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REVIEW: The Irregular at Magic High School Sub.Blu-Ray 1


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T.Silver



Joined: 13 Jul 2015
Posts: 163
PostPosted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 8:26 pm Reply with quote
SilverTalon01 wrote:
Which scene exactly are you talking about and what exactly leads to misinformation? I honestly can't remember any scene that fits, but I certainly could have forgotten it
I think he is referring to the opening, because no such scene in the actual anime exists .
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SilverTalon01



Joined: 02 Apr 2012
Posts: 2417
PostPosted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 8:41 pm Reply with quote
T.Silver wrote:
I think he is referring to the opening, because no such scene in the actual anime exists .


Is that what he meant? if anyone got tricked by an opening then that is their own fault. Anyone who has seen a decent amount of anime should realize that openings and endings can often suggest a lot of things, but they also are known to make stuff up.
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Spotlesseden



Joined: 09 Sep 2004
Posts: 3514
Location: earth
PostPosted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 10:49 pm Reply with quote
this anime needs season 2.
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smd111



Joined: 24 Mar 2010
Posts: 16
PostPosted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 11:40 pm Reply with quote
T.Silver wrote:
I think he is referring to the opening, because no such scene in the actual anime exists .

correct
Spotlesseden wrote:
this anime needs season 2.

definitely

actually i would love to see it do all of the books
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SilverTalon01



Joined: 02 Apr 2012
Posts: 2417
PostPosted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 11:46 pm Reply with quote
smd111 wrote:
T.Silver wrote:
I think he is referring to the opening, because no such scene in the actual anime exists .

correct


So your only lasting complaint after I dismantled the others is about a tiny part of the OP... do you complain about every show that doesn't have a completely faithful OP?
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smd111



Joined: 24 Mar 2010
Posts: 16
PostPosted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 12:03 am Reply with quote
SilverTalon01 wrote:
smd111 wrote:
T.Silver wrote:
I think he is referring to the opening, because no such scene in the actual anime exists .

correct


So your only lasting complaint after I dismantled the others is about a tiny part of the OP... do you complain about every show that doesn't have a completely faithful OP?


first according to the LN you should not even know about that part till the Reminiscence arc which happens to be the fifth arc

spoiler[in the light novel thay are
Volume 1/2: Enrollment Arc
Volume 3/4: Nine Schools Competition Arc
Volume 5: Summer Holiday Arc
Volume 6/7: Yokohama Disturbance Arc
Volume 8: Reminiscence Arc
Volume 9/10/11: Visitor Arc
Volume 12/13: Double Seven Arc
Volume 14/15: Ancient City Insurrection Arc
Volume 16: Yotsuba Succession Arc

Yotsuba Succession is the last Arc to date but 3 more are coming]


You cant dismantle any of what i said in my first post in this thread its canon and factual to Mahōka Kōkō no Rettōsei 's universe so you can take what i say to the bank

if you do not believe me i will post the lines needed to prove my point


Last edited by smd111 on Wed Jul 15, 2015 12:10 am; edited 1 time in total
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SilverTalon01



Joined: 02 Apr 2012
Posts: 2417
PostPosted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 12:09 am Reply with quote
smd111 wrote:
You can't dismantle any of what i said in my first post in this thread its canon and factual to Mahōka Kōkō no Rettōsei 's universe so you can take what i say to the bank


Oh you mean like when you claimed the anime never said when and where Tatsuya blew up that fleet? Oh wait, that was actually after you were factually wrong when you claimed the anime didn't explain the GAA invaded Okinawa 3 years prior. I'd be careful taking anything you say to the bank. Wouldn't want to look like a fool when the check bounces.
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smd111



Joined: 24 Mar 2010
Posts: 16
PostPosted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 12:13 am Reply with quote
SilverTalon01 wrote:
smd111 wrote:
You can't dismantle any of what i said in my first post in this thread its canon and factual to Mahōka Kōkō no Rettōsei 's universe so you can take what i say to the bank


