What if your greatest passion in life wasn’t love, power, or even survival, but giant robots?
This afternoon, I hit play on episode one of Knight’s & Magic as my randomised anime of the day. As per normal, I dived in without a clue, no synopsis, no trailer, no expectations. And now here I am at the end of the day, hours later, with thoughts and this review.
Quick Review
- Protagonist energy: Unhinged mech obsession played completely straight.
- Mech design: Chunky, inventive Silhouette Knights that somehow feel medieval.
- Characters: Built around one central powerhouse; everyone else orbits him.
- Story momentum: Starts with purpose, loses the plot around the halfway mark.
- Vibe: A mecha fan writing fan-fiction about being reincarnated into his favourite genre.
Hop around the review:
A lot of screenshots used in this review are photomerged composites created from the anime itself. If you’d like to, you can browse the full Knight’s & Magic photomerged screenshot gallery here.
About Knight’s & Magic
- Full Genre List: Fantasy, Action
- Key Themes: Isekai, Mecha, Reincarnation, School
- Type: Series
- Episodes: 13
- Duration: ±5 hours
- Age Restriction: PG (Teens 13+)
- Release Date: July 2017
- Animation Studio: Studio 8bit
- Source: Light novel by Hisago Amazake-no (illustrated by Kurogin)
- Kanji: ナイツ&マジック
- English Dub: Yes
- Streaming: Bilibili, Crunchyroll
- Average Rating Across Platforms: ~7/10
- Story Continues in Source Material? Yes
- Official Hashtag: #ナイツマ
- Date I Watched this: 24 February 2026
A mecha-loving programmer dies in modern Japan and is reincarnated in a fantasy world as Ernesti Echevalier (Eru), a young noble with immense magical aptitude. In this world, humanity defends itself from demonic beasts using massive humanoid weapons known as Silhouette Knights, magical mechs. Eru enrols at a knight academy with one dream: to build the ultimate mecha.
My Thoughts on Knight’s & Magic
It is not a complicated anime, and it really doesn’t try to be.
Knight’s & Magic exists for us to watch a very enthusiastic little boy build increasingly impressive robots and fight things with them. Within that narrow brief, it largely delivers. Whether that’s enough depends entirely on what you want from the anime.
I was genuinely surprised at the ambition of blending isekai, mecha, magic, and academy elements into one cohesive concept. On paper, that’s a lot. And at first, it works better than I expected.
Story and Themes
For me, Knight’s & Magic feels like an isekai stripped down to its most functional components. The reincarnation premise exists primarily to justify Eru’s genius. His past-life programming knowledge translates directly into superior mechanical understanding. Of all the “I was reborn, and now I’m overpowered” setups, this is actually one of the better justified ones. His knowledge matters, mostly.
The first half of the series is fun and enjoyable. Watching Eru experiment, push mechanical limits, and problem-solve with borderline manic joy is entertaining. His enthusiasm is infectious. The “Robots are a man’s romance!” energy is not ironic; it’s the entire thesis statement of the series.
Where it starts to lose me is around the midpoint.
Once Eru achieves his initial dream of building his own mech, the pacing accelerates dramatically. It stops feeling like a story unfolding and starts feeling like a highlight reel. Major events are narrated rather than dramatised. Political shifts resolve in a scene or two. Characters are introduced and discarded before I’ve had time to register them. At times, it genuinely feels like I’m watching a TikTok summary of a longer, better-developed story.
Thematically, there’s a thread about technological stagnation and disruption. What happens when someone radically changes a long-standing system? In theory, that should be fascinating. Eru isn’t just building better robots; he’s dismantling centuries of accepted design philosophy. That should have consequences. That should spark resistance. Debate. Pushback.
But the anime doesn’t really dig into that idea.
It’s far more interested in what Eru builds next than what that innovation means socially or politically. We see the upgrades. We see the reactions of awe. And then suddenly, others in the world are making rapid advancements as well, all within a strangely short timeframe.
This is where I started struggling with believability.
We’re told that this world has relied on Silhouette Knights for generations. There are engineers, military strategists, scholars, and entire institutions built around these machines. Yet progress has supposedly stagnated so completely that a single reincarnated teenager can revolutionise everything almost overnight.
I found that hard to accept.
Real-world innovation doesn’t just freeze for centuries and then explode because one enthusiastic genius appears. Even if Eru accelerates development, it feels unlikely that nobody else was pushing boundaries before him. The world doesn’t feel organically stagnant, it feels conveniently paused.
