Null Magical Girl/Glossary

A glossary of relevant terms in Null Magical Girl.

Time Railroad

See also: Kosane Kiriha or the Homo magica.

The Time Railroad is a major plot device in Null Magical Girl across all three volumes. The Railroad takes Kosane 800,000 years into the future to meet the Homo magica and see the consequences of the Incubators. The Train is powered by a coal-like substance similar to other steam engines. The Train that operates on the Time Railroad is Time Loop Railroad Express 107. The railroad was made by the Homo Magica as a way to take over the cosmos in every time period, not just their own.

• In volume 1, the Time Railroad is traveled to through Eruna's gift to Kosane (a ticket) that leads to Kosane and Kyubey to the Train, causing her to go unconscious due to attacks by the Homo magica.
• In volume 2, the Time Railroad appears again as Kosane desperately tries to escape from Eruna. By overflowing the Train with the fuel, the Railroad explodes and fuses Kosane, Kyubey and the Railroad.
• In volume 3, the Time Railroad gives Kosane the power of time travel and looping, allowing Kosane to travel all throughout time and repeat 2021 over and over again. She also gains the power to alter the reality of the Universe by travelingf back in time to see the symmetry chrysalis of the universe.

The Time Railroad is representative of the 4th Dimension Theory, in which the 4th Dimension is theorized to be time itself. This is seen directly in volume 1, with the ticket becoming a 5-cell, a 4th-dimensional shape, in order to transport Kosane and Kyubey to the Time Railroad.

Magi Wars

A series of conflicts that occur around 800,000 years into the future between the Homo magica and the entirety of the universe. In this period, Homo sapiens go extinct similar to how the Homo sapiens caused the extinction of the Homo neanderthalensis 840,000 years prior. By the end of volume 2, the Magi Wars are concluded and the Homo magica have completely taken over the cosmos.

Yamata no Orochi

The starship used by the resistance force in the Magi Wars. Coeurl is the captain. The starship is described to look like a giant asteroid. It is able to open wormholes to travel between solar systems in an instant.

The Yamata no Orochi is named after a mythical Japanese being of the same name. In the myths, Yamata no Orochi is an eight-headed and eight-tailed dragon whose tail created the sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi, which was used to fell Yamata no Orochi and save Kushinadahime. This parallels how knowledge gained from the Yamata no Orochi is used in the past by Kosane in order to find out the truth of the world and, subsequently, attempt to destroy it.

Theory of Storytelling and Relationships

Coeurl suggests that the wish-granting power of the Incubators is powered by storytelling and relationships, later causing Kosane to investigate the theory further. Kosane makes repeated attempts to stop stories from ever being told in order to prevent the Incubators from coming to Earth and prevent the birth of the Homo magica. While she is unsuccessful, it is learned that all of human emotion and power stems from storytelling and the relationships they create.

Project Null-A World

A plan by Kosane to try and destroy human cognition. It is based off of the theory by Aristotle in which the world is created by the harmony between earth, fire, water, and air. In Kosane's theory, human cognition is created by the harmony between storytelling and relationships. Therefore, by destroying storytelling, she can save the world from Magical Girls.

Project Null-A World is a reference to the 1948 book The World of Null-A by A. E. van Vogt, in which the protagonist, Gilbert Gosseyn (which is pronounced as Go-sane, which Kosane's name is a reference to), tries to determine why the race that rules over humanity is superior.

Symmetry Chrysalis of the Universe

In Null Magical Girl, the symmetry chrysalis of the universe is the origin of the universe, and the origin of everything that exists. By altering it, Kosane can alter the very world that it will create, using it to change physical and universal constants in order to try and achieve her Null-A World. Inside of it are conditions that existed during the Big Bang, the beginning of all things, which allows Kosane to alter the world. It is also called the "cosmic appendix".

A chrysalis is a stage in the development of a butterfly, taking place in between their caterpillar form and butterfly form.