Maddies Manga

Can a girl who is best friends with a villain, really become a magical girl?

Scroll to the bottom for a link to sample and buy volume one!

Author

This series was written by Kaeru Mizuho. X, Instagram

Genre & Tropes

Magical girl, fantasy, action.

Info about this series (ongoing)

This series is ongoing with three volumes in Japanese, and one volume in English.

TL;DR rating

This was an instant favourite! While I’m not all that versed in magical girl series, I was quick to become a fan of the genre. Perhaps it’s because it’s on the darker side? Either way, I highly recommend this one!

Official synopsis

A fiend who slays his own kind. A magical girl who refuses the script. A tale of light and shadow intertwined.

Tanpopo Ohanami’s quiet days are interrupted by a life-changing offer to become a magical girl! But she has one big, bad, serrated-toothed secret: Her best friend, Shade, is a fiend in a world where fiends are villains to humankind.

Shade is none too pleased with the idea of Tanpopo joining the ranks, but there’s more than their friendship at stake when Tanpopo’s grandpa falls victim to fiendhood!

My thoughts on this volume (Mild spoilers!)

I had seen quite a few of my book friends talk about this series in a positive light online, so I jumped at the chance to give it a read. I quickly understood the hype, as this was a fantastic first volume. Honestly if you haven’t read it yet, I recommend going in blind—the twists and turns the story takes are what make it so memorable. If you’re a fan of Madoka Magica, I think you’ll find something to like in Magical Girl Dandelion.

The story starts with an introduction to our main character Tanpopo, and her peculiar best friend: a fiend named Shade. In this manga world, fiends are evil creatures that prey on humans until they are ultimately defeated by magical girls. So, the fact that this story follows Tanpopo, a girl who strives to become a magical girl, and her fiend best friend, already makes things interesting.

Shade is quite different from the rest of the fiends we’re introduced to, and he instantly become my favourite character of the series. He is sarcastic, funny, and secretly very caring. Watching him try to protect Tanpopo from the magical girl world the whole volume really had me feeling sympathy for him, especially after we were given a glimpse into his backstory. I just want him to be happy!

Once Tanpopo finally underwent her magical girl awakening I was a bit worried about where the story would go—would she be forced to fight Shade? Would she leave him behind in order to be a better magical girl? He had already been acknowledged as a hefty opponent by another magical girl by this point, after all. Surely I wouldn’t be forced to go through another Fox and the Hound-type heartbreak, right?

Thankfully my fears were not realized, and the story took a slightly dark yet still comical turn. Shade really does feel like Tanpopo’s family, so honestly I feel like he was justified in what he chose to do to try to keep her from having to face any danger.

With that cliffhanger though, I’m only scared Tanpopo will eventually be forced to grow so strong that not even the super-powerful Shade will be able to stop her…

Check out a free sample below!

You can check out volume one of this series for yourself below!