Puella Magi Oriko Magica, Vol. 1

Puella Magi Oriko Magica #1

by Magica Quartet, Kuroe Mura (Illustrator)

Kyoko Sakura, who spends all her time fighting in isolation, Mami Tomoe, who protects Mitakihara Town with a heart of justice and Homura Akemi, who silently approaches Madoka Kaname.

A story revolving around each Puella Magi's battles that weren't meant to cross, centering in an event called "Puella Magi Hunting."

Which would be, an incident that would change the fate of the girls completely. Which would be, the beginning of a new Puella Magi story...

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Fiction, Comics, Action, Young Adult, Seinen

144 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2010

About the author

A group collaboration consisting of director Akiyuki Shinbou, writer Gen Urobuchi, the original character designer Ume Aoki, and the producer Atsuhiro Iwakami.

Reviews

[Mizuki · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is nice and we can see a certain character being nice to someone else once in a blue moon but the artwork really leaves a lot of things to be desired.

[ElsaMakotoRenge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great Madoka Magica storyverse spin-off volume! I find the art in this Oriko Magica volume to be very...distorted/distracting. It’s just not very “Madoka Magica”. I wouldn’t care for the art style anyhow, but it’s extra distracting because the characters (especially Kyoko and Mami) don’t look quite right to me.

I’d still recommend this volume if you’re a Madoka Magica fan and want to read more about their world, but just be aware the art style is VERY different. I don’t want to say it’s “bad”, but...it’s bad compared to the original/main series’ art. Maybe the art is better in the next volume:)

[Mehsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my new mangas I bought. A bit over the top gore, art style is a bit weird, but story/plot is great.

[Lee Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual with the Puella Magi books, I’m left a little confused as far as the plot goes after this first volume. Not totally sure where it’s going, and the jumps in scenes are often abrupt and jarring. But so far I really like the art style in this one. It’s far creepier than even the original Madoka series, with a touch of more intense horror and gore, which I was not expecting.

I’m definitely interested to see where this will go. 4/5 stars.

[Mae · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so underrated it’s honestly sad. It feels very different from the original series, but I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. I didn’t much care for Yuna’s storyline and found it a bit confusing (the whole book was honestly a bit confusing but I figured it out eventually so whatever), but the dynamic between Kyoko and Mami, as well as the Kirika plot line made up for it. Homura was also quite good in this (even though she wasn’t present for the majority of it), and I loved how her relationship with Madoka mirrored Kirika’s relationship with Oriko. The the end was just depressing in a good way.

[Satangan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised to see a Puella Magi book series in my local Joint-Use library and I checked some out. I thought that it was the actual story at first, but it was a spinoff of the girls in it. This book confused me somewhat and Yuma's character to me seemed either on the brink of crazy and innocently caring, but easily tricked. Kyouko's character was strong and independent, albeit somewhat hurt from her past. Luckily, she has Yuma now. It was a good book that I wouldn't mind reading the next book.

[Strix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story, not a fan of the art. Oriko and Kirika are both very interesting.

Oriko is the longest Madoka manga to date besides MagiReco and the original trilogy/Wraith Arc/rebellion saga. Sadness Prayer is 4 volumes, the OG is 2, and don't forget Extra Story. (I know they're technically separate series, but they're all telling one overarching story)

[Brooke ♥booklife4life♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very confusing to me at least

[nana ❀ · Rating 3 out of 5]

não consigo aceitar que conseguiram deixar a sakura FEIA

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting story but the art style is absolutely horrible and makes action scenes really hard to follow.

[Cherri ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

a tad all over the place but still a pleasant read 🤍

[Kereesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised how much I ended up liking this prequel to the Madoka Magica series. I mean its not The original clearly, but it does provide a surprising amount of depth to some of the characters and features a storyline I like.

Prophecies are my weaknesses at times. So is foretelling.

It's nice to see a lot of Mami and more of the gentler Kyouko that only appears near the end if the anime. Seeing Kyouko's interactions here with Yuma definitely helped me understand more her relationship with Sayaka later on as its clear, from the anime at any rate, that Yuma is no longer going to exist one way or another. In many ways Kyouko's interactions towards Yuma, her caring for her and her wish to protect her, provide the best context for which to understand her personality and actions within the anime.

It also makes her failure with Sayaka so much more tragic as she becomes yet another person the Kyouko cannot save. She sees Kyouko as Yuma, and perhaps that's the worst part of it all. There's failure and love all mixed up in there along with emotional displacement and pure, undeniable loneliness.

And yes I'm going to use this argument for all further discussions of the "pairing".

Don't you dare get me started in that people. This is a series about friendship, deep friendship I'll grant you, but it never crosses the line into sexual love of any kind. Lets be clear on that.

All in all, I really liked this. It was intriguing to read about the others and their backstories, considering we see so little of them in the anime, and was a nice little manga that made me long to watch the series all over again. 4-4.5/5

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This madoka spinoff was... okay.
You might want to see my kazumi magica review if you haven't already.

