Sugar Sugar Rune

Sugar Sugar Rune is wholesome, comedic, sweet magical girl fun.

The magical world is an interesting place, along with its customs which led to the story's plot. The human world is just as colorful. I love the way it integrates the humans and witches. The story may seem typical for a shoujo magical girl series, but it's done really well and has pretty unique ideas to make them more exciting. Furthermore, it can be funny, dramatic, and romantic.

The characters are also fun to watch. Chocolat is a great lead and her antics are hilarious. Vanilla is a great foil to Chocolat and their mentor is fun. ... The supporting cast and antagonists are also entertaining.

The artwork is really nice and fantastical. The animation has great magical girl elements and the OST is decent.

Sugar Sugar Rune is an enjoyable watch if you're into fantasy, magical girls, and shoujo.

My guilty pleasure. I adore it.

Cons:
Age in general. I think all the “problematic” stuff it has are traced to the ages of the characters… Like, if they were all in high school or even middle school this wouldn’t be a problem. I blindly ignored that, telling myself it’s an old anime what did I expect… Other problematic stuff I guess was their foster “father” flirting with them somehow but he didn’t mean it as in it was simply his character and personality. Also oh my god that episode where Chocola aged herself up and kept calling Pierre a kid was SOOO weird and this is ... a problem traced to age as well. Then there’s this guy she took the heart of… A HIGH SCHOOLER. FELL IN LOVE WITH CHOCOLA AND WAS SO ANNOYING it was uncomfortable to watch. Pierre is 14 at least he’s not a high schooler I could justify him somehow (a 3 years gap, still a difference in realistic maturity though) that high schooler was not justifiable in any kind of way… Anyways… That’s the only problems with the show I guess.. at least for me

Pros:
Many things are good in this anime you wouldn’t find in another. Let’s start off with the first thing that made me like it: the relationship between the girls. Chocola and Vanilla had a VERY healthy dynamic about rivalry. Maybe even the best representation of rivalry between friends. These two are competing to become the queen. They’re the only candidates, and they are best friends. I love how they always support and help each other. They use words of encouragement and the other’s progress to work even harder. The fact that Vanilla became corrupted later didn’t poison this fact. It was realistic and good honestly. You don’t see the shy cute girl turning evil and become manipulative by her own will. Even as “enemies”, Chocola and Vanilla still challenged each other and rivaled in a good way. I also find it the best thing ever that Vanilla was the “winner” because yup she was so much better than Chocola at collecting hearts but every heart Chocola collected was nice and meaningful. That’s their appeal.
The second thing I liked… The thing that was made for ME. This anime was so insane for making Pierre both the villain and the love interest. They knew how to lure me in! He wasn’t a bland villain like he was ACTUALLY GOOD AT IT. He manipulated and tortured etc HE WAS BAD! And even Chocola realizes it. She still loves him though. That I liked more! Ofc at some point she hated him but when she fell in love with him she just continued and didn’t stop. However that didn’t make her easy to manipulate after the first time. Even before she found out about his true identity she wasn’t an easy prey. She always refused him and turned him down. She was honest and strong for that. After falling in love with him she knew he was a liar and tried her best to stay away from him until he gave up on her. I LIKED MORE THE FACT THEY STILL ENDED UP HAPPILY TOGETHER LMAO it was realistic and nice. Both were awful to each other in many ways but loved dearly at the end. It’s also hinted that they’ve been crushing on one another since childhood which I found adorable tbh… Pierre was a real villain he stayed a villain up until the very last episode. That’s a true villainous love interest right there.
More I liked about this anime was the drawing style and fashion. It’s so unique and pleasing to the eye… I like how the hair has different line art than the rest (idk if I explained it well, sorry English isn’t my first language) the eyes being big didn’t bother me so much maybe because I’ve seen worse… also the world building in the magical land is so fun and cute. Also the way they talk about “racism” and admit both sides of that conflict are wrong for many things but it was the *supposedly good side* that made them like this first. I loved how it ended on a good note like they are united but not so much. I’m pretty sure there’s more good stuff about it but I don’t remember them now.

