06.18
I remember what I said last week about the textbook comparison, and that analogy is in full swing here. With all of the sporting events in this episode, the show always goes into such detail about what the characters are doing as if this really is an example in a hypothetical Magical Physics book. They always discuss it in terms like “Watanabe is manipulating her relative position using a particle-based form of magic that allows her to say in place-blah”, like this is genuinely meant to be some sort of educational tool to teach us about the exact values of magic. And to the show’s credit, I do feel like I’m watching an instructive video from high school. After all, they had the monotone narrators, artificial environments, and actors doing a crass job at being perky.
Imagine if Star Wars stopped the plot every five minutes to explain to the audience exactly how the Milennium Falcon worked, how lightsabers function, how Luke could dodge so many Stormtroopers, and so on. That is what it feels like to watch Mahouka. They spend so much detail in the technical matters, while doing it in such an unnatural way. It’s just the characters stopping for a minute to explain how one character can accomplish such a magical feat. I know that some fantasy writers can create a very complex and thought-out magic system for their story, but the good ones would make sure to weave it in with the story in a way that doesn’t feel like a How-to guide.
But that feels like the only purpose for the sports so far, because it’s not like any of the characters are going through any real trials. This is Mahouka, where the characters can get a perfect score while their opponents only get 30%. And I know when Tatsuya gets the chance to play against Suzaku, he’s going to win. This show isn’t about stakes. It’s about perfect people doing perfect things while everyone who doesn’t follow their perfect ideal is either a terrorist and/or stupid. But in this insistence to make this society seem perfect, the show only highlights the cracks that lie within the setting.
Like, why are they going to a sports tournament and playing with all smiles despite a terrorist attack and an attempt to bomb their bus only happening just a few episodes ago? Some of the characters saw it with their own eyes, and they’re still just as bright-eyed as ever when watching people play tennis with guns for whatever reason. It seems like a variant of the bystander effect, where people who were the victims of an attempted attack go on with their lives as if nothing’s going on. And instances such as this are occasionally used as examples of a socially disconnected society. Could this show be seen as a critique on these societies, and how such a civilization is detrimental to one’s livelihood?
Of course not, since that line of thinking would be too smart for this show. Not to be dismissive, but this episode feels just like last week’s in being another celebratory romp for the characters without even the hint of a risk following their move yet. Yes, there will be another bombing or attack in the future episodes, but those aren’t risks. Those are just ways for Tatsuya to show off his next chapter on functional magic while asking the viewers to take notes for a pop quiz. Even by Mahouka’s standards, this episode felt so thin and dragged out. I’m starting to wonder if I should just drop this in a few weeks and go blog Sword Art Online instead. At least stuff happens in that show.