Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei

In the dawn of the 21st century, magic, long thought to be folklore and fairy tales, has become a systematized technology and is taught as a technical skill. In First High School, the institution for magicians, students are segregated into two groups based on their entrance exam scores: "Blooms," those who receive high scores, are assigned to the First Course, while "Weeds" are reserve students assigned to the Second Course.

Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei follows the siblings, Tatsuya and Miyuki Shiba, who are enrolled in First High School. Upon taking the exam, the prodigious Miyuki is placed in the First Course, while Tatsuya is relegated to the Second Course. Though his practical test scores and status as a "Weed" show him to be magically inept, he possesses extraordinary technical knowledge, physical combat capabilities, and unique magic techniques—making Tatsuya the irregular at a magical high school.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Shiba, Tatsuya Main

Nakamura, Yuuichi Japanese

Shiba, Miyuki Main

Hayami, Saori Japanese

Saegusa, Mayumi Supporting

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Chiba, Erika Supporting

Uchiyama, Yumi Japanese

Kitayama, Shizuku Supporting

Tatsumi, Yuiko Japanese

Mitsui, Honoka Supporting

Amamiya, Sora Japanese

Ichijou, Masaki Supporting

Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu Japanese

Shibata, Mizuki Supporting

Satou, Satomi Japanese

Watanabe, Mari Supporting

Inoue, Marina Japanese

Yotsuba, Maya Supporting

Saitou, Chiwa Japanese

Kananiwa, Kozue Producer

Miki, Kazuma Producer

Kimura, Yasutaka Producer

Kashiwada, Shinichirou Producer

Reviews

Dec 4, 2024

Joe_Devaney

Recommended

Note: This will be a review of the series in its entirety.

Overview:
"The Irregular at Magic High School" is an anime that is surprisingly difficult to recommend. While the magic school setting is certainly appealing enough, if not particularly original, the series also has a number of highly controversial elements that can and have put off some people altogether, resulting in a series that is highly divisive in the anime community. Even so, if you don't mind highly over-powered protagonists and sisters with very obvious feelings for their brother then this is a series you may very well end up enjoying.

Story & World (7/10):
The series is ... set in the year 2095, in an alternate version of Earth where magic exists and has been used as a science for more than a century. Unfortunately, this has resulted in a world where people's value are judged by their genetics, and several decades before the series begins, more than half of the human population was wiped out in World War 3. Following the end of this catastrophic war, the world has been divided into four superpowers; the United States of North America (USNA), the New Soviet Union, the Great Asian Alliance, and Japan. In Japan, the magic community is informally governed by the Ten Master Clans in lieu of the government. Due to the limited number of magicians, they are treated as a commodity and are forced to enter magic-related schools and professions, of which there are nine in total. That's where our protagonists come in in the form of Tatsuya and Miyuki Shiba, a pair of siblings who have recently been enrolled in First High School. However, Tatsuya and Miyuki have a dark secret; they're both secretly members of the dreaded Yotsuba family, one of the Ten Master Clans who are best described as magicians' equivalent of the Yakuza. What's more is that Tatsuya serves as the bodyguard to Miyuki, who is one of the candidates for being the next Yotsuba head, as well as a soldier in the army, which he joined at the young age of 13. The time he spends at school is Tatsuya's first chance at having some normalcy in his life, and he is prepared to deal with any threats to this, of which there are plenty, with extreme prejudice.

The series spends a lot of time building its world, with plenty of exposition provided from multiple sources. For example, in First High School, students are divided into two courses; Course 1 students are called honour students or "Blooms", and Course 2 students are called Irregulars or the derisive name "Weeds", with Miyuki being in the former course and Tatsuya being in the latter. Naturally, this results in a lot of discrimination amongst the students, with honour students believing themselves as inherently superior to Irregulars. However, being a Course 2 student does not automatically mean you're weak, as contrary to popular belief, magical prowess is NOT the be all, end all when it comes to potential, as there are plenty of other ways one can be a badass in this universe. No better is this shown than with Tatsuya himself, who often doesn't even need to use any magic to win a fight and while he may have only two types of magic (Decomposition and Reconstruction), said magic is incredibly powerful and versatile. The only reason he's in Course 2 at all is because he's a Born-Specialised magician (a kind of magician who can only use certain types of magic), and so is only good in a fight, but not good at much else. However, in a series like this, being good in a fight is what's easily most important, so it's hardly an issue. At its core, the series is divided into arcs, with season 1 having three arcs and season 2 having just 1, with another mini-arc towards the end. There's also the "Reminiscence" arc, which covers the past of the Shiba siblings and how they became so close, and the spin-off series "The Honour Student at Magic High School", which is essentially the first two arcs of season 1 told from Miyuki's perspective.

