SFE: Acro Trip
Entry updated 17 February 2025. Tagged: TV.
Japanese animated tv series (2024). Voil. Directed by Ayumu Kotake. Written by Shinichi Inotsume. Based on the Manga by Yone Sawata. Voice cast includes Miku Itō, Kengo Kawanishi, Inori Minase, Showtaro Morikubo, Nobunaga Shimazaki and Koichi Soma. Twelve 24-minute episodes. Colour.
Having moved to her grandfather's (Soma) home, Chizuko Date (Itō) is bored and listless until she discovers that Niigata City has its own Magical Girl (see Superheroes), Berry Blossom (Minase); Chizuko is immediately enraptured. That hero even has her own nemesis, the dashing, handsome "evil mastermind" Chrome (Shimazaki) (see Supervillains) of the "Evil Organization Fossa Magna". Yet the City's population is underwhelmed and the local television news reports lukewarm, as Chrome is not that formidable a foe: his plans are not particularly evil, causing inconvenience rather than chaos ("Notice of evil deed: I will be committing an act of evil tomorrow at 3pm at Nikoniko Nishi Park. I will sit on a swing and refuse to give way even for a child"), whilst his crush on Berry Blossom doesn't help either (he finds defeat at her hands pleasurable). Overhearing Chizuko calling his efforts "lame", he asks her to help him become a little more competitive (though not enough to actually win). Initially she refuses, but when Chrome gives up Berry Blossom has no one to fight and is reduced to collecting garbage, so Chizuko agrees to help. Chrome names her "General Dante" and his plots now have a little tactical nous. Working at a convenience store, he lives in a shack under a bridge until Berry Blossom accidentally destroys it and Chizuko's grandfather lets him live in the crawlspace under his house (Chrome uses magic to turn it into a giant secret base, though he finds it rather lonely there).
We learn some backstory: Chrome competed with former school rival Mashima (Kawanishi) to join Ohmizu Technica, the company that supposedly acts as a front for Fossa Magna – Chrome won because Mashima cheated and was turned into a Cat for doing so. The latter runs off and is discovered freezing in the snow by compassionate Kaju Noichigo; seeing this as an opportunity to have his revenge on Chrome and still having one of Ohmizu Technica's Magic cards which grant "mysterious powers", he uses it to turn Kaju into a Magical Girl, Berry Blossom. Mashima, called Mashirou in his cat-like form, becomes her magical companion (and, despite initially sneering at her do-gooder attitude, has grudgingly become a better person). Berry Blossom/Kaju herself is kind-hearted but a little inept. After a series of episodic misadventures, the first season ends with the head of Ohmizu Technica (Morikubo) affably taking everyone for a celebratory treat, with visits to a carnival and a stay at a hotel. His motives, and that of his company, are obscure.
Most of the magic in the show is created by Ohmizu Technica: it is allocated monthly like phone or wi-fi, so Chrome sometimes finds himself running low or without magic towards the end of the month. This association of magic with Technology is not unusual in Anime (see, for example, the same season's Magilumiere Co. Ltd.). The magic is very powerful, able to produce "Wormholes", though perhaps "Dimensional portals" would be more accurate. Fully-functional magical wands can also be bought online, perhaps manufactured by Ohmizu Technica. An exception seems to be Chrome's ability to produce bears, which he has been able to do since a child. This is not explained. At one point they unexpectedly coalesce into one giant bear (see Great and Small) and wander the city like a giant Kaiju, much to Chrome's horror as he tries to prevent it causing any damage; because a real threat is provided for once, Berry Blossom actually earns some respect by defeating it.
Though the animation is unremarkable, Acro Trip is a funny (see Humour) and affectionate Parody of the Magical Girl genre, with much Absurdity. [SP]
links
previous versions of this entry