Even from its initial advertising, it was clear that Myriad Colors Phantom World would fall a little outside Kyoto Animation's general slice-of-life/character drama wheelhouse. From its garish color scheme to its loud pratfalls and emphasis on Mai's breasts, Phantom World seemed to hew to a more standard fantasy light novel template, full of fanservice and over-the-top magical battles. The show's first episode does little to dispel this impression; the fanservice is abrasive and inescapable, the jokes are broad, and the episode concludes on a limbo contest seemingly constructed just to make Mai bounce her own breasts. That episode prompted me to drop Phantom World back when it was airing, and until returning for this review, I hadn't really looked back.

Fortunately, having watched the actual show, I can safely say that first episode is the most garish, clumsy, and just plain bad one of the bunch. Phantom World never becomes a great show, but it's far from the rote exercise its premiere would indicate. The show is beautiful, its characters are given some real humanity, and there's even a poignant thematic core to it. Phantom World may not be as recommendable as some other Kyoto Animation series, but there's still something worth celebrating to it.

The premise of Phantom World is that ten years ago, a chemical explosion of some kind prompted humanity's brains to shift, letting us now see strange phantoms all around us. These phantoms take many forms, but they often seem to echo overarching human folklore, religious rituals, and even individual people's psychology. At the same time as the existence of phantoms became clear, humans with powers who could interact with these phantoms also started popping up. So in today's world, our protagonists Mai and Hirohiko both work to protect their society, clocking in as the lowest-ranked members of their high school's phantom-hunting club.

Phantom World's individual episodes generally focus on Hirohiko and Mai tracking down one phantom or another, discovering its weakness, and then disposing of it. Along with these magical hunts, the two also slowly gain additional team members, including the refined Reina, somber Minase, and tiny Kurumi, along with Haruhiko's fairy-like phantom friend Ruru. Over time, the team becomes truly formidable, and their episodic conflicts begin to center more on their own feelings and relationships than arbitrary phantom opponents. Eventually, the show builds this group into something resembling a true family.

All of this plot is fairly standard stuff for the genre, but Phantom World's smart conceit and commitment to its characters' emotions gives it a leg up on the competition. “Monsters that reflect the human subconscious” is a ripe concept, and Phantom World draws consistently satisfying drama out of using various phantoms to reflect the feelings of its characters. Episodes quickly move from things like “we have to stop this peeping UFO phantom” to things like “we have to dissuade our teammate from embracing the happy fantasy of this phantom's world, which was designed to soothe the pain they feel over their own distant parents.” Phantom World isn't a devastating psychological drama, but it respects the complexity of its characters' feelings and uses those feelings to guide its conflicts.

It also helps that the show is simply gorgeous. Phantom World doesn't aspire to the filter-heavy execution of something like Sound! Euphonium or Violet Evergarden; instead, it applies Kyoto Animation's attractive art design and staggering animation to a more conventionally filmed world. The highlights are based more around plot highlights; battles between phantoms and humans are elevated through gorgeous effects animation, stunning conjured creatures, and all manner of dynamic splendor. And while the show's fight scenes echo the beauty of shows like Chuunibyou or Beyond the Boundary's action setpieces, Phantom World's true highlights are its actual phantom worlds.

Reina's dreams of a happy life with loving parents are illustrated through a simplified world seemingly drawn with crayon, while Kurumi's headspace is a storybook world filled with giant mushrooms and talking bears. Phantom World's loose conceit and largely episodic storytelling allows it to pull off a variety of unique environmental setpieces that still smartly illustrate the emotional conflicts of its key players. Additionally, all this diverse visual spectacle is ably matched by a similarly diverse soundtrack, mixing orchestral, electronic, and rock tunes to naturally accompany each episode's new adventures.

It's not all good, unfortunately. For all the ways it reaches above the fantasy light novel bar, the show still has plenty of tired self-aware gags, awkward fanservice beats, and overall weak episodes. The cast tend to shine far more during their highlight episodes than they do in subsequent appearances, where their lack of much growth sometimes undercuts the show's emotional consequences. And for such a gag-focused property, Phantom World's comedy also feels weirdly clumsy, especially when compared to Kyoto Animation's usual standard of comedic pacing. Additionally, the show's final conflict feels like they just ran out of episodes and had to find a suitably climactic ending, not the culmination of anything that was building all along. The show nails its “lonely kids building their own family” emotional through-line, but the general plot is a lot less compelling.

Funimation's Phantom World release is fairly standard. The show comes in a slipcase and blu-ray case, and there are no physical extras. On-disc extras are limited to some commercials, trailers, and the textless opening/closing, along with a commentary track by the dub cast for episode seven. That dub is solid on the whole, matching the tone of the original well. From Ruru's squeakiness to Minase's heavier tone and Reina's more austere and slightly older voice, all of the leads' tones are translated faithfully between vocal tracks. The one awkward note for me was Carli Mosier's take on the cast's teacher Himeno, who felt both unconvincing and a little too young. Beyond that dub, the last extra is the inclusion of the show's fanservice-happy OVA beach episode, an expected but welcome addition.

On the whole, I'd give Myriad Colors Phantom World a solid recommendation for anyone interested in a fantasy-action-comedy combo. There's a fair amount of bawdy fanservice, but the show also digs into its characters in meaningful ways, building them up as a likable crew who care about each other. The plot is unfocused and ultimately not that satisfying, but there's plenty to enjoy in its highlight episodes, and the production's aesthetic sheen carries a lot of weight. Phantom World is far from a great show, but it manages to succeed in its own smaller ways.