Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei 3rd Season

This is the first time I write a review. The only reason I do that is because I LOVE this series.

The season 3 can't be compared to any of the other season and neither to the movies. It's subpar through and through.
All the actions, all the adrenaline, all the emotions from the other installments are missing here. Clinging to the minor moments and tropes/cliché that didn't help.

The first 11 episodes do not add anything. The entire season plot happens during the 2 last episodes. Taking that in consideration, they could have done something super interesting in the first 11 episodes and added minor links to ... the last two episodes and called it a day. That would make the entire season a 8/10 or 9/10.... but no... an entire uninteresting build, slow burned subplots that ends into nothing and disconnected.

It was a very sad season.

By now, Mahouka fans know what to expect from new instalments of the series. Some really cool and detailed world building, one of the most complex magical systems you’ll ever see, political drama and Tatsuya being a badass. Season 3 is no exception. 8bit have shown by now they have the ability to bring the same level of love and care to this franchise that Madhouse did, and on occasions have even surpassed them in terms of pacing and production values. Mahouka S3 might not cover my favourite arcs of the story, but it does a good job bringing the light novels to life and ... is very fun watch.

A lot of people were understandably concerned when Madhouse went bankrupt and 8bit took over Mahouka. But the last two seasons of the mainline series haven’t missed a beat. If anything, the pacing has improved quite a bit in these latest arcs. That’s not to say there’s no rushing, with a series as detailed as Mahouka it’s inevitable that some things get left out. But for the most part I’m happy with the adaptation and feel the studio properly conveyed the spirit of the story. As always, if you want everything spelled out, read the books.

Following the events of season 2, season 3’s big theme is about Magicians being used as tools/weapons and its ethicality. Factions from the military, to the various high ranking magical families begin making their move and it feels more like a political thriller than ever with a lot of moves being made in the shadows. This season expanded upon the world quite a bit by introducing several new characters, families, abilities and threats. The world of Mahouka is so complex and while some people think of it being a power fantasy in which Tatsuya just dominates everyone, that’s not the case. Perhaps more than ever, in this season he’s challenged and forced to rely on others for help. Especially in the ancient city insurrection arc and steeplechase. I wouldn’t say this was my favourite season storywise, that has to go to season 2 with Angie and all the craziness with the alternate dimension spirits etc etc. But this was definitely over season 1’s story and the climax with Zhou was some of the best stuff in Mahouka yet. It also felt like Miyuki and Tatsuya’s relationship finally took a step forward with him learning to rely on her more and open up.

Production wise, 8bit did a really good job with the action scenes. Episode 1’s final fight scene was arguably the best in the franchise, but we never really reached those heights again in the season. The art looked great, subsequent fights were decent and as usual Hayamin and the other seiyuu turned in a great performance. I just wish we would’ve got more scenes like that opening fight because that was insane. Also, LiSA is back on the OP so you already the quality you’re getting there.

It’s a no brainer to watch if you’ve seen the first two seasons. Mahouka S3 has some awesome world building, cool fights and all the great characters we’ve come to love. It’s the last of a dying breed of urban fantasy stories from the early 2000s and 2010s and I’m glad it’s still going.

Mahouka s3 gets 9 out of 10.

I like the series and all. But this season of Mahouka wasn't as enjoyable as the previous ones. The pacing felt off, the character interactions and whatnot was off and random too. In terms of the arcs that were included this season, it stayed pretty true to the light novel source. But I can't really say there was a wow factor that brought out anything special about these few arcs.

Initially, the anime uses flashback scenes to convey the story but then does away with it after a few episodes. Honestly seemed OK as a tool to use but I can understand if people are just ... straight up confused.

Overall, I'd say it was an OK season but not as exciting as it could have been.

One word when comes to this bombing action-romance series of the year, The Irregular at Magic High School Season 3 (LN/manga vol 3 - "Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Double Seven-hen") = EVENTFULLEST!!

As expected, this season has improved and original as it is.

The story in this season (atleast 4 episodes earlier) seems off a bit compared to LN/Manga, however the production succeed show the highlights of the main contents.