Unfortunately, it's not long before the series starts to get confusing, and trust me, it doesn't get any clearer as time goes on. For all the time the series spends talking about how magic works, there are nevertheless plenty of things about it that the series doesn't explain, so you'll frequently find yourself with just as many questions as you will answers. The motivations of characters are also unclear quite often, so I often found myself wondering why certain characters were doing certain things. Also, some people may find the fact that the series features China and America as antagonists to be very off-putting, though thankfully things are grey enough that the series avoids insulting anybody. Furthermore, the arc format tends to work against the series at times, as the overarching plotline moves at a snail's pace, to the point that even towards the end of the second season, it still feels like the series is just getting started, though the third season at least has a fair amount of progress. I still enjoyed the individual stories of each arc, even if they were far from perfect, but there's still no denying that the background plot leaves a lot to be desired, with me still having so many questions about just what was going on even in the end.

Art & Animation (8.5/10):
"The Irregular at Magic High School" has some really great visuals. The first season is animated by Madhouse, the second season and the "Reminiscence" OVA are animated by Eight Bit and the "Honour Student" spin-off is animated by Connect, with a notably brighter art palette to boot. Regardless of what part of the series you're watching, however, the characters and environments are very well-drawn and detailed and the effects of the magic range from great to awe-inspiring. It doesn't look spectacular, with many other anime having similar art styles, but the visuals are still definitely one of the show's high points.

Sound & Dialogue (9/10):
The soundtrack is composed by Taku Iwasaki, who has composed some fantastic soundtracks over the years, of which include the ones for "Gurren Lagann" and "Noragami". As such, good music is to be expected here, and thankfully he does not disappoint with some great battle music to be heard. Throughout the first two seasons and the spin-off, there are a total of five openings and seven ending themes, all of which I never skipped with the exception of the first ending theme of the first season and the second ending theme of the third season, though the second ending theme of the first season "Mirror" is absolutely my favourite. The voice acting is excellent as well; I had to wait 8 years for the first season to finally be dubbed and surprisingly it was worth the wait, with Alejandro Saab and Anairis Quinones delivering fantastic performances as Tatsuya and Miyuki respectively (the latter being especially impressive, since Miyuki was her first leading role). Besides these two, the cast consists mainly of new talents, but also some old favourites like Xanthe Huynh, Erica Mendez and even Michelle Ruff, albeit as a character who doesn't really do anything. Overall, I would consider the sound design to be the show's greatest strength.

Characters (7.5/10):
The chemistry between the two leads can be pretty heavy-handed at times. Even for siblings who were born less than a year apart, Tatsuya and Miyuki are extremely close, to the point that they often seem like lovers instead of brother and sister. It doesn't help that Miyuki has very blatant non-sibling feelings for Tatsuya, which are obvious to everyone except the guy in question. Most of the time, however, their relationship works, and Miyuki and Tatsuya are both great characters in their own right. Miyuki, in particular, I think should be given credit for how nicely she steers away from the "spoiled child" stereotype in spite of her siscon brother. Tatsuya will frequently spend a large amount of his finance just to make his sister happy, and you'd think this would make her a selfish brat but it doesn't. Instead, she's polite, well-mannered, charismatic, compassionate and quick to jump to Tatsuya's defence whenever someone says something bad about him (which given that he's an Irregular, tends to happen a lot). Being an honour student, Miyuki is more than used to all the praise she gets from others and is even irritated by it, which is exactly the kind of personality trait that would have turned Misa Amane from one of the most annoying characters ever to one that was at least tolerable. She doesn't even seem to be aware of how popular she is, which takes humility to a whole new level. And really, Miyuki has a lot to brag about, as she more than lives up to her reputation as a powerful magician, at one point freezing an entire room of soldiers in mere seconds with a single spell. Throw in both the Reminiscence arc and the "Honour Student" spin-off, both of which expand a lot on her backstory and motivations, and she proves herself to be, if a little annoying at times, an incredibly loveable character.

