WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Irregular at Magic High School Season 2, Episode 6, "Visitor Arc VI," streaming now on Funimation.
They may be magicians, fighters and investigators, but the cast of The Irregular at Magic High School celebrates Valentine's Day like everyone else. Tatsuya is many girls' target -- and not just for romance. He receives boatloads of chocolate from friends and admirers, including a special surprise from Miyuki, while a certain former Student Council President "gifts" him the most bitter homemade chocolate imaginable. It's a minefield of emotions as Tatsuya tries his best to get through the day in one piece.
Meanwhile, serious changes are afoot behind the scenes of the USNA and for Lina in Japan. After her demoralizing defeats in battle to Tatsuya and Miyuki -- along with the deaths of several Stars team members -- now her closest aid and confidant Silvie has been recalled and replaced by Colonel Virginia Balance. Colder, sharper and more strategic, Balance still believes in Lina/Angie Sirius but has different plans for pursuing Tatsuya as well as the military deserters who turned into Vampires.
USNA media is pushing a dangerous anti-magician narrative. They falsely claim that USNA military magicians forced regular scientists to perform the black hole experiments that brought the parasites into the human dimension. It's quite a bizarre move for the media to risk antagonizing and alienating its own country's military, especially as magicians are so uniquely powerful and gifted. The goal seems to be to shift public opinion to embrace a more regressive worldview, back to when there were no magicians at all. It's a mysterious but sinister plot that could have major repercussions for magicians all over the world.
Though this episode provides a break from the violence, Vampires and parasites, there's still plenty of action in the romance department. Tatsuya's array of gifts actually begins the night before Valentine's Day with some friendly chocolates from First Lieutenant Kyouko Fujibayashi before his most loving admirer (besides Miyuki) Honoka catches him on the way to school the next morning. Though Tatsuya cannot return her romantic feelings, the two share an extremely touching moment when she hands him a small box of chocolates -- only for Tatsuya to surprise her with a gift of his own. Honoka is overwhelmed with happiness at receiving a pair of beautiful pearls, another sign that Tatsuya really can feel some level of affection for other people besides Miyuki.
Tatsuya even gets a full bag of chocolate boxes from one of the Nine Schools Competition girl's teams, who he helped out in Season 1 by fine-tuning their CADs. Then it's time to face his most difficult and daring trial of Valentine's Day: Mayumi. Motivated by Tatsuya's recent mysterious behavior while investigating the parasites -- and probably a desire to regain his attention -- Mayumi creates a homemade batch of extremely dry, bitter chocolate mixed with coffee grounds.
Tatsuya knows he's in trouble when he seeks out Mayumi to discuss the parasites, only to find her sitting across the table from an incapacitated Hattori and an innocent smile on her face. She gives Tatsuya a box of his own and sweetly invites him and try a piece of chocolate. Tatsuya, ever the gentleman, accepts his "gift" and continues feeling the effects hours later.
Rather than gifting Tatsuya any kind of chocolate at school where others could see, Miyuki makes him a fancy chocolate-infused dinner. As she goes to clear the table afterward, she slips but is caught by Tatsuya before suffering a heavy fall. He clears the dishes himself as she goes into the living room to lament her slip-up -- and the fact that she's his brother. It's the first time she openly acknowledges the inner struggle between her romantic feelings for her brother and being unable to pursue them. They may have been clear to viewers long ago, but Miyuki is shocked and horrified at realizing her feelings. How she handles this will affect not just her and Tatsuya, but their friends, Tatsuya's other admirers and possibly even the Yotsuba family.
The supernatural parasite, previously driven away by Tatsuya and co. and forced to hide inside an inactive humanoid body, has secretly awoken. When Honoka and Tatsuya exchanged gifts, Honoka's joy was so powerful that her emotions literally radiated off of her -- and onto the humanoid inside the building. How this will affect the parasite and its future actions remains to be seen, but it may attempt some form of communication.
If the parasite is able and willing to speak, it could help unravel many of the answers behind the Vampires, the black hole experiments and the real driving force behind the growing anti-magician movement.
