Top Anime Like Mahouka Koukou No Rettousei

Synopsis

In the dawn of the 21st century, magic, long idea to exist folklore and fairy tales, has go a systematized technology and is taught as a technical skill. In First High School, the institution for magicians, students are segregated into two groups based on their entrance test scores: "Blooms," those who receive high scores, are assigned to the First Course, while "Weeds" are reserve students assigned to the Second Course.

Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei follows the siblings, Tatsuya and Miyuki Shiba, who are enrolled in First High School. Upon taking the exam, the prodigious Miyuki is placed in the Start Course, while Tatsuya is relegated to the 2nd Course. Though his applied exam scores and status as a "Weed" show him to be magically inept, he possesses boggling technical knowledge, physical combat capabilities, and unique magic techniques—making Tatsuya the irregular at a magical loftier school.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Background

The anime closely follows the events of the first seven light novels (excluding the fifth novel: Summertime Holiday Arc + 1). There are three video game adaptations of the series.

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Characters & Vocalization Actors

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Reviews

Sep 28, 2014

26 of 26 episodes seen

Overall	3
Story	three
Blitheness	3
Sound	3
Character	3
Enjoyment	3

- This Review Contains Spoilers -

I'm non entirely sure why I watched all of Mahouka. At some point it was a scholarly interest in why this was the latest hottest thing in light novels. It might have been considering people said it gets meliorate in the novels afterward and I wondered at what phase that would be. At another indicate it was purely to see if I could finish it every bit a personal challenge. If I could keep watching I might be able to observe something proficient about this anime. Something that at the end of the day I could say "certain it was mostly bad, but in that location was this one affair about the show that was enjoyable".

I never found that affair. I tin find nothing to recommend nigh Mahouka. It is bad on pretty much every level.

The first betoken it fails at, and the main indicate that drags down the unabridged bear witness, is the principal graphic symbol. Tatsuya Shiba is a highly talented sorcerer who has been placed in the crappy kids class. He's in that location because he is bad at pushing a foursquare inch wooden cake across a floor with his mind. This is the just affair he is bad at in the world of magic. He is a master sorcerer who tin can abolish out other magicians magic. He'due south baffling intelligent to the point that he can calculate heed-bogglingly complex magical problems in milliseconds. In his spare time he's the world's greatest engineer, fronting as the mysterious Silvery creating the best magical equipment in the world. He solves magical problems that the rest of the world have been struggling with for years. He creates the power of flying on a whim. He tin can see through walls. He tin can take downwards an unabridged platoon of terrorists past himself. He can detonate the power equivalent of an atomic flop over anywhere in the earth. He tin can heal all wounds instantly. He can raise the expressionless. But he is not very skilful at pushing a foursquare inch cake across a floor so clearly he's a flawed character.

When your main character is every bit perfect as this, there is no tension. There is no struggle. Any trouble presented to Tatsuya can be solved with no issue. Yet the show likes to pretend he genuinely has factors against him. It's purely lipservice though that has no practical limitations on his capability to do literally anything. Whenever the show tries to make me feel like Tatsuya is inconvenienced, it ends upward flipping around and making me feel like I should exist on the side of the people against Tatsuya. It got to the point that for long periods of the show I found information technology easier to care for Tatsuya like he was the villain.

You know that big Darwinian speech given by Charles Vi Brittania from Lawmaking Geass where he goes on nearly how the potent will destroy and subjugate the weak and that'south why everyone volition bow down to Brittania and all hail Brrrrrrrrritannia? That's Tatsuya's, and by extension the author'southward outlook on life. Except when Charles delivers his speech about the myth of equality, it'due south past Norio Wakamoto hamming it up to 11 every bit the most evil character in the world. In Mahouka information technology's Tatsuya delivering the speech about how equality is a bad affair and we should destroy those who seek to alter that, and we're supposed to agree with his outlook.

