Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei LN - Q&A/Discussion about World and Setting

[zztop]

1) What is fashion in Mahouka's universe like? I'm assuming plunging necklines and miniskirts are out of vogue, given Tatsuya's criticism of the busty psychologist's outfit as unacceptable by their society's standards.

2)Am I correct in saying that even though the 3rd World War is officially over, a global Cold War persists between the various nation-states of Mahouka, with each country trying to undermine one another?
Especially if Tatsuya is implying that a foreign power is backing the terrorists to foment rebellion among the school's Weeds and thus destabilise Japan.

[IceHism]

Originally Posted by zztop

1) What is fashion in Mahouka's universe like? I'm assuming plunging necklines and miniskirts are out of vogue, given Tatsuya's criticism of the busty psychologist's outfit as unacceptable by their society's standards.

2)Am I correct in saying that even though the 3rd World War is officially over, a global Cold War persists between the various nation-states of Mahouka, with each country trying to undermine one another?
Especially if Tatsuya is implying that a foreign power is backing the terrorists to foment rebellion among the school's Weeds and thus destabilise Japan.

Hmm, it varies. Most of the time, people dress conservatively
But there are cases where things like that don't happen. For example, when Mayumi was late for the bus, she was wearing a summer dress with her arms and legs exposed I believe.
Miyuki also tends to dress more liberally at home

I forgot what Miyuki wore when she went with Tatsuya to the restaurant and the bank though I think it was a summer dress and that's not considered conservative in that time.

But it seems the general fashion is conservative with little to no skin showing. The dresses seem a bit Victorian era at the parties and business atire seems to be popular? Though I may be wrong cause my mind is a bit fuzzy right now.


Yes, foreign countries are all trying to undermine each other. When The great Asian alliance's strategic magician was killed, Japan wasted no time to exploit their weakness. The USNA is also trying to undermine Japan. There also seems to be 7 individuals who are the grandmasters of these conflicts called the seven sages.

[zztop]

Originally Posted by IceHism

Yes, foreign countries are all trying to undermine each other. When The great Asian alliance's strategic magician was killed, Japan wasted no time to exploit their weakness. The USNA is also trying to undermine Japan. There also seems to be 7 individuals who are the grandmasters of these conflicts called the seven sages.

When you say grandmasters, do you mean the 7 Sages are the main planners of the conflicts, or are they just agents of the nations involved in the conflicts?

Do the Sages serve their own nations, or are they acting as independent 3rd parties?

[IceHism]

Originally Posted by zztop

When you say grandmasters, do you mean the 7 Sages are the main planners of the conflicts, or are they just agents of the nations involved in the conflicts?

Do the Sages serve their own nations, or are they acting as independent 3rd parties?

We only know 3 sages currently.
The black sage is the main planner of the current plan to weaken Japan and destroy the yotsuba clan.
he controls the great Asian alliance who you will see later if you are an anime only watcher

BTW, none of the sages are allied with each other. They don't know each other at all really. But they seem to have an omnipotent method of obtaining information.

[SoboSobo]

Originally Posted by IceHism

We only know 3 sages currently.
The black sage is the main planner of the current plan to weaken Japan and destroy the yotsuba clan.
he controls the great Asian alliance who you will see later if you are an anime only watcher

BTW, none of the sages are allied with each other. They don't know each other at all really. But they seem to have an omnipotent method of obtaining information.

raymon is a sage and maya is a sage that's what we know so far.

And isn`t the way they get information because the have access to the echelon III system via Hliðskjálf

echelon III is an information interception network developed by the USNA, that can gather information from all over the world.

[zztop]

Originally Posted by IceHism

Hmm, it varies. Most of the time, people dress conservatively

But it seems the general fashion is conservative with little to no skin showing. The dresses seem a bit Victorian era at the parties and business atire seems to be popular? Though I may be wrong cause my mind is a bit fuzzy right now.

I'd like a little more clarification on how the author describes fashion in Mahouka's universe:
1)Is the reason why people dress conservatively due to colder weather, or some other moral reason?

