Granbelm

Long ago magic was common place but after its misuse it was sealed away in the 'Magiaconatus'; now only a handful of mages have magical powers; they are all members of magical families so they are surprised when Mangetsu Kohinata shows magical powers as her family has no record of magical powers. She finds herself in a world where the mages are transported to 'Granbelm' where they must battle in magical mecha; the winner will be the only mage left and she will have the power to have any one wish granted. Mangetsu is quickly befriended by Shingetsu who wants to win so she can wish away magic forever. As the story progresses Mangetsu learns more about Granbelm, the other girls and ultimately about herself. When I started this series I didn't expect too much; just lots of fighting and over-emotional characters. Early on it seemed this would be the case but it is more than that. There is a good central relationship between Mangetsu and Shingetsu and later on a real surprise relating to the former character. If you like mecha battles with a magical twist you should enjoy the fight scenes. All this leads to a satisfying conclusion. The character designs are fairly generic but they are decent enough and the animation is solid. Overall this might not be a must watch but it turned out to be more interesting than I expected. These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.