By Chen Ying (25A01C)
Rating: 3.5/5
Raffles Reads is a collaboration between Raffles Press and Times Reads which aims to promote a reading culture among Singaporean students.
Trigger Warnings: Mentions of domestic violence, idealization of suicide, financial trauma, terrorism, and murder
From Sailor Moon to Winx Club to Lolirock, we’ve seen the magical girl trope done to death in various pieces of media in our childhood.
As a loyal consumer of magical girl shows in my own childhood, the intriguing title and gorgeous cover of A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon (translated by Anton Hur) immediately captured my eye when it came to selecting a book to review. After all, how can a magical girl retire? And how could this magical girl narrative possibly differ from existing takes on this trope?
Needless to say, my questions were answered by the end of the novel. Offering a creative take on the magical girl trope, A Magical Girl Retires is set in modern day South Korea, following a 29 year old woman laden with credit card debt after losing her job during the pandemic. Depressed, she decides to end it all by jumping off Seoul’s Mapo Bridge—only to be interrupted by a lady dressed in white, who claimed to be a magical girl, and that she was a magical girl too.
At first glance, this book did not differ much from other stories of magical girls. Just like other magical girls, they too had magical wands, and fought against a common enemy. However, this time, their “magical wands” ranged from magical credit cards to magical mirrors, while the “supervillain” they had to save the world from was climate change.
It was these refreshing elements of realism that allowed A Magical Girl Retires to stand out from anything else of its kind, making it simply intriguing to read. Additionally, I was pleasantly surprised by the social commentary the book offered on various real-world issues, which starkly contrasted the pastels of the cover.
The worldbuilding in particular stood out significantly. With the existence of magical girls to be widely known, certain infrastructures were put in place to accommodate these magical girls. Cram schools to teach power-harnessing skills, job fairs to find employment opportunities and even trade unions to assist with the practical considerations(e.g. Property damage, insurance coverage etc.) of being a magical girl existed in this world. Although holding little impact on the main plot, the author’s detail-oriented writing and effort in making these considerations made the story much more immersive and enjoyable to read.
With breathtaking illustrations by Kim Sanho every few chapters, it was incredibly easy to visualise every scene in the novel. Personally, there was little I did not like about this book. If I had to nitpick, I would have to say that there were some gaps in logic in the plot and times where I personally felt like the story moved too fast.
All in all though, I think the positive points of this book far outweighed any criticism I had, and I found this to be a short, fun read which could be finished in one sitting. If you are looking for a book with a healthy dose of childhood nostalgia to entertain yourself with when taking a break from the grind this term, I highly recommend this. As for how a magical girl can retire? Well, you will have to read the book to find out!
