The amount of explanations and explanations you get in a manga when a story begins varies from mangaka to mangaka. Especially with magical girl comics, as you can now instantly know how a character gets their powers or it might remain something of a secret for a few chapters or episodes. Magic Girl Incidenta series of Zero Akabane localized by Yen Press, are going with the following approach. Everything remains a mystery from the start, which means the reader will be oblivious to what’s going on as protagonist Hiromi Sakura. However, at the same time, I find it really appropriate for the situation.
Magic Girl Incident starting with the completely normal Hiromi. He always wanted to be a hero and help people. However, instead, he became a salaried employee for the “driverless company”. He does a normal job with his friend Yuzuru Saotome, dealing with an emotionless, ignorant boss, trying to work overtime and all sorts of company nonsense. After saving a child from being hit by a truck while picking up a ball on the road, he later realizes he can’t back down and just watches the kid about to be attacked by a supernatural monster. He entered and appeared to be severely injured.
Except Hiromi then got up, but this time a magical girl. He is stronger. He has increased his agility and jumps higher than usual. His entire appearance and voice changed. However, he didn’t know how or why it happened, and neither did we. Which makes it more attractive
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- Image via Yen Press
Especially when Akabane takes advantage of it to make it a plot point. When Yuzuru finds out about Hiromi’s secret, part of the result is that they try to figure out what’s going on. For example, they try to determine what triggers the transformation. Essentially, the two also end up working together to figure out what Hiromi’s new heroic lifestyle will look like. However, it also means encountering a mysterious young woman who seems to have something to do with ongoing events and more monsters.
Everything is extremely vague and I can’t figure out how well it fits the series. Hiromi had absolutely no idea what was going on. We’re in the same position as him, and that means we have to figure out what’s going to happen with him. It allows for a little more impact as discoveries emerge or even more mysteries emerge.
Besides, I also like the way Magic Girl Incident parallel type Sakura Card leader. This is because both Hitomi and Sakura have a wealthy friend and benefactor, Yuzuru and Tomoko, on their side. That means that in this manga we get to see what happens in a more realistic situation where a magical girl approaches an ally with money and power. The result is immediate access to equipment like helicopters and the ability to block roads so that Hitomi can deal with enemies without leaving civilians in harm’s way.
the whole of Magic Girl Incident Volume 1 feels like it’s setting up the manga. I even wonder if volume 2 provides the answer. It feels like there’s still plenty of room to build things up. Not to mention at this point, I’m more interested in seeing the characters evolve and continue to react to Hiromi eventually becoming a hero as a magical girl. I’d be happy if some of the bigger revelations don’t start to emerge until the end of the second episode or even further in the future.
Magic Girl Incident episode 1 is now available via Yen Pressand the next volume of the manga will appear on September 19, 2023. It will end its release in Japan in July 2023.