Audio/SFX/VFX and translations have improved compare to last season. The "spell/skills/magics" animations just almost WOW-factor, very detailed as well, I guess the animators have upgrade their methods I presume, and thinking out-of-box/full of imaginations. Ara Araa...

Since this ... series is all about Saegusa's twins and Shippou (main-storytelling characters in this season) families, there is a tension, basically intense between the MC and them. The MC still keep his cool and low-profile as usual, moreover remain his objectives/goals till episode 4 (the actual beginning of this season). Talking about MCs, overall, MC still "manly" awesome and female MC still blissfully "brocon" as always in this series.

The VAs also devoting themselves into their characters as well, which can make the viewers feel their happy/anger/mad/sad "expressions", similar to previous seasons.

Overall, as always, I do recommend you watch this after you watched the previous seasons since its co-related. I suggest read manga too (but some of em are discontinued, so you can continue with LN).

Story: 10/10
Visual: 9/10
Detailed: 8/10
Characters: 9/10
Emotions: 10/10
Smoothness: 8/10
OP/ED: 7/10
Audio: 8/10
Originals: 9/10
Intense: 10/10
Uniqueness: 9/10
Fun/Laughter: 3/10
NSFW: 1/10
Boring/Idling: 3/10

Season 1: Completed (ALL the fans are thrilled and ecstatic with how OP Tatsuya is when it comes to his Dispersion and Nuke, aka, the material burst)
Reviewing the list of events we have: We have no head dragon -> Nine school competition -> Yokohama (Extra 2 nuke)
Season 2: Completed (We all know the best magician in STARS is nothing compared to Tatsuya for briefly 10 eps of dealing Parasite)
While the last 3 ep mainly exhibit the hint of the next season 3 covering the Arc of Gouhzing guy.

From my perspective: Season 1 and season 2 are mainly manifesting high level of combat -> ... with bold story and how it revolves the main. While we can see the power of friendship, and the people Tatsuya knows how to work well with him in defeating and overwhelming the adversity challenging his normal school life.

BUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT, those 2 seasons neglected entirely the story revolving around his family clan also known as the Yotsuba Clan, Top 1 clan reign over 10 master clans within Japan. And also the relation between the power of other clans and how they interact with each other and influence the military. Without much of inspection on how the story goes, but rather solely focusing on how Tatsuya defies those challenges given to him.
(Nothing but a real clown jumping into a circus known as school life while doing military questline as his sidequest)
So, to cover those miserable mistakes, the anime season 3 is coming out with a huge surprise,

Season 3(No Spoiler): Focusing on Military/Tatsuya fate/Maya Yotsuba(Basic his clan)
1. Cut scene/Story board: 9.5/10 -> this is a thing that season 1 and 2 failed terribly. (If you want to focus on how the scene transitions and how detail on the context of the conversation in character) -> season 3 made it lit.
2. The music and opening on first Arc, is extremely fluent and narrative flow is well made to the point that it is making me goosebumps . Honestly, I've never expected there is such thing that coming from this series!
3. They mainly revolve around the story and world building, from audience perspective, those information is extremely informative and relevant to understanding what actually going on in the anime.
-> I know more and get attracted into this series which makes me find some good posts on Reddit to read the novel!
4. Some people dislike the 3D animation. But I tell you, 97% of the time, it is well designed with 2D and animation is the best of all in 3 seasons. 3% is 3D but those 3D are background characters that do not considerably matter to me much, the characters in conversation and facial expressions are even more detailed in comparison with the previous season.
5. This season shows the deep moral of connection in those characters between members in the family, not like before somebull shiet screentime to skip straight into anime fight scene without any narrative flow to understand how it leads to fight scene.
6. The level of implication and requests are extremely constructive(which relates to the level of story building, politics) -> highly appreciate the effort of making a good narrative flow(Which gains my attention and excitement) -> Well done, unlike 2 seasons before.
7. Transition into ED is so freaking awesome and damn goooddddd! What better? ED is also too gud to be real. Not gonna like. Please trust me! My limited in vocabulary can't describe how well the ED is in this anime.