The weird thing is, Tatsuya would brand a pretty great supervillain. His calm attitude and dangerous intelligence is perfect Bond villain material. He's a cold-blooded killer who wipes out several thousand people without remorse during the show. You tin totally practise villain every bit protagonist thing. Light Yagami did a pretty good job of it as a similar smart person with dangerous beliefs and phenomenal power. Tatsuya though is always presented as the hero. All the villains are terrorists, more than terrorists, and the Chinese, none of whom are presented every bit annihilation other than cardboard cutouts of villains. The commencement episode shows that the schoolhouse has a dumb system where less magically talented kids are treated like shit by the upper class of magical students. But instead of coming to the conclusion that the whole organization is dumb because it creates a form system, the show comes to the conclusion that the arrangement is bad because it didn't rate Tatsuya highly.

Then we take unstable foundations from which to build this show on, simply what nearly the more superficial presentation angle. Are the magical fights fun? No.

Technobabble. Magical sequences in the evidence are interrupted by long explanations of the magical theory backside them. Characters would sit down in the buffet and talk over magic. Tatsuya would move a block beyond a room then launch into a lengthy explanation why this was hard for him. Tatsuya would explain why wizards flying is really hard for most of an episode and then proceed to solve it a minute subsequently accompanied by some other explanation. I got a pretty adept grasp on the world's magic system past the end of the testify, but these scenes are all excruciatingly dull even with that knowledge. Eyes coat over as they talk about oscillating magical frequencies and squiddidly heebijeebies and whatnot. What was even more frustrating is you could employ none of this knowledge to enjoy the show more. None of the explanations helped the viewer agreement what was going on in a battle better or let you work out what was going on yourself. Even with the knowledge of magic I gained, it never became useful to know for anything else. It wasn't building lore either since it felt more often than not like reading from a highly slow textbook. So what was the point of these lengthy magical explanations?

The caption is pretty easy actually. Yous know in Kill la Impale one of the characters would have an explanation as to why Matoi Ryuko gained this incredible power of hers, delving into theories about life fibres and so on, until Mako would burst in and yell "so what you're saying is Ryuko has awesome powers", turning the entire previous chat into a hilarious joke that outlined that none of it was really important? That's Mahouka's magical explanations except it'south explaining why Tatsuya is totally awesome. Also it'southward not played as a joke.

What these magical explanations also do is brand Mahouka very dull to look at. The vast majority of the show is talking heads with no artistry put into their presentation. The magical fights are every bit pretty ho-hum with no interesting fight choreography. In general Mahouka is pretty bland visually and doesn't have not bad animation either. The music, since I'm on the subject area of production values, is too pretty banal. A bunch of generic jpop for OP/ED and insert songs is the most it can muster. The pacing is also atrocious, in particular during the center and boringest arc, and over again I can attribute this generally to these Tatsuya-appealing sessions of lengthy magical explanations that ultimately pb to no conclusion beyond Mako yelling "then what you lot're saying is Tatsuya is totally awesome correct".

There's also a whole load of nitpicky problems. 1 that bewitched me was the show's weirdly conservative treatment of women. Tatsuya'due south sister is madly in love with him, but oddly that didn't bother me as well much considering it's merely another method the bear witness uses to appeal to Tatsuya. No what I'm referring to is the weird way anytime a woman would article of clothing something other than the most pare-covering wearable, a character would comment on how they should cover upward and stop being such a muddied whore. Usually by Tatsuya, considering he'south a admirer *tips fedora*. All while the camera pans lovingly up the underdressed adult female's pare and makes their boobs really shiny. Information technology's a small thing, but it compounds with lots of other piffling things that make me really start to resent the author.

I actually tried scraping through my retentivity banks to find something I liked about the show, only I could come up with nothing. I mostly just constitute more and more than nitpicky problems the farther I probed. The character designs are bland to the point that I kept mixing up characters. Information technology has too many characters in general and in that location were a large chunk of them for whom I didn't understand their purpose. That one episode where the student council leader gave a speech during a contend that solved cypher but somehow their opposition thought they were defeated by this incredibly speech communication. How boring the presentation of the magical sports were and how bloody long they kept showing them. Peradventure the closest I tin think of as a adept thing almost Mahouka is how, by the cease, Tatsuya's power goes beyond the point of even self-parody. So what, one wry smile from the whole show, and even that is an ironic one?

