The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc Episode 13 Review – Best In Show

Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts

The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc Episode 13 Review – Quick Summary

In The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc episode 13, “Visitor Arc XIII,” Tatsuya Shiba, Miyuki Shiba, and Minami Sakurai accepted Hayama Tadanori’s request to save the Tokyo Offshore Tower. Tatsuya led them into the depths of the building, but before they could act, a natural Earthquake halted the elevators — and the evacuation. With the terrorists in charge of the control room and the control room being the only place to restart the elevators, what will Tatsuya do? And even if they can get the elevators restarted, what options will he, Miyuki, and Minami have to protect the building — once the terrorists know they’re on the scene?

Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.

Favorite Quote from The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc Episode 13

You know, I think Tatsuya might actually have felt a bit annoyed. He didn’t like people trying to shoot him in the back. He really is developing emotions! Capture from the Funimation stream.

Tatsuya, being a lawful good sort of person, let Miyuki convince him to attempt to restart the elevators so the civilians before completing their primary mission, so Honoka Mitsui, and Shizuku Kitayama could evacuate. That meant giving their away presence to the terrorists.

Tatsuya just walked up and asked to speak to their leader. After he allowed Minami to shield him from the hailstorm of bullets, the terrorist leader, who introduced himself as Kan Fehr, basically said, “Nah. But we won’t kill you if you leave now.”

I’m not sure what plan Tatsuya had, but he turned to leave. Immediately, two guards raised their machine guns with the intent to gun him down.

Tatsuya had spun around, disarmed both them of them, and knocked them unconscious to the ground. All in about a tenth of a second.

“You pointed your guns at me. I would never overlook that,” he said, clearly annoyed (10:58).

The terrorist learned a valuable lesson: Always know your enemy before you try to shoot them in the back!

Best in Show Moment for The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc Episode 13

Minami is an accomplished, powerful magician. What she saw astonished her into speechlessness. Capture from the Funimation stream.

Setup: Tatsuya’s Ability to Restore Bodies is Already Established

Back in season 1, episode 16 (around 12:37), during the tournament arc, Tatsuya went up against the Masaki Ichijou, the Crimson Prince. Their rivalry was so intense that Masaki over did it and used magic deemed illegal for the tournament. In fact, it nearly killed Tatsuya, whose automatic magical sequence kicked in and restored his “Core Eidos data from backup,” effectively restoring his body to a pre-damage condition.

The series’ Wiki has an article about Eidos. Its exact workings are beyond me, but I think it’s great the world has such a complex, internally-consistent set of rules. Back in S1E16, it was a lot of fun to see Tatsuya bounce back from near death and defeat Masaki by clicking his fingers. It’s events like that that give Tatsuya the reputation of being over powered (OP).

Masaki’s strike on Tatsuya back in S1E16 was so severe that Erika Chiba and Mizuki Shibata were certain they’d just watched their friend die. They didn’t know him that well yet! Capture from the Funimation stream.

What I find interesting is that the concepts he used to restore his body weren’t his own. They weren’t something he was born with. His adopted family built the magical sequences. So, him having them didn’t make him OP. To his opponents, he seemed that way, but that’s because they were expecting so much less from a high school student.

Events like restoring his own body can setup cool moments later. Expectations play an important part of how we react to those moments. In this episode, we got what I think might be the most interesting and affecting Tatsuya Power Moment yet. And Minami was its key.

Delivery: Even Tatsuya Had to Work Up a Sweat!

Sure, Restoring a Building is Cool…

After Tatsuya brushed past the terrorist leader and major minions, he arrived at the tower’s foundation with Miyuki and Minami. The terrorist leader had triggered the “bomb,” which was a magic sequence against the tower’s support pillars. As one pillar crumbled, Tatsuya used his sidearm to shoot it with restoration magic. However, as soon as he did, another pillar began to crumble.

Remember when we met Minami back in episode 11? We got to see that she was more than a little adept at defensive magic. Her shields easily protected her and helped her defeat a squad of soldiers. Earlier in this episode, we got a reminder of her abilities when she protected Tatsuya and Miyuki against the terrorists’ magic attack.

Minami’s power was easily enough against the terrorists’ magical knife attack. Capture from the Funimation stream.

Now, she tried to help Tatsuya by using her shields to reinforce one of the pillar, even as Tatsuya tried to think of what to do next. She held it together for several seconds, but even her considerable magic failed.

What followed involved Tatsuya realizing they were fighting a loosing battle, considering his options, and deciding he’d have to restore the building from its backup. It was a very cool Tatsuya Power Moment, made even more impressive because he had to work — hard — to make it happen. The power expenditure was right up against his upper limits. We don’t get to see that very often!

But Minami’s Reaction Sold It

What really sold the moment, though, was Minami’s reaction. Now, keep in mind that she’s a powerful magician serving in a powerful family. She knows her way around magical sequences. When she saw what Tatsuya did, though, she could only stare, slack-jawed.

“Was this the deed of a human,” she breathed, aghast (18:45).

As an aside, how must she feel? Near the beginning of this episode, Tatsuya had asked her to protect Miyuki. She had just failed to keep a single pillar together, and she’d witnessed Tatsuya restore the entire building. Knowing that Miyuki’s power rivals her brother’s, Minami has to be asking herself what she could do to protect such titans.

Miyuki was worried about the effort Tatsuya had expended, while Minami was still trying to understand what she’d seen. Capture from the Funimation stream.

Yes, seeing Tatsuya restore a building is cool, but it’s something that’s very, very abstract. Seeing the accomplished Minami reduced to speechlessness, though, is something that’s accessible. This series doesn’t neglect those moments, and that’s one of the reasons I enjoy it so much.

What did you think of seeing Mayumi Saegusa and her sister Kasumi near the end? What was your Best in Show Moment? Let me know in the comments!

The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc Episode 13: Other Posts

Other Anime Sites

• Reddit: Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Raihousha-hen – Episode 13 discussion – FINAL
• Random Curiosity: Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Raihousha-hen – 13 (END)
• The Anime Rambler – By Benigmatica: Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Raihousha-hen Episode #13

This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)

• The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc Episode 1: Visitor Arc I
• The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc Episode 2: Visitor Arc II
• The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc Episode 3: Visitor Arc III
• The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc Episode 4: Visitor Arc IV
• The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc Episode 5: Visitor Arc V
• The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc Episode 6: Visitor Arc VI
• The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc Episode 7: Visitor Arc VII
• The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc Episode 8: Visitor Arc VIII
• The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc Episode 9: Visitor Arc IX
• The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc Episode 10: Visitor Arc X
• The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc Episode 11: Visitor Arc XI
• The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc Episode 12: Visitor Arc XII
• The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc Episode 13: Visitor Arc XIII