Magical Girl Gunslinger

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

“Would you like to make a contract?” When eldritch horrors known as the Anathema began tearing through reality to invade Earth, aliens calling themselves the Zenith stepped in to protect humanity. Individuals were chosen and gifted with the ability to use magic and advanced technologies to combat the existential threat.Over twenty-one years later, the so-called “Magical Guardians” are still hard at work keeping the peace. With their flashy outfits, superhuman abilities, and reality-defying spells, they are the part-time heroes and full-time idols of modern society. But none of that really matters to Mai, whose biggest problems are dealing with her family, classmates, and the ever growing dread of her imminent future. As far as Mai is concerned, mundane problems are more than enough to worry about, and the idea of magic and monsters might as well be nothing more than daydreams. At least, they were until she finds herself in the middle of an Anathema invasion… A Dark Magical Girl LitRPG with sci-fi elements. Note: Slow burn and slow, gradual introduction of LitRPG mechanics that become a focal point once introduced. Please be aware this story contains intense violence, gore, traumatic situations, and other potentially unsettling content. Chapters tend to be longer but with inconsistent updates. Art is AI generated by Puddz. This story is also posted on Spacebattles. This story is inspired byStray Cat Strut, byRavensDagger. The "point system" for buying items is based on SCS's system. Magical girl Familiars are also a shared concept as both stories are in the magical girl genre. Some of the major differences between the two stories is this has a substantial LitRPG system including levels, stats, skills, magic, and also a generally darker tone. The first "arc" of the story is, however, an introduction into the world and characters, and as such, the LitRPG elements do not come into full play until later.

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2021
Author: Mikasane

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.8/ 5.0
Followers: 14,602
Views: 3,306,630

What readers say about Magical Girl Gunslinger

“Currently this is my favorite fiction on RR. Can't go wrong with a little bit of magical girls, a little bit of school drama, a whole lot of gory monster battles, and a litrpg system. Well written. Loads of character development. Also, a mall gets destroyed…”
tutpuppyRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“I'm a LitRPG junky, and so I want to state this early: this is very litrpg-lite in the first book. But that's ok! Every piece of this story left me wanting more, and I couldn't help but wonder what would happen next when I wasn't reading it. While the first…”
a_corpseRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

tutpuppyRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Currently this is my favorite fiction on RR. Can't go wrong with a little bit of magical girls, a little bit of school drama, a whole lot of gory monster battles, and a litrpg system. Well written. Loads of character development. Also, a mall gets destroyed. What's not to like? There was even a shapter where every single reader teared up.
a_corpseRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I'm a LitRPG junky, and so I want to state this early: this is very litrpg-lite in the first book. But that's ok! Every piece of this story left me wanting more, and I couldn't help but wonder what would happen next when I wasn't reading it.
While the first book is litrpg lite, it's action heavy - while still doing a good job of developing the characters & setting. And oh man the setting and system are thought out and interesting! There's a heavy use of foreshadowing that keeps anticipation high and a real weight to the choices the protagonist is making. The second book starts out more heavily focused on building out the world, and finally rewarding our main character.
The updates between chapters can be a long time coming, but there's nothing that will get between me and each release.
If you're reading this review, then you're in luck: the first book is complete and available to read. It's worth your time and it is definitely worth binge-reading.
Last, a shoutout to the author: Thank you so much for sharing this story on RR. You don't know what an impact your writing has. I'm a life-long reader and rarely is my imagination caught so completely as it has been by the world you've created.
alunartearRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Without meaning to be to harsh in the opening words, this story starts off taking almost wholesale from Stray Cat Strut when it comes to the opening setting, magical system, and really the whole first arc is almost a outright copy paste of the original work mentioned from a storyboard perspective. What makes this all forgivable and something worth overlooking is the supurb writing style and wonderful characterization of the MC, and more than adequate fleshing out of the subccharacters in a style that is deeply immersive, geunine, and emotion provoking.
I don't say this in a manner meant to be bashing, but to simply highlight why this work is notable despite its eggregious level of plot inspiration in the opening act. I quite enjoyed reading Stray Cat Strut, and its a great work, but the first arc and then some is weak, and this is heavily the result of the writing style of the author in reguards to chapter length and the somewhat... discordiant flow of chapters and scenes. Whole chapters are dedicated to single conversations or very limited interactions with the immediate situation and environment with jarring transitions that take the reader out of the immersive environment and world they want to build (and do build at times, especially with solid world building excerpts at the start of chapters). The concept itself isnt something critically flawed, but it does feel somewhat inexpertly performed, and, at least for me, left me desiring something of a very similar setting and tone but with a improved sense of immersion. And here is where we get into the story at hand and why it adds something 'magical' to the plot that insipired it.
The author in Magical Girl Gunslinger does a superb job of making a rendition where the plot flows quite beautifully. Scene changes flow nicely, the reader wont feel a desire to skip anything because just about all of the content provided is plot significant or provides character insight. POV changes when they occur have a certain cohesio
invidiousRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Magical Girl Gunslinger is an action-LitRPG in the vein of Stray Cat Strut. It's also very, very good. Good in a way that the RoyalRoad community tends to like very much, which is why I struggle to understand why it's not more popular. Probably the update frequency, to which I will say the chapters are absolutely massive, so you're not losing out in length.
Why do I think it's good? On both a microscopic and macroscopic level, Magical Girl Gunslinger is compelling. The sentences are formulated, carrying the story forward with minimal confusion while still helping the reader get a sense of the surrounding world. I haven't seen a grammatical error yet. The setting is interesting - a modern world inundated with sci-fi magic and aliens shoving their greasy mitts into everything. The character relationships are full of hanging plot points that readers await to be explored more fully: Mai's day-to-day problems dealing with abuse from everyone and their mother (excepting her single true blue mate) leave me itching to see some comeuppance. It's all written with remarkable attention to emotion - I teared up on the same chapter everyone teared up reading. And on top of all that, you have the LitRPG elements - Mai's personal stats and the gear she purchases.
That being said, even after 125,000 words, we are still left with mostly breadcrumbs. Very little of those exciting elements have been explored; the moment-to-moment of the story is consumed by action and survival. It didn't actually bother me while reading - it's all too compelling for that - but upon considering it, the action and the emotional consequence of the action is what is in focus. Not a single important problem has really been tackled or resolved yet. I don't think most readers actually care, but due to the distance between updates I imagine a lot of the earliest readers will have forgotten about that true blue mate, and a much of the more compelling elements in the background will have lost their luster.
This
thehulk86Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is a FANTASTIC story worth reading no matter who you are or what you like, but if I had to give a single flaw to it, it's that chapters don't come out often enough. The author might want to consider shorter chapters that come out more often, but only if it doesn't hamper the overall quality of the story
BakanogamiRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I'd dismissed it somewhat at first as being a little too derivative of Stray Cat Strut, hitting just about all of the same beats, tropes, and jokes, and was initially a little confused about why it was just so high on the rankings as it was. But where Stray Cat Strut goes for cool cyberpunk explosions, this pays off with emotional character payoff and magical girl goodness, and succeeded in hitting me right in the feels.
I've had web novels like this get me to cry before, but I don't think any have managed it in so few chapters. If I have a single complaint, it would be that there isn't more of it at the time I write this, because I want MORE. Looking forward to where it goes in the future.
BigScorchRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is an amazing story that had me both tearing up and jumping for joy at moments. Really good job describing emotions and pain. I really hope the author didn't have to experience things first hand to describe it so well.
I know the author is taking some time between chapters. I will wait patiently for the next one! Looking forward to them all.
EthyriaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I have nothing else to say - this novel is perfect. Never have I been so engaged with a novel and so invested in its characters. From the very start I was on the edge of my seat wanting more. This novel is the best thing I have ever read.
Do yourself a favour and read it too!
LifeWisherRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I read this way before I made this account, and I will continue reading it as chapters come out. This is one of the best stories on this website, or on the internet, hands down. The execution, the flaws, the humanity, and the ease with which we fall in love with the MC, everything is outstandingly done.
I hope I will be able to read this for years to come. If I make this review longer it will be only to give more praise to the author and the story. It is that good. Read it.
PawelllRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
It's been a long time since something made me 30 years old cry like a kid 5+ times in one night. And trust me, I have been reading novels/vn novels addictively for 10+ years, so it's hard to move me.
Highly recommend. First chapters pushed me away at first, but trust me give it a chance. Especially later chapters are pure gold.