The Supernatural Academy

Imagine a weird mix of Harry Potter, Twilight, and maybe even Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, and you have Supernatural Academy. Supernatural Academy is an anime series that, although animation-wise, looks mediocre at best (sometimes more like below average, such as in the fight scenes). It is filmed well, has some quirky and bizarre moments, and characters that fit like a glove, managed to keep me glued to the screen for some six hours in the end. I am not a fan of high school romances or coming-of-age narratives. The love story was probably the least fun of all, I found some of the characters quite bad, not very likable, and for example, Max the Vampire reminded me comically of Cat in Red Dwarf. Similarly, the show's main bad guy did not do much for me. So why was I able to stick with it until the end? Because I enjoy fantasy narratives and this one was not completely pointless. I do not know the premise, it does not fit the description I found for it, and it is probably not incredibly inspired, even though I still enjoyed it quite a lot. There was a nice touch of mystery at certain points, some of the twists were quite well-executed, and in the main aspects, it ticked all the right boxes. The portrayal of the gradual building of the two sisters' relationship also worked. On the other hand, there were moments where the main gang, or just some of its members, acted so utterly stupid that I had to shake my head in disbelief, although I was able to excuse it by saying they were teenagers. At other times, some of the storylines promised much more than they ended up delivering (the fairy world), and so I felt a certain disappointment at the untapped potential. However, I tell myself that there is still room for another season. Also, the anime's creators did not avoid some tried and true clichés in the narrative, although thankfully, they could at least present them in a way that I did not mind. In the end, I am not disappointed, and I do not regret the time I spent watching this show. I tell myself that it could not have possibly been that bad after all since I could get through the whole thing in one afternoon, and it managed to keep my attention. So, it is nothing to write home about, not a stellar production by any means, but it is watchable, and the narrative has a certain charm that held my attention to the point where I wanted to watch other episodes. 5.5/10. (22.01.2022)