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The Irregular at Magic High School: Steeplechase Arc

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By Tsutomu Sato and Kana Ishida. Released in Japan as “Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

When you’re doing a series set in high school, and it actually moves forward in time, it can be hard to find new material for the same thing you’ve seen before. Last time on Irregular at Magic High School we saw everyone searching for new club members – again – and this time we get the second time around for their equivalent of the athletic festival, the Nine Schools Competition. So, naturally, the author decides to have things changed around at the last minute, in order to better serve the plot. Three events are different, much to Azusa’s horror, as it means they have to do a lot of last-minute planning. Why the last-minute changes? Well, it’s all part of a powerplay involving the military, the parasites from previous books, an some Chinese defectors – who we don’t actually meet in this book, but I’ve no doubt will appear soon. Not that the schools know this. Fortunately, First High has Tatsuya, who can do anything.

That said, even Tatsuya is having trouble keeping up. In addition to ferreting out the saboteurs who plan to put parasite-infected androids in the steeplechase course to maim magic students – rather cruelly, we’re told it’s OK to ruin the student’s lives and magic career as long as they aren’t killed – but he also has to do prep for all the students competing in the various events this year. At least he’s not IN the events, but it’s so exhausting that he barely even notices his sister having a mental meltdown one night and “warming his body” with her own. Fortunately for my sanity, this low point is followed by the book’s high point, as Tatsuya is about to go out and invade the Steeplechase course to take out the androids before the events, and Miyuki correctly notes that he’s about to fall over exhausted, and why does he have to do absolutely everything all the time? Miyuki works so much better as a caring little sister than as a thirsty one.

As for the rest of the book, it’s Mahouka-by-numbers, but in a series like this that’s not a bad thin. There’s lots of intrigue, and we get to see various characters show off how talented they are, including Ayako and Fumiya, who are on the cover, making this the second cover in a row starring twins. We’ve met these two before, but here they show off that they too can clean up at the competition, taking events for Fourth High and generally showing off. I also like Minami, who gets to use her all-powerful barrier, though finds that it can be a drawback when the enemy runs away and the cops show up to question her. Minami has absolutely had it with the incestual subtext, and I completely agree. And I was also amused by one event where Subaru pronounces that she will defeat Honoka and ensure that it’s not just “everyone who has Tatsuya as their engineer wins”, but forgets which series she’s in – one word of encouragement from Tatsuya and Honoka cleans up. Yes, it IS everyone who has Tatsuya wins. Please bow to him.

The usual irritations aside, this was a pretty decent Mahouka. Next up is apparently a two-part arc, which will no doubt continue to deal with China or its equivalent in this world. Worth picking up if you like really powerful stoic heroes.

Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family, Vol. 3

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By TAa, based on Fate/Stay Night by TYPE-MOON. Released in Japan as “Emiya-san Chi no Kyou no Gohan” by Kadokawa Shoten, serialization ongoing in the magazine Young Ace Up. Released in North America by Denpa Books. Translated by Ko Ransom.

This series has shown a very delicate touch when it comes to the “canon” of the Fate universe. To a fairly large degree, understanding the character interaction requires familiarity with the source, be it the game, anime, manga, whichever. There are also little “bonus” bits that reward a reader who knows things deeper than the source, but aren’t required, such as why Gilgamesh is hanging out with a bunch of little kids. That said, sometimes you actively have to ignore the original game. Emiya Family is a light, fluffy spinoff where everyone is happy and everyone cooks. When we see the backstory of how Shinji and Shirou became friends, we’re meant to think “a ha ha, what a delightful tsundere he is!”, not “what a disgusting rapist abuser”. Shinji isn’t a villain here, just a jerk who doesn’t know how to be a good friend. Maybe food will help!

Likewise, there is a story here where middle-school Sakura asks Shirou to teach her how to cook, and we see her sad dead eyes and think “poor girl, she must be having a rough time at home”. But we’re not going to ever see HOW rough a time in this manga. At the end of the chapter, we see Sakura happy and full of life, but it’s not because she’s in love with Shirou, it’s because she was saved by the power of beef stew. Emiya Family is a light-hearted slice-of-life manga, but it never forgets its purpose of food and recipes. As a result, even Caster and Shirou are getting along now, mostly as her cooking has improved enough that Kuzuki is consistently praising her now. That said, the Gilgamesh chapter comes close to just being written for fun rather than food, despite the fact that yes, there are corndog recipes here. (What would Lancer think!?)