Here'southward a suggestion for you if yous're thinking of watching Mahouka. Puff your cheeks out. Now stick your tongue out slightly. Now blow air out of your rima oris and so it escapes under your natural language. This should cause your tongue to make a rasping dissonance, non unlike to that of a fart. Congratulations. You lot take now washed something more fun that watching Mahouka with well-nigh equally much artistic merit.

Jul 5, 2015

26 of 26 episodes seen

Overall	ix
Story	8
Animation	nine
Sound	7
Graphic symbol	8
Enjoyment	10

Alright, despite giving a score of 9, allow me to make this perfectly clear, THIS SHOULD NOT BE WATCHED BY Anybody!!! There are three very crucial aspects to this prove that grade a scissure among the viewers. If you are able to tolerate or relish these aspects, spotter this show. If y'all observe these elements unbearable then yous should definitely walk abroad because they are ubiquitous throughout the entirety of the 26 episodes.
I: An over-powered protagonist. When I say over-powered I mean it in the about literal sense possible. This guy does not lose, ever. He'due south a genius with combat capabilities surpassing every other person we encounter inside the show. This globe practically fabricated him a god. Someone tell Kira to take notes because becoming this guy is how you really conquer the world. You will never have to ponder who will sally the victor, the contest was won equally soon as our hero decided to brand his appearance. If this aspect will bother y'all, DO NOT Picket THIS Bear witness!!! This never proved bothersome to me. I accustomed the simple fact that this narrative would have a god in the driver'south seat and simply enjoyed watching the moments when the other characters realized the true power our protagonist held.
II: Exposition heavy dialogue. The dialogue tin be said to bore some people to tears with the snail-like pace it moves at. In this story information technology'southward not just that magic exists, no, at that place is a system to it. This system that is more akin to scientific discipline than the traditional wizards and wands style. The specifics of this organisation of magic, it'southward integration into society, the social standing of those who tin can use magic, all of it is explored through the dialogue. A fight with magic will occur and the next 10 minutes volition be a give-and-take of the fight. History, politics, and a magic that behaves as science are all explored in heavy item. If that sounds monotonous, pass on this championship. Personally, I found this fascinating. I loved that the author took time to craft a world filled with detail and societal nuances.
Iii: Hints towards an incestuous relationship betwixt the ii main characters. With the main characters being an elder brother and sis who are very close, incestuous hints are littered throughout their interactions and thoughts. This never impacted my enjoyment in the slightest, it'south a work of fiction, not myself. I can separate my ain actions from that of the characters. Not to mention the simple fact that I could not think of any reason as to why incest is fundamentally wrong (potential genetic issues in offspring irrelevant, reproduction not mutually inclusive), but I digress. If you dislike seeing siblings with a human relationship that seems to become beyond the standard definition of a sibling relationship, then do non click play on that first episode.
For all of you who find yourselves unperturbed by the same elements and so by all means, keep reading. Now, onto the standard format for reviewing on this site:

Story: 8
This story is far from unique. Two new students showing up to a school and taking an ax to the beliefs and perceptions of the unabridged pupil body is cipher new. These siblings get in and the foundations that anybody believed to be stable are shifted. That beingness said, I loved the execution of this concept in the world the author created. In my exposition portion I mentioned that this earth has an incredible amount of detail to it. Said detail is exactly why I love the idea of shaking the roots order stands upon. The schoolhouse has a very discriminate social continuing that our master characters are able to shatter.
Outside of the schoolhouse itself we too take the governmental structure of Japan, foreign nations and terrorist groups, etc, etc. These components were all stacked together to build a world that felt real.
The narrative of this testify is arc-based. This shouldn't be surprising given that lite novels serve as the source fabric. The arcs follow a logical sequence of time and progression, so a drastic disconnect between the episodes never seemed to exist.

Art: 9
The animation was fantastic. Madhouse in one case again came through in extraordinary mode. The movement was fluid which was especially noticeable in the combat scenes. The dorsum-drops were pleasant and the color palette was rich without feeling exceedingly vibrant.
The grapheme designs are likewise something I found particularly nice. It's an absolute fact that about men are going to be larger than women. Greater peak, broader shoulders, simple size and body mass. Even so all also often this central truth is all but forgotten in the globe of anime. Simply non in this serial, no, the characters in this series are for the most role correctly proportioned. This also applies to females in the sense that they weren't erroneously sized in their bust. Not being a fan-service prove that may seem to be normal, but even then this show felt real in regards to how the characters were built. The remainder of the character designs (faces, pilus, etc, etc) were also pleasant. You won't detect exceedingly wacky hair styles or colors. The majority of the main and supporting cast were fairly individualistic in design, but there are a few noticeable exceptions where two characters volition appear to be carbon copies of one some other.
Oh, and a special notation: Coolest school uniforms e'er. The end.