Then there's Tatsuya himself, who can be best described as the closest thing anime has to John Wick. Due to an experiment performed on him as a child (yes, his family is THAT messed-up), Tatsuya is incapable of feeling any strong emotions. "Strong" being the operative word here, as he is capable of feeling things. He can get annoyed but not angry, happy but not ecstatic, he can dislike something but not hate it and like something but not love it. The only strong emotion he has is his love for his sister, which naturally means he tends to spoil her a lot and is extremely protective of her, to the point that if her life is threatened, he will make the person pay with their lives, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop him. Helping flesh out his personality is that he's often bothered by the fact by his lack of real emotions, since it means he can't truly repay the kindness others show him and it's hard for him to show how much he cares for his friends. Unfortunately, his lack of strong emotions means that there's little room for character development, though the fact that he already went through a lot of hardship before the story began means that this isn't too much of an issue. That said, while he does need the help of others from time to time, very few characters in the series can genuinely pose a threat to him, and he ultimately ends the series with no real losses on his hands. And since he's the guy who gets the most screentime, if you find the idea of him always winning boring, then there's a big chance that you are not going to like this series.

Throughout the series, there are various students whom the Shiba siblings meet and befriend. My favourite of these would have to be Erika Chiba, an energetic classmate of Tatsuya's who comes from a family who are basically samurais, and so is more akin to using swordplay than magic. Personality-wise, she's bright and optimistic, but also brash and tomboyish, making her a nice contrast both to Tatsuya's cold, cynical nature and Miyuki's refined, feminine personality. There's also Leonhardt Saijou, or Leo for short, a classmate of Tatsuya and Erika's who frequently bickers with the former, though the amount of time they spend together makes it clear they do care about each other. Leo is best described as the "fists first, ask questions later" type, and generally serves as the main muscle of the group. Other students include Mayumi Saegusa, the student council president of First High School who often flirts with Tatsuya and is strongly against the discrimination Irregulars face, Mikihiko Yoshida, Erika's childhood friend who specialises in spiritual magic, Mizuki Shibata, a timid, calm girl who wears glasses to stop herself from seeing things that others can't, Shizuku Kitayama, a stoic honour student and classmate and close friend of Miyuki's, and Honoka Mitsui, another honour student and friend of Miyuki and Shizuku, who is generally very cheerful and kind. Season 2 also gives us Angelina Kudou Shields, a transfer student from America who develops a fierce rivalry with Tatsuya and Miyuki, though it's hard to say anything about her without spoiling something. None of these characters get nearly as much focus as Tatsuya or Miyuki, but they do help to liven things up and the series would definitely be a lot worse without them.

Besides the students in First High, the series' cast is very large, with us being often introduced to characters from other schools as well as family members of numerous characters, particularly members from Tatsuya and Miyuki's family. Then there are the numerous members of factions that antagonise the heroes, many of whom have understandable motivations but go way too far with their methods. Unfortunately, the large cast means it's inevitable that many of them will end up underdeveloped, and even among the more important characters there are a few that I wish could have gotten some more moments to really shine.

Enjoyment (7.5/10):
"The Irregular at Magic High School" is pretty slow to start, with most of the first few episodes consistently mainly of worldbuilding and exposition with a few fight scenes in-between, one of which is so brief that the explanation of what happened during the fight takes longer than the fight itself. Furthermore, things don't really speed up overtime, with the series often going multiple episodes without any real action. Even so, there is plenty of levity to be found, with a lot of funny and heartwarming moments to ease the tension and to keep the series from ever getting too heavy.

