It's late August and you've just returned home. With a heaviness in your step, you open your front door, kick off your shoes, drop your backpack by your bedroom door, and flop onto the couch just in time to catch the opening of your favorite show. Your parents, who won't be home for a little while, don't really get your taste in television these days but honestly, when have they ever? There's something spellbinding and exhilarating about this show and the way all the girls confront unspeakable evils alongside the daily struggles of school and romance. Something speaks to you, something you can't entirely name, but it's real and visceral and it's waiting for you there on the TV every day after school. It's late August, the year is 1999, and you're watching Sailor Moon. 

This month, Sara and Runa talk about Life After Magic (2022), a game packed to the brim with 90's style and overflowing with love and admiration for Magical Girl stories. While Sailor Moon is the most obvious point of reference here, this game weaves in so many different influences from late 90's and early 00's anime and manga from Tokyo Mew Mew to Yu-Gi-Oh and beyond. The game centers around Akiko, a 22 year old high school dropout who was once Sentinel Starlight, leader of a magical girl group and alien princess here on Earth. Unfortunately saving the world doesn't pay very well and also employers don't exactly consider it a transferable skill, so Akiko works at a makeup counter in the Glamour Pop cosmetics store. Dealing with customers every day is so draining she barely has time to do anything even remotely social – most workdays, she winds down by watching TV with Allistar, her talking cat and magical mascot character. Then, in a development that calls back loud and clear to the first episode of Sailor Moon that aired on the Toonami block in 1999, a gorgeous (and kinda mean) Girlboss CEO arrives to announce a new Sentimentality line of makeup based on the theme colors of the Sentinels. Shortly after, Akiko realizes that her magic is weakening and Allistar calls an emergency meeting... which also forces Akiko to admit that she hasn't been keeping in touch with the other sentinels and lost their numbers. Cell Phones wouldn't be common for a few more years, after all.

This launches us into the core of Life After Magic as Akiko manages her time, the stress of her day job, and tries to both reconnect with her former teammates while solving the crisis of magic's disappearance. Each former sentinel has a different perspective on Magic and what their time as Magical Girls really meant (especially given the loaded gender of the term). It's great to see both the characters and narrative unpack 90's nostalgia and the impact magical girl shows and shoujo manga have had on so many of us especially in the queer community. There's also a lot of depth and tiny secrets to uncover in this game, including secret endings and a really great cast of romanceable characters. Also, Akiko's Ex is there and he's the best/the worst. You really have to play to understand.

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