Mahou Senshi Louie

Fun crazy sh!t. Arguably one of a local channel's better moves, but then again, it has this penchant for showing magical, fantasy anime - heck, it's biggest primetime draw is a soap opera about bird-men with human problems.

My friend says that we're slowly retrograding back into the '80s. I can't say I don't like it, but if it means coming up with more soaps, I'll just go back to my old-school Japanese robots, thank you very much. But I digress.

This is supposed to be a Mahou Senshi, or Rune Soldier post. So it shall be. My expectations for this show were met, and more. After all, the commercial teasers promised one guy, and at least two girls (one for teenagers to gawk at, and the other one's lolicon bait) in a fantasy setting - reminiscent of Bakuretsu / Sorceror Hunters.

Louie is the adopted son of a mage academy's Head Wizard or somesuch (I didn't catch his title). You'd expect him to be a regular wimpy Merlin-wannabe, but no: he's got a lot of brawn, height, hair, and ignorance. Not "I'm-gonna-fireball-that-pile-of-orcs-pinning-down-my-buddy" but "I'm-gonna-skip-magic-school-and-just-booze-and-brawl-and-babe-around " ignorant. Reminds me a lot of myself, which is maybe why I love the show already. Or it could be the fact that he gets to travel with a lolicon bait thief, a sin-inspiring nun, and an Amazon swordswoman who prefers to fight in swim suits.

It's great to see anime that offers pantyshots during the opening to middle minutes of the first episode. I mean, big, hulking novice mage trips drunkenly on his feet, and snags thief-girl's skirt, exposing white cotton unmentionables? I bow. As far as first episodes go, Mahou Senshi's is a masterpiece - you get fanservice AND a lot of explanations without a feeling a lecture is going on.

Quick and dirty ep 1 summary -

SCENE 1: Merril (thief), Genie (fighter), and Melissa (cleric) find a trapdoor in some ruins. Thief skills won't open it though - they need a mage's magic! (A Knock spell, in Dungeons and Dragons parlance. Note that the character classes are old D&D as well.) They decide to call it a day and head back to town - the sudden appearance of regenerating monsters spurs them on.

SCENE 2: Merril wanders around town, looking for mage hangouts. She is suddenly ambushed by a bunch of women who demand if she has seen a tall, muscular guy with long hair. She tells them "he went that way" and points to where she came from, and the mob heads off. She sighs, and hears a man's voice thanking her for getting rid of those women. She turns around, and out of a fruit crate a tall, muscular guy with long hair stands up. He tries to buy her dinner in gratitude; refuses and turns away, he tries to stop her, trips drunkenly on his feet, and snags thief-girl's skirt - well, you pretty much know what happens after that. For those who can't tell, no they did not DO IT , she beat him silly and stalked off, muttering "Pervert" or something like it.

SCENE 3: Genie is confronting 3 punks with swords. Punks announce the extortion attempt; she says she'll just whip their asses. Suddenly, a new voice is heard (oh, really?) and says that if there's a fight going to happen, he wants in. A few seconds later the fight ensues, and the seemingly drunk brawler with long hair wipes the floor with the punks. One of them draws a sword, and is immediately dispatched by Genie. (She reminds me a lot of Kanna from Sakura Taisen - tall, buff, tanned, sexy in a scary way.) She harangues the brawler for fighting fist to sword, and the participants in the brief spat scatter as a watchman runs over to investigate the ruckus.

SCENE 4: Bar scene. Genie and Merill meet up in another bar with Melissa, a traveling cleric for the god of War. Talk of a divination ritual, ditzy nun jokes, then Merill says she heard that there's a tavern in the northern part of the city where the mages chill out at the end of the day, and the three decide to head there to recruit a female magic-user for their party.

SCENE 5: Another tavern. The three approach a woman drinking alone - yes, she's a mage, no, I don't do adventures, but a friend of mine might be able to help you. Said friend walks in - it's the drunk, long-haired pervert brawler from before! Ila introduces her friend Louie to the three adventurers. Melissa asks dazedly where they knew the guy from. Louie is brought up to speed, and says he'll gladly join the three. BZZZZT!!! Sorry, no men allowed. Tempers flare, Genie draws her sword, and Louie shows her a glowing red pearl (it's a delayed blast fireball) and tells her he's been ready for this fight, and not to come closer or the red gem will paralyze her. As he gloats about how good he is, he notices Ila and the other tavern patrons have taken cover.

Louie: Hey, Ila...
Ila: Louie, don't you pay attention to class? Red isn't paralysis, it's blue!
Louie: Ok, so what's this for?
Ila: Explosive....

Louie tries to get rid of the gem ASAP, but he trips again and drops the sucker. BOOOOMM!!!!

FAST FORWARD: Louie is bailed out of jail by the faithfuk Ila. They talk, and Louie tells her he's joining the three - their talk of not wanting to take him means that they think they are not fit company for one as him. He decides to sell his pitch to the cleric girl, who is preparing for a divination ritual. She wants to see the hero she will dedicate her life to, as adventuring members of her order are wont to do, becoming heroines in the process. Louie tries repeatedly to enter the cloister, but is defeated by staff-wielding nuns at each turn. He does get beyond the gate, and onto the roof of the cloister - only to be met by Genie and Merill, who are still pissed off at him and aren't willing to give him a chance to talk to Melissa. As they battle on the domed roof, Melissa is underneath, oblivious, as she stands naked in hip-deep water praying - nay, communing with her deity. Her deity tells her that the next person she lays eyes on will be the one whom she must dedicate herself to. On the roof, Louie pulls of a powerful desperation spell, meaning to finish the fight then and there. The spell looks good, there's a circle of light on the roof centered on him - when suddenly the spell goes haywire and the circle explodes, sending Louie up into the air and down the hole - yep. Straight into Melissa's prayer pool. Remember what the deity said? Yep. Mr. Tall, Brawny, and Bumbling. Her reaction? "NOOOOOOOO!!!"
There goes her dreams of offering herself to a brave and noble paladin. She gets stuck with a mage initiate who's better with his fists than with his spells.

The second episode makes his description worse - a perverted novice mage whose sword skills are on par with his magic skills, who nonetheless is still very deadly with his fists, especially if he flies into a white-eyed rage. Seriously. His irises go white, and he can take out those regenerating monsters from episode 1 with just his bare hands. Focusing mana in his fists? Maybe this guy should have been a monk. Or a martial artist. But perhaps they've already an overload of those in the Aniverse, which is why they used a guy like Louie instead.