REVIEW: ‘Mashle: Magic And Muscles,’ Episode 6 — “Mash Burnedead And The Magic of Iron”

With Dot and Mash confronted by the sadistic upper-classman Silva, Dot steps up to take the threat on himself in an attempt to protect one of his classmates. Sadly, he doesn’t realize he is in the grip of a charm spell. But when the fight gets out of hand, will Mash step in to make things right in Mashle: Magic and Muscles Episode 6?

Much of this episode focuses on Dot rather than Mash. As the red-haired student stands up to Silva, we get a great character moment for the young man that makes him equal parts sympathetic and tragic. While his intentions are only the best as he seeks to defend his fellow student, Mashle: Magic and Muscles Episode 6 plays a cruel trick on him as his struggles are ultimately wasted. As revealed in the last episode, the student he looks to protect is actually manipulating him with charm magic. Given how inclined to play the hero Dot already is, he falls pretty quickly. His confrontation with Silva is a harsh thing to watch. While the visuals never try to deliver the brutality that other anime would go for with such a one-sided fight, the show nevertheless manages to drive home just how badly Dot is taking it for his principles. But once Dot’s struggle is wrapped up it’s Mash’s turn to step back into the limelight.

Mash’s confrontation with Silva is a mix of great animation and presentation, with the overly predictable events and outcomes that one would expect. This predictability is smoothed out some thanks to a moment of humor that delivers some true laughs. It has been rare for me that the show’s attempts at humor have managed to stick their landings. This success has me hoping that maybe there will be more such gems to come as the series progresses.

Once the initial obstacles are overcome, Mashle: Magic and Muscles Episode 6 sees Mash reunited with Finn, Lance, and Lemon. There he learns from Lance about a group of upperclassmen who are determined to gain all the coins other students have earned so they can make sure that the next Divine Visionary comes from an elite mage, and not just some commoner.

This injection of a class struggle at the school between the haves and the have-nots is a reasonable theme for the series to explore. With so much power gathered in the Bureau of Magic, it only makes sense that those whose class controls it would seek to hoard it all for themselves. If someone not behooved to them were to claim some measure of control over this power, they might actually use it to instill actual change or even progress in their society. We know how much the powerful dread that.

Mashle: Magic and Muscles Episode 6 manages to take all its elements and blend them together to craft a rather solid episode. It manages to expand its focus beyond Mash, which is always a smart move, while still letting its protagonist have some moments to shine.

Mashle: Magic and Muscles Episode 6 is streaming on Crunchyroll.