Meandering Mondays: Magic Theory: MxO

Hi again everyone, this week I'm going to continue my series on magic in various manga and anime which started last week with Fairy Tail.  This week's topic is a manga called MxO about students at a magic high school. As always SPOILERS AHEAD

To start off this series is set in modern Japan and magic is kept secret from the majority of the world.  The major reason why this is possible is that magic is only usable in certain locations where "magnetic fields" align in a certain way.  This drawback dramatically reduces the usefulness of magic and helps explain why it is kept secret. 

In addition to only being usable in certain locations magic can only be performed using special items called plates which are basically metal cards.  Each student can only have 1 card and they also serve as a student ID and allow access to the school.  To use magic a spell must be recorded on the plate by reciting it, a process that can take hours for more powerful spells.  Each plate has a limited amount of memory to record spells which is determined by its material, which are various types of metal ranging from basic iron to the all-mighty gold plate.  As students take exams and prove their magical skill their plates will rank up increasing both their storage capacity and the amount of magic a student is able to use on a given day. 

The actual effects magic can produce are incredibly varied but all of them involve physical objects in some form.  In most cases the plate merges with the object to grant it special properties and they separate when the magic is dispelled.  This limits the effects of magic but still provides a large number of possible outcomes based on combinations of items and properties.  The effects range from making common objects gigantic to be used as weapons, fully functioning voodoo dolls and even causing finger snapping to produce concussive sound blasts.  The end result is a magic system that is distinctive compared to most other magic heavy series which tend to be heavily involved in throwing around fireballs or summoning monsters. 

Of course all of this magic is really cool but the main character is unable to use any of it due to possessing a fake gold plate as a result of various circumstances.  In order to maintain the appearance of having magic the main character is given a MO plate which has the ability to negate magic in the surrounding area.  Unfortunately using this ability requires the usage of magic points which the main character is only able to acquire from tests and student disciplinary committee activities.  These points are also what determines what rank a student's plate is upgraded to at the end of each semester which presents a quandary for the main character.  He has to limit his use of MO not only because he has a finite supply of points to feed into it but also because he needs those points to eventually upgrade his plate to gold and stop having to deceive all of his classmates. 

The mechanical action of MO is the ability to create a field that negates magic entering it which can be shaped by the user.  In addition to controlling the shape of the field the user can also regulate the number of points used to negate magic which is a vital skill for using it well.  The amount of points used is important because each point negates a certain amount of magical energy of the spell being negated.  If too many points are used the wielder will quickly run out of them but if too few are used the spell will only be weakened not completely negated.  The exact ratio is confused by the use of "magic points" to describe both the fuel for MO and regular magic even though the points usable for magic seem to recharge every day and are only based on the current plate level of the student whereas the points used for MO do not recharge and can only be acquired by scoring well on tests and doing work for the school.  All students seem to have a quantity of the points used to fuel MO but they are only used to determine plate upgrades putting the main character who uses them up with MO at a severe handicap. 

Beyond the presence of magical plants and a single instance of a permanantly enchanted item the only other magical mechanic mentioned is the black plate.  This plate is only mentioned at the very end of the series and is an add-on for a regular plate.  A black plate is able to store a single spell for later use but the plate must touch the magic directly to absorb it.  The main character acquires this in order to give him an alternate option to MO(which if used will remove the stored spell) but it is also given to several graduating students each year.  Normally upon graduating students lose their plates and have their memories of magic removed and are granted a wish based on their total number of collected plate upgrading magic points.  The students given black plates are allowed to retain their memories and plates and use their magic to help out in times of crisis.  The black plate enables this since the stored spell can be used even outside of an area that allows magic.  This in effect allows mages to carry a single-use spell that is available to them at any time enabling them to use magic in any location.

Well this has been a relatively long post so enjoy the last day of your 3 day weekend and I'll be back next sunday with a manga review.