06.07
SOMEBODY DIDN’T WRITE AN ARTICLE THIS WEEK (says the man who hasn’t written on M3 in over three).
Don't we all?!?!?
So Mahouka’s first arc was fairly remarkable in that it somehow made Sword Art look marginally intelligent. Oh sure it was fun to make sport of Tatsuya’s blatant over-powered Gary Stu shtick for a couple weeks but then suddenly everybody became overpowered, completely confounding the whole “Blooms Vs. Weeds” plot angle they’d been playing up. Then Mibu and the French Dadaist terrorists showed up and what had just been a so stupid its hilarious cheesy light novel show went to being a so godawful it hurts exercise in insulting my intelligence. The writer’s philosophy of “We can’t eliminate social castration or else we forfeit nice things” was childish at best and Randian at worst with Tatsuya coming off as a bigger submissive tool than he was when Miyuki was fawning over him. How it was all resolved with “Oh we’re not racists Mibu, you’re just an idiot!” before brutally murdering some random characters we don’t care about was merely the icing on the cake. In summary, Enrollment was nothing more than a slog and when it finally ended two weeks ago I couldn’t be happier.
BUT WAIT! There’s 18 more of these left right?
Yes! The start of Nine Schools Tournament began two weeks ago and so far has proven to be something of an improvement…
…in that its just really, really boring filler..
Nothing of note is happening in this arc. Nothing. Oh sure there’s a 1-dimensional rival character who looks like Kirito and kills and subordinates in cold blood. Who cares. Oh sure there’s this B-plot about Tatsuya developing anti-gravity magic. Who cares. Oh sure there’s more wince inducing Miyuki-service. Who cares. Its like the last arc has completely sucked out any life this show might have. What’s left is… 30 minutes of what feels like filler stretched about set pieces that mean nothing and go nowhere. Which brings me to last week’s installment…
Surprise, surprise. Nothing happened. AGAIN. Tatsuya has his own personal scientific testing facility for his anti-gravity device. Who cares. He gets chewed out by the family butler because he’s…gasp… A WEED!… Who cares. The glasses girl is a moron… Who cares… There’s a bus crash. Who care-oh ok. Yes the show finally decides to do something, but its already too late. The episode is already 95% over and I’m half asleep. Yeah whatever.
Despite this I’ll probably keep watching Mahouka out of sheer desire to survive the endurance test that it is. The possibility that Madhouse will adapt the Chinese Invasion stuff remains on the horizon and that will probably add a much needed shot of adrenalin and stupidity to this bland dull waste. I know I could use it.