3D Magical Play - Reviews

Story
Having just watched Magical Play, I have to say I was thoroughly let down with Magical Play 3D. The stories are pretty much not related in any way (with only one scene of shared footage). Padadu washes up in a town where she’s promptly thrown in the dungeon. She then meets Nonononn, a fugitive, and they have a fairly terse conversation about magical girls and the like. In this magical world, girls train to be magical girls, earning them the right to go to Earth. This is explained in Magical Play but only given a side note in the OVA. Thus, really, this is pretty much useless unless you’ve already seen Magical Play, and even then the story leaves much to be desired. So after Padadu meets Nonononn, this Ursula-looking woman blubbers into the room with some dancing brooms that look like something from Fantasia on crack, and informs Padadu that she is going to be put to death. Thus, the mayor’s familiar, a cat creature, will execute her. In this OVA we watch Padadu fight the creature, and the outcome.

Totally boring and uninteresting. First of all, the humorous and spastic tone of Magical Play has been replaced by a fairly dark action of sorts. Nothing of the world is explained for the most part, and any attempts at character development fall flat due to the short length and depth of the story. A big thumbs down from me.
Animation
The 3D animation is surprisingly poor, especially considering this is only a few years old. Admittedly, it’s a lot better than the 3D episode of Magical Play (but only in some scenes), but it’s still very fake looking. The opening scene of the city and dogs scavenging on the streets is TERRIBLE. The fighting scenes at the end are laughable, especially between the mayor and the girls, when she’s singing and giant cheesy letters are falling everywhere. Backgrounds are ridiculous (except the final shot of the castle over the city), especially the rainbow gradient pattern behind the cat creature in action scenes. The character designs, luckily, are still the same as they are in Magical Play, and for the most part look good. The mayor, on the other hand, looks grotesque and disgusting, and her body appears to be made out of a trash bag filled with liquid. Overall I was very disappointed in the animation.
Sound
Like Magical Play, the synthy music is fitting, but still very forgettable. Voice actors do a fine job, though the English version of Padadu is nasal and irritating. In addition, the English version of the mayor’s voice is ridiculous, especially when she’s singing. Sounds very fake and awful.
Characters
We are introduced to some of the same characters that are in Magical Play: a brief appearance by the policewomen Ketchup and Mustard, who seem a lot more mean than their doppelgangers; Nonononn, bitchy as ever; and Padadu, still as naïve and innocent. Queen Purilun also makes an appearance in a flashback between her and Nonononn. Besides the flashback, we get almost no background on any of the characters. The mayor has no depth except that we can tell she’s evil and doesn’t like magical girls. The length is too short and since the world itself isn’t even really explained, the characters seem very flat and two-dimensional. The supposed character development (showing the flashback, and the conversations between Nonononn and Padadu) just doesn’t work. Magical Play 3D really failed in this area.
Overall
Magical Play 3D is pretty much useless. If you watched Magical Play and were hoping for a 3D version of the same spastic show, you’ll be disappointed. Magical Play 3D tries to be serious and heavy, but ends up being silly and pointless instead. People who have not seen Magical Play will surely find this OVA to be a total waste of time, and people who have will probably also not see the point. The only reason I might recommend this is to see the same flashback scene in 3D, or if you are a completist that wants to see anything related to this universe. Otherwise, stay away.