The joy of Halloween is to enjoy horror things, don’t know
why but I certainly like to read a good horror that makes the day feel extra
tasty. With the sound of the rain hitting the metal of the fence and the sound
of a show in the background, here I write about my recent manga reading,
Magical Girl Apocalypse, where today I finally got volumes 14 and 15, soon 16.
One of the older images of my collection
Magical Girl Apocalypse, a manga I bought some time ago just
because the cover looked cute to me. At first, I didn’t know what to think
about it but the idea of Magical Girls killing people instead of saving them
felt like it could be very interesting and a big flip of the bird to the usual
magical girl genre.
So here I am, with manga in hand and I started to read the
series, by time I was finished, I felt an array of emotions. I was amused,
shocked, offended but overall, I wanted more, I wanted to learn more about the
characters, the magical apocalypse, if that rent-a-cop Akuta was going to die
horribly because he pretty much deserves that.
It took me a while but I eventually started to buy the rest,
due to limited funds and sources to buy from but now I am one manga short
of a complete collection.
That’s as much as I will say now on personal spending for
now, I want to ramble a poor review about the first season of Magical Girl
Apocalypse.
The story is simple, just like in most survival stories,
there is a small group of main characters who are up against great odds or in
this case, very powerful Magical Girls that kill anything that moves. If that’s
not bad enough, there are perverted characters like Akuta making crude gestures
to the female characters and doing acts that is best described as sexual
assault, best avoid this series if you don’t like those sorts of themes. Then
you have the large amount of violence and gore, which is best avoided for those
of a sensitive nature. Finally, the fan-service, it is there regularly but not
as often as the gore.
Now, you may like violent Magical Girls, but you can’t
forget the lovely zombies in this series, for they are not your usual slow and
stupid zombies, they are like your Red Zombies from the Resident Evil remake.
They will chase everything down and rip them to shreds, but that’s not all,
guess how these are made? It’s all thanks to the Magical Girls that originally
killed them, this manga is certainly full of surprises. Funnily, these are one of
the few zombies that actually scare me since they are faster than the usual
zombies one sees.
Why am I mentioning these while talking about the story? It
contributes to the story, emphasising the death, chaos and the crumbling of
society where anything seems to go. So, I rather readers are aware of that
before considering this manga, which as much as some themes unsettle me
greatly, my curious nature and the fact I love gore and horror has kept me
reading till the last volume.
Now, back to the story, we are following Kii, the main male
protagonist who just wanted to live a boring life but is suddenly thrust into a
world of chaos where he groups up with Tsukune, Sayano, Yoruka, Ren and Akuta
as they try (but badly) work together in coming against this powerful
adversary. I am trying to keep this relatively spoiler free, so I am going to
do this in points, which I find usually unsavoury in a review, but anything
goes if it helps me.
Volume 1 – 5: We are following the group as they are trying
to find a haven in a world of chaos, they do get separated by reunite and meet
characters like Miu, who becomes a bigger role in later volumes. They also
learn more about the Magical Girls and how each one’s abilities seem to work.
At one point, they are sent back in time and find clues to
how and why this is happening. After returning to their time, the group manages
to meet up again and are given new ways to combat the threat.
Again, this ends up being cut short as they end up in
another time where there are no Magical girls
Volume 6 – 8: Now we have the characters finding out a more
to why this is happening and are slowly being better equipped to deal with any
future issues that may arise. It’s hard to talk about these volumes without
giving so much away since it’s such a good read. But they meet new characters
who help lead the way down the right path. But in the end, a lot of what will
happen is up to the choices Kii makes. Will he make the right ones? That’s for
season 2 and 3 to tell.
Yes, the manga is cut up into three seasons, which I find
very fascinating, I haven’t seen many mangaka do this kind of thing, I mean, we
have seen obvious change of seasons but usually called something different to
make it obvious it’s apart of the same world but done at different times.
I also really adore the art, it’s really appealing and quite
detailed, which is nice in a manga, it especially helps in the horror aspect as
it can leave a lasting impression on me. This also reminds me of Ito’s work
where it leaves an impression through the themes being put forward in their
works.
I honestly look forward to reading more and eventually
gaining the final volume in this series. If anything, there is another
series after it called Magical Girl Site which is sounding very appealing to me
and may be the next one to be procured when I get the final volume.
Until then, enjoy my poor attempt at a season 1 ramble
review. Season 2 may be along before long and hopefully a huge final review
along with the final season of the monster of a magical series.
I give this season a 4 out of 5 bookmarks.
Not recommended for those who dislike violence, gore, forced
sex, death and horror but if you like any of those and looking for a good
violent horror, then I highly recommend giving Kentaro Sato’s Magical Girls
Apocalypse a go. Bonus if you enjoy zombies cause this series does not lack
them.
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