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This Week in Anime - Remember Magic High School Anime?


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lemurs



Joined: 01 Aug 2012
Posts: 103
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2023 10:37 am Reply with quote
Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle struck me more as an "Infinite Stratos as Home" sort of show with its emphasis on half-mech battling. And if we're going to rope in all these "people with superpowers battling at school" shows as Magic High School ones, why not bring in Freezing while we're at it? The description seems a bit broad, to be honest.

Yet everyone just blanked on Vermeil in Gold, featuring an actual wizard protagonist at an actual magical school? Seems like a missed opportunity!
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FilthyCasual



Joined: 01 Jun 2015
Posts: 2266
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2023 10:54 am Reply with quote
Magic High School is Good, Actually.

Lol at the Rakudai slander back then when it was infinitely better than Asterisk. It's nice to have a reminder of the fun shows I watched back then like Hundred, Blade Dance, Bahamut, Rogue Hero, Trinity Seven, Akashic Records, and Anti-Magic Academy. It was fun seeing the various takes on power rankings, student councils, intra and inter school tournaments, terrorists, and uniforms. It's a shame how the genre's largely been subsumed by reincarnation isekai.
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Blanchimont



Joined: 25 Feb 2012
Posts: 3486
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2023 11:12 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Hell, you wanna talk about bad uniform designs? I'm pretty sure the belly-button garters from Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor were so bad they alone are responsible for killing this trend right in the middle of 2017.

I think Mahou Sensou (Magical Warfare) did a good job of paving the way for that already back in 2014, I consider that one of the absolute low points in this genre, incoherent plot, ugly art, forgettable characters, absolutely no resolution and probably a dozen other demerits to its name. Surprised the author of the novel wasn't even more angry than he was...

I actually liked the manga for Akashic Records(unfortunately the novel isn't licensed). And those designs, I think they're pretty cute...
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dm
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Joined: 24 Sep 2010
Posts: 1404
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2023 11:20 am Reply with quote
Column needed more Tweeny witches (or Mahou shoujotai Arusu), which I think would fit happily next to Little Witch Academia but for it's cringe title.
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Calathan
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Joined: 27 Aug 2005
Posts: 9112
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2023 12:17 pm Reply with quote
I’m surprised you didn’t mention that Mushoku Tensei is having a magic school arc this season.

Also, I got a chuckle at how Seven Spellblades took the ending of Chamber of Secrets but turned the basilisk into a girl. It was about the most “Harry Potter, but anime” thing I could think of.
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HyperbolicPlane





PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2023 12:22 pm Reply with quote
I mostly agree with Rowling and that Spellblades episode did not piss me off at all, so she would probably also be fine with it, because the situation depicted there involves magic and other fundamental differences with the real world issue. I actually found it very interesting and was disappointed that the next episode seemingly forgot about it; if I was Pete I certainly wouldn't.
The show is also full of Harry Potter tributes, so no, it's not trying to mock it. Don't project your opinions on the author.
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StarSword-C



Joined: 27 Aug 2023
Posts: 13
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2023 12:54 pm Reply with quote
HyperbolicPlane wrote:
I mostly agree with Rowling and that Spellblades episode did not piss me off at all, so she would probably also be fine with it, because the situation depicted there involves magic and other fundamental differences with the real world issue. I actually found it very interesting and was disappointed that the next episode seemingly forgot about it; if I was Pete I certainly wouldn't.
The show is also full of Harry Potter tributes, so no, it's not trying to mock it. Don't project your opinions on the author.


If you think "magic" was all there was to it, you weren't paying attention. Oliver specifically cites gender dysphoria as a potential sign of being Reversi. This is how it's written in the book:
Natsuma Volume 2 wrote:
“Just so there’s no misunderstanding, this isn’t some sudden mutation that only happened because you came to Kimberly,” he continued. “The potential must have been in you all along—for example, a hazy concept of your own gender identity, or a feeling of being out of place, even among friends of the same gender. Personal experiences vary, so the only one who can say for sure where it comes from is you.”

“……”

Pete searched his memories. He’d never had many friends when living among nonmagicals and was always irritated with himself for not being able to fit in. Was it not just because he had the capability for magic but because of this as well?


Pete isn't just a cisgender male whose body sometimes turns into a woman's, he really does have a nonbinary gender identity (though he isn't outright transgender, either: he's more towards the masc end of the spectrum, more like a demiboy).
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HyperbolicPlane





PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2023 1:05 pm Reply with quote
StarSword-C wrote:
If you think "magic" was all there was to it, you weren't paying attention. Oliver specifically cites gender dysphoria as a potential sign of being Reversi.

I was paying attention and I know magic is not the only difference, as I wrote above. They have a magical condition that completely change their whole body, which immediately makes it very different than anything in real life, hence why all the Rowling references are eye-rolling. I sure hope the rest of the season explores this more.
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GoatBoss9



Joined: 29 Aug 2023
Posts: 13
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2023 1:18 pm Reply with quote
Feels the the reversi thing in Spellblades is more of a jab at the ridiculousness of pro-trans magical thinking talking points rather than some kind of positive affirmation of those ideas, seeing as it makes a clear distinction of "switching" between male and female and that there are "magical advantages" to switching between the sexes. Large swathes of the LGBTQ+ community says there are no differences between the sexes and that biology essentially doesn't matter, among other things. So if it was some intentional jab toward Rowling, I don't think it really works.

