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Puella Magi Madoka Magica

The Magical World of Mangatime Kirara ☆ Magica

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mtkm16When an anime or manga franchise is exceptionally popular in Japan, it is often marked with special issues of a current magazine, or a short run of a dedicated magazine of it’s own. You can see examples of this with a long-lived franchise like Gundam. Gundam has been around for decades in one form on another – so long that it is effectively a genre unto itself. One almost expects that the anime and manga world honors Gundam with a dedicated magazine.

The Puella Magi Madoka Magica franchise was almost the complete opposite. It was designed from the outset to fully saturate the Japanese market. Anime and manga, otaku merchandising, high end accessories, make-up, clothing (for men and women), bags, movies…for a while you couldn’t walk through a shopping arcade in Japan without stumbling across something that was Madoka-themed. And so, although the series is not long-lived in any meaningful way, it isn’t all that surprising that Hobunsha, the publisher of the many Mangatime Kirara imprint magazines also has a Mangatime Kirara ☆ Magica (まんがタイムきらら☆マギカ) magazine. (Hobunsha is also the publisher of all the spin-off stories of the Magica franchise.)What did surprise me was the magazine’s longevity. It’s currently at 18 issues. If you’ve ever tried to publish a magazine, you know that that is a lot of content. For a relatively recent series, it’s an amazing amount of content.

Mangatime Kirara ☆ Magica is a hybrid magazine. Because it is focused on a specific franchise, the pages include gag comics, slice-of-life, action, comedy and tragedy stories. The characterizations are as much “fanon” as they are canon, with popular pairings and fandom-created character quirks used freely. But, this magazine is, ultimately, a corporate created tie-in meant for fans of the series, rather than truly fan-created derivative work.

The magazine does have a website, which is mostly focused on selling the manga, artbooks and other tie-in publications for the series. The website has individual spin-offs and publications reading samples, costs and purchase data and not much more. Because this is specialty magazine, there are no circulation numbers available. The magazine costs 780 yen an issue ($6.52 at time of writing) for 250 pages, plus a series-themed gift. (The above issue came with a fetching clearfile of Devil Homura, as seen on the cover. Which is why I bought it. ^_^)

This is a magazine for fans of this series, full stop. No one else would care to read 200+ plus pages of jokes about Kyouko being hungry, or Mami at home or maid Madoka. But for 18 volumes so far, enough people do that Mangatime Kirara ☆ Magica is alive and well, with stories of Magical Girls living banal lives in our world and fighting Witches in their magical world.

Mangatime Kirara ☆ Magica from Hobunsha: http://www.dokidokivisual.com/madokamagica/

Bookshelf Briefs 12/17/12

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This week, Sean, MJ, Anna, & Michelle look at recent releases from VIZ Media, Yen Press, Kodansha Comics, and Vertical, Inc.

crossgame8Cross Game, Vol. 8 | By Mitsuru Adachi | VIZ Media – And so Cross Game comes to an end (for the record, I started sniffling at page 305). While it’s an extremely satisfying ending, Adachi stops short of adding scenes that fans might like to see, but which are ultimately superfluous to the story. Wakaba’s dream was always of Ko pitching at Koshien, not necessarily winning Koshien, so most of this omnibus is devoted to the riveting final came of the North Tokyo tournament. We never see the Seishu team at Koshien itself, nor do we see Ko and Aoba openly profess their love for one another. But the thing is… they don’t need to. They’ve always been so much alike, after all. It’s a lovely, understated, uplifting ending, and possibly my favorite thing about it involves Akaishi. (Dang it, I’m about to start sniffling again.) There’s something profoundly comforting about sports manga that Cross Game encapsulates perfectly. I couldn’t recommend it more highly. – Michelle Smith

kamisamakiss11Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 11 | By Julietta Suzuki | VIZ Media – I’m always struck by how well done Kamisama Kiss is. The story that started off this volume provided a glimpse into human kamisama Nanami’s past as she slips through a mystical gate and becomes a child again. Her shinshi Tomoe sticks around to observe Nanami as a young girl back when her parents were still alive. He begins to have a newfound appreciation for Nanami’s strong personality when he observers her flighty father and her strong mother. Nanami clearly gets much of her personality from her mother, even if she doesn’t remember her clearly. While some of the adventures in Kamisama Kiss might seem a bit repetitive as Nanami always seems to encounter new otherworldly spirits due to her habit of rushing into action without thinking clearly, Nanami’s adventures are always filled with such interesting and well-executed illustrations that this manga continually seems fresh. I particularly enjoyed a story where Nanami and Tomoe venture to a New Year’s market to buy essential shrine supplies, only to find themselves shopping for shoes, dodging the stompy feet of giants, and talking to a rabbit fortuneteller who has a fondness for leaf umbrellas. – Anna N.

