#mahou shoujo student initiative

[immakuronaakuma]

Magical Girl Raising Project sucks so I’m gonna change it.

When I first heard the title, I thought the show would be about a project where girls with magical powers would be raised in some kind of environment, I was thinking a slice-of-school-life kind of thing. So here I go:

In my Magical Girl Raising Project Rewrite the story is exactly that, girls with magical abilities are selected by the show’s mascot, Fav, to take place studying and harnessing their magical abilities and potential before graduating, where then they’ll be granted their own magical uniform, weapon, and mascot all of their own choosing (it’ll work in a Tinkerbell sense, they may not seem to know it on the outside, but something in their soul can sense exactly what they want… maybe, I haven’t watched the first Tinkerbell movie in years.)

The main antagonist of the series are an anti-witch organization who view the magical girls as unholy creatures, looking to take control of the academy to… lessen the girls numbers (this is a decision I made purely to spite the show’s plotline of the girls culling each other in a death battle) just like in the show, they believe that too many women having power could destroy the world (once again, another decision I made to spite the show and also because the magic power is being given to women, which makes the anti-witch organization believe that it’s evil and satanic because it doesn’t require the influence of a man.)

Because of the rampant misogyny and danger the girls face, they’re magically transported to a far off school that’s as well guarded as Alcatraz Prison to keep the organization from entering, though that doesn’t stop them, as there are 4 magical girls that sneak in, “rouge magis” as they’re called (the rouges obviously being Swim Swim, the angel twins, and the dog magical girl with the big twist being that they’re close to the organization’s leader who was once a magical girl.)

The usual monsters of the week seem to come from the organization, usually monsters of dark matter brought to life by the organization’s propaganda and fear-mongering or just a member trying to kidnap one of the girls. Also, there’s a redemption arc for the robot magical girl and the dog magical girl. The robot was a product of the organization built specifically to follow orders and shut down the project, however their time within the school is slowly changing them and making them realize that they want to become a real girl just like their new friends. The dog one was just a really shy girl kidnapped by the organization and forced to play along until she was defended by Snow White and her friends, who officially welcomed her with open arms.

I wanna think of a name for it, but one thar I have come up with is “Mahou Shoujo Student Initiative”.

This all the ideas I have, but more is surely to come as think this through.

[akari-hope]

lgbtq+ anime for pride month

decided to make this for anyone looking for new recommendations, or anyone who’s wanted to get into anime but doesn’t know where to start! all recs will include a summary, genres, applicable representation, and how accessible it is to people brand new to anime, as well as any major content warnings.

(a quick disclaimer for those new to anime - some series on here will NOT have explicit rep, but rather be heavily coded or have implied queer themes. however, these are included generally because the implication is strong enough to treat it as text, or because the series has been generally accepted as queer. i’ll be sure to clarify whether something is canon or coded in each entry.)

ouran high school host club (comedy, romance) summary: haruhi fujioka is an honor student on scholarship at the prestigious ouran academy, who’s only looking for a quiet place to study when he runs into the notorious host club. in his frantic attempt to leave, he accidentally breaks a vase valued at 8 million yen. club leader tamaki suou has an idea for how he can pay them back - working for the host club. rep: crossdressing/drag are staples of this series, nothing explicitly stated but there are definite themes of gender identity exploration, and the show doesn’t shy away from homosexual themes or ideas accessibility: newcomer friendly! the english dub of this series is notably good. content warnings: some 2000s-era language in regards to gay/trans people that may be seen as offensive today, one scene that implies intent of sexual assault (while there is no actual assault and it is quickly played off, it may still be upsetting to some viewers)

yuri!!! on ice (sports) summary: yuri katsuki is a professional figure skater, recovering from a crushing defeat at the grand prix final. he returns to his family home to debate what he plans to do for next season. he goes to the local ice rink to clear his mind, and shows his old friend there something he’s been practicing - his idol victor nikiforov’s latest world-winning routine. unbeknownst to yuri, he’s being filmed. the video goes viral, and before he knows it victor is standing right in front of him, offering to be his coach. rep: canon mlm romance accessibility: newcomer friendly! content warnings: a few scenes that briefly display anxiety/panic attack-like symptoms