All that being said, I kinda miss a lot of the magical school anime (even if there used to be way too many of them). Nostalgia is a funny thing.
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Rentwo



Joined: 05 Oct 2019
Posts: 184
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2023 1:19 pm Reply with quote
Calathan wrote:
I’m surprised you didn’t mention that Mushoku Tensei is having a magic school arc this season.

Also, I got a chuckle at how Seven Spellblades took the ending of Chamber of Secrets but turned the basilisk into a girl. It was about the most “Harry Potter, but anime” thing I could think of.


I was just thinking about Mushoku Tensei's current art. A lot of isekai also use the magic school trope. Zero no Tsukaima is the most prominent one that comes to mind and one of my favorites.

HyperbolicPlane wrote:
The show is also full of Harry Potter tributes, so no, it's not trying to mock it. Don't project your opinions on the author.


I think a recurring problem the writers of these articles have is the old adage of if all you have is a hammer then everything looks like the nail to you. Uno Bokuto is a Harry Potter fan going off their past comments, but since the writers dislike the franchise, or perhaps just the author herself, then they view everything in a negative and unfriendly light. Harry Potter has been constantly name dropped in the marketing for the LN as recent as July.

I would also caution people in citing Reversi as some kind of trans allegory thing rather than typical genderbender antics. The whole concept of sex-based magic is treated in a very biological essentialism manner in the series. I hesistate to say more due to spoilers, but for those that do not care spoiler[ the fact castration is a valid technique to counter sex-based magic is very interesting and probably the first time I've seen it used that way in fiction]
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Thespacemaster



Joined: 03 Mar 2012
Posts: 1137
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2023 1:22 pm Reply with quote
The Magical School Genre pretty much peaked by the mid 2010's, after that it pretty much died out.

granted we still get a few here and there and some of them have been good, especially recently. However i don't think it will see the same trend as it used to be at least not until another major title shows up and we get some more copy clones.

I wonder if the isekai genre will soon follow suit. hmm
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GoatBoss9



Joined: 29 Aug 2023
Posts: 13
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2023 1:25 pm Reply with quote
HyperbolicPlane wrote:
StarSword-C wrote:
If you think "magic" was all there was to it, you weren't paying attention. Oliver specifically cites gender dysphoria as a potential sign of being Reversi.

I was paying attention and I know magic is not the only difference, as I wrote above. They have a magical condition that completely change their whole body, which immediately makes it very different than anything in real life, hence why all the Rowling references are eye-rolling. I sure hope the rest of the season explores this more.


Exactly. And the idea that men and women are somehow different in regards to magical proficiency or however it was said just seems like something the author pulled out of their bunghole for the sake of political brownie points cause they needed to make up a reason for the "reversi" thing to exist in the setting. It kinda comes out of nowhere even in the LNs, but its never a major thing after Pete's initial reveal either.


Last edited by GoatBoss9 on Tue Aug 29, 2023 1:28 pm; edited 2 times in total
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FireChick
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Joined: 26 Mar 2006
Posts: 2427
Location: United States
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2023 1:28 pm Reply with quote
I remember when the most common anime trend was cute moe girls and visual novel adaptations.
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HyperbolicPlane





PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2023 1:30 pm Reply with quote
Rentwo wrote:
I think a recurring problem the writers of these articles have is the old adage of if all you have is a hammer then everything looks like the nail to you. Uno Bokuto is a Harry Potter fan going off their past comments, but since the writers dislike the franchise, or perhaps just the author herself, then they view everything in a negative and unfriendly light. Harry Potter has been constantly name dropped in the marketing for the LN as recent as July.

Totally agree, it's also really funny how all this hatred towards Harry Potter is entirely caused by simple disagreements with some of the views of its author. Like a lot of people loved it but when Rowling said what she said they were suddenly like "nah, I've always thought it was overrated". You can like a work, and you should at least respect its legacy, even if you disagree with the author's views; I really don't get why this is so hard. And I say all of this as a non Harry Potter fan, just to be clear.

Rentwo wrote:
I would also caution people in citing Reversi as some kind of trans allegory thing rather than typical genderbender antics. The whole concept of sex-based magic is treated in a very biological essentialism manner in the series.

Yep, and that's why it won't piss off anyone with Rowling's views. Didn't read the spoiler, but I really liked how they presented it, so hopefully they'll go into much more detail.
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Moonsaber



Joined: 16 Jan 2007
Posts: 343
Location: USA
PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2023 1:40 pm Reply with quote
FireChick wrote:
I remember when the most common anime trend was cute moe girls and visual novel adaptations.


Shouldn't be long until we get another Key VN adaption I would think. We went from fairly short and shallow adaptions like Here Is Greenwood and To Heart to very solid adaptions like Clannad and Kanon.
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