Shin Honkaku Mahō Shōjo Risuka

Shin Honkaku Mahō Shōjo Risuka (Japanese: 新本格魔法少女りすか, Hepburn: Shin Honkaku Mahō Shōjo Risuka, New Authentic Magical Girl Risuka), also known as Magical Girl Risuka (魔法少女りすか, Mahō Shōjo Risuka), is a Japanese light novel series written by Japanese novelist Nisio Isin (Zaregoto series, Monogatari series, Medaka Box), and illustrated by Kinu Nishimura. It was published in Faust magazine, running from December 2003 to August 2008, and was serialized into three light novel volumes published by Kodansha Limited from 2004 to 2007, with one chapter unreleased. A short story version was also featured in the English anthology of Faust magazine.

The light novels follow Risuka Mizukura, a fifth grader with magic powers, and Mizutaka Kugi, a genius^[1] class representative which lofty ambitions, as they go on a "magic hunt" around Saga Prefecture in search of Risuka's father, Shingo Mizukura. They encounter Mages and battles along the way.

Plot

The novels take place in the Kyushu island region. Nagasaki Prefecture, in the early twentieth century, was a magical kingdom whose imminent power prompted the Americans to drop the atomic bomb on them in World War II.^[2] In current times, Nagasaki is full of magicians and is called the Land of Magic, but has isolated itself within a walled city.^[3] The magicians on the outside must keep their abilities a secret, and are limited in that they cannot cross the ocean.^[2]

Mizukura Risuka, a ten-year-old girl living in nearby Saga Prefecture, is the daughter of one of the most powerful wizards. When she is not attending school, she searches for her father. Her magical ability allows her to transform her physical age; when she is about to die, she can transform to her prime physical age of 27.^[2] She teams up with Kugi Kizutaka, a ten-year-old class representative, who is a genius and a sociopath with desires to rule people, treating everyone he meets as pawns. Kugi is termed a "Mage User", although he has no intrinsic magical abilities.^[2]

The light novels are framed with quotes from H.P. Lovecraft's works, and also use terminology from Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulu.

Characters

Main

Risuka Mizukura

Risuka Mizukra (水倉りすか, Mizukura Risuka), also known as "The Red Witch of Time", is a fifth grader in the Saga Prefecture. At the start of the story, she has been magic hunting for two years, and has worked with classmate Kugi Kizutaka for a year. While she is listed on the elementary school register, she rarely attends, preferring to stay at home transcribing magic tomes and watching sumo wrestling. Born and raised in Moriyashiki City in Nagasaki Prefecture, Risuka but did not learn Japanese until she moved to Saga to search for her father, Shingo. Kizutaka calls her speech "like badly translated German" because she reverses the subject and predicate; for instance, she says, "Not kind to me, that Kizutaka is."

Risuka's magic classification is: Element: Water, Type: Time, and Manifestation: Moment. Most of her magic abilities involve shedding her blood and borrowing time. For example, she can appear to heal or move to a place instantly by fast-forwarding her life.^[2] When she loses a large amount of blood, she can, for one minute, become 27 years old, which is her prime fighting and magic casting condition, and is very aggressive.^[2]

Kizutaka Kugi

"Mage User" Kizutaka Kugi (供犠創貴, Kugi Kizutaka) is the viewpoint character, a fifth grader who does not have any magical powers.^[3] Although he is a model student that serves as a class representative every term, Kizutaka looks down on everyone, seeing them as pawns.^[2] When he visits Risuka's household to check on her truancy, he senses she is not normal, but keeps close ties with his "pawn". Despite his arrogance, he desires to make everyone happy. He acts rebellious towards his father, but acknowledges that he has respect for him.

Tsunagi

Tsunagi (ツナギ, Tsunagi) is a girl who appears to be the same age as Risuka and Kizutaka, but is actually over 2000 years old, having been transformed into a Mage by Risuka's father. She is the founder of the Gate Management Committee, which has regulated travel in and out of Nagasaki Prefecture, but has been working as the leader of an isolated frontline unit. Her goal is to find Shingo and make him kill her. Although she is experienced and reliable, she is poor at dealing with unfavorable circumstances. After fighting Risuka and friends, she transfers to their elementary school under the name "Itachi Tsunagiba" (繋場いたち, Tsunagiba Itachi) in order to "observe" them.

Tsunagi's magic classification is: Element: Meat, Type: Decomposition. She has 512 mouths on her body and can absorb magic powers from anybody or anything she eats.

Shingo Mizukura

"Nyarutoteppu" Shingo Mizukura (水倉神檎, Mizukura Shingo) is Risuka's father, who has been missing in the stories covered by the light novels. He originally possessed 666 titles, but gave the "Red Witch of Time" title to Risuka. He is rumored to be plotting an "ark" project which would allow Mages to cross water.

Kizutsugu Kugi

Kizutsugu Kugi (供犠創嗣, Kugi Kizutusgu) is Kizutaka's father. Although he is a powerful police detective in Saga Prefecture, he is a womanizer, and is separated from his sixth wife. He does not have a close relationship with Kizutaka, but is quite fond of Risuka. He usually wears a bright white suit, and enjoys sweets and curry.

Reception

Andrew Cunningham, the English translator for Faust Magazine, notes "the author's clear intent to explode everything dark about magical girls without any of the nauseating sugar that usually coats them make it alternately horrifying and gripping."^[2] Ken Haley of Manga Recon found Kizutaka "incredibly snotty and unlikable. Unfortunately, this really hurts the story’s enjoyability as Kizutaka is our POV character." He also found the end of the short story "very unsatisfying and confusing".^[3] Kathryn Hemmann found the geniuses that were portrayed in Isin's works to be annoying: "he amps the asshole factor of (Sherlock) Holmes and (Tony) Stark all the way up to eleven and turns it directly towards the reader."^[1]

Many graphic scenes are depicted, including Risuka's transformations. The fights focus on Risuka being resourceful with her magic rather than overpowering her foes.

Media

Mahō Shōjo Risuka began as a series of light novels written by Nisio Isin and illustrated by Kinu Nishimura from Capcom. The chapters were published in the Japanese magazine Faust, running from December 2003 to August 2008. They were later serialized into three light novels published by Kodansha Limited from 2004 to 2007. The August 2008 chapter was not published by Kodansha. In 2006, Kodansha announced a fourth light novel, Shin Honkaku Mahō Shōjo Risuka 0 (新本格魔法少女りすか 0), but it has not been published.

Magical Girl Risuka was a featured short story in the English anthology, Faust Volume 2, which was released on June 23, 2009 by Del Rey Manga.^[4][5]

Notes

References

External links