Magi Soldat
| Magi Soldat | |
| マジ・ソルダット (Maji Sorudatto) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Magical Girl, Science Fiction, Action |
| Created by | Lynn Rain |
Magi Soldat (Japanese: マジ・ソルダット Hepburn: Maji Sorudatto), also known as Magi Soldat: Magical Girl of Wakkanai, is a sci-fi magical girl comic written by Lynn Rain. The series is intended as a partial deconstruction of the magical girl genre, and is not suitable for young audiences or individuals with content aversions.
Contents
Synopsis
Premise
The series focuses on the ad-hoc resolution of an intergalactic crisis with Earth as its central battlefield.
For innumerable generations, the alien race known as the Iadena dedicated their lives to protecting the God Singularity, a physics-defying source of unlimited energy, due to their strong belief that no living being has the right to make use of it. However, one of their own has chosen to commit treason to their paradigm by stealing a fragment of the singularity and absconding with it to the cosmic Podunk called Earth.
Upon researching the planet and its species, Dilalin Niy and her superior learn that Earth's humans, while technologically primitive, possess a latent physics-defying power of their own. If awakened and empowered by even the tiniest fragment of the God Singularity, this power could be weaponized effortlessly.
With this knowledge in hand, Dilalin attempts to recruit her own group of Earth humans to assist with the retrieval mission --to fight fire with fire. With their latent powers awoken and their bodies clad in a high-tech armor attire, these humans become the almighty Magi Soldat, Dilalin's magic soldier mercenaries.
Setting
The main setting of Magi Soldat is Wakkanai, Hokkaido. Secondary settings include Dilalin's ship in orbit around Jupiter, and planet Iaden itself.
Production
Magi Soldat was initially conceptualized as a short parody series borrowing characters from Rain's then-on-hiatus series Ellipsis. However, a short ways into development, the series began taking on a more serious plot and shifted to a more science-fiction based foundation.
Name
The name Magi Soldat is derived from the Swedish term for magic soldier. The decision to render the name in another language was inspired by the usage of Latin in the title of the anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
The subtitle, Magical Girl of Wakkanai (稚内市の魔法少女 Wakkanai-shi no Mahou Shoujo), was appended simply to lend more context to the nature of the series, as the term Magi Soldat alone did not properly convey what the series was about. However, the subtitle has since fallen into disuse.
Alternate Subtitle
The series possesses an alternative subtitle that was intended to replace the disused original: Magi Soldat: God Falling, Zero Awakes, The Legacy of Your Sins Will Be... (マジ・ソルダッ :: 神落っこちる,零醒ます,お前達の罪の遺産か？Maji Sorudatto :: Kami okkochiru, zero samasu, omaetachi no tsumi no isan ka?, lit. Magi Soldat: God Falling, Zero Waking, Is This The Legacy Of Your Guilt?).
Naming Error
Up through the first two runs of Magi Soldat, the name was erroneously miswritten as マギ・ソルダット (magi sorudatto). This was due to a translation error wherein the name was translated using Hepburn romaji instead of phoneme sound. This issue was corrected in Daishinsouban.
Serialization
Magi Soldat has been serializing online at its official website since late 2012. The series has undergone two separate reboots, resulting in three separate runs.
Prototype Run
In December of 2012, the very first run of Magi Soldat began serializing. This iteration was entirely grayscale and drawn on an unorthodox 900x600 pixel canvas. The run consisted of 89 pages divided into 4 chapters. This run was canceled in mid 2013, due to discontent with artistic consistency and story pacing.
Shinsouban
A second test-type run, Magi Soldat New Release(マジ・ソルダット新装版 Maji Sorudatto Shinsouban), began serializing from the beginning of the story shortly after the prototype run concluded. This version boasted a consistent and improved art style and was drawn on a less unorthodox 560x720 pixel canvas. However, this second run was shelved after only nine pages due to pacing concerns yet again, as well as to shift away from the stagnant grayscale format and improve the lore and world-building.
Daishinsouban
In 2014, the third and current run, informally called Great New Release Magi Soldat (大新装版マジ・ソルダット Daishinsouban Maji Sorudatto), began its serial run. Drawn in full color on a massive 1120x1440 pixel canvas, this version has found modest success as a "proper" telling of the Magi Soldat story.