The Young Magician

The Young Magician (Japanese: 少年魔法士, Hepburn: Shōnen Mahōshi) is a fantasy shōjo manga written and illustrated by Yuri Narushima.

For the 1987 film, see The Young Magician (film).
The Young Magician
Cover of the first volume
少年魔法士
(Shōnen Mahōshi)
GenreDark fantasy[1]
Manga
Written byYuri Narushima
Published byShinshokan
English publisher
MagazineWings
DemographicShōjo
Original runNovember 1995 – October 28, 2016
Volumes18

Plot

Incorporating multiple sub-plots, The Young Magician focuses on two young men—Carno Guino, a magician whose soul fuses with demons, and Ibuki Shikishima, who practices Shinto—who find themselves entangled in a complex war between various factions.[2][3]

Development

Yuri Narushima collected references books about magic for The Young Magician; in the afterword of the first volume, she comments that "[her] bookcase is totally over-flowing with reference material!"[4] She also planned to take a research trip to Hong Kong in September.[4] For the section of the first volume in which the characters discuss genetics, she consulted The Meaning of Immunity by Tomio Tada and Understanding Genetics by Hironori Kodama.[4] Because of the content in the first volume, she often received letters asking if the manga was horror—which she does not consider it to be.[4]

Release
Main article: List of The Young Magician chapters

Written and illustrated by Yuri Narushima, the chapters of The Young Magician have appeared as a serial in the Japanese manga magazine Wings between its November 1995 issue and its December 2016 issue.[5][6] Shinshokan collected the chapters into eighteen tankōbon between September 9, 1996 and July 25, 2015.[7][8]

In 2005, the manga imprint of DC Comics, CMX, announced that it had licensed The Young Magician for an English-language release in North America.[9] CMX put together an eighty-page sampler of manga for mature readers—The Young Magician, Sword of the Dark Ones, Monster Collection: The Girl Who Can Deal With Magic Monsters, Testarotho and Madara—and distributed it to retailers on June 8, 2005.[10] CMX published thirteen volumes of The Young Magician, with translations by Hiroko Yoda of AltJapan Co., Ltd., from September 1, 2005, to April 21, 2009.[11][12] Scheduled for publication on May 11, 2010,[13] the fourteen volume remained unreleased as DC Comics announced on May 18 that the CMX imprint would end on July 1.[14][15]

Reception

The Young Magician has received generally positive reviews. Reviewers at Mania Entertainment ranked Young Magician sixth on their list of "20 Must Have CMX Manga", describing it as "[b]rutal and heavy" with "a rich world of characters and plots" and a challenging, nonlinear plot.[2] Dan Polley of Manga Life considered the artwork "fairly innocuous" and occasionally helpful in accentuating the tone and plot, but sometimes detracted from the plot's appeal. Polley praised Narushima's skillful handling of the relationships between the characters and the growing suspense towards the ninth volume, but felt that the suspense in the eighth volume was uneven.[16] Jason Thompson, in Manga: The Complete Guide, gave The Young Magician three and a half out of four stars, and praised it as "a powerful work of modern fantasy" with Narushima's writing and page layouts being an asset.[3]

References
  1. 異世界への扉～ダークファンタジー～ (in Japanese). Amutus CO., Ltd. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  2. Rosato, Julie; Patricia Beard, Kate O'Neil, Thomas Zoth (May 25, 2010). "20 Must Have CMX Manga". Mania Entertainment. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved June 20, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. Thompson, Jason (2007). Manga: The Complete Guide. New York: Del Ray Books. p. 403. ISBN 978-0-345-48590-8.
  4. Narushima, Yuri (2005). "Afterword". The Young Magician. Vol. 1. La Jolla: CMX. pp. 236–8. ISBN 978-1-4012-0737-3.
  5. "Works". Yuri Narushima. Archived from the original on March 1, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2009.
  6. "なるしまゆり「少年魔法士」完結！次号ウィングスより「原獣文書」が再開". Natalie.mu (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. August 29, 2016. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  7. "少年魔法士 1" (in Japanese). Shinshokan. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  8. "少年魔法士 (18)" (in Japanese). Shinshokan. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
  9. "News: New CMX Licenses". Anime News Network. May 18, 2005. Retrieved February 20, 2011.
  10. "News: CMX Spring Sampler 2005". Anime News Network. May 27, 2005. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
  11. Narushima, Yuri (2005). Amazon: The Young Magician, Vol. 1. ISBN 1401207375.
  12. Narushima, Yuri (21 April 2009). Amazon: The Young Magician, Vol. 13. ISBN 978-1401217693.
  13. Narushima, Yuri (11 May 2010). Amazon: The Young Magician, Vol. 14. ISBN 978-1401220235.
  14. "DC Comics to Shut Down CMX Manga Imprint in July". Anime News Network. May 18, 2010. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  15. Aoki, Deb (May 18, 2010). "Breaking: DC Comics Announces End of CMX Manga in July". About.com. Archived from the original on January 6, 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
  16. Polley, Dan. "Young Magician v8 Review". Manga Life. Archived from the original on October 10, 2008. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
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