given (drama, romance) summary: one day on his way to his favorite napping spot in school, ritsuka uenoyama finds a boy, mafuyu satou, dozing in his spot, clutching onto a guitar with rusted, broken strings. uenoyama wakes him up, berating him for not taking better care of his instrument. mafuyu, noticing his knowledge of the instrument, begs uenoyama to repair it and teach him to play. uenoyama initially refuses, but mafuyu is persistent, even following uenoyama to band practice. it’s not until uenoyama hears mafuyu sing that he changes his tune, offering lessons if he joins the band as their singer. rep: canon mlm romance accessibility: newcomer friendly! content warnings: discussions of grief and loss additional note: given also has a movie sequel, which has a scene involving sexual assault.

sweet blue flowers / aoi hana (romance, slice of life) summary: fumi manjoume and akira okudaira were best friends in elementary school, until fumi moved away. now in high school, fumi is back and attending the same school as akira once again. their relationship isn’t the same now, though. the two must navigate the new trials of high school while trying to revive their waning friendship. rep: canon wlw romance accessibility: newcomer friendly!

bloom into you / yagate kimi ni naru (drama, romance) summary: yuu koito has always dreamed of the sort of soft, heart-fluttering love in shoujo manga. when a boy finally confesses to her though she feels...empty. she begins to wonder if she only understands love conceptually, but cannot feel it. yuu is still mulling over how to respond to her suitor when she witnesses the student council president, touko nanami, turn down a love confession of her own. she decides to approach touko for advice, but then the unexepected happens - touko confesses to yuu. rep: canon wlw romance accessibility: newcomer friendly! content warnings: some mild sexual content, depictions of homophobia

stars align / hoshiai no sora (drama) summary: toma shinjou is desperate to recruit new members to the boys’ soft tennis club, which is on the verge of being disbanded due to poor performance. maki katsuragi, the new transfer student, immediately catches his interest due to his quick reflexes. toma persuades maki to join, and maki’s skill quickly becomes driving momentum for the entire team. through their shared sport, the boys of the soft tennis club explore their own capabilities and hardships as they navigate life. rep: canon nonbinary character, discussions of gender identity and sexuality accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable, but not necessary content warnings: discussions and depictions of abuse, bullying, and violence

mahou shoujo madoka magica (fantasy, psychological drama) summary: madoka kaname and sayaka miki are good friends, regular middle school girls with regular lives. one day, the mysterious homura akemi transfers into their class, and strange happenings begin occuring. they meet a strange cat-like creature known as kyuubey, injured and on the run from homura. as thanks for saving its life, kyuubey offers them a reward - he’ll grant any wish they desire, and in return they’ll become magical girls with the power to help others. homura, despite being a magical girl herself, discourages them, saying everything is not as it seems. rep: sapphic themes and implied romantic feelings accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable content warnings: blood, violence, major character death, unreality, grief additional note: madoka magica has 3 movie sequels, with a 4th on the way. while the first two are merely recaps of the series, the 3rd, rebellion, is a continuation of the story.

no. 6 (sci-fi, drama) summary: the world has been ravaged by war - the last safe haven of mankind lies in six walled-off city-states. shion is an elite resident of one such city-state, no. 6, given priority housing and treatment due to his exceptional abilities. one night, a fugitive by the name of nezumi sneaks into shion’s room, and threatens to kill him. despite knowing he’s a fugitive, shion instead tends to his wounds and shelters him for the night. when his transgression is discovered by the authorities, shion and his mother lose their elite status, and are relocated. now just a regular citizen, shion begins to discover a new side to the city he’s called home. years after their first meeting, he reunites with nezumi once more - their meeting putting in motion a series of events that will unveil the secrets of no. 6. rep: canon mlm romance, trans/nonbinary coded character accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable, but not necessary content warnings: blood, violence, major character death, body horror, insects (bees)