fairytail22Fairy Tail, Vol. 22 | By Hiro Mashima | Kodansha Comics – This is one of those ‘fight’ volumes we see so often in shonen manga, but Mashima does a very good job of balancing the fights with plot, humor, and heartwarming. We’re starting to see the different sides of the villains, and that not all of them are simply evil for the hell of it. Erza and Gray are able to return, which allows us to get what we knew was coming – Erza fighting her evil doppelganger. We get to see more about what’s actually happening here, and the huge gulf between the cat race and the humans. And, of course, this being a Magazine title, we get tons of fanservice, mostly from Lucy, as it is her duty (she does get to be awesome as well, which is a relief). Essentially, this is a very solid Fairy Tail volume, and will not disappoint readers of the series. -Sean Gaffney

limit2Limit, Vol. 2 | By Keiko Suenobu | Vertical, Inc. – The second volume of Limit sees us expanding a bit beyond our main cast, showing us the school starting to figure out what’s going on and the bus company panicking (I sense a cover-up coming soon). What this translates to is not a lot of help coming anytime soon for our heroines. Meanwhile, while Mizuki does manage to bond with some of her fellow survivors in basic things like catching fish and making fires, the class strata are still at work. Everyone is coping in their own different way, especially Chieko, whose way of thinking the sentimental Mizuki just doesn’t get. And then there’s Chikage, who’s not really coping at all, and decides to remove herself from the entire picture. Gripping and compelling, the soap-opera style confrontations don’t feel all that forced, and you still really want to find out what’s next – and if there can even be a happy ending. -Sean Gaffney

pandorhearts13Pandora Hearts, Vol. 13 | By Jun Mochizuki | Yen Press – Well, wow. This volume is full of revelations, particularly regarding the Baskerville family, but also concerning Elliot Nightray and his valet, Leo, who are not only caught up in something that seems inevitably horrifying and tragic (by no fault of their own), but also suddenly stand as the series’ most slashable couple—and in this series, that says a lot. That’s not to say that there’s anything remotely romantic about this volume—in fact, it’s filled with truly horrible events, some of which are quite painful—but it’s exactly this kind of thing that reveals people’s deepest bonds, isn’t it? Jun Mochizuki certainly understands this to be true, and she uses it to her best advantage here, marrying love and pain in an irresistible display of emotional theatrics. As a bonus, this volume makes more sense than Mochizuki’s displays sometimes do—not that lack of such has ever deterred me from reading. Pandora Hearts, never change. Love, MJ. – MJ

madokamagica3Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Vol. 3 | Story by Magica Quartet, Art by Hanokage | Yen Press – The only real downside of having watched the anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica, is that having done so, it’s impossible to know for sure what it would be like to experience the story by way of its manga adaptation for the very first time. That said, my best guess would be “utter confusion,” especially as it reaches its third and final volume. Two of the series’ biggest revelations occur in this volume—the history of magical girl Homura Akemi and the truth of Kyubey’s mission—yet the former is rushed through at such breakneck speed, it lacks any real impact or even basic coherency. Though Kyubey’s revelation (and existence) still manages to be massively creepy, without a real understanding of Homura’s devotion to balance things out, the series has essentially been robbed of its heart. For completist fans of the anime series, this adaptation may be a necessary part of their Madoka collections, but it’s hard to recommend on its own. Sadly disappointing. – MJ

