feeling of secondhand-embarrassment, and going into this I was honestly just bracing myself for and expecting there to be a lot of that sort of cringe here; *HOWEVER,* even with the occasional goofiness/shenanigans, there's also just so much darn *sincerity* in this that, to my pleasant surprise, I pretty much felt *no* cringe at all!! 👀👍👍 (In fact, IMO the only real objective detractions the show has are some occasionally-jarring music transitions and some very-low-budget CGI, lol. But both are infrequent enough to not even really notice.)
TL;DR: This show is known by too few, and way too underrated besides. It's fantastic, and very well worth the watch!
Anyway, this is ostensibly a goofy high-tech + lightly-magical fantasy featuring a bizarre all-boys academy that not only teaches... uh, *whimsically,* lol 😆 (I mean, it is hilarious, but the teaching that is seen onscreen actually also does all have a really good point to it! 👍), but also hosts a yearly live-streamed competitive reality game show to crown the 'Greatest Man,' a unicorn that grants wishes (although not precisely in the ways that the ones bestowed with the wishes are originally hoping/expecting...), Harry-Potter-esque talking-picture books, a sassy narrator, etc.... and yet, it still has such a *ton* of heart and such completely serious character work that it is actually *really* compelling! 👍👍
The acting-- minus the random background extras of course, as well as one or two of the more-minor friend-group characters (who aren't bad, just slightly stiff at times, lol)-- is really good as well; in fact, the acting by the guy who plays the MC for a good chunk of the runtime of the series is *stellar* (the way he changes the *entirety* of his body language for the role-- without any unnaturally-exaggerated movements!-- is incredible; you absolutely 100% believe that it's a girl in there!). And there's another actor who also somehow does something extremely subtle with their own body language (particularly something with their facial expressions) that somehow clearly shows their real nature as well. 👍
There are also some really good messages in here, as well as some great character arcs. And speaking of the characters: All of the main characters pretty much feel like real people, with natural mixes of positives and flaws. So, even if there are some occasionally-unrealistic situations due to the fantasy-ish setting or whatever, all of the characters actually have very realistic reactions, and make understandable decisions-- both some good, and some very bad 😅-- based on their own personal situations and established characterization. There are no out-of-character moments here. And all of the emotions hit well, too. (Oh, and I also really appreciate that characters either overhear/are told things or just figure things out on their own very quickly, so any misunderstandings or the like very thankfully don't last long, either!)
Finally: Something you have to know about me is that I personally really hate the feeling of secondhand-embarrassment, and going into this I was honestly just bracing myself for and expecting there to be a lot of that sort of cringe here; *HOWEVER,* even with the occasional goofiness/shenanigans, there's also just so much darn *sincerity* in this that, to my pleasant surprise, I pretty much felt *no* cringe at all!! 👀👍👍 (In fact, IMO the only real objective detractions the show has are some occasionally-jarring music transitions and some very-low-budget CGI, lol. But both are infrequent enough to not even really notice.)
TL;DR: This show is known by too few, and way too underrated besides. It's fantastic, and very well worth the watch!
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