IRR3GUL@R AT M@G1C HS - S3 EP9

This is after the previous episode, after Zhou escaped from the Kurobas. This is also a longer arc in the written materials, so I expect this season to go over 12 episodes in length. Also. this arc is entwined with, or makes reference to, the short stories I mentioned before and other materials. First, the reason why the Yotsubas are feared and considered "untouchable". Second, the history of the Ancient Magic users with the Nine (families related to Laboratory #9, which have the character(s) for 9 in their names) Third, short stories about the election of the previous student council (when Azusa became president/chairwoman) and this year's election (where Miyuki became president/chairwoman). *** STOP READING HERE TO AVOID POSSIBLE SPOILERS *** Regarding #2 ... each laboratory had a research theme. #9 was researching how to combine Ancient Magic with modern. The Ancient Magic users felt betrayed when they learned it was not really cooperative, and Lab #9 just wanted to take what they could from the Ancient Magic users, who got no benefit in return. Regarding #1... Dahan, a country that no longer exists, kidnapped Maya when she was 14 to experiment on her. At that time, she was engaged to Koichi Saegusa (he lost an eye fighting the attackers). The Yotsubas attacked the research facility; they lost 30 Yotsubas while killing 3,000 enemies. Miya used her mental magic to convert the traumatic memories of Maya's from "experiential" into "informational" memories. This had the side-effect of altering the relationship between the sisters, as really ALL of Maya's memories were converted -- she no longer felt the familial relationship with her sister, and that affected Miya as well. That is referenced indirectly in the Reminiscence Arc.

Mark Greene