Life is full of confusion … especially when you don’t fit in.
Creative Staff:
Story & Art: Mito Aoi
Translation: Eleanor Summers
Lettering: Alexis Eckerman
What They Say:
In a world where horns are the defining trait of magic beings, larger horns mean more powerful magic! Eru, a freshman at a school for magic, is self-conscious about how tiny his horns are compared to those of his new classmates – not only is his magic so weak it is barely noticeable, but things have a habit of going awry when he is around. He is the complete opposite of Rihito – one of the top students of their grade with exceptionally strong magic … who is Eru’s roommate!? And already seems to hate him!?
Enrolled in a school of magic, small-horned Eru was assigned to Rihito, a student with large horns and powerful magic to match, as a roommate. As Eru sheds his reserve around the talented Rihito, the two form a friendship … that is until Rihito’s cousin enters the picture! Haruto’s got a dangerous side and the skill to back it up. Can Eru deal with being caught in the middle of this family rivalry…? See how everybody find a place to belong to in this final volume of School of Horns!
Content (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
A new school year has begun and Eru cannot but feel out of place … especially when others notice the size of his tiny horns. In this world people who can use magic live in harmony with normal humans, those who raise crops and tend to medicine, however those in the former must attend special academies to learn how to effectively use their powers. But in this place as others there are those who are seen as special and this is particularly true here, since the size of your horns also denotes the level of magic you can use, and unfortunately for Eru his small appendages signals an obvious lack of power. And this trait of being half-human stands out within a crowd, making this boy the result of many attempts of bullying, only to be saved by a friendly girl named Mone and her flying familiar Rabu.
While she tries to encourage Eru that while in this environment his horns will grow as will his magic, he knows she is only trying to make him feel better. As they continue their conversation, they notice a noisy crowd of girls surrounding a handsome boy, to which they both recognize as the one giving the commencement speech – Rihito. His prominent horns denote his standing within the school as being an ace, one of the top students in the academy due to his sheer power and top rank in class. Worried as to how he can handle such people, Eru wanders off to his assigned room only to be surprised by another classmate of equal caliber, but is stunned when the same person he was admiring before walks in, being his third roommate. Yet problems become even worse when classes start the next morning and the teacher pair off students for the upcoming training session, and as luck would have it, the strongest in class is teamed up with the weakest – Rihito and Eru. Obviously irritated by this obstacle to his success, the ace menacingly warns Eru not to get in his way, even if he has to pass the test by himself, nothing will stop him from becoming the best.
But as the year continues on and Eru and Rihito earn each other’s mutual respect due to the latter’s unusual abilities to amplify his partner’s powers, it seems things could not get any better, until they hear of a new transfer coming to the school. While this bit of gossip was interesting, there is a dark cloud descending over the academy due to animal mutilations by magic, and his roommate Nion is the rumored to be prime suspect due to his manner of power – alchemical manipulation. Even the student council cannot confirm the true culprit behind the crimes but it is only then does the incoming student begin to stand out, Rihito’s cousin Haruto. His friend warns Eru to stay away from him, the two relatives having a one sided rivalry since Rihito was always being praised for his skills and hard work, although Haruto was considered a prodigy in magic. And yet no matter how much he manipulated the situation, Rihito never showed emotions even when Haruto twisted facts to gain an upper advantage in their competition.
However as the investigations into the crimes escalate, Haruto begins to stand out as he conveniently discovers the truth behind the incidents. But as people chatter as to the motives, one night Eru finds himself confronted by the mysterious boy, an air of malice floating around him. While not clearly defining his role in the situation, this new student lays out his speculations, all the while it is obvious he once again has been contorting events and people to suit his needs and have some fun. Although Eru cannot confirm any of his doubts, he still remembers Rihito’s warning to stay away from him, but this time there was no choice. Now confronted by this callous student the unbelievable becomes true, now knowing his previous attempts to provoke his cousin were not enough to get any reactions, there is one thing left to do: make Eru his servant so that Rihito has to confront him to regain his friend. While stunned into this forced partnership, Eru also sees this as a chance to get the two relations to grow closer, but can he do so without being caught within the field of fire himself?
In Summary:
When I first heard of School of Horns, I thought it would be an interesting twist by seeing demons within a typical high school setting, but also allowing for a novel concept of not fitting in even within this magical atmosphere. And yet after reading the first volume my surface impressions have changed: mangaka Aoi has created a standard bishounen series, and while my need for entertainment has not changed, the shallowness of the narrative leaves much to be desired. It appears this artist is more concerned in creating beautiful artwork which would attract her demographic group of young ladies than allowing for captivation due to the story itself.
There is too much time wasted on fleeting glances of the handsome cast of boys, transitioning from close-ups and a few injections of awkward moments for comedy to allow this series to be taken seriously. And while the first volume does allow for some story development by following Eru’s attempts to create a friendship with Rihito, the tale quickly descends into a convoluted mess once Haruto is introduced. It appears Aoi-sensei did have some underlying foundation to expand on this rocky relationship between the cousins, but she becomes too preoccupied in establishing his warped background, and thus falls into the need to create a bad boy personality for the heroes to play off of, denying the readers any profound satisfaction in relieving the tension between the trio. This is a shame since a majority of the second volume has an interesting side story concerning Mone and her sister I would liked expanded, but the writer decided to return to her mainstays all in a desire to close the title under her two main characters.
Sadly School of Horns seemed to have the promise in becoming a heartwarming series but due to a need to fulfill stereotypical roles and perhaps an unseen rush to complete the title, much of the foundation collapses under its own weight by trying to please too many people. The narrative quickly becomes derivative with characters suited to round out a bishounen series, and yet there were moments which would have sparked much brighter if they were expanded upon with a more complex development. In the end, we are left with a blasé title which lost its way due too much time illustrating what the mangaka thought fans wanted and not giving us what we needed.
Content Grade: C+/C+
Art Grade:A/A
Packaging Grade: B+/B+
Text/Translation Grade: B+/B+
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: July 24th, 2018/December 11th, 2018
MSRP: $13.00
