The Irregular at Magic High School, known in Japanese as Mahōka Kōkō no Rettōsei (魔法科高校の劣等生, lit. "The Poor Performing Student of a Magic High School"), is a Japanese web novel series by Tsutomu Satō. It was published on Shōsetsuka ni Narō, an internet web novel website, between October 2008 and March 2011. Satō reached a deal with Dengeki Bunko and began releasing his work in a light novel format beginning July 2011. In 2013, each story arc received a manga adaptation with varying manga artists and publishers. That same year, an anime adaptation by Madhouse was announced and was broadcast between April and September 2014. The Irregular at Magic High School franchise had been localized for English by two companies: The light novels and one of the manga adaptations are licensed by Yen Press while Aniplex of America licensed the anime series. The anime series was simulcasted on four networks, and was later made available on Netflix.
The story takes place in an alternate history where magic exists and is polished through modern technology. It follows Tatsuya and Miyuki Shiba, siblings who enroll into First High magic high school. While keeping their connections to the infamous Yotsuba clan secret, they attempt to live their daily life in peace where Tatsuya is shunned for his apparent ineptness and Miyuki is validated for her magical abilities.
The series has been well received. The light novels appeared on Sugoi Japan's 2015 polls and since 2011, is one of the top selling series in Japan with 5.3 million copies sold as of 2014. In addition, its manga and anime adaptations also appeared on top selling charts. English reviewers had mixed to negative reception towards the anime adaptation. The complex technicality of magic within the series was received warmly but the exposition was criticized for being heavy, unclear, and poorly executed.
Plot
The series is set in a world with an alternate history, where magic exists and has been polished through modern technology. However, the ability to use magic is determined by genetics, limiting the amount of magicians in existence. Following the Third World War, the world's superpowers shifted to these four nations: The United States of North America (USNA), New Soviet Union, the Great Asian Alliance, and Japan. In Japan, the magic community is informally governed by the ten master clans in lieu of the government. Due to the limited amount of magicians, they are treated as commodity and are forced to enter magic related schools and professions. Nine magic high schools exist in Japan; they each specialize in different aspects of magic and are simply referred to by their numbers.
The story follows Tatsuya Shiba, a bodyguard to his sister Miyuki Shiba who is also a candidate to succeed the master clan, Yotsuba. They enroll into First High School which segregates its students based on their magical abilities. Miyuki is enlisted as a first course student and is viewed as one of the best students, while Tatsuya is in the second course and considered to be magically inept. However, Tatsuya's technical knowledge, combat abilities, and unique magic techniques causes people to view him as an irregular to the school's standardized rankings.
Characters
Main characters
Tatsuya Shiba (司波 達也 Shiba Tatsuya) and Miyuki Shiba (司波 深雪 Shiba Miyuki)
Tatsuya and Miyuki are siblings of the same year and children to Tatsurou Shiba and the late Miya Yotsuba; their parents had a loveless forced marriage, and when their mother died, their father married his mistress, Sayuri Furuha, leaving the siblings to live by themselves. Maya Yotsuba, their aunt and the leader of the Yotsuba, was the reason Tatsuya was born with the unique magic to decompose, reconstruct, and detonate matter. Out of fear, the Yotsuba rallied for Tatsuya's death, forcing Miya and Maya to take measures to ensure his survival: the first was Miyuki's creation, a powerful magician who will act as a seal to Tatsuya's power; the second is to magically dull Tatsuya's emotions except for his familial love towards Miyuki; and the third was to assign Tatsuya to be Miyuki's bodyguard in order to develop his sense of loyalty towards her. During a family vacation in Okinawa, Tatsuya wards off an invasion by the Great Asian Alliance and joins the 101 Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion which is headed by major Kazama Harunobu. At some point during his life, Tatsuya developed an interest in engineering magical technology and commercialized revolutionary technology through his family's company, Four Leaves Technology, under the identity Taurus Silver. He is voiced by Yuichi Nakamura.
Miyuki is considered one of the strongest magicians in the world and is a candidate to succeed the Yotsuba. Her specialty is freezing magic, and her unique magic allows her to freeze a person's consciousness. In addition, half of her magic casting abilities is used to seal Tatsuya's powers. Before the family vacation in Okinawa, Miyuki treated Tatsuya coldly akin to how the other Yotsuba clan members did. She begins to warm up to him and when Tatsuya saves her life, devotes her existence to him. It evolves to the point she disdains the touch of other males and expresses jealousy towards females around Tatsuya.LN 11.15 Genetically different from Tatsuya, despite being born from the same parents, Miyuki professes her love to him following their engagement under Maya's orders. She is voiced by Saori Hayami.
In the polls by Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!, both Tatsuya and Miyuki ranked as one of the most popular light novel characters. Outside of the franchise, Tatsuya and Miyuki also appear in Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax.
No comments:
Post a Comment