‘The Irregular at Magic High School’ season 2 spoilers: Why the anime is returning with only 1 arc to cover

The premiere of “The Irregular At Magic High School” season 2 is one of the things to be excited about 2020. After five years, fans finally got the confirmation that the series that combines advanced technology and magic is coming back with more episodes.

Some fans may not have heard yet, but “The Irregular At Magic High School” season 2 is only confirmed to cover one story arc. That means the second installment’s episode count will be downgraded, possibly by half of what fans saw in 2014.

‘The Irregular At Magic High School’ season 2 production, episode count

Producers have yet to address their decision to order a shorter run of “The Irregular At Magic High School” season 2. It should be noted that the first season concluded at the two-part Yokohama Disturbance arc. That means around nine light novel volumes were covered in the 26-episode run of season 1.

“The Irregular At Magic High School” season 2, however, only covers the Visitor arc. Its story is told in three volumes only. This could mean that the anime could return on just a one-cour run. Producers likely decided to take this approach, considering that the series has not been on the air for half a decade.

If season 2 does well in terms of viewership and home media sales, ordering more anime seasons should not be a problem because there are plenty of light novel source materials waiting to be animated.

‘The Irregular At Magic High School’ season 2 spoilers

Reports that “The Irregular At Magic High School” season 2 will only cover the Visitor arc means that the anime series will skip light novel volume 8, the Recollection arc. It heavily features flashbacks to the time when Miyuki and Tatsuya were in a vacation that went awry with their mother and a bodyguard named Hoonami Sakurai. An invasion took place perpetrated by the Great Asian Alliance, where Hoonami was killed. The tension ended with the help of Tatsuya’s matter detonation.

This offers an overview of the bigger plot that will take place in the Visitor arc, which is covered in volumes 9 to 11 in the light novel series. In the Recollection arc, Maya Yotsuba warned Tatsuya that he is already under the radar of the United States of North America (USNA) for his matter detonation.

This story will further develop in the Visitor arc that will be adapted into anime in “The Irregular At Magic High School” season 2. USNA is having problems as many of its soldiers are escaping to Japan after participating in a black hole experiment. They suspect Tatsuya’s matter detonation to be causing the issue. To investigate on the Shiba siblings, Angelina Kudo Shields of USNA’s Stars military unit disguises as a freshman and spy on Tatsuya and Miyuki.