Spring Anime 2014 (Part 6)

Title: Mahouka KouKou no Rettousei (The Irregular at Magic High School)
Release Date: April 5, 2014
Studio: Madhouse
Genre: Sci Fi, Fantasy, School Life
Premise: Based on the light novel by Tsutomu Satou. Siblings Tatsuya and Miyuki Shiba are about to begin their studies at the distinguished First High School, a top-tier magic academy. Not all is well, however, as the school is divided between elite Course 1 students and lower-ranked students of Course 2.

Verdict: Well it wouldn't be high school without a clear social division along class lines, would it? Tensions flare early and often in this first episode, and you can bet that spells are going to fly between Course 1 and Course 2 before the end credits roll.

After a brief vignette showing magicians doing battle in a futuristic environment, the show opens with Miyuki and Tatsuya on the morning of their induction ceremony. Miyuki can't believe her brother has been placed in Course 2 (he destroyed to written test, but had the worst practical scores), and it soon becomes clear that Tatsuya is hiding something when it comes to his magical abilities.

The rest of the day is spent introducing classmates, including shy bespectacled aura-reader Mizuki Shibata, chipper, baton-wielding Erika Chiba, and Leonhard "Leo" Saijo. Things go smoothly until Miyuki attempts to sit with her brother and his Course 2 buddies, prompting an intervention from the other Course 1 students. Barbs are traded and the two sides come to blows, attracting the attention of the school's disciplinary committee.

The series earns points for its integration of science fiction and fantasy elements, a kind of anachronistic ballet. Magicians cast their incantations with pistol-shaped Casting Assistance Devices (CAD), and ninjitsu is revealed to be an ancient magical art. Satou's world smoothly combines these disparate elements to make a magical school show unlike any other. If the light novel and manga's impressive sales numbers are any indication, Madhouse has another hit on its hands for the spring season.

Spring Anime 2014 (Part 5)

Title: No Game No Life
Release Date: April 9, 2014
Studio: Madhouse
Genre: Fantasy, Psychological, Comedy
Premise: Sora and Shiro, a brother and sister pair of hikikomori NEETs that excel at online games, reign undefeated under the moniker "BLANK." After defeating a mysterious opponent, they are transported to an alternate reality where everything from petty disputes to national borders is decided by playing games.

Verdict: This is the latest in a line of popular "socially awkward loner gets sucked into favorite game" series that have popped up. First came Sword Art Online and Btooom! in 2012, followed by last year's Log Horizon. It's easy to see why shows like these would appeal to members of Japanese society's robust gaming otaku subculture. The protagonists of these series are usually quiet, withdrawn, unproductive members of society, gaming to escape their mundane realities.

When they wind up living their favorite pastime, they usually react with elation - here their formerly useless skills are suddenly invaluable, the countless hours spent honing odd abilities finally bearing fruit. However, at the end of the day, all of these slackers-turned-heroes try to return home. At the end of the pilot, our fearless protagonist Sora notes this trope and proceeds to do away with it completely: "Why would they try to go back to a world like that?"

This is the mentality with which Sora and his sister approach life, scorning the outside world, sunlight and other people. They play online games from sun-up to sundown, subsisting on rations and convenience store food. The pair is on the tail end of a five-day gaming bender when they receive a strange invite from an anonymous source online. After a pitched battle of computer chess, brother and sister are whisked away to Disboard - world ruled by gaming. Sora and Shiro waste no time diving into their new environment, traveling to a town where a new king is being determined via poker game.

The fantastical setting, and Shiro and Sora's nonchalant, devil-may-care reaction to it, is very intriguing. It also doesn't hurt when a studio as world-renowned as Madhouse is handling animation duties; even the most mundane games become suspenseful action sequences. It will be interesting to follow this series and see what shenanigans Sora and his sister get up to in their new digs.