Mahouka - Movie Discussion / Poll

[AB079]

Originally Posted by bakato

Also, for less than 2 minutes, I can already see some better directing than the anime. The location was expressed through signs and there were nice little futuristic touches like that ticket card with changing images.

Not so fast, remember one of the massive flaws from the anime is how they stripped out almost all of Tatsuya's monologues and how that affected the way how his character worked for the viewers (those monologues showed a big amount of what happens in Tat's mind and why he acts like that).

If they show again the same dead MC of the anime in this movie then is going to be at the same level. I hope that doesn't happens this time.

[-Mahesvara_]

Here are the location and theater listings for the mahouka screenings
http://mahouka.us/theater/

I'm in luck as I'm just 2 hours away from the one in my state, even though its a drive I'll still make the trip.

[bakato]

Originally Posted by AB079

Not so fast, remember one of the massive flaws from the anime is how they stripped out almost all of Tatsuya's monologues and how that affected the way how his character worked for the viewers (those monologues showed a big amount of what happens in Tat's mind and why he acts like that).

If they show again the same dead MC of the anime in this movie then is going to be at the same level. I hope that doesn't happens this time.

True, but I think that falls on the director.

Originally Posted by -Mahesvara_

Here are the location and theater listings for the mahouka screenings
http://mahouka.us/theater/

I'm in luck as I'm just 2 hours away from the one in my state, even though its a drive I'll still make the trip.

Welp. Guess I can't see it. Tell us how the movie goes.

[Kakurin]

Just ordered my ticket for an evening showing on Saturday in Osaka.

Originally Posted by -Mahesvara_

I'm in luck as I'm just 2 hours away from the one in my state, even though its a drive I'll still make the trip.

Originally Posted by bakato

Welp. Guess I can't see it. Tell us how the movie goes.

Guess that's the advantage of living in a big agglomeration. Multiple options. Could've gone with a local cinema 15 minutes away, but chose to go to Osaka to watch it (only 45-minute trip anyway). Intending to spend some time in Nipponbashi and Dohtonbori the very least while I'm already there.

[amtro]

Well, how did it go? What did they reveal about Kokoa, what are her powers?

[Kakurin]

Back from the showing, first the freebie:

Images

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

There are also special freebies for tickets booked in advance (depending on the week during which one booked, something like an A2 poster, or a clear file or some other stuff), but those don't extend to tickets booked on the internet, so I only got the regular freebie.

Now, as to my impressions:

Spoiler for Impressions:

+Good parts+

Animation: pretty good (even though a few of those one-liner random guys looked a bit flat sometimes), and perhaps it's just me, but they went all out on Miyuki. Drawn pretty detailed, especially the face and hair. Also, Lina's Heavy Metal Burst was pretty impressive.

The fights against of Erika and Leo: Especially the battle between Erika against Benjamin was animated pretty well, enjoyed that one. Leo against that crazy redhead wasn't too shabby either. And Jūmonji is like an immovable object. Really impressive. Left Benjamin completely at a loss.

Voice acting: Everything pretty much spot-on, as you'd expect from that cast. Oh, and something I noticed just now since I barely understood any Japanese back when the TV series aired; Miyuki is talking so damn formal to Tatsuya, pulling out all the stops with sonkeigo and kenjōgo.

- Bad parts -

Scenes of the first part not well-connected: A whole chunk of the first 20-30 minutes felt like a sequence of single scenes you suddenly jumped into, rather than a connected whole. One moment you have Tatsuya and friends enjoying the beach, next moment an experiment, then Tatsuya reporting to the military, next moment Miyuki and friends shopping around and so on. Really lasted until Kokoa showed up.

First part also felt somewhat dragged out: Don't know if it's because of the source material or questionable directing, but the first part just felt really slow sometimes with the well-known Mahōka-style dialogue-heavy scenes. That's also something that bugged me during the rescue scene in the second part when Tatsuya was talking what felt like half an eternity to that doctor.

Speaking of that rescue scene: Again, don't know if it's like that in the source material, but it just didn't feel really urgent, that scene. As said above, first Tatsuya spends a whole while talking and lecturing the doctor. And then the two of them just stroll into the lab where the professor is watching over the experiment and nobody really cares that an armoured masked guy and a doctor who's supposed to be under arrest just walked in. I mean, huh? And of course with Tatsuya being Tatsuya the rescue operation was all too easy for him.

Weak soundtrack: It was solid during the fight scenes. But during the first half subpar. Not only did it sometimes not support the visuals very well, on the contrary, it was at times annoyingly distracting.

