The Irregular at Magic High School: The Movie – The Girl Who Summons the Stars

Did You Know?

• The film's theme song 'Speed Star' was performed by Garnidelia and released as a single on June 14, 2017.
• A manga adaptation illustrated by Pinake was serialized in Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh from August 26, 2017, to June 27, 2018.
• Kim Morrissy of Anime News Network graded the film C+, praising its pacing and soundtrack but criticizing poor animation and CG integration.

Plot

In late March 2096, Tatsuya Shiba and his sister Miyuki vacation with friends at a villa on the Bonin Islands. Tatsuya receives a military order to destroy an asteroid heading for Earth. After a shopping trip to Minamitate Island, Miyuki's friends find a young girl named Kokoa hiding in their plane. Kokoa is one of nine identical modified magicians, the Watatsumi series, used in a large CAD machine to activate a large-scale magic sequence. She seeks help to rescue the others from a research facility on Minamitate, where Dr. Morinaga helped her escape to meet Mayumi Saegusa. Tatsuya infiltrates the facility with Miyuki, Erika, Leo, and Mikihiko, rescuing Morinaga, who reveals the experiment aims to create a Strategic-class Magic called Meteorite Fall, capable of dropping an astronomical object on Earth. USNA STARS magicians led by Angelina Kudou Shields move to destroy the facility. Tatsuya learns Meteorite Fall will cause the USNA space station Seventh Plague, carrying uranium bombs, to descend. After rescuing the Watatsumi girls, Erika and Leo fight STARS magicians Ralph Algol and Ralph Hardy Mirphak, aided by Katsuto Jyumonji. Tatsuya destroys the CAD machine and contacts Angelina for help sending him into space to destroy the station before it enters the atmosphere. The station's destruction creates an aurora. Kokoa reunites with the other Watatsumi girls at the Kanto branch of the Magic Association.

Production

In March 2016, Dengeki Bunko teased an important announcement on Twitter, which was revealed with the nineteenth light novel volume: an anime film project based on an original story by Tsutomu Satō. Saori Hayami and Yuichi Nakamura were confirmed to reprise their roles as Miyuki and Tatsuya. In October 2016, the original character Kokoa and the film's full title were revealed, along with returning cast members Yumi Uchiyama, Takuma Terashima, Satomi Satō, Atsushi Tamaru, Sora Amamiya, and Yuiko Tatsumi. In February 2017, the staff was announced: director Risako Yoshida, character designer Kana Ishida, screenwriters Satō and Munemasa Nakamoto, director of photography Yūki Kawashita, and editor Kashiko Kimura. In March 2017, Yōko Hikasa and Konomi Kohara were cast as Angelina Kudou Shields and Kokoa, with Kana Hanazawa, Marina Inoue, and Junichi Suwabe returning. In April 2017, Jin Yamanoi, Satoshi Hino, and Masaki Aizawa were announced as STARS magicians.

Marketing

The first promotional video and key visual were released in March 2016, followed by a second in October 2016. A third key visual appeared in February 2017, a fourth in March, and a fifth and final in April. Aniplex released the first two minutes of the film on June 12, 2017. A television special featuring a competition between former track-and-field athlete Sō Takei and Tatsuya aired on Tokyo MX on June 13, 2017, and on BS11 on June 15. Moviegoers from June 17 to 23 received an original novel by Satō titled Beautiful Girl Magic Guardian Plasma Lina, about Angelina's childhood. Additional novels given included The Irregular at Magic High School If and Continuation Reminiscence Arc - Frozen Island. Promotional partners included the Onigiri Society, Mameshiba, mobile games Pocolon Dungeons, The Samurai Kingdom: Senran, and Himegami Emaki, tool company GodHand, Karaoke no Tetsujin, and café NewType Shinjuku.

Release

Before its wide release, the film held simultaneous previews for around 750 attendees at two theaters—one in Tokyo and one in Osaka—on June 5, 2017. It officially opened in Japan on June 17. Aniplex of America hosted the U.S. premiere at Anime Expo in Los Angeles, and Azoland Pictures gave it a nationwide American release on July 28, 2017. Madman Anime brought it to Australia and New Zealand on November 2, 2017. In Japan, Aniplex issued Blu-ray and DVD copies on January 24, 2018, with a digital release following on April 25. The limited editions came with a novelization, a television special, and a CD featuring two songs performed by Hikasa and Kohara. Aniplex of America put out a Blu-ray in the United States on July 10, 2018. The movie aired on AT-X in Japan on August 12, 2018, and again on January 5, 2019. Funimation offered a two-week streaming window in the U.S. and Canada starting May 1, 2020.