The Series (3/5)

In the near future, Tokyo, Japan is now home to both humans and wizards. Wizards are called Wud, and they’re constantly having issues with human police because of their magical powers and the iffy magic laws. Cecil Sudo, a half Japanese Canadian girl who has recently joined the Butterfly Law Firm as a Wizard Barrister. In the first episode she has already crashed into a case before she even clocked in. As Cecil’s adventures continue she soon discovers her hidden powers. The powers that may cost her life to aid a wizard conspiracy.

On paper, Wizard Barristers may sound like a cross between Harry Potter and Perry Mason, which does sounds cool, but instead we get something a little more basic by anime standards. That’s not to say Wizard Barristers is a bad series, just more standard anime fare. The 12-episode series doesn’t really break new ground in the anime field. The story boils down to the architype of a special teenage girl discovers her inner strength while coming of age. I did enjoy the added drama of trying to solve the case that put her mother on death row.

The series is also an anime greatest hits package. We get giant mechs, magic duels, and even a black mass! On the negative side of things, there’s a side group of talking pets that want to molest their owners. This doesn’t pay off as black comedy and just proves to be unnecessary. The actual animation is fine for battle sequences and backgrounds, but the character designs are lacking. Everything about the side characters is a mixed bag with some agents build like Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and some just plain ugly, like the blue haired boss with bright yellow demon eyes.

The series starts off with a limp, but quickly gains momentum. But the lackluster characters and been there seen that feeling of the plot keep this series feeling just average.

Audio/ Video (4/5)

The series is available with two audio options. English dubbed DTS-HD 2.0 audio or Japanese DTS-HD 2.0 Audio with easy to read yellow English subtitles. The English subtitles are free of spelling errors. As for video, the series looks great. The image is full 1080p HD with crystal clear picture. The skin tones look life like with the only issues being the actual animation. The rest of the picture glows with detail with fine mixed blacks and other color levels.

Extras (2/5)

On the Extras side of things, we get Web Previews, Clean opening and closing credits, and trailers for Majestic Prince, Momokyun Sword, Blade dance of the Elementalers, and From the New World.

Overall (3/5)

Not a terrible series to kick back to on a Saturday morning. The series is breaking no new ground, but at least it gets a handsome release by Sentai Filmworks for any curious anime fans. Recommend to anyone needing a light anime.