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Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei

Yuoaman

Yuoaman

I don't know who I am either.
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    • Netto Azure said:
    If you like OP MC's and seeing how Glorious Nipponji smacks around evil Chinese and American ass then yes. :P
    Click to expand...

    Aww, man, I haven't gotten to the nationalistic and racist stuff yet, this is going to be a wild ride.

    derozio said:
    Or if you're a fan of a good percentage of onii-samas/second per episode. That's pretty important, you know.
    Click to expand...

    Yeah, definitely, if I'm not weirded out by the brother/sister relationship then what is even the point of watching, y'know?

    ---

    Also, the side characters in these first few episodes have been infinitely more interesting than the main duo. INFINITELY.
     
    Netto Azure

    Netto Azure

    Kiel
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    • Hmm, why does it feel like the whole magic casting process is based on one's self-confidence and willpower?

    Anyways yeah jeez I think its that BGM that's ruining a lot of the atmosphere on top of the horrible presentation.

    Then again the info dump was par of the course iirc. :/
     
    Akiba

    Akiba

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    • Netto Azure said:
    Hmm, why does it feel like the whole magic casting process is based on one's self-confidence and willpower?
    Click to expand...

    It also depends on whether you have a processor planted in your head that allows you to perform small casts instantaneously ;)
     
    Akiba

    Akiba

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    • Satoshi Ookami said:

    Quad Core one that is.

    Anyways, MADHOUSE went back to "let's speed this up" so we won't see much of the events...

    And Shizuka Itou as Kyouko! YES! SO! MUCH! WIN!
    Click to expand...

    Quad Core? In 2084?

    That sounds awfully obsolete to me. Unless somewhere along the line CPU manufacturers start focusing clock speed only :o
     
    Akiba

    Akiba

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    • Satoshi Ookami said:
    Yep.
    That's why he's weak at magic. Because others have more cores but those cores aren't overclocked. =D
    And Quad =)
    1st core - Consciousness
    2nd core - Unconsciousness
    3rd core - Magic Calculation Area
    4th core - Artificial Magic Calculation Area


    (And it's actually 2085 xD)
    Click to expand...

    2095 in the anime.

    But 2084 when he got the chip planted in his head ;)
     
    Akiba

    Akiba

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    • I just read an amazing review on MAL about Mahouka. Even though the reviewer gave it a four, there's really no way to argue his points.

    This review literally made me laugh so hard.

    Mahouka (short version of the title) was the next in line to be considered the best LN ever made, claims made by the same type of fans who two years ago were saying the exact same things for Sword Art Online (SAO for short).

    This is where the first grip of the show begins. The main conflict regards the discrimination students have in that school, as they are separated into castes depending on their magic powers. The privileged ones are having all the fun, while the less fortunate by genes are treated like errant boys. It looks interesting at first but then you realize that Tatsuya, the protagonist, is OVERPOWERED AS HELL! They try to make him seem like his magic potential is low and thus belongs to the lower caste, but he has mastered so many types of martial arts and magical combinations that he can LITERALLY defeat anyone in half a second.

    Just like most light novels do, the protagonist is basically wish fulfillment. We are special, we are awesome, but our society doesn't appreciate us, everybody is against us, so we will show them what we can do, and win all the time, and have all the girls call us awesome. Taken to the extremes in Mahouka, Tatsuya begins as a new guy who is supposed to be just another Weed (lower caste), that all the Blooms (higher caste) make fun of. But in just a few seconds worth of conflict, he obliterates his bullies, and makes his classmates to be amazed with him. And that seems to be ok as far as teen empowerment goes, but the problem is that there is no real threat to make us believe he achieved something worthy of our praise.

    Having an OP main character is the death of any story, period. There is nothing the rest of the cast can do if he is around and in this case HE IS AROUND ALL THE TIME. Just imagine that in an episode we are allowed to have a duel between two girls, just because Tatsuya didn't bother to capture the bad girl himself in a fraction of a second. Other stories will try to make it seem like the MC can die, or focus on other characters for awhile, or at least not make it seem like it's all too easy. But not here. Here it is all about Tatsuya doing everything effortlessly and everybody being amazed with him.

    Even though the notorious SAO shares the same bad writing, bad exposition, and bad characterization, it at least fools you for awhile to think there is danger in its setting. The characters there were average people trapped in a deadly environment, cut off from their house and family, having to fight monsters in order to survive. Mahouka doesn't have that; it is just a school where pampered high school kids with super magical skills gather and act like jerks to each other, while teachers and parents pay for their rent and luxury. So the only thing you get in this show is a guy effortlessly brushing off a few school bullies, under the surveillance of the teachers. There is literally nothing to feel excited about.

    School settings in general are sapping away all tension and ruin the atmosphere. They are supposed to be there to offer a haven and familiarity for teenagers but at the same time raise endless questions of the sort "Why does everything happen the way it does, and why the adults don't do anything to stop it?" And the answer is a simple "because adults are terrible people who create unjust societies, and only we, the hormone-crazy teenagers, can do the right thing by smacking the crap out of everything."

