Review: Magica Riot

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If you ask me, I say family’s a thing you pick, like how you pick the way you wanna be seen, y’know? It don’t matter what your blood says.

Magica Riot by Kara Buchanan is a hopepunk adventure full of over-the-top anime-style action, cozy found family vibes, and a compelling journey of self-discovery.

When closeted trans girl Claire Ryland attends a concert for her favorite rock band, Magica Riot, she expects little more than a fun night out with her best friend, Hazel. Instead, she gets attacked in an alley by interdimensional monsters, the drummer of Magica Riot transforms into a magical girl to save her, and the next thing Claire knows, she herself is both a budding magical girl and the newest member of the band.

And just in time, too, as the super-secret magical girl network is on the front lines of a battle for the fate of the entire world, the outcome of which rests on the girls’ ability to both find their true selves and work together as a close-knit whole.

This is a big-hearted hopepunk adventure that sets aside all pretense in favor of a concentrated blast of trans joy, and I couldn’t love it more.

Maidensong harmony power, go live!