seraph of the end / owari no seraph (supernatural, action) summary: a virus ravages the human race, infecting and killing everyone above the age of 13. their food source now threatened, vampires come out of the shadows to take the remaining humans captive. the children of the hyakuya orphanage are among the survivors. yuuichirou detests the vampires, and is determined to escape. mikaela has hatched a plan to do just that. the hyakuya kids make their way to the exit of the vampire city, only to be ambushed by a vampire noble. yuuichirou is the only one to escape. he’s found by the japanese imperial demon army, who say they’ll use him against the vampires. believing the rest of the children dead, yuuichirou joins immediately, determined to seek revenge against the monsters who killed his only family. rep: implied romantic feelings between two men (in the manga the anime is based on this is canon, and the localization team views the relationship as romantic) accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable, but not necessary content warnings: blood, violence, death, body horror, unreality

banana fish (action, crime drama) summary: ash lynx is a runaway on the streets of nyc, taken in and raised by the godfather of the mafia, dino golzine. now the leader of his own gang, he begins investigating “banana fish” - the only two words his brother will speak after returning from the iraq war. ash meets his friend skip at a bar, where he’s shunichi ibe and eiji okumura, japanese photographers covering american gangs. however, their conversation is cut short, as dino’s men storm the bar and kidnap skip and eiji. ash sets out to rescue them and continue his investigation. rep: canon mlm romance accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable, but not necessary content warnings: blood, violence, major character death, drugs, homophobia, pedophilia, sexual assault, rape

wonder egg priority (fantasy, psychological drama) summary: after the suicide of koito nagase, ai ohto is left to grapple with reality without her best friend. under instructions of a mysterious entity, she purchases a wonder egg. ai breaks the egg in the world that materializes in her sleep, and is tasked with saving people. under the belief that she’ll be able to save koito, ai embarks on a journey where she must recognize the relationship between other people’s demons and her own. rep: canon trans characters, sapphic themes accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable content warnings: blood, violence, death, suicide, self-harm, transphobia, fatphobia, bullying, abuse, pedophilia, sexual assault, rape additional note: wonder egg priority has a special airing on june 30th, 2021, meant to wrap up the original series - as of writing this post, the series is technically incomplete.

flip flappers (fantasy, sci-fi) summary: cocona is an average middle schooler liing with her grandmother, no clear goals in mind for the future. she meets an odd girl, papika, who inites her to join the organization “flip flap”. cocona finds herself dragged along by papika into the world of pure illusion, a mysterious alternate dimension where papika searches for crystal shards. as cocona and papika explore pure illusion, they awaken to the power within the crystals, transforming into magical girls. they must learn to work together in order to unravel the mysteries of pure illusion, and their pasts. rep: sapphic themes and exploration of sexuality accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable content warnings: mild violence, unreality, mild sexual themes and nudity

noir (action, drama) summary: parisian assassin-for-hire mireille bouquet receives a strange email from kirika yuumara, a japanese student, who invites her to make “a pilgrimage to the past”. mireille makes to dismiss the email as nonsense, until it starts playing a song she recognizes from her youth. when the two meet in person, they’re ambushed by gun-wielding men. to mireille’s surprise, kirika is able to fend for herself - even more surprising, kirika has no memory of how she has such skills. the two of them team up to unravel the mysteries of their pasts, operating under the codename “noir”. rep: canon lesbian characters accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable, but not necessary content warnings: violence, death, implied rape and csa (not shown)

