Magical girls.
Stories that chronicle groups of young tween-to-teenage girls as they live relatively normal, everyday lives between saving the universe with the power of magic, love and friendship.
It’s the everlasting struggle between stopping the villain from harming others and getting a high grade on that test you totally didn’t study for — all because, of course, you were out late with your friends being a hero.
Over the decades, we’ve watched different girls take flight and charm fans across the globe. From what many consider the mother of the modern magical-girl genre, Sailor Moon, to newer entries, the idea of a magical girl and her journey is hardly new.
Nor, usually, is the ending.
We see our heroes smiling in the midst of what is effectively the beginning of their happily ever afters. They’ve earned their glorious victory. They can stand proudly beside the friends who fought with them and look back fondly on the path they paved to reach that point.
But after that…
That we don’t talk about.
And maybe, just maybe, we should.
Sure, we all love a hero’s journey.
But what happens after the journey ends?
What happens to these girls we’ve become so deeply invested in after they save the day, put down the magical weapons and stop transforming into the heroes they once needed to be?
What does magical-girl retirement actually look like?
It’s a question that has only occasionally been explored, including through the now-forgone time skips that once appeared at the end of PreCure seasons or, more substantially, in adult-focused continuations such as Power of Hope: PreCure Full Bloom and Mahou Tsukai PreCure!! MIRAI DAYS.
But those stories meet their characters some time after their original adventures. They’re older, more mature and already beginning to settle into the realities of adulthood.
What about when that transition is still new?
How do you go from being a hero entrusted with protecting others — perhaps even entire worlds — to simply being a girl navigating everyday life again?
More importantly, who are you when the magic is gone?
That appears to be one of the fascinating questions proposed by the first-ever original novel inspired by the Italian magical-girl comic-turned-animated series W.I.T.C.H.
Arriving rather appropriately for the Halloween season at Italian booksellers on October 13, The Heart Only Knows – W.I.T.C.H. The Novel is written by Lodovica Comello.
And its premise asks one rather significant “What if?”
What if the W.I.T.C.H.s had forgotten magic?
Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin are now young adults. Their powers are gone from their memories, as is the secret that once united them at the conclusion of their final mission.
And without that shared past, something else has disappeared.
Their friendship.
Over time, the five have slowly drifted apart.
That alone introduces a fascinating question beyond what happens when a magical girl stops being a hero.
How much of these girls’ connection to one another was intertwined with the magic they shared?
Would their friendship have remained the same without the battles, transformations, secrets and extraordinary experiences that once bound them together?
And if the memories disappear, can the connection they created truly disappear with them?
Those questions are about to become considerably more important when the balance between worlds begins to falter once again. A series of mysterious coincidences brings the former Guardians back to Heatherfield — the place where everything began.
Magic, it seems, might not be quite as finished with them as they believe.
The novel is being positioned as a story of magic, friendship, growth and nostalgia, created both for the girls who grew up alongside W.I.T.C.H. and a new generation discovering the Guardians.
The special edition also leans heavily into that history. It will include letters from the W.I.T.C.H.s to their younger selves, illustrations from the original comic, an art gallery featuring work dedicated to the Guardians by Disney artists and an exclusive color illustration.
But perhaps the most interesting part of the entire announcement is captured in one simple question:
Perhaps magic can be forgotten. But can the heart truly forget?
For decades, magical-girl stories have shown us what happens when ordinary girls discover that they’re extraordinary.
We’ve watched the transformations.
We’ve watched the battles.
We’ve watched friendships form under impossible circumstances and young girls grow into heroes capable of saving the day.
But we don’t often talk about the offboarding.
What happens when being an active magical hero becomes being a retired one?
What happens the morning after the happily ever after begins, when there isn’t another villain waiting and you’re suddenly expected to figure out who you are without the responsibility that once defined so much of your life?
That’s a conversation — and a story — worth having.
Because perhaps growing up doesn’t mean leaving the magical girl you once were behind.
Perhaps it means discovering how much of her remained inside you after the transformation ended.
As of now, the new W.I.T.C.H. novel has not been indicated for release in English-speaking markets. Given the current state of W.I.T.C.H. comic availability in North America, fans on this side of the Atlantic can only hope that Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin eventually get the chance to reunite on our bookshelves as well.