2)How are the fashions illustrated in the LNs? Victorian, 21st century, or something more futuristic couture, ala the rich people from the Hunger Games?
Or is it something like what these people are wearing?

Spoiler for Clothing:

I'm been doing some sketches based on the above designs but I'm not sure if the above picture style is in tune with Mahouka's universe.
Please disregard the people, only the clothes deserve attention.

[kagato3]

Originally Posted by zztop

I'd like a little more clarification on how the author describes fashion in Mahouka's universe:
1)Is the reason why people dress conservatively due to colder weather, or some other moral reason?

2)How are the fashions illustrated in the LNs? Victorian, 21st century, or something more futuristic couture, ala the rich people from the Hunger Games?
Or is it something like what these people are wearing?

Spoiler for Clothing:

I'm been doing some sketches based on the above designs but I'm not sure if the above picture style is in tune with Mahouka's universe.
Please disregard the people, only the clothes deserve attention.

1 cold weather led to a shift in morals. The weather has since begun to warm it has not lead the the return to less coverage in public.

2 styles are rather basic and form fitting

[Ravagerblade]

So I was reading Volume 6 and found this little thing here -

Tatsuya's abilities did not include the "All Seeing Eye".

Still, he was capable of similar feats.

Just as magic isn't affected by physical distance, sensory abilities through the information dimension are not affected by physical proximity either. So long as the target has been locked on through the information dimension, one could "see" the target no matter how far away they were. For example, a powerful telescope could see the moon's surface, and if it could home onto a lunar landing vehicle, then one would be able to see the status of that vehicle on the moon's surface (in reality, such a powerful telescope does not exist).

I'm going to call BS, my subjective thought's bring me to the conclusion that there should be something within that realm of possibility even in RL, so why not in this story? lol Failure much imo. Did their tech sudden dissolve within WW3 or something?

[Rava]

Originally Posted by SoboSobo

raymon is a sage and maya is a sage that's what we know so far.

And isn`t the way they get information because the have access to the echelon III system via Hliðskjálf

echelon III is an information interception network developed by the USNA, that can gather information from all over the world.

We know the boss of Blanche is a sage because Raymond tells us this.

[Guest2]

Originally Posted by Ravagerblade

So I was reading Volume 6 and found this little thing here -

I'm going to call BS, my subjective thought's bring me to the conclusion that there should be something within that realm of possibility even in RL, so why not in this story? lol Failure much imo. Did their tech sudden dissolve within WW3 or something?

Depends on what you understood from it. For me it means there is no telescope that would tell me if a vehicle is out of gas or needs an oil change by just looking at it. That's what I understood when they mentioned being able to see its status.

[Ravagerblade]

Originally Posted by Guest2

Depends on what you understood from it. For me it means there is no telescope that would tell me if a vehicle is out of gas or needs an oil change by just looking at it. That's what I understood when they mentioned being able to see its status.

That would make more sense but I was looking at it as from an exterior way.

[CatRules]

Vol.8 preamble about strategic class magicians has been undated.

and can someone inform Baka-Tsuki translator there that the name of Thai Strategic class mage (ソム　チャイ　ブンナーク) is read as [Somchai Bunnag(สมชาย บุนนาค)] with [chai] as [buy].


p.s. interestingly, the ancestor of Bunnag family came from Persia. (might explain why they use same SC magic)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunnag_family

[Verisimilitude]

Originally Posted by CatRules

Vol.8 preamble about strategic class magicians has been undated.

and can someone inform Baka-Tsuki translator there that the name of Thai Strategic class mage (ソム　チャイ　ブンナーク) is read as [Somchai Bunnag(สมชาย บุนนาค)] with [chai] as [buy].


p.s. interestingly, the ancestor of Bunnag family came from Persia. (might explain why they use same SC magic)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunnag_family

Are you Thai, CatRules? Seems like there's a lot of SE Asians in this sub-forum.

