Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts
The Honor at Magic High School Episode 11 Review – Quick Summary
In The Honor at Magic High School Episode 11, “Brother, good luck,” First High’s student leadership concluded that the attack on its Monolith Code team could not possibly have been an accident. Someone was gunning for the First High students. Of course, Tatsuya Shiba already knew all about it, and he was prepared. Miyuki Shiba, though, worried. But she didn’t know that Eimi Akechi, Honoka Mitsui, and their friends had realized what was up and were determined to protect Tatsuya. Can they do it? Or have they seriously underestimated their foe?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from The Honor at Magic High School Episode 11
Eimi’s heart was certainly in the right place! Capture from the Funimation stream.
I wondered what role, if any, this episode would have Eimi and the others play, during the Monolith Code competition. It’s a major arc in the original series, but I didn’t recall seeing Eimi, Shizuku Kitayama, or even Honoka during that arc.
Partially at Eimi’s suggestion, all of the women-folk who Tatsuya had helped decided that if some force had tried to sabotage the First High Team, out of gratitude for Tatsuya’s work on their CADs, they wanted to help protect him. In fact, in a move I found hilarious, Eimi called the effort “Operation Repay Tatsuya for His Kindness!”
Miyuki, of course, loved the idea. Anything for her brother! But Miyuki insisted they keep their work secret, or else Tatsuya would worry about them. So, they all agreed.
Eimi herself almost gave it all away. Coming into the First High tent yawning one morning, Tatsuya asked if she had gotten enough sleep.
Saying she had not, Eimi added (11:46), “I got up early to check the stage.”
Honoka and a classmate tried to clamp their hands over Eimi’s mouth. Fortunately, though I think Tatsuya knew, he kept it to himself. Or he was just being his usual no-expression self. It’s hard to tell with Tatsuya.
Best in Show Moment for The Honor at Magic High School Episode 11
People of good will can work together. When they do, the results are far greater than what each individual could achieve on their own. Capture from the Funimation stream.
Setup: Editing as a Vocation
Have you ever worked as an editor? Not fact-checking or proof reading — I’m talking about the kind of edits that could make major changes to a manuscript. Those kinds of edits have various names, but I’m talking about editorial assessments, development editing, or copy editing.
As far as I am aware, there are two theories for conducting those kinds of edits. The first theory is that the manuscript should conform to the editor’s notions. If my memory serves me correctly (and that’s not a guaranteed!), the editor John W. Campbell typified that kind of editor. While he deservedly gets a lot of credit for shaping the face of science fiction during his tenure, I can’t say that I agree with his approach. I have to wonder how many voices he silenced or changed. I also wonder how much more successful he would have been had he helped develop those voices.
Should all manuscripts adhere to high standards of the writing craft? Absolutely! Readers deserve no less. But the line between influencing the mechanics of a story altering its voice can be very, very thin.
When he adjusted Honoka and Satomi’s CADs, he did so with their own talents in mind. Capture from the Funimation stream.
The theory that I embrace is that my job as an editor is to liberate the writer’s voice from the clutches of poor grammar or other improperly implemented aspects of the craft. I want to clarify the writer’s own voice. It’s their story, after all!
One of the highest praises I ever received was after editing a manuscript all the way back in college. I was working on a literary magazine as the main editor (okay, the only editor!). I handed the manuscript back to the writer after I had finished. He read it, read it again, and said, “I can’t tell where you made any changes.”
I had made dozens. But they were all structural. The writer agreed that the edited manuscript reflected his vision for his story. No praise I have received since, even in my professional careers, has come close to that.
Delivery: Tatsuya Makes CADs Sing
Tatsuya had been tasked with supporting the women’s team for First High. As he helped Honoka and Satomi Subaruget ready for the finals, he told them (03:41), “All you two have to think about is how to maximize your natural abilities.” That’s Tatsuya’s philosophy: to make their CADs sing, in their own voices.
Of course, Honoka and Subaru finished first and second in Mirage Bat. During that match, though, the other First High women in the stands, like Shizuku and Eimi, talked about how with Tatsuya as their engineer, either Honoka or Subaru had a shot at finishing first. Remembering the conversation from the tent, Shizuku said (04:25), “‘Maximize your natural abilities.’ I heard Tatsuya say that. And true to his word, he’s been supporting us so that we can draw out our natural abilities.”
It came as no surprise that Shizuku put the pieces together. Capture from the Funimation stream.
That reminded me of the writer who thought my editing work made no change to how the manuscript sounded. Instead, I simply helped it sing in the writer’s own voice. That’s the epitome of service. It’s one of the themes that I really liked from the original series and that continues here. Namely, that someone as powerful as Tatsuya took seriously his role to help others. The fact he did so in a humble way, without wanting to draw attention to himself, made it all the better!
What did you think of “Operation Repay Tatsuya for His Kindness?” What were your favorite moments? Let me know in the comments!
The Honor at Magic High School Episode 11: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: Mahouka Koukou no Yuutousei – Episode 11 discussion
- 100 Word Anime: Mahouka Koukou no Yuutousei Episode 11 Impressions – The Girls Play Detective Again
- The Anime Rambler – By Benigmatica: Mahouka Koukou no Yuutousei Episode #11
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- The Honor at Magic High School Episode 1: I’ll Cherish This for the Rest of My Life
- The Honor at Magic High School Episode 2: May I join you?
- The Honor at Magic High School Episode 3: The Girls’ Detective Club is here!
- The Honor at Magic High School Episode 4: Friends
- The Honor at Magic High School Episode 5: I won’t let anyone interfere
- The Honor at Magic High School Episode 6: The Nine Schools Competition Begins
- The Honor at Magic High School Episode 7: Arithmetic Chain
- The Honor at Magic High School Episode 8: Hell of Ice and Flames
- The Honor at Magic High School Episode 9: Because You Were by My Side
- The Honor at Magic High School Episode 10: I Don’t Want to Lose
- The Honor at Magic High School Episode 11: Brother, good luck
- The Honor at Magic High School Episode 12: I will fly!
- The Honor at Magic High School Episode 13: I can’t lose