In summary this anime is very very good if you just ignore the bad stuff like I did… Which are just the ages honestly. But if you don’t like enemies to lovers (one of them being THE VILLAIN HIMSELF) this anime isn’t for you. ETL is my absolute favorite romance trope (x100 when one of them is THE villain) so I ate it up. I understand why many would be uncomfortable and hate it but for me? Nope, I adore it. I think it’s from my love for the villains since I always tend to love them whether they’re a romantic interest or not. Idc how problematic they’re I still like them, and when there’s the main character as a romantic partner things are more interesting. The complexity of emotions, the thin line between hate and love, someone loving you despite all your flaws etc…
I’d only recommend this to someone who likes antagoinst x protagoinst. Otherwise go home because this will seriously piss you off. OH also if you can’t ignore the ages then yeah go home too this is for your own good…

Summary: I watched it and hated it, but I suppose that being a 26-year-old introverted girl who has seen a lot of much better anime has a lot to do with my profound lack of enjoyment of Sugar Sugar Rune. I wish I could say I would recommend it to at least 8 to 12-year-old girls but honestly I can’t say I would: this will be a negative review. Anyone who’s interested in the show’s positive points, please look elsewhere.

So, Sugar Sugar Rune. I somehow missed the Sailor Moon craze when I was still a small kid so I actually don’t have a lot of ... background in mahou shoujo, which I attempted to remedy by picking up this show. The reviews were pretty good, promising a surprisingly nuanced, slightly dark twist upon the genre so often accused of being rife with overblown drama, too much saccharine and self-righteousness. I was instantly attracted by the series’ premise: two young witches who are childhood friends vying to become the next heiress to the Magical Kingdom’s throne. Both have their own sets of strengths and weaknesses, ultimately challenging and completing each other in the new and unfamiliar Human World. Will their friendship endure under the pressure to compete, especially when a mysterious bishounen is thrown into play?

The biggest disappointment for me will have to be the wasted character potential, translating into wasted plot potential. Ostensibly we have two main characters who balance each other out, and around whose interactions, trials and tribulations I expected the show to be built. First, we have Chocolat Meilleure, an extraverted, bright, spirited, feisty young girl. She is strong and fearless, and while she may be a bit stubborn, brash and strong-headed, she always means well and she’s not afraid to admit her mistakes. She is very open and spontaneous which helps her to make friends, and to those friends that she makes she is fiercely loyal. Her temper and foul mouth are considered to be good qualities in the witch society and a lot of show’s plot revolves around how that clashes with what’s considered good behavior among normal humans.

Her opponent-cum-best friend is Vanilla Mieux, a lovely, nurturing, gentle and kind girl. She’s introverted, shy, and scares easily, but she makes up for it by being very studious, hard-working and smart, and while her timid demeanor made her unpopular back in Magical World, she has the chance to blossom now that she’s in the Human Realm. Thus, the show had an excellent chance to show how two very different people can walk towards the same goal each in their own way, relying each on their own strengths of character, and still be friends, working together despite all that divides them. “Being friends with someone who isn’t like you isn’t only possible, it’s exciting and opens a lot of possibilities and manners of thinking before you if you’re open-minded and want to make it work”. “If you believe in yourself, work-hard and embrace what makes you unique, you can achieve anything you want”. I thought Sugar Sugar Rune would be about this, or at least something in a similar vein. Welp, forgive me for having high expectations.

The penultimate quest that drives the plot of this 51-episode series, the mystery of who’s going to ascend the Magical World’s throne proves to be solved in the very first episode. Just by watching the opening and looking at the mid-episode commercial break screens can you accurately say who’s going to be the next queen by the end of the show, roll credits, everybody can go home now. From the very beginning of the show it’s just “Chocolat!” over and over again. My question is: why bother with the pretense of having two main characters, if you’re not going to give the other one equal attention, screentime or development, or any meaningful role at all? Right off the bat you see Vanilla fulfilling just three functions, and those three won’t change at all during the course of the series: a) damsel in distress, b) Chocolat’s caretaker and cheerleader, c) a background off of which Chocolat’s character is constructed and supposed to shine that much brighter. That is to say, the show’s true heroine is Chocolate, and to rub it in we have Vanilla. They are supposed to be these childhood friends with an indestructible bond who complete each other and balance out each other’s flaws but all I have seen is codependence and Chocolat mooching off Vanilla’s goodwill and support.

