Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Complete Omnibus (2020, Hanokage)

Puella Magi Madoka Magica is the manga adaptation of one of the most popular and acclaimed anime series of all time. The deceptively familiar story follows Madoka Kaname, an ordinary adolescent who's unwittingly swept into the world of "magical girls" - young women adorned with magical powers to fight reality-warping "witches." Unlike standard entries in this genre, Madoka Magica recasts the "magical girl" as a Faustian pact with Kyubey, an emotionless cat-like alien who has ulterior motives for offering girls unlimited power. Madoka is restrained from making her pact by the mysterious Homura Akemi, though her impulsive friend Sayaka Miki (wishing to save the boy she loves from a devastating injury) takes the plunge with tragic results. The narrative also introduces Mami Tomoe, the magical mentor who shows Madoka and Sayaka how to get ahead, and bad girl Kyoko Sakura, constantly munching junk food and issuing snarky putdowns between battles. The series quickly transforms from Sailor Moon-style adventures to heavy explorations of survivor's guilt, the nature of selfishness (and selflessness), a person's individual worth and the nature of hope in an often bleak and despairing world. The opposite of what you'd expect from the cutesy cover art, in other words. 

This manga version (illustrated by Hanokage) closely follows the script and storyline of the show, though the narrative is compressed at points (less time with side characters like non-magical friend Hitomi and Madoka's family, for instance) and the character models differ from Ume Aoki's series designs (most notably for Kyubey, far more expressive than in the series, where his face is an eerie blank slate). Probably the biggest disappointment is that the gonzo imagery of the series - the surreal witches' labrynths and the juxtaposition of everyday life with philosophic horror which is co-creator Gen Urobuchi's trademark - can't easily be replicated in comic form; Hanokage mostly opts for a dark monochrome pallette that ranges from fine to one-note. Nonetheless, the manga format allows her to explore the personalities of the main girls in more detail: for instance, we better understand Mami's motivations, Kyoko's feelings about Sayaka (the subject of much ship-teasing among fans) and get more sense of Madoka's inner debate about whether or not to make a wish. And Hanokage adds a few character epilogues which provide a heart-wrenching coda. Overall, it's not a perfect rendering of the show but does a fine job capturing its important points while illuminating a few more. Followed by several spin-off manga, some of which are worth reading, but can't match the brilliance of the original.

Rating: 5/5 

Note: Read my articles on the Madoka Magica series here.