Overall: 7/10 I feel like the events of this series should have been included in the other two seasons of Mahou Koukou no Rettousei. It adds much needed context and side characters, without which the plot of the original series seems to ring hollow. If you've already watched the other two seasons, watching this show helps you to understand the magnitude of the changes brought about the school by Tatsuya from the POV of average person in this world. It also gives life to Third High school, for whom previously only two male characters were given any screentime. I appreciate this, because the tournament arc inthe original did suffer from us viewers not knowing anything about the other participants. The one major event that stood out was the dueling event that Tatsuya participated in, and mainly because we were introduced to the two men from Third High school.

The big problem is that we already know how all these events get resolved. So while I am glad that they give so much emotional depth to different characters, especially Airi, it feels like they're stuck in a struggle they can never win. It is especially vexing to watch the characters we know win thanks to Tatsuya's plot-given cheat powers and skills. So it feels bittersweet to me.

There is also no escaping the fact that the major events are covered in detail in the original show, so this one is stuck walking a line between being a SoL anime and being an action anime. It ends up falling short of both and only serves to boost Tatsuya in the eyes of the audience. If you enjoy the endless Tatsuya circlejerk, this show is good. Otherwise it gets monotonous real fast.

Had the events of this series been included in the original, it may have given a lot of depth to the series. By itself, both shows lose out.