Anyway, it isn't really clear what the Big Three is in Mahouka, considering they mentioned four countries before that line, but I would assume they would be the USNA, New USSR and the GAA. Anyone has other thoughts?

[zztop]

I've heard in other discussions that the ethnic Chinese characters in Mahouka are portrayed very unfavourably. Is this true? And in what way?

[IceHism]

Originally Posted by zztop

I've heard in other discussions that the ethnic Chinese characters in Mahouka are portrayed very unfavourably. Is this true? And in what way?

The only reason they look like they are portrayed unfavorably is because they are against the country the main character lives in... Lol. Zhou and the black sage are people with their own goals to bring back the glory of their own country (dahan) and thus they wish to get rid of the yotsuba, Who destroyed it.

I don't think its true as all countries in Mahouka are considered corrupt and power hungry. The only difference is that Tatsuya lives in Japan And you don't have a story if you just had Japan destroyed by some strategic magic or something.

[TrueAlchemist]

Originally Posted by IceHism

The only reason they look like they are portrayed unfavorably is because they are against the country the main character lives in... Lol. Zhou and the black sage are people with their own goals to bring back the glory of their own country (dahan) and thus they wish to get rid of the yotsuba, Who destroyed it. I don't think its true as all countries in Mahouka are considered corrupt and power hungry. The only difference is that Tatsuya lives in Japan And you don't have a story if you just had Japan destroyed by some strategic magic or something.

I agree with IceHism. But, do they have a goal to revive their country? I did not read the full translation of vol. 13, yet. So far, I only know, they want to weaken GA and Japan in order to operate whatever they are doing freely without worrying about GA and Japan.

And, the world setting in Mahouka portrays the real world, well. Just like the real world, countries are worrying over its national security and desire more power. And, it also has some corruptions.

Originally Posted by zztop

I've heard in other discussions that the ethnic Chinese characters in Mahouka are portrayed very unfavourably. Is this true? And in what way?

There isn't any ethnic discrimination within the novel. Only discrimination that Mahouka portrays, is anti-magic discrimination. I think, it is a major pillar of Mahouka. this might be one of key issues that will shake the Japanese magician society at one point. If you remember when Lina was checking out Tatsuya, she bragged about meeting the U.S. president. The author commented how hard for a magician to meet a politician by giving an example of unnamed country. The book stated, some countries force magicians to take a poison pill before meeting a politician. It technically says, how crappy the world is for overall magicians in the world. After reading this part, I was a little bit satisfied with Tatsuya's position as a failed artificial magician. If something happens to him in the future and lose his flash cast, he will not be classified as a magician based on the the international standard, so when the discrimination spread in the Japan, he may be exempted from it.
But, I am sure Tatsuya will save the day and make some money in the process. lol

[bakato]

Originally Posted by zztop

I've heard in other discussions that the ethnic Chinese characters in Mahouka are portrayed very unfavourably. Is this true? And in what way?

Completely false. It's true that the GAA, which encompasses the Chinese, are the antagonists, but its war so they're just doing what any country would do.

[kagato3]

A group that is now part or the GAA did do some horrific things to Maya when she was young but it isn't clear exactly what nationally they were .
Also no head dragon isn't a very positive portrayal but they are pretty much the traids.

note that the US is a lot darker in this world too. As is Japan.

[bakato]

Originally Posted by kagato3

A group that is now part or the GAA did do some horrific things to Maya when she was young but it isn't clear exactly what nationally they were .
Also no head dragon isn't a very positive portrayal but they are pretty much the traids.

note that the US is a lot darker in this world too. As is Japan.

It was Dahan.

[My Zodiac Aries]

Originally Posted by zztop

I've heard in other discussions that the ethnic Chinese characters in Mahouka are portrayed very unfavourably. Is this true? And in what way?

yes so what ?
who don't hate China ? they're aggressor in asia, japan hate them, south korea also hate them.

Originally Posted by bakato

It was Dahan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahan_Creek

maybe it's in Taiwan.