 Today we are talking MASHAL, MAGIC, AND MUSCLES. Welcome back to Wicked Geekdom Geo here and today we are talking Shonen Jump's MASHAL, MAGIC, AND MUSCLES, a manga written and illustrated by Hajime Komoto, which as of the recording of this video has a good 30 plus chapters to it. So what did I think on a first impressions basis on the title of MASHAL? First things first, when you look at the cover image or the promotional image if you will, two things come to mind. You think, okay, so this is a mashup of western tropey fantasy series like Harry Potter mixed with the sensibilities of gag comedy manga and stuff like Mob Psycho or One Punch Man. And you aren't too far off because the series plays off of those tropes pretty well, but it offers so much more. In this series we follow the character of MASH Burn Dead, a quiet, kind, obedient, and innocent young kid who has no magic whatsoever. You see the main shtick of this series is that the characters inhabit a world where magic is everything, literally from the political side of things to just the civilians on schools, markets, police work, stuff like that. The world revolves around magic and it's many users, so that the character of MASH not having magic is a pretty big deal. People like him are typically ostracized, critiqued, and labeled as sort of a freak and just outcast and downright criminalized for not being like everybody else. So MASH as a baby was abandoned because he didn't have the marking on his face like everybody else that indicates that he has magic in him. He was adopted at an early age by his father, Regrow Burn Dead, who didn't actually have that much usage of magic himself. He's a pretty bad magic user. I hate to say magician because they're not technically magicians, but yet they use magic. It's odd. So a couple of hijinks ensue at the start of the series, basically Regrow is warning MASH to not go into the town because once they find out that he doesn't have a mark stuff is going to go down, they're going to be upset, and they want to kick him off the streets and ostracize him basically. So MASH being pretty naive, of course, ignores his father's best wishes and goes into town to buy some puff pastries. He gets into trouble with the police, and as a result the police threaten his father's life, but they come to a conclusion or a plan so that MASH enrolls into the Easton Magic Academy, a school for gifted youngsters to practice magic and all that stuff, in order for MASH to preserve that peaceful life that Regrow and him are living. You see Regrow is living in the outskirts of the country, if you will, and as a result it has decided to train MASH physically, and MASH now has this inhuman abnormal strength to him. He is ridiculously strong, and that is one of the main comedic aspects of the manga, one of the main sources of the humor, if you will, where you have a character that doesn't really belong to the plot that he's participating in, you know. A lot of the characters will react to his abnormal strength, and in turn we get a really funny reaction from him, which is very reminiscent to the humor that we might find in series like One Punch Man. So as to not spoil things, basically we have the character of MASH essentially enrolling into this magic academy, and you have his interactions with all these kids of his own age, I believe he's around what, 14 or 15, something like that, and they're all trying to become the very best and graduate from that school, and they're going to stand in his way, and it's his interactions with that and how he can survive that school by not having magic. He wants to live a peaceful life with his father, so he is gunning for the position of Divine Visionary, basically sort of like your Magna Cum Laude graduate, exceptionally gifted graduate students who become sort of influencers and even leaders of the country because of their outstanding feats and their academic smarts and all that stuff. So he's gunning for that to sort of bring about that peaceful lifestyle that he wants, so that he won't get in trouble with people, I suppose, and he's able to live a normal life with his dad, which is pretty ridiculous and sad that you would have to go through all that trouble simply to be left alone, and that leads me into the actual depth of the manga that I really like, because it's not just about that comedic aspect, because I know a lot of people will think, oh, it's a Harry Potter meets One Punch Man comedy series, and it's just a bunch of reactions, and that's that. But no, it's a little bit more about the character of Mash learning to, you know, to be friends with others and learning about social interactions, because, you know, he's grown up by himself with his dad in the forest, basically. He doesn't really have the social norms and the proper responses to people and how to react and all that stuff. So for him to take this leap and enroll in the magic school, if you will, and actually befriend people is a really cool major deal and furthers his character progression along. Along the way, you get to know several characters that become his friends, and along the way these characters become precious to Mash. Our main character is also very blunt, and the way he says things without a care in the world is going to seem strange to the other characters. Yet, on the other side of the coin, if he sees a family member or friends getting hurt or abused or swindled of some sort, he will get angry and defend them. And also part of the fun of the series is getting to know all the side characters as well, and their different journeys and how they're influenced by this kooky character that is so out of the norm that really makes them evolve. If Mash hadn't walked it on their lives, you could make the argument that they would not have progressed as characters. And that is really cool. The part that I really like about this manga, the main thing I should say that I love, is that it teaches you to, you know, don't compare yourself to others, be who you want to be, be your own person, and it's okay to be different. It's okay to walk a different path than where everybody else is going. And I think that message is lost a little bit between the gag comedy elements, because a lot of people will focus on the fact, oh, it's a satire on magic and heroes and protagonist, you know, dumbwitted protagonist and all that stuff. So I do like that aspect of the story, and the fact that it's not just about gag comedy elements, it's not just about the trope of a character not blending in with his story. Instead, you actually have a lot of battle-shown-in mechanics and elements and some really interesting fights that remind me of things like My Hero Academia and Hunter Hunter, stuff like that, where you have a society within the school that wants to be the very best, but they act more like a freaking mafia gangsters. And the battles that ensue are really well done, which leads me into the art. The art is very crisp, clean, and very funny. When you have those chibi SD moments, they look really nice. And you're always able to identify what's happening and who's who, especially when it switches from a very intense moment to a very funny moment. It doesn't lose its essence. And the actual fights in the series or the action scenes are really well put together. The Manga Cut does a really good job of portraying just how intense the fights and the effects of the magic spells can really be. There's a lot of cool elements where you will see a splash page and have really intense depth perception with the smoke circling around a character or rocks flying by or really visceral punch and having these scratchy, deformed lines to just to highlight the impact of the strength of those kicks and punches and all that stuff. So yeah, it's a very mishmash of tropes and comedic elements and strong action moments and really heartfelt stories that really make this a unique series to check out. I do like it. I want to keep going. So far of what I've read, I'm really excited about it and it shows potential and I could easily see this being a hit anime later on. It has all the makings for a successful comedic action series and overall just a fantastic little manga that could. I easily would place this as one of the underrated hits of 2020 in my honest opinion. So yeah, Mashel is bizarre in its premise but quite excellent in its execution. How about yourselves? Have you read Mashel? Let me know in the comments section down below and if you haven't please let me know what are some of your favorite gag, comedy, or fantasy elements in a anime or manga. Very interested in finding out. Guys as always thank you for liking commenting subscribing and being a part of a week in Gictem. If you're not subscribed please consider doing so. I do videos like this where I talk about manga, anime, and comics and if you want to follow me on social media or go to the merch store all that stuff is in the description below. Thank you everybody once again for tuning in. I've got to go. I will catch all of you on our next video.