Writer Ryouichi Yokoyama and artist Manmaru Uetsuki bring their own twist to the popular fantasy genre with their book “Unmagical Girl”.

Mayuri Tanahashi is the daughter of anime director Suguru, and she lives on her own while taking college classes. She is a fan of her father’s work even though they are far from the current mainstream tastes. Due to that, she has no friends who enjoy the same series but things change when her mother sends a package of her dad’s things. When Mayuri opens the box, she finds a very outdated computer. After setting it up and turning it on, it surprises her with all of Suguru’s files of his anime. The wave of nostalgia causes a tear to fall, but it is all it takes for the protagonist Pretty Angel NirBrave to be summoned into the real world. Mayuri finally has a friend but now has to tame this wild magical girl, sparkly powers and all.

“Unmagical Girl” is a very funny parody of some other magical girl titles like “Pretty Cure”. It is also refreshing to see the fictional characters attempt to fit into the mundane reality compared to the collection of “isekai” (trapped in another world) genre where many of the ongoing light novels such as “Sword Art Online” and “Death March Rhapsody” that have the normal character(s) goes into a fantastical realm. The creative duo make use of the fact that NirBrave’s knowledge is whatever Mayuri’s dad put into the script to bring some hilarious moments, but also reveal a pessimistic and lazy side to the so-called hero. Both Yokoyama and Uetsuki give insight on how they made this topsy-turvy story in an afterword each volume. They include page drafts by writer and his notes to references. It definitely interesting especially for aspiring manga creators to see what it takes to make such a gut-busting comedy.

There are currently two volumes of “Unmagical Girl” translated by Seven Seas Entertainment. For more information, visit the publisher’s website.