A Magical Girl Retires

Magical girls: the iconic kitsch of 1990s Sailor Moon and 2000's Tokyo Mew Mew, the cutesy horror of Madoka Magica, the choc&vanilla fun of Sugar Sugar Rune and now the existential dread of being a 29 year-old in 2024, plagued by debt and the looming threat of climate change. Dotted throughout with Kim Sanhos stunning illustrations, this modern take on an iconic genre packs a punch despite its short length. It is current and bleak: here, magical girls still have their magical girl transformations and talismans, but they also have magical girl jobs and a magical girl union, and have to face off against not-so-magical-girl global warming