rin-ne10Rin-Ne, Vol. 10 | By Rumiko Takahashi | VIZ Media – As I’ve noted before, this series has very little regard for its ghosts that drive much of the plot. If there’s a message in Rin-Ne’s comedy one-shots, it may simply be “don’t hold on to attachments after you die, as it will never be worth it.” The ghosts we see here are whiny, despondent, and histrionic. The ones that they leave behind, however, tend to be more like the series’ heroine, Sakura – practical, pragmatic, and moving on with their lives. Now, that said, this makes Rin-Ne sound a lot deeper than it really is. This particular volume doesn’t even have any advances in the love quadrangle, which is par for the course with Takahashi, but usually she at least mentions it once or twice. Still having the same pluses and minuses as the previous nine volumes, this is for the reader who misses Ranma 1/2 and wish it had more ghostbusting.-Sean Gaffney

souleater11Soul Eater, Vol. 11 | By Atsushi Ohkubo | Yen Press – A danger of releasing a series as popular as Soul Eater is that you want to put out the spinoffs as well – even if the spinoffs are far newer. As a result, Soul Eater Not! 2, which came out in 2012, spoils a major plot point for Soul Eater 11, which was released in Japan in 2008. That said, it’s not like Kim was a major character in Soul Eater to begin with. Unfortunately, the Witch Hunt surrounding her goes about as well as real-life witch hunts did, and I have a feeling that we may be seeing some brainwashing coming really soon. Other than that, Maka and Soul get to be extra awesome here, mostly as Black * Star has run off and Death The Kid is getting even more OCD with every chapter. And that’s not even mentioning Crona. There’s a whole lot of plot going on here – don’t miss it. -Sean Gaffney

wallflower29The Wallflower, Vol. 29 | By Tomoko Hayakawa | Kodansha Comics – It says something about what this series has become when the author praises herself for writing a chapter that’s meant to be heartwarming rather than ridiculous. And to be fair, she does deserve some of that, as it’s the best chapter in the book, and uses a peculiar time skip that gives it a fairy-tale quality (and makes the backstory more depressing). That said, it’s not like this series wasn’t ridiculous to begin with as well. And the ridiculous is in top form here as well, particularly in the fanservice-laden chapter where, to combat a heat wave and a stubborn Sunako revoking AC privileges, the boys decide to walk around naked. It’s every bit as funny as it sounds. (Kyohei as a nerdish rule-driven class president comes close, though.) No romance whatsoever, but lots of laughs, and a bit of sweetness at the end.-Sean Gaffney

Off the Shelf: In which we grant a request

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MJ: I’ve just realized how few jokes I know. You always open with a joke. I’ve got nothin’.

MICHELLE: That’s okay. I freely admit that most of mine aren’t very good. And even if you’ve got no jokes, you’ve surely got manga to talk about!

MJ: Indeed I do! Should I go first?

MICHELLE Please do!

MJ: Well, I know we have a special request to grant at some point here, but before we get to that, my big read for this week was the debut volume of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, adapted from the popular anime series. This is obviously a highly-anticipated release. In a rare twist, I’ve actually seen the anime series, and since I enjoyed it very much, I’d have to admit that this manga series was even highly anticipated by me. Ultimately, I’d say that this is not necessarily in the manga’s favor, though there is a quite a bit here to enjoy.

The series begins just as you’d expect from a magical girl story. Madoka is an ordinary girl with ordinary friends, who is suddenly approached by a talking catlike creature (Sailor Moon shout-out, I assume?) named Kyubey who offers her the opportunity to have a single wish granted if she’ll sign a contract to become a magical girl. This is understandably exciting for Madoka (and her friend, Sayaka, who is also invited), but nothing is quite as it first seems. Madoka’s magical dreams are quickly tempered by the reality of untimely death in a magical girl’s future, as well as by a mysterious new girl, Homura, who for some reason insists that it is of vital importance that Madoka not sign on with Kyubey—to the point that she makes repeated attempts on Kyubey’s life in an effort to save Madoka from him.

Having watched the anime series, there isn’t a lot of mystery in this for me, but even taking that into account, there are ways (mostly visual) in which the manga pales in comparison to its source material. For instance, one of the most spectacular elements of the anime series is the ornate visual fabric of the dimension inhabited by “witches” (the beings our magical girls are being asked to destroy). These encounters with witches are elaborate and rather psychedelic, and they really help to emphasize the series’ darker take on the magical girl formula. In the manga series, these sequences just look kind of drab and lumpy, and they are glossed over so quickly, the sense of real danger and anticipation is lost along with the general aesthetic. Even the fight scenes could really stand to be longer (did I really just say that?), as they seem to lose a lot of their tension and significance.

