When a person is born, they bear a distinctive mark on their face that denotes that they have magical abilities. To maintain the magical integrity of the world, those without the mark are swiftly exterminated.
Mash Burnedead was born without a mark or magical ability, but he was taken in by one weak mage and raised away from society in the forest. While he lacks magical skills, Mash has honed his physical strength to superhuman levels by working out everyday.
When Mash was discovered in the forest and his peaceful life was upended, he decides to go to magic school to become a Divine Visionary, a person that the whole world recognizes for their supreme skills, in order to protect his family.
However, while being magic-less in a magic school seems like a pretty indomitable obstacle, Mash’s muscles are capable of feats that seem just like magic.
What if… Saitama from One Punch Man went to Hogwarts from Harry Potter? That’s Mashle and it’s not the best thing ever, but it is still actually pretty great. If you are looking for more anime recommendations like Mashle: Magic and Muscles, head on down below.
Anime Like Mashle: Magic and Muscles
For Fans of Magic Schools
Little Witch Academia
Although Atsuko is an ordinary girl, she became enamored by witches and magic by a magic show she saw as a kid hosted by a witch named Shiny Chariot.
Now, she has aspires to be a witch, taking the first step by joining a renowned academy for witches called Luna Nova Academy.
Although she faces hardship as a first generation witch and fan of Shiny Chariot, whom many consider a fraud, she and her two friends do their best each new day.
It used to be that when you wanted “Harry Potter, but anime,” Little Witch Academia was the pinnacle of that experience. However, Mashle, with its even more obvious parallels, has soundly dethroned it!
That said, Little Witch Academia is the “clearly Harry Potter influenced” magical school experience that Mashle is, but without the gag comedy. Both series focus on new students to a magic school who come from non-magical backgrounds. Both Mash and Akko have strong motivating reasons why they want to attend the academy, and they quickly make friends with a group of misfits while getting wrapped up in brewing trouble from other sources.
Reign of the Seven Spellbaldes
In the spring, Kimberly Magic Academy, a prestigious – and famously dangerous – magic school welcomed its incoming freshman. Among these new students is the mysterious Oliver Horn who hides his dark past and an even darker purpose for his enrollment.
When a troll runs wild at the opening ceremony, Oliver unites a group of new students, including a battle-hardened samurai and veteran of war named Nanao. After taking down the troll, Oliver quickly bonds with the six students and they are determined to hone their magic as well as survive the dangerous trials – and dangerous fellow mages – present in the school.
If you liked the, for lack of a better term, “Harry Potter-type magic school” in Mashle, but wouldn’t mind that setting having a more serious tone and less shounen action anime plot, then Reign of the Seven Spellbaldes may be for you.
Reign of the Seven Spellblades is distinctly different from Mashle in its tone, since it is a serious bordering on occasionally sinister story of revenge and intrigue. However, Mashle and Reign of the Seven Spellblades do take place in very similar magic schools that are filled with secrets and inter-mage discrimination. However, the main characters make a solid group of friends to survive it all.
For Fans of Powering Through Problems
One Punch Man
In order to pursue his childhood dream, the ordinary and unimpressive Saitama trained so hard that his hair fell out. However, his hard work paid off. Now it only takes one punch to defeat most villains in the city.
Unfortunately, beating opponents in one punch is actually pretty boring, but that all changes when a cyborg named Genos, wanting to be his disciple, suggests that they join the Hero Association together.
In the first episode of Mashle, I paused it to look up and see if it shared an author with the creator of One Punch Man and his other work Mob Psycho 100, because Mash feels exactly like the two main characters from those series were combined. It does not share an author, but the similarities still stand.
Both Mashle and One Punch Man are about main characters with a similarly limited range of emotions and basic loves who also both solve all their problems with over-the-top physical force. In both stories, this is very much used for gag comedy. However, they do evolve into the main characters using these abilities for serious action.
The biggest difference is that Mashle is a Harry Potter-inspired magic school anime and One Punch Man is a Western-style super hero anime.
