This, season three The inferior student of Magic High Schoolimmediately faces a major challenge: its context. A high school setting (magical or otherwise) is commonly used in fiction because it is part of the universal modern experience. Most people have already finished high school, so any unusual or completely new aspects don’t need to be explained or detailed. The problem with high school is that it is cyclical in nature. The school holds major events every year, such as matriculation ceremonies, nine-school competitions or essay competitions. Therefore, the story needed to be significantly different from the first time around while still covering similar events.
Overall, this season does a great job of making things different. At school, Tatsuya and Miyuki are now respected authority figures – one who is expected to keep their juniors in line. Rather than participating in activities, they plan activities. Meanwhile, outside of school, the two must deal with a growing number of family-related issues – especially with Miyuki being the frontrunner to be the next head of the Yotsuba family. Because of this, the school aspect of the show largely serves as a familiar backdrop, while the real issue, stopping Zhou Gongjin’s latest nefarious plot, captures most of our attention.
While the anime deftly avoids the trap of being too repetitive, it falls squarely into other traps. One of them has to do with the nature of its adaptation. The main difference between anime and novels (or even manga) is that we don’t get to constantly hear what the characters are thinking. It is primarily through their words—through dialogue and monologues with other characters—that we learn what is going on in their heads.
Unfortunately, the occasional glimpses we get into the minds of our heroes in this anime aren’t nearly enough – especially when the visual storytelling on display can’t make up for the difference. So instead of a person dealing with an emotional struggle step-by-step, we see these strange emotional outbursts – dramatic moments where a character’s thoughts are expounded and immediately resolved. There’s no real drama – no emotional tension. No time for this.
Another big problem with this story is that there are very few twists and turns in the narrative. Of course, there are “surprises” – the most common being people randomly showing up and trying to kill Tatsuya and Miyuki – but the plot of each line is very simple. There is a problem. Tatsuya discovered the source of the problem. Tatsuya made a response plan. The plan went smoothly and everything worked out. This is the pattern for all three arcs this season. There’s never a moment when things completely go off the rails and we’re left wondering how our heroes are going to get out of this mess. Because of this, there’s very little to get excited about in the game – unless all you’re looking for is to see our heroes effortlessly contain any opposition they face.
The best story-driven parts of this season are the ones that Tatsuya and Miyuki aren’t directly involved with. The political intrigue between the various factions trying to control and exploit magic users is interesting – especially when the families of Tatsuya’s friends work against his best interests.
We also get more insight into how the Yotsuba view Tatsuya – how they see him as a monster they can’t truly control. They couldn’t let him run wild, and they couldn’t kill him. Since his only real concern is Miyuki, their only option is to tie themselves to her until the family and her wishes align.
There’s also a noteworthy character where we see Tatsuya’s growth as one person begins to get in his way. During his first year at school, he began to make connections with the people around him. Although his feelings for Miyuki are nowhere near the level of his feelings for Miyuki, he begins to treat them subconsciously – because his love for her is the only kind of love he has ever known. As a result, he began working tirelessly to support everyone and protect the school—doing whatever was asked of him, no matter the physical and mental toll. It got to the point where Miyuki had to control him and remind him that she was important – she would rather watch the school burn down than let him collapse. It’s honestly a great piece of character work that shows how he can take things too far despite his emotional inexperience. Unfortunately, the inability to see what’s going on in his head makes this one of those moments where the aforementioned conflict is first brought up and then resolved in the same scene.
As for the presentation, both the animation and the music are exactly what we’ve come to expect from the show. The magic is creative and gorgeous, and there are quite a few fun fight scenes throughout the season. The soundtrack, on the other hand, contains many of the same songs we’ve been listening to for a decade, while the show also brings new hits to the table Lisa As the opening song of the course.
Overall, it’s a season The inferior student of Magic High School There are more negatives than positives. There is no tension in the story being told – neither plot nor emotion. Everything always goes according to plan and any deeper character issues are addressed as soon as they are brought up. Mysteries are revealed and conspiracies lurk in the shadows, but that’s not enough to get excited about. While I’m still invested enough to want to see how the Yotsuba succession question unfolds in the upcoming movie, I’m starting to wonder — after three seasons, a spin-off, and a movie — whether I’m Suffer from the sunk cost fallacy more than any other factor.
