The first arc is Magical Girl Training Program Very much the story of a game of death. In this work, different magical girls kill each other in order to continue to be magical girls and retain their memories of being magical girls. Of course, as the body count rises, murders for more personal reasons, such as revenge, begin to occur.
RestartOn the other hand, it is not a simple death game; agatha christieA murder mystery in the context of a death game. While their lives are always up in the air, the game never makes death inevitable. Every trick or trap has a solution for those who are quick or smart enough. However, as the bodies continue to pile up, it becomes clear that a killer exists among the magical girls—and figuring out who the killer is may be more important to their survival than anything else.
Beyond that, there’s another looming mystery. Why choose these 16 magical girls? They basically have nothing in common—not age, experience, or years of active activity. Some people know each other in the real world, but most don’t. Some are combat-focused, like the Cherna Mouse (who can grow to gigantic sizes), while others, like Pechka (who can make delicious food out of just about anything), certainly aren’t.
The story itself is told through the perspectives of five of the sixteen magical girls, as well as the perspective of the mastermind and a brief mini-chapter involving Snow White. Through them, we see events from multiple perspectives and learn firsthand how different magical girls can be. Magical Daisy is a magical girl who is so popular that there is an anime about her adventures. Meanwhile, Petchka becomes a magical girl because she believes she is ugly without transformation, and uses her cooking abilities to get closer to the boy she likes. Nokko is somewhat conflicted as she struggles to control her emotions in stressful situations, even though her magic is essentially emotional manipulation. Then, during a period where magical girls are temporarily released from the game, Detek Bell uses her detective powers to try to figure out who the murderer is in the real world. Finally, we get Shadow Gale, whose unique friendship with Pfle gives us insight into the latter’s talents and possible sociopathy.
In addition to Game of Death and Murder Mystery, these two novels also deal with the consequences of Snow White’s actions in the first book. Despite never killing a single person, she not only survived the Death Game, but uncovered the conspiracy and then worked to eliminate those who didn’t matter as well. She is considered the ideal magical girl, but is that really the case?
Through Snow White’s interactions with the mastermind, we are invited to consider the line between victim and perpetrator. After all, someone like Ripple who wins the game of death is a murderer even if he is forced to kill in order to survive. The idea behind these death games may have been to create strong, resilient magical girls, but what they actually created were dozens of cunning, self-centered magical girls willing to break any rules to achieve their goals. And, even though there’s no blood on her hands, this definition could also apply to Snow White herself.
all in all, Magical Girl Training Program:restart It’s an excellent sequel that even surpasses the original. It works both as a death game and as a classic murder mystery game. The characters are diverse and distinct, with Pfle being a particular standout, both smart and terrifying. It also continues the overall story of the first novel – focusing not only on its impact on magical girl society, but also on Snow White and the other girls who survived the Death Game. if you like the first one Magical Girl Training Program novel or its anime adaptation, be sure to pick up both novels as well.