revolutionary girl utena / shoujo kakumei utena (fantasy, psychological drama) summary: after an encounter with a prince who comforted her after the death of her parents, utena tenjou is given a rose-crest ring, and a promise that they’ll meet again someday. however, utena has now committed to becoming a prince herself! after witnessing the abuse of fellow classmate anthy himemiya, utena is drawn into a dangerous game. duelists with rings matching her own battle for the ownership of anthy - the “rose bride”. utena decides she must free anthy from this fate. rep: canon sapphic characters, implied romance (in the movie sequel, this becomes canon) accessibility: prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is necessary to fully enjoy this anime content warnings: unreality, violence, abuse, homophobia, pedophilia, incest, sexual assault, rape (for a comprehensive, spoiler-free breakdown of all potentially disturbing content, click here) additional note: the movie sequel, adolescence of utena, gives more explicit canon romance than the original series. however, the original series is considered an absolute classic must-watch for sapphics.

if anyone has questions about any series on here, feel free to ask! any other recommendations, feel free to tack on! (please include a summary, rep, accessibility, and any content warnings!)

[nonbinarychaoticstupid]

for anon who was looking for lgbt anime/animation recs, some anime that i personally enjoy (these are very all over the place i am SO sorry): yuri on ice - yuri katsuki, a professional figure skater down on his luck, catches the attention of his idol, victor nikiforov, after a video of him skating his world championship winning routine goes viral. victor becomes his coach for the upcoming season, in which he's determined to finally win a gold medal. feel-good vibes, prominent mlm romance that's woven well with the main plot.

mahou shoujo madoka magica - madoka kaname is a regular, happy middle school student. one day, homura akemi transfers into her class, giving her a cryptic warning to stay the way she is now. after saving a strange creature called kyubey, madoka is offered a seemingly wonderful opportunity - make a wish, and become a magical girl. psychological horror and dark themes abound, no explicit romance but major sapphic coding and subtext.

flip flappers - also a magical girl series, this time following the duo of cocona and papika as they dive into the world of pure illusion. some darker themes, honestly some alice in wonderland vibes, sapphic undertones. it's a weird series, but definitely worth a watch just for the animation alone.

given - high school student ritsuka uenoyama meets mafuyu satou, a boy of few words who clutches onto a guitar. uenoyama berates mafuyu for letting his strings rust and break; mafuyu asks him to repair it, and to teach him to play. uenoyama is initially uninterested, until he hears mafuyu sing, and asks him to join his band. discussions of grief but nothing too dark, mlm romance.

no. 6 - the world has fallen largely into ruin, save for the safe haven of 6 peaceful city-states. shion is a resident of one such city-state, no. 6. during a storm one evening, he meets nezumi, a boy from outside the city walls and a fugitive. despite his fugitive status, shion tends to his wounds and shelters him for the night - causing shion and his mother lost most of their privileges within no. 6. years later, nezumi appears to shion again. post-apocalyptic dystopian sci-fi, mlm romance, gnc characters.

sk8 the infinity - reki is a skater involved in the underground race, known as "s". he meets langa, a foreign transfer student, who seems to take interest in skating. one night at "s", langa gets pulled into a race, and despite never having skated before, he agrees. turns out langa is in fact a snowboarder, and this gives him just enough edge to win. reki is blown away, and agrees to teach him how to actually skate. comedic, draw is definitely the characters, no romance but like it's definitely got gay vibes.

revolutionary girl utena - disclaimer!! please don't watch this without reading a content warning list!! this show deals with a lot of content that is disturbing and potentially triggering!! utena tenjou is a young girl who is determined to become a prince, after meeting one herself when she was a little girl. after seeing the abuse of her classmate anthy himemiya and standing up for her, she's swept into a game of duels. the prize - anthy, the "rose bride". this show is highly metaphorical, surreal, and dark, and probably not a beginner show if you've never watched anime before. but i feel like you can't give lgbt anime recs without mentioning utena, so i've included it here regardless.

OOOOOOOOOH ty!!!!

[atamascolily]

Enough folks recommended Puella Magi Madoka Magica to me that I finally got around to watching it. I tend to hate first episodes, but let me tell you, I knew right away that this show was for me, and it took all my self-control not to immediately binge the other eleven episodes on the spot.