Cons: However, the reason why it is rated at 7 on MAL. Actually, it has its own reason to stay this low and I understand the majority of the fanbase considering this is worse and ain't good like the 2 previous seasons.
1. As mentioned, the narrative flow is well done -> but the fight scenes (Not badly designed in animation) somehow end up pretty fast as they are too strong and potent in the fighting field.
2. Mostly talking and solely focusing on conversation and narrative of story rather than fighting. So people are disappointed due to carrying on too much expectation on fighting scene or climax part where it doesn't happen as expected.

So? For story: well constructed than ever before, which is amazingly impressive that makes me from watching anime into reading light novel -> 9.5/10
Music: Still remember LISA? She is the one who does the cooking for this season. 10/10
Animation: 8.5/10 (Assuming 9, but the color vibrance is too heavy and intensive for me so I can't give a 10)
+ Detailed/Facial expression/concern/apprehensiveness/serious/breathtaking fighting scene -> well done
+Transition cut scene/ storyboard: 9.5/10
Pacing: 7.5/10 -> this is where we have problem, because of this most of people are not satisfied with this current season. Not gonna lie, the anime itself has a huge potential but considering this to be perfect, this is going to be a masterpiece like 86.

Total point I could get for this is: 8 (Despite the number score given, if you are interested in story and world building -> please MUST WATCH. If you want fight scene and no brain power while watching-> please skip)

The third season with a new school year and new students, adds even more drama levels to it.

Like Shippou Takuma, a newcomer character who always makes trouble at school, and his reasons are still the same as other stupid characters who think he is the most talented, and doesn't want to respect people who are below his level or in words (WEED) which is the lowest caste in this anime.
Such reasons are too boring to reappear in the third season, and make it a source of commotion.

The development of the story is still the same as the previous seasons, whether it feels fast or there ... is a plot that is missed, Each episode is not connected to the previous episode.

You could say this third season is Milking and is just looking for fame from the previous season, and no matter the graphics or story it doesn't have much development though, The important thing is that this anime can still be broadcast and hope that people who previously liked it will praise it again in its third season.

I'm not very good at writing reviews, and this is also the first time, what is clear is that this anime is boring to watch!

The show so far isn't anything award winning, but the story has been entertaining and nice to throw on and watch. I would rate this higher but I tend to find Miyuki insufferable at times. The increased obsession this season has really just degraded the entertainment of it, and I find myself just skipping through episodes the second she starts speaking just so I don't have to hear her rant about being next to her "big brother", or him to "be careful, you can't leave me" again. I wish they would tone it down a bit and just let the story progress without this constant ... reminder of how annoying she actually is.

Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei 3rd Season (2024)

Don't be fooled by the artwork, this show is very much not about the school anymore but about everyone at First High being unnecessarily strong constantly. The story is a great continuation, has a lot of talking but again has many very powerful people getting schooled by students.

The artwork is pretty much the same as always but more polished each time.

The soundtrack is the same, it is kind of monotone at points, maybe that is what they wanted?

Characters are ridiculous at this point. You have rivals that are stopped by the power of friendship so quickly that ... you wonder why they were even mad in the first place. Students are fighting against powerful warlords, people with masses of experience, with unknown powers but they all get taken out like children fighting a bear by high schoolers. You see people hit the good guys who in a faction of a billionth of a second stopped the attack and then schooled them.

I love the series from what it used to be. It isn't as good as it used to be but it still has merit in the show. I think this is an example of a story that has become about having everyone fall at the feet of a singular group no matter what. Feels like the high schoolers are all max-levelled going for prestige versus people that have sat at home and done nothing to improve themselves.

A side note, whilst I do love Miyuki, her obsession with Tatsuya at this point just gets a bit creepier each time. Eventually, I feel like this will turn into Yosuga no Sora.

Overall, 7/10. Not as good as before but still a good show.

Overall, this anime is only filled with chat which in my opinion is not too important to include, you could say 90% chat, 5% fighting and 5% story progress.

