We continue to get introductions to the various players, major and minor, who attend this very unusual school.
What They Say:
Episode 03: “Enrollment Part III”
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
So, now we get the longwinded explanation as to how Tatsuya won the fight against Hanzo. He made use of his ninjutsu training with Kokonoe to get behind Hanzo and then blasted him with Psion waves, which basically overwhelmed Hanzo, as magicians are sensitive to these psion-whatever they are. We get more exposition as Tatsuya’s weapon seems to be something special as well, created by a mysterious and legendary CAD (the device magicians use to focus their powers) maker, Taurus Silver.
Okay, yes, we get it. Tatsuya is special and has all sorts of special skills and accessories that make him more powerful than a regular magician.
So, time to fill us in on what the Disciplinary Committee is like. It seems that Mari is not much for having an organized workspace, while Tatsuya is apparently a neat freak, so a room cleaning is in order. Lots of exposition accompanies this, from the news that Morisaki, the annoying Bloom who challenged Tatsuya earlier, will be joining the committee on recommendation from the faculty, to further talking, talking, talking about the whole Bloom/Weed discrimination problem. Two of Mari’s subordinates come back from their patrol and show us that Mari has been careful, with help from Mayumi, to select members for the committee who are not strongly prejudiced (which means that Morisaki will be in for a culture shock). Tatsumi and Sawaki, the two other disciplinary squad members we meet are also suitably impressed when they learn that Tatsuya had beaten Hanzo in a match.
Then, we get the too-close sibling relationship and fanservice part of the episode, under the guise of Miyuki wanting her CAD recalibrated. But then it turns into a jealous fit on Miyuki’s part which leads to her basically blasting him with magic (and maybe coming close to killing him), though Tatsuya quickly runs a magical self-repair spell.
The next day, it’s the start of school so clubs are actively recruiting…which means minor squabbles and fights. The Disciplinary Committee will be on full alert and patrolling. We have the expected snippy exchange between Morisaki and Tatsuya. Out on patrol, it’s time for him to save a damsel in distress, in this case Erika, who was being overwhelmed by the sports clubs wanting to recruit her. After saving her (and catching a glimpse of her cleavage), they head to the gym to watch an exhibition by the kendo club, which is probably something of interest to Erika. Unfortunately for the kendo club, the kenjutsu club (kendo for magical cheaters in this universe) wants in on the action, not willing to wait their turn, as their captain provokes a member of the kendo club into a fight, where, naturally, he cheats by using magic. But Tatsuya is there to save the day and amaze the students present with the revelation that there’s a Weed who’s a member of the Disciplinary Committee. When the other members of the kenjutsu club object to their captain being arrested and attack Tatsuya, he takes them all out physically. While Mibu, the kendo member who was involved in the fight, would like to lend a hand to Tatsuya, Tsukasa, the captain of the kendo club stops her. He’s watching the fight very closely and only says “How interesting…”
The problem with The Irregular at Magic High School so far is that it is so far just a collection of anecdotes meant to inform us about the world it takes place in and what is involved in its version of magic and how the students behave in this environment. While there is nothing wrong with world-building, so far there is no sign that there is any story to tell. So, there’s magic and it’s used for combat. Tatsuya has incredible skills other than raw magical power, which Miyuki has in abundance. Other people fall on the spectrum in-between. There’s discrimination in the school between those with high practical ability and those without. What’s the story about again?
I couldn’t tell you, because there hasn’t been any story so far. It’s not that the show is lacking in action, it has at least one fight every episode so far. It’s not particularly awash in talking heads and static images, though there is a lot of exposition to walk through. The problem is that there is no reason to care so far about anything we’ve been introduced to. The characters continue to be very shallow and as I said, there is no plot so far, at least nothing recognizable as a plot. So, what we have are just a series of vignettes meant to show us what the world is like and affirm that Tatsuya is some kind of super man in common guise. But that’s it. That’s fine for a first episode and perhaps into a second, but this is the third episode and the title of the fourth episode shows us that this is going to continue.
Four episodes (or more) of introductory exposition? Are you kidding me?
The show’s answer is apparently “No.”
The grade reflects the fluidity of animation and quality of the technical aspects at this point. The story is an F because there isn’t any so far.
In Summary:
Tatsuya continues to amaze everyone with his super abilities. We continue to learn new things about this world…which we might not really care about. No sign of a story yet. At least the animation quality is fairly good.
Grade: B-
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Apple iMac with 4GB RAM, Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard
