Homura has had something taken from her in the second volume of Magica Quartet’s Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Wraith Arc manga, and she’s determined to get it back. If only she could learn to rely on her allies a little more…
This volume contains chapters four through to six.
Front cover of the second volume of Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Wraith Arc, featuring Sayaka, Madoka, Homura, Kyouko and Mami
Through Madoka’s sacrifice, no magical girl will face the tragic fate that once awaited them, though not one remembers the name of their saviour – save Homura Akemi. Clinging to the memory of her dearest friend, Homura struggles to rely on her teammates, even when failing to do so has allowed the giant wraith to devour her powers! To reclaim them, she begins a desperate search for the creature, finding help in the most unlikely of places…
Now this is what I was hoping for from Wraith Arc. I felt like the first volume was a little slow to start, but this second one gets down to business and starts offering up some rather interesting takes on things that have been introduced in this series – most notably the wraiths themselves.
In the first volume, the wraiths pretty much just seemed like witches by another name, but here we get wraiths exhibiting some interesting powers, and a bit of an explanation of their purpose.
I think something that helped me enjoy this volume more than first is Homura’s presence. She was more or less relegated to being a side character for most of the first volume. With this one, though, she finally seems to be fulfilling her role as the protagonist.
Another factor is new original story content being offered to readers as well. The first volume did retread Sayaka’s arc from the anime, but there’s none of that with the second. The story goes its own way, and does so by rendering Homura mostly powerless.
Certainly an interesting development, even more so considering that Homura’s powers here have changed somewhat from how they were before.
I’ve definitely warmed up to the story of Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Wraith Arc a lot more now with this second volume. The fresh ideas on show here have pulled me right into the story. I’m very keen to see how things will unfold from this point forward now.
Rory Muses 