I just finished the anime starting from the first season, and now I realize again why I didn't like it that much before.
Too much chatter about magic theory, for example, like the demonstration of a ball in the first season, this is only filled with imaginary theories and where the good thing about this demonstration is, I don't understand it myself, but strangely the audience just cheered and said Uwah... Sughoi....
What? What's so extraordinary?
And this applies ... to almost the entire event of this anime series, When something the characters think is extraordinary, but I don't understand where the extraordinary lies.

This also cannot be separated from the third season of this anime, in general it only contains chat content and there is not much progress in the story. No! More precisely, like jumping from one story to another, yes, this is something that I think is odd like in the first season.
I take an example from the third season which is only filled with chat, namely in episode 2, maybe 99% of the entire episode is just filled with nonsense, and you can see the graphics are decreasing, or on purpose what was originally 2D turned into 3D CGI with stiff movements, this is quite reasonable because the content is just nonsense, so why make good graphics? Yes, let's just keep it simple because episode 2 isn't that important! Maybe that's what the creator of this anime said.

In essence, this anime is still the same as the other seasons, in the sense that it is just as bad.
There's too much discussion about magic, magic theories that always take up air time, and it doesn't matter if the characters explain it in detail, I don't think I care! I don't understand, I have nothing to do with magic theory! Because all of that is just nonsense and imagination in an anime, so please don't include too much of this magic theory.
But in reality, in the third season it was still being carried out, which means this was a deliberate factor so that these 13 episodes could be achieved even though the content was just nonsense.

I can't wait for the score to change below seven, because it really suits the content.

Notes;
For those of you who give confusing reactions, it means that's the extent of your intelligence to understand a review.

Season 1 is among my favorites of all anime and season 2 remained strong in terms of my enjoyment. This season felt a bit off while still being overall enjoyable.

In terms of world-building and the magic system, this series is among the best. There's complexity to the story that makes it refreshing despite it involving high schoolers. What initially made this show compelling was the premise of an unrecognized OP character who didn't value recognition which made his motives interesting and every event that involved him revealing more of his abilities entertaining. By season 2 there was still more to reveal about him alongside a ... compelling rival and foreign affairs plot. This season didn't exactly have the same compelling plot since the MC is already established and as a result the formerly entertaining events of people underestimating him aren't as entertaining.

Without the same driving force, I was hoping for some of the supporting characters to shine a bit more. Some did and provided a few standout moments that made me interested to see more of their characters (e.g., Kokonoe Yakumo and Kudou Minoru). Outside of that, characters pretty much were serviceable and went through the motions. I think the culprit that was detrimental to this season was the pacing, as I can't really fault either the plot or characters. Things were happening and they were interesting, but I can't say things were given the necessary time to build upon or bring about significantly emotional moments. The antagonist of the season had quite an interesting skillset, though his climactic moment was short and... well, anticlimactic. I expected more of a battle of wits given the MC is not going to lose a contest of power, but it was pretty straightforward and unsurprising. The antagonist didn't really get development to come off as threatening or otherwise interesting, which also didn't help it be as engaging.

So, I guess by "off" I'd say this season felt disjointed and undercooked due to its pacing. Though it's still doing enough to be solidly good in my book.

Lack of High Stakes in Season 3
The third season seems to follow a similar pattern to the first season, lacking the tension and high stakes that could elevate the plot. While the animation quality is high, the absence of significant challenges may disappoint some viewers.

Unlikable Characters
Season 3 introduces a couple of unlikable characters who bring their family drama into the school. This subplot can be distracting and detract from the overall experience.

Pacing and Remake Concerns
With four novel volumes covered in the third season, the pacing is brisk. However, there’s a risk of it feeling like a slow remake of the first season. Balancing pacing while ... maintaining freshness is crucial for keeping the audience engaged.

Despite these criticisms, the show remains popular in Japan, likely due to its quintessentially Japanese elements and the intriguing dynamics of the magic clans. Fans of this franchise would no doubt enjoy this show. The high-quality animation almost guarantee that at least it is watchable.

Boring...

Well, when I started watching this series I already thought it was average, but it was thanks to the twist at the end of the first season that made me really interested in this series. However, as the seasons went by I only felt more and more bored by it, which reached its peak in this season. The reason I found this season boring is because the story is generic and slow, there are few moments when you can really feel the imminence of danger or difficulty, a lot of this is due to the protagonist because he can do everything and doesn't show it, ... he always has that "😐" look on his face.

