What’s kept me coming back to MagiRevo has been its relentlessly optimistic outlook on life and the world. Though the skies grow dark and the clouds loom grey on the horizon, this show refuses to give up believing that happiness will break through and bring light. No matter how far Euphie withdraws into herself, no matter how much Anis runs away from others’ love, they will never be alone. No matter how corrupt this kingdom is, it can be redeemed.
That’s the hope spurring this magical revolution onward. And in this final episode, we see that hope beginning to blossom at last.
Anis’s fight with Euphie shows us how much she’s already grown since the beginning of the series. Back then, she couldn’t have dreamed of facing Euphie one-on-one even with all the magicite pills in the world; now she can put up a respectable fight. Before, she was caged by her inability to use magic; now she flies freely alongside the best magic user in the kingdom. As a kid, she lacked the power to protect her brother from self-destruction; now, she’s ready to prevent Euphie from (in her mind) a similar fate. Her love for magic has brought her far.
But no amount of love for magic can sate Anis’s deep desire to be needed and loved. Anis is fighting to stop Euphie from sacrificing herself, but she’s also fighting because there’s a corner of her heart that can’t let go of the crown. If she’s not queen anymore, is there any need for her? If she’s not this kingdom’s princess, will her parents, the king and queen, look at her with kindness? “There’s no need for you to take my place!” Anis wails desperately, begging Euphie not to snatch away her one sign that she is loved: her place in line for the throne.
But Euphie responds sweetly, “Yes, you’re right. There’s no replacement for you.” In Euphie’s eyes, Anis is already priceless, lovely, and irreplaceable; Anis just needs the eyes to see that fact for herself. Euphie is fighting to stop Anis from becoming queen, but she’s also fighting to convince Anis that she’s worth fighting for: that there is hope for Anis’s future if only she accepts being loved. “Your day is yet to come.” Euphie sees hope and possibility glimmering brightly in Anis’s future and desperately wants Anis to believe that truth herself. It’s a lovely exchange that’s sold powerfully by Euphie’s seiyuu, Manaka Iwami, who infuses Euphie’s firm but tender love for Anis into her lines.
It’s funny how Anis and Euphie’s roles are reversed here. At first, it was Anis who reached out for Euphie, freeing her from the cage of queendom that was stifling her identity and stealing her happiness. It was Anis who opened Euphie’s eyes to the beauty of magic and of the world when Euphie had no purpose or vision. It was Anis who loved Euphie when Euphie saw herself as nothing but damaged goods.
Now Euphie gets to show the same extravagant love to Anis, freeing Anis from the queendom, awakening her to beauty, and restoring her identity. “If you also think the world is beautiful, then please, love yourself, too.” You lifted me up when I was empty; let yourself be lifted up when you feel you’ve hit rock bottom.
I’ve said before that MagiRevo soars on the wings of its characters. Euphie and Anis, their struggles, sorrows, joys, hopes, dreams, and their relationship—they make this show so powerful. Their story, which we can relate to at times, is one where immense cruelty and injustice rule the day, but where kindness and freedom have the final word. And that story is truly beautiful.
I’ve wondered all season whether to address the elephant in the room: that MagiRevo is unapologetically a shoujo-ai show. It understands love differently than I do as a Christian. But it also presents a captivating picture of sacrificial love in Anis and Euphie that, although imperfect, is worth pondering. Through Anis’s reckless love for Euphie at her lowest and Euphie’s persistent love for Anis at her lowest, we catch a glimpse of what healthy, selfless relationships look like, and maybe even a picture of God’s abundant love for us.
After the battle, Anis visits Euphie’s room for a late-night chat and reveals something she’s told no one else about before: She was reincarnated. It’s another brick on the pile of weights that have weighed Anis down all season, feeding her the lie that she doesn’t deserve to be loved because the life she’s living is one she’s borrowed from another. But in the midst of Anis’s self-doubting, Euphie’s words are full of assurance. “To me, you are the greatest magician in the whole world.” Again and again, Euphie reaches out and reminds Anis that she is loved. And that love anchors Anis.
“Now, what sort of ruler will you be?” the king asks Euphie after crowning her as his successor. At long last, the magical revolution has begun. Healing has come to this kingdom, plagued by cruel tradition and unjust division between social classes. In the new kingdom, there will be happiness for all—magician and muggle, noble and commoner. Tradition will no longer oppress; rather, it will free everyone to see the beauty and magic of the world.
It’s the little details that show just how expansive this revolution is. Remember how they said the king was a gardener a few episodes ago? Yeah, now that he’s no longer ruling, guess where you can find him and his wife? Remember how Euphie has been training her whole life to be queen? Guess that wasn’t all a waste, after all!
Notably, at long last, Anis will get to fulfill her role as a true magician, using her power to make people smile. Asked what she wants to do now that she’s not queen-in-training, she declares, “I want to expand freedom to all.” Now that she’s finally past the guilt of her brother’s exile and her own failures, now that she’s released from the cage of her self-condemnation and shame, now that she’s truly happy, she’s free to bring happiness to all. She can go anywhere now. (Though maybe that’s not a good thing.)
This is a prosperous, restored, beautiful kingdom—the kind of magical kingdom Anis dreamed of as a kid, enamored as she was with visions of soaring in the open skies. And it’s a reminder of the magical place our world can be: a place of open possibility and happiness and vibrant life; a place of loving, selfless, restored relationships; a place where the outcast and weary traveler find rest and a home.
MagiRevo reminds us that freedom, true freedom, was always meant to bring others true happiness. We find ourselves most free when we love others most fully. We find life when we give our lives away.
That’s the kind of magical revolution worth fighting for.
The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
sleepminusminus lurks mysteriously in the dark corners of the anime world, occasionally peeking out to retweet something cute or clever. Online, he spends copious hours smashing keys in osu!mania and binging old slice-of-life shows. Offline, he ponders theology, mathematics, and everything in between.
