The Irregular at Magic High School

Setting

The series is set in a world with an alternate history, where magic exists and has been refined through modern technology. However, the ability to use magic is determined by genetics, limiting the number of magicians in existence. Following a 20-year long Third World War that reduced the world's population to 3 billion, the world's superpowers have shifted to four nations: The United States of North America (USNA), the New Soviet Union, the Great Asian Alliance, and Japan. In Japan, the magic community is informally governed by the Ten Master Clans in lieu of the government. Due to the limited number of magicians, they are treated as a commodity and forced to enter magic-related schools and professions. Nine magic high schools exist in Japan; they each specialize in different aspects of magic and are simply referred to by their numbers.

Plot

The story follows Tatsuya Shiba, a bodyguard to his sister Miyuki Shiba, who is also a candidate to succeed the leadership of the Yotsuba clan, one of the Ten Master Clans. They enroll into First High which segregates its students based on their magical abilities. Miyuki is enrolled in the first course and viewed as one of the best students, while Tatsuya is placed in the second course and considered to be magically inept. However, Tatsuya's technical knowledge, combat abilities, and unique magic techniques cause people to view him as an irregular to the school's standardized rankings.

Main

Tatsuya and Miyuki are siblings of the same school year and children to Tatsurou Shiba and the late Miya Yotsuba with Tatsuya being 11 months older than Miyuki; their parents had a loveless forced marriage, and when their mother died, their father married his mistress, Sayuri Furuha, leaving the siblings to live by themselves.

Maya Yotsuba, their aunt and current leader of the Yotsuba Clan, was the reason Tatsuya was born with the unique magic to decompose, reconstruct, and detonate matter (along with some gene manipulation). Out of fear of his powers, the Yotsuba Clan leadership of that time argued for Tatsuya's death, forcing Miya and Maya to take measures to ensure his survival: the first was Miyuki's creation with genetic enhancements in utero, who would act as a seal to Tatsuya's power; the second was to magically dull Tatsuya's emotions except for his familial love towards Miyuki; and the third was to assign Tatsuya to be Miyuki's bodyguard to develop his sense of loyalty towards her. During a family vacation in Okinawa, Tatsuya warded off an invasion by the Great Asian Alliance and joined the 101 Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion which is headed by Major Kazama Harunobu. At some point during his life, Tatsuya commercialized revolutionary magical technology through his family's company, Four Leaves Technology, under the identity Taurus Silver. He is voiced by Yuichi Nakamura (Japanese)[1] and Alejandro Saab (English).[2]

Miyuki is considered one of the strongest magicians in the world and is a candidate to become the leader of the Yotsuba Clan. Her specialty is freezing magic, and she can freeze a person's consciousness. In addition, half of her magic casting ability is used to seal Tatsuya's powers. Before the family vacation in Okinawa, Miyuki treated Tatsuya as coldly as other Yotsuba Clan members. Afterwards, she began to warm up to him, and when Tatsuya saved her life, she devoted her entire existence to him. It evolved to the point where she disdains the touch of other males and expresses jealousy of females around Tatsuya. Genetically different from Tatsuya despite being born from the same parents, Miyuki professes her love to him following their engagement under Maya's orders. She is voiced by Saori Hayami (Japanese)[1] and Anairis Quiñones (English).[2]

In polls by Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!, both Tatsuya and Miyuki ranked as one of the most popular light novel characters.[3] Outside of the franchise, Tatsuya and Miyuki also appear in the video game Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax.[4]

• Tatsuya Shiba (司波 達也) and Miyuki Shiba (司波 深雪)

Supporting

Tatsuya's group

Tatsuya's group consists of seven classmates whom he spends time with in his daily school life. They often assist Tatsuya during investigations and dangerous situations.