Although these problems are simple, it was thanks to them that I couldn't stay hooked on this series, everything seemed so empty of captivation, making this season nothing but boring for me. I wouldn't even recommend watching this bomb that this season is to my enemy.

=================================================================================================================Versão em Português=====================================

Tediosa...

Bom, quando comecei a acompanhar essa obra eu já a achava mediana, mas foi graças a reviravolta do final da primeira temporada que fez com que eu tivesse um apreso por essa obra, porem com o passar das temporadas só fui sentindo cada vez mais tedio por ela, isso chegou no ápice nessa temporada. O motivo de eu achar essa temporada um tedio é pelo fato de a história ser genérica e lenta, há poucos momentos que realmente se pode sentir a iminência do perigo ou da dificuldade, muito disso se deve ao protagonista pois ele pode fazer tudo e não demonstra nada, ele está sempre com a cara de “😐”.

Apesar desses problemas serem simples, foi graças a eles que não consegui me manter preso nessa obra, tudo parecia tão vazio de cativação tornando essa temporada nada além de tediosa para mim. Não recomendo nem para meu inimigo ver essa bomba que é essa temporada.

This might be my biggest disappointment of 2024.
I was fascinated by the first season, rewatched it a few times, and would do so again. The second season did not let my expectations down. It had all the strong points of the first and even added in quality.

Now for the third season, it lost it all.
Firstly, the main plot line barely moved a centimetre. We are fed bits and pieces about different characters, but nothing of it moves the plot forward. It's like a dish made of barely related stories, and whatever pushes the plot forward is only featured after the credits as a post scriptum ... (the Yotsuba-Shiba family conflict).
Secondly, the fights are beyond boring and predictable. There is zero suspense, the outcome is known beforehand, and they are decided by the power factor. We know how powerful Tatsuya is, so any battle with his involvement is predetermined, but when other characters get involved, it just turns into a stupid display of their magic.
And lastly, it's just bad how the author tries to make some scenes dramatic. They made such a big deal of some character being a child of two relatives. When I saw Miyuki shocked and almost crying when she learnt about that, I burst laughing. Like, yeah, girl, with your affection towards your brother, it sure is SHOCKING.

I'll let the series rest in peace with this season

I’ll be honest this season was the weakest of the three personally, it’s just meh like it was fine. I watch it yeah it’s not great I mean it could be worse, but I would say this is the worst season so far that’s just because it’s kind of boring.

I’d say recommended because you’ve watched season one and two you might as well watch the third one and you might like it but I found myself feeling like I had to force myself to watch it even watching at 1.5 speed.

Overall you might like it, but it is the weakest of the three seasons
5/10

The good reviews are for the original itself, the season 3 anime sucked.
13 episodes of the anime is undoubtedly not enough to tell the story of the original novel in 3 chapters totaling 4 volumes of novels, and a lot of story content had to be cut for that. The flaws of this over-censored plot are especially evident in episodes 5-8, where the specifics of the match and what happened are not shown at all in a few PowerPoint-like still frames, and it's impossible to see what the match was about. I'm not happy that season 3 skipped over the competition in such an inattentive ... manner after the first season's detailed and exciting presentation of the competition and the contestants' performances in the nine-school competition.
Regarding the character Shippou, Takuma, he is simply “a teenager who makes mistakes and then corrects them”. The anime cuts out his first few appearances, so there's less background on his personality and experiences. The original title of this volume, “double seven,” is a clever pun. At first you think it refers to Saegusa's twin, but then you realize it refers to Saegusa and Shippou. episodes 1-4 of double seven also suffered from excessive cuts, but the major plot points remain. the magic battles between Shippou, Takuma, and Saegusa, Izumi and Saegusa, Kasumi are very good, especially Shippou, Takuma, and Izumi. Magic Battle was great.
The shortcomings of the last 9-13 episodes are still apparent, with excessive cuts and only the core plot retained, but the battle graphics in this part of the series aren't exactly stellar.