Mob Psycho 100
Kageyama Shigeo, otherwise known as Mob, is a young psychic with a wide range of blossoming abilities. Despite having this incredible power, he just wants to become friends with Tsubomi, a girl in his class.
Due to negative reactions to his psychic abilities in the past, he now tries to keep them in check. In an effort to learn to better control his abilities, Mob becomes the apprentice to Reigen Arataka, who claims to be a psychic, but is actually a con artist that exploits Mob’s very real powers for money.
In the first episode of Mashle, I paused it to look up and see if it shared an author with the creator of Mob Psycho 100 and his other work One Punch Man, because Mash feels exactly like the two main characters from those series were combined. It does not share an author, but the similarities still stand.
Unlike One Punch Man where they are most similar in the fact that the main characters solve everything by overwhelming physical abilities, Mashle and Mob Psycho 100 are most similar in the way their main characters are presented. Both Mash and Mob have bowl-cut hair and similar aloof, yet cheerful personalities.
The biggest difference is that Mash is physically strong, but can’t use magic. Mob is physically weak, but has overwhelmingly powerful psychic abilities.
Helck
While humanity is celebrating the defeat of the Demon Lord at the hands of a lone human hero, the Demon Realm is preparing for the contest of a lifetime where they will decide the next Demon Lord.
Demons from around the realm show up to test their might, but among them marches one lone human – Helck.
Although Helck shows his indomitable might in the three months of tournament fights, he also shows his compassion to his opponents while proudly proclaiming his hatred for humans, winning over the crowd.
As Helck becomes the favorite to become the next Demon Lord, things don’t sit well with Red Vermilio, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Realm. She believes that Helck has other motives and decides to uncover what he is plotting. However, something sinister is building in the Human Kingdoms…
Both Mashle and Helck are a similar sort of “fish out of water” stories. Whereas Mash is a magic-less being in a school for mages, Helck is a human who is, initially, trying to become the Demon King of the demon realm that hates humans.
What Helck and Mashle share most is a main character of indomitable might that is still super silly. Helck is a great guy that everyone likes, but only uses his world-conquering might when he needs to. Mash is less of a great guy, but similarly only uses his might for good purposes.
Both Helck and Mashle start off comedic, both do both have actually pretty serious moments and intense fights. However, they never forget to inject comedy back in there and do so without ruining the tone of the moment.
Cautious Hero – The Hero is Strong By Overly Cautious
In the divine realm, Gods and Goddesses are assigned worlds in peril to summon heroes to guide on their quest to save those worlds.
The Goddess of Healing, Ristarte, is assigned a difficult S-class world and told to pick a hero to defeat the Demon King. While her choices are underwhelming, one low level hero with super stats catches her eye!
Seiya Ryuuguuin is indeed a powerful hero, but he also has the problematic quirk of being overly cautious. His desire to stay on the safe side, over-preparing and over-training for all encounters, is a source of frustration for all.
Both Mashle and Cautious Hero center around main characters who always tend to do things their own way, and that preferred way is through being overly powerful for the situation.
In Mashle, he lacks magic so he solves most things that require magic with magnificent physical abilities, often used for comedy. In Cautious Hero, the hero prefers to be overpowered for the situation, thus will full on run away and over-prepare until he is overpowered. Likewise, this is also used for comedy.
Both series like those one specific sort of gags, and lean on them often but in diverse enough situations that they never become too stale. That said, Cautious Hero does occasionally use more ecchi comedy, but not in a way that is overly gross or obnoxious like ecchi comedy sometimes can be.
For Fans of Gag Comedies
The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.
Saiki Kusou has a wide array of superpowers that include things like telepathy and telekinesis.
He is so overpowered that he could, in fact, conquer the world in just a few days, but Saiki just wants to live a normal life. He dislikes his superpowers and does his best to hide them so he can live peacefully.
It doesn’t go well.
Mashle and The Disastrous Life of Saiki K are comedies about abnormal individuals who often go about their lives in similar ways. Both Mash and Saiki just want to live normal lives, but often end up surrounded by strange induviduals. However, it is their own abnormal, overpowered abilities that are often used as the major foundation for comedy.
