Magical Sempai Volume 1 Review

Hello everyone and welcome back to Tiro Finale for another manga review. Today, we will be taking a look at a manga that I have put off from both reading and reviewing for some time now, Magical Sempai (or Senpai, however you like it). Written by Azu, this ecchi-comedy series revolving around the misadventures of an aloof female senpai and her "unfortunate" male kouhai, has been in serialization in the Weekly Young Magazine since early 2016. Still going strong with 7 published volumes so far, I decided to pick up the series' first volume when sometime in the third-quarter of the last year.

While my initial impression of the manga were not outstanding, I have recently decided to give it another shot recently and found myself developing a newfound interest in it. Perhaps it is true what they say about the right genre at the right time? Before I get into the the review, it is worth mentioning that Magical Sempai does adopt quite an usual chapter structure. Which each individual chapters being broken down into several other sub-chapters of varying lengths. In a way, it really is not too different from a 4-koma magazine. 

As always, this manga is reviewed via a digital copy on Bookwalker's iOS app running on an iPad Pro tablet. Screenshots taken are directly from the manga itself with no alterations aside from some image cropping. Without further ado, let us get right into the review.

The series begins with the awkward introduction of the main character, kouhai, together with the titular, "magical" senpai in what was initially thought to be an unused classroom. As her title suggests, senpai is indeed a member of the school's magic club. The only problem is, she isn't any good any it and there is the troubling issue of her being the only member of said club. Thus, placing the legitimacy of the club into serious questions.

In an effort to prove both the legitimacy of the club and her magic skills, senpai sets out on a course to recruit more members starting with her helpless kouhai. While he isn't impressed one bit by her magic skills or personal relation skills for that matter, he does not take long to reveal the his true intentions for sticking around his rather misguided senpai.

You see, aside from being utterly horrible at magic, senpai also - surprise, surprise - turns out to be a massive klutz. As a result, many of her magic tricks usually have rather devastating outcomes which not only put her in rather exposed situations which require the help of her kouhai to bail her out.

That in itself is largely the premise of Magical Sempai. Sempai performs a magical trick, things end up miserably and requires her kouhai to help her out often with humorous results. Along the way, the author helpfully peppers historical tidbits about each trick that our senpai is trying to perform. If this sounds like a very simple premise to you, that is because it is. The ecchi bits may be the initial pull when reading the manga for the first time. But upon my subsequent read through, I found the magic history to be really enjoyable as I found myself reading up reading more about the history of the magic tricks on the side.

Naturally the interaction between the two does run the risk of running its course and becoming rather stale. In order to avoid that, we are introduced to a new side character, senpai's sister, midway through the first volume. Admittedly it does little in way of changing the formula of the established premise. Nevertheless, it does provide a breath of fresh air to the story telling. Before we proceed any further, you may be wondering why I am constantly referring to the duo as kouhai and senpai, and not by their names. Well that is because, their actual names are not revealed throughout the first volume and they are continually referred to as such (kouhai/senpai).

With most comedy-ecchi series - believe it or not - art actually plays a very crucial rule in making or breaking the manga. In Magical Sempai's case, the art was a big part of why I was left feeling rather unimpressed in my initial read of it. With the exception of the ecchi panels (which are well drawn), things look rather simple especially where the background and character details are concerned especially for kouhai. It is a gripe that I hold till the end of the first volume and hope that the mangaka would be able to improve upon in the following volumes.

As mentioned earlier, the ecchi scenes throughout the manga are certainly well drawn. With sempai being the only focal point of the manga, each and every ecchi scene starts and ends with her. Whether that is a good thing or not, is largely up to personal preference. The scenes do start of rather tame at the beginning of the volume with the heat gradually turning up as the volume progresses. It never gets too spicy though and often remains rather PG all throughout the first volume. Certainly nothing on the lines of Monster Musume or Why the Hell Are You Here Teacher?! which certainly push the boundaries of ecchi material.

While the art and premise do present their own set of setbacks, perhaps the biggest weakness of Magical Sempai lies in its pacing. Interestingly enough, this is an issue only inherent to the tankoubon (graphic novel) version of Magical Sempai. Earlier I mentioned how the series has several sub-chapters within each of its main chapters. When read as part of a weekly or monthly publication, this makes absolute sense to help cram in as many stories into a single chapter.

Unfortunately when presented as a single continuous volume, this makes for rather choppy reading pace which can sometimes kill the mood and pace you would otherwise get from reading a complete volume. It certainly takes the enjoyment out of reading a completed volume but, remains completely unavoidable owing to the nature of the initial publishing format. One way of circumventing this issue is by reading each chapter in blocs rather than binging the series in one go.

In my subsequent read through of Magical Sempai, I found myself practicing this method which did allow me to pace myself better and enjoy the manga more. In terms of the pacing issues, I do not actually see a practical solution to this matter rather than the mangaka themselves shifting to a format which focuses more on longer story arcs or chapters with interrelation with one another. Since I have yet to read the subsequent volumes, I am unfortunately unable to comment on the progress of the story.

Now if you are able to overlook these issues and attribute them as growing pains for a new series, deep inside you would be able to uncover a series that actually have surprising potential. Something that took me a second read through before I could truly recognize what it had going for it. For starters, while often ending in failure, the magic tricks that our titular senpai performs is actually very well researched which helps to provide it with an air of authenticity despite often ending in failure.

Then there is the chemistry of the relationship between sempai and kouhai, which often feels like the strongest point of the entire series. In the same vein as Why the Hell Are You Here, Teacher?!, it is certainly refreshing to see a protagonist with his opinions and reasoning. One who is not afraid to voice his objections and be true about the reason he sticks around his attractive yet clumsy senpai. On the other hand, senpai is almost exactly what you would come to expect from a clumsy female protagonist of an ecchi manga who is not quite aware of the effects of her physical features has on the male (and female) cohorts she has surrounding her. Her air-headedness is nothing new but, she does do magic so there is that.

In it easy to discount Magical Sempai's characteristics as simply the attributes of any typical comedy-ecchi manga. But with the quality of this genre having improved by leaps and bounds in the recent years, it is hard to allocate such a pass for a series such as this especially if you are hoping for longevity and success. Fortunately for it, Magical Sempai has the potential of something greater granted it is able to improve upon its character development and use of side characters. The factual elements and writing remain to be its strong foundational basis. As such, comes as no surprise that the series has enjoyed the success that it has till today.

Things may be off to a rocky start for Magical Sempai but, if you give it a shot and take your time with it, I am certain you will find the series to be a pleasant surprise. Shortly after this review, I am planning to begin reading the second volume to see if the mangaka is able to improve upon the shortcomings that I pointed out or reinforce the strengths already established. Or would this be all for naught? Well only time will tell.

With that, we come to the end of our review for Magical Sempai Volume 1. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask me in the comments section below. Until the next time, thank you so much for reading and have yourself a wonderful time ahead!