Mashle: Magic and Muscles is a popular ongoing fantasy manga written and drawn by Hajime Komoto. The story stars the non-magical hero Mash Burndead, who must succeed with raw strength and little more in a realm dominated by magic. He even made it into this world's version of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but he can't keep up the facade for much longer.
Previous volumes of Mashle echoed the social critiques found in My Hero Academia, with both series depicting the consequences of a society where people who are born with the "wrong" talents are looked down upon. Now in Volume 5, Mashle takes it a step further and shows what happens when Lord Voldemort's way of thinking is accepted as the norm.
The Crime Of Being Born Without Magic In Mashle
In Volume 5 of Mashle, Mash and his friends at the Easton magical school continue their battle against the Magia Lupis organization, in which Mash's team scores a narrow, hard-won victory. For a moment Mash is totally relaxed -- until he is put on trial after his non-magical status is exposed. He faces the Bureau of Magic and the Divine Visionaries, all of whom hold his fate in their prejudiced hands.
They restate the divine importance of magic, claiming that magical power is a gift from God and a mark of humanity's true potential. Non-magical people, though rare, are perceived as a threat to the delicate balance of power in the magical world, and Mash is labeled as a bug in the system. To the Bureau of Magic, Mash's previous accomplishments and victories at Easton mean nothing if he is an "inferior" being who upsets the system.
This is coldly reminiscent of the Harry Potter Ministry of Magic after Voldemort and his Death Eater followers conquered it as a puppet state. Voldemort firmly believes in wizard superiority and views Muggles as worthless inferiors to be dominated; even Muggle-born wizards are viewed with suspicion and contempt. In fact, Voldemort's Ministry suspects that Muggle-born wizards outright stole their powers and wands from half-blood and pureblood wizards, and they are likewise considered a bug in Voldemort's magic superiority system.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, while in disguise at the Ministry, meets a handful of Muggle-borns falsely accused of stealing magic and wands and helps them escape. When the wizarding world is at its worst, magic is used as an excuse to abuse and oppress the innocent -- and the same is happening in Mashle. Even worse is the fact that the Bureau isn't being controlled by an evil wizard -- this is simply the normal way of things. In Mash's world, Voldemort's worldview has already won.
What This Means For Mash Going Forward
Fortunately for Mash, Easton's headmaster Wahlberg, a stand-in for Albus Dumbledore, intervenes on Mash's behalf. Even the Bureau is somewhat sympathetic, though the Divine Visionaries feel differently. In the end, all parties agree that Mash may avoid execution as a "lack-magic" person if he can become this year's Divine Visionary and defeat the criminal organization Innocent Zero, a group that all wizards fear. Mash is eager to accept the challenge and predicts a swift victory with his fists.
This turn of events has serious implications for Mash's future and possibly the entire magical world. Up until now, Mash had coasted on his incredible strength and other people's ignorance of his lack-magic status, but that's over now. He's been exposed and will fight against the current of the entire world to prove his worth -- or die trying. No longer can he be an apathetic and easygoing student -- Mash is a reluctant celebrity now, the boy who threatens the entire world order with the audacity to use muscles instead of magic. Soon, the students of Easton and the entire magical world may start taking sides and engage in a fierce debate on the topic, and decide whether Mash is a worthy exception to the rule or just a worthless bug in the system after all.
This trial should bring out Mash's inner character and show what he's really made of, and he'll show the world what he can do when his existence and validation as a human being are threatened. If Mash plays his cards right, he just might prove the world's "pureblood" bias wrong and open doors for all other closeted lack-magics out there. As a shonen hero, Mashle's determined protagonist is sure to find a way.
