Tag: magical girl

Art Post: Image by SeenasArt (and some other stuff)

Featured image: “Magical Rena” by SeenasArt.

We haven’t had an art post in a while, so I thought it was time for one. Gazing on magical girls is just so … so soothing …

Also, I found one of those stupid online quizzes, this one asking the question, “Would you be a magical girl?” It’s posed like a personality test, though it’s really more of a test of how well you know the genre’s tropes. I probably could have got 100% if it hadn’t asked me my age and sex. Anyway, props to me:

Would You be a Magical Girl?
Your Result: You are a regular magical girl!
Though well grounded in realism, your desire to help others eventually leads you to become a magical girl. You gain sympathy from others, but aren’t close friends with anyone. Once you realize your destiny of becoming a witch, you quickly fall into despair due to loneliness.

You are a nurturing magical girl!

You are the heroine of all magical girls!

You are a mysterious magical girl!

You would not become a magical girl.

 

Uh … reading that more closely, I just realized it’s based on Madoka. Dammit, why is everything Madoka these days?

Oh, and don’t forget I have a novel out. Have I mentioned that? Get it here. Expect the paperback in a few days.

Crunchyroll Decides to Suck Hard

Good gravy, this looks awful.

 

Just watch this video. Watch it and pay close attention to what the creators of Crunchyroll’s upcoming original magical girl show, High Guardian Spice, have to say about it.

At first, it doesn’t look too bad, if we can overlook the mediocre artwork and ignore that the title logo looks as if it came off a bottle of nutmeg. The show’s creators start out by telling us that their new series is about some girls who live in a city and go to school to learn magic. Sounds pretty formulaic. But, obviously, other franchises have seen success with the same premise, so this is not in itself necessarily a problem, even if it’s not breathtakingly original.

But then notice what else they tell us about the show: it has a “modern reflection of the world”—even though the art suggests a historic or fantasy setting. And then they tell us the characters and cast are “diverse” and that half the people involved in the show’s creation are women. And, ironically, they tell us that the “writers’ room” is all women—because, you know, they’re “inclusive.”

Continue reading “Crunchyroll Decides to Suck Hard”

Wat.

Okay, I’ll buy it, but if I rub it on and don’t turn into a magical girl, I’m gonna be pissed.

Pretty Dynamo’s New Look

Still waiting for the final cover art for Jake and the Dynamo. However, I did just get this partial, showing the design for Magical Girl Pretty Dynamo as she’ll appear on the cover.

I don’t know about you, but I’m blown away. Yes … this is exactly what I pictured in my head … cough

Actually, that’s a lot cooler than what I pictured in my head.

Ritsu’s ‘Magical Record’

A fellow who calls himself Andrea Ritsu has an interesting post entitled “Magical Record,” on the subject of magical girl anime. This is supposed to be the first in a series, but he’s only posted one so far that I can find, on the subject of exactly what is and is not a magical girl show.

Although he spends several paragraphs discussing irrelevancies mirroring his personal preoccupation, it is a good discussion overall. He does a fine job distinguishing the magical girl per se from stories that happen to feature girls who use magic. It’s worth reading.

Art

Featured image: “Mahou Shoujo Lillie Magica” by Arken.

Manga Review: ‘Saint Tail’

On a mission from God.

Saint Tail, vols. 1 and 2, written and illustrated by Megumi Tachikawa. Published in Japan by Kodansha Ltd., 1995. Translated by Anita Sengupta. Tokyopop, 2001.

I was unable to complete this in time for Easter Sunday, but, fortunately, Easter is fifty days. So here we go.

The kaitou, or thief, is such a popular figure in Japanese pop culture that kaitou may be considered its own genre. This is probably thanks in large part to the wildly successful Lupin III franchise, which is written to be a sequel of sorts to the stories of Arsène Lupin by Maurice Leblanc. Magical girls had crossed paths with gentleman thieves in franchises such as Minky Momo and Sailor Moon, so a magical girl who is also a gentleman thief—or lady thief, rather—is an obvious next step.

What is perhaps not so obvious is that the magical girl lady thief should be a devout Catholic who steals in service to God, but such is the premise of Saint Tail, and the basic concept of Saint Tail also got recycled, but given a hard twist, in Phantom Thief Jeanne, which we’ll discuss in a later post. Continue reading “Manga Review: ‘Saint Tail’”

Tenuous Release Date for ‘Jake and the Dynamo’

Tenuous, I say! Tenuous!

But tenuous though it is, I do have an update, and I wish to keep you informed. June 1st is the possible release date for volume 1 of Jake and the Dynamo. Once I have something more definite, you’ll be the first to know.

Pictured above is a detail from one of the interior illustrations by Roffles Lowell. I still do not have word on whether it will be possible to have these illustrations published with the book or not; I’m stumping for them, but I don’t have the final say on the matter.

(Speaking of which: Lowell, call me.)

When #ValentinesDay and #AshWednesday Are the Same Day

The League of Extraordinary Grade-Schoolers, Part 1

FIRST | PREVIOUS | NEXT | NOTES

Chapter 1: Fancy and Moody

When nine-year-old Nancy Clancy stepped out the door to visit a neighbor on a Friday afternoon, she wasn’t expecting to be attacked by a giant robot.

Nancy had just come home from third grade, but after dropping off her schoolbooks on the dining room table, she headed out again to see Mrs. DeVine, who had invited her for tea. Mrs. DeVine was a severe-looking but kindly old matron who lived in the fanciest house in the neighborhood: She had a front gate of cast iron entwined with roses, and a yard full of flowers. Her house brimmed with the most interesting things: brocaded drapes that hung to the floor, cushions of silk, divans nestled in bay windows, cabinets loaded with eggshell china, paintings of dignified but mysterious gentlemen, and elegant porcelain dolls too delicate to touch.

Many children might be afraid of a house so full of breakables—or intimidated by Mrs. DeVine herself, who stood tall and straight and dignified, with a severe, downturned mouth and a head piled high with white hair. For as long as she could remember, however, Nancy had been taken with Mrs. DeVine and fascinated with her ornate and treasure-filled home; the other houses up and down the street were all white and boxy and nearly indistinguishable, and all had neatly trimmed but unadorned yards. Only Mrs. DeVine’s house stood out—beautiful and old-fashioned—and Nancy loved it.

Nancy loved everything fancy. She always had, and she was determined that she always would. Continue reading “The League of Extraordinary Grade-Schoolers, Part 1”