• Erika Chiba (千葉 エリカ) is the daughter of the Chiba clan's leader and his mistress, which has created a strained relationship with her family. She has a tomboyish and optimistic personality, and is considered one of the best sword fighters in the clan. Her magic is used to enhance her sword and combat techniques. She considers Mizuki to be her best friend and has a crush on Tatsuya. She is voiced by Yumi Uchiyama (Japanese)[1] and Erica Mendez (English).[2]
• Leonhard Saijo (西城 レオンハルト), commonly referred to as Leo, is the grandson of a Fortress Series modified magician. His grandfather was one of the few survivors of the Fortress Series' instabilities, which causes early death or psychosis. Leo inherited his grandfather's physical augmentations and fears he may also have inherited the Fortress Series' faults. During combat, Leo uses voice-activated magic to fortify objects or his body to augment his combat abilities. He is voiced by Takuma Terashima (Japanese)[1] and Mick Lauer (English).[2]
• Mizuki Shibata (柴田 美月) is a girl with a disposition called Crystal Eyes which allows her to see components of magic invisible to most people. Her ability mentally strains her, requiring her to wear glasses to control her vision. She has a timid, calm, and feminine personality. She is voiced by Satomi Sato (Japanese)[1] and Xanthe Huynh (English).[2]
• Mikihiko Yoshida (吉田 幹比古) is Erika's childhood friend, a prodigy from the Yoshida clan which specializes in magic dealing with spirits. Years prior, Mikihiko failed a summoning ritual, which caused a psychological block and prevented him from using magic effectively. His involvement with Tatsuya restores his confidence, allowing him to regain his magical talents. He is voiced by Atsushi Tamaru (Japanese)[1] and Landon McDonald (English).[2]
• Honoka Mitsui (光井 ほのか) is a descendant of a group of extinct magicians referred to as the Elements. The Elements specialized in one of the six elements of magic and had loyalty genetically embedded into their genes. Honoka uses light magic, and her genetic loyalty is directed towards Tatsuya. She is voiced by Sora Amamiya (Japanese)[1] and Kimberly Woods (English).[2]
• Shizuku Kitayama (北山 雫) is Honoka's best friend and daughter to an extremely wealthy man. Shizuku is a mature and tactful girl who rarely shows emotion. She inherited her mother's talent for oscillation magic. She is voiced by Yuiko Tatsumi (Japanese)[1] and Ryan Bartley (English).[2]
• Minami Sakurai (桜井 水波) is the niece of Honami Sakurai, Miya Yotsuba's guardian. Both Minami and Honami were artificially created by the Yotsuba to serve the clan as bodyguards, and they specialize in barrier type magic. Minami is Miyuki's junior and serves as her maid and second bodyguard. She is voiced by Kiyono Yasuno (Japanese)[1] and Emi Lo (English).[2]

Student Council and Disciplinary Committee

The student council is a group of students which provides a liaison between the teachers and students. Meanwhile, the Disciplinary Committee consists of students who are essentially rule enforcers. A third committee is the Extracurricular Activities Federation who ensures that school clubs don't come into conflict with each other. The three committees are closely related and work together to preserve the peace on campus.

Mayumi Saegusa (七草 真由美) is the student council president during the Shiba siblings' first year at school. She puts on a coy and innocent facade but is actually mischievous and highly perceptive. Mayumi is talented as a sniper and her form of offensive magic involves firing dry ice as projectiles. During the course of the story, she manipulates Miyuki into joining the student council and Tatsuya into the Disciplinary Committee. She develops an attraction to Tatsuya and places him in awkward situations for fun. After enrolling into Magic University, her twin sisters, Kasumi and Izumi Saegusa, enroll into First High. Mayumi is voiced by Kana Hanazawa (Japanese).[1] and Maureen Price (English).

Two people work alongside Mayumi during the year. The first is Mari Watanabe (渡辺 摩利) who is the leader of the Disciplinary Committee. Mari has a tomboyish personality but becomes completely feminine in front of her boyfriend, Naotsugu Chiba (千葉 修次), who is also Erika's next oldest half brother. For combat, she uses a whip-like blade and magically manipulates chemicals. The second is Katsuto Jumonji (十文字 克人), the leader of the Extracurricular Activities Federation. Katsuto is the next head of the Jumonji clan and inherited the clan's barrier magic, Phalanx: an impenetrable and perpetual barrier used for defensive and offensive purposes. Both the Saegusa and Jumonji are members of the Ten Master Clans, forcing Mayumi and Katsuto to be politically involved with the magic community outside of school. Mari is voiced by Marina Inoue (Japanese)[1] and Amber Lee Connors (English),[2] Naotsugu is voiced by Susumu Chiba (Japanese) and Howard Wang (English),[1] and Katsuto is voiced by Junichi Suwabe (Japanese)[1] and Kaiji Tang (English).[2]

