Rental Magica

President's Orders!

Itsuki Iba is the son of the founder of Astral, a company hiring out magicians to those who need their help, and took over as president after his father disappeared. The problem is that he's weak-willed and weak in magic... except for the Glam Sight in his right eye, which turns Itsuki into a capable commander, but at its own price.

Based on a light novel series (24 volumes as of 2017) by Makoto Sanda, adapted into an Anime by Zexcs.

Tropes used in Rental Magica include:
  • The Ace - Deconstruction. Older mages rarely interact with the cast, and almost never appear for long. The exclusion is Association's investigator Kagezaki, who is apparently powerful and knows a lot, but just stands nearby with a confident smile and interferes as little as he can, even in dire cases. He's also a royal pain in Astral's collective butt as their minder, and, while he never pushes them too far, seems to enjoy using Jerkass Facade and constantly keeping them on their guard.
  • Anachronic Order - The stories were filmed out of order for some reason, and in one case a story was interrupted by other stories (although this did get all of the major characters into the first broadcast episode). The Right Stuf box sets offer the option to watch the episodes in broadcast order or chronological order.
  • Aura Vision - seeing the full structure of the target's magic and where it will hurt the most, plus all the concerns and little fears.
  • Bait and Switch Lesbians - Addie and Honami have a wedding. For magical purposes.
  • Battle Aura - Each character has displayed one, comedic or otherwise.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For - Fin Cruda tried to be helpful, but only proved he's less safe to be around than most demons.
  • Beach Episode - The rare plot-related version. While the entire staff of Astral goes to the beach for Fan Service (or, in the case of Nekoyashiki, in-universe Fan Disservice), Itsuki and Kuroha - the two weakest members of the company - end up needing to figure out how to resolve a situation on their own.
  • Big Damn Heroes - Adelicia is fond of pulling these off, most notably in episode 20.
  • Bilingual Bonus - In the Whole-Episode Flashback of Adelicia's and Honami's past, there's a gravestone with clearly legible text written on it in English. Problem is, the text is written with Norse runes. If you can read them, you'll find a few rows of Bible verses, specifically Psalms 22:15-16 and 81:1-4.
  • Blade Run - In episode 18, Sekiren lands on Daphne's foot and tells her to calm down when she tries to kick him.
  • Blessed with Suck: Itsuki's Evil Eye is very useful, to the point of winning almost any battle he uses it in. It also gives him a lot of pain when there's a lot of magical energy nearby, and it can make him insane.
  • Captain Ersatz - Honami highly resembles a meganekko version of Hayate Yagami of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, up to sharing the same voice actor and accent (and, in the Hot Springs Episode, level of magical firepower; You Can See the Explosion from Orbit).
  • Catch Phrase / Theme Music Power-Up: When Itsuki takes off his eye patch and says, "President's Orders!" it's accompanied by music. Asskicking usually follows.
    • In the last episode, this practice is subverted with suitably fading music, where he didn't take off his eye patch and just wanted them to listen to him.
  • Censor Steam - during the Hot Springs Episode
  • The Chains of Commanding - Itsuki knows he's way over his head and is pretty much constantly in panic on the early stage of his "career". In manga, he repeatedly tried to refuse becoming "the president", but the rest of Astral team do their best to trick, plead and guilt him into accepting it, and then into staying.
  • Chick Magnet - Itsuki quickly charms anything that moves without even trying. When it was extended to a homunculus, Nekoyashiki began to muse aloud why this happens.
  • Christmas Episode / Christmas Ghost Story - Christmas Eve, technically, but close enough.
  • Cute Ghost Girl - Kuroha.
  • Cute Monster Girl - The homunculus Lapis.
  • Death Dealer - The 'cards' Nekoyashiki spreads are inscribed Paper Talismans, but he uses them with the same flair and paper blade style.
  • Evil Eye - Itsuki's Glam Sight
  • Eyepatch of Power - keeps Itsuki's Glam Sight under control ... sometimes for a generous definition of "control".
  • Eyes Always Shut - Nekoyashiki rarely open his eyes, adding to his somewhat mysterious persona.
  • The Fair Folk - Off-screen, but apparently quite powerful: Fin Cruda was a human swapped for a changeling. There were consequences.
  • Family Business - The main plot driver.
  • Fan Service - Mainly in the Beach Episode, but also some heavy teasing between Adilicia and Honami.
  • Flash Back - There are two scenes that are shown repeatedly. One is when Itsuki and Honami were kids, and the other is where Sekiren told Itsuki to "work with the eye."
  • The Four Gods - Nekoyashiki names his four spirit cat companions after them.
  • Glowing Eyes of Doom - Well, one eye: Itsuki's Evil Eye.
