Konnichiwa! Maid-chan desu!
Many small girls want to become a magical girl, and (as we later learn not so) normal school girl Illya is one of them. But when destiny in the form of a speaking magical staff knocked on her door, or better the window of her bathroom, it found Illya highly suspicious. With good reasons, Maid-chan assures you!
It all started when the mage’s association found out that there were 7 magical “class cards” somewhere in Fuyuki city. Of course the association wanted to get their hands on them and send out two young mages to get them, and possibly to get rid of the mages too. Because those two girls are like fire and water.
The poor Tohsaka Rin and the rich, high born girl Luviagelita Edelfelt (Luvia for short) have been told to work together to retrieve the cards. They have also been given two magical codes, two staffs of great power: Ruby and Sapphire.**
The two staffs work by transforming their user into magical girls, and the outcome of that transformation is… interesting, Maid-chan thinks. Certainly the maker of the staffs was a hentai!
Luvia does not care much about this, everything suits a Lady like her! In contrast to that Rin is very conscious about that outfit, especially when Ruby, who likes to tease her master, tells Rin that it is a pity that the two are “old hags” not suitable for magical girls. A magical girl has to be young, pure of heart, and believe everything that Ruby tells her, that is the most fun!
It is at one of the fights of those two girls that the staffs decide to let go of them and search for new, more suitable masters instead. And so, using deceit and tricks, Illyasviel von Einzbern (just call her Illya as everyone does) end up being a magical girl.
That one transformation scene is probably why there is Kaleid and Prisma in the name
Illya reluctantly agrees to do a few tests in the backyard. That is why Rin is able to find them quickly. Rin is definitely not amused that the magical stick she needs for her work has gone her own ways and tries to get it back. But no luck. Even when Illya tries to give Ruby back, the stick keeps stuck in her hand and no amount of persuasion can change Ruby’s mind.
In the end Illya and Rin have no choice then to accept that it is now Illya who has to bring back the magical cards. Rin drags her to her first fight right away, learning on the job you could say.
Oh, you ask Maid-chan why fighting? That is because the class cards don’t want to get collected. They not only hide in a “mirror dimension”, they also fight back – hard. (And have taken a mostly human form to do it.)
And that is the moment when the new owner of the second staff Sapphire arrives. Miyu Edelfelt was adopted by Luvia. Miyu agreed to find the cards if Luvia promised her food and a home. What a strange girl Miyu is, don’t you think? And since she is so strange, Illya and Miyu don’t have a good start with each other.
In the end the card is caught, Illya has learned a lot and Luvia and Rin are as bitter rivals as always. But one card found means there are still a lot out there to be caught! So Rin tells Illya that will try it again the next night. But before every night comes a day, and that means school for school girl Illya!
As Illya is a nice, friendly girl, she has no problems making friends. Although, now that Maid-chan comes to think about it, she only seems to make friends with slight personality problems.
To make things worse, the magical girl of Sapphire, Miyu, is transferred into her class! Illya does not feel good with that strangely unsocial girl in her back. Even worse, Miyu beats her at everything in class, even at running, where Illya used to be the star!
Illya is very exhausted when she comes back home, just to find out that someone has build a whole villa right on the other side of the street, in just one day.
You want to know from Maid-chan who that woman next to Illya is?
That is Sella, the household’s maid. She also has a younger sister, Leysritt. As with Rin and Luvia, the two are very different. While Leysritt always slacks around, seemingly busy only with eating snacks, watching TV and leaving her cooking chores to Illya’s adopted brother, Sella is very earnestly working.
Sella also has a size complex when she compares herself with her sister. She may be the older one, but not the bigger one. Not height! Breast size. Maid-chan would have thought that is the first you hentais think of!
But of course there is also Illya’s adopted brother Emiya Shirō, who she has a secret girly crush on. And she is not alone. It looks like every girl that boy runs across falls in love with him, even though in the Einzbern’s family he is on the last place in the pecking order. (Of course he does not realize that so many girls like him. If you could see Maid-chan now, you would see her eyes rolling so hard they make a sound!)
Last but no least Illya of course has parents. But both her father Emiya Kiritsugu and mother Irisviel von Einzbern are far away (secretly doing some magical stuff, but don’t tell that anybody!) But when Illya is in trouble, somehow her mother feels it and comes home to uplift her dear daughter’s spirits!
While the class cards get gathered, the two magical girls slowly grow closer to each other through the power of fighting united. And then, one day, Illya calls Miyu her friend and Miyu is incredibly happy.
Oh, and remember that villa on the other side of the street? Of course that was Luvia’s house. Rin and Miyu are now doing the work of maids there (even though Miyu was adopted?). When Illya hears that, she forces Miyu to come over right now, in her maid uniform. And then a strange switch is activated in Illya…
With the two girls now being friends, they manage to get hold of the class cards in Fuyuki city. But then the surprise: The Leylines the cards have been disturbing are not going back to normal. What is the reason, Rin wonders, and goes out to find it.
Arcs
Normally Maid-chan will do one post for an anime’s review. But Prisma Illya has three different arcs that feel very different from each other, so Maid-chan will three-split her review, too. (And she will concentrate a bit more on the story.)
This one is the “Illya-arc” (Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya).
The next post will be the “Kuro-arc” (Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya zwei + zwei Herz) and the third post will be the “Miyu-arc” ( Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya drei).
Summary
Maid-chan thinks Kaleid Liner is a great anime! Especially the first episode is a festival for all those who like a play with cliches.
Many anime try it, some good, some bad. Prisma Illya does it great! Magical girls with cat ears! The magical item of the magical girl that likes to play tricks on the master! Maids and a strange maid switch. Not to forget how Ruby got the blood for the master certification.
Maid-chan laughed so hard the first time, the whole server room rattled and everyone around thought it was an earthquake!
The characters all have their quirks that makes them funny and likable (except the brother, the wet towel). Illya is the funny, naive primary school girl and Miyu… you just want to embrace her hard, right? She can be so dense even though she is nearly as intelligent as Maid-chan’s master!
The anime sports a very beautiful, unique style. And the glittering, sparkling CGIs in the battle are real magic! Speaking of battle, this magical girl anime (in the first arc) has more action than some action series. And always it feels like pure power!
The anime also has the typical Type-Moon lecherousness with many suggestive comments and scenes but (almost) always not going so far as to be awkward.
As you may have already guessed by Maid-chan’s unusual enthusiasm, she greatly recommends Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya to everyone. It is a well-cooked potpourri that cannot really be put in any template. Watch for yourself and have fun!
On the totally objective Maid-chan scale, Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya (Illya arc) gets full 10/10 points. Congratulations!
See you next time!