During the Shiba siblings' second year, Mayumi is succeeded as student council president by Azusa Nakajou (中条 あずさ), a timid and youthful-looking girl. Azusa has an interest in magic engineering and suspects Tatsuya is secretly Taurus Silver. She is able to use a unique magic named after her, Azusa Dream, to forcefully pacify people. Mari is succeeded as chairman of the Disciplinary Committee by Kanon Chiyoda (千代田 花音), an impulsive and good-natured girl. She is engaged to Kei Isori (五十里 啓), an androgynous and timid boy, and loves him dearly. Azusa Nakajou is voiced by Saki Ogasawara (Japanese) and Michelle Marie (English), Kanon Chiyoda is voiced by Saori Onishi (Japanese) and Vivian Lu (English), and Kei Isori is voiced by Sōma Saitō (Japanese).[1][5][6]

Others

• Masaki Ichijo (一条 将輝) is a first-year student from Third High School and the successor to the head of the Ichijo clan, one of the Ten Master Clans. His combat magic includes manipulating air and water molecules, and his unique magic allows him to evaporate water within an organism, causing it to explode. He became known as the "Crimson Prince" after the New Soviet Union invaded Sado Island in 2093; at age 13, Ichijo volunteered to help repel the invaders and it is rumored that he devastated an entire regiment of regular soldiers by himself. He is often accompanied by his best friend, Shinkuro Kichijoji (吉祥寺 真紅郎), who is credited as having discovered one of the sixteen codes fundamental to magic. Shinkuro feels indebted to the Ichijo family for adopting him after his parents were killed in the Sado Island invasion and promises to serve them forever. His code name is "Cardinal George". After losing the nine-school competition, they both seek to improve themselves to overcome Tatsuya. Masaki is voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka while Shinkuro is voiced by Ayumu Murase (Japanese).[1]
• Haruka Ono (小野 遥) is an undercover agent for the Ministry of Public Safety who infiltrates the school as a counselor. She takes both of her duties seriously and frequently assists Tatsuya in gathering information. In addition, Haruka's disposition enhances her innate concealment magic; she trains under Yakumo Kokonoe to further enhance her hiding abilities. Her code name is "Ms. Phantom". She is voiced by Sakura Tange (Japanese).[7]
• Yakumo Kokonoe (九重 八雲) is a master of ninjutsu, a less common and older form of magic. He chooses to isolate himself from magician politics and spends most of his time gathering information and training his disciples. Tatsuya gets his martial arts combat training from him. Miyuki also gets some martial arts training from him. He is voiced by Ryōtarō Okiayu (Japanese).[8]
• Pixie (ピクシー) is a Home Automation Robot, an android designed to serve humans. She was created and owned by First High's robotics club. During the Visitor Arc, she is used as a physical vessel by one of a group of ethereal supernatural sentient entities referred to as parasites. The parasite began identifying itself as Pixie, and due to Honoka's presence, has developed feelings of love towards Tatsuya. Tatsuya buys her to prevent the magic community from militarizing the parasite inside her. She is voiced by Nao Tōyama (Japanese).[9]
• Zhou Gongjin (周 公瑾) is a middle-man who orchestrated all major conflicts in the series. He is part of an unknown organization led by Jiedo Heigu (ジード・ヘイグ) who wishes to destroy the Yotsuba. Zhou is voiced by Kōji Yusa (Japanese).[10]
• Angelina Kudo Shields (アンジェリーナ・クドウ・シールズ), commonly referred to as Lina, is the leader of the USNA's magician army force known as Stars. Her military identity is Angie Sirius, and she is one of the thirteen publicly declared strategic magicians. Her maternal grandfather is Retsu Kudô's younger brother. She is voiced by Yōko Hikasa (Japanese)[11] and Suzie Yeung (English).
• Retsu Kudô (九島 烈) is the Patriarch of the Ten Master Clans and the head of the Nine Schools Competition Committee. He has spoken about being in WWIII in which he rose to the rank of Major General. He knows Tatsuya's commanding officer, Major Kazama whose adjutant, Kyoko Fujibayashi (code name "Electron Sorceress"), is his granddaughter. He also knows the real story of the Shiba siblings, since Maya and Miya Yotsuba were his students. He has expressed concern that the Yotsuba family is getting too powerful. He is voiced by Motomu Kiyokawa (seasons 1–2) and Hōchū Ōtsuka[12] (season 3 onwards) (Japanese).

Conception

The story was conceived around a protagonist whose abilities cannot be properly measured through standardized evaluation; as such, he is mistakenly categorized as a poor performing student or an irregular. This premise served as a basis for the character Tatsuya Shiba. Satō has two processes for scripting the story arcs: the first is to create scenarios to have characters behave and interact in certain ways; the second is to plan a scene, then script the story so it leads to that scene. Satō professed that he does not feel his characters are alive or have a will of their own when scripting them.