(The title is long and kinda annoying - it's "Magical Schoolgirl Madoka” in Latin because... it just is? I got nothing.)

My first thought was, Wow, this is so good, why didn't I know about it back in 2005-2009 when I was watching a lot of anime? And the answer is that it came out in 2011 when I was more or less off-grid for several years, and so I completely missed it when it was first out, and I haven't watched much anime since.

Anyway, PMMM is a deconstruction of the classic magical girl (mahou shoujo) genre, sort of like Princess Tutu or Revolutionary Girl Utena, except even darker and more brutal (Utena is pretty damn brutal but the violence is more subtle, with less on-screen blood and death than in PMMM). It reminds me the most of Bokurano, which does a similar deconstruction of mecha shows--both are ensemble pieces where a lot is happening under the surface and making uninformed contracts with alien entities with questionable motives is a terrible idea.

It's really hard to talk about PMMM without spoilers, but I think I can safely say the show initially disguises itself as a standard magical girl series--only to abruptly switch gears with a WHAM that managed to catch me off guard even when I was expecting it. Once I was braced for pain, I realized the biggest plot twist several episodes before it happened, but the reveal was so well done, I loved it. Not only was it even worse than I envisioned, there were several other bits of masterful storytelling later on that made my jaw drop.

Here's what I can say, though:

Ordinary eighth grader Madoka Kaname has a great life, but she's always yearned to be special. She gets her chance when she rescues Kyubey, a cat-alien telepath creature, from new transfer student Houmura Akemi, who is attempting to murder them. Kyubey reveals they have the power to grant wishes, but the price of granting your heart's desire is to become a magical girl and fight witches, spectral creatures who steal humanity's hopes and dreams.

Madoka is intrigued, especially since Kyubey hints Madoka has the potential to be the most powerful magical girl ever... but Houmura cryptically warns Madoka that all is not as it seems, and she will lose everything that matters--her family, her friends, even her life--if she makes a contract with Kyubey. Who should Madoka believe? And what will she wish for if and when she makes a contract?  

Suffice to say, it takes a lot going wrong for everything to be right-- and even then, it's bittersweet.

That’s Houmura (left) fighting Mami, another magical girl. Because defeated witches drop magical power-ups, most magical girls are fiercely territorial and don’t appreciate interlopers on their hunting grounds. Yes, they went there, and it’s exactly as brutal as you’d expect.

Things I love about this show, in no particular order:

The animation is GORGEOUS. I love all of the character designs and battle sequences, but my favorite part is how the animation shifts from three to two-dimensional to indicate reality warping, and all of the witches are trippy existential nightmares with surreal, dream-like logic and beauty.

Aside from Madoka's father and brother, who appear in a few episodes, one classmate and a few background extras, every character is female. (Kyubey is gendered as "he" in the English dub, but I'm pretty sure they're non-binary.) The show passes the Bechdel test with flying colors -- Madoka has a lot of intense conversations with her mom about growing up, and there's also a great sequence where Madoka's mother and her teacher talk about their fears for the kids in their care that was so refreshing to see on-screen.

Magical girls using their powers for both epic and mundane things - like when Kyoko plays DDR in an arcade.

Female friendship is the heart and soul of PMMM, but there's also a lovely queer romance if you care to interpret it in that way (and the last episode offers plenty of shipping fuel).

“Cute” definitely doesn’t equal “harmless”, YES GOOD.

You know that trope where you watch an episode, and then later you get that exact same episode again, only it's different now because you know more than you did at the beginning, and you can see all the things you missed the first time around? This show does THAT and it's absolutely amazing.

This show has literally all of my favorite tropes: discussion of ethics and morality; training sequences; priming the audience to dislike a character only to force them to care about them before the end; call-backs up the wazoo; identity issues and [spoiler spoiler spoiler]. 

