Last month, I took a look at the first volume of the new Puella Magica spin-off, which has now been released in English from Yen Press. I found it interesting for squeezing an almost unbelievable real story, the history of Jeanne d’Arc, into the Madoka framework of magical girls.

In Volume 2 of of Puella Magi Tart Magica, (魔法少女たると☆マギカ The Legend of “Jeanne d’ Arc”), the historical record is both more – and less – important to the story. Volume 2 is hip deep into the actual events of the war and Jeanne’s rise to fame., culminating in the climactic scene where she is brought before the Dauphin of France, only to proclaim him a fake, then to identify the true Dauphin from the surrounding courtiers.

A little inexplicably, Gilles de Rais is shoved into the plot  – we’re assured that he’s not into girls, only young boys, so the magical girls will be safe. Uh-huh, okay, thanks Bluebeard.

In the meanwhile, a third girl is added to their complement, Melissa, the inexplicable maid-costume-wearing daughter of a soldier. But Melissa seems like she’s a perfect magical girl candidate and Kyuubey agrees. Jeanne tries to keep her from making a contract, but she’s not to be stopped when it comes to saving her father, Lise and Jeanne.

Aside from these small additions, the story follows Jeanne’s triumphs and ends with her encountering  three girls who Jeanne believes are England’s magical girls. They are not.

The art is still strong and while there is no Yuri, there are strong emotional connections between the magical girls…and some real effort into turning Melissa into more of a person than either Lise or Jeanne. I’m looking forward to reading this in English.

This volume is most interesting when they leave the story free to run it’s own course without Bluebeards and evil witches.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 6
Yuri – 1
Service – 4 Vilence is still violence-y

Overall – 8

The book is still an interesting example of squeezing an actual existing legend into this series’ framework.