  • Gone Horribly Right - Some mages have desperate efforts Gone Horribly Wrong, but others break the taboo with complete success. Because some people want to turn into things like Soul Eater. (no relation)
  • Gone Horribly Wrong - Attempts to apply magical power for either taking a more direct control over magic, or resurrection, or achieving immortality turns mages into bubbling High Octane Nightmare Fuel. There was no doubt left why exactly such things are taboo.
  • Grade School CEO - Itsuki and Adelicia aren't babies but still are too young when they were put in charge. Justified, as in anime, the Association had to either gamble with 'heirs by blood' or with more experienced possible heirs being too irresponsible or unavailable.
    • They had a reason to suspect a taboo violation in Goetia, but no idea which survivors were involved, then Daphne declined the office, further limiting the possibilities.
    • Astral could be led by Judaix Tholoide, who can just leave Astral on their own for years, then hire them, then suddenly attack -- not personally, but through a little girl -- then claim it's his heirloom. With such alternatives, even a magically inept youngster suddenly becomes the more sane choice.
    • In manga, when Itsuki tries to squirm out of the position, Nekoyashiki quotes a rule: "Priority for the founder's leadership must be given to blood relatives", and then avoids getting into details.
  • Heroic Bastard - Daphne's parents were not married to each other.
  • Hot Springs Episode - complete with Censor Steam, even in the North American DVD release.
  • Hyperspace Arsenal - Sekiren, for no adequately-explained reason.
  • I'm Having Soul Pains - Itsuki has a good reason to abhor any magical pollution and sort out such cases as quickly as possible.
  • Instant Runes - Played with. Sometimes Addie needs to draw a circle, sometimes she doesn't.
  • Invisible to Normals - Kuroha, as a ghost. Also the effects of magical pollution -- at least if they're not too strong.
  • Kansai Regional Accent - Honami
  • Kid with the Leash - Addie with her demons.
  • Kindhearted Cat Lover - Nekoyashiki, though this does not prevent him from bargaining like a devil -- with the same kind smile -- and his kittens are powerful guardian spirits.
  • Large Ham - Sekiren
  • Ley Line - Not only pathways for the power, but some magical beings can pipe in too. The strongest rituals tend to be performed in nodes.
  • Limited Wardrobe - Pretty much everyone has one or possibly two changes of clothes, the notable exception being Kuroha.
  • Lover Tug of War - Honami and Addie both want Itsuki, and this trope happens at the end of the Christmas Episode.
  • Love Triangle - Honami, Adelicia, and occasionally Kuroha, all gunning for Itsuki.
  • Lower Deck Episode - Episode 18, Daphne ("Lady Grey") and Sekiren.
  • Magic Knight - Sekiren is a Warrior Monk capable of pretty devastating magical attacks in addition to ass-kicking.
  • Marshmallow Hell - Itsuki's face literally goes into Kuroha's incorporeal boobs at one point.
  • Meido - Kuroha wears a maid outfit in episode 16 where Itsuki is training in the mountains. Nobody knows why. But then, she's a ghost who likes to make tea...
    • She mentions that she does dress up because it's easy (being a ghost and all) and she enjoys it. Basically, she likes to cosplay.
  • Miko - Mikan
  • Mismatched Eyes - Before the incident that made Itsuki's right eye look demonic, it was still red.
  • Named After Somebody Famous - Adelicia Lenn Mathers and her father Oswald Lenn Mathers are named after Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, one of the three founders of the Real Life Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
  • Noblewoman's Laugh - Adelicia.
  • Nosebleed - Itsuki is surrounded by very attractive young women; this is to be expected.
  • Ojou - Adelicia
  • Older Than They Look - Moroha, who was in a magically-induced state of suspended animation for years.
  • Orphan's Ordeal - Itsuki has to deal with the whole business because his father disappeared. Adelicia is more capable in her role, but she also must hide the circumstances of her father's demise as shameful for her family and Goetia.
  • Our Dragons Are Different - A living magical pattern superimposed on elements.
  • Our Ghosts Are Different - Kuroha quietly walks all the way from a lost soul haunting the hospital to rather powerful guardian spirit. A bunch of ghost children just can't accept their accidental death and are released once they got the celebration they wanted.
  • Our Homunculi Are Different - Evidently, some are cute. Looks like humans, but magic-wise very different and their blood isn't red. One of them can also exist outside of a test-tube.
  • Our Mermaids Are Different - The usual Japanese-folklore style, of being flesh-eaters.
  • Paper Talisman - Nekoyashiki being a practitioner of Onmyodo, it's not surprising. Tossing them around, though...
  • Phenotype Stereotype - Adelicia Lenn Mathers, blond and green-eyed. Honami Takase Ambler, part-Japanese, brown-haired and blue-eyed.
  • Post Episode Trailer - Various characters, mostly Honami, give Itsuki a lesson in some concept featured in the current or next episode. The slides are not translated in the North American DVD release.
