Fate/kaleid line Prisma Illya is a spin-off from the Fate franchise. It’s based on a manga series starring Illyasviel von Einzbern. The first season is ten episodes long with an OVA. It is set in an alternate world and it doesn’t cover the events of a Holy Grail War. It is a typical magical girl anime and from the get go, you know that it goes for the overly cute angle based on the aesthetics, tone and how the characters act. It’s set in a peaceful world and Illya is living a normal happy life. She’s on good terms with Shirou and lives with others given that her parents are working abroad. We learn that she loves anime and wishes that magical powers are real. This life is “shattered” when her wish is granted and a magical sentient stick comes to her. Named Ruby, the magical wand tricks Illya into becoming its new master and granting her magical girl status.
It turns out that Rin Tohsaka was the original master of Ruby before it left her to find a new master. Illya now gains the ability to transform into a magical girl, complete with powers such as firing colorful magical beams and flying. The anime seems to embrace all the typical tropes of the genre. Rin, while bitter and annoyed at first, ends up sticking with Illya and showing her the ropes.
The goal of Illya is to fight other beings which will turn them into cards for her to collect. These begins are placed in the familiar classes of Rider, Archer etc. They’re basically the same characters as the heroic spirits from other Fate series. Naturally, there are seven cards, representing the seven classes. However their redesign of those heroic spirits, while still remaining familiar, is one of the highlights. The anime has a fairly unique spin on the heroic spirits and how they provide power and abilities to Illya and Miyu via their card forms.
Illya wasn’t the only one to become a magical girl that night. Rin and Ruby actually came with another pair, Luvia and Sapphire. Sapphire also ditches Luvia and ends up granting Miyu its power. Miyu, the other magical girls, ends up becoming Illya’s rival of sorts. She seems much more well-versed in what she has to do and her abilities are on a superhuman level. Illya has a very idealistic view of being a magical girl but some of the opponents that she has to fight are extremely powerful and does not hesitate in hurting her. Thus she has to learn a valuable lesson on the harsh reality of the situation she’s in. Furthermore, she has to improve upon her teamwork skills with Miyu. Since Miyu is a prodigy, it did look like Illya was obsolete at first but it soon becomes clear that each has their own strengths and weaknesses.
Illya goes through the normal stuff that would happen when reality hits you after gaining such power. The very real reality of dying traumatizes her and it doesn’t help that she goes through a phase where she is not confident at all. Compounding her issues is her relationship with Miyu as they skirt between friends and not friends, which is a lot of drama and not that much fun to watch.
There is a focus on humor although naturally some attempts work and others don’t. There are a lot of cliched attempts but also a few instances where it is really funny. You can’t fault the voice actors on their delivery at all since they are great. The pacing of the season can be jarring. You’ll have episodes where it is battle after battle and then others where there are long stretches of talking about friendships, school and other everyday experiences.
The OVA takes place during a sports festival and is more akin to a slice-of-life episode. It’s not bad in that we get to see more of Illya’s school friends who are generally the funnier parts of the anime with their interactions. Overall, Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya is a fairly average and generic magical girl anime. Illya’s insecurities take up a huge portion of the season, for better or for worse. It’s take on the Fate universe, having the heroic spirits for Illya to tackle and convert into cards to become her power is a unique twist, but it doesn’t quite hold up the anime enough.
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