Graphic Novel Review - 'Magical Boy Volume 1' by The Kao

My 850th review.

I've decided to use this occasion to highlight a Magical Girl--no, 'Magical Boy', the graphic novel, which is a colourful, fantastic, fantastical, magical tale, about a trans boy Magical Boy. He is a descendent of the Goddess of Light, Aurora, and part of a long line of transforming, sparkly, amulet-wearing, staff-wielding, darkness-fighting girls. Well, this time it's a guy defending the world from evil using Magical Girl motifs.

'Magical Boy' has the best art, the best characters, the best premise, and as well as being outrageously fun and funny, and subversive as all hell, it is a moving and empowering coming-of-age story about Max Owen, a trans highschooler.

Max is struggling, in slowly and surely coming out to people, and coming into his own identity. He knows exactly who he is, and it's hard, standing his ground whenever he is met with ignorant and unaccepting people. The world is already so dark and hateful towards people like him, but it'll be made worse by the supernatural dark god forces that feed off of that loathing, those insecurities, and which, he discovers, he must banish! (He could also see people's "light energy" or auras, before he could transform into his magical self.)

Max knows himself. He wants nothing to do with the whole sparkly and frilly Magical Girl/ Goddess of Light nonsense that's making his life even more difficult! Yet, as his magical hero identity develops with him and starts meeting his needs and preferences, his reluctance wanes, and he learns and grows further, into his own hero. This self-acceptance hero's journey will extend to others in life changing ways, too.

In a surprising turn of events (as if the goddess light powers and dark deity bugs and sealing leaks into other realms weren't enough of a shock!), more people will come to accept him, in time, on his path to self-discovery, and saving (and changing) the world.

Max the Magical Boy will make friends with the most unlikely of people, who will happily help him fight evil.

'Magical Boy' was clearly made with such love and care by its author, The Kao. This is not only to be judged by the anime style artwork and anime influences, done meticulously and in a tongue-and-cheek fashion. Max and the other characters are loved, and are handled with sensitivity; they are nurtured and cherished, not to mention highly interesting, so the readers will come to care for them in equal measure.

The comic does right what so many other LBGTQ+ stories, particularly trans stories, do not. Basically, it is the opposite of stories like 'Galaxy: The Prettiest Star', another LGBTQ "superhero" comic. There is positivity, and sympathy for the victimised trans lead throughout, with nary any serious meanspiritedness and cruelty which permeates all else. The conflict isn't so nasty and toxic as to be triggering. Also dissimilar to 'Galaxy', 'Magical Boy''s protagonist really is trans, it isn't an allegory or a metaphor, and they never apologise to their abusers, who don't deserve sympathy, and who are hardly sorry. There is no triggering hateful rhetoric, nor hate crimes, that overwhelm everything, happening with no accountability, nor repercussions, whatsoever. No bigot gets away with it in 'Magical Boy'. Any "metaphor" present in it doesn't take over the story and character development, either.

In other words, what I'd feared I'd get from 'Magical Boy' because of 'Galaxy' didn't manifest. It is everything I'd hoped 'Galaxy' would be before reading that.

Kudos.

(One last thing concerning 'Galaxy' is that, as far as I know, no existing edition of it comes with a content advisory or warning at the beginning. 'Magical Boy' does.)

Additional notes on the character love and respect:

Max is a gay transman in high school who is frustrated and fed up with it all. Being a "magical girl" is among his worst nightmares, but overtime, he might make it work for him, in his own way, on his own terms. Screw convention. Jen, his cool lesbian best friend, is awesome, like many others in the colourful cast, and she is like his super supportive sidekick. New friends that Max unexpectedly makes along the way are: the tough cisman Sean, who actually loves cute, sparkly Magical Girl things (he's such a dear, plus he's like the Tomoyo to Max's Cardcaptor Sakura, in the filming-him-in-his-magical-fighting-monsters-glory sense); and, another surprise, and slight spoiler... the blonde, blue-eyed, typical mean church girl, Pyper, who is of course closeted and suffering from internalised homophobia.

Hell, even Max's mother, Hikari, who is the most resistant and unaccepting of who he is out of everyone else, and is his biggest obstacle in navigating the world of transphobia (she constantly deadnames him, which is blurred in the text of her speech bubbles; the same treatment is given to anyone who does the same, thank goodness), she is miraculously made likeable by how over-the-top, and cartoonishly pomp and enthusiastic, she is. We're clearly not meant to take her seriously - her conservatism and her ironically aggressive banging on and on about being "ladylike" - and everybody but her knows she's in the wrong. Max's few interactions with his softhearted father, Kai, are sweet and touching by contrast, at any rate.

I hate to mention this, but I feel I have to: A slight imperfection - a legitimate, objective flaw - in 'Magical Boy' is the editing, panelling, and speech bubble placements. It does get messy a few times, leading to confusion as to who is talking and when, in following an interaction. One example of a mistake is when a speech bubble is designed to look as though it's coming directly from... an unconscious person, when it should have come from the person standing right next to them, who is shown to be the one talking. Oops.

There are loads more things - details big and small - I could talk about when it comes to 'Magical Boy', which is overall, in fact, a lovely, lively, hilarious, yet simple and fun fighting-evil-type anime and manga story. But I've prattled on long enough, and I can't do the comic justice. Especially seeing as I'm a ciswoman reading and reviewing it.

Just read this great, modern graphic novel, whoever you are. The world is made better, pleasanter, and lighter, by its existence.

I'll sign off by saying that 'Magical Boy' made me feel good, and it filled me with joy and positivity, after reading it; after experiencing it. Unlike a lot of stories of its ilk (*cough* 'Galaxy' *cough* 'The Prettiest Star' *cough* my arse *cough*). My hypersensitive and hyperempathetic self approves.

And that cliffhanger. Oh! Oh no! I will definitely read the sequel, the conclusion to this landmark duology, this opus. I can't wait!

Final Score: 4.5/5