Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

魔法科高校の劣等生 [Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei] (Novel) #4

魔法科高校の劣等生 4 九校戦編〈下〉

Rate this book
白熱の魔法合戦『九校戦』の行方は!?

九校戦中盤の目玉、新人戦。一年生のみで繰り広げられるこの競技は、第一高校の主席生徒・司波深雪の可憐かつ優雅な勝利を披露するステージでもあった。
兄である達也も、参加選手たちが使用するCAD《術式補助演算機》の技師としてチームに参加、妹の活躍する姿に頬を緩ませていた。
劣等生であるはずの達也が調整したCADによって、第一高校生徒の華麗なる圧勝劇が演じられる中、とあるアクシデントによって彼自身も九校戦の選手として参加する羽目になる。
魔法による直接戦闘競技『モノリス・コード』に出場することになった達也。対戦相手は、『クリムゾン・プリンス』と呼ばれる第三高校一年生のエース・一条将輝だった。

504 pages, Paperback

First published December 10, 2011

70 people are currently reading
375 people want to read

About the author

Tsutomu Sato

152 books146 followers
佐島勤 / Tsutomu Sato / Tsutomu Satou

Author of 魔法科高校の劣等生 / Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
663 (53%)
4 stars
401 (32%)
3 stars
135 (10%)
2 stars
24 (1%)
1 star
6 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
Profile Image for Niall Teasdale.
Author 73 books292 followers
November 30, 2019
This is really a review of both Volume 3 and 4 since they're the same extended storyline dealing with the Nine Schools Competition.

Again, the book version of this is a great addition to the anime version, containing more detail and explaining things which, frankly, don't really make sense in the anime. The explanation of the actual events (games) is much better here than in the anime. One event, Cloud Ball in the book and Crowdball in the anime (not sure why that was changed, but I suspect an error in the anime translation) is actually explained in the book. It just looks like a weird version of tennis on screen.

The only complaint I have regarding the books is their unremitting gloomy persecution of Tatsuya (the protagonist). He does come across as a bit of a jerk in the books. His anime counterpart is emotionally cold and extremely hardline when it comes to protecting his sister, but he doesn't come across as mean. I'm starting to think that this isn't simply that we don't get as much of his thought processes in the anime version; the original (book) version isn't as nice and they changed him to be more sympathetic.

There are also some weird changes of tone between the two versions. Primarily, scenes which are played more for laughs in the anime, are not just serious but frequently negative in the book. I'm not a great fan of relentlessly beating your main character over the head with the plot stick because he's been written to have a tragic sort of life.

However, the author is clearly getting into the swing of things with this arc. I'd rate them more highly than the first two books in the series. The world building continues to be impressive, and the books are worth reading to get the most out of that. For pure enjoyment, the anime is more fun.
265 reviews5 followers
October 30, 2020
Great conclusion.

This volume marks a great finale for the Nine School Competition arc. Again the author does a great job describing the magical competition. The characters keeps evolving and more details are added to their backgrounds. Some interesting twist and new plots are added which keeps the reader interested from beginning to end.
Profile Image for Shyames.
383 reviews29 followers
September 30, 2017
Very good for remembering what the plot in the series was. Maybe too much technical blabber but overall it was a good read.
There are a few more important facts than in the anime series and they sure make the whole thing more understandable.
Profile Image for gabi.
1,042 reviews31 followers
July 26, 2018
So intense! Wow! He used his ability!
25 reviews
April 14, 2024
I felt the competition tended to be a little repetitive. The action and reveals, and the comedy aspects, as well, made this quite enjoyable, though. Also, Tatsuya‘s sniping was crazy!!
Profile Image for Dennis.
14 reviews3 followers
July 27, 2021
The fourth book of the series is the conclusion to the "Nine Schools Competition" arc. Main plot takes up about 20% of the book directly, and at other times it's happening behind the scenes, taking the back seat to the beautiful competition itself (which is integrated into the story in a really nice way, so that everything about it is justified and moves the plot forward while supplying great imagery and fanservice in the form of scantily clad battling girls).

The whole arc featured some great views and scenes. The events that comprise the competition are written out beautifully. The book really did paint a picture of what was going on, which I generally regard as good thing. Obviously, the great attention to detail while describing the scenery of each particular event, the movements of the competitors, and the venue in general (which was good), as well as every emotion and facial expression of all the characters who are currently in the shot (which was redundant) was done keeping the then-future anime in mind.

Character development-wise, the book offered nothing terribly new. New stuff gets revealed, strangely, in the 5th book, the fanservice beachy one (totally written to be a mandatory beach episode). Said stuff was probably moved over there so that more people would buy it. In the fourth book, however, the character development is almost nonexistent.

To summarize: the events look (as in, "visually") brilliant, the plot has advanced enough for a light novel to be called sufficient, I mean, you gotta push out 4 books per year, so the fact that there is no filler in it is already awesome. And it's pretty thick for a light novel.

The strongest book out of the first four and probably five. The whole arc is worth reading through the first two books, which consist mostly of blatantly infodumping the same stuff over and over again.
10 reviews
April 13, 2015
It amazes me. Actually, the word [amaze] cannot describe this story because its beyond that. Especially, the 9SC itself. It is a new advance school competition which includes the complexity of an active participation.

It also introduces a new character that augments the comedy and romance factor of the characters. Aside from that, this volume is only a part of how scary Shiba Tatsuya is.
Profile Image for Mateus Perboni Rodrigues.
18 reviews2 followers
December 31, 2020
I would say that this one is better written than the previous ones, a bit longer than also.
There are more background/history about the characters, which is always good.
About the story: it was shown to the other characters how strong the siblings are, but new strong characters were also presented to help develop the plot.
Again we see the questions marks (?) which could be taken out...
Profile Image for Jassa  Myne.
267 reviews
January 24, 2015
I love how even with the sports going on, there was still scenes that showed what was going on with the other characters. I want this to be the future. I just can't get over the thought of scientic magic!!!!
Profile Image for Madalyne Jesus.
15 reviews
August 12, 2019
The marvelous scene at the end between Tatsuya and Miyuki fills me with dread. Not for the expected reasons, but because I'm beginning to fear that I will soon ship them as a couple- if I don't already.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.