Oh you mean like when you claimed the anime never said when and where Tatsuya blew up that fleet? Oh wait, that was actually after you were factually wrong when you claimed the anime didn't explain the GAA invaded Okinawa 3 years prior. I'd be careful taking anything you say to the bank. Wouldn't want to look like a fool when the check bounces.


i stand corrected on that point its been a while since i watched it(i just re-watched the first ep)

but the anime got things all mixed up and out of order
but i can understand why some things were dropped(i.e. some explanations, etc.)
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smd111



Joined: 24 Mar 2010
Posts: 16
PostPosted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 12:42 am Reply with quote
for instance Mayumi being discriminatory no she is not
proof(spoiled for those who want to read the LN them selves):
spoiler[Questioner - "President, I have a question regarding this season's budget allocation for club activities. According to our data, clubs that engage in magic competitions and have a higher percentage of Course 1 students receive significantly greater budgets than clubs directed towards non-magic competitions that have a higher percentage of Course 2 students. This is evidence of Course 1 students receiving blatant favoritism in extracurricular activities as well as classes! If the President truly wishes for equality amongst Course 1 and 2 students, I hope she can address this imbalance."

Mayumi - "The budget allocation for club activities is based on the number of registered club members as well as the group's accomplishments, which is decided in a meeting between all the club leaders. The generous allocations for clubs involved in magic competitions reflect their positive results in intramural competitions. I'm sure everyone here is also aware that clubs involved in non-magic competitions that have competed with distinction at the national level, such as legball and other clubs, have received similar allocations. The idea that clubs with more Course 1 students are favored is a simple misunderstanding."

Questioner - "On every level, Course 2 students are treated worse than Course 1 students. The Student Council has tried to hide this!"

Mayumi - "While this criticism is frequently leveled at this office, realistically speaking, do you have any examples to support this? As I mentioned earlier, usage of facilities and the allocation of materials have been equally distributed throughout Classes A to H."

Mayumi - "... I cannot deny that the idea of differential treatment that the Alliance refers to exists among our students. However, that is merely the solidification of a sense of superiority and inferiority. This is fundamentally different from the situation where the privileged, fearing the loss of their special rights, act in defense of these rights by instituting systemic segregation. The terms Bloom and Weed are banned by the school, the Student Council, and the Public Morals Committee, but unfortunately, many students still continue using them daily. However, the problem lies not just with Course 1 students calling themselves Blooms and derogatorily labeling Course 2 students as Weeds. The problem is also compounded when Course 2 students refer to themselves as Weeds, continuing the vicious cycle of self-depreciation and resigning themselves to the idea that this is inevitable. This lamentable culture truly exists here."

Mayumi - "This wall of consciousness is the true problem. While the difference between Course 1 and 2 students is written into the school system, this only reflects the lack of educators at the national level, and thus was a temporary solution with this background in mind. Should everyone receive a subpar education, or should half the students receive a full education? This school adopted the latter method. It is true that there is a difference in treatment here. This is something that cannot be averted no matter what we do. This is also a mandatory ruling forced onto the students if they choose to study here. But other than this, there is no difference in the system. This might come as a shock to some people, but Course 1 and 2 students enjoy the same curriculum. While there is a difference in pacing, lectures and practical exercises are entirely the same."

Mayumi - "For extracurricular activities, both the Club Management Group and the Student Council strive to equally assign the rights and access to the facilities. It cannot be denied that there is a higher emphasis placed on clubs with greater membership. Yet, when taking into consideration that everyone should have an equal opportunity, we cannot ignore the fact that not all clubs are on equal footing. This is what we think. This is definitely not the case where extracurricular activities relating to magic competitions receive higher priority. Just now, the Alliance members pointed out that the magic competition clubs receive a considerable slice of the budget. The result is exactly that, except that this allocation takes into account the successes garnered by these activities, as everyone saw on the display. Other than the problem with teachers, the reason behind the separation of Course 1 and 2 students can be clearly explained. I think everyone can understand any situation with a foundation firmly rooted in logic. Although there are other reasons, as we all know, they are all caused by the wall of consciousness that arose between Course 1 and 2 students after the separation."