Sound: 7
There's not too much I can say in this department. The OST was adept, but at the same time information technology wasn't particularly special. Featuring a lot of techno music each scene was complimented well.
The voice acting was also solid. The respective actors managed to express the unique qualities of their characters. Their performances weren't too stand-out or deserving of excessive praise, but at the cease of the solar day I could say they did a proficient chore.

Characters: eight
This score is probably pretty surprising. I mean, with an over-powered chief character at that place'south no way he could actually exist a good character, right? Well, this is where I disagree with many people. I am not one to say that "over-powered" and "bad character" are mutually inclusive terms. They tin can exist synonymous, sure, but no subjective thought could ever be set in rock. Tatsuya Shiba, or as I like to phone call him - Japan'southward lord and savior, is a 16 year old genius who comes across as very at-home and apathetic. He possesses about no magical analogousness only yet shows upwards at the magic high-school to report as an engineer. His combat capabilities bated, I think Tatsuya is a adept grapheme. He may come across equally just a tiresome lump of clay with a sister-complex, but as we come up to learn of his dry out humor, logical mode of thinking, and straight mannerisms, my perception of him as a character was altered. He never undergoes whatsoever sort of development, simply we do become insight into his past, learning why he is who he is, discovering why he holds his sister so shut to his heart. His emotionless attitude becomes sympathetic, bordering on tragic.
Then we have his sis, Miyuki Shiba. Her graphic symbol can be summed up equally this: "Onii-sama". (And go used to that name, you'll hear it a lot.) I kid, I child, Miyuki harbors farthermost beloved for her brother (so much and so that it might as well he obsession), merely she does take a few additional aspects that make up her personality. (The name nonetheless stands, though. Many, many times will "Onii-sama" grace your auditory glands). Miyuki is in part the ideal girl. She'southward intelligent, capable, well-spoken, beautiful, her genetics and upbringing ensured she would be nothing but the best. She's also a girl who holds a great deal of resentment towards her family, simultaneously feeling farthermost gratitude towards her blood brother. She has a massive brother complex and well-nigh of her actions are taken in an attempt to assistance her brother or brand him proud of her. However, I do think that I am in the minority for finding Miyuki to exist an interesting grapheme. The large majority of those who scout this show find her to be bothersome and annoying. Simply fear not if you happen to be 1 of those who find her irksome, her initial presentation in the first few episodes changes slightly, accompanied by less screen time as the episodes progress.
The supporting bandage is fairly large. You have the corresponding councils inside the schoolhouse, the normal students, armed forces personnel, family members of students, etc. None of the supporting cast are particularly deep characters, merely I wouldn't classify them equally complete cliches either. On first glance these characters will seem to fall into a general archetype. Contrary to that initial perception, withal, these characters do not fall into the pitfall that is stereotyping. As I said though, they are lacking in depth. Whilst walking the path of a character, Mahouka's managed to get past the trap of cliches, merely stopped short of the span of evolution. One element I loved about the cast on the whole was their perception and forcefulness. Tatsuya volition definitely steal the spot-lite, but these characters are all skilled in their own regards Some fights they will manage lonely, some explanations volition come from their own lips. Tatsuya is ultimately the one who will salve the solar day, but prior to his arrival we witness the remarkably adept capabilities of the cast.
A special shout-out for the best girl that is Mayumi Saegusa. The adorable student quango president and the merely character capable of trolling Tatsuya to the same caliber he trolls others.

Enjoyment: 10
I won't prevarication, I initially turned this testify on after looking up shows with a bad-ass protagonist. I had watched 1 too many series with a weak male that had to exist protected. One likewise many series where the protagonist was the only character to over-react to a situation. This show was a fulfillment of my wish to non watch a spiky-haired pansy become his donkey kicked. I never expected an emotional narrative with compelling themes and deep symbolism, I only wanted a protagonist that would kick donkey in a spectacular fashion, and this show delivered. The copious exposition was just a bonus for me who loves detailed earth building.

