Right away I should tell you that the first episode doesn't capture the essence of the show. Its really cringy and doesn't really provide enough backstory to give a darn. Its more to make you hate the MC so much you want to punch his teeth out.

After that though, the story gets awesome really fast and its worth sticking around for. The second episode is where you get all the backstory of the various characters and a better understanding about what in the heck is going on.

Spoilers for the second episode ahead.

Because do not be fooled, the first episode is absolutely AWFUL. The cast is uninteresting and full of tropes, the motivation is stupid, the magic is mediocre to look at, the ecchi feels like it was included as an afterthought (yeah, yeah, just make all the girls in the school wear 50% less clothes for no reason) and the main character is pathetic at best... Until you get to the second episode. This is by far the best example of how NOT to start your show, but holy crap if it doesn't change its tune for episode two. I'm actually mad that the author undersold his own work so bad right off the bat. Especially since the approach this show takes to magic is actually really interesting once they dive into it.

Episode two feels like the beginning of something great. It cuts a lot of the bullshit and has some much darker (even somewhat disturbing) content, as well as a lot of hints and explanations for each character's motivation and attitude. The classic stuck up rich girl gets a logical and even somewhat heartwarming reason for why she takes magic and her education so seriously. The typical nice girl gets a darker albeit cliche past, and the teacher gets fleshed out into a real, likable character. There's still a lot of show to go, and obviously there are some growing pains, but I genuinely think it will be worth keeping up with if the second episode is any indication of things to come.

Akashic Records is an interesting anime in that it tries to tackle big themes in a way that can be understood by young people, while also being a fanservice centric anime.

While I appreciate the attempt, these elements constantly work against each other, undermining what could have been a much better story. Like, the idea of making the main character seem like a shitty person in the first episode, slowly revealing why he behaves that way and redeeming his character is an excellent idea, and probably why so many people like this anime.

The idea that while things may appear simple and straightforward, but in actuality are complex and nuanced repeats itself when we learn about the magic system, and even in episode 6 I can find this theme repeating itself. Yet, stylistically it doesn't seem to fit.

The characters definitely have interesting backstories, yet they are heavily reliant on tropes to explain their feelings, and almost seem melodramatic in their attempts to portray their feelings. The uniforms also shift the focus from this theme to the characters as objects of fanservice. Everything is handled in such a ham-handed way, it feels like the writer has no faith in the audience to understand anything without the characters explaining it.

I think this is pretty typical for shows directed at a younger audience, but nonetheless, I think it makes the show more shallow than it would be if they let the audience fill in the blanks. If I had to describe the problem briefly, the theme is about how things aren't as simple as they appear, and yet the directing constantly tries to simplify problems and characters so that they can be understood by the target audience. Great business choice, but it makes the show lack integrity by betraying its central theme.

Overall, I couldn't really enjoy this one, but I can imagine that a more casual viewer would enjoy it. Not bad, but also not good. 3 stars.

It might seem like another generic school magic harem series but it's Not.

This is not a Harem anime. It focuses more on the Magic part more than anything.

The MC is a real surprise but I'm not going to go into details about him.

Lidenfilms is doing a good job with the animation so far.

Anyway, give this show a chance (at least 4 episodes) and you might ended up being pleasantly surprised.

Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor is, in many ways, the perfect example for the importance of pacing and consistency in a story throughout a series.

After a fairly mundane episode 1, ARoBMI began opening up, with character development and world fleshing becoming prevalent components of each episode. Characters began to develop personalities with mostly coherent backstories and goals, and while a bit generic, a fairly lovable cast began to form. In particular, Glenn Radars, the titular Bastard Magic Instructor, transitions from fairly unlikable bum to an admirable and competent protagonist to get behind.

For the first seven or so episodes, I found that, while not entirely original or groundbreaking, this series had enough positive aspects working in its favor that it would be a standout 4-4.5 star series from the season. However, a fairly botched and questionably executed series of episodes near the tail end of the series made things a bit more complicated...