Mayumi - "As this school's Student Council President, I am completely unsatisfied with this situation. Towards this wall that at times incites our students to conflict, I wish to find a way to dispel it. However, this does not imply that the only solution lies in changing the current system. Even if Course 2 students receive differential treatment, applying the same conditions to Course 1 students would solve nothing. It doesn't matter if you are a Course 1 or 2 student, you are still a student of this school. For the students of this campus, the three years spent here are absolutely irreplaceable to them."]
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SilverTalon01



Joined: 02 Apr 2012
Posts: 2417
PostPosted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 12:50 am Reply with quote
smd111 wrote:
for instance Mayumi being discriminatory no she is not
proof(spoiled for those who want to read the LN them selves):


I'm not sure what your point is. No one ever said she was being discriminatory. Some one did claim that Mayumi denied discrimination against course 2 students existed, but she didn't and that claim was debunked a couple pages back.
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smd111



Joined: 24 Mar 2010
Posts: 16
PostPosted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 1:09 am Reply with quote
the reason Miyuki acts the way she does in her words
spoiler["You know... in truth, I died three years ago."
"Or maybe it's better to say I should have died? But at that time, I truly could feel my life fading from my body, so I suppose 'I really did die' isn't that inaccurate either."
"It's because of Onii-sama that I can stand before you like this. Being able to cry, to laugh, to speak with you right here and now, is all thanks to him. I owe my life to him, and all I have and all I am belong to him alone."
"The feelings I have for Onii-sama are not romantic love."
"Romantic love, means you want something from that person doesn't it?"
"But, there is nothing I want from Onii-sama. Because I have already received me myself from him."
"I don't desire anything more from him. I won't even ask him to accept my feelings. In the end... I guess, love is the only word I could use to describe it."]


the reason Tatsuya is the way that he is in his own words
spoiler["...You know, Honoka, I'm actually a human missing part of his soul."
"When I was a child, I was involved in a magic accident of sorts... some of my mental functions were erased."
"At that time, I guess, I lost all of what you could call feelings of love. They weren't sealed, so they can't be released. They weren't broken, so they can't be fixed. That which is lost, cannot be recovered."
"I can't feel love. I can like someone, but I could never fall in love with them. In a way, only the knowledge remains. Searching my mind, I can tell a part is missing."]
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SilverTalon01



Joined: 02 Apr 2012
Posts: 2417
PostPosted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 2:29 am Reply with quote
Again, what is your point exactly? You're posting spoilers from a novel that wasn't covered at all. It isn't that it got cut or changed; it just didn't get adapted period.

Also please tell me all of those are your own translations and you didn't just rip off someone else's and post them without giving credit...
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Izanagi009



Joined: 20 Oct 2014
Posts: 465
Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
PostPosted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 5:33 am Reply with quote
SilverTalon01 wrote:
Izanagi009 wrote:
-What is this xenophobia that people keep talking about with the show. I've seen Zac and Hope talk about it, I've seen people claim it exists but I have seen no real reasoning other than extreme Japanese right wing politics which suggests to me overglorifcation of the military and neglect of past war crimes. What exactly has Mahouka done to ellict this response?


Nothing really. Some people just have an axe to grind and are willing to use anything as a grindstone. I really don't think a lot of people know what that word even means and use it anyway. I've watched the whole series and read most of the LNs, and there are plenty of things wrong with Mahouka. Being xenophobic isn't in that list at all.


If I may, I would like to present something made by a user named Engineering Nerd about the "politics" of the show" and I would like you to comment
Enginnering Nerd wrote:
But the reason this anime being controversial has a little to do with characters, it's how politically-heavy and biased this fiction (yes I am aware it's just a fiction) is. Especially given how much tension is between various Asian countries.

You know, it's ok to have your setting aimed negatively at certain groups or country, as long as it did not go overboard. Several Literary classics have done that. But Mahouka ignores all kinds of sugarcoating and potential bias, and willing to continuously portraying certain country and group as ultimate "villains", and wants audience to have enjoyments when seeing those "villains" getting either nuked, destroyed or becoming "particles".