Overall: 9
I loved this show. The sheer amount of "Holy shit that was awesome" moments fabricated this show keen. From the kickoff episode I never looked to see who would win, I simply wanted to see how many jaws Tatsuya could drib when he showed the globe how he won.
All in all, if you lot want to watch two siblings who dear each other very much boot some ass, accompanied by friends that talk about how the two siblings just kicked donkey, watch this immediately.

Sep 29, 2014

26 of 26 episodes seen

Overall	4
Story	0
Animation	0
Sound	0
Character	0
Enjoyment	0

The conception of "perfection" we previously had is going to change, considering later watching Shiba Tatsuya (the protagonists show) in action, the give-and-take we used to draw the type of character which is sightly too powerful among his peers, overpowered, is going to be "Onii-sama" from now on. With Shiba Tatsuya, better known as Onii-sama, we reach a level of perfection never seen before in the anime industry, characters nosotros reputed equally OP, notable recent examples such equally Kirigaya Kazuto (Sword Art Online) or Gilgamesh (Fate/Zero), are practically nothing next to our glorious Onii-sama, capable of turning the Impossible into something actually possible.

> Is a problem an OP character as main then?

To that question I reply: "not necessary", since an overpowered chief grapheme isn't a big iceberg plenty to sink an entire transport, we have plot development and side characters after all; and overpowered isn't a synonymous of " Bad", sometimes is good to lookout man a master character that isn't completely a weakling, only problems comes when the plot'southward development is nothing more than a serial of events fabricated to emphasize the greatness of our main characters, plural, because Onii-sama didn't descended from Sky solitary, there is his sister, the chief female person protagonist, Shiba Miyuki, another example of accented perfection, to accompany him in his journeys.

> So this is an anime almost these perfect couple of siblings and nil more than?

We aren't that far to describe this show with that phrase up here, but actually there isn't a meliorate phrase to draw this evidence neither, since the anime I'll now introduce you is going to be the anime with the most perfect chief protagonist I've seen in my whole life, and every bit you've probably noted, the word 'perfect' isn't used with a positive tone in this review. I'll now claim that I oasis't read the LN, this is going to be my judgement from what I've seen in this adaptation.

This show is attack the year 2095 d.c, after the conclusion of the 3rd World State of war and the introduction of the Magic System, magician isn't a term anymore related to fairy tails, Scientific discipline and Applied science converged into what we now call Magic. Society adult itself around this new class of Scientific discipline, and this lead the necessity to create new generations of youngsters capable of crafting this new kind of scientific discipline, so Magic High Schools were born. This show follows a particular brother and sister, fresh enrolled in the First Magic Loftier Schoolhouse (there are only 9 in the country) at the beginning of the offset episode.

"We're not the same"

As everything that isn't "compatible" in the Order, it creates a fracture between the population, racism in few words, and Magic is not the exception. Some individuals are more capable of others, that is a fact, and so is also related to Magic. People who show an incredible magic ability form the Course 1 in the High School, and the others, less capable, form the Form 2. Somehow Onii-sama sucked at the enrollment test score and ended in the Class 2, the then called "Weed" class, meanwhile Miyuki concluded in the Course i, the "Bloom" class. How a perfect existence such every bit Onii-sama ended in the class 2?, that will exist explained through the show, something I'll non reveal, let's go on going. Funny fact that actually all Onii-sama's friends, course ii people, are to a higher place the course 1 students in matters of skill combat and magic. This is the classic shounen pattern where all the protagonist's friends are better than everyone else and salve the world, with the departure that only Onii-sama is able to save the day here, the rest aren't of any use actually.

In this 26 episodes adaptation from the best-seller Low-cal Novel, in that location are adapted three arcs, each of them, naturally, revolving around Onii-sama and his friends dealing with an unexpected conflict, unnaturally always is Onii-sama the heart of everything that happens in this prove, leading the viewers to ask themselves a such bones question as:

> "If Onii-sama doesn't want his true identity being revealed, why does he go along trying everything to be in the spotlights every time?"