Overall:
"The Irregular at Magic High School" may not stand out or innovate in many ways, but it is nevertheless an anime that I do not regret spending my precious time on. To say it's not for everyone would be an understatement, and even those who manage to get into it will find it heavy and unclear at the best of times, but if you manage to get past all of those, then you will be rewarded with a very interesting, enjoyable and entertaining series, featuring an original take on an overused concept, likeable characters, good action scenes, great visuals and fantastic music.

Score:
7+8.5+9+7.5+7.5=39.5/50=7.9/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jun 11, 2024

GravenER

Mixed Feelings

The devil is in the details. What do I mean by that? Simple: while it may look like a well-thought, high-production value, engaging anime on the surface, there's little to no substance to talk about. Oversaturated with made-up fantasy-sci-fi jargon coming out of left field every time a character speaks, the show tries to hide its lack of depth behind a facade of pseudo-intellectual mumbo-jumbo. That's possibly the most annoying thing about the dialogue.

The plot is flat-out boring - with some hints here and there to an overarching narrative, all the way to the underwhelming ending, most of the episodes feel like SOL fillers, which ... are, ironically, the best parts of the anime, if any else.
I get that they took their time expanding on it over 26 episodes, but it felt way too slow, and the payoff wasn't worth it, let alone conclusive - of course not.

The characters are... well, they exist. They're a bit too many, even for such a long anime, and none of them sticks out.
Mostly, they're there only to shower the MC with praise and/or give him an excuse to shine - so, yeah, let's talk about the MC. I don't really care about him, his sad backstory, or whatever he has going on - he's cold, apathetic, flat, paternalistic, and boring - nothing but a medium for the audience to project a power fantasy on.
I don't like using the term 'Mary Sue' - it lost much of its meaning after years of abuse from trope-illiterate social media commentators, but it may actually fit here. He's good at everything, minus the few things he's not good at, or at least he claims not to be good at, but such things pose no challenge whatsoever, so rather than flaws or limitations he's to overcome to grow as a character, they're nothing but the nth device to convey how powerful and awesome and skilled he is.

The female lead... she's no presence or personality whatsoever. Her only character trait is that she loves her brother a bit too much and freezes stuff when she gets angry or flustered. That's all. I won't even get mad at the inc*st undertones, because they're so clumsy and on-the-nose that it feels almost like a gag. A boring, unfunny, recurring gag that will leave both the inc*st fans and its detractors unhappy. It's like Sanji being a failed womanizer in One Piece - nobody laughs at it anymore. It's just sad.

The music is forgettable. The animation is decent for the time, but I've seen better.
Now, about the fanservice - you won't find much in this anime, weirdly enough. You see some bras, a hint of ahh, but that's about it. Even the episode at the hot springs is unnervingly polite: it looks like in the show's future, people have become even more puritanical and callous about showing women's bodies. Imagine making a hot spring scene but all the girls are dressed. What even is the point?
Given a couple of eyebrow-raising comments the MC and other chars make about the clothes of some female characters here and there, I am under the assumption that the author of this masterpiece holds some entertaining opinions.
Weird for an anime with inc*st undertones, uh?

I'm still giving it a 7 because at least it was entertaining. Sometimes. Heh, it more or less does its job - if you're looking for a decade-old fantasy-sci-fi anime with lots of episodes to kill some time, this might be the anime for you.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Apr 2, 2024

kimonovastaya

Not Recommended

This anime is something else. The plot isn't great. The premise of the story isn't really a problem. The MC that does get bullied doesn't even care about the bullying and it doesn't effect him in anyway. Moreover, the only problem the MC has is that he cant be in multiple places at once. He is too broken. It's not like One-Punch Man where its actually funny and somewhat unique. The MC in this one is too powerful for there to be any relevance. There isn't any challenge. It's like watching a professional soccer player play against a bunch of 3 year olds. Congrats I ... guess? Do you want a cookie? The relationship between the brother and sister is also just unnecessary. Like no. Nothing really makes up for it. The magic system is cool but the MC makes it irrelevant. The animation is subpar and so is the music. If you like watching seal clubbing this is the anime for you. But there is no important character growth, no challenge, no anything other than a stomp by the MC. And the Imperial Japanese vibes it gives are meh.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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