The Irregular at Magic High School

Side stories

The Irregular at Magic High School Magian Company

The Irregular at Magic High School Maidens of Cygnus

Manga

The Irregular at Magic High School was adapted into several manga series with various artists and publishers; each manga adaptation covered a story arc from the original light novels. The first adaptation was by Fumino Hayashi and Tsuna Kitaumi and covered the Enrollment Arc of the light novels.

• Volumes

The Honor Student at Magic High School

A spin-off manga titled The Honor Student at Magic High School (魔法科高校の優等生) by Yu Mori premiered in Dengeki Daioh's June 2012 issue.[138] It was collected in eleven tankōbon volumes under the Dengeki Comics Next imprint.[139][140] Yen Press licensed the series' tankōbon volumes for a North American release, and released the first volume in November 2015.[141][142]

Volumes

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Anime

An anime adaptation of the light novel was announced during the Dengeki Bunko Fall Festival on October 6, 2013.[165] It is directed by Manabu Ono and animated by Madhouse.[165] It aired on Tokyo MX, GTV, and GYT from April 6 to September 28, 2014;[166] nine other networks and three streaming services broadcast the series afterwards.[167] The individual episodes were later encapsulated into ten DVD and Blu-ray volumes released between July 2014 and April 2015.[168][169] LiSA sang the first opening theme titled "Rising Hope".[170][171]

In March 2014, Aniplex of America announced its acquisition for streaming rights to the anime series;[172] later, they unveiled their plans to release the series into three Blu-ray volumes which segregate the episodes by story arcs.[173] Four networks simulcasted the series with English subtitles: these were Aniplex Channel, Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Daisuki.[174] In June 2014, the Australasia distributor, Hanabee Entertainment, announced its licensing of the series for streaming and home media release.[175][176] Months later, Netflix made the series available on their network.[177] Animax Asia also began broadcasting the series in July 2015.[178] - Three related media to the anime were created. The first is a chibi short series titled Get to Know Magic Studies! (よくわかる魔法科!) by Aniplex.[179] These shorts were uploaded on Aniplex's YouTube channel, and later subtitled in English and uploaded on Aniplex of America's channel.[180] The second is an internet radio show titled The Irregular at Magic High School Web Radio Full Bloom! Bloom Broadcasting Committee (魔法科高校の劣等生Webラジオ 満開!ブルーム放送委員会), which premiered on March 23, 2014, and is hosted by Sora Amamiya and Yuiko Tatsumi, the voice actresses for Honoka Mitsui and Shizuku Kitayama respectively;[181] the radio show episodes were later made available for purchase on CD.[182] The third is a radio drama DVD which released in December 2014 and is based on the light novel's Recollection Arc.[183][184]

An anime film titled The Irregular at Magic High School: The Movie – The Girl Who Summons the Stars (劇場版 魔法科高校の劣等生 星を呼ぶ少女) was revealed in the 19th light novel volume, which was released in March 2016.[185] The film is based on an original new story written by the series creator, Tsutomu Satō, and premiered in Japan on June 17, 2017.[186] It is directed by Risako Yoshida and animated by Eight Bit. The rest of the staff and cast will reprise their roles in the film. In the United States, Aniplex of America released the film in theaters and on home video.[187][188] The film takes place after the events of the eleventh volume of the light novel or during the commercial break of the eleventh episode of the series' second season.[189][190]

At the "Dengeki Bunko Aki no Namahōsō Festival" event on October 6, 2019, a second season of the anime series adapting the "Visitor Arc" in the novel series was announced and originally scheduled to air in July 2020,[191] but it aired from October 4 to December 27, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[192][193] The main staff and cast from the 2017 film reprise their roles in the second season.[194] ASCA performed the opening theme song "Howling", while Miki Satō performed the ending theme song "Na mo Nai Hana".[195] Aniplex of America announced its acquisition of the anime series, and originally announced that Funimation would stream it exclusively, but Hulu ended up streaming the series as well.[196][197] On November 13, 2020, Funimation announced that the second season of the series would receive an English dub.[2]

After the end of the series, it was revealed that the spin-off manga series, The Honor Student at Magic High School would get an anime television series adaptation, which aired from July 3 to September 25, 2021, on Tokyo MX and other channels.[198][199][200] The series is animated by Connect and directed by Hideki Tachibana, with Tsuyoshi Tamai writing and overseeing the series' scripts, Ryōsuke Yamamoto and Takao Sano designing the characters, and Taku Iwasaki returning to compose the series' music.[201] The opening theme is "101" performed by Sangatsu no Phantasia while the ending theme is "Double Standard" performed by The Dance for Philosophy.[198]

