Machikado thoughts

I think there are several things that Machikado does really well that makes it worthy of nomination for me personally. First of let me note, is the base plot of Machikado nom worthy? No of course not. But a script takes in so much more than a plot, so even if the plot is really simple, the choices that the script makes and the interesting ascepts of the script are more than good enough to overcome that.

One part that I really like about the show is how well it was able to blend the different elements of what it's trying to do. Part of the humor comes with Shamiko basically getting pick on, whether it be by her own clumsiness, or whether it be by others. Which can be quite fun. The issue here is that in a CGDCT, a level of wholesomeness is ideal so that it can feel like the characters are still friends and so a general happy feeling can continue to go through the show. The best way to explain this would be to compare the show to another show that tries to do a similar thing but in my opinion fails. In Gabriel DropOut, there is a demon named Satania that fills the same sort of role that Shamiko does. Clumsy, not very smart, and usually ends up getting bullied by others/circumstance. And in both roles there is an enemy/foil that continues this pattern. But in GabDrop the main role is taken up by a sadist named Rapheal. She is not nice and basically just toys with Satania just for her own amusement. And while it can be fun to see her fail after a while it gets less fun and more sad when she continually get dunked on, and never has anything go right for her. Furthermore it makes Raphi seem quite dislikable as she's pretty much tormenting this girl for no good reason over and over again. To contrast the sadist in this role is Momo. What I think Machikado was able to do so well is have this role and type of humor while also keeping the whole heartwarming and friendly. Momo certainly has her fun with Shamiko but also does her best to make sure that Shamiko is protected and that she is not injured by any of the things she does. A good example of this is when Momo lends her the laptop. While she builds up Shamiko's worry about how vunerable the laptop is and basically sets up her clusminess, she also makes sure to protect that laptop so that Shamiko doesn't actually break or damage it. She tries to have fun with Shamiko without there being actual consquences. And those lack of consquences and Momo's foresight allow them to be fun without having to feel too bad for Shamiko. After all things are getting better for her, despite these pranks.

I also really like the characters in Machikado and do think they are well written, both in interactions and in characterization. I really like how Momo is written, and I think there is a lot of interesting things about her. I think there is a lot more to her than meets the eye and there is a good amount to gleam from her. Momo plays the role of a magical girl but I think there are some very notable and interesting things in her role and the way she acts. First on a level of tropes I think she does a good job of defying the tropes in an interesting way. Pink haired magical girls are the most common and often it feels like they'll either be pure bashions of hope, or as a twist, heartless and mean, basically the opposite of what you'd expect. And because Shamiko is the pure bashion of hope, that would lead one to believe that Momo would be typecast into the mean role espeically considering it's a comedy. But she isn't. Rather she is a kuudere type character with an enjoyment of light pranks, while also being dedicated to a fault to her job of protecting the town and the citizens in the town. She is well-balanced in her traits, and is allowed to play the foil and the straight-man to the pure heart while also still being good and fitting into her role as a magical girl. Machikado does a great job of having her be a unique magical girl one that feels well different from what one would expect the main magical girl of a show to be.

Furthermore I think there is even more interest in Momo's magical girl role and how it relates to her as a character and her depth. I would argue there is a lot of evidence in the work to point to the fact that Momo is pretty drained if not in a worse state of mind. Considering her general lack of emoting, her attire, and some of her general habits. There are some notable parts of her habits that point towards this, some important ones were found in episode 6 like in the dream where she is crying about her failures in protecting the town and is being eaten up by the muck. And while it is possible that this is just a dream brought on by the bad food, it's most possible and likely that it's also related to her worries and desires to keep the town and Shamiko safe. It's clear that she cares about it. If you look at her food it all looks relatively simple to make and lacking in effort or choices. In fact the only thing vibrant that she has is the steak for Shamiko and the sausages that she bought because Shamiko was selling them. With a house to herself and relative freedom she seems to be making choices more in line with laziness and disinterest. This makes an interesting parallel between Shamiko and Momo where the former wants all of these fancy foods and desires them but lacks the means to have them, while the latter could easily have them but doesn't bother to do so most of the time. Furthermore before Momo hangs out with Shamiko and her friends she seems to have distanced herself quite a bit from others. Mikan makes some comments about this I'm pretty sure, about how distant Momo is and how she doesn't really let other magical girls work with her. There is something up with Momo, and I think it's interesting to see the pieces of that as they are placed together. I also think it works great for the type of show it is. One that can not only express the wear and tear of protecting a town for multiple years and going through all of that strife but being able to heal it by friendship and the power of a stupid naive pure demon-girl who is so fun to hang around with.

This really wasn't the best writeup I could do, especially since I stopped in the middle due to personal issues but I did want to post this and so I hope it helps. Feel free to ask me any questions you have.