And because of that, the disruption lacks weight. Instead of feeling like a seismic cultural shift, it feels like the plot making space for spectacle.
Something else that bothered me as the episodes progressed: early on, the series establishes rules about mana limitations and structural integrity. Those constraints make the world feel grounded. Then, gradually, they stop mattering.
The spectacle takes priority over internal logic. It doesn’t completely break the show, but it does give the impression that consistency isn’t a major concern once the robot fights get bigger.
Characters
Eru is the sun around which everything else orbits. He is gifted beyond everyone around him. He’s admired. He rarely struggles meaningfully. He has no internal conflict to overcome. What he lacks in depth, he makes up for in sincerity.
His obsession is specific and unashamed. The show never treats it as something he needs to outgrow. That’s who he is, and the world bends around it. There’s something oddly refreshing about that. The most emotionally convincing moments in the entire series are when his robots are threatened. That’s when he feels genuinely shaken.
The supporting cast, unfortunately, receives minimal development. Archid and Adeltrud function mostly as loyal support pillars. The wider cast rotates in and out so quickly that few leave a lasting impression.
Visuals and Animation
Visually, the anime delivers on what it thinks matters most: the mechs.
The Silhouette Knights are well-designed, bulky, medieval-inspired mechs that feel functional rather than flashy. The CGI integrates surprisingly well with the 2D elements for a 2017 production. It’s not flawless, but it’s far from distracting.
The colour palette leans warm and earthy, fitting the medieval fantasy setting. Human-scale animation is serviceable rather than spectacular, but the production clearly prioritised mech battles, and it shows. The action sequences are clear, energetic, and staged well enough to be satisfying.
Sound and Music
The soundtrack sits comfortably in the background. It supports scenes effectively without becoming especially memorable. The opening theme is upbeat and fitting, reinforcing the series’ energetic tone.
Where the anime really shines in audio is its mechanical sound design. Metallic impacts feel heavy. Magical propulsion systems hum convincingly. Structural strain during combat has weight. For a show built around robots hitting things, that physicality matters, and it’s done well here.
The English dub deserves a mention as well. The voice performances are energetic and well-matched to the tone of the series. Eru’s delivery in particular captures that borderline manic enthusiasm that defines his character. While the writing itself doesn’t offer much emotional depth, the dub elevates some of the more absurd moments and makes them land with the right level of sincerity.
Overall, the audio production is solid. Not extraordinary, but dependable.
Overall Enjoyment and Personal Reflections
Will I remember Knight’s & Magic long-term? Honestly, probably not. It’s the definition of a “watch-while-working” anime. Easy to consume. Easy to follow. Fun enough to keep on. But not demanding my full emotional attention. The experience felt enjoyable but hollow in places. As I mentioned, it feels like I watched a highlight reel rather than a fully developed story. It’s not bad, not great, but it is content to be just fine.
If you’re a mecha fan, I can see this landing higher. If you’re primarily here for fantasy storytelling or layered character arcs, it’s going to feel shallow.
Final Verdict on my Knight’s & Magic Review
Knight’s & Magic is a cheerful, focused empowerment fantasy that does exactly what it sets out to do: showcase cool robot designs and let its protagonist revel in mechanical innovation.
It succeeds at that.
It struggles everywhere else.
Do I Recommend Knight’s & Magic? Not particularly, I feel there are stronger options within the isekai and fantasy genres if you want to become invested in a world and its characters. However, if you’re a mecha fan first and foremost, there’s a very good chance you’ll enjoy this. The robot designs are strong, the battles are visually satisfying, and Eru’s passion is genuinely infectious. If watching someone obsess over engineering improvements sounds fun to you, this anime delivers exactly that.
Have you watched Knight’s & Magic?
Did Eru’s mech obsession win you over, or did the thin supporting cast leave you cold? What did you think of the pacing in the second half? Did the mech designs carry the show for you? If you’ve read the light novels, how much did the anime leave out? I’d genuinely love to hear your thoughts!
My Rating: 6.5/10
| Story | Animation | Sound | Characters |
| 6/10 | 7/10 | 7/10 | 5/10 |
Probably decent if you like mechs, forgettable if you don’t. For me, it lands as a “nice enough” watch rather than a must-watch. I don’t regret the five hours I spent with it, but I also don’t feel compelled to revisit it.
Date Watched: 24 February 2026
Leave a Reply