So Ive just finished watching Night Wizard 15 years after it aired and what a little treat it was I had never heard of this anime before so when I saw the artwork while browsing titles I immediately thought it would be a magic academystyle battle harem from the early 2010s. Upon closer investigation I noticed it was adapted from an RPG about a half decade earlier than I first assumed and this piqued my interest. I actually had some expectations going insince I have a soft spot for game adaptations from this era and Im pleased to say the anime mostly met these expectations. The main cast are heroes chosen to fight interdimensional battles against an evil presence: they are a shrine maiden an android girl and a swordwielding typical guy in high school. The story begins when the female lead Eris is introduced to this trio. She awakens a power in the first episode more specifically an affinity for a mysterious jewel with some sort of vague spiritual power. The crew is then tasked with collecting 7 jewels from across the earth space and other dimensions. Night Wizard has a quintessentially RPG feeling about it in other ways as well. Theres battle logic thats straight from a DS game stereotypical villains and the power of friendship but if youve already dug this deep into gameanime land then you probably want all that good stuff. The great news is that this anime does a fine job at executing that kind of atmosphere. The production gets a thumbs up. Tomoyuki Shitaya of Kiss X Sis fame left his mark all over this anime in a great way. The heroines are designed well from clothing to face and hair. You might find those comfortablelooking wide cheeks and soft chins familiar with Kiss X Sis or Toradora. The animation isnt perfect but budgeted well and is generally impressive at its weight class. I cant remember a time where a closeup was botched by poor modeling or anything of that nature and enough animation power was left in store for several convincing action scenes. Also the background colors in some instances were particularly interesting and helped communicate shifts in tone or setting. I never felt this anime running out of gas. The first half delivers the promise of great RPG fun and adventuring while the latter six episodes surprisingly step up the stakes and the drama. Things do go a bit fast and some characters or logic dont get fully detailed explanations but I am able to forgive most of this since 1 this pace remains consistent from start to finish and 2 this isnt the kind of anime that needs to rely on those things especially when it accomplishes the things it should do well. Night Wizard is well worth a watch if youre at all interested in this genre and era of anime. It looks good and appropriately balances a generally laid back feel with enough stakes to make the plot interesting for 13 episodes. I wont hesitate to call this the best RPG/RPGesque anime of its era and popularity level: totally besting its sibling series like Shining Tears Prism Ark and Izumo.