You want to fight evil … but which is the right side?
Creative Staff:
Story: Kenji Saito
Art: Shouji Sato
Translation: Ko Ransom
What They Say:
During a field trip with their middle school classmates, childhood friends Kaguya and Himawari are abducted by the secret society Millennium. The evil organization is notorious for the havoc it’s wreaked, but is it possible they’re … not the bad guys? After Kaguya gets a glimpse behind the curtain, everything starts to change, and she becomes privy to the truth underneath the world she lives in. Now that she’s bestowed with the power to transform into a magical girl, what path will she choose?
Content (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Kaguya and Himawari have always been best friends and as their class is traveling to a local hot spring for a field trip the teacher sadly informs them an emergency alert has been issued by International Defense Agency Six due to an attack on the city from terrorist organization Millennium. While the other students may be disappointed Himawari is excited to hear about the action, proudly declaring one day she will join Six and help to protect humanity from those monsters. Although her companion may believe in the supernatural, the rumor of the enemy being actual creatures is a bit more than she can comprehend, however, their conversation is cut short by the unthinkable – the battle colliding with their bus. As both sides are too preoccupied in destroying the other, they do not notice their conflict has knocked the driver unconscious and causes the vehicle to swerve and plunge off a nearby cliff, with Kaguya desperately clinging to Himawari to save her friend.
Himawari wakes to find herself in a dark room with a strange helmeted man looking over asking how she is doing, but does not answer instead looks around for Kaguya only to see her sound asleep in a nearby bed. However before she can ask any questions new intruders crash through the ceiling causing the previous people to transport away with her friend, however the pink-haired girl cannot pursue due to a restraining shackle and yet these new people now claim they are here to save her. And yet when Kaguya herself stirs in another location she finds herself transformed from a fourteen-year-old girl into a curvaceous teen of eighteen, but as she is fussing over this new body the captive does not notice a small child tending to the flowers surrounding her, with a heavy knight’s helmet completely covering her entire face. Although she can ask questions all this gardener does is nod and it is not until a hulking spider-like creature enters does he confirm her worst fears – this is not a dream but reality. And to make matters worse he then confirms Kaguya is in the base of Millennium and the rumors she heard of them wearing monster costumes are false … they are real monsters. After offering a drink the arachnoid escorts this stunned woman to a meeting with their leader, passing several horrors and stopping in an open room displaying spectacular view of several icebergs, with a darkly dressed man confirming they are in Antarctica. Introducing himself as Nine and a commander of Millennium he states they need her help in this new form, she is no longer Kaguya Terui but God Shining Moonlight Howling Moon and she is their only hope in protecting humanity from the evil gods controlling it – Chaos Six. Obviously confused they attempt to explain: it is now her duty to take back the world from the wicked deities and additionally they do not attack humans but the controlled retainers the enemy use as pawns. Only then does an alarm sound warning of an attack, so they take her along to see the truth as they try to stop a diplomat being taken over but it is too late, however as the security forces attempt to destroy these foul creatures, a familiar face appears and transforms before her eyes … it is Himawari and she is now working for Chaos Six.
In Summary:
When I first read the words magical girl within the title, of course one would assume this series would be something akin to Sailor Moon or Cardcaptor Sakura and yet this is not what we receive once you see the Warning Parental Advisory Explicit Content label pasted on the cover and a captivatingly curvaceous woman posing with her magic sword, in fact this series is the complete opposite and has more in common with Cutie Honey. Although writer Saito-sensei does create a warm opening scenario like a classic shojo manga with fourteen-year-old girls, it quickly spirals downward once we see Kaguya’s new body and becomes eclipsed with mangaka Sato-sensei’s obsessive need to show the reader as much fan service as possible, including but not limited to: upskirt shots, changes into skimpy costumes with assets which seem on the verge of popping out during transformation, powering techniques with erotic expressions on their faces and of course the obligatory bathing scene. If it were not for the tender drama between the two friends and Himawari’s innocent need to constantly declare she wants to save humanity, this title might be nothing more than eye candy, and yet Saito-sensei then adds the infuriating plot point of the girls being on opposite sides of the same conflict – with both thinking they are the ones saving the Earth. It is this twist which saves the story, allowing the reader to sympathize with Kaguya and hope she can redeem her companion all while proving Millennium are the true heroes and exposing Chaos Six as the true villains hiding behind a shadowy curtain.
Divine Raiment Magical Girl Howling Moon on the surface seems to be nothing more than excessive fan service hidden within a flimsy story and yet it is the warmth of the leads’ friendship and a need to prove appearances can be deceiving which redeems the title. And while the story is also shallow with clichéd shojo manga magical girl powers and battles from the same source, it is the need to help Himawari which allows readers to sympathize with Kaguya and see past of the curves into what may lie beneath. However, while we may hope for a more substantial narrative to allow us to forget the overt sexuality, with a series like this it does not seem possible and we may have to lower our standards to accept the title as what it is and not much else.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: A-
Age Rating: Mature
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: July 23, 2019
MSRP: $14.00
