Did you have nice holidays? Maid-chan wishes everyone a fantastic new year!
A new year for students in Japan starts in April, with the beginning school year. This is where we see Honda Tamaki and her friend Fuda Yumine going round the campus of their new school to look at the clubs.
Especially Tamaki-chan wants to start something new, but still has no idea at all what that might be. Should she join the illustration club like her friend? Tamaki likes to draw, but that would not be something new, right?
Between all those clubs is also the SNS club (and Maid-chan leaves it for you to find out what that means). The SNS is a computer game creating club, and Tamaki and Yumine can play a game created by the club!
The two girls have a lot of fun playing the club’s game, which also makes the members happy. There are only three left after the founder left for university, so they are a bit desperate for new members, especially people who can illustrate.
Like Maid-chan you can guess what is the result, right? But it takes a bit for Tamaki to realize that the “new” she was searching for could be this: creating a game together with other people! But in the end she joins the SNS.
The club is managed by Murakami Shiina, a helpful, but very pessimistic girl that is extremely shy in crowds of strangers. She does the programming and helps the new member Tamaki to set up a computer for painting, since Tamaki only has drawn on paper before.
Tamaki also loves to draw older men - especially when they look like her father! - and has troubles drawing the cuter style of the prior games. But she is eager to learn.
The scenarios are written by Seki Ayame.
As many writers, she often has problems with deadlines, but also with suddenly striking inspirations.
Before joining the SNS, Ayame has written adult stories under the pen name “Iris”. She is very embarrassed about it. Because of “stupid humans circumstances” she sometimes has to pose as “Iris-sensei” to secure the help of one of her fans for the club.
The third older member of the club is the composer Fujikawa Kayo. She is always cheerful and sometimes likes to play pranks. Maid-chan thinks it is sometimes good that Kayo is so busy with her work in a cafe. That prevents her from playing too many tricks on her friends.
The team has a hard but fun time creating their new game. But finally the SNS is able to present it to the public!
That is always a time of excitement, doubts and hopes. This is especially true for a first timer like Tamaki.
Have you ever done a sale at a convention? Tell Maid-chan about it!
But even the most anticipated day finally ends. The SNS has presented it’s latest game, and that means: They have to create a new one!
This time it is Tamaki who should decide on the game, and of course be responsible for the illustrations. That means a lot of work to be done!
Conclusion
Stella no Mahou is a cute, colorful, slice-of-club-life anime that lives from the quirky characters, and less from their club activities or details about game making.
Stella no Mahou is fun and relaxing to watch and while you can feel that it is based on a 4 panel manga series, it does not feel stuck in single scenes.
Good handwork and a cute art style, but nothing extraordinary, makes Maid-chan give this anime a very solid 7/10.
