May 12, 2025
Mahou Shounen Majorian is a manga by Atsuko Ishida: if you look up “Majorian” on eBay (to look for a copy) you’ll find a load of Roman coins for sale.
If you look up Atsuko Ishida to see what she’s been up to (besides this obscure shota BL manga) you’ll find… A LOT.
She has worked on everything from Magic Knight Rayearth to Ranma 1/2; she’s done work on Bubblegum Crisis, on Megazone 23, Windaria, even Wanna-Be’s!!! I literally have a VHS copy of that old OVA- this lady has been involved in nearly all my beloved anime that I was in love with in
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my college years, I cannot believe it! So you might find it surprising that a character designer who is also a mangaka with a few DOZEN titles to her name did this Magical Boy BL, or by the diversity of her resume, assume it’s just another day at the office…
Either way, I was immediately intrigued by the story- I have been trying to draw a similar type of story, about two boys with one who is a bully and the other who is cute (or ‘effeminate’) and I have some pages drawn, hand drawn on paper- same type of thing as here but… mine is nothing like this!
Ishida is an artist whose inkwork flows like water.
I’d go as far to say she’s a brilliant artist. She uses visual cues like soft, rounded curly features on the cute boy’s (Iori) hair- and harsh straight strokes for the bully’ (Masaru). Eyes uncolored stand for shock or bewilderment, lightly shaded with a dot for anger- and fully inked pupils for a casual or satisfied gaze… but when the characters transform (into Magical Girls!) her lines turn into something that- well what’s the manga equivalent of sakuga? THAT. Whatever the word for THAT is. It’s impossible to describe- you have to see for yourself. Yes it’s probably present in lots of manga, but it’s also true that a lot of manga today are made on computer; and this was hand drawn. I couldn’t stop staring at her drawings and wondering at how they flowed vertically on the page. The visual style of the two different boys carries over to their Magical Girl equivalents- rounded, soft features and curls for the softer, gentler one; and a determined pose and harsh stare for the harsher boy. But there is more at work here besides just the visual style of the characters and drawings- there are also themes that stand out: such as how the two bunnies who give the boys their powers are a black and a white rabbit; while Masaru has black hair and eyes, and Iori is drawn with white (uncolored) hair and eyes…. it’s that familiar concept of YANG and YIN. Masaru is angry, energetic, ill-tempered, unbalanced- he has too much Yang. Iori is so calm and sweet and dutifully helping his mother cook and clean, and care for plants- and he doesn’t even complain when Masaru attacks him- “Why don’t you complain!!” he shouts- Iori is the embodiment of Yin, like he’s overflowing with it. They transform into Magical Girls and Ishida’s inkwork flows into abstraction as Yang and Yin swirl around each other… as they always do.
And if I stopped this review here I’d have had this as a masterpiece, with no complaints of my own. But unfortunately- I do have a bit of Yang in me- there is one aspect of this manga I didn’t care for nearly as much as how it looks: the story. The story was frustrating in a way that I felt like… maybe it’s actually brilliant but I was desiring something less harsh. I am more like Iori, I like cute and calm, I wanted to see a relationship develop but instead what unfolded was a whole lotta drama. The first volume was good- but by the end I really thought Masaru’s bullying was so cruel and unnecessary that I wondered, does this author like boys getting bullied? The second volume things go sideways, and more sideways in volume 3… to the point where she has an event take place that let’s just say I wish she hadn’t. I do not and have never understood the fixation with it- and I’ll leave that comment there, I’m not in the mood to spoil it nor to put down the author.
She has taken the route of having the two little bunnies who bring the boys their powers become evil- something that today would be taken for granted- but six whole years before Madoka Magica even came out.
So this is actually quite a unique and interesting manga that came about when Ishida just ran with an idea as her own personal passion project. I would say it’s more for female readers than male- I doubt many men would be interested in this. But it’s also a bit overdone with the drama and some unnecessarily mean actions that happen, it has TOO MUCH YANG is what I mean to say; it needs more Iori and his sweetness to balance out the tornado that is Masaru and his emotional outbursts. She wrapped up the story in a nice way but then it got too wordy.
The only place I know to get this is online- I haven’t found a copy for sale yet, and don’t expect to, it’s already 20 years old. Try to go slow while reading it, and gaze at Ishida’s ink work. She really did a good job. Except for the monster designs though- those were terrible. 8/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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