On the other hand, this story is compelling no matter how it’s told, and if the artist has failed to quite capture its eeriness, its pathos remains intact. I’m happy to see, too, that Madoka’s family life, headed up by her fearless corporate shark of a mom and her homemaker dad, is just as charming here as in the anime series (if granted slightly less screen time).

MICHELLE: This sounds a bit like Bokurano: Ours, in which middle-school-aged kids are duped into a contract that requires them to destroy aliens and die in the process. I do think, though, that you’ve sold me more on the anime here than on the manga.

MJ: Well, and perhaps I mean to, though I feel a bit bad about it. I have a lot more stake in the manga industry than I do in anime, yet in this case I can’t deny that the manga suffers in comparison. It is still quite interesting, though, and I’m looking forward to the second volume. It really is a very compelling story, regardless of how it’s being consumed.

One little oddity (and this applies to both mediums)— Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a magical girl series that resembles modern series for a male audience much more than a female one. You can easily identify all the usual suspects: the glasses-wearing girl, the spunky girl with fang teeth, the pretty girl with long, black hair, the self-conscious yuri jokes… you could be watching Lucky Star in that respect. This doesn’t detract from the series at all for me, but it definitely gives the series a bit of a male otaku vibe—at least that’s how it reads to me.

So, what’s next?

MICHELLE: Well, I’ve also read something that’s an adaptation from another medium, though this time it’s from a dating sim for girls!

You may recall that I talked about Alice in the Country of Hearts way back in our second ever Off the Shelf column. There, I initially referred to it as “bishie land” then instantly reconsidered, since the plot focused more on the mystery of the world in which the heroine, Alice, found herself than in her myriad romantic prospects. The series was much better than I expected, and I liked it so much that I sought out the sixth volume in Japanese after TOKYOPOP’s demise meant the series would not conclude in English (though it will be released in its entirety by Yen Press this summer).

Alice in the Country of Clover: Bloody Twins is an adaptation (by a different artist) of another game in the series, and though certain elements are reset, it functions fairly well as a sequel. Alice remains in the world that she believes is a dream and has become fairly comfortable there. Nearly every male resident is interested in her, but her constant companions are twin boys “Dee and Dum,” who constantly proclaim their love for her and who like to a) glomp her all the time and b) kill people. A shift in the dream environment moves everyone to the land of Clover, where the twins gain the ability to turn into grown men, whereupon they act the same as ever, causing Alice to get flustered and blush a lot.

This is another case of a series suffering in comparison to something else. Where Alice in the Country of Hearts surpassed my expectations for a manga adapted from a dating sim, Alice in the Country of Clover meets them fairly exactly. There is no focus on the mystery of the world at all. Instead, this reads entirely like a “what if” scenario: what if Alice fell in love with the twins? She’s still a reasonably likeable character, rather embarrassed that she’d dream up such a scenario, but Dee and Dum are so empty as people that it’s disturbing that she’s not disturbed by them. It’s utterly impossible for me to root for this romance, but perhaps I was never intended to, as the short stories rounding out the volume explore different “what if” pairings for Alice.

That said, Alice in the Country of Clover isn’t outright bad. I definitely smiled a few times at the humor, and can see myself checking out the next Clover installment, Cheshire Cat Waltz, which Seven Seas is publishing next month.

MJ: I suppose my feeling here is that you’ve perhaps sold me on Alice in the Country of Hearts rather than on this sequel, which sounds… not bad, but probably not worth prioritizing over better manga.

MICHELLE: And, like you, perhaps I meant to, but I feel bad about it! I definitely hope that people support Seven Seas by checking out the Clover titles.

And now… the special request. A few weeks ago, you reviewed the tenth volume of Pandora Hearts in our Bookshelf Briefs column, and we received a comment from Releona, who said she’d like to see it featured in an Off the Shelf column, as she was interested in our thoughts on it in greater detail.

Your wish is our command, Releona!

MJ: Since I’ve already done a review of sorts, would you like to get us up to speed on the series’ plot at this point?

MICHELLE: I’ll take a shot at it, though Pandora Hearts is one of those series that makes sense in the short-term but is not exactly clear in terms of its long-term plot trajectory.