The shift in the end credits when shit hits the fan--and how the opening credits don't change at all, but what they MEAN shifts as our understanding deepens. AAAAAAAAAA so good.

10/10, would definitely watch again.

[ttshieronym]

Chinese review of To the Stars, Translated

I came across this Chinese review of To the Stars and decided to translate it. It’s an interesting look into how another culture perceives this fanfic we all love, and I hope you enjoy it! (User submission)

—– [Special Discussion] European/American Madoka Fanfic “To The Stars” ——

by New Moon Light (Yuèchū zhào)

Source: http://bbs.saraba1st.com/2b/thread-1124803-1-1.html

> The Buddha said: In sharing a good text, there is great merit.

> Lead in: Kyubey once said mankind will one day reach to the stars, but they never said what we will find there.

From the very first sentence, To the Stars hints at its prime directive. This will be an epic about mankind’s voyage among the stars. While even now as we remain bounded by the force of gravity, sailing the cosmos has always bespoke the hearts of men.

Honestly speaking, Gen Urobuchi’s original setting was sparse. Details are spotty of the world view of within Madoka universe, even the Incubator’s role within it are poorly defined. From this vagueness, To the Stars took over a sparse backdrop and develop this world into its own.

The story began at Mitakihara, the start of it all. The main character is Shizuki Ryouko, a last name that jostles ones memory. From this humble beginning the narrative unfolds into thrilling suspense. From here on out, it’s really a world of author’s own.

Ryouko is a high school student, her parents work at a research lab, and she has a grandpa looking too young of his age. At breakfast the parents chat about grocery shopping - no - of food allocations.

With this scenery of everyday life as foundation, the narrative backdrop unfolds. This is a materially abundant world that perfected distribution of wealth. Societal makeup, politics, military, technology unfold for the audience as the story progresses. Each intricate detail are thoroughly thought out. Here, this fanfiction has set itself apart from the original franchise.

Just two pages in, a member of the original Magica Quintet stepped into the scene. Who else? The tall, elegant, with unparalleled grace, Generalissmo Mami Tomoe herself! In this world, Mami has become the font of wisdom and stability, the pinnacle of magical girls, and the atlas pillar of magical girl society.

Mami’s position atop the military hierarchy unveiled another truth of this world: magical girls have completely submersed themselves into civil society as a force to be reckoned with. Soon we realized that four hundred years have passed since events of the TV series. In those four long centuries, events of legendary proportions occurred, a historical backdrop both rich and weighty.

With Mami’s arrival, the wheels of fate began to turn.

From here, Ryouko encountered Wraiths, awoken to her potential, and became disciple of Mami and Kyouko. From there on out the story blew wide open and held nothing back.

’m going to avoid spoiling further, as this is a reading recommendation. What happens next, I’ll leave it to as an exercise to the readers.

Instead, indulge me as I dive into some of specifics strength of this epic.

—– 1) Elaboration and Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence —-

The story features a rich cast of AI characters. With their superhuman intelligence and personality, the author had carefully considered their function within the story.

As practice, all ship construction came with accompanying AIs, yet these same AI will one day have to face eventual retirement. Leaving the front line, away from the the glory of war and never to return, these AIs need hobbies if they’re to cope in civil society. As result, warships tend to play with firearms in their free times (as expected, liking fire arms is a moe-quality for shipgirls).

Latter in the story, Ryouko’s combat AI, the newest model of biological TacCom, had this to say to Ryouko,

“I was thinking, if the Goddess of Magical Girls truly exist, then you get to go to heaven, but I could only rot here as a lump of meat. How unfair is that?”

Ryouko had no response. It was a question too difficult to answer for a mere a high school girl.

—– 2) Fantastical and Sophisticated Space Warfare ——

Warfare is this story’s most important narrative backdrop, and the space warfare in it are realistic, intrinsic, mesmerizing.

Rivaling humans are a race of an intelligent squid-like aliens, with scientific capabilities far exceeding human imagination.

