Is Myriad Colors Phantom World the new “The Simpsons” of anime? Sorta. If the last few episodes that have aired at the time of me writing this are of any indication, it would seem that Myriad Colors Phantom World has joined the world of sitcoms.

Week after week this show puts our protagonists in new, supernatural situations with wacky complications and a variety of results. Each episode ends in a range of different ways, from peaceful learning experiences to Haruhiko becoming a drag queen that’s taken away by a monkey to live out his days as trophy wife, only to inexplicably return next week as if nothing happened. There’s nothing the show overall is leading toward and every episode can stand on it’s own.

I don’t believe prior knowledge is needed to enjoy this show. The world is pretty loose in terms of laws and logic, and anything can basically be explained in one of two ways: “Because magic” and “A Phantom did it”. As for the characters, all you really need to know about them is that they are friends. That’s it. In the beginning their reason for being together was that they were the Phantom Hunting club, and so when there’s a Phantom on the loose, these teenagers need to handle it…for some reason. This plotting device is dropped somewhere along the way and now the Phantoms basically find them. Someone asks them to be in the school play, then a Phantom shows up. Ruru has a wish and a Phantom appears to grant it. Sometimes Phantoms don’t even show up until the very end, and just exist to create an action-y climax.

This show is weird and clumsy and funny and serious and etc. Myriad Colors Phantom World started like it was building to something. It introduced characters one at a time and gradually gave us bits of character development that it never really used later on. This show tried to develop a world, and then kinda gave up. Phantom World changed, and some might argue for the better.

I personally like the show better this way, because now that the group is established, albeit poorly in some regards, we can just throw shit at the characters. Put them in hilarious predicaments and place them in any plot you want. Sometimes the episodes are a complete gag that serve only to humor us. Other times they can be a heartwarming look at the life of a single mother. And anything in between.

But what do you think? Have you been watching Myriad Colors Phantom World? Do you like what the show’s become or not? Talk to me in the comments and come back next weekend for another feature. Thanks for reading!