Null Magical Girl
"This is the record of a crime. The story of an event hopelessly inexplicable, jumbled together like a tangle of knots. This is the record of something profound yet shallow, pathetically hilarious, and bizarre yet ordinary. The perpetrator of this deranged act is already known, and let me give you a spoiler: I am responsible for all of it. I am the source of this madness, as I am a Magical Girl...and at the same time not a Magical Girl." - Vol. 1: Introduction
Null Magical Girl (非ー魔法少女 Naru Mahō Shōjo, lit. Non Magical Girl) is a light novel spin-off in the Puella Magi franchise, written by Gengen Kusano and illustrated by Aya Haruhana. It is the first spin-off to be released after the launch of Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story: Magia Record.
Null Magical Girl was published in the Puella Magi Madoka Magica 10th Anniversary Book, with releases of each chapter corresponding to the releases of next volumes of the Anniversary Book. The first chapter was released on June 25, 2021, the second on September 7th 2021, and the third and final on December 25th 2021.
Summary
In March 2021, the world continues to face the aftermath of the COVID pandemic. The story centers Kosane Kiriha, a 24-year-old graduate student whose life is on a downward trajectory. Due to COVID, She expects to be hopelessly unemployed when she graduates. In the wake of a head injury, Kosane Kiriha discovers she has no brain. Shortly afterwards, Kyubey appears before her and reveals the spacetime continuum is collapsing around her.
Guided by a mysterious letter found in her head, Kosane and Kyubey travel 800,000 years into the future. There, they encounter Homo magica, a species comprised only of Magical Girls.
Haunted by the voice of her still-born twin sister, Kosane flees back to the present and learns that the year 2021 is a "closed-room" which she can't escape. As she struggles against fate, she discovers the evolutionary history of humankind and magical girls, the nature of magic, the will of the universe, and the origin of the soul.
Chapters
- Introduction: Year 2021 C.E. (序：西暦二○二一年)
- A story of the me of now, dedicated to the us of before.
- A Puella Magi Madoka Magica spinoff serial novel from the "Unconventional" SF author Gengen Kusano.
- A story of the me of now, dedicated to the us of before.
- Breaking: Magical Girl Humanity (Homo magica) (破：魔法少女人類)
- In the future that should have arrived, there was only radiant light.
- In narrative there is magic. In magic there is narrative.
- Puella Magi Madoka Magica spinoff serial novel, chapter 2.
- In the future that should have arrived, there was only radiant light.
- Climax: Which is the Road to the Inner Universe? (急：内宇宙への道はどちらか？)
- Gathering, separating, spinning on.
- Farewell, story without end.
- Puella Magi Madoka Magica spinoff serial novel, final chapter.
- Gathering, separating, spinning on.
Characters
Gallery
Chapter Covers
Online Promos
Illustrations
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 2
Volume 2
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 3
Volume 3
Trivia
- The first character of each chapter title refers to a section of the jo-ha-kyuu (序破急) structure. From this, fans inferred there would be three chapters.
- The series references Alfred Elton van Vogt's various works, most prevalently ones from.
- According to a tweet from the publisher, "非" kanji's atypical reading as "null" (ナル) is a reference to a certain widescreen baroque text. That description matches The World of Null-A, titled "非Aの世界" (null A no sekai) in Japanese. The story features a supposed utopia in which those with superior understanding and mental control are the ruling class over the rest of society.
- The story's "utopic society" resembles the way Incubators view their status relative to humanity. They look down on emotions, which they see as mental defects and illogical, and preside over humanity as if they were livestock. They believe their view of the universe and the magical girl system to be superior and objective fact unhindered by emotions, and see negative opinions on or attempts to break free from it as illogical and less intelligent.
- The "Ā" (or "Null-A") of the title refers to "non-Aristotelian" (or non-classical) logic, which "refers to the capacity for, and practice of, using intuitive, inductive reasoning, rather than reflexive, or conditioned, deductive reasoning."
- The protagonist's name, Kosane, is likely also a reference to The World of Null-A - the novel's main character's surname, Gosseyn, is stated to be pronounced "go sane" by the book's author. This is also confirmed by another tweet by the publisher.
- Coeurl's name and appearance reference Black Destroyer, another text by van Vogt. In it, Coeurls are a race of black cat-like creatures of high intelligence that feed on the "id" (likened to, or intrinsically connected to, phosphorus; when the creature feeds on prey's id, they drain the victim of the phosphorus within their body, and they devour phosphorus itself) of other creatures. The race as a whole built many now-dead cities and are now an isolated and starving species. The primary Coeurl of the story encounters a group of human explorers and attempts to feed on them, first by pretending to be curious, intelligent, and harmless, and later attempts to trick them into believing it was not responsible after they find the corpse of a human it fed upon. After the human explorers defeat the primary Coeurl of the story, they are determined to eradicate the race entirely, which they intend to do by allowing Coeurls to come to them in search of food.
- In this way, Coeurls are very similar to Incubators, cat-like aliens that "feed" off of the mental or emotional energy of humans, and accomplish this by tricking humans into believing they are harmless or benevolent.
- The manga's Coeurl, similar to the alien race's color, wears a black cloak.
- According to a tweet from the publisher, "非" kanji's atypical reading as "null" (ナル) is a reference to a certain widescreen baroque text. That description matches The World of Null-A, titled "非Aの世界" (null A no sekai) in Japanese. The story features a supposed utopia in which those with superior understanding and mental control are the ruling class over the rest of society.