The joint defense of New Athens was a massive-scale battle that cemented human-magical girl relationship. With squid forces devastating the human military, humanity was on the brink of defeat, a force of hundred-thousand magical girls mobilized by the magical goirl association suddenly charging to the front line. With great personal sacrifice they turned the tide of battle, pulled victory from the jaws of defeat for mankind. A feat of battlefield that would echo the history books, yet this was far from the highlight within the story. After the magical girl force subsumes into the human military apparatus, the newly commissioned magical girls are accessorized with high tech weaponry, and begun joint combat operations with human forces. From shielding and decoys for soul gems, to operational tactics for rescuing magical girls on the brink of death, to how magical girls of each types can fight in combined arms with drones and human infantry.

There’s a space chase scene between alien fighters and troop transport, and it was a magical girl platoon that engaged in 3-dimensional decapitating strike of the enemy forces. Magic has even become incorporated into the overall strategic command of human forces, talk about breathtaking!

Remarkable is the extend of the authorship’s thoughts into how future technology and science would change the nature of warfare. Massive laser cannons that is standard trope in space operas was not his vision. We saw that in his treatment of obtuse nature of faster-than-light ship warfare. We also saw this in the exquisite settings of exotic colony worlds locale. In short, the set piece battles alone are well worth the price of admission.

—– 3) Economic and Social Dynamics of a Space Faring Society —–

When speaking of a futuristic communist society, one’s imagination easily veer towards some kind of “Big Brother Watching You” narrative. Yet this novel paints a picture of a society with on-demand distribution and labor division that’s credible. Locally, people are free to chose their career, and the society will provide for the allocations as ones’ family requires. Choosing a valued career will be matched with a greater allocation. Even a recluse can secure a basic standard of living.

Of course in wartime, soldiers and magical girls receive a variety of privileged and generous stipends above civilians. Ultimately, they’re putting their lives on the line for the greater good. An wartime economy has inevitable shortfalls, but a basic standard of living could be maintained.

Colonial worlds on the other hand maintain an economy that harkens back to a more capitalistic era. Ultimately, in those far-flung world, resources and production have their limitations, and yet to reach such an abundance of surplus. The translation thus far has only briefly touched upon these colonial worlds, but future development would likely put them in greater focus.

Socially, nations have disappeared, and instead a ruling body took guidance of the society’s advancement, with highly advanced AIs taking part in crucial areas of the government. Aggregate intelligence has eliminated corruption from society, and placed the talents of individuals into posts most appropriate for their skillsets. The ruling body operates optimally, and the society is highly efficient. Of course, even with such advancement, the challenge of war had a deteriorating effect. Chalk that up to confronting an even more advanced enemy, with an even higher level of technological and scientific advancement.

Politics wasn’t a focal point in this work, but some subtle commentary could be gleamed. Is such a society truly good? That’s up to you to decide.

Worth bringing up here is magical girl’s role within this society. They recognize magical girl as an enormous asset for the military, and their powers potential a great threat, thus government and military took the position of general appeasement. They took initiative to integrate magical girls into the social leadership, with Mami as part of the Military command and Yuma as representative of the magical girls. The magical girl community as a whole are a power block in the greater society.

Because of the warfare, recruiting magical girls have become an open effort in this society, with Kyubey engaged actively in the recruitment effort. An recruitment effort that’s nothing less than a propaganda drive to enlist child soldiers became official government policy. For a hero of justice like Mami, as part of the military apparatus, to take part in such efforts to trick girls into the battle field - there’s a certain level of irony.

—-

4) Mahou Shoujo Youkai —-

The magical girl society is a top power block in this universe. The development of Mahou Shoujo Youkai (MSY) began as a guild form of several magical girl teams in Mitakihara, with Mami, Kyouko, and Homura’s team as its cornerstone. To cope with financial and wraith hunt shortfalls, these magical girls joined forces and established a carrier company. From there, it gradually grew in size, wealth, and powerful using the inherent advantages of magical girls. With careful stewardship, the company quickly grew and ultimately become the future center of the magical girl community. The development of this organization was full of mysterious, intrigue, power, and blood. Even a hero of justice like Mami find some sacrifices as inevitable. From blurps about the history and culture of MSY, the readership slowly gleam the tip of the iceberg of this society. Such intricate storytelling is a great strength of this work, somehow turning this rather incredible organization into something believable.

