Magical Karina Volume 1 Review

Kodansha are the publisher for a number of beloved magical girl series, such as Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura, both of which their website assures us will make us fans of their latest manga series Magical Karina as well. Does that hold true? Let’s take a look!

Our story follows Karina, a high school student who, between work, school and her chaotic home life, is barely keeping her head above water. Then one day while at school, she’s called to the hospital, where her grandmother has passed away. No one is entirely sure what happened. She has some strange holes in her chest area, which has apparently been seen a lot lately in that hospital. But Karina isn’t interested; instead, she’s sort of relieved.

Karina grew up living with her grandmother, and she has always adored her, but since Karina got into middle school, their relationship has been strained since her grandmother developed dementia. Karina’s mother moved back in to help, but for our heroine that brought little relief as she watched the grandparent she loved so much slip away. In many ways, her day is not just losing her for a second time but a comfort, knowing the days of watching her act so out of sorts won’t continue.

However, things get complicated when, on the way back from work, Karina is attacked by some kind of monster that no one else can see. Her life is saved by a boy named Zen, who tells her if she wants to continue living, she’s going to have to transform. We later learn that this monster has been going around sucking out people’s souls and already claimed the lives of at least 40 people, including Karina’s grandmother.

So Karina now has the powers of a magical girl, and Zen initially wants to team up with her but ends up getting injured and turned into a tiny version of himself. She feels guilty that this happened because of the fact the monster seems to be targeting her, so she reluctantly agrees to help him.

This is a series that feels somewhat at odds with itself. Unlike Sailor Moon or Cardcaptor Sakura, this is a much heavier story that’s more suitable for an older audience than those are (or the 13+ age rating here suggests). It also doesn’t feel a great deal like a magical girl series at this point. Karina transforms, but she’s not really fighting with magic so much as smacking things with her wand.

A lot of the story is understandably about Karina’s grief and feelings related to her grandmother, but that doesn’t slot in that well alongside the whole soul-sucking monster thing. It’s too serious a subject matter for something that’s also trying to be a fantasy story, and the end result just doesn’t fit together particularly well.

This appears to be mangaka Coyuri Tono’s first series, and perhaps I should cut them some more slack based on that. And story aside, I do quite like Tono’s art. It’s trying to catch that 80s or 90s nostalgic vibe while having its own identity, and it does a good job of that with the character designs (particularly when it comes to the magical girl outfit). The watercolour image for the cover is a nice touch too, invoking a similar colour scheme to the popular magical girl series of old. It stands out for being different, in a good way.

As mentioned, Magical Karina comes to the West thanks to Kodansha and has been translated by Ryan Holmberg with lettering by Madeleine Jose. The release reads well and comes in one of Kodansha’s bigger paperback forms, with colour pages at the beginning and some translation notes at the end.

The series is complete in Japan with its second volume. Here in English we won’t be getting that instalment until the end of March 2027, which is understandable, given it only came out in Japan recently.

Overall, I certainly don’t think readers who are looking for a magical girl story will click with this one. However, if you’re in it for the drama aspect or particularly like the art style, this may be worth a look once it’s concluded. As it is right now, it’s a hard sell, which is a shame, but it is at least nice to see Kodansha trying out some different kinds of manga to bring to the English market.

A free preview can be read on the publisher’s website.
Our review copy from Kodansha was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.
©Coyuri Tono / KODANSHA LTD