It's "magical girls" versus late stage capitalism, gentrification, monarchism, and worldwide systematic corruption, classism, cronyism, colonialism, and imperialism.
It's "magical girls" as iconoclasts, fighting the status quo for survival.
All in the style of Mad magazine.
It definitely takes inspiration from anime and manga, as well, and not just 'Sailor Moon': 'Akira' and the like are a much stronger influence. As is 'Watchmen'.
It took me a while to get into it, and not be confused as to who was who and what and where and why, but once I got it, I got it.
'Luna Express' is the modern feminist comic mistresspiece of 2026. To say it is relevant to our current darkest timeline is an understatement. It is fucking vital. A punch-up. A wakeup call.
Plus it has magical girls and a celestial astronomy theme à la 'Sailor Moon' (the crescent moon reoccurs in the art, which is an astral extra for me), and a cute, tasty bakery goods motif.
Set in Australia, Perth, 'Luna Express' stars "magical girls" or "celestials" - young people who end up fighting political corruption everywhere (since everything is political) - capitalists, industrialists, white supremacists, and billionaires who want to take over the world just because they can. These magical, nocturnal blooming activists and rebels are sort-of reluctant heroes, but they have to try, and they want to prove themselves anyway. They are:
Celeste, a Black (or indigenous, her race is deliberately left ambiguous), queer, family bakery delivery girl, who is justifiably hot-tempered and snarky, and who under the starlight possesses super strength, speed and agility, plus she can control gravity; Lucy, a white, queer, fat, bespectacled, heavily tattooed former foster child, who's very sensitive and high energy, has a very bad dating history, and who possesses the ability to transport anywhere via shadows, or "bloop"; Alex, the only male celestial child of the group, who is white, a femme boy, a graffiti artist, a skateboarder, and the mayor's kid, so no wonder he's depressed, and he can bring his art to life; and there's Lorelai, a former friend (and lover to Celeste) turned world famous K-pop star - initially overworked, and heavily coerced, controlled, abused, and brainwashed - who can make any of her wishes come true...as long as they're "some weird alien tech".
Celeste, Lucy and Lorelai tried to be a band at one point, and maybe they will be again...
None of these moonlit millennials will be made small. They will not be silenced. They will refuse to let themselves be threatened, abused and crushed by those on top of the privileged capitalism food chain/hierarchy...
'Luna Express' - how stellar! It's wild, weird, stellar punk and pop! It's like the safest drug trip! With likeable, down-to-earth, yet cosmic and queer heroes, and important, topical themes.
Not since 'A Magical Girl Retires' has a Magical GirlTM story been more subversive (there aren't even any transformation sequences, nor any outer transformations in the traditional sense) and relevant. It is also like 'Flavor Girls' and 'magnifiqueNOIR'.
Magical girls can change the world.
'My idiot friends are still idiots.' [] 'But we're idiots together.' [] 'Which is a whole lot better than being idiots alone.'
CELESTE SAYS:
'So-called Australia was built on the back of colonial violence that was inflicted without mercy to all who lived under it.' [] 'Erasing the truth of this history makes everyday living easier for some.' [] 'But it traps us in a collective land of make-believe, expected to unsee the reality in front of us.'
'The media you consume is ALWAYS political.' [] 'Those in charge of media empires have the ability to shape the political reality of entire populations.' [] 'They actively work to control our sense of what is "normal" and what is "other".' [] 'And then use their media platforms to prop up political actors who are then in debt to them.' [] 'Question everything. Accept nothing.'
'If you cut into the present, the past leaks out.' [] 'Even the slightest scratch reveals what lies under the surface.' [] 'And inside each of us resides the entire history of the cosmos.' [] 'When you lie on the grass at night, looking up at the stars, you can feel it churning inside you.' [] 'All the paperwork and bills and bad news stories and things do a pretty good job of distracting us from it though.'
'It's ok to relax.' [] 'It's important to rest.' [] 'It's necessary to sleep.' [] 'It's essential to dream.'
Recommended.
Final Score: 3.5/5 (three magical, celestial full moons, one halfmoon, and two crescent moons, and all the stars in the night sky)
