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Magical Girl Special Ops Asuka #4
魔法少女特殊戦あすか 4
“伝説の五人(マジカル・ファイブ)"VS“バベル旅団(りょだん)"激突――!!
校外学習で沖縄(おきなわ)へとやって来たあすか達。
その一方で、飯塚(いいづか)ら『M班(エムはん)』や、ミア、タマラ達が異世界貿易会議の警備の為、那覇(なは)駐屯地を訪れていた。
しかし、そのタイミングを狙って、魔法少女となったちさとを引き連れ、ギースが攻撃を仕掛ける!!
あすか、くるみ、ミア、タマラ達“伝説の五人(マジカル・ファイブ)"が、今再び力を合わせ、バベル旅団(りょだん)との戦闘に臨むが――!?
番外編「軍隊ご飯を食べよう」も収録した、激闘の第4巻!
校外学習で沖縄(おきなわ)へとやって来たあすか達。
その一方で、飯塚(いいづか)ら『M班(エムはん)』や、ミア、タマラ達が異世界貿易会議の警備の為、那覇(なは)駐屯地を訪れていた。
しかし、そのタイミングを狙って、魔法少女となったちさとを引き連れ、ギースが攻撃を仕掛ける!!
あすか、くるみ、ミア、タマラ達“伝説の五人(マジカル・ファイブ)"が、今再び力を合わせ、バベル旅団(りょだん)との戦闘に臨むが――!?
番外編「軍隊ご飯を食べよう」も収録した、激闘の第4巻!
183 pages, Paperback
First published April 25, 2017
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32 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 15, 2021
Summer school is in session, but if you thought this might be an excuse for something else, well, it is, and for a couple of different things. Elsewhere a new, more vicious, foe is created and set upon a collision course with our heroines.
Tonal whiplash is personified by the events of this volume, which covers summer school, bikinis, lingerie, torture, child soldiers, dismemberment, bad dads, child abuse, sexual assault, yuri baiting, bullying, and super-deformed joking and goofing around.
Summer school does not typically take place at the beach, but even the revelation that the military is behind this doesn’t alter the fact that it’s an excuse to draw the cast in bikinis (I believe the phrase I am dancing around is ‘overdeveloped for their age cast’).
This section is played off against those of the absent War Nurse, who is... really complicated. She’s not a character I like, but we get some more backstory on why she’s the way she is (even as we learn that she might be bad at combat but she has... other skills... and a desire to spare her comrades from the true dirty work).
When she does join up with the school we get some ridiculous showering and lingerie moments that feel insane to me - I have a hard time believing that any high school girls dress like that. I mean, you can’t say the book doesn’t embrace what it wants to be doing at least.
The new evil magical girl has a typically over the top backstory, aided by one of the Babel Brigade, whose own story is so distastefully over the top that it really brings down the volume for me.
This new girl has some serious Stockholm syndrome and while she leans into her new role, it’s not like she has a lot of choice (that is one evil penguin). It’s ALL a bit much - from the way she’s recruited to her backstory to the way she gets inured to killing.
The actual plot takes up a minor amount of space, after a visiting dignitary turns out to be a lecherous woman horny for magical girls who is apparently a famous general. It’s another eye-rolling sequence amongst the many. It’s a lot of set-up for what promises to be a heck of a brawl next time out.
Once the plot starts into motion we get some minor action bits, but it does come a bit late. There are the requisite flashbacks and the Russian magical girl appears and is exactly as cold and aloof as you’d expect (this series definitely loves its stereotypes).
2 and a half stars. It’s one thing to walk a grim, blood-soaked path and another to stop on the way to rub the blood all over yourself. I don’t dislike this series, to be honest, but it is definitely one of those ‘despite its best efforts’ sort of things as it revels far too much in its excesses, particularly this time out.
Tonal whiplash is personified by the events of this volume, which covers summer school, bikinis, lingerie, torture, child soldiers, dismemberment, bad dads, child abuse, sexual assault, yuri baiting, bullying, and super-deformed joking and goofing around.
Summer school does not typically take place at the beach, but even the revelation that the military is behind this doesn’t alter the fact that it’s an excuse to draw the cast in bikinis (I believe the phrase I am dancing around is ‘overdeveloped for their age cast’).
This section is played off against those of the absent War Nurse, who is... really complicated. She’s not a character I like, but we get some more backstory on why she’s the way she is (even as we learn that she might be bad at combat but she has... other skills... and a desire to spare her comrades from the true dirty work).
When she does join up with the school we get some ridiculous showering and lingerie moments that feel insane to me - I have a hard time believing that any high school girls dress like that. I mean, you can’t say the book doesn’t embrace what it wants to be doing at least.
The new evil magical girl has a typically over the top backstory, aided by one of the Babel Brigade, whose own story is so distastefully over the top that it really brings down the volume for me.
This new girl has some serious Stockholm syndrome and while she leans into her new role, it’s not like she has a lot of choice (that is one evil penguin). It’s ALL a bit much - from the way she’s recruited to her backstory to the way she gets inured to killing.
The actual plot takes up a minor amount of space, after a visiting dignitary turns out to be a lecherous woman horny for magical girls who is apparently a famous general. It’s another eye-rolling sequence amongst the many. It’s a lot of set-up for what promises to be a heck of a brawl next time out.
Once the plot starts into motion we get some minor action bits, but it does come a bit late. There are the requisite flashbacks and the Russian magical girl appears and is exactly as cold and aloof as you’d expect (this series definitely loves its stereotypes).