Things I liked-
-Madoka and Homura's cameos (which timeline is this???)
-Mami and Kyokuo
-the black puella magi's outfit
-the little puella magi (whatever her name was) was cute I guess

Things that were Awful-
-Oriko
-Oriko's scenes (I had to read them each like 8 times to figure out what the heck was going on because the translation was so confusing and bad)
-the black puella magi's apparent love for Oriko (I have nothing against lesbians, I AM A LESBIAN, I just think it was random, poorly explained, and had a bit of an exploitive vibe)
-If Oriko is a puella magi, then why does she have to use the black puella magi's powers to kill all the puella magi in kyokuo's area?
-guys, either this is convoluted as fuck or the translation is bad or I'm just stupid because this makes no sense to me
-This franchise has ruined YET ANOTHER chance to flesh out the "new universe" Madoka created in the last episode (I mentioned this in my kazumi review too).

Overall, not the franchsie's best, but tolerable. will probably pick up volume 2 sometime soon.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is quite a bit that, as someone spending an insubordinate amount of her semester on Madoka Magica, I'm not thrilled with about the start of Oriko Magica, first and foremost being my unreasonable feeling that extra characters make a mess of the time loops from the original series. I also really dislike the sharp, almost Higurashi-knock-off-esque art, though some of the individual panels are really lovely.

For all that, though, Oriko Magica is not a bad manga in and of itself. Kyoko and Mami's personalities are still identifiable, and the idea of a magical girl serial killer would be pretty interesting even outside of all of the Madoka trappings. Something still feels off about this, and I'm not going to run recommending it to any of my friends, but I'm still looking forward to reading the second volume.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a lot of trigger images in this manga, so those sensitive to violent gore, images of abuse, and suicide should be aware of that before purchasing or reading.

Onto the review... The first volume moves along with little exposition. This is confusing, but intentional. Read through volume 2 to understand what I mean. Familiar characters interact with new ones and certain liberties were taken with the Madoka story, but for those who had seen the anime the timeline irregularities shouldn't come as a surprise.

The artwork leaves a little to be desired. It reminds me of a 90s manga style, but not as refined. I am not knocking an artist for putting all of this hard work into it, but there are some parts that are hard to figure out because of it.

Overall, three stars. The second volume is a bit better, so please finish the story.

[Seeker of Knowledge, may he never succeed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somehow manages to feel authentically Madoka while strongly imbuing it with a unique and refreshing spin. The covers lead people to judge the shift in art style too harshly. On the front it isn't that spectacular, but between the pages I ended up loving it. Both the art and the story synergize to create an all round grittier and realistic feel. It reminds me of graffiti art, and it really makes it feel more down to earth.

This first volume lays phenomenal groundwork. The dynamic between Kyouko and the young survivor of a with attack Yuma reminds me a bit of the dynamic between Wolverine and Laura in "Logan". However, Yuma acts a lot more her age, and it's crushing to see when that is used to manipulate her. The villains also intrigue me, but we'll have to see where that ends up in the next volume.

[S · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was looking forward to this after falling in love with The Different Story, but what a letdown. Interesting concepts were unfortunately bogged down by heavy-handed writing and terrible art. I never would've guessed that the illustrator had had even the smallest hand in the original show. I'll be checking volume two out more to get a sense of completion than anything else.

[Holly Letson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

I didn't like this series as well as the Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice series. Maybe, it's because it's faster-paced and shorter. Maybe it's because someone else did this series than the mangaka of *Kazumi Magica*. I'm not sure why.

It's still enjoyable, though.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first volume of Oriko Magica DELIVERS. Yuma is a deep, challenging protagonist who fits perfectly into the mythology of the Madoka series. It was so pleasing to see her interact with characters from the core series. I'm still not sure where this spin-off fits within the timeline of the original universe, but I can't wait to find out what happens next!

[Johnny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nowhere near as good as the anime.

For my first manga, though, not so bad.

The art was appealing but the writing was rushed and clunky. The only reason I really knew what was going on was because I may or may not have wiki'd it beforehand.

Some great concepts were introduced but I'll have to finish volume two before I know for sure if they do anything worthwhile with them.

[Cassie Fleurs · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art is terribly ugly but the plot owww, seeing kyoko with the girl made me suffer because we are told she had a little sister so maybe she remembered her sister in the girl.
I really hoped they would expect oriko's purposes and powers in a clearer way and also her bollaborator didnt really seem to have a reason to be the way she was.
I did loved the sweet end of the mwalking side by side.

[Alexandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art in here is just... not good. Everyone looks like strange disjointed versions of themselves. Especially for the characters that we've known before. And the story isn't strong enough to distract me from it either...

[Destinee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was interested in this story for a while so I decided to go ahead and read it online. I have mixed feelings about this manga. The story and premise was interesting, but the art style was jagged and unnatural to me.

[Mira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oriko and Kirika got what they deserved. I didn't enjoy this series as much as I did "Kazumi Magica."

[Nikitha · Rating 5 out of 5]

i really liked it, but it was a bit confusing, but its easier to understand if you have watched/read madoka magica.

[Jade Cahoon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only okay, anime is definitely superior. Kind of confusingly paced.

[Martha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Going to have to give this a 2.5 on the account that I didn't know what the heck was going on... I liked the artwork though :P

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having not read the original manga, I did not find myself very interested in this one. Seemed to run through the story really fast with not enough time to get a feel for what was going on.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed for Manga Xanadu Blog http://manga.jadedragononline.com/blo...

[Manethraen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Six word reviews:

Not the best jumping off point