/ Funny parts \

Tatsuya's outfit: Especially the first moment when Erika and Leo finished changing and saw Tatsuya in that strange cape and armour and when Tatsuya was running around in the research base during the rescue operation. Was unintentionally funny.

Onii-sama: Well, what would Mahōka be without the usual dose of onii-sama scenes.

Verdict:

In the end the movie is plagued by virtually the same problems that plagued the TV series. Namely, lots and lots of talking in the first part and a bit of a challenge to gauge Tatsuya's thinking (and depending on where you stand, the Tatsuya-Miyuki scenes). The soundtrack was also a negative point in my eyes. But the fight scenes against the Stars on the other hand were excellent. Oh, and Lina also gets plus points from me.

So, if you were able overlook the problems and enjoy the TV series you'll probably enjoy the movie too. If you really had issues with the way the TV series was handled, better get yourself ready before watching.

[bakato]

Originally Posted by Kakurin-san

Back from the showing, first the freebie:

Images

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

There are also special freebies for tickets booked in advance (depending on the week during which one booked, something like an A2 poster, or a clear file or some other stuff), but those don't extend to tickets booked on the internet, so I only got the regular freebie.

Now, as to my impressions:

Spoiler for Impressions:

+Good parts+

Animation: pretty good (even though a few of those one-liner random guys looked a bit flat sometimes), and perhaps it's just me, but they went all out on Miyuki. Drawn pretty detailed, especially the face and hair. Also, Lina's Heavy Metal Burst was pretty impressive.

The fights against of Erika and Leo: Especially the battle between Erika against Benjamin was animated pretty well, enjoyed that one. Leo against that crazy redhead wasn't too shabby either. And Jūmonji is like an immovable object. Really impressive. Left Benjamin completely at a loss.

Voice acting: Everything pretty much spot-on, as you'd expect from that cast. Oh, and something I noticed just now since I barely understood any Japanese back when the TV series aired; Miyuki is talking so damn formal to Tatsuya, pulling out all the stops with sonkeigo and kenjōgo.

- Bad parts -

Scenes of the first part not well-connected: A whole chunk of the first 20-30 minutes felt like a sequence of single scenes you suddenly jumped into, rather than a connected whole. One moment you have Tatsuya and friends enjoying the beach, next moment an experiment, then Tatsuya reporting to the military, next moment Miyuki and friends shopping around and so on. Really lasted until Kokoa showed up.

First part also felt somewhat dragged out: Don't know if it's because of the source material or questionable directing, but the first part just felt really slow sometimes with the well-known Mahōka-style dialogue-heavy scenes. That's also something that bugged me during the rescue scene in the second part when Tatsuya was talking what felt like half an eternity to that doctor.

Speaking of that rescue scene: Again, don't know if it's like that in the source material, but it just didn't feel really urgent, that scene. As said above, first Tatsuya spends a whole while talking and lecturing the doctor. And then the two of them just stroll into the lab where the professor is watching over the experiment and nobody really cares that an armoured masked guy and a doctor who's supposed to be under arrest just walked in. I mean, huh? And of course with Tatsuya being Tatsuya the rescue operation was all too easy for him.

Weak soundtrack: It was solid during the fight scenes. But during the first half subpar. Not only did it sometimes not support the visuals very well, on the contrary, it was at times annoyingly distracting.

/ Funny parts \

Tatsuya's outfit: Especially the first moment when Erika and Leo finished changing and saw Tatsuya in that strange cape and armour and when Tatsuya was running around in the research base during the rescue operation. Was unintentionally funny.

Onii-sama: Well, what would Mahōka be without the usual dose of onii-sama scenes.

Verdict:

In the end the movie is plagued by virtually the same problems that plagued the TV series. Namely, lots and lots of talking in the first part and a bit of a challenge to gauge Tatsuya's thinking (and depending on where you stand, the Tatsuya-Miyuki scenes). The soundtrack was also a negative point in my eyes. But the fight scenes against the Stars on the other hand were excellent. Oh, and Lina also gets plus points from me.

So, if you were able overlook the problems and enjoy the TV series you'll probably enjoy the movie too. If you really had issues with the way the TV series was handled, better get yourself ready before watching.

What source material? This is an original story by the author.

[Kakurin]

Originally Posted by bakato

What source material? This is an original story by the author.

Well, didn't know that. Then let's put it as, usual problem with the way the author handles the story, or the problem with the directing.

[amtro]

Who or what is Kokoa? What about the battle in space I keep hearing about? How did Tatsuya "become a legend" like the movie's tagline claimed he would.

[Kakurin]

Originally Posted by amtro

Who or what is Kokoa? What about the battle in space I keep hearing about? How did Tatsuya "become a legend" like the movie's tagline claimed he would.

