Visitor Arc III
Creative Staff
Story: Mitsuki Mihara
Art: MonRin
Translation: Jill Morita
What they say
USNA Major Angie Sirius’s arrival in Japan as Lina the American exchange student was suspiciously coincident with the vampire attacks occurring in the vicinity of Magic High School. With the parasites behind the uproar finally neutralized, things have mostly settled down. However, since they merely vacated the bodies they were inhabiting, it’s only a matter of time before the parasites find new hosts. As soon as Tatsuya learns the vampiric creatures are still on the loose, he rejoins his friends on the hunt to eliminate the monsters once and for all—even if Major Sirius hounds him in the process!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As the last volume in the Visitors Arc, volume 11 deals with not only the climax of the matter with the parasites, but also the ending to Lina’s part of the story—at least for now. On top of concluding the two separate but divergent main plots within the series, a lot of new information ends up coming to the fore, characters who knew nothing begin uncovering secrets behind Tatsuya’s and Miyuki’s identities, and one of the numerous magician families in Japan—the Saegusa Family of the Ten Master Clans—begins learning more about Tatsuya and the events at Yokohama back in volume 8.
If there’s one thing that is done exceedingly well by Sato Tsutomu-sensei, it is that he has created a world with a rich history and lore to it. There are a lot of different factions, each with their own unique history, each with their own desires. The world is incredibly diverse and filled with all kinds of people and families who play a significant role to create a really interesting bit of world history.
We follow this story as Tatsuya and his friends continue dealing with the parasite problem and the issues with Lina Shields, aka Angie Sirius. During this time, the Yotsuba also make their move by using a branch family to contact Lina’s immediate superior, Virginia Balance—yes, that is her actual name and not a code name. At the same time, Retsu Kudou—who we haven’t seen since the Nine School’s Competition arc—makes a reappearance when Tatsuya confronts the parasites. It seems he’s interested in weaponizing the parasites.
There’s also a number of even bigger reveals on the personal front.
Anyone who has read this series from volume 1 should be well-aware that Miyuki has a massive brother complex, and while it has been consistently hinted at, this volume confirms without a doubt that Miyuki is in love with her brother—and I don’t mean that in a sisterly way. I’m honestly not sure how to feel about this particular reveal. Part of me knew it was coming. Part of me is repulsed by the idea since, you know, incest. Another part also remembers how much incest was in Game of Thrones, so this is comparatively light.
I do think it gives the relationship dynamic between Miyuki and Tatsuya an interesting and twisted aesthetic. Miyuki’s love for her brother is something she’s both ashamed of and secretly longs for, even though she understands that such a relationship can never be. The reason she acts like a somewhat helpless younger sister is because she’s afraid Tatsuya will leave if she doesn’t have to rely on him. There’s a good deal of twisted logic and emotions that dictates her actions, which makes her a fair bit more complex and emotionally engaging than Tatsuya, who is admittedly very stagnant and boring as a character. This is probably the reason why, despite the rather, uh, Oreimo twist, some part of me still wants to root for Miyuki.
Miyuki is not the only complex character in this series. Lina Shields is another character I found myself greatly liking. Known by the code name of Angie Sirius, Lina is a member of the USNA Stars Unit. The code name Sirius is the one given to the strongest magician in the USNA’s forces. Lina is a strategic-class magician, meaning she is considered to be a weapon on par with a WMD like a nuclear warhead. However, her sound defeat at the hands of Miyuki in the previous volume and Tatsuya in this volume causes Lina to doubt her own abilities, which leads her down a dark path.
We don’t get to see the struggle she goes through during this volume, which is unfortunate, but I understand that a lot happens. A lot of factors come into play during this volume. Erika Chiba has learned that Tatsuya and Miyuki are part of the Yotsuba (or is close to learning it), though she’s warned off from investigating further when she confronts Tatsuya about it. The Yotuba are moving in the shadows to acquire a parasite and so is Retsu Kudou. We’re also introduced to a new branch of the Japanese military—the JGDF (Japanese Ground Defense Force)—which is under the control of the Saegusa Family. So much happens in this volume that even though it reached a sound conclusion, it feels like this was just a prelude for a bigger arc.
In Summary
While this volume ends one arc, there is a lot of foreshadowing for the next arc toward the end. This particular volume was not only packed with a lot of action, but also a lot of new information regarding the Ten Master Clans and the many secret dealings they have with the military. I found a lot of what I read incredibly interesting. The complex relationships between the numerous characters was fun, the world building added a good deal of depth, and the story itself had a nice conclusion. At the same time, this volume is very dense and has a lot of info dumps, which some readers may or may not enjoy.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: B
Age Rating: 13 & UP
Released By: Yen On
Release Date: March 19, 2019
MSRP: $14.00