The Irregular at Magic High School, Vol. 19 (light novel): Master Clans Council Arc, Part III

魔法科高校の劣等生 [Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei] (Novel) #19

by Tsutomu Sato, Kana Ishida (Visual Art)

Gu Jie, a magician who orchestrated a sinister suicide bombing by manipulating corpses to do his bidding, has gone into hiding somewhere in Japan. As public outcry against magicians builds and humanist forces gain momentum, the Ten Master Clans task Tatsuya, Katsuto, Mayumi, and Masaki to determine the whereabouts of the mastermind behind the bombings. But when Major Benjamin Canopus, the second in command of the most powerful magic unit in the United States, starts gunning for Gu Jie as well, Tatsuya grows inexplicably enraged!  

Genres: Light Novel, Fantasy, Magic, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Manga

264 pages, Paperback

First published March 10, 2016

About the author

佐島勤 / Tsutomu Sato / Tsutomu Satou

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

Reviews

[Lila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, the end bit with Masaki's diary should have been interesting. But it was mostly boring and I finished this by forgetting what exactly happened here. I think until then I actually liked it. Oh, well.

[Kavatarapu Kun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent but I can't ever get myself to read The Crimson Prince's perspective at the end. I just had no interest in knowing that.

[Niall Teasdale · Rating 2 out of 5]

The ending of this three-part arc basically revealed it to be a combination of set-up for the next plot and bridge from one arc to the next. It was something of a let-down, to be honest. I have the feeling that I'm reading these books out of a sense of obligation and, frankly, I'm not sure I'll continue with them. It'll be a while before the next book is available in English, so I may have changed my mind by then.

The other issue I'm having is that this was not even a novella. The graphic stuff at the beginning (character profiles, world background, etc) is now so massive (frequently listing characters we haven't seen in a long time) that none of these books is really full length. In this case, the last 25% is taken up by a short story from Ichijou's POV which turned out to be vaguely interesting, as it happens, but largely repeated stuff from the main plot. TBH, I feel sorry for the poor man. He has no clue what's going on. He still thinks he has a chance with Miyuki. It's sad.

Anyway, this one ends an arc, and that's the only reason for reading it. Meh.

[Pieter · Rating 4 out of 5]

After dealing with the assault on Mayumi, Tatsuya finally gets a break. He acquires the location of Gu Jie. The hunt is on, but the USNA is not about to give up without a fight. The final parts of the book are a diary of sorts written by Masaki Ichijou, which was more enjoyable to read than I thought it would be.

As always, the series shines when it comes to world building, characters and character interaction. It falls a bit flat when the author starts (over-)explaining often at places were it is not really necessary such as in the middle of the action or where it is pretty obvious what is going on. The way Tatsuya caught his break felt a bit contrived, and either it is going to limit future plot points or it is going to be conveniently forgotten.

The arc as a whole was not the worst of the series, but it was rather marred by how Erika's brother got screwed over by the author: it felt out of character for many of the people involved, rather stupid to be honest, only marginally off set by some of those same characters realizing the senseless of it on hindsight. The lack of fun interactions from the high school students later on in the arc and the many switches in point of view did not help for me.

Regardless, this was an enjoyable read and I am looking forward to were the series is going.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume had some great aspects to it. The fights were good and I loved the parts with Yakumo and the Yotsuba‘s sponsor. What the hell was that Masaki Journal at the end, though? I just skimmed through it but it‘s safe to say that he‘s a littke b.tch

[Bernard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the series, but I'm thinking it is running out of gas. The characters were there, but the energy wasn't. The author made it through 18 novels with a lot of good things happening. Maybe it is time to write something else.

[Robert Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5

[Islenia Jáquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

La última parte de Masaki fue innecesaria.

[Sabrina D'Angelo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sex is overrated. You know what is good?
“Miyuki, I’m afraid to let you out of my sight. If I looked away from you for even a second, the thought of something happening to you while I’m not looking drives me mad.”