    Furthermore, the themes are not even presented properly. For a society that runs on meritocracy, the mages of that school are all rare and gifted. There is little reason for the Weeds to feel bad, if they have powers that place them above every other mundane person. And even the most gifted of them, the Blooms, are acting like they are constantly threatened by the Weeds, as if their position can be snatched away if the errant boys try really hard and surpass them. If they really are superior, they shouldn't feel threatened. And if hard work can indeed make Weeds surpass Blooms, then they shouldn't have casts to begin with. These double standards are very easy to spot and because there is a lack of an actually threatening conflict, you are not even distracted from realizing that. This is what makes this plain bad fantasy empowerment.

    What adds oil to the fire is the sister of the protagonist. She is TOTALLY obsessed with her brother, to the point she repeats the word "onii-sama" (translated as super awesome revered brother) at least a dozen times per episode. She is basically stalking him and doesn't want any other girl near him, or any other boy to antagonize him. She is so obsessed to the point he has the hots for him. It is cringe-worthy if you are not into that, and yet it is one of the running gags of the show. IT NEVER GOES AWAY!

    Another thing that makes the show bad is its lack of action. For a setting that is all about mages and battles, there is very little actual fighting going on in it. The plot is almost entirely about talking and explaining than showing motion. For example, there is a scene where we have a duel. The battle lasts about 3 seconds, as Tatsuya is as OP as it gets. Then the next 15 minutes are spent in explaining how he did it by combining spells and martial arts. It may seem like that makes it strategic and smart, but what practically happens is you watching people talking with weird terminology just to explain how that battle was over before it even began. It is simply not fun. It is boring, anti-climactic, and it ends with everybody saying how awesome the protagonist is for winning effortlessly.

    As if that wasn't enough the escalation of the plot is badly done as well. The first arc is about terrorists who want equality attacking the school. Because equality is evil all of a sudden. After the super awesome protagonist wipes them all out without even bothering to smirk, the police arrives, arrests everybody, and he returns to his normal school life like nothing much has happened. We can't have him being rewarded, that would end the story. So what is the second arc about? A school contest! We literally moved from a terrorist attack to teenagers playing sports where they of course need to be explaining every little thing they make. That is plain insufferable.

    I understand how that can work much better in text form. The passing of time is very relevant when you read something, and from what I understand, the descriptions in the novels are using fancy terminology to make everything seem complicating and smart. This doesn't show in the adaptation, where we can tell how much time it takes to say something, as well as not using a narrator to simply infodump everything in third person. The closest effect to what could have happened if they had included it, would be internal monologues of the sort we see in Bakemonogatari, or Tatami Galaxy, or Haruhi. But even that demands for a first person narration, while the novels are mostly in third. In other words, it is bad storytelling, masked with fancy words, appealing to easily satisfied teenagers, which doesn't translate well when adapted to tv format.

    The saddest part is that the budget is actually very high. Madhouse is the king of anime, and yet not even that could save the show from being bad. If you want to watch it just for the pretty visuals and the teen empowerment, at least it is satisfactory on a superficial level. But if you watch it for any sort of depth or good characterization, you will be greatly disappointed. There is nothing particularly good in Mahouka, and only manages to further prove how pre-airing hype only exists to mutate the reputation of what could have been a forgettable mediocre title, to that of an abomination we will always be using as an example of what a bad anime is all about.

    Source: https://myanimelist.net/anime/20785/Mahouka_Koukou_no_Rettousei
    Click to expand...
     
    Arc

    Arc

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    • onii-sama/10.

    would read again.

    For an actual response. That review is awesome.
     
    Last edited:
    Yuoaman

    Yuoaman

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    • That review is great, ten outta ten. Going to keep watching the series, though, because it is so fascinatingly bad that I love it.
     
    derozio

    derozio

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    • Review was written by roriconfan. I have a love-hate relationship with his reviews. This one was okay and he was right for the most part. Although it definitely isn't as bad as he's making it sound. I'd personally give Mahouka a 6 right now. 6 = okay anime on my scale.

    Sometimes he really DOES miss the point of the shows he reviews and speaks out of pure ignorance, though. Case in point - his Gintama review. I read that yesterday and cringed at the pure bullcrap he had written. :/ Although Mahouka fans don't need to get agitated or whatever - he's a well-known elitist on MAL who generally rates a lot of stuff quite low. I'm surprised he even gave it a 4. I thought it'd be a 2 on his list. For real.

    I'll review Mahouka as well when it ends. I'd like to see through the whole thing first before judging it as nothing but a wish-fullfillment fantasy and low-level ♥♥♥♥. I mean, people label NGNL as the exact same thing - low level wish-fullfillment otaku bait. But I still enjoy it a lot. I'm just waiting for that moment in Mahouka when I can totally confidently say "yeah, screw you, I like Mahouka because it manages to do this and that well!" like I can actually say about NGNL right now.
     
    Satoshi Ookami

    Satoshi Ookami

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    • So he just points the things Mahouka fans like and says it's bad?
    How is that a helping review? =D

    Still, it's always about Tatsuya being OP and... he is. But... for what price?
    Would anyone want the same?
    I would but I'm mad.
     
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