From episode eight onwards, the story begins devolving in a rapid manner. Plot points are introduced and never resolved or barely ever mentioned of again, characters begin displaying characteristics which make no sense, and any world building or story-fleshing takes a complete back seat to action and incoherent set pieces.

It seemed like the first half-ish of the show was handled with care, as a far more character-focused and story-centric product can be observed. However, the last half of the show feels rushed and confused. It seemed almost like everything which had occurred during the first seven episodes were for naught as characters display no consistency and very little story progression is made.

Also, as a bit of a personal note (!!!AND POSSIBLY SOME MILD SPOILERS HERE!!!), I genuinely did not care for the villains of the show. The debatable 'best villain' often operated behind a veil of shadows and was rarely seen, in-spite of being the most stereotypically 'evil'. This didn't make the character any more mysterious or threatening however, and just seemed like a bit of a missed opportunity to pose a real threat. The other villains of the show feel forced into the story and are extremely easy to identify, making any suspense and mystery practically nonexistent.

I gave this show a 3/5 stars because, realistically speaking, it was a tale of two halves. The first half was entertaining if not a bit unoriginal, but enjoyable enough to make overlooking the overused tropes possible. The second half of the show is a hurried mess that feels incomplete, with an ending that makes the entire season feel like it was pointless, as 'possible second season/go read the source material' bait is dangled above it.

As a whole, ARoBMI is a flawed series which shows promise only to pull the rug out from under you with shabby writing. Cute girls, cheesy rom-com elements, and magic battles are plentiful in this show, so if that's your cup of tea, then there is certainly enough to compel a watch. All in all, it didn't feel like a complete waste of my life watching the 12 episodes of this anime, but I don't know if I can rightfully say I'll remember it moving forward either.

To be frank, I've been waiting for all of the winter season to end just to watch this series. Glen is an interesting character in an interesting story that, not trying to spoil anyone who hasn't read the Manga or Light Novel, you probably will have to wait til episode 3 to get a feel for the real plot of this series. For crying out loud, he's the BASTARD INSTRUCTOR! You don't see many of those types of guys being the main character.

As many people have said in previous reviews, the anime's first episode is kinda eh, but the second and third episodes are great improvements beyond the first. However, the anime soon drops off again and settles into being a simply mediocre quality anime. It becomes overly dramatic and what's her face, not Rumia, but the other unmemorable girl, is simply annoying. Honestly, after the first episode, this anime is good until Re=L and the other guy show up. Now it's getting worse and worse with overly dramatic and simply stupid characters.

I was really hoping that the anime would be good after I watched the first few episodes, and I recommended it to a friend. But I can say that after watching the newest episode, I think it's episode 8, this is not a good anime and I think many of us are going to finish this anime disappointed. I hope I'm wrong. But I'm so disappointed that it prompted my first review ever so... :/

And as an after thought, the magic was really interesting when they were discussing the language used and how it can manipulate certain spells. BUT THEN IT'S NEVER SEEN AGAIN! They took a really cool concept and then proceeded to jack shit with it. I was hoping for a smart anime, even with poor characters, but the anime really did just get lucky with a cool idea and fails to retain all of the characteristics that made it interesting after the first episode.

If I could rate 4.5 stars I probably would have done that. I found the "bastard" part of the show title to be a little misleading. While, Glenn, the main character and "bastard magic instructor" certainly starts out as an ass of a guy, he does an extremely fast turn around. Originally he doesn't have a single care in the world to be teaching at school, but then after ONE conversation from an influential student he decides to go above and beyond as a teacher.

Getting past that small detail, I thoroughly enjoyed this series. I thought the magic animation was cool, and they kept it relatively fast-paced (I can't take slow magic scenes). The magic cards for the Court Mages were really interesting, too. I really liked the design of the main character, Glenn. And I found his backstory intriguing, I wanted to know more about his time in the Court Mages, before becoming a teacher.

Only other problem I had with the show were the short and similar plot arcs. I'll partly excuse it due to the 12-episode season, but things seemed rushed. One of my favorite from this spring. Would like to see a season 2.
Definitely recommend giving this a watch. Also, while a minor character in the anime, Celica is bae.