The Angelic Saints are the only force protecting the hearts of innocents from the evil Abyssal Forest and its monstrous Beasts. Juggling their responsibilities as magical girls with high school and their other friendships, the Saints will never give up their struggle against the forces of Sin and darkness!
But Charlie isn't one of them. He has no magic, no powers and no hidden wells of inner strength he can use to always triumph over the villains. He is not beautiful or strong or brave, no matter how much he wishes he could be. Instead, he finds himself held hostage by what feels like every other monster of the week.
Charlie would give almost anything to stand with the Saints. And yet, when he finally gets an offer to step onto the stage and claim everything he's ever wanted, Charlie finds that the price may be too high.
Gosh, this story is so great. (I might have read ahead to ch 3 in the other place...)
To be way too wordy for a minute: I have seen a -lot- of magical girl stories (and other works, broadly speaking), and I kind of feel like... well, okay, the aesthetics of magical girls are easy and straightforward. The vibes, however, are incredibly difficult to nail. Part of that is due to people coming at it from very different angles and with different goals, but I would say that more often than not, when I come across a story with the trappings of magical girl stuff, the content itself just doesn't work for me. Sometimes it's too violent/serious (But without the complexity and maturity of something like Madoka that can pull that off), sometimes it's so comic and lighthearted that the core emotions don't ring true (And the oversized feelings are a -huge- part of a magical girl thing to me). Either way, even if it's enjoyable, it always feels a bit like an more shallow imitation rather than the genuine article.... And I'm more than willing to include myself in here; my own magical girl story is a fun joke exercise in such a setting, not a particularly authentic exploration of it.
This story though? This GETS it. Of the three chapters I've read, it really understands the format and uses that excellently. I love how the limited perspective of its character allows for the standard episodic magical girl stuff to be happening in the background, allowing the reader to fill in the gaps with familiarity of the genre while still using those subtleties to suggest deeper character things about the people involved. (Without being specific, I love, for instance, the way certain things about Temperance are teased but not shown as of yet). I think it takes distinct strength and skill on behalf of the author to be handling these larger plot elements so carefully and choosing when to reveal them or when to keep them obscured. There's enough going on that it's hard to know exactly what direction the story's going to go and what angle it's going to take, even as really cool and intriguing implications keep popping up. I'm so excited to see how it's all fully realized. And of course... the story's definitely anchored by a very strong and relatable main character who you can't help but root for. I think my only worry is how it will all come together in the end, particularly as the pace is pretty propulsive and some big status-quo-changing things are already happening (Often trans stories hinge around a moment of self-realization, and then struggle a little if they resolve that moment too neatly and concisely, at least if they plan to continue on afterwards...) But in that regard, I'm mainly only worried because it's been -so- good so far that I find it hard to keep my expectations in check. They're just running wild right now, haha. This is definitely the most excited I've been about a story in quite a long while.
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So, just to get it out first: I definitely helped beta-read some of this just so it is known that I am not an entirely unknowing reader.
With that out of the way, I love this story so much! It's so cute and perfectly grasps the Magical Girl genre it's playing with. I have seen so many imperfect Madoka Magica copies, and I'm really glad to see this story playing with the more whimsical, shoujo-esque aspects of big emotions, heroic call-outs and a focus on emotional honesty and embracing yourself. I absolutely adore it! It's not afraid of compromising the comedic and fun aspects by playing with darker themes such as dysphoria, anxiety or self-hatred.
One thing I especially love is how we not only have a very limited main character perspective, but in fact the end notes of the fictional "Shining Virtue Angel Heart" anime note that we start at episode 12 of the anime. One can even imagine this whole subplot going on somewhat later in the anime and some of the plot developments alluded to having happened earlier being some of the earlier episodes. It really feels like jumping into a world with established characters. Absolutely must recommend, it's fantastic and I SO want to see where it goes next.
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