Such a 1000000 dollar question sadly didnt get an answer, events just keep happening and Onii-sama always saving the 24-hour interval, in the most perfect possible way. And that just seem to be irony, since a characteristic of this bear witness is that of explaining EVERYTHING, well...at least the things related to magic spells, magic sequences and effects. Practically a huge time was spent on explaining things that aren't existent and somewhat irrelevant for the evolution of the story, time that surely could take been spend in a more than useful and productive mode.

The cast of characters was surely wide, we have practically a character for every kind of stereotype. There's the glasses daughter, the tomboy, the cute and moe girl, the silent girl, the tusndere, the Student Quango President, the best protagonist's friend, the bad guy who didn't take the protagonist merely later he accepts him, the rival, ect ect ect. Really none of them had an important function in this show, since its all about Onii-sama, but nosotros're able to notice something in common between them, possibly the but reason why the author decided to create side characters for this prove, and that would be: "to praise Onii-sama and his sister". Really that may sound like a joke but believe me when I tell you it isn't, every single side grapheme in every single episode, when they aren't wasting time explaining Magic related things, that remaining time is spend on praising Onii-sama for x, y and z reason, a fact that I establish overly higher up the ridiculous level.

By the other side at that place's no need to spend a lot of words for our sibling protagonists, there'due south only a word capable of containing all their essences, 'Perfect'. Onii-sama is good at everything possible imaginable, every presented female character falls for him but he doesn't have eyes for whatever of them, considering Onii-sama cares a lot about his sister, and that was stated several times through the show. Meanwhile Miyuki is his female person analogue, a beautiful immature girl which excels in Magic and in everything she does, I'll only finish here to write virtually them, since my writing skills are manner too far of being perfect to describe this pair of siblings in the proper way.

When it comes to Animation and Sound, at least, this anime isn't mediocre, animation is fabricated by Madhouse, characteristic trademark of this studio is the loftier quality animation of its adaptations. The actions scenes were quite fluid and very well done, camera angles and sudden zoom ins and zoom outs were coordinated very well, also as the OST fitting them, electric-rock oriented, we tin can't say its perfect as our protagonists only we can say its done quite well, to a higher place average for certain. OPs and EDs were quite nice, Rising Hope past LiSA was past far my favorite vocal from this evidence.

At some point of this prove I couldn't have seriously anything that was happening, too much perfection, events emphasized to show how great the Shiba siblings were, also much useless explanations, pathetic side characters, and a lot of details I didn't mention because they're spoilers, overall is a quite interesting anime that shows how would exist to have a perfect MC gaining the praise for each side character presented, something completely original I must say, null that I've seen come close to what I've seen in this anime simply this is not surely something I would experience to recommend to people.

Sep 27, 2014

26 of 26 episodes seen

Overall	7
Story	vi
Blitheness	8
Sound	9
Character	7
Enjoyment	eight

Ready in 2095, magic is now a course of technology and science. After the 3rd world state of war, magic wielders were high in need in the globe to defend their individual countries from farther anarchy. Mahouka follows ii siblings, Tatsuya and Miyuki Shiba, who are enrolled in Fist Loftier Schoolhouse. Based on enrolment examination scores, the blood brother becomes a Weed, a presumed low-achieving magician, while his little sis becomes a Flower, a presumed high-achiever in magic. Notwithstanding, in that location's more to these two siblings than as showtime thought. And school life at Beginning Loftier Schoolhouse will no longer be the same...

And thus, the most anticipated, simply highly controversial, anime of the leap flavour has reached its decision. Controversial in the fact that this series ranged from "Mahouka is the best anime e'er!" to "Wow, this serial is complete BS." So how did it truly plow out? Was information technology every bit good every bit the dice-difficult fans claim it was? What about the opinions of the critics who truly despise this serial? I notice that Mahouka truly fits in betwixt the two; it's neither really skilful, nor really bad. Information technology was notwithstanding a somewhat enjoyable anime series that I didn't regret watching.