In one side story, a man searching for his missing beloved would suddenly find himself in midst of the original cast’s campaign to quash the Japanese underworld!

—- 5) The Era of Intersection between Science and Magic —-

Set four hundred years after the events of the TV series, technology has become highly advanced. Of course, many of the technologies we dreamt of remain beyond grasp, but mankind has already advanced far up into tech tree: Faster-than-Light travel, eradication of diseases, anti-gravity, perfection of cloning (considered unethical, but a necessary vice in-Universe), high fidelity virtual reality, internal health monitor chips, nano machines of all kinds, but of course the most fascinating are the AIs (which we have already covered).

Even more novel is the integration between the magical and the scientific for magical girls. To fight aliens, magical girls no longer just relied on frail human bodies and magical weaponry, but became a full-fledged combat forces with all the advanced military hardware. The military created all sorts of battle-harden equipment to augment the magical girl’s existing abilities, from decoy robots for soul gems, to specialist rifles for magical girl in close combat, to automated grief cube distribution bots. Additionally, magical girls are well supported by troops, infantry, and drones of all kinds.

—- 6) Extension of the Magical System —-

This work filled the gaps that was lacking of the magical system in the original work. Take wishes, for example, they now grant the true desire of qualified magical girls. Even when the magical girl was unable to verbalize her intent, Kyubey was able to grasp it mentally and faithfully implementing it. As result, Homura’s original wish was able to cross the timeline and maintain its power.

In other areas, it clarifies what happen to the Soul Gem after destruction of the body. In this work, it’s made explicit that the Soul Gem can revives as the original person so long a sufficiently substitute body exists. As result, soul gems are to be rescued whenever possible, to avoid unnecessary loss in valuable magical girls lives. As for the mechanics of resurrection, I’ll leave it unspoiled here.

—- 7) Distinctive Characterization —-

Of the original cast, the Ultimate Madoka roaming in space and Sayaka had already passed, but the remaining three members each plays important roles in the story. Generalissimo Mami remained forever alone, but also has become the pinnacle figurehead of the magical girl community, and an important commander of the war effort. From her position, the reader gets an understanding of strategic operations of the military high-command, as well as bits and pieces of history from vicissitudes of her memory. Yet despite her high regard, incessant nightmares plagued her, showing that fragile girl we knew still remain.

More complicated was Kyouko. She became a pope-like figure, one that also enjoy playing with young girls’ heartstrings… But this doesn’t mean she lost those convictions of her past. The Cult of Hope she created has become the pillar of emotional support for the magical girls in the military, perhaps an appropriate “new faith for a new age”. The hunt of her past, and her passion for blue-haired girls, placed her in a loving yet despicable role.

Other characters are charming in their own right. Oriko also plays an important role. The destruction of her and her organization was a central mystery within the story. The multi-talented Yuma has now become an inscrutable political actor.

Other notable characters like the historian Clarisse van Rossum and other magical girls are charming in their own ways.

But the most important is the main character Ryouko. She’s a riddle and a clue, from her point-of-view we come grips with this world. But she’s also stubborn and independent, hardheaded pursuing her own lofty goals. Her denseness with interpersonal relationships, and how her fallout and slowly reconciliation with her family, all these were portrayed vividly.

Of course, what matters for a story is the story itself, and this work has twists and turns a plenty, which here I will refrain from spoiling.

Even without the magical girl elements, this is a science fiction worthy of reading in its own right. In my humble opinion, the magnificent setting and intricate story telling has set To the Stars apart from the original series, a work that stands on its own.