Daybreak Illusion
For some reason I was disproportionately obsessed with this anime when I was 12/13, and I remember being extremely sick over Winter to the point of constantly passing out and having hallucinations, and watching this show kept me going. So I guess it's done some good in the world. Otherwise Daybreak Illusion is a fabulous concept with a badly-written, pedophilic execution, the kind you can only overlook when you're the same age as the characters and vomiting chicken soup into a mixing bowl. I love the art style, I love the tarot theme, I love what they do with the magical girls, and if you took out the especially tryhard edge and the underage nipples Daybreak Illusion could have easily been a good and possibly family-friendly magical girl show. I truly think it would have been better that way. Let's take a look at the better part of this bizarre show--the magical girl designs--and politely ignore the triplets because I have nothing to say about them. They're fine, I guess.
Akari is the typical saintly cheerful girl with a sad past (her mother died) and I find her deeply uninteresting, which is a pity because her design is sweet. The little sunny bob, the striped socks and the tie with the pin are all really cute personal details on an otherwise generic but nice school uniform, and when she's transformed they play with her having a real alter ego, more serious, confident, and willing to fight. She's even got that emo bang, which flares like fire in battle. I wish this alter ego thing had carried over to the rest of the girls, because transformation bringing a personality shift is one of my favourite magical girl tropes yet you almost never see it. I really enjoy this show's bobbleheaded moe art style, and it's such a shame it gets uncomfortably blended with attempts to be "sexy". In other gross magical girl shows, they tend to make the teens look like adults...still deeply wrong, but it feels even worse in this show where the little girls look like little girls. On that note...
Oh, Luna, you really deserved better. I don't want to talk about her wolf form (conceptually interesting, but unfortunately disgusting) or the obvious reason they gave her a larger chest, but otherwise it's a darling design, probably my fave in this show. Making the Moon card girl a sort of werewolf magical girl is adorable and I wish they'd done more with that. Luna can also summon plants, which is a fresh interpretation of moon powers and I like that. Her frilly long dress just works so so well, though a little more so in her magical form. I especially love the beret and the long, choppy, almost grasslike hair. She's the elegant, timid rich girl with an obsessive crush on Akari and you do get a lot of that just by looking at her--there's a slight darkness to that stare, or maybe that's just the art style lol. Luna please let me scoop you out of this weird pervy show and put you in a Precure season or something.
Seira is the serious, smart and athletic girl who butts heads with Akari early on. She's been a magical girl a little longer and is already close friends with Ginka at the show's start, which makes for a cute little Pinky and the Brain dynamic. Seira is a bit generic, but I see what they were going for...designwise she's really neat looking. The bright violet hair and star accessories seem like they'd be more at home on a happier, fashionista sort of character; it makes for a contrast I appreciate. I like her magical form--she's the Star girl, with ice powers, and that's another fascinating twist. She uses a bow and arrow, also made of ice. Makes sense for her, I guess. The ice crystals on her hands and in the new hair is lovely, though I could do without that third ponytail. It just looks silly.
Ginka, arguably the best character of the main four because she actually has some complexity, is cheerful and outgoing with a love of takoyaki. Her dad (a sweetheart) is rich from inventing takoyaki makers, but throughout a lot of Ginka's childhood they were very poor. This translates to her Temperance card form allowing her to summon piles of coins as a weapon, which is cute, if slightly confusing. She also has a big shield. I love how noodley her civilian design is, though my favourite part is probably the hair. It's just a fun simple style. I'm less sure about her transformed hairstyle...it's not bad, but I'm sure they could have done something more interesting with it. The Nintendo Switch halo and wings are cool in concept, but I think the block colours make them look kind of lame.
Etia is the World card and the soft-spoken, Princess Celestia esque headmaster of their magical girl school IIRC. She doesn't do much, which is a shame with such a gorgeous design.
Etia's coworker/possible girlfriend I guess?? They never go into their relationship but you've got to like each other to wear matching inverted outfits. The boobs look ridiculosly disproportionate in an art style that only allows for one body type on a height slider, but otherwise she looks just as good as Etia.
She's the knife-throwing jester girl with the Fool card and she's one of the magical schoolteachers, which is kind of funny with only four students. She's a veteran magical girl of sorts, presumably an adult, and is in a duo with Meltina. I think her civilian outfit is goofy but it oddly works when she's transformed. The huge hair pushes it safely into an acceptably campy territory I enjoy.
The Magician (can you tell?) and another one of the teachers. She has bombs and a broomstick. I like this concept of taking a fairly generic base witch costume, then adding all the little abacus charms and the big eye on the hat. She has more design changes between forms than most and I love the result. The dress turning into a jumpsuit is adorable. I really like her, even if she basically does nothing.