Oz decides that the best bet for restoring Alice’s lost memories would be to visit Sablier, scene of a great tragedy a century before. Separated as they approach the epicenter of the disaster, Oz, Alice, and Gilbert see illusions from the past, each of which introduces some intriguing twists to the story, mostly in the form of answers about how the tragedy came to be. All of this is quite interesting, but mangaka Jun Mochizuki is adept at making the story about the characters, so the most compelling aspects are sympathizing with the character who brought about the tragedy as well as watching Gilbert angst oh-so-prettily about his memories and the possibility of being driven mad by them.

Probably I could read a manga that was all about Gilbert angsting prettily, but it sure was nice to get a little more shape to the story at this point.

MJ: Most readers by now have probably figured out that I’m a big fan of this series, and given that I’ve gone on in rapturous delight about its costuming, it’s probably a given that I’d happily read a whole manga about a prettily angsting Gilbert as well. But I certainly agree that this volume was a balm for the muddled brain. Not only was it a relief to understand Gil’s full history at last, but it also helped me to despise another character much, much less. And really, I wouldn’t have thought that could happen. Though probably I now hate Glen Baskerville much, much more.

Also, though Alice takes a back seat in this volume, the scene in which she confuses a kiss with a bite on the cheek is one of her most charming moments.

MICHELLE: It was, though I was startled to see how very obnoxious she was in the past. She may actually be a better person without her memories, which I’m sure is Mochizuki’s intent. Speaking of nice moments, I was also very happy that Oz actually feeling free to complain about something for the first time was given the significance it deserved. Gil desperately needs to be needed, and Oz still relying on him in a crucial moment brings him back from dangerous thoughts that still seem to be plaguing him, even at the volume’s end.

In addition to Gil’s violent impulses, another thing I’d like to see Mochizuki explore soon is Jack’s relationship to Alice and how much it influences Oz’s feelings towards her. In fact, this ties in to another important reveal in this volume, namely why Jack was consigned to the Abyss to start with.

I suppose my bottom line is, “this volume is not to be missed.” Not that I would advocate missing any of them, really.

MJ: Oh! And another thing that was a fairly big deal in this volume is Oz’s increasing ability to become one with the B-Rabbit. It was frightening, for sure, but pretty interesting.

And yes, I agree. This volume is not to be missed. It’s a substantial payoff for some of the confusion we’ve endured (amidst all the beauty) thus far.

Readers, if you (like Releona) have any special requests for Off the Shelf, feel free to let us know!

Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Vol. 1

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The opening pages of Puella Magi Madoka Magica suggest a dreary retread of Sailor Moon: Kyubey, a talking cat, appears before Madoka Kaname, a perky yet otherwise unremarkable school girl, and asks her, “Would you like to change destiny?” Our first clue that Puella has something nastier up its be-ribboned sleeve occurs midway through the first chapter, when transfer student Homura Akemi confronts Madoka with a dire, if cryptic, warning: “You should never consider ‘changing yourself’ in any way,” she tells Madoka. “If you choose not to heed my words, those things that you hold dear will all be lost.” Homura then attacks Kyubey, accusing him of using “dirty tactics” to persuade Madoka to make a contract with him.

Though all the trappings of a traditional magical girl manga are in place — the costume changes, the cute familiars, the teamwork — Puella charts a darker, more violent course than other translated examples of the genre. Homura and Madoka operate in a world where magical girls routinely die; though their powers are formidable, magical girls are worked to the point of emotional and physical exhaustion. Moreover, their contracts are signed under duress; Kyubey frequently appeals to girls in desperate circumstances, using their vulnerability as leverage. (In exchange for battling witches, he explains to Madoka, “I fulfill one wish. Any wish you want!”)

In short, Puella manages to have its cake and eat it, too, faithfully adhering to the genre’s conventions while offering an explicit critique of its underlying message of courage and selflessness. The story is the antithesis of a wish-fulfillment fantasy: the powers that Kyubey bestows come with responsibilities that are too difficult for a young, inexperienced person to bear. Throughout the manga, we see examples of magical girls who have become competitive or embittered by their experiences, at risk of becoming witches themselves. We also meet girls who regret the haste with which they made their contracts, as their wishes were fulfilled at the expense of friends and family members.

As sharp as Puella‘s genre critique may be, the artwork is a disappointment. The character designs are faithful to the original anime, but the magical elements look smudgy on the page, the product of too much dark grey screentone. The anime’s surreal fight sequences have lost their visual punch as well. Creatures that looked strange and menacing in color have been defanged, reduced to cute video game monsters floating above the picture plane.

