As the world of Madoka Magica expands, these side stories are becoming all the more important when establishing characters and overall lore. It’s a great way to focus on specific characters, especially when they are missing from the main narrative. Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Another Story Vol. 1 revolves around Mami Tomoe during the Magia Record Main Story. We get to see the setup for a rather thrilling series of events bound to take place.
Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Another Story Vol. 1 wastes very little time jumping into the narrative. If this is your first time reading the series, I’d start with the main story, if only to establish the overall character and world-building. Mami has brought it upon herself to investigate why witch sightings have decreased in her area. It’s not just her area either; it seems that witches aren’t nearly as frequent as they once were, which brings her to Kamihama City.
It’s here where Mami meets a new group of witches, but she is reluctant to write off the fact that something is going wrong. The story itself is a set up to establish Mami’s persistence with the truth. She’s a bright and loving lead, but the switch to fight mode is so drastic that some might question if she has two different personalities. I love this aspect of her, and I feel like Mami is an excellent lead for this narrative, given her sense of justice might not be as forgiving as the other magical girls.
As she pieces things together, we see where this story is headed, and it’s a pretty good twist. You follow Mami through the investigation process and only hope it’s not scary, but the case takes a substantial left turn leading to the end of the volume. Where the story goes will hopefully establish these new characters and the happenings in Kamihama City.
As for illustrations, U35 did a fantastic job bringing these scenes to life, but I feel like some major action scenes were condensed to a single panel. Sure, it moved things along, but I found the battle scenes tough to follow. It requires the reader to slow down in these moments to follow what’s happening. On the other hand, the facial expressions show off the character’s personalities. This is even more true for a character like Mami, who has a few different moods.
Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Another Story Vol. 1 is an excellent foundation for this spinoff, but it is not a place to jump into the series if you haven’t read the main story. Regardless, Mami, as a lead, is excellent, and the trouble that she is facing will hopefully unravel as we learn more about this strange decrease in witches around her hunting ground. So here’s to the upcoming volume, and here’s to Mami leading the fight against witches.