2 and a half stars. It’s one thing to walk a grim, blood-soaked path and another to stop on the way to rub the blood all over yourself. I don’t dislike this series, to be honest, but it is definitely one of those ‘despite its best efforts’ sort of things as it revels far too much in its excesses, particularly this time out.
June 18, 2025
I had started reading this series ages ago, and actually picked up a bunch more volumes from cheapmanga.com before they went under (RIP), but they didn't have volume 4 in stock. So, the ones I did buy sat there until I saw a sale on another site, and finally filled the gap. Getting back to Magical Girl Spec-Ops after all this time, I have...mixed feelings.
I still like the idea of Earth getting caught up in a multi-dimensional war, and receiving help from fairies from one of those other dimensions, that changes the world forever. I still like seeing how the balance of global power is in flux, even in the aftermath of that war. And, especially in this volume, I like seeing how the villains have more depth than your average Saturday morning cartoon antagonist (which didn't entirely seem to be the case at first). But then there's a slew of stuff I'm not as fond of.
The most innocuous of these things is probably the fanservice. I don't have a problem with that, on principle, but it tends to work better in more lighthearted series. Spec-Ops deals heavily with themes of PTSD, torture, and military posturing. When you have, for example, a fairy general who just so happens to be a busty lady with a fetish for magical girls, it really seems at odds with a story that's ostensibly about terrorism, and assassinations, and such. I also could have done without the, shall we say Goblin Slayer-esque habits of some of the enemies, at one point. IYKYK.
But on the other side of the coin, the serious elements can occasionally lean so far into grimdark territory that it risks becoming parody. Take the girl who the bad guys recruit into their ranks: She lost her mother in a tragic car accident. And she lost her leg in the same accident. And her father is a deadbeat drunk. And he has a gambling problem. And he tries to sell her into prostitution. And he beats her when the whorehouse won't take her because she's underage. After a point, it becomes downright maudlin.
The overall result is hard to rate. The art is good, the characters are generally interesting enough, and there's the potential for an engaging, dark action/thriller here. But it's like Fukami was worried the audience would get bored with all that or something, so he needed to keep dangling fanservice in front of us to keep our attention, like a keychain made of boobs. I don't dislike this series, and I can see why I ordered a bunch of volumes so long ago--but Spec-Ops seems almost determined to hamstring itself. Still, volume 4 ends on a pretty good cliffhanger, with the promise of a lot of action to come. I just hope it dials back on some of the cheesecake during it all.
I still like the idea of Earth getting caught up in a multi-dimensional war, and receiving help from fairies from one of those other dimensions, that changes the world forever. I still like seeing how the balance of global power is in flux, even in the aftermath of that war. And, especially in this volume, I like seeing how the villains have more depth than your average Saturday morning cartoon antagonist (which didn't entirely seem to be the case at first). But then there's a slew of stuff I'm not as fond of.
The most innocuous of these things is probably the fanservice. I don't have a problem with that, on principle, but it tends to work better in more lighthearted series. Spec-Ops deals heavily with themes of PTSD, torture, and military posturing. When you have, for example, a fairy general who just so happens to be a busty lady with a fetish for magical girls, it really seems at odds with a story that's ostensibly about terrorism, and assassinations, and such. I also could have done without the, shall we say Goblin Slayer-esque habits of some of the enemies, at one point. IYKYK.
But on the other side of the coin, the serious elements can occasionally lean so far into grimdark territory that it risks becoming parody. Take the girl who the bad guys recruit into their ranks: She lost her mother in a tragic car accident. And she lost her leg in the same accident. And her father is a deadbeat drunk. And he has a gambling problem. And he tries to sell her into prostitution. And he beats her when the whorehouse won't take her because she's underage. After a point, it becomes downright maudlin.
The overall result is hard to rate. The art is good, the characters are generally interesting enough, and there's the potential for an engaging, dark action/thriller here. But it's like Fukami was worried the audience would get bored with all that or something, so he needed to keep dangling fanservice in front of us to keep our attention, like a keychain made of boobs. I don't dislike this series, and I can see why I ordered a bunch of volumes so long ago--but Spec-Ops seems almost determined to hamstring itself. Still, volume 4 ends on a pretty good cliffhanger, with the promise of a lot of action to come. I just hope it dials back on some of the cheesecake during it all.
February 29, 2024
Pff.. difficult to rate. I think it deserves a very good rating. But it's getting more and more grim. The violence is getting more hardcore.
I'm glad there are some silly scenes in between, otherwise it would become too depressing. But I think the story is well done. First there was a pressing war, and now it seems to have started. So it makes sense that things become more dark.
But 4 stars for now. Maybe I'll change my mind later.
I look forward to see how the girls will do.
I'm glad there are some silly scenes in between, otherwise it would become too depressing. But I think the story is well done. First there was a pressing war, and now it seems to have started. So it makes sense that things become more dark.
But 4 stars for now. Maybe I'll change my mind later.
I look forward to see how the girls will do.
February 5, 2020
Loved the introduction of the villain Giess (even though one can sympathize with him) and the new illegal Magical Girl. Sad back stories, but still good villains. Everything is coming to a head and gearing up for a big battle.
September 8, 2024
There are more volumes in this manga series, but this is the last one I have. That's just as well, since the story is beginning to wear on me. I'm not particularly fond of any of the main characters and the plot is mostly war.
July 31, 2022
Michael Bay Levels of Explosions
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews