2024 saw a lot of incredible fantasy books coming out, as major publishers have clearly gone all-in on trying to find the next big BookTok hit that could be optioned as a major streaming series. Yet apart from what the major publishing houses have put out, there have also been some incredible independent releases. One of them just dropped at the end of 2024: Magica Riot!, the first book in author Kara Buchanan's Maidensong Magica series.
Magica Riot! is a book that wears its heritage unapologetically. It's part unmissable magical girl anime (with a little touch of JRPG vibes), part coming-out story, and part rock group origin story. Buchanan has been clear on social media about her love for franchises like the record-breaking PreCure magical girl anime, of which her favorite is 2023's Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure. But while Magica Riot! is chock-full of magical girl tropes and homages, it's also very much a novel that stands by itself as a fun, flirty, fantastical adventure story about a girl joining a rock band.
Magica Riot! Is Inspired By Kara Buchanan's Own Band
The Only Difference Is That Her Band Is A Trio (And Her Keyboard Doesn't Shoot Lasers)
Much like main character Claire Ryland, Buchanan has gone through a transformation that wound up with her in a band — although hers involved a lot fewer giant monster attacks. Kara, along with her wife, Steph Buchanan, and friend Rowan Church make up the Crystal Furs, a queer indie-pop trio based out of their hometown of Portland, Oregon. Magica Riot! is heavily based on their own experiences as musicians in Portland, right down to several scenes referencing some of the city's music venues.
The lyrics of Magica Riot (the band) in Magica Riot! (the book) are also taken from the Crystal Furs' actual songs, written by Steph, who is the lead vocalist and guitarist. Kara herself plays the keyboards, which clearly influenced her choice of having protagonist Claire use the keytar. In fact, the music of the Crystal Furs makes for the perfect soundtrack to Magica Riot! This isn't just because of the parallels in instrumentation; it's also because the Crystal Furs have covered shoujo anime songs, such as "Snow Halation," from 2010's Love Live! School Idol Project (via BandCamp).
Magica Riot! Isn’t Afraid To Get Profound And Personal
The Book Examines What It Really Means Not Just To Be Magical, But To Be A Girl At All
Buchanan didn't just take her own experiences as a journalist-turned-musician as inspiration for Magica Riot! The book is also an incredibly personal, if fantastical, ode to the fear and wonder to be found in coming out as transgender. As a transgender woman herself, Buchanan puts so much of her heart and soul into the book, and the opening chapters have a lot of very frank inner dialogue that will resonate deeply with anyone who has experienced gender dysphoria.
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The First Magical Girl Series Was Way Ahead of its Time
Predating other iconic series by decades, Osamu Tezuka's Princess Knight is held up as a major early influence on the Magical Girl anime genre.
But while Magica Riot! features great transgender representation, it's far from a heavy-handed allegory for transition. Claire's transition is an integral and early part of the book, but it's also something that happens quickly and joyfully thanks to the wonders of being chosen by the Maidensong, the mysterious, ancient energy that fuels magical girls in their quest to protect the world from evil. Magica Riot! isn't a book about a transgender girl who happens to be magical. It's a book about a magical girl who happens to be transgender, and that's a very important distinction.
Magica Riot! is a wild success in this regard, with fantastic LGBTQ+ characters throughout.
With modern media at a tipping point around transgender rights, it's all the more important that trans people get to see themselves represented in all sorts of genres, particularly one as heavily invested in conversations about gender as mahou shoujo is. Magica Riot! is a wild success in this regard, with fantastic LGBTQ+ characters throughout. It provides a compelling and genuine perspective on the very real queer community in Portland, Oregon.
While the specific locations in Magica Riot! are all fictionalized to some degree, they're all based on real landmarks in Portland, which is almost a character itself in the book.
Already hard at work on Magica Riot!'s sequel, Buchanan is absolutely an author to watch out for in coming years — especially if she ever makes the jump from novels to writing for anime. For now, Magica Riot! can be found for sale all over the internet, but the easiest place to find it is at MagicaRiot.com.
Source: BandCamp, MagicaRiot.com
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