Spoiler for Spoiler:

- Kokoa and her, uh, sisters, are basically resources for the magic experiments of a team of scientists. Got freed by the doctor who took care of her because the professor overseeing the experiments was driving them so hard that they were threatened to be left as empty soulless husks, if I understood it correctly.

- It's not a real battle in space. To stop a satellite that's crashing down Tatsuya has Lina transport him into space where he obliterates it. His landing then is handled by Miyuki who envelopes him in something that looks like a flower.

[amtro]

But what is the base for Kokoa and her sisters? Are they artificial magicians, clones, orphans?
Also, what does this experiment do?

[Kakurin]

Originally Posted by amtro

But what is the base for Kokoa and her sisters? Are they artificial magicians, clones, orphans?
Also, what does this experiment do?

Spoiler for Spoiler:

Well, my Japanese is not that good to understand all those details. But I think they are clones. Look exactly the same and are a "series". In regard to the experiment, it's about showing the usefulness of that kind of research to the military. With the first experiment at the start of the movie they altered the trajectory of something, I think it was of that big satellite, for a collision course to Earth. The second experiment then failed because they didn't have enough girls to make it successful. They had nine at start, after Kokoa escaped eight, and according to the doctor who freed Kokoa they needed like 12 to guarantee success. The research seems to have been conducted in the past as well, but then stopped because it was dangerous or some stuff like that. That's why Lina and her crew had the order to wipe out the research facility, which thecrazy redhead took as permission to perform a massacre.

EDIT: Ah right, as far as I've understood the experiment involved linking all nine of those girls together and forcefully activating all magic sequences, or whatever you call those in Mahoka.

[AB079]

Looks like things are going well for this movie.

Spoiler for Rank:

[順位] [販売数] [映画作品タイトル名]
　*1　*16129　劇場版 魔法科高校の劣等生 …
　*2　*13432　こどもつかい
　*3　**6785　２２年目の告白－私が殺人犯で…
　*4　**5110　美女と野獣
　*5　**4999　昼顔
　*6　**4512　キング・アーサー
　*7　**2045　花戦さ
　*8　**1843　家族はつらいよ２
　*9　**1356　ＴＡＰ ＴＨＥ ＬＡＳＴ Ｓ…
　10　**1309　ＫＩＮＧ ＯＦ ＰＲＩＳＭ …

[Kakurin]

That doesn't surprise me. Yesterday's showings were pretty well-sold.

[-Mahesvara_]

Originally Posted by Kakurin-san

Spoiler for Spoiler:

- Kokoa and her, uh, sisters, are basically resources for the magic experiments of a team of scientists. Got freed by the doctor who took care of her because the professor overseeing the experiments was driving them so hard that they were threatened to be left as empty soulless husks, if I understood it correctly.

- It's not a real battle in space. To stop a satellite that's crashing down Tatsuya has Lina transport him into space where he obliterates it. His landing then is handled by Miyuki who envelopes him in something that looks like a flower.

Tatsuya destroys it with material burst i assume?

[Kakurin]

Originally Posted by -Mahesvara_

Tatsuya destroys it with material burst i assume?

Bingo. At the start of the movie he received an order from the military and had Miyuki remove his seal.

[AB079]

@Kakurin-san, when Tats use material burst is Lina present or at least watching what's going on? one of the things the LN was clear about it was the fact that Lina is not 100% sure that Tats was involved on The Scorched Halloween, maybe in the movie she saw him using his full potential.

[-Mahesvara_]

Originally Posted by Kakurin-san

Bingo. At the start of the movie he received an order from the military and had Miyuki remove his seal.

Awesome! I'm assuming Lina didn't actually observe what he did of course, because the USNA aren't certain that he is the S-Class magician responsible for the scorched Halloween, but he's like their main suspect in their investigation.

[Kakurin]

Originally Posted by AB079

@Kakurin-san, when Tats use material burst is Lina present or at least watching what's going on? one of the things the LN was clear about it was the fact that Lina is not 100% sure that Tats was involved on The Scorched Halloween, maybe in the movie she saw him using his full potential.

She stayed on the ground, only shot him up into space. After Tatsuya got rid of the satellite using Material Burst there was an aurora, but no, she didn't see it up close what he did up there.

[Flames]

Anyone know how many theaters this is currently being shown in so we can somewhat gauge what kind of expectations Aniplex has for how much this movie can sell. It seems reviews got lower as the movie got release to the public so I'm kinda worried on how this movie will do on the weekends especially when the novel boost is over. I want my season 2 so I know this has to do well in order for that to happen.