2014-12-23

When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace

When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace (異能バトルは日常系のなかで) is a 12 episode super natural comedy based on the light novel series by Nozomi Kota.  The series originally aired in Japan during the Fall of 2014.

    One day the members of a high school literature club suddenly gain mysterious super powers.  Six months later their lives are still uneventful and boring, as if nothing special happened to them.  The only male member of the club, Ando Jurai, is a chuunibyo.  He has taken it upon himself to prepare the club members for epic supernatural battles with the fate of justice and the world at stake.  Instead of having to fight enemy forces with their powers they have to work at hiding their abilities and deal with normal high school relationship issues.  Meanwhile, unknown to them, there is actually a supernatural conflict going on.  They exist just on the outskirts of that battle and are mostly unaware of it, only getting slightly involved in it near the end of the show.  Otherwise, they go about their days as normal kids do...propelled by Ando's over active imagination, which is actually more in tune with the world around them than anyone realizes.

    This was actually a decent show, especially since they really didn't get involved in any super natural conflicts, facing off against escalating enemies, like Ando anticipated/lusted for.  This series taught me the definition of chuunibyo, which is something I am a ashamed I didn't know before.  It perfectly sums up the target audience for all of the shonen fight series' like DBZ and Naruto.  For those who don't know, its a term used for people who act like an over active middle school boy.  Someone who obsesses about shonen battle manga type scenarios.  Coming up with crazed Engrish catch phrases, acting out over the top battle sequences, generally living in a world of fantasy where they are a hero of justice battling against power forces.  Its a good thing to know and understand!  The series did a good job of keeping you entertained and when it seemed like it was going to devolve into a super power slug fest normalcy comes out of left field to derail those plans.  Near the end it gets close to going in the chuunibyo direction but it never really ended up that way.  There is a tense final conflict that doesn't really let the main characters know anything about the real supernatural battle taking place.  There is even a harem false flag that pops up in the second half and doesn't really get anywhere either.  That said the artwork is standard fair, with a small amount of fan service.  The characters are decently developed but fit into standard anime troupes.  The pace worked out well and it was just the right length to not get annoying.  Not a great anime but good and done well.  I got exactly what I wanted out of this; characters who could be experiencing the fantastical but ultimately lived normal lives with only their over active imaginations to keep them on their toes.

    The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll and there is no word on any North America disc release.  I am unaware of the light novels being available in North America either.


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