This special is par for the course when it comes to the Mahouka franchise - bad However it fulfils an interesting role in that it is the missing link to understanding who Tatsuya is, how he came to be, and his relationship with Miyuki. I'll get more into that later (spoilers I guess), but now for my surface level problems. As usual the show has an over-narration problem. Miyuki narrates throughout the whole anime and it's used as a means of dropping meaningless exposition and lore dumps and telling us things that really should have been conveyed from the direction and animation instead. The entire Mahouka animefranchise is what I'd call a well animated visual novel with action scenes.
Now from a construction standpoint I have two more gripes. First is the framing of the story. Having present day Miyuki and Tatsuya flying to the island and reminiscing about the past is a terrible way to frame an origin story because it provides a context that disconnects us from what is happening. It would have been better to begin in the past and immerse us in the story, and then timeskip at the end to present day to remind us of how these characters have grown and where they're going.
The second gripe is the plot itself. It doesn't really exist. There is no act structure of any kind. Tatsuya is introduced. Various events happen that affect Miyuki in various ways, Tatsuya gets to flex, there's a big battle, and Miyuki's arc is brought up to the status quo that will kick start the rest of the series. It's a terrible, uninspired way to tell a story and as a result the special has no real momentum or driving energy to it. And no you can't call this a "slice of life" side story since there is already plenty of action and plot progression (albiet incredibly botched). It's just a very bad regular story
As for the fact that this is supposedly an origin story, there are problems with this as a concept, and most of them are not necessarily adaptational issues but general issues with the story itself.
First of all, if you have an origin story, what is the best way to deliver it? Typically speaking you would want to start from the beginning, establish who your characters were, and explain how your characters became who they are now. However the special begins after Tatsuya has already become an OP God. It only covers Tatsuya and Miyuki becoming acquainted and forming the incestuous sibling duo so many fans know and (supposedly) love. So why then do I call it an origin story if it's not really an origin story at all? That's because it drops all of Tatsuya's origins in an information dump in the last 10 minutes. This was a terrible idea for several reasons. First of all, we didn't get to see Tatsuya before he underwent surgery and became an emotionless OP god, so we don't really understand what Tatsuya lost in order to become who he is. We've only ever known the god Tatsuya and not the person who he was before, so we aren't given any reason to care about his origin apart from the fact that it sounds cool.
The implication of this is that it makes it less meaningful when Miyuki learns of his origins because we can only empathise with his suffering on a surface level.
Another issue here is with the way his mother views Tatsuya. Because he can't do "proper magic" Tatsuya is considered lesser and therefore not worthy to be anything other than a bodyguard for Miyuki. However as we see in this special, and even more so in the rest of the show, he is practically speaking a better asset to the Yotsuba clan than Miyuki has been, and far, far more useful than pretty much every other character we've met thus far in the anime. So while I can understand why on a political standpoint he doesn't have the qualifications to be the next leader, I fail to understand what meaningful reason his own mother would have to look down on him as a failure. While the reasoning may legitimately exist in the source material it's very poorly communicated considering this is the foundation for the entire story going forwards.
overall, this is a poorly directed, poorly written, poorly characterised, but well animated mahouka special. Ie: a generic Mahouka special
Recommended
WATCH THIS SPECIAL BEFORE THE MOVIE AND SECOND SEASON! Story: 7.5 This light novel Volume (8) was one of my favorite in the series story-wise. This anime was not. This arc in the anime was good, but the first season was better. A big part of this was the shift from Madhouse to 8Bit which brought a new director, the same one who jumbled up the visitor arc. Without going into spoiler territory, the light novel was much more interesting because the storytelling was not linear. It jumped between right where the Visitor arc left off and a few years prior on the island, aswell as Maya’s childhood. It gave a whole backstory for the Yotsuba clan and why guardians exist which better explains the nature of Tatsuya and Miyuki’s relationship, As well as Maya and Miya, the chapter where Maya’s childhood and the Yotsuba’s history is expanded upon is called “Untouchable — The Nightmare of 2062.” It also had this very tense moment between Tatsuyas and Maya which was very exciting. The director did do a good job this time making the story flow well but I just can’t see anything good coming with the continuation of these content cuts. I actually enjoyed the anime original content at the end of the visitor arc but I would have much preferred the cut content. Why can’t we have both? I feel like we’re straying too far off course from the light novel. The next season was announced but I am assuming it is still with 8bit so I hope they somehow include “The Nightmare of 2062” in the next season and correct some of the changes in the visitor arc to get back on track.