  • Powers That Be - The Association for mages -- even for more independent Addie -- is a pain in the backside, and bureaucratic one at that.
  • Princess Curls - Adelicia, fitting her Ojou persona.
  • Red Eyes, Take Warning - Itsuki's right eye is entirely red.
  • Red Sky, Take Warning - Itsuki's Glam Sight, magical pollution, and Magi Nights -- events (usually at night) where a various magical phenomena occur -- turn the sky red.
  • Robe and Wizard Hat - Honami's business outfit, over her school uniform.
  • Scary Shiny Glasses - Honami does this now and again.
  • Spell My Name with an "S" - Fansubbers' mondegreens gave Adelicia "Adilisia" and "Adilicia", and gave Judaix "Eudaiches" and "Judaicus". ("Adelicia" and "Judaix" are used in the DVD release's subtitles and on Wikipedia. Also, the declaration of the fehde between Judaix and Astral is shown on-screen to be written in Greek, so any pseudo-Latin spelling of his name is clearly incorrect.)
  • Spoiler Opening - The opening shows Sekiren and Fin, who don't appear until episodes 16 and 22, respectively. Furthermore, they show Fin in a clearly antagonistic way, even though he's introduced in the show as a seemingly good guy.
  • Token Mini-Moe - Mikan
  • Took a Level in Badass:
    • Kuroha took a level in poltergeist. Bonus points for a ghost assaulting a Necromancer with tombstones.
    • Itsuki, when he learns martial arts and becomes able to fight directly without relying on his Glam Slight.
  • True Companions - Astral, plus Adelicia. Lampshaded by Itsuki at the end of episode 20.
  • Tsundere - Honami and Addie
  • Undying Loyalty - Daphne. She's the older half-sister of Adelicia and had the same blonde hair and green eyes; since the similarity was too obvious, she had to sacrifice her colouring so not everyone asks obvious questions. She protect Addie as much as she can and refused to take over Goetia as a more experienced mage. No wonder the guy who is romantically interested in her is the rugged bushi-style warrior Sekiren.
  • Un-Equal Rites - A dazzling array. It seems that magical traditions used by more than two people who get on screen at all are a minority -- and the series has lots of magic users. Though the existence of a Wizarding School illustrates that there are must-have basics.
    • Alchemy - Senior Iba and Judaix Tholoide.
    • Hermetic Magic - Celtic version (Honami) and Solomon's tradition (Addie and the rest of Goetia).
    • Necromancer - One guy was quite willing to kill a whole village just to quickly get a little zombie army.
    • Onmyodo - Nekoyashiki's magic style.
    • Religion Is Magic - Mainly applies to Mikan's Shinto magic, which is based on actual Shinto rites and chants. Honami also applies somewhat through her chants calling on Celtic deities. And Addie summons demons; Ashmedai/Asmoday/Asmodeus is mentioned in the Deuterocanonical Biblical Book of Tobit.
    • Ritual Magic - Names and forces are invoked all the time, but usually most powerful and complex magical operations are done the long way. Though such procedures don't make personal power of the caster(s) and external boost by artefacts and Ley Lines any less important.
    • Summon Magic - There's some evidence that Solomon's school of magic is more than this, but commanding demons is a signature and status thing, so Addie is a dedicated summoner to the exclusion of everything else and tries the same solution for every problem: "summon demon, summon demon, summon demon, summon angel, summon demon".
    • Supernatural Martial Arts - Whatever it is that Sekiren does.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds - Addie and Honami has a thick mix of respect and rivalry which constantly drifts between this and The Only One Allowed to Defeat You.
  • What Measure Is a Non-Human? - Itsuki has a demonstratively very lax idea of what is 'human' -- even for mages -- and consistently applies it, be it Cute Ghost Girl or Monster of the Week; he doesn't see even a dragon as something too different. He's charming enough to make it work more often than not, though it isn't terribly helpful when the creature is remotely controlled or inherently inimical (such as in episode 16).
  • Widow Witch - Technically, Diana is not a widow, but she wears a widow's outfit (after giving a too-powerful artifact to the wrong person) and is a head of magical supplying company Trismegistus. Neither precludes her from having a sense of humor.
  • With Great Power Comes Great Insanity - Every time Itsuki uses his Glam Sight, he is consumed a bit more by it.
  • Wizarding School - Honami and Addie used to attend one.
  • You Can See the Explosion from Orbit - Played for Laughs in the Hot Springs Episode. (There's a chance this might be an Actor Allusion: the two characters involved were played by Mikako Takahashi and Kana Ueda, who a few years earlier had played Chrono and Hayate (respectively) in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's.)
  • Zigzag Paper Tassel - Mikan is holding an ōnusa in the above picture.
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