Illustrated by Yū Aoki School Library Journal review Sara's Rating: 8/10 Suitability Level: Grades 7-12 Publisher: VIZ Media Publication Date: March 19, 2024 ISBN: 9781974743551 (Paperback) Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: Middle School, Suitability: High School, Manga, Magical Girl, Humor, Friendship, Career, LGBTQ+, VIZ Media
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The procession of Silver Eve is here, and it’s time for Coco and Agott to show off the spells they’ve made and hope that people find them useful. They’ll present their spells while floating on stages above the crowd, while everyone else watches from below and waves tiny flags to show their support for how useful they believe the spell will be. Olly goes first, and his spell is an ingenious trapping of fire into what looks like a crystal, giving a versatile lamp for folks, or a beautiful stone for jewelry for others. Coco goes next, and her contraption doesn’t resonate as well with the audience at first. After a pep talk from Agott and a little intervention, Coco’s spell is a little more successful, but the procession is ultimately interrupted by nefarious doings on the other side of the castle.
Adapted by Koma Warita, illustrated by Riku Tsuchida
Guarding the streets of Paris is the adorable duo, Ladybug and Cat Noir, whose secret identities are teenagers Marionette and Adrien. When they’re not their superhero selves, Marionette tries to navigate being a teenager, which means babysitting, dealing with class projects with the stuck up preppy girl, and trying to confess her feelings for Adrien. Meanwhile, Adrien tries to deal with his crush on Ladybug! Around them, folks continue to have their strong emotions exploited by Hawk Moth, the sworn enemy of Ladybug and Cat Noir, who sends forces to transform these passionate folk into monsters bent on capturing our heroes’ miraculouses - the source of their transformation power.
In this magical tale, Alpi is a young girl who has a very important task. Great spirits bestow blessings on the regions where they live, but when they die, their bodies infect the land with terrible energy and plague the very people they once blessed. Soul Senders travel far and wide and help to send these spirits on to the afterlife and cleanse the land, but they do so at a great physical cost. Alpi and her companion, Pelenai, travel to several places and help them restore their lands, but one village has disrupted the natural order and twisted how their spirit should work with their land. Alpi is placed in a terrible position, and to uphold her duty as a Soul Sender, she might have to make a terrible choice.
Booklist review Sara's Rating: 10/10 Suitability Level: Grades 5-12 Publisher: Kodansha Publication Date: December 12, 2023 ISBN: 9781646519729 (Paperback) Tags: Rating: 10/10, Suitability: Elementary School, Suitability: Middle School, Suitability: High School, Manga, Fantasy, Magical Girl, Isekai, Mecha, Kodansha
Hiromi has grown up to become a dreaded corporate drone, not a superhero he wishes he could be. But one night, he finds himself stepping up to save a little girl from being attacked by a strange monster, and he transforms and had magical powers! But as he catches his reflection in a building, he’s transformed into a magical girl! Thankfully for him, his friend from work, who has been trying corporate drone work for fun, is actually secretly very wealthy and perhaps connected to some sort of military organization (don’t worry about it). He’s also determined to keep Hiromi’s secret and help him fight these terrible goo monsters that keep materializing.
The Atelier is busy preparing spells and selling their goods at the Silver Eve festival. While out and about, Tetia stumbles upon a young boy who is avoiding the festival guards. She uses her sand tent to hide them both, and discovers that he is the crown prince of the kingdom, Eolio! He's slipped away from his bodyguards to more fully enjoy the festival, but he also fantasizes about being a witch. Tetia and Eolio switch cloaks for a while and walk around the various stalls. In another part of the festival, Agott sets her new spells on fire after learning the Head Librarian of the Tower of Tombs, her mother, will not be attending the festival and won't see her in the Silver Eve Procession. In another place, Coco and Tartah try to figure out how they can get into the procession as they are being forced to work with the Brimmed Hats and their former friend, Cuestas. They also find Dagda and realize that a seal has been inked on his chest - a counter clock seal, which is setting him back a day but only temporarily staving off his life-threatening injuries.
Sakura, Li, Kero-Chan, and Yue all feel it - the presence of Clow Reed. But how is that possible since he died so long ago? Sakura continues to fight a formless enemy who always uses another creature or creates a natural phenomenon that Sakuramust subdue. Each time she does, the Clow Cards she summons to help her are transformed - Reed’s magic circle on the back is changed into a distinct one Kero-Chan believes is a representation of Sakura’s own magic. These new cards are therefore more part of Sakura than Clow. But this takes a terrible toll on Sakura; she leaves battles completely exhausted and begins to run a fever, but even sickness isn't going to stop her from saving her friends and getting to the bottom of this mystery.
Sakura finally collects all the Clow Cards, and doing so triggers the awakening of Yue, the Judge and second guardian of the Clow Cards whose power stems from the moon. We also get to find out what Mizuki-sensei’s roll is in all of this. Once Sakura passes the final judgment, she’s ready for some peace and quiet around Tomoeda Elementary. She goes into the 5th grade, and a new transfer student from England joins her class. Li-San was going to go back to Hong Kong, but there’s something off about Eriol, the new kid, so he’s sticking around. There’s also a new student in Tōya’s class, and she is super high energy and a little sweet on Tōya. When it starts raining only over Tomoeda for several days, Sakura sets out with her guardians to figure out what supernatural power is causing it, but she might have uncovered a new enemy in the process.
It's nearly Silver Eve, and the Atelier travels to Ezrest, the royal capital, to take part in the biggest festival of the year. Several of the girls have created a spell item that will be sold at the festival, but Agott has prepared a performance she intends to stage in front of the royal family. Custas catches up with Coco and Tartah again, but he's been corrupted by the Brimmed Hats and now knows the truth about magic. He's angry that Coco and Tartah didn't do more and didn't show him more when they were helping him gain more mobility. Luluci and Easthies, along with several other Knights Moralis, also attend Silver Eve to monitor the secret of magic. The two respond to an incident where one witch is selling contraptions that see through people's clothing, and it triggers Luluci's childhood trauma where she and her fellow apprentice were sexually assaulted by a person they were trying to help.
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About MeI've been reading manga and comicbooks for years. Now, I write reviews and other helpful things for School Librarians, teachers, parents, and students. Search this siteRatings, Audience, and Subject Tags
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