Score: A-

We are truly getting into it now with the winter season really starting to roll out. There’s quite a bit of fun to be had with new shows. With sequels you have that built in expectation for things, but it’s nice sometimes to just be positively surprised. This show had a really solid start. Just dove right into this concept about a kid in a fantasy setting born blind, but also with some truly great potential in magic. Kunon really took over the show as a lead and didn’t let the supporting cast completely steal his thunder.

Would’ve liked more before this point

The only complaint I have for this episode is how it hurried a bit too quickly to having Kunon get hooked on magic. It felt like we spent a minute seeing the somewhat dour and depressed version of him before that was completely gone. In reality it was a little over 2 minutes…but that’s the point! It kind of takes away from the joy of seeing him find something he can truly get obsessed with if we didn’t get to really know the guy before that. There’s room of course for flashbacks and these first two episodes did lean into that a bit. So it might be a small issue that the show itself can rectify as it goes along.

Give her a raise!

But overall, I think this episode was fun. A huge part of that goes to Iko. That maid is absurd in the best of ways! Even when Kunon was in a negative mode she was doing her best to keep the energy going and didn’t look strained in dealing with him. Once Kunon started to gain some energy and a sense of inquisitiveness…she was completely up for supporting him. She even disagreed with Kunon’s father about sending him home too early. And I think she was right. At that point Kunon was trying to change and changing his environment might’ve slowed him down and gotten in the way. Doesn’t hurt either that she’s just an adorable goofball. It’s no wonder Kunon’s sense of humor became so cracked! Maybe someday she’ll get her raise.

He changed fast!

But again, Kunon himself was a lot of fun. Yes, his humor is a bit iffy and he can be a pain in the rear for those around him that have to deal with that. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s better than a character that is truly insufferable. Kunon is annoying in some ways, but he’s fun. Not to mention the guy is clever. He made excellent use of his magic to utterly shame that bratty prince that was bothering him, his brother, and his fiance! It was fun watching him get excited about the potential of magic and gaining a sense of the environment around him. It’s not truly sight yet, but he’s working on that road. I personally love the idea of a character born blind in a setting like this trying to use magic to gain sight for himself.

There’s a ton of potential with this character. Right now his goal is just to use magic to truly let him see. A smaller goal is of course to be respectable and a good gentleman for Mirika’s sake. It’ll be interesting to see where his character goes. The obvious thing is that his magic will continue to develop in spectacular ways. Even if that means overwhelming his poor magic teacher! But beyond that there’s plenty of directions this story could go out. They’ve already set up some potential danger with talk about a past demon lord. And those always seem to come back!

She’s a good match for him

Thankfully his fiance is a treasure as well. Mirika is cute, fun, and utterly able to keep up with Kunon’s silly antics. Her biggest problem was at the start when she wasn’t excited about having to go visit him. She’s got responsibilities thanks to her position and benefits of course of being a princess. But it has to be hard for someone her age to try and interact with someone that was as negative and depressed as Kunon. Thankfully for her she didn’t have to pull him out of it. Instead she just gets to enjoy the fun that is Kunon now. Plus clearly she’s not high on the totem pole herself relative to her siblings. I’m sure Kunon will make her smile quite a bit in the future.

This could be a fun show

All in all, this was a good first pair of episodes. It looked nice, the cast was fun, and I like the general concept. There’s a bit too much this season for me to actually pick this one up. But some first episodes demand I say something. Well more truly it’s just that this show was fun and easy to talk about. No better reason needed than that.