Matoi the Sacred Slayer was better than I had expected from a moe anime. The highlights of the show are definitely the art and humor, but the story is not bad either.

Matoi was quite stereotypical in her characterization with her driving motivation being her wish to live a normal life. She is however very mature for her age, and is understanding toward’s Shingo attempts to be a fatherly figure. She doesn’t blame him or her mother (by the time they start talking about her at least) despite their absences. She’s even very capable, working a part time job and doing all the chores at her age. She also has a gap moe trait of being true to her desires which makes her easy to manipulate by Yuma.

Yuma-chin is a loveable character who injects lots of energy into every scene and also drives the plot forwards. She also has 4th wall breaking powers which she uses just the right amount for comedy. The relationship between her and Matoi was also very endearing with Yuma always thinking of Matoi and looking out for her, as well as knowing Matoi well enough to preempt her. Her having two gods and being able to switch between them was quite cool.

Clarus was a pretty standard mission driven individual with no emotions save for her desire for revenge. I did however like her character development towards the end. Despite the target of her revenge being right in front of her, she realized her true desire was one to protect her friends and used her power for just that. Her black outfit was cool, especially with her final attack in which it would transform and glow red, but her white outfit suited her change in mental state and also fit her better.

I liked how the show’s focus was on Shingo and Matoi’s relationship with both caring for the other and not wanting the other to get hurt or to worry the other. The growth in their relationship that allowed them to trust each other and not put themselves into unnecessary danger while also protecting the other was great. What I didn’t like towards the end is how Matoi didn’t share that she was going to do something really dangerous in spite of knowing the truth behind her mothers disappearance and the progress in their relationship. When Matoi said she had something she needed to do, I thought it was to let Shingo know of her decision. Yet she hid he intentions till the end. I suppose it all did happen really fast and neither really knew how to approach the topic so its believable in that sense.

Shingo was a great character. He was a competent detective and strong in a fight, yet clumsy around his daughter but did his best as her father to provide for her and keep her safe. I liked how despite the comedic tone of the show he was competent enough to realize that Matoi was the exorcism girl, with the explanation as to why he didn’t realize it earlier be because he didn’t want to accept it. I think the scene he realized it but couldn’t accept it was probably when she stopped him on the bridge and knew just what to say. That would make sense to me because it gives the realization a very personal feel while also making logical sense because why else would she be so conveniently there while they were on vacation. He went above and beyond in his deductive work, concluding that Pochi was the mastermind behind all the attacks. The foreshadowing of why he was brought along on the trip despite not being invited paid off. The scene also showed how Shingo would do anything to protect Matoi, even confront a higher dimensional being who he knew he had no hope of fighting. It was a bit of a step backwards in their mutual trust however, given that detectives who discover the truth in most mediums usually die if they’re not the main character. Fortunately the god in Pochi was benign and Shingo was unharmed. It was also a good subversion of tropes to have the father be the weakest and need to be protected by his wife and daughter. His pain of being left behind by his wife as she protected her and potentially his daughter as she prepared to go was quite emotional. I think he handled letting Matoi go to bring back her mother quite well. From experience he knew he might never see her again, but he also had good reason to believe that the world would end if she didn’t go. Having no power to do anything about the situation and knowing that Matoi had already set her mind on trying, he just wished for her safety as he saw her off instead of trying to stop her. He then decided that he couldn’t just sit around and rely on his daughter and went out to serve the world she was protecting.

Overall though the plot was full of holes and having the protectors of the world be young teens was questionable given the dangers but I guess if Matoi was close to being an adult and missing her mother for 20 years it might have been a whole ‘nother story. I enjoyed watching it and the OVA was icing on top of the cake, it showed how entertaining the characters could be when the show which already did not take itself seriously gave up on all logic. Luicela and Cariot were funny doing stupid things with their serious personalities.