Mash is strong in a world full of people who depend on magic. Saiki is a wildly overpowered psychic, but doesn’t want to use his powers. Both are overpowered, but don’t necessarily want to be seen as such.
While Mashle loves its gag comedy, it does have serious moments of plot that it follows. The Disastrous Life of Saiki K, as a short-form anime with only 5-minute episodes, is only a gag comedy.
Haven’t You Heard, I’m Sakamoto
Sophisticated, suave, and handsome, Sakamoto is perfect in every way.
Unfortunately, his sheer perfection provokes everyone from his peers to his teachers to try to trip him up, but they just can’t manage it. However, they just might learn something about themselves along the way.
Did you enjoy how Mash is basically the perfect being in every scenario even without using magic to get the same results and does everything with that same stone-faced expression of indifference? Well, that is Haven’t You Heard, I’m Sakamoto.
Basically, both series are gag comedies about kids that are so good at everything that people find it upsetting. However, unlike Mashle that is about Mash solving things that should require magic with his physical abilities, Haven’t You heard, I’m Sakamoto is set in our modern day.
If you enjoy Mash’s personality and gag comedy, then Haven’t You Heard, I’m Sakamoto is also probably something you will enjoy.
Gintama
After aliens invade Japan, they put a prohibition on swords. However, Gintoki Sakata still possesses the heart of a samurai.
Taking on odd jobs alongside of his friends, Gintama follows Gintoki during his chaotic life as an errand boy.
Both Mashle and Gintama may be about vastly different things, but they are both anime that have similar sensibilities. Neither Mashle or Gintama are what you would call serious anime, but they are not always just pure gag comedy anime either.
Both Mashle and Gintama have plots that they occasionally follow when not distracted with various gag comedy bits or, in Gintama’s case, parody comedy. When they do commit themselves to their plots, they can actually have pretty good moments of action. It is just that neither series has that very often. They like jokes better.
If you enjoy mostly silly anime with moments of action and serious plot, then Gintama is exactly that. It is just more about aliens invading Edo Era Japan and abolishing samurai instead of being magic-less in a magical world like Mashle.
For Fans of No Magic in a Magical World
Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun
Iruma Suzuki has had a tough life. His parents are irresponsible, so he must work to earn money to take care of himself. One day, he discovers that his parents have sold him to the demon, Sullivan.
Afraid at first, he relaxes when he discovers that the demon merely wants a grandchild. As Sullivan is the headmaster of the demon school Babyls, he enrolls Iruma.
However, Iruma soon discovers that as the grandchild of Sullivan, he is now expected to take the throne of Demon King.
While magic school-set anime isn’t actually that uncommon, much of it has a different sort of focus – like on the main character being super cool, overpowered, and getting a harem. Both Mashle and Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun subvert that by being more light-hearted and often less serious.
Both series feature magic-less main characters that had their caretaker tell them they need to attend magic school. In Mashle, he solves his problems with muscle, in Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun, he solves his problem through comical means at first and actual magic later.
While both series do lean more towards comedy with only some serious moments, Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun is less dense than Mashle with its frequent gags.
Black Clover
After being abandoned at the same church, Asta and Yuno grew up together. Together they also grew up aiming for the same title – The Wizard King, the strongest wizard in the kingdom.
However, it soon became apparent that while Yuno has skill with magic, Asta couldn’t use it at all. This all changed when they were attacked and Asta was given a strange grimoire that granted him the ability to nullify magic.
In so many ways, what Mashle plays for comedy, Black Clover plays out seriously.
Both series take place in worlds where everyone has some kind of magic, even if it is super weak. Everyone has magic, except the main character! Both main characters have no magical capabilities, so instead try to make up for it with strong physical fitness.
They both end up getting entangled in magic organizations or magic schools, despite their lack of abilities. In Mashle, it is because he wants to protect his family. In Black Clover, it is because he still has that shounen main character dream to one day become the Wizard King.
Again, Mashle turns everything into comedy while Black Clover is a shounen action anime that just so happens to have a very similar sort of world.
Do you have more anime recommendations like Mashle: Muscles and Magic? Let fans know in the comments section below.
