Magical Boy Volume 1 Review

I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this!

The first volume of Magical Boy by The Kao is about Max--a trans guy who is descended from a line of magical warriors who have to protect the earth from these giant bug monsters who feed off of peoples' negative feelings. The magical warriors of his family got their powers from the goddess Aurora. Max doesn't like this new magical warrior responsibility at first, as his outfit looks really feminine, and his mother (the previous magical warrior) expects him to do his magical duties the traditional way. That includes "acting" really feminine, something Max is obviously uncomfortable with. But with the help of his friend Jen, a new friend named Sean, and an enemy turned friend named Pyper, Max begins to do things his own way. They work together to try to stop the bug monsters from destroying the Earth. His magical outfit also looks less feminine over time. 

This book was a blast! I loved this take on a magical warrior story. The artwork is very beautiful, too. I also loved Max and all his friends. My favorite character was Sean. The story does end on a cliffhanger, though. There is already a volume 2, and I am planning on reading it. 

The book has queer rep too! Max is transgender, his friend Jen is a lesbian, Pyper is (probably) a lesbian or bi, and a minor character named Tobi is (probably) also queer, but not fully confirmed. 

I did give it 4.5 stars, but that's just because sometimes Max gets misgendered and deadnamed throughout the story. His mother has yet to accept he is trans, but right now his father and friends do accept his trans identity. Luckily, the book has all the content warnings in the beginning, and every time Max gets deadnamed his deadname is blurred out. His misgendering is also handled with care and compassion. Just a heads up!

Do you like reading anime-inspired books? Or anime-inspired shows?