raymundo05 - 2016-09-25 22:17:11

Magic Kaito surprised me. I went into this expecting a fairly typical shonen series. However, I found it very gripping from the very beginning. From the music to the shenanigans of the main hero, this show is a must watch for most anime fans.

Story: The basic premise of the story is that Kaito Kuroba, son of a brilliant magician who was murdered, and a fabulous magician himself, finds out that his father was once the infamous Kid the Phantom Thief. Upon learning this, Kaito dons the white suit of the Phantom Thief and sets out to prevent his father's murderers from getting their hands on a powerful jewel. While this is the overarching plot, many of the episodes are isolated incidents of Kaito's thieving hijinks, and don't involve said organization. However, I never felt a need for more from the overarching plot then we got. While the lack of constant progress on that front may annoy some people, there's enough to keep those people going, and it's really not what I would watch the show for.

Characters: Ah, the characters. First off, the main hero, Kaito, is absolutely perfect. He's intelligent, witty, somewhat arrogant, and tricky in all the right ways. Whenever he's onscreen, it really does feel like you're watching a stage performance rather than a notorious criminal doing evil. He cares a great deal about his work and appearance to the public, to the point where his pride can cost him a bit. However, watching him work and seeing his thought process makes me think a lot of Lelouch and Light for those of you who like Code Geass and Death Note. Without a doubt, Kaito and his nearly overwhelming presence when on screen definitely pick up any slack in the story.

As for the supporting cast, they're good for the most part, even if some of them are somewhat linear in their personalities. There's the wacky Inspector Nakamori who constantly tries (and fails) to apprehend Kid, usually looking like a fool in the process. There's his daughter, Aoko, who is Kaito's best friend and is rather oblivious at times. She has a touch of tsundere in her, but she's honestly one of the weaker parts of the show to me. And then there are the misc. supporting cast, which includes everyone from a witch, to Kaito's version of Q, to Detective Conan himself. The list is extensive, and I won't go into all of them, but they are all memorable in their own ways.

Animation and Sound:In regards to the animation, I feel like the team did a good job. It's all very clean, and at a few points the show does manage to look very pretty. I can't say that it's anything like OMG THIS SHOW IS DROP DEAD GORGEOUS, but it was up to par with other shows.

The sound, however, is an aspect of the show that really shines. In my opinion, the first opening theme, Kimi no Matsu Sekai, might be one of the best openings ever. It fits right in with Kaito's playful, showman-like attitude towards his thievery, and it just works so well for the show. Other pieces like You'll See the KID are also superb, and really fit in with Kid's personality to the point where they amplify it.

Final Thoughts: I'm surprised that this show hasn't gotten more praise and recognition than it has. It's a well-crafted, playful show with fun characters and a great sound track, all of which mesh together something fantastic that deserve's people's praise! I would advise you to please check it out on Crunchyroll, as I would love to see more of Magic Kaito.

Until then, see you, next illusion!

mwehner - 2015-04-14 23:19:14

Magic Kaito is, first and foremost, a fun challenge-of-the-week kind of anime. There's no real recurring plot devices or continuous narrative throughout the 24 episodes, but the show doesn't really need those anyways, as it's mostly focused on the characters and - of course - the magic tricks. In that sense, it's very similar to Detective Conan, where most episodes also focus on very short "setups" where some sort of mystery needs to be resolved or created. Being a long-time fan of Conan, I very much enjoyed the frequent character cameos throughout the episodes, and if you're familiar with the Conan universe, you'll definitely get a kick out of this show as well. If you're not, there's still a very good chance you'll enjoy it if you like over-the-top action scenes, magic and interesting scene setups.

The only real downside I've found is that there's a lot of potential that got wasted due to the cutting down on the story, and the fact that there's a few scenes that toy with suspension of disbelief too much, such as showing a character using actual arcane magic in a universe where such things are not supposed to exist.

effertz.monty - 2015-04-01 03:03:05

Story (5/10)
-The show did not have much of a plot aside from the main character carrying out these dead's so that he could find the people responsible for murdering his father. The show was very episodic with no real ending to speak of.

Animation (6/10)

-The animation was nothing special and had too many (very obvious) computer generated items. I did however, enjoy the character designs as I had not seen a show like it before this one. 

Sound (7/10)

-In my opinion the sound was one of the bright spots on the show. I thought that both openings fit the show well and sounded great to boot. I also enjoyed Kaito's main theme that they used on heists. 

Characters (7/10)

-The cast that made up this show was fairly entertaining, and fir into the show well. 

Enjoyment (7/10)

-The show could have fared much better in this category by simply taking its self a little bit more serious. I found my self questioning the logic of this show more times then I would have liked. Overall though it was still enjoyable. 

Overall (7/10)

-If you are looking for a easy going show that dose not take a whole lot of brain power to watch, this is it. The show was nothing special but was enjoyable enough due to the characters and sound.