English Dub Review: The Irregular at Magic High School: Visitor Arc I

I honestly didn’t know what the hell I was in for with this one, folks. Science fantasy series tend to either trigger a full-blown obsession with me, or they’re just annoying, using “magic” to cover egregious plot holes. This one isn’t annoying (yet) but it’s certainly not my cup of tea, in part because nothing that interesting has happened yet, and in part because of the borderline icky relationship between Tatsuya and Miyuki. I’m aware that the whole “attracted to your younger sister” vibe is a thing in anime (and pop music. Looking at you, Billie Eilish’s older brother!) But seriously: gross.

I was intrigued at first with the whole undercover/covert ops aspect of this story, but Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy this plot is not. Lina self-describes as being an amateur spy, and boy is that an understatement. Not only is she terrible at blending in, she straight up blows her cover when she picks a fight with Tatsuya and then asks HIM why he’s not asking who she really is. Whaaat is the strategy here? Is she really so powerful that she doesn’t have to be safe? Or is she just stupid? Or was this a dream? Unclear.

At least the voice cast is top notch, as should be expected with Erica Mendez (the voice of Ryuuko Matoi in Kill la Kill, Retsuko in Aggretsuko, and other iconic roles) voice directing. Alejandro Saab (you may have heard him as Shallot in Dragon Ball Legends) is perfectly detached and threatening for our deep-voiced villain Tatsuya, while Anairis Quinones (My Hero Academia fans know her as Mirko) proves that soft doesn’t mean sweet while bringing Miyuki’s lines to life on screen. Suzie Yeung (I hear a lot of her as Chacha while reviewing SUPER HxEROS) is saddled with a tough character to make likeable, but deftly avoids any shrill shreiking that would take our blonde protagonist into “unbearable on the ears” territory. Bill Butts (that’s Sebastian Morse for you Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt: Bandit Flower fans) gets another stoic military character to lend his voice to, and it’s honestly always a treat to hear him work.

Overall, this one’s a solid “meh” so far, but I’m hoping it decides to lean more into the spy thriller approach rather than foreign exchange high school student drama. Guess we’ll find out next week!