Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Raihousha Hen - Episode 12 - 10 Second Anime

Tatsuya and his friends become caught up in a pro-magician terrorist plot in Tokyo’s tallest skyscraper.

Visitor Arc XII

Hmm.

Mahouka puts on a different filter for employed magicians who need to supply a constant flow of magic to keep a certain technology working. Is it forced labor? Slavery? The magicians work in shifts to keep the magic flowing, so it appears dehumanizing. However, isn’t this the same thing we ask of first responders and healthcare providers? These people also need to work in shifts to make sure constant attention and service are at the ready for emergencies and patients. It’s a thorny issue if we define healthcare as a human right because someone needs to provide that healthcare. What if we don’t have enough nurses and doctors? Law enforcement and security is a human right, but will there come a day when policemen and firefighters become scarce because people don’t want to work as “slaves?”

Tatsuya, like we saw in Mahouka’s first season, takes a pragmatic libertarian approach. Compensate people well and you’ll never have a shortage of people applying for a position. That compensation isn’t just monetary either. If people take a profession for granted and start treating them as “the help” and just doing as they’re “expected,” then those collective feelings of resentment will turn into an opposing human rights group. Do you want healthcare as a right? Well, what about the labor rights of those who provide that care? Mahouka, through Tatsuya, points to contracts and transactions as the way forward, instead of the paradoxical degradation of the human spirit by always demanding rights to something you want for free. Libertarian capitalist advocacy is another thing I hoped to see in Mahouka after an absence of six years. Be a magician, but make sure someone pays you. That’s only fair.

Heh.

The little Yotsuba clan cousins study the plans for the Tokyo Offshore Tower. Is the New Breed Front pro magician or anti-magician? The kids’ job is to gather info about this group. The older twin sister takes after Aunt Maya, for sure.

Tatsuya the know-it-all explains the hyper tower technology. Here’s the rub for this Mahouka mini arc. A band of magicians is always on call to make the stabilizing flywheels keep spinning. That’s approaching slavery or indentured servitude. Hayama is surprised to see the Shiba siblings, but they came with Shizuku as guests. Maya wanted to watch over the party because of the dedicated use of magicians in the operation of the hyper tower’s integrity.

Miyuki appears to recognize Manami. It turns out she’s the niece of the Shiba’s mother’s attendant. Tatsuya wouldn’t recognize her because of where he grew up while Miyuki stayed at home. Kinky. Ayako made Fumiya dress up like a girl. The twins debate whether to stop the obvious terrorists before they break in or to monitor them to catch them in the act. Uh oh. Those operatives tried to escape. It looks like Tatsuya provides long distance backup for the Kuroba twins. Thanks, Tatsuya, for telling us the New Breed Front are magician supremacists.

Har. Mahouka plays its funny music for the underlings trying to brag for Fumiya’s masculinity even though he’s dressed as “Yami” the girl. More funny stuff. Shizuku’s family wants the deets on Honoka’s crush. Ack. The New Breed Front already infiltrated the magicians powering the building. This lounge looks nice, but it’s only a nice-looking labor camp. These guys have a Plan B. Gas and hostage taking. So, it begins. That’s right. Look to Tatsuya to fix those terrorists.