I won’t lie: I have major issues with the brattish character of Chocolat, how they pit her against the gentle Vanilla and every step of the way tell us “Vanilla is okay, but Chocolate is the real star”. They aren’t subtle about it in the least, even their surnames speak volumes: while Vanilla’s means “better” in French, Chocolat’s of course, is the superlative “best”. It seems a bit like a misguided attempt at feminism in the deeply patriarchal Japanese society – choosing a strong and confident girl as the main character above the meek and domestic one is certainly far from traditional and I would applaud it if not for the fact that Chocolat doesn’t have much going for her besides being the not-your-run-of-the-mill magical girl character. She’s brave and strong, okay, I get that and I admire that, but she’s also ridiculously stupid, clueless, annoyingly rude and if not for the help of her friends she would’ve been dead or disqualified ten times over. She’s the focus of the story from day one, and while you would initially sympathize with her because she unwittingly antagonizes everyone in the Human World with her brashness, isn’t good with studies and has no parents or backing in contrast to the well-mannered and well-read Vanilla whose mother is the reigning queen and who enjoyed the life as a princess up until now, you quickly come to realize that Chocolat’s the over-privileged one here. Girls idolize her, boys adore her for being a great pal and occasionally swoon over her tsundere-ness, she has a loving family of aunt, uncle and grandfather, she is super-popular in the Magical World, she has two loyal knights who have been in love with her since back when they were kids (who worship the ground she walks upon and whom she strings along just like that), the mysterious bishounen is head over heels for her and everyone, including Vanilla’s mom queen Candy never shut up about how her courage and strength are exactly what they need in a future queen. Not to mention it turns out that she has some kind of super-special power to purify evil and her supposedly deceased mom is actually very much alive.

Vanilla, for her part, has been shunned for her meekness in the Magical World for as long as she remembers, never had any friends besides Chocolat, and while the Human Realm seems to be the place where she can finally be herself and be appreciated for that, it turns out that all the girls hate her guts, and while she seems to do well among the boys, no recurring character of any importance seems to care about her. She has two boys who are shown to be smitten with her, but they are so unimportant we never even get to know their names. She finally seems to get a chance towards more agency and character development near the end of the series with the short-lived Ogre Princess arc, where she decides to quit being on the sidelines and take Chocolat on, embracing her dark side, but even there she’s relegated to being mysterious bishounen Pierre’s second choice and the victim of his machinations. No one seems too worried about her when she crosses over to the dark side, no one makes any persistent attempts to get her to change her mind besides Chocolat. If anything, all the other characters either tell Chocolat she needs to focus on the becoming the queen instead of trying to get Vanilla back, or they want to help Chocolat, but just because they can’t bear to watch her being sad, not because they actually give a damn about Vanilla. She ends up being “rescued” by Chocolat from being the Ogre Princess which is very ironic because it was something that she chose for herself, for the first time in the series. The power of friendship prevails, so to speak, which again would be great if they actually showed us why or how the two girls became friends in the first place and what makes them so irreplaceable to each other, but all we get is “they are and have always been BFFs, just because”. Oh-kay.

Sugar Sugar Rune is profoundly underwhelming because it flirts with so many interesting themes and then dumps them. The Ogres are the apparent main antagonists, but wait… They aren’t actually that bad, they’re just misunderstood and wrongly oppressed so they have no choice but to fight back? Nah, well, it’s all true but they’re still evil, because damn, we need someone to be a baddie! The witches have hearts, the very essences of their being that they must under no circumstances give away lest they die on the spot? Oh, it turns out that the Ogres can implant black hearts of envy and hate into the witches which let them harness the humans’ negative emotions too, which they normally can’t do AND they get an extra spare heart! Cool, right? Well, turns out it isn’t because the black heart will fight with the witch’s original heart and cause her a great deal of pain. So, the black hearts that represent the negative emotions are supposed to hurt witches, but unless someone sticks the actual thing into their breasts, they can feel sadness, anxiety, jealousy et cetera just fine without any complications or pain. And can I just say one thing about the series’ main love story? When was it exactly that our brazen heroine started falling for the gallant Pierre? Well, kids, it all happened that day when *drum roll* he ate soup with carrots to impress her, and he HATES carrots. Is that super romantic or what?

With ridiculous, filler-laden plot, two-dimensional characters, lackluster animation and entirely forgettable music, Sugar Sugar Rune is just meh. It might have an interesting premise and a pleasing aesthetic, but with its only message being “you gotta be strong and brave, because if you are nothing else really matters and everyone will suddenly start loving you” it just doesn’t do it for me, as I don’t think it will for anyone with half a brain. It’s just frustrating to watch.