Anti-Magic Academy: The 35th Test Platoon

Lore & Background

The series is set at the Anti-Magic Academy, where students are organized into squads to train as Inquisitors—special operatives who suppress magical crimes and fight magic users. Takeru Kusanagi, a student who cannot use firearms and fights with a sword, is assigned as captain of the 35th Test Platoon, a low-ranked squad of misfits and problem students. The platoon includes specialists such as sniper Usagi Saionji, mod-maker Ikaruga Suginami, and witch Mari Nikaidō, but they struggle to function effectively as a unit. Their situation changes when Ouka Ootori, a highly skilled former Inquisitor demoted for killing a witch in violation of regulations, is reassigned to their platoon.

Key characters include Takeru Kusanagi, a master swordsman who forms a contract with the Relic Eater Lapis; Ouka Ootori, a prodigy who initially dislikes teamwork; and Lapis, a human-shaped Relic Eater who can transform into bladed weapons. The antagonist group Haunted is Valhalla's elite unit, and its member Kanon Azuma (code name 'Haunted') is the one who erases Mari's memory. The series also features a 12-episode anime adaptation by Silver Link that aired from October to December 2015, and two manga adaptations—one serialized in Monthly Dragon Age (2012–2014) and another in Monthly Comic Alive (from January 2015).

Reader's Guide

Anti-Magic Academy: The 35th Test Platoon is significant as a light novel series that blends military academy tropes with supernatural magic and swordplay. Its focus on a misfit squad overcoming personal flaws and learning teamwork resonates with readers of action-oriented fantasy. The series expanded into multiple media, including two manga adaptations and a 12-episode anime, indicating its popularity within the Fujimi Fantasia Bunko imprint. The character dynamics—particularly Takeru's promise to share half of each member's burdens and Ouka's growth from a lone operative to a team player—drive the narrative. The series also explores themes of prejudice against witches and the consequences of excessive force, as seen in Ouka's demotion. While the light novel concluded in 2016, the anime and manga adaptations helped introduce the story to a wider audience, and the English release of the second manga by Seven Seas Entertainment extended its reach internationally.

Did You Know?

• The series has two manga adaptations: one by Sutarō Hanao (2012–2014) and another by Yohei Yasumura (from January 2015).
• Takeru Kusanagi is the only male member of the 35th Test Platoon.
• Lapis, the Relic Eater, assumes the identity of Takeru's fictional sister to account for her presence at the academy.
• The anime adaptation by Silver Link consists of 12 episodes aired between October and December 2015.

The Academy and Its Lowest-Ranked Squad

The Anti-Magic Academy functions as a military-style training ground where young students are sorted into squads and drilled to become Inquisitors—specialized operatives whose mission is to suppress magical crimes and engage magic users in combat. Within this rigid hierarchy, the 35th Test Platoon sits at the very bottom, a catch-all unit assembled from misfits, problem students, and individuals who have fallen through the cracks of the academy's system. Its captain, Takeru Kusanagi, is an unusual choice: rather than relying on firearms like most Inquisitors, he wields a sword, a preference that draws mockery from peers. The squad's members each possess distinct combat specialties yet find it nearly impossible to operate cohesively as a team. That fragile equilibrium shatters when Ōka Ōtori, a former Inquisitor prodigy stripped of her rank for killing a witch in violation of regulations, is reassigned to their platoon. Her arrival transforms a group of disconnected individuals into a unit with genuine tactical potential, setting the stage for the series' central narrative.

A Squad of Specialists and Their Bonds

Takeru Kusanagi leads the platoon as its sole male member and a master swordsman capable of slicing bullets mid-flight. His bond with the Relic Eater Lapis grants him a combat state called Demon Slayer Mode, which later evolves into a more powerful God Slayer Mode used to save his sister's life. Ōka Ōtori brings raw, unmatched combat proficiency and a temporary contract with twin guns named Vlad; her arc traces a shift from lone-wolf indifference to genuine trust in her squad, culminating in a permanent Relic Eater contract. Usagi Saionji serves as the platoon's sniper, wielding a Barrett anti-materiel rifle while battling crippling stage fright that repeatedly derails operations. Ikaruga Suginami, a first-year engineering prodigy, handles weapons modification, intelligence gathering through hacking, and the squad's technical needs—often through methods that border on illegal. Mari Nikaidō, a young witch bearing the ancient Aurora attribute, contributes restorative, summoning, and destructive magic while living under the platoon's watch after her memory was wiped. Together they form a unit defined as much by friction as by loyalty.

Haunted, Valhalla, and the Threads of Despair

The series' central antagonistic force centers on Haunted, a dangerously powerful magic user affiliated with the criminal organization Valhalla. A former Catholic priest, Haunted once worked alongside Mari Nikaidō before framing her for murder and erasing her memory entirely. His abilities span dead-spirit manipulation, summoning, and alchemy, yet his personal history remains deliberately shrouded in mystery. His stated motivation is not power or ideology but the pure infliction of despair on others. His actions ripple through the cast: he is responsible for the death of Ikaruga Suginami's sister, Isuka, and his manipulation of Mari places her under the 35th Test Platoon's protective custody. The broader conflict also involves the academy's leadership—Sōgetsu Ōtori, the eccentric Chairman and head of the Inquisitors of Heretics Office, who is Ōka's guardian and who deliberately assigns her to the platoon with a hidden expectation. Meanwhile, Hayato Kurogane stands as the strongest witch hunter in the world, and Takeru's younger sister Kiseki, who possesses the body of a demon, adds a personal stake to the escalating threats.

From Bunko Shelves to the Screen

Tōki Yanagimi's light novel series, illustrated by Kippu, launched in May 2012 under Fujimi Shobo's Fujimi Fantasia Bunko imprint and has since expanded to eleven volumes. The property quickly attracted manga attention: Sutarō Hanao's adaptation ran in Fujimi Shobo's shōnen magazine Monthly Dragon Age from 2012 to 2014, collecting into three tankōbon volumes. A second manga, drawn by Yohei Yasumura, began in Media Factory's seinen magazine Monthly Comic Alive in January 2015 and received an English-language release through Seven Seas Entertainment, broadening the series' international reach. The anime adaptation, produced by Silver Link, consisted of twelve episodes that aired from October through December 2015, bringing the platoon's story to a wider television audience. The combination of a long-running light novel line, two distinct manga interpretations targeting different demographics, and a concise anime season gives the franchise a notably layered media footprint within the Japanese light-novel adaptation landscape.