Remember seeing the big fleet getting exterminated in the first anime scene? spoiler[Because evil Chinese armada wants to invade Japan (lol wut) and our hero must stop them since they are portrayed as savages ]

And here's the most ironic things in Mahouka:

World war III? No, it's world war-II again except this time China and Japan's roles being reversed. And even more disgusting, Rape of Nanjing (Massacre that took away 300000+ lives of Chinese) now China is taking this role in the fiction. No one asking for balance in political preference, but can Mahouka at least stop mocking the historically victim countries like that? If you refuse to admit history, fine. But don't let those victim countries do the same thing in your novel that Japan did realistically! That's beyond suspension of any belief!

And wow...the novel did all the expositions, foreshadows and righteous reasons to justify nuking spoiler[Chinese Union] as necessary and reasonable.

worst of all, if making certain countries as villains doesn't satisfy the author, he blatantly stating people living on China towns in Japan are all spies or traitors, and should be alienated and better...exterminated. Even immigrants were being targeted into this madness?
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 25 Oct 2003
Posts: 7580
Location: Wales
PostPosted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 7:21 am Reply with quote
I'm not a big participator in review threads, but are we supposed to be having so many unhidden spoilers not only for later volumes but for stuff past the end of the anime altogether?

smd111 wrote:
hell the anime never explains the the worlds temperature has dropped and thats why most clothing is designed to cover most of the body or the fact that even tho the temp has recovered some that most people still ware clothing and sun block to cover there skin because the sun is more damaging then it was previously in there timeline

The anime's primary way of conveying information is through dialogue, as opposed to the novel where you can stuff in as much descriptive text and inner feelings as you like. Do you not feel that there was not already enough exposition in the series?

Quote:
and on the fact that thay show Tatsuya as a child along with Miyuki but never explain anything about it except it just leads to misinformation in the minds of the viewers

I haven't read the novels so I don't know what I'm missing. It is clear that he saved her life (from what she says in the first episode and the flashback in the first OP) and I assumed it was something that would be fully explained later.
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Bluenoser



Joined: 17 Jul 2012
Posts: 39
PostPosted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 9:10 am Reply with quote
Well, one of the things I have noticed with this series is that it is one of those where people seem to either love it or hate it, it doesn't seem to generate much middle ground reaction, so it seems to me. I'm in the loved it category, enough so that after the series I went out and found as much of the LNs as I could to read, not because I felt the need for further explanation, but because I liked it as much as I did.

I personally never had a problem with Tatsuya's character, and I found him while clearly an understated personality far from bland or emotionless as some appear to find him. I will admit it took the LNs to fully explain why he was this way, but I had already by the end of the anime come to suspectspoiler[ that it was related to the way his magic abilities were so imbalanced combined with whatever his mother had done to him as referenced within the anime in the second arc I believe it was when we see him and Miyuki encounter their father.] I also thought it was clear that while his sister did seem to come off a bit too siscon in flavour that it was not mutual, that while he clearly loves and feels protective of her, he is not in love with her in any romantic sense. Clearly there was some sort of major defining incident in their past which the opening of the series clearly shows some of as other have already noted which is why the two are so closely bonded emotionally even beyondspoiler[ the familial politics which we get hints of as the anime progresses.]

I have to admit the part I have been having the most trouble understanding in this thread is the claim that the series is inherently racist/xenophobic in ways. Sorry, I cannot agree, and so far the "evidence" presented to make the case has for the most part not even been an accurate summation/description of the material within the anime itself, or is having real life history imposed upon it despite it being a world of fiction.

Take the first arc's villains, they are a global outfit whose total representation in the anime were all fellow Japanese in the Japanese branch of said global movement, hardly evidence of racism or xenophobia there.