I never doubted that this season would keep up the thrill of the previous ones. If you've watched and enjoyed the past seasons, there's plenty more here to like. The story continues to flow seamlessly, with some subtle character progression along the way.

Let's start with a few cons. There's something off about how they handle Tatsuya's 'moments' now. There used to be a buildup to a sweet, subtle glory that took everyone by surprise, but that's hardly present anymore. Sometimes it's more word-of-mouth than actually showing what he's capable of, and the reactions aren't always what you'd expect. It's not a major turn-off but does ... water down these moments a bit.

With the new freshmen entering the cast, the anime's appeal still lies in the underestimated protagonist, without the cringe moments that go too far in showcasing his strength. The execution of these OP moments remains seamless but holds almost the same impact. The dynamic between him and his sister (Bro-con, sis-con), as well as the chemistry among the cast, is still a highlight.

I've noticed they've focused on improving the vibrancy, art style, and camera angles. It's always nice to see animators putting effort into beloved series like this one. And you'll be happy to hear that the battle scenes are actually better in quite a number of episodes! They've got a certain flow that surpasses the last few seasons.

The aunt is also more active this season, and the show does a marvelous job showcasing her various sides, from her impressive 'assets' to her unique personality and family responsibilities. I was quite impressed by her moves to keep the family untouchable.

And, of course, the best part... the opening tracks by Lisa are as classic as ever! They're something I look forward to every single season.

I wish this series appealed to a wider fanbase and that more people would stop sleeping on it. If you're not already a fan, you're definitely missing out on this wonderful gem.

As a light novel reader I was so excited when this season got announced because this is one of my favorite series. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I would have been fine with something similar to seasons 1 and 2. However, this season was subpar compared to the rest of the material output. This includes everything from the art, to the dialogue and storytelling, and the music.

The art felt more rushed than previous seasons. The action scenes didn't feel as impactful and there was just way too many 3D CGI faces. The facial expressions and features ... don't seem quite right a lot of the time, and everyone's face got narrower and more shiny. It looks like something out of d4dj. I was hoping to get some cute scenes of the Saegusa twins and Minami, who weren't really represented in the previous seasons, but the overall quality of stills we got did not impress me.

The dialogue and storytelling did not make much sense. There were a lot of random conversations that needed more context or needed to be more nuanced like the light novel in order to get the characters' points across. A lot of TMC drama from the 3 arcs was left unexplained or only halfway explained. And the pacing in general was way too fast. Each arc should have gotten an entire cour. I don't know how less time was spent on the final battle than was spent on Miyuki spouting nonsense worrying about Tatsuya getting hurt and not letting him do anything. That weird childlike emotion stuff and incest is my least favorite part of the series, and to see that get more airtime than important plot events just rubs me the wrong way.

The music was not as immersive, fun, intense, or memorable compared to the second season and especially the first season, which is one of my favorite anime soundtracks ever. This might partially be due to the scenes being rushed. Maybe I'll warm up to it if I rewatch the season but it just doesn't seem as rewatchable as the first 2 seasons for all the reasons mentioned above. It felt like they speedran the creation of this season. All in all this was worse than season 2, which is already mid and saved only by Lina. I can only hope the next movie is better.

Since this is season 3, I will only discuss the storyline. So for season 3 my conclusion is boring, there are no new elements or new arcs and 13 episodes ended in vain just to catch one wizard who is not even ranked among the greatest wizards in the anime world. I suggest that each season should discuss different arcs and each arc should have at least 1 major problem resolved. I give an example, season 3 of this anime should discuss the problems of the Yotsuba family with Tatsuya to the end, and if there is a season 4 this anime can focus on ... the arc of the competition for the strongest wizards in the world, this needs to be done so that each season there is something achieved and the storyline feels solid not boring. This season 3 is really a decline in the quality of the storyline. I can't imagine a wizard as strong as the MC who can eliminate a military base can have difficulty facing weak enemies even requiring 13 episodes, suddenly the impression of epic battles in seasons 1, 2, & movies just disappeared because of season 3. I hope this can be an evaluation material for the author and director staff