Light spoilers ahead The magical high school genre isnt particularly anything new in light novels anime and manga. If anything I would daresay that it is perhaps one of the most overused ones across all three mediums. As a result people who watch or read these types of works will eventually find similarities and shared tropes that will actually prove detrimental to the experience as a whole. But thats not saying that everything that comes out of this genre is mediocre or bad. It just takes a whole lot more effort to make a series stand out which is something that many writers who write magical high school stories struggle with. In my opinion the genre itself isnt chosen because it gives potential to indepth characters that are intriguing and thoughtprovoking but rather because its the one of the most marketable ones. Light novels are written to make money. But sometimes there are magical high school light novels that try to change everything. They try to innovate and stand out. Tokyo Ravens is definitely not one of those novels. At least not until volume 10 which is far into the series. You see Tokyo Ravens initial few volumes doesnt do much to distinguish itself as a unique entry in an already saturated market of magical high school stories. It was almost by chance that I decided to give this novel series a shot. Lets take a look shall we? Storywise Tokyo Ravens tells the story of Harutora Tsuchimikado an unremarkable high school student who belongs to the Tsuchimikado clan a family renowned for their magical prowess. However due to his inability to wield magic he has long since been ignored and disregarded living his days peacefully in the countryside with his friends. For all purposes intent he is basically supposed to be the standin character for the readers. His far more capable cousin Natsume Tsuchimikado is being groomed to be the heir of the family. Also she is rumored to be the reincarnation of Yakou Tsuchimikado whose actions resulted in a great magical disaster in Japan. Oh and one more thing shes female. The reason why I point out that shes female should be rather obvious to those who have read light novels similar to this. She is unsurprisingly the childhood friend / love interest character that we should all be quite familiar with. After a series of exciting events happen Harutora finds his peaceful ordinary life disrupted resulting in him going to a magical high school in Tokyo. What follows is the typical magical high school story. Youll have your fair share tsunderes some intense fight sequences and whatnot. Standard fare. Somewhere along the tenth volume the story goes into overdrive. Without any spoilers I will just say that readers are thrown into an entirely new storyline that has a completely different character focus. Tokyo Ravens is no longer about a student entering a fairly generic magic high school but rather an entire internal conflict between magical factions in Japan. The arcs that go past the high school arc feel like a whole different beast in itself. Characters although not necessarily entirely free of their stereotypes begin to have a level of intrigue and mystery to them. It is not to say that character development has never existed but the evolution of our two leads Harutora and Natsume exceeds anything I would have expected of a light novel series of this genre. This is what I meant when I said that Tokyo Ravens doesnt start to stand out until its past its tenth volume. The true story of Tokyo Ravens begins after nine volumes. In my opinion the previous nine were merely there to provide the readers with enough background to fully dive into the story. Volume 10 onwards is simply something else. It is almost an entirely different series. I am enjoying Tokyo Ravens so far. Despite its weaker start this light novel series gets better with each coming volume. Its not the greatest light novel Ive read but its definitely one of the stronger ones out there. If youre into magical high school stories youll probably like this one. If you dont then Id still advise you to stick around because the more recent volumes truly make grinding through the initial nine volume worth it. Its really a shame no Western publisher is picking this series up. The translations we have so far are topnotch but its still a relatively obscure title even in the anime manga and light novel communities.