THIS REVIEW IS SPOILER FREE, EXCEPT FOR THE SECTIONS CLEARLY LABELLED OTHERWISE

Magical Girl Site is a manga thay you've probably seen without even knowing it. If you plan on reading it just because of that fact, please consider at least skimming through this review and ask yourself: do I really want to read this? In case you don't know what I mean, here's the most famous panel from the entire manga:


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STORY

Magical Girl Site is, as stated by the description for the manga here on AniList, about middle school girl Asagiri Aya who is severely bullied at school and violently abused (only physically). However, one day a website appears on her computer containing a creepy figure appears, granting her magical powers.

Now, it's difficult to elaborate anymore on the story without spoiling it. At times, the story is surprisingly good. The plot remains interesting as it develops, with lots of ideas and questions being presented over the course of just a few chapters. That being said, do be warned that towards the end of the series, there is a big reliance on plot twists (which isn't necessarily bad, but it hurts re-readability). The pacing is... fine, I guess. It would be decent if it were not for a sudden story arc at the halfway mark of the manga. Minor spoilers regarding the arc:

Spoiler, click to view

The arc features a sudden shift in main cast, with the focus being shifted away from Asagiri Aya and onto Komura Kayo instead. Why does the author do this? I'm not really sure. It does allow for some explanation and some new plot points to be introduced, but it doesn't actually do anything. It's just an exposition dump after a climax in the previous arc. The worst part is this sudden shift in cast goes on for nearly 20 chapters. That may not seem like much, but it's 15% of the manga!

Additionally, the ending of the story is a little confusing if you haven't read Magical Girl Apocalypse. I didn't read it and it was a little jarring when events that never occured within Magical Girl Site were shown and characters never introduced were given a brief spotlight. Naturally, they did absolutely nothing and their cameo provided no value other than to confuse the reader.



Characters

Now, within Magical Girl Site, almost every character is fucking batshit insane__. Just to list a few examples: - Brother viciously beating his sister everyday, for the sake of letting off stress? Why not? - A 14 year old girl regularly torturing a guy? Yup. - Another, different 14 year old girl who casually murders people because she was told to? Of course. - The most popular idol in Japan absolutely oozing homicidal tendencies? Couldn't live without it. - YET ANOTHER 14 year old girl that (may as well be) roleplaying as Light Yagami? Got it.The only character that does not seem to suffer from being a psycho is the main character, Asagiri Aya. Her character likely stands out because of how much she contrasts her peers. She suffers from the standard "I don't want anyone to be hurt anymore!" cliche, but it just works within the context of Magical Girl Site. She is portrayed as a very real 14 year old girl, who as expected, does not want to go around killing people. Her realistic portrayal is one of the things that keeps this series grounded. Additionally, the fact she felt like she could be a real person was the reason I was able to empathize with her and the reason I wanted her to find happiness.

My second favourite character within the story is Yatsumura Tsuyuno, a girl who starts off as enigmatic but comes to be Aya's best friend. Yatsumura is a fairly interesting character who primarily shines in her relationship with Aya. I cannot elaborate whatsoever without spoiling, but Yatsumura, despite having some screws loose, managed to warm my heart and made me feel the only real emotions (other than disgust) I experienced while reading this manga.

Finally, the last character I'll name is a side character: Suirenji Kiyoharu. Kiyoharu is a transgender girl who is not introduced until later in the manga. However, her emotions are probably some of the most real feeling within the entire series and it sucks that she got such little time in the spotlight, but I got attached to her nonetheless.

There's a huge list of characters I'm not naming that have prominent roles within the manga, but I feel they are either terrible people or are just not interesting.


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ART

The series has some pretty extraordinary art. Quite frequently there are scenes that look like they're straight out of an anime. A lot of the settings are very pretty and detailed as well, despite the fact they're just the background. I can't really say it gets better as it gets on, as the art seems to maintain its quality for the entire read. Here's some panels I picked out while skimming through the manga:






PROBLEMATIC CONTENT

Now... the biggest problem in Magical Girl Site is the nature of a good chunk of its content. The following section will have mentions of rape and transphobia, so do be warned.

Starting with the former, this manga is plagued with threats of rape and, in a few cases, just straight up implied rape. I cannot fathom how the author can take such a topic so lightly for him to constantly throw it around. It does not get any less repulsive the more it is used as a threat in the manga. Not only that, but the author even tries to redeem a fucking rapist. Minor spoilers ahead:

Spoiler, click to view

One of the "heroes" that helps save the world at the end of the story is a the character in question. Now, this character is a man who ends up taking a 16 year old boy captive and, while not explicitly showing it, repeatedly rapes him. How the fuck does the author write this?? Are there really people out there who say "yeah, that sounds good" when writing about the rape of a fucking 16 year old boy or even just rape in general. I'll stop ranting now.

Regarding the aforementioned character Kiyoharu, there is a significant amount of transphobia when she is present. Even the characters meant to be her friend will refer to her as a "he" or as a boy. Hell, even the AUTHOR refers to her as a "he" under a description of her character despite. Ironically, in the same description, the author writes that she think she's a girl (paraphrasing, obviously). She is also brutally bullied at school for her gender identity. I'm not personally transgender, but nonetheless it rubs me the wrong way.

Now for an issue that some may not find to be that bad, but because of laws in a number of countries: it's bad. The issue is the author's depiction of underage characters as nude. Now, thankfully, the author does not show genitalia, but does show censored naked male characters and shows topless underage girls with... unfortunately... some features drawn ~~(God, why must I write that sentence?)~~. It's pretty self-explanatory. If it's something you're... I guess fine with, then so be it. However, you've been warned if you're not OK with something like that.


CONCLUSION

Magical Girl Site is a manga that has everything going for it: good characters, great power system, a plethora of plot points that would allow for an amazing story and superb artwork. Unfortunately, it suffers from the author's sick imagination and idea of what stakes should be in a story. Given some better writing and the omission of the disgusting perversions the author show's off, it honestly could be one of my favourite mangas. Instead it ended up as something just... good. If you're just interested in the "dark magical girl" subgenre, I highly suggest (re)watching Puella Magi Madoka Magica (or even reading it) instead. If any part of this review irked you, then there's a good chance you'll enjoy it less than me. That being said: make your own decisions.

Have fun.


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Quick final note I wanted to make. This was actually my first review! I suffered immensely writing this as I procrastinated studying for physics, but who cares about that? If you have any feedback, please leave a message on my profile!