Posted by  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「氷熱地獄 (インフェルノ)」 (Inferuno)
“Hell of Ice and Flames”
Geeze Yuutousei, where was all this during the first arc? The fun; the struggle; the competition: was it all meant to pop up during the Nine Schools Competition? Eh probably, but damn is it annoying knowing how a bit of imaginative writing (or adaptation license) would’ve gone a long way to letting this cast shine. Even if Shizuku bless her cute soul you better show her off more or I’ll cut you wasn’t allowed to nearly enough this time around.
While Yuutousei doesn’t win any points for how it’s featured Mahouka’s version of garden variety school tournament (the derivation and developments are elementary), at least it’s arguably done justice to what Rettousei initially adapted. A lot of the events transpiring in the background then have now had their proper time of day, whether that be Shizuku and Honoka last week or now Eimi in all her glorious snaggle toothed glory pulling a side burster. These are the sorts of moments you expect from this type of story, moments not particularly amazing or standout compared to the central plot, but moments essential for adding colour and personality to the basic template. Mahouka after all is centered on its magic system and how the Shibas fit into it, but its everyday people like the girls seen here who ground it most. Let them strut their stuff and the fun quickly follows.
Of course the one who hasn’t really strutted her stuff long-term yet is Miyuki, though that looks to be rectified very soon. It’s quite funny in hindsight, Yuutousei is supposedly all about Miyuki’s side of the coin, and yet for a good while it’s been all about detective trio and overactive student president. Hell I’m even on record back at the start about my worry over what Miyuki-isms would pop up in a series wholly dedicated to her. Whether intentional or not, Yuutousei has done a much better job of fleshing out the better portions of Mahouka (at least for me) and minimizing its more egregious aspects than I thought possible. It’s not to say the problems aren’t still there (as every episode finds a way to remind, if less so of late *cries in lack of new full-length images*), but they’ve arguably found a suitable balance with Mahouka’s more vanilla aspects that has kept me interesting in seeing where this show goes in the end.
I don’t expect much in the way of perfection in Yuutousei’s last few episodes, but I’m certainly eager to find out how it’ll show off the last bits of this tournament arc.
Preview
 |
I’d argue that Mahouka’s central theme is how staggeringly awesome Tatsuya is but its fixation on magic trivia is probably the thread that binds the show’s pieces together (and strangles them).
Otherwise, nice gun spin by Eimi as she took her place in the sun. Fortunately, she didn’t finish her line there as her match began. Showing how she won her first match was one of the fun things that Yuutosei does that the original show couldn’t, and the attack she used does suit her. Tatsuya understands her well.
In the original series, even Miyuki called Tatsuya a blockhead over how he missed the ball with Honoka’s desire for some engineering time with him. But I guess with her not available, nobody else was going to call him that upon missing the obvious when Miyuki finally took the centre stage. It was fun how everyone… spectators, future foes, current opponent, all had their breath taken away with her appearance.
XD certainly not wrong regarding Tatsuya, though for me Mahouka was always defined by its magic system given how utterly (one could say excessively) detailed it is compared to everything else.
That’s an interesting take and it got me thinking. I’d say though, that Tatsuya is greater than magic (or the magic system). If Miyuki were the focus of the show then I’d buy in 100% as her role seems to be ‘the one’ who everyone seeks to subordinate themselves to. But Tatsuya is ‘the one’ who she does (and the only one who can, as she often attests to). She’s special, but he’s especially special. She’s the compass showing us the true way.
As adept at magic as Tatsuya is, he’s (almost) peerless at physical combat, the arts of the shinobi, at magic theory, as a designer, as an engineer, etc…. Magic is just one trump card in his hand. Is there any type of story in which he wouldn’t be uniquely special?
It isn’t just First High — the entire world revolves around Tatsuya. He keeps the most cutting-edge magic laboratory busy single-handedly. Nations struggle to build a proof of concept while he builds a flawless, finished product in days (e.g. flying). He is the military’s most precious asset — not only is he the destroyer of worlds but he designs magic flying suits that are so perfect that the prototype is ready to perform flawlessly in the heaviest combat situation. And don’t forget how he is going to overthrow Yotsuba and re-set Japan’s entire political power structure (once he and Miyuki graduate). Ultimately — and we get hints of this from the way the first season began and ended — Mahouka is about a new mythology. Calling him godlike is an understatement.
The magic system is there to let Tatsuya strut his stuff (without him ever needing to actually strut). I could go on for a while but I’ll leave it at this: He’s not just Miyuki’s Onii-sama. He’s the whole world’s.