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「来訪者編Ⅻ」 (Raihou-sha-hen Ⅻ)
“Visitor Arc XII”
With the Visitor arc now officially done (don’t let those episode titles fool you now), Mahouka is apparently down for some anime original material, because hey, all the cool kids are doing it. Or at least authors, because unlike some series I could name, we at least have Mahouka’s writer penning the script to this latest romp through magical fun and games.
Per predictions made last week, this mini-arc we’re getting is largely going to be a fill in the blank escapade to help tie into what Mahouka has coming in any future third season. Minami for example isn’t (as suspected) going to get much explanation outside of that quick introduction to Miyuki while sister-brother-sister duo Fumiya and Ayako are pretty much here to strut their magical stuff. Hoping for further information to fill that gaping void of confusion? Going to have to sit tight for a while (outside of any wiki spoilers you happen to come across), though it’s good to take note of Miyuki’s reaction to Minami since that itself is a pretty significant indication of just what’s coming down the pipeline. As said before, Mahouka is still in its early game and has yet to truly hit the gas.
Outside of future shenanigans, however, everything was largely boilerplate Mahouka. Much like the first season the New Breed Front is another terrorist group here to help Tatsuya show what makes him best (even if I hope he sits back and lets the likes of Kuroba and Ayako show what they’re made of) while providing some narrative spice to Mahouka’s universe. Nothing particularly important, but what I quite like about the setup is how it shows just how engrained Tatsuya is within the current system. Mahouka’s magicians being heavily regulated and tightly controlled is a running theme after all, with Tatsuya being one of the extreme cases. A group like the NBF appears which has a legitimate grievance against the system? Well they’re obviously overreacting in Tatsuya’s eyes since magicians are treated well and provided appropriate safety. Any matter of freedom and personal choice—the very things which define liberty versus slavery—are lost on him because Tatsuya has never personally known it himself. It’s an intriguing way for Mahouka to play up one of its more interesting concepts, and while the weeds are unlikely to be delved into too much here (because adaptation time crunch), one I hope keeps getting fleshed out over time.
One way or another we’re in for a novel conclusion to Mahouka’s latest anime adventure, and I for one am looking forward to seeing just what we get.
Preview
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Uhmm…. Tiny correction. It’s Not “Kuroba and Ayako”, Kuroba is their Family Name. The Kuroba Clan is a branch of the Yotsuba specializing in Espionage and Assassination. The Twin Borther’s name is Fumiya Kuroba. So its “Fumiya and Ayako Kuroba”. In their disguises Fumiya is codenamed “Yami-Chan” while Ayako is “Yoru-Chan”.
They seem to have taken their usual approach they once did in Season 1 this episode, a much more toned down and informative episode, then build up suspense later on for the upcoming episode(Which bores the hell out of people like they always do) Though its still nice to see they deviated from the source material to flesh out upcoming challenges the characters have to face like the Anti-Magic Movement, and the first group to start this whole endeavor is the NBF.
I’m still not too sure about this whole Anime Original content thing and the way it’s about to pan out, considering they skipped and chopped too much relevant scenes in Visitor Arc, but I’m sure Tsutomu Satou(Author) had a reason for this deviation and I’m looking forward to new Seasons.
Whoops thanks for catching that – corrected! I wound up glazing over as soon as their code names started quickly interchanging with their actual names so I’m not surprised I got that mixed up 😛
Personally I just expect this content to simply be prelude and teaser to the upcoming material (e.g. Miyuki’s (and Tatsuya’s) shifting responsibilities, the NBF), but there’s always the potential something interesting pops up in the end.