  Before I begin, I will say that there'south a high chance that you may cease up existence in either of the aforementioned polarizing sides. To make things a bit easier, for those who really like and would but sentinel a huge action-packed series with an adventurous plot, non-stop fight scenes, and emotional characters like some shounens have, you probably want to cease reading this review and detect another anime serial. The relatively tiresome-paced Mahouka will actually bore you actually fast, and would DEFINITELY not be for yous. I probably weeded out a few of you lot, and you lot'll thank me for it. Now, I tin can't guarantee that this review will exist spoiler free, but permit's dwell a chip further into this serial, shall nosotros?

Story
Mahouka focuses on two chief leads, who are the Shiba siblings, Tatsuya and Miyuki. The serial is split into three arcs, each having a specific school event attached to them (enrolment, a school contest, and a thesis competition). The general idea of Mahouka is that conflict arises, usually from a specialized group having ulterior motives for magic, preventing these school events from going as calm and smoothly as planned, and the students from First High School and other acquaintances will have to deal with them. Conflict doesn't happen immediately, yet; everything is set with loads of dialogue and explanations. Unfortunately, the huge corporeality of gear up up tin can turn stale for some viewers.

The biggest problem about Mahouka is definitely its pacing. Some would find this series to be incredibly slow due to all the explanations and dialogue used to prepare a conflict, especially as a shounen anime. This is highly prominent in the first arc. Later, the events in the story became extremely rushed, which happened most frequently in the second arc. Near magic was no longer explained in its entirety, and some prior background have been omitted at times. I ended up consulting lite novel readers a few times of what I just witnessed. Regardless of your stance on Mahouka, this is easily the biggest flaw. I like to turn that around and use it every bit a mode to say that this series is unpredictable in nature because of this pacing. Yous don't know what will Mahouka bring the next episode, but even this can exist a relatively frustrating process, especially considering that the plot had very good potential to be corking. In all, the story was executed well to a sure extent, but it definitely could of been meliorate. Viewers will have to acknowledge this imminent flaw should they decide to take the plunge to this series.

However, each arc does accept some pretty interesting perks in the story. There were very well thought out concepts for all the arcs, but the third arc of the series (Episodes xviii-26) was easily my favourite. Of class, I won't say what happens then, but for me, the final arc fabricated the series a worthwhile sentry. It might be frustrating to have to consult LN readers at times to know some background facts that Madhouse has omitted, besides as a lot of confusing bits here and in that location, just it'southward flushed out enough to at least requite a small sense of satisfaction at the end to the typical anime watcher such as myself. half dozen/ten

 Art
No complaints here. The art manner is very typical of shounen anime, and instances where the animation quality gets noticeably bad is extremely rare. Action scenes are fluid and flashy, while the grapheme designs are very cool and slick. Honestly, those are some pretty badass school uniforms. In that location's nothing well-nigh the art and blitheness that really stands out compared to other series, but it gets the job done, and does the job well. I actually give Madhouse credit for the swell animation quality of this series. eight/ten

Audio
Some other one of the better points of this anime. Mahouka has a huge bandage of characters (which will be explained afterward), and Madhouse pretty much recruited the best of the best to vocalisation them. No character sounds bad-mannered or out of place, as nearly match their individual grapheme'due south personality very well. I mean, it's like a dream squad of all-star seiyuus, including Yuichi Nakamura (Tatsuya), Saori Hayami (Miyuki), and Kana Hanazawa (Mayumi), just to name a few. A job well washed to all the voice actors and actresses involved in this series.

 LiSA's "Rise Promise" is arguably one of, if not, THE best opening song of Bound Anime 2014, while GARDiNELiA's "grilletto" stands up as one of the better opening songs for Summer 2014. The catastrophe themes are decent too, merely sometimes, the catastrophe scene of an episode does not transition well into the song, especially when suspense was attempted to be made. Mahouka'southward OST is proficient in general, and definitely sounds very shounen-like. A skillful plus side of the series. 9/x

  Characters
Now, this is the second category that many individuals critic about Mahouka. The story focuses on Tatsuya Shiba and Miyuki Shiba, 2 characters that are, for some reason, really hated by a lot of people out there. Do the Shiba siblings make or break the series? For some, there is that gamble. So I'll explicate the pair to the best of my abilities, alongside the other characters of serial, and notation the places where some people detest about them.

