Winter Anime Season (Part 10)

Title: Wizard Barristers: Benmashi Cecil
Release Date: January 12, 2014
Studio: ARMS
Genre: Supernatural, Law Procedural, Action/Adventure
Synopsis: In 2018 Tokyo, humans and wizards live side-by-side; criminals who use magic are defended in special courts by public servants known as wizard barristers. At 17 years old, Cecil Sudo is the youngest wizard barrister to ever practice magical law, and her arrival at Butterfly Law Offices is sure to ruffle some feathers.

Verdict: Anime is especially good at genre-bending, usually by applying extraordinary circumstances to familiar settings (The Devil is a Part-Timer - the Lord of Evil flipping hamburgers) or vice versa (Planetes - a workplace dramedy in space). Wizard Barristers is, at its core, a criminal defense drama...but with magic. It makes for a far more action-packed legal drama than, say, Law and Order or The Good Wife when the typical case includes a defendant who killed a bank robber that arrived on a metal dragon. Studio ARMS, which usually produces fanservice-heavy series like Ikki Tousen, has outdone itself here, seamlessly blending 2D and CGI animation during magic battles. Director Yasuomi Umetsu, who also directed last year's Galilei Donna, seems to have hit Strong Female Lead pay dirt again with Cecil Sudo. An early scene with two magic-phobic police officers serves as a perfect introduction to her character; sweet and a little bit ditzy on the outside, but a formidable debater when the situation calls for it.

Don't let her size fool you.

The rest of the cast is not lacking in character development either, whether it's Cecil's quirky new cohorts at Butterfly Law or sultry, chain-smoking Inspector Quinn. Everything is adding up to one unique law procedural series. With only one episode in the books, Wizard Barristers is already gunning for the top spot this season.