In the case of the second arc we have spoiler[no head dragon, who are a clearly criminal organization in the same traditions of the Triads, who not only are involved because they are trying to make a major profit in rigging gambling of a major national event (hardly unheard of in this or any day and age), and who also provide a substance for magic enhancement from a truly foul source which the Japanese military not only finds offensive but a real threat to their security and therefore this places this group at a very high priority for them. Again, where exactly is the inherent racism or xenophobia within this? If we were talking about the government being this way then I could see the argument, but a clearly criminal organization? Given the history of such in all human societies and cultures this seems to be well within the realistic range of such entities wherever one finds them. It makes perfect sense that it would be from a close nation for reasons of logistics if nothing else, it is a lot easier to do these things in another nation closer to your home base than not, which also underscores why they are realistic villains here, and the Nine Schools event isn't just your everyday intramural school event either, it is a truly national event with long term military and security consequences which gives it a MUCH higher target priority for both gambling manipulation and darker motives.]

In the final anime arc with have thespoiler[ great Asian Alliance threat, which again, given the long history of conflict between Japan and China (and I am NOT saying which side has the worst record, to be honest that is almost irrelevant when coming to the argument of plausible antagonists, both had had their issues in the past, although I will agree that Japan, and especially certain elements within it like to shall we say whitewash their own history in this respect) is perfectly plausible and a fair threat/antagonist to have. It also needs noting that we are made aware by this point in the series that there is a recent history of antagonism between the nations with an invasion only a few years earlier of Japan, so it is hardly surprising there is tension and a clear willingness to not only defeat but prevent any further invasion attempts, and the most effective (and apparently only viable option since they were caught by surprise and could not mobilize their own fleet in time to defend) action available to Japan militarily was using their strategic class magic weapon aka Tatsuya, to stop the invasion at its source. As the episode and series closes it notes that this was an event that literally changed that world, the role of magic technicians and magicians more broadly in that world and especially where their role as military resources were concerned, so this was hardly an easy or simple decision/choice made by those in power within Japan and this had to haver been clearly understood from the get-go given what they already knew about Tatsuya's power/ability.]


I would also point out that in recent years/decades in the real world spoiler[China has clearly become a fairly aggressive nation, mainly through economic and information warfare rather than military, but that is also another reason why they can be fairly portrayed in this fictional universe as they are without it automatically being racist/xenophobic. Just look at their cyber warfare record, look at how they have been behaving in Africa for the last several years, hells, even here in Canada we have seen some fairly aggressive behaviour out of the Chinese economically albeit with the willing of our current federal government to let them.]

It is easy to read racism and xenophobia into things if you want to find it there, but then it is easy to read into things many things if you want to find them there or are predisposed to expect to see them. For me that is how this criticism has felt like. Now, I make no claims to knowing much about the author or his political views, I am judging solely on the work of fiction I have seen, both the anime series and the first 12 LNs, nothing more, and I am someone that does not react well to xenophobia when I encounter it, and sorry, I'm not getting it here. Some element of intolerance yes, but then I find that in many conflict elements in story lines in all kinds of fiction, but an actual undertone of racism, xenophobia, racial superiority? Nope, sorry, I just do not see it.

Are there criticisms one can make of this series in both anime and LN forms? Sure. Is an underlying message/endorsement of racism/xenophobia one of them? Not that I can see, and not that anyone in this thread has managed to make any serious argument in support of IMHO. It is exposition heavy in areas, its pacing can feel ponderous for many, and it is clearly not going to be for everyone in no small part for those reasons alone. Please though do not read into it things it clearly is not being, and that is inherently xenophobic, because sorry, that I would argue is clearly not the case.

For me, this is one of the series I have most enjoyed in recent years, it has its flaws sure, and I too found it slow starting and not the most exciting, and sure some of the secondary characters are a little too simple and cardboard cutout (although not all and not just Erika), but overall I found this series to be one I enjoyed a great deal, and to me by the end of the series it was clear that while Tatsuya may be massively OP, he is one that pays a very high price for it in multiple ways. In fact it was because I got that sense off him that I found him and this series as enjoyable as I did. The LNs only further fleshed it out, but it was the anime that gave me the original sense of it. As I said at the outset I was one that ended up being in the "loved it" category, but I am not blind to its failings and issues, but I loved it despite those, but I will not agree that it is inherently xenophobic as one of them, sorry.
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