Speaking of spinoffs, I’ve said before that the core of this “universe” is Fate/Hollow Ataraxia minus the plot, and we get a chapter here that the author basically admits is just one of Hollow’s scenes made into a manga, where Yukika (one of “those three girls”) gets a mild crush on Assassin and gets Shirou’s help in making him sakura mochi. Assassin’s incorporeal nature is not really brought up until the final panel, so it works very well as a “cute girl + stoic guy” story. There’s also a shameless fanservice chapter where the girls all go shopping because they want to see Saber in different outfits, but it’s wholesome fanservice – we the reader also want to see Saber dressed in something different. And one of the chapters was made into the first episode of the anime, which was being created at the same time, and is a must for fans of the Shirou/Saber pairing.

Unless you don’t think it’s Fate unless there are people dying (in which case, Fate/Zero is right over there), this is a must buy for fans of these characters. And try a recipe or two as well!

Kokoro Connect: Yume Random

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By Sadanatsu Anda and Shiromizakana. Released in Japan by Enterbrain. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Molly Lee.

Oy. I’ve had several reviews of this series where I’ve talked about Taichi, how annoying he can be, and the way he and everyone else around him struggle to have him be more than just “generic visual novel protagonist”. Which means I need to find new things to say about THIS book, which finally takes all of this and turns it up to eleven, destroying Taichi so that he might be reborn. (No, that is actually what one character does.) When we finally get to that point, it’s fantastic. The setup for this book is also great. The middle second and third quarter of this book, though, while well-written and necessary, felt like I was stabbing my legs with forks constantly while reading it. I’ve mentioned I’m not a big fan of cringe comedy, and it turns out I don’t like cringe drama much either. If you have trouble watching people make bad decisions while watching the other shoe about to drop for pages on end, this will be a very difficult read.

Heartseed shows up and says that this will be the last time he messes with them (I know this isn’t true, there’s four more books after this). This time they (they being the core five, the first years are exempt) are given the ability to see other people’s hopes and dreams. This very quickly divides the group in two, with Taichi and Kiriyama being on the “we should use this to help people” side, and Inaba and Aoki being on the “we should just let this be” side, with Iori, as always, in the middle. Because they are in high school and surrounded by teenagers, most of these hopes and dreams end up being love-related, and Taichi and Kiriyama get reputations as “love gurus”. This despite the fact that Kiriyama still has not managed to tell Aoki how she really feels, and that this may be the last straw in Taichi and Inaba’s relationship. Oh yes, and everyone’s about to go on the class trip. But, most importantly, Taichi is determined to make up for the fact that he feels empty as a person by sticking to his guns on this decision, even if that turns out to be the worst thing possible.

As I said, how much you like this book depends on how tolerable you find Taichi attempting to finally realize that he needs to have his OWN hopes and dreams. His dilemma reminded me a lot of Tsubasa Hanekawa from the Monogatari series, who is verbally shredded by Senjogahara (the Inaba of that series) for not having anything she really dislikes… or, as it turns out, likes. Similarly, Taichi is so used to turning his attention to others that the mere sight of a future career survey can paralyze him. This is what leads him to decide to make a decision and stick with it, even if it’s a bad one. Fortunately, by the end of the book he seems to have come to terms with the ability to actually think about himself for once, let people deal with issues on their own, and actually tell Inaba he loves her out loud. Oh yes, Kiriyama and Aoki also get together, in a very sweet confession that spurs Taichi on, and almost makes up for another subplot involving Aoki’s family that I will gloss over as I don’t want to stab things.

It’s odd that I sound like I’m bashing this book, which is very good. You’re frustrated and angry, but in a way that makes sense for the characters and plot. I will note that if this had been stretched to two volumes, I might actually have been unable to continue. Fortunately it isn’t, and we have another short story volume next time. I need it.