Art: 9.5 It is important to distinguish art from animation. The animation was pretty good, with no major flaws or anything, but nothing special. I didn’t notice any obvious bad CG or anything. What is special is the art. The character designs are some of the most beautiful I’ve seen and the style is elegantly refined. After watching “Mahouka koukou no Yuutousei” it is especially nice to see Miyuki return to her former glory, the art style in that anime was attempting to follow the manga but it looked terrible. In this special, all the main characters looked fantastic. Pretty much any random screenshot of Miyuki, especially when she is in the foreground, is screenshot-worthy. It was also a treat to see more of Ayako dressed up. This also might be one of if not the first times we are seeing Miya’s character design and it looks phenomenal.
Sound: 9 The music is obviously composed by Iwasaki Taku and it is amazing as ever. His techy music has always been perfect for Mahouka. Magic battles would not be the same without him. The only real complaint is that most of the special has very little large-scale magic until the last quarter. His high-tech music doesn’t quite fit with the hand-to-hand combat quite as well. I noticed this most in the fight where Tatsuya is defending Miyuki near the water. Also, the voice acting is a bit strange. I think someone needs to remind Nakamura that Tatsuya is barely a middle schooler. He sounds at least 40. Hayami is doing a bit better sounding young but it is all a bit forced. Maybe it’s good that the music sometimes drowns out the speaking because the music is the best part.
Character: 8 Everyone I talk to who has only watched the anime seems to think of Tatsuya as a bland MC/Self-insert which is not really true but understandable to a certain degree. I am hoping as the story goes along viewers will start to understand how likable and commendable he is. This special won’t change everyone’s mind right away but it is certainly a step in the right direction. Miyuki has always fawned over Tatsuya in the anime so it is honestly refreshing to see her before she realized the power of godsuya. The only critique I have is that she changed her mind way too fast. Like for her whole life, she didn’t like him but after like 30 minutes she starts to have a crush on him and won’t leave his side? I wish her character developed a bit more slowly.
Enjoyment: 8 I found it really fun and a bit sad in the end. The fights are good and honestly seeing Ayako just once doubled my enjoyment. She is just such a fun character. I really wish they wouldn’t have cut “The Nightmare of 2062,” that and Tatsuya’s tea time with Maya were both cut which definitely drops my enjoyment.
OVERALL: 8.5 The thing that really made me enjoy this anime was at 17:23 when Mitsugu glared at Tatsuya. Around light novel volume 16 you will learn why Mitsugu is scared of/holds animosity towards Tatsuya. This little detail of his eyes shows how much attention to detail was put into this. Foreshadowing like this makes the anime so much more enjoyable for those who read ahead and gives me hope that they are planning to adapt all the novels. Overall I think this special should have been released way before the movie and visitor arc but I’m glad it’s here now.
Recommended
The special is great, but there are some parts in the manga that would have been epic if they added it on the anime but overall it is great, it really shows the backstory of Tatsuya and I would have love it even more if they show more demon light action (kinda epic when the enemy gets disintegrated into dust.) They announced another sequel and I cant wait for it. I have already read both the manga and the light novel and it never cease to amaze me. I really do hope that they continue this series, it is a masterpiece that not many peopleknow about outside japan. I would love to rewatch the whole series again. The animators, the staff, and everyone working behind the scene did an amazing job for this series. 100/10 it cured my depression.
rorobert788
February 28, 2023
Recommended
Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Tsuioku-hen (2021) As far as films covering a backstory goes this was greatly done. I appreciate most of what happens here is spoken about in various episodes of the existing anime beforehand but at least here it is all put together and also has a visual viewing rather than a story on its own. The art is the same as the show always is, I love this. It doesn't change apart from being more polished which again I love. Some shows change art between seasons from different companies and it kind of ruins the feeling unless it's epic. Take Attack on Titan,the art style changes so much that you can always tell when a new studio took over.
The sound is great and fills the room. Voices are the same as always and welcome.
Characters, we know them, love them, hate them, whatever. If you are watching this just to learn who the characters are then this is not for you. Watch the rest and come back.
I would say it could be higher than an 8 but it just isn't. Since I paid attention and read the manga related this is just a re-telling of a story we have been told throughout various episodes done visually. This is fine, but being that it's not totally new then it's an 8.