 Tatsuya is enrolled into the Commencement High School equally a weed. This would mean that he's presumably weak in magic, right? Wrong. Rather, this guy is seriously overpowered. Nosotros definitely can question how on earth was he adamant to be an inferior weed in the first place due to these placement tests. The problem some people have over Tatsuya is that he is claimed to exist just some other "Gary Stu". He only seems to get more and more OP as the series progresses, making him pretty much the "perfect" protagonist. I personally don't think he's completely perfect; he comes at the cost that he rarely develops emotionally. Tatsuya in a sense doesn't feel human being, which does make it hard for him to fit with his classmates and live a perfectly normal school life with his petty sister. His lack of human emotions is definitely a conflict that he must always get through, and is something that is explored throughout the series.

Tatsuya'due south mysterious nature definitely creates some suspense in Mahouka. We know Tatsuya is great, but merely HOW good he is? What skills will exist pull off adjacent? The enigma that is Tatsuya really makes viewers wonder just who the hell he actually is. How many things he can pull of his sleeve is pretty damn incredible. Heck, his classmates don't really know who he really is equally well later. Tatsuya is an enigmatic character, but whether this is an enjoyable trait is definitely up to the viewer.

 Miyuki is the other master character, who is perhaps as controversial as his older brother. Miyuki is your beautiful, smart and kind female character that many look upwards to. However, her personality and ideals in full general, like Tatsuya, are very unproblematic. Some may debate that it's even bland. Oh, and she may have a slight bro-con for Tatsuya. I'm pretty sure all the complaints that Madhouse got over her cries of "Onii-sama" ended upwards having her get less screen fourth dimension later in the series. Now, it definitely isn't as blackness and white as this; still, Madhouse unfortunately does not dwell into this further, which is something that I'll be looking into in the light novels. I do similar Miyuki, by and large because of her sincerity and well-mannered demeanour, while getting notable roles in the story besides. Withal, I'll notation that both Tatsuya and Miyuki barely undergo development throughout the serial, at least emotionally and a character as a whole. If you lot get frustrated near characters who really only develop in terms of OPness, then this probably won't be the series for you. For others who don't mind, you lot're in for a care for.

 The supporting cast is very cool, just they are the supporting bandage for a reason. After all, Mahouka centres around Tatsuya and Miyuki the most, who are relatively mysterious but simple individuals in the first identify. Some characters appear in episodes to glue some parts of the story together, but they don't get quite enough spotlight to have them fully develop. Over again, a lack of character development may be a flaw of this series for some viewers, but that would exist way also much to put in a 26-episode serial, especially considering that some parts were already feeling rushed. There's at to the lowest degree enough of a blueprint for all the supporting characters to be able to choice a favourite. I personally love the educatee quango president Mayumi myself, but I was slightly disappointed that she didn't go that much fourth dimension to develop as a graphic symbol. Overall, this huge bandage of characters is prissy, only unfortunate sacrifices had to be made in order to prevent these 3 arcs from stretching over xl episodes. 7/10

   Personal Enjoyment
This series is flawed, aye. The pacing of the story is my biggest business, with a somewhat lack of character evolution beingness another. Only I did take the motivation to continue and look forrard for the next episode. I personally institute the series to be quite enlightening, and there was enough substance for me to be intrigued to continue in watching, even if I know there was quite a few things incorrect nearly it. The concept of Mahouka is very dainty, although Madhouse may have not brought it out to its full potential. I do look forrad to reading the light novels and keep the series from there.   8/x

  Overall
On a completely realistic overview, grapheme and story must exist weighed more than the art and sound of an anime series. The former may exist the weaker points of the series, but it definitely isn't As bad as some people say information technology is, nor you should write if off only because of the flaws I've listed above. This is a series where you really take to come across it to give a proper opinion on it. Don't inflate your expectations, or you will be disappointed. If you are interested enough after the first few episodes, I'll say that yous'll be on the road to watching a pretty nice series. Will information technology accident you away? No. Will this exist a waste of your time? Mostly probable no as well. All in all, despite some flaws, it has been a pleasance watching Mahouka, and I hope some of you lot will consider watching this series as well!

Last score: seven/10

(First review, experience free to requite some feedback!)

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