Becca Major (96 KP) rated The Irregular at Magic High School: Vol. 1: Enrollment Arc, Part 1 in Books
Feb 5, 2018
Book by Tsutomu Sato
Review by Rip Major
The Irregular at Magic High School is about siblings Tatsuya and Miyuki and their experiences at First High. The school is split into two main groups, the Blooms, who are gifted with the ability to use and control magic, and Weeds, who can use magic, but aren’t as strong with it as the Blooms are. Miyuki, who is a prodigy with magic and has the brains to back it up, is placed with the Blooms. Tatsuya, on the other hand, is not as gifted with magic, so he is placed with the Weeds.
The plot is pretty anime-standard. Boy and girl go to a new school and participate in shenanigans. The majority of the book follows the day to day misadventures of Tatsuya and Miyuki as they deal with the fact that, while they are extremely close, they are essentially in different hierarchical classes. This culminates in Miyuki joining the Student Council and Tatsuya joining the Disciplinary Committee, even though both are reluctant about the whole thing.
Tatsuya is a very interesting character because he is constantly annoyed by his classmates and their shenanigans, most of which he gets drawn into. He seems like the type of character that would prefer to be in the background and be left to his own devices, but his status as main character simply won’t let him. It is actually quite amusing to read his inner monologue while things happen to and around him. He is actually quite smart, being able to work on CADs (the in-universe way to cast magic) with exceptional skill and speed. He is also a skilled martial artist, apparently knowing ninjutsu, or something similar. Additionally, he also has a very mechanical way of thinking, which includes shutting down parts of himself that would ordinarily be considered normal. For instance, there is a scene where he realizes his older classmate is arousing him, and he shuts it down. Basically, in a book where the POV changes often and usually without meaning, Tatsuya is a very interesting character to be in the head of.
Unfortunately, Miyuki isn’t nearly as interesting as her brother. She is beautiful, smart, and gifted; all of which makes her a little too perfect for me to really connect with. Her major flaw is that she has an unusual and uncomfortable obsession with her brother. Also, she just feels a lot flatter than most of the side characters. And I officially have nothing else to say about her.
In all honesty, most of what I found interesting about this book was certain aspects of Sato’s world-building, specifically the pseudo-science/magic marriage and how it is explained. I also like how mysterious the history of the siblings is. Very little about their relationships with their parents is revealed, or why they are living alone in their apartment. In fact, other than the basic setup of the plot and characteristics of the two, not much else is explored in this book. I am curious to see if the next book will reveal more.
The Novice (Summoner Book 1)
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Rachel Maria Berney (114 KP) rated The Holiday Calendar (2018) in Movies
Dec 4, 2018
The main character will be familiar as Bonnie from The Vampire Diaries and as good an actor as she is, she is more annoying than likeable. That is the case in this film too. It's a shame, but the mistake she makes that causes the drama, seems like something a spoilt pentulant toddler would do. You take an instant dislike to her, not that you loved her from the off though.
Overall, I liked the idea and did enjoy the movie. Everyone needs a little magic at Christmas and The Holiday Calendar provides it.
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Charlotte (184 KP) rated The Gatekeeper of Pericael in Books
Feb 26, 2021
To say the book focuses on and around teenagers it's anything but aimed purely at young folk. If it hadn't have been for references to age I would have spent most of the book thinking I was reading about early twenty-something's.
There's plenty of magic and fraught situations that had me almost holding my breath and wishing that I could perform magic.
I enjoyed journeying with Porter (The Gatekeeper's son/future Gatekeeper) and his cousin Ames. It was nice seeing how each of them grew throughout and gained a better understanding of each other and themselves. Especially learning self belief and trusting their new friends.
A good fantasy that will keep you and your mini mes entertained and enthusiastic for an adventure.
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