The Magic of Chocolate

Few phrases sum up this anime quite so well as 'bitter sweet.' Perhaps the next best would be 'beyond mediocre.' Story: 4.5 Each episode - or sometimes two - focus on a different set of characters. Each time, a person in need finds themselves wishing upon magic sweets, provided by the aptly named witch Chocolat Noir. But for every wish, there is a price, and sometimes the price paid is far worse than the consequences of not wishing at all. Often, the series throws in a touch of humanity or humour. Unfortunately, the bitter tends to outweigh the sweet more often than not. Some episodes are trulyintriguing, filled with a surprising amount of unexpected twists, that for the most part, pay off. Unfortunately, other episodes are just depressing. In fact, the first episode was, frankly, horrible. It ends feeling concluded, yet is filled from start to finish with nothing but bullies, bad decisions, and rejection. It was incredibly tempting to drop the show then and there, because there isn't anything endearing about watching people suffer for 22 minutes. Luckily, the second episode picks the story back up, providing the series with some redemption, as well as introducing what will become the overarching arcs of the series. That said, calling anything in this show a 'main arc' is misleading. This is perhaps the most episodic, monster-of-the-week styled anime I've seen in a while. Although there is, eventually, an underlying story and drama, it just isn't soon enough or expanded enough to be as engaging as the episodic plots. Characters: 5 Given the episodic nature, the 'main characters' stand largely in the background, watching over various humans and their blunders. Ultimately, no character is likeable, or even unlikeable - they're just sort of there. Art & Sound: 5 Art wise, it's pure average. Cosplayers and Lolitas alike will be pleased by the number of kooky, frilly, and creative dresses shown throughout the series. Occasionally, the camera shifts to create a very art-house vibe, but for the most part there's nothing spectacular - good or bad - to write about. The cat transition sequences are appropriate, if a bit distracting at times. Sound wise, I honestly can't remember anything awful, or spectacular. Which is to say it was utterly forgettable.

This anime shows several short stories from the manga, but also anime exclusive ones. It's a pity they didn't do more episodes, because the manga has so much more stories. The animation is okay, it's not great, but this is just a little series to promote the manga, so you can't expect that much. I wish it had an opening song. I really like the ending song. The story in general is very interesting in my opinion. It looks cute, but can get pretty dark. Every little story (1-2 episodes) features new characters who come to visit Chocolat Aikawa. It's the same formula every time, butI think the stories are all interesting and they also change up the formula several times. We also get Chocolat's backstory here, which I think is cool. I really like the mysterious atmosphere in this and I wish we got more episodes.

Chocolat no Mahou or as it's known in English by the name of The Magic of Chocolate, is an anime that would've been nice if it'd gotten more episodes than it got at the time of this review. The anime isn't bad, its good and I would've liked to have seen more. That said it isn't without some flaws. I personally didn't like some episodes or did for others but not how Chocolat Aikawa handled wishes and payments but I'm getting ahead of myself. Welcome to Chocolat Noir, a shop that's run by Chocolat Aikawa, a Witch that can grant your wish, but her wish grantingchocolate doesn't come cheap and each customer must pay, not with money but something more personal. Each time it's always something different that she takes from her customers and it can be important to them or not but make no mistake, what's taken is always personal but most say they don't mind if something is taken from them even if they dunno what it'll be and will gobble down the magical chocolate that can grant them their wish... The first two episodes are a two parter, after that it's only single episode stories but they work wonderfully despite being about 12-14 minutes long each. A few episodes could've used a bit more run time though. (Like 1 or 2 episodes) The ending songs are nice, nothing amazing imo but still nice. The art is imo really nice and detailed and I enjoyed seeing the various outfits and clothing we get to see including for some episodes for Chocolat herself. Even though most episodes are single story episodes, there is still a plot involving Chocolat Aikawa but you'll have to watch the anime to learn more about her. At the end of the day, many of the episodes are for me at least, not good or could've been better. I found myself mad that Chocolat Aikawa was handling wishes and payments the way she was in some episodes. Like I get she isn't perfect but, some of these people whom she purposely gave a bad outcome too, didn't deserve the fate she dealt them. (particularly one at least, almost two) and I also didn't like some of the episodes where the outcome should've been better or I thought "Huh, why didn't you handle it this way instead if your magic can do so much it should've been possible to do it this way instead..." Also, make no mistake, Chocolat Aikawa doesn't just hand out bad wishes and outcomes, she hands out good ones too. But on the bad side of it, if the anime had handled wishes and payments better then it's likely my rating for the anime would've been higher. It's also possible that some of these episodes I had a problem with were the anime only episodes I read is a thing in another review which would explain a lot if so. And on the good side of it, it does it nicely and make no mistake, though I mentioned some flaws, the anime is still good and worth seeing. Each story in each episode has its own moral of the story so there is value in each story and in every character too. I'd encourage you to give the anime a chance and you may not find much or any flaws with the anime in the places I found flaws with. I give Chocolat no Mahou aka The Magic of Chocolate, a 7.0 out of 10.0. "Welcome... to the chocolate shop that fulfills wishes, Chocolat Noir. I'm the Chocolatiere, Aikawa Chocolat. Do you have a wish? However... To fulfill a wish, I need something in return. My chocolate is an expensive treat."