The Irregular at Magic High School, Vol. 20

魔法科高校の劣等生 [Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei] (Novel) #20

by Tsutomu Sato

Spring is here, and the graduating seniors of First High are planning a getaway to sunny Okinawa. At the same time, Tatsuya and Miyuki will be on the island as the Yotsuba family’s representatives at a memorial service for the victims of the invasion there several years earlier. Of course, this is just a cover for their true foiling a terrorist plot hatched by some deserters and Australian operatives. Their primary target is a party that Shizuku and Honoka will be attending—What are the chances? Romance is in the air, and danger is on the horizon, making this a vacation they’ll never forget!

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

237 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 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 5 out of 5]

Is it wrong for me to hope this is getting to a close? Now that the world knows Tatsuya and Miyuki are Yotsuba, I kind of hope they soon reveal Tatsuya is a Strategic Class Magician. I guess I'm fully coming to Miyuki's side and hope his power is finally fully revealed.

[Niall Teasdale · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I had to give a specific complaint about this one, it's the amount of pointless explanation and recap. It's like the reader isn't expected to remember what happened on the previous page. It wastes a lot of time, and it annoys me. Huh.

Back to Okinawa for a little field trip to save a floating island, but since practically the entire gang happens to be there too, they might as well still be at school. I don't know, this felt kind of rushed. I know the series is sort of coming to an end at this point, but there seemed to be a lack of ideas.

Tatsuya is basically a god at this point. The author is having to drop in arbitrary restrictions on what he can do in order to make every plot trivial. Case in point: he's unable to see the area around someone he's placed a 'tracker' on for reasons. He always knows where Miyuki is and what's happening around her. How is that different?

The story also gives us a plot point (in the epilogue) which might be interesting in the future, and then yanks it back in the next paragraph. Unless something interesting is going to happen to change things, it read like the author just wanted to show how awesome the Yotsubas are for no reason. Wait and see, I guess.

Overall, however, this was more entertaining than some of the books preceding it. The combat scenes (of which there were several) were well done. The plot had a point. It did feel like a 'have to go do something in Okinawa before the end' along with a 'all these people are graduating, so better do something with them' sort of side-story. Also, there are no riots. But it wasn't bad.

[Pieter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Irregular at Magic High School volume 20 is a bit of an intermezzo, not entirely a side story according to the author, but mostly self-contained and unrelated to main plots. I found it an entertaining somewhat light-hearted (as far as a book in this series can be light-hearted considering some of the callousness this world shows to human life) read with little drama - a nice change of pace so to speak. A bit of a showcase of Tatsuya's new ability and limitations, although I still feel that the power is likely a bit too much in addition to those he already had. I do wish the author curtailed some of the extensive explanations such as a 2 page one on the history and use of a particular brand of invisibility spell. All in all, an enjoyable read.

[Max Wehler · Rating 3 out of 5]

as the author acknowledged at the end, this volume was of little significance to the main story. We had some good moments, especially towards the end, but the endless fighting, especially of characters that I don‘t care about, made this a rather forgettable volume.

[Agboga Efa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I needed this volume as a breather for all that was happening in their normal lives. My Tsutomu I thank you deeply for this

[Shannon O'Leary · Rating 2 out of 5]

English translation is terrible

[Robert Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5

[Edward Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some people...

It seems like the GAA will not ever learn to leave Japan alone, and to not mess with Tatsuya. Each time they go against him, they come out on the short end of the stick

[Lila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haven't had wi-fi when I was reading it, and now it's been too long and can't remember particulars so my star rating will have to do.