On February 28, 2021, an anime adaptation of the "Reminiscence Arc" was announced.[202] It was later revealed to be a 60-minute television film, with the main cast and staff of the second season reprising their roles.[203] It aired on December 31, 2021. The theme song is "Ripe Aster" by Kairi Yagi.[204]

A sequel to the anime series was announced in January 2022.[205] In July 2023, the sequel was confirmed to be a new television series directed by Jimmy Stone at Eight Bit.[206] The opening theme is "Shouted Serenade" by LiSA[207] and the ending theme is "recall" by Kairi Yagi.[208] It premiered on April 5, 2024.[206]

After the final episode of the third season aired, an anime film adaptation of the "Yotsuba Succession Arc" was announced.[209] Directed by Jimmy Stone at Eight Bit, it is set to open in Japanese theaters on May 8, 2026.[210][211]

Video games

Three video game adaptations have been made for the franchise. The first is The Irregular at Magic High School: Out of Order by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It is a 3D fighting game for the PlayStation Vita and was released on December 25, 2014.[212] The second game is The Irregular at Magic High School: School Magicus Battle (スクールマギクスバトル), a Japanese role-playing game by Mobage. It was made available for Android, iOS, and feature phone on June 9, 2014.[213] The third game is The Irregular at Magic High School: Lost Zero, developed by BeXide and published by Square Enix. It was made available for Android and iOS on September 4, 2014.[214]

Light novels

The light novels have been well received. They were ranked seventh in Sugoi Japan 2015 polls and have been one of the top selling light novel series in Japan.[215][216][217] By 2014, 5.3 million copies of the light novel had been sold.[218] In addition, its manga and anime adaptations also appeared on top selling charts.[219][220] In 2017, 7.7 million copies had been sold.[221] By 2020, the series had sold more than 20 million copies.[222] By December 2021, sale numbers exceeded 22 million copies.[223]

Anime

Anime News Network had four editors review the first episode of the anime. Carl Kimlinger stated that it "handles its generic content quite well", praising Tatsuya's character as well as the execution of the plot. He concluded that overall, it was "attractive, intelligent, and put-together", and gave it a 3.5/5 rating. Theron Martin was less enthusiastic; he called the show "eminently skippable" with a 2/5 score, expressing criticism towards the constant exposition and lack of focus on the plot. Rebecca Silverman was even more critical with a 1/5 rating, stating that it "irritated me to an irrational level" for its plot points, while also disliking its pacing, animation, and character relationships. The fourth reviewer, Hope Chapman, also gave it a 1/5 rating, criticizing it for lacking anything to engage the viewers. He lambasted the series' plot, calling it "unoriginal and unintelligible", concluding that there was not "a single redeeming factor or thing to recommend about it".[224]

Silverman reviewed the series' future episodes.[225][226] She improved her assessment from the premiere, stating that it was "not a series best judged by its initial episode alone", and gave the Enrollment Arc a "B" rating and the Nine Schools Competition Arc a "C" rating. Regarding the Enrollment Arc, she praised its "themes of discrimination and self-worth", although she felt Tatsuya was unlikable as a protagonist. She was more critical of the Nine Schools Competition Arc, calling it "one of the least tense and exciting tournaments I've ever seen". She disliked the pacing, which "lack[ed] any real sense of urgency", and felt that the plot was "buried" under unrelated side stories. Overall, Silverman felt the series did not live up to its potential.[225][226]

Chris Beveridge's review for The Fandom Post gave a positive review for the first Blu-ray release of the anime series, calling its structure "appealing" and its characters having "really good potential". He praised the series' technical aspects of magic for breaking the typical supernatural approach of other works.[227] Reviewing the second Blu-ray release, he noted these technical aspects would also frustrate certain viewers despite his personal enjoyment of the magic system. Nevertheless, he concluded by calling the show a "dark horse contender" for his favorite series of the year, naming its characters and worldbuilding as particular strong points.[228]

Richard Eisenbeis, writing for Kotaku, gave a generally negative review. Although he liked the characters and plot, calling them "pretty darn enjoyable", he was highly critical of the magic system, which he felt was "made up on the fly", as well as the exposition, which he criticized for being unclear and confusing. He ended his review by noting the anime's potential if a different director or screenwriter had been hired.[229]