Most of the fight scenes have been compressed into a few pages, further curtailing their impact; we barely have time to register who the opponents are before one of the magical girls has eliminated the threat. As a result, the volume’s climatic scene lacks emotional resonance. Though the characters have repeatedly discussed how dangerous their vocation is, the fight is so fleeting and impressionistic that the stakes seem too low to yield such a devastating outcome.

If the artwork lacks the personality of a Magic Knight Rayearth or Cardcaptor Sakura, however, the actual story is on par with the best translated examples of the magical girl manga. Like the aforementioned CLAMP titles, Puella Magi Madoka Magica treats the magical girl as a character worthy of complexity and genuine interiority; the Puella girls may engage in magical combat, but they’re painfully aware that saving the world can be an ugly business — even if they’re wearing smart costumes.

Review copy provided by Yen Press.

PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA, VOL. 1 • STORY BY MAGICA QUARTET, ART BY HANOKAGE • YEN PRESS • 144 pp. • RATING: OLDER TEEN (16+)

Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Vol. 1

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The opening pages of Puella Magi Madoka Magica suggest a dreary retread of Sailor Moon: Kyubey, a talking cat, appears before Madoka Kaname, a perky yet otherwise unremarkable school girl, and asks her, “Would you like to change destiny?” Our first clue that Puella has something nastier up its be-ribboned sleeve occurs midway through the first chapter, when transfer student Homura Akemi confronts Madoka with a dire, if cryptic, warning: “You should never consider ‘changing yourself’ in any way,” she tells Madoka. “If you choose not to heed my words, those things that you hold dear will all be lost.” Homura then attacks Kyubey, accusing him of using “dirty tactics” to persuade Madoka to make a contract with him.

Though all the trappings of a traditional magical girl manga are in place — the costume changes, the cute familiars, the teamwork — Puella charts a darker, more violent course than other translated examples of the genre. Homura and Madoka operate in a world where magical girls routinely die; though their powers are formidable, magical girls are worked to the point of emotional and physical exhaustion. Moreover, their contracts are signed under duress; Kyubey frequently appeals to girls in desperate circumstances, using their vulnerability as leverage. (In exchange for battling witches, he explains to Madoka, “I fulfill one wish. Any wish you want!”)

In short, Puella manages to have its cake and eat it, too, faithfully adhering to the genre’s conventions while offering an explicit critique of its underlying message of courage and selflessness. The story is the antithesis of a wish-fulfillment fantasy: the powers that Kyubey bestows come with responsibilities that are too difficult for a young, inexperienced person to bear. Throughout the manga, we see examples of magical girls who have become competitive or embittered by their experiences, at risk of becoming witches themselves. We also meet girls who regret the haste with which they made their contracts, as their wishes were fulfilled at the expense of friends and family members.

As sharp as Puella‘s genre critique may be, the artwork is a disappointment. The character designs are faithful to the original anime, but the magical elements look smudgy on the page, the product of too much dark grey screentone. The anime’s surreal fight sequences have lost their visual punch as well. Creatures that looked strange and menacing in color have been defanged, reduced to cute video game monsters floating above the picture plane.

Most of the fight scenes have been compressed into a few pages, further curtailing their impact; we barely have time to register who the opponents are before one of the magical girls has eliminated the threat. As a result, the volume’s climatic scene lacks emotional resonance. Though the characters have repeatedly discussed how dangerous their vocation is, the fight is so fleeting and impressionistic that the stakes seem too low to yield such a devastating outcome.

If the artwork lacks the personality of a Magic Knight Rayearth or Cardcaptor Sakura, however, the actual story is on par with the best translated examples of the magical girl manga. Like the aforementioned CLAMP titles, Puella Magi Madoka Magica treats the magical girl as a character worthy of complexity and genuine interiority; the Puella girls may engage in magical combat, but they’re painfully aware that saving the world can be an ugly business — even if they’re wearing smart costumes.

Review copy provided by Yen Press.

PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA, VOL. 1 • STORY BY MAGICA QUARTET, ART BY HANOKAGE • YEN PRESS • 144 pp. • RATING: OLDER TEEN (16+)