Mashle: Magic and Muscle - Shonen's Latest Powerhouse
Erik M
In 2020, the world was forced to shut down in response to the Covid-19 Pandemic. With my job closed, I found myself with a lot of free time so I was able to catch up on various manga I was reading at the time. One such manga was called Mashle: Magic and Muscles, a series written and illustrated by Hajime Komoto. It was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from January 2020 to July 2023, with its 160 chapters collected in 18 volumes. In 2023, Studio A-1 Pictures produced an anime series that aired from April to July, with a second season airing from January to March 2024 and it was actually pretty good.
Mashle is set in a magical world in which an individual's status is determine by their power and skill with magic. Mash Burnedead, a young man without so much as an ounce of magical power (which is considered a sin) is discovered by the Magic police and as a result he is be executed. In order to prevent such a fate and to return to living a peaceful life with his adoptive father, Regro, Mash will need to become a Divine Visionary in order to change the laws.
SideNote: Being a Divine Visionary is a title which is only given to exceptional students from the Easton Magic Academy. Despite having no magic whatsoever, Mash goes to the magic school and shows the world that muscles can beat magic.
What made me a fan of this series wasn’t the story itself since it was familiar to other anime shows, but rather, how the series took certain tropes and reinvented them in their own unique way.
Harry Potter
Reading Mashle, I began to notice similarities to the Harry Potter franchise, such as the school which Mash attends, the houses of said school and the spells and objects the characters use. Still, while there are similarities, I’ll also argue that both are quite different in terms of their genre and setting.
While Mashle’s universe is set in a world entirely ruled by magic, Harry Potter is set in the real world, with the magical world hidden. Mashle combines action-packed sequences with humor and focuses on themes like perseverance, friendship, and the value of hard work. With Harry Potter, the franchise also explores these themes, but takes a more serious tone as the characters deal with darker and more complex matters.
Overall, while both Mashle and Harry Potter involve magical elements and feature protagonists navigating through a magical world, they differ significantly in terms of their storytelling.
Black Clover
What I found shocking about Mashle was that despite the obvious nods to other manga and its use of the same tropes found in other Shonen, it did not receive the same backlash as another popular series I enjoy, Black Clover.
SideNote: Reading Mashle, I immediately noticed similarities to Black Clover, such as the world ruled by magic and the protagonist lacking magical power, relying solely on raw strength to win battles.
Additionally, the protagonist in Black Clover, Asta is similar to Mash in their aspirations; both strive to be the very best of their respective groups, with Asta aiming to become the Wizard King and Mash aspiring to be a Divine Visionary. Their main appeal lies in their defiance of social norms, proving that one’s worth is not determined by magic, but by one’s character.
While both Mashle and Black Clover are set in worlds where magic plays a central role, they provide unique experiences to readers despite some similarities.
With Mashle, the series faced less criticism than Black Clover because Black Clover proved that you don't have to reinvent the wheel to win over audiences. It demonstrated that even with familiar tropes, a story can still be entertaining. In essence, Black Clover paved the way for Mashle to succeed.
Characters
The characters in Mashle lack uniqueness, as most are merely trope characters commonly found in other series. Furthermore, many of the characters' names, appearances, and personalities clearly reference those from the Harry Potter series as well.
Mash Burnedead (Middle), is the muscle-bound dimwit with a sense of morals similar to other protagonists such as Goku, Luffy, and Yuji.
Finn Ames (2nd Right), the sidekick to Mash, is the coward-turned-confident hero as the series progresses.
Lemon Irvine, (1st Left) is the female lead who serves as the damsel in distress helping Mash become more masculine as the series progresses.
Dot Barret (2nd Left), is a character whose role leans more towards comic relief than seriousness.
Lance Crown (1st Right), rival to Mash with a sister complex.
As for the other characters in the series, they all serve as plot devices for Mash to learn from and overcome. As Mash navigates his world, he encounters many individuals who, despite hailing from more prestigious backgrounds, still endure harsh upbringings. For Mash, his journey is meant to bring people of all backgrounds together and prove to this society that magic is not the only factor or final destination to becoming great.
Hajime Komoto
Final Thoughts
The 2020s have been an interesting decade for anime and manga so far, with continuous revivals of powerhouse shows like My Hero Academia, Fairy Tail, and Bleach. It’s reassuring that newer shows can still leave a mark in the industry. Now that the manga is finished and the anime’s second season has concluded, it will be interesting to see how Studio A-1 will adapt the rest of the manga and what additional content they will add to give the anime more life. Furthermore, since Mashle can be considered a success, it’s exciting to see what new future works Hajime Komoto will bring to the industry. Considering that he is only about 5 to 6 years into his career, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that he could be the next Kentaro Miura, Eiichiro Oda, or Akira Toriyama, but that would be for future generations to decide.
