A Thousand Miles

Magical Girls Spec Ops: Asuka

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Magical Girls Spec Ops: Asuka is an action manga written by Makoto Fukami and illustrated by Seigo Tokiya. It has been serialized in the Seinen Monthly “Monthly Big Gangan” in June 2015. An anime adaptation started in January. Magical Girls Spec Ops: Asuka is also a mouthful, so I’ll be abbreviating it to MGSA

Cover Appeal

Naoya Tamura – It’s not a common occurrence for something like “Military Advisor” to show up on the cover of a manga – or at least not in the neck of the manga woods that I frequent. It makes sense, though, as the Japanese military has a large presence in the story. Not being a big military buff, I will offer absolutely no critique on the military structure in the story, but it’s encouraging to see that kind of dedication to that aspect of the universe.

Asuka – The cover features the titular Asuka herself standing amid a destroyed street and looking back at the viewer. She’s holding her trademark curved knife in addition to what I presume to be an assault rifle with her battle uniform showing some damage. The way this is framed, Asuka takes up about half of the picture as if we’re standing directly behind her. As if this street’s (with a destroyed tank, nonetheless) destruction was either caused by or withstood by her. Either way, it gives Asuka an imposing presence.

The Gist

Three years ago, a large scale battle was waged against a group of alien entities known as the Disas. It was a joint operation between the JSDF and a group of magical girls that culminated in the destruction of the leader, of sorts, known as the Disas Beast. Having won this battle the “Magical Five”, as said group of magical girls came to be known, have been immortalized as legends as the rest of society and they themselves try to move on. In the present, the Disas and other supernatural threats reappear. The story follows Asuka and the rest of the Magical five as they gear up for a new confrontation with enemies new and old.

Cast

Asuka Otori (Rapture Asuka) – Leader of the Magical Five. Magical transformation device is apparently a karambit – a stylized indonesian knife resembling a claw or, in this case, a small ice pickaxe. She’s presently trying to live life as a normal high schooler.

Kurumi Mugen (War Nurse Kurumi) – A close friend of Asuka, who was mentored by her. Part of the General Research Division. Her weapon is a giant syringe that administers either medicine or poison.

Mia Cyrus (Just Cause Mia) – Works with the CIA with her partners ISA Aaron and ISA Julia. Her Magical Transformation Device is a small derringer that transforms into other guns. She can enchant the rounds for excessive penetration and explosive force. She also exhibits specialized sight akin to xray vision.

Yoshiaki Lizuka – Former JGSDF member that keeps tabs on Asuka. He’s presently posing as her adoptive father.

Sacchuu – Asuka’s fairy companion.

Nozomi Makino – Asuka’s assertive and energetic classmate. Keeps trying to get Asuka to join the Track team. Father works for the Metropolitan Police.

Sayako Hata – Easy going, more grounded friend of Asuka and Nozomi. Keeps Nozomi’s more forward joking in check.

Kim Kanth – Leader of East Asia United Front, a terrorist group. Presently captured and awaiting sentencing.

The Rub

The main conceit of MGSA is “What happens to the magical girls after ‘their’ main fight is done?”, with a heaping side of “Is it really just ‘their” fight?” and “Can that fight every really end?”. The cornerstone of a few deconstructions in the last decade and, arguably, the subtext of the whole genre is that magical girls are essentially child soldiers. MGSA answers the previous questions by taking this to its logical extreme and making them literal soldiers. They still look the part of magical girls, but they are registered with the JSDF.

Like some of its recent predecessors, MGSA is a deconstruction. Whereas Madoka’s deconstruction stems largely from the imperfect and tumultuous worldviews of its young protagonists (and how that informs their eventual breakdowns), MGSA’s particular brand is grounded in the trappings of a world shaped by the explicit presence of magical girls and magical influence. Madoka’s magic happened behind the veil and isolated the protagonists from the world around them. Supernatural occurrences are the background radiation of MGSA’s world and the “Magical Five” mythos is common knowledge. Magical girls are revered (and feared) by many and sought after by governments who have had to upgrade their arsenals just to barely contend with supernatural monsters.

It all bodes poorly for Asuka. Madoka and her friends couldn’t find solace in a world that didn’t know their deeds. Asuka can’t seem to find some peace and quiet in a world obsessed with the deeds of her and her friends. Asuka fought alongside the JSDF to destroy the Disas Beast a few years ago. Now suffering from PTSD, all she wants is to live a normal High School life. She reads books to forget the carnage. But, being the kind of story it is, she doesn’t get to do it for long as the nasty creatures from before reappear. So Asuka’s character arc for this volume is getting back in the saddle and finding her motivation to fight.

I’m luke warm on half of this character arc. A part of it feels genuine. Asuka deciding to fight to protect her new friends is great. It’s a great case of irony where the thing you were using to ignore the call, becomes the greatest motivation to answer it. The other portion just feels like one big guilt trip (I’m here so YOU should be too). But then again, there’s room for nuance there because selfishness is, many times, a matter of perspective. To Kurumi, it’s selfish to bring her into the magical girl life and then bow out, while it can be pretty selfish of Kurumi herself to insist that Asuka stick with it without thought as to why she may want out. I hope that becomes a part of their relationship that the series touches on in future volumes.

The thing I like the most is the feedback loop between the magical girls and society around them. Asuka is shown deploying her magic like a shield to deflect bullets and enchants the edge of her knife to cut through vehicles. The military has to employ enchanted weapons (or just the Magical Girls themselves) in order to deal with supernatural threats. It’s a deconstructive, but enjoyable compromise.

The Verdict

MGSA’s answers to its main conceit comes in the form of Asuka’s quote above. When asked about what the magical girls do now that they’ve won, she essentially says that the magical girls are trying their best to keep their powers and experiences from turning them into something that they don’t want to be.

In a world irrevocably changed and shaped by the presence of magical girls and supernatural powers, said girls and said powers can’t exist in secrecy. Their battles are everyone’s battles. Their triumphs and failures are immortalized in the zeitgeist. That means, unfortunately, the world isn’t saved after one climatic battle – even if it is with some giant monster. Sometimes the world needs to be saved from itself.

Continue?: Sure. Definitely.