Gushing over Magical Girls

Gushing over Magical Girls (魔法少女にあこがれて), also known as I Admire Magical Girls, and..., is a Japanese magical girl manga series written and illustrated by Akihiro Ononaka. It began serialization on Takeshobo's Storia Dash website in March 2019. Eleven tankōbon volumes have been released as of January 2024. It is licensed in English by J-Novel Club. An anime television series adaptation produced by Asahi Production aired from January to March 2024. It is licensed outside of Japan by Sentai Filmworks for streaming and home video.

Plot
Utena Hiiragi is a normal, introverted girl with a strong admiration for magical girls, especially the beautiful trio that protect her town, Tres Magia. One day, a mascot named Venalita approaches Utena and gives her magical powers, but rather than becoming the magical girl of justice she always wanted to be, she instead becomes an evil general of the Enormita organization. Despite the misfortune in being forced to fight against the magical girls she admires, Utena soon discovers that she has a hidden sadistic side, and revels in torturing her former idols with her newfound obsession.

Enormita

 * Utena Hiiragi (柊 うてな) / Magia Baiser (マジアベーゼ)
 * A shy and introverted school girl who admires magical girls, but also loves them in a twisted sense. She was forced into joining Enormita against her will but soon comes to revel in her sadistic side. As Magia Baiser, she wears a succubus/dominatrix motif, and is able to use her crop to transform inanimate objects and animals into sadistic monsters. She has an interest in sewing, and her grades have been affected by her interest in Enormita.
 * A shy and introverted school girl who admires magical girls, but also loves them in a twisted sense. She was forced into joining Enormita against her will but soon comes to revel in her sadistic side. As Magia Baiser, she wears a succubus/dominatrix motif, and is able to use her crop to transform inanimate objects and animals into sadistic monsters. She has an interest in sewing, and her grades have been affected by her interest in Enormita.


 * Kiwi Araga (阿良河 キウィ) / Leoparde (レオパルト)
 * A member of Enormita who is in love with Utena. As a civilian, she is an Internet celebrity, but grows to hate Tres Magia and magical girls in general for stealing her fans. As Leoparde, she wears a military motif and attacks using various explosives and guns.
 * A member of Enormita who is in love with Utena. As a civilian, she is an Internet celebrity, but grows to hate Tres Magia and magical girls in general for stealing her fans. As Leoparde, she wears a military motif and attacks using various explosives and guns.


 * Korisu Morino (杜乃 こりす) / Nero Alice (ネロアリス)
 * A member of Enormita, a girl in elementary school who does not speak but loves playing with toys. As Nero Alice, she wears an Alice motif, able to manipulate toys in various ways, such as trapping victims in doll houses or making stuffed toys giant.
 * A member of Enormita, a girl in elementary school who does not speak but loves playing with toys. As Nero Alice, she wears an Alice motif, able to manipulate toys in various ways, such as trapping victims in doll houses or making stuffed toys giant.


 * Matama Akoya (阿古屋 真珠) / Loco Musica (ロコムジカ)
 * A member of Enormita and The Lord Squad who aspires to be an idol, but is terrible at singing. As Loco Musica, she wears a sailor motif and uses sound waves to attack her enemies.
 * A member of Enormita and The Lord Squad who aspires to be an idol, but is terrible at singing. As Loco Musica, she wears a sailor motif and uses sound waves to attack her enemies.


 * Nemo Anemo (姉母 ネモ) / Leberblume (ルベルブルーメ)
 * A member of Enormita and The Lord Squad who cares for Matama. As Leberblume, she wears an assassin motif and is able to transform herself into a shadow and manipulate others.
 * A member of Enormita and The Lord Squad who cares for Matama. As Leberblume, she wears an assassin motif and is able to transform herself into a shadow and manipulate others.


 * Venalita (ヴェナリータ)
 * A black mascot character who tricked Utena into joining Enormita, blackmailing her into staying. Their motive is unknown.
 * A black mascot character who tricked Utena into joining Enormita, blackmailing her into staying. Their motive is unknown.


 * Sister Gigant (シスタギガント)
 * A member of Enormita and The Lord Squad who wears a nun motif and has the ability to change her size to become gigantic or tiny. Following Lord's defeat, she goes into hiding to continue serving Venalita behind Utena's back.
 * A member of Enormita and The Lord Squad who wears a nun motif and has the ability to change her size to become gigantic or tiny. Following Lord's defeat, she goes into hiding to continue serving Venalita behind Utena's back.


 * Roboko (ロボ子)
 * A robot girl given life by Utena and Korisu's combined powers. Originally a doll that was given to Korisu by her mother and fixed up by Utena, and a plastic model given to her by Kiwi, she is sworn to protect Korisu.

Tres Magia

 * Haruka Hanabishi (花菱 はるか) / Magia Magenta (マジアマゼンタ)
 * Utena's classmate. Due to magical powers, the true identity of Tres Magia's members when transformed is unknown to Enormita's members and vice versa. A naïve, kind, pure-hearted girl. Wielding a spear, she starts out with no unique ability, but eventually gains the power to heal others. Following an incident in which Baiser's magic went out of control and manipulated her, she ends up obtaining a Dark La Veritas form, Fallen Nurse, which enhances her healing abilities in perverted ways.
 * Utena's classmate. Due to magical powers, the true identity of Tres Magia's members when transformed is unknown to Enormita's members and vice versa. A naïve, kind, pure-hearted girl. Wielding a spear, she starts out with no unique ability, but eventually gains the power to heal others. Following an incident in which Baiser's magic went out of control and manipulated her, she ends up obtaining a Dark La Veritas form, Fallen Nurse, which enhances her healing abilities in perverted ways.


 * Sayo Minakami (水神 小夜) / Magia Azure (マジアアズール)
 * She is a shrine maiden who likes to clean the temple. She loves peace and she prefers cute, modest outfits. She seems to have a secret masochistic side to her, as she likes spending time with Magia Baiser. She has power over water and ice and gathers water around her wand to form a sword. After nearly succumbing to Baiser's sadism, Azure obtained the La Veritas form Maiden of Hoarglass, giving her the ability to power herself up by taking on enemy attacks.
 * She is a shrine maiden who likes to clean the temple. She loves peace and she prefers cute, modest outfits. She seems to have a secret masochistic side to her, as she likes spending time with Magia Baiser. She has power over water and ice and gathers water around her wand to form a sword. After nearly succumbing to Baiser's sadism, Azure obtained the La Veritas form Maiden of Hoarglass, giving her the ability to power herself up by taking on enemy attacks.


 * Kaoruko Tenkawa (天川 薫子) / Magia Sulfur (マジアサルファ)
 * She is the tough, quick witted, no nonsense team member. While seen as the defensive member of the team, she secretly wields massive knuckledusters for pummeling her enemies. She obtains the La Veritas form Blizengel, which gives her lightning speed and the ability to launch projectile fists.
 * She is the tough, quick witted, no nonsense team member. While seen as the defensive member of the team, she secretly wields massive knuckledusters for pummeling her enemies. She obtains the La Veritas form Blizengel, which gives her lightning speed and the ability to launch projectile fists.


 * Vatz (ヴァーツ)
 * Tres Magia's mascot, who is the same kind of creature as Venalita but is white instead.
 * Tres Magia's mascot, who is the same kind of creature as Venalita but is white instead.

Shio-chans

 * Michiko Tanaka (田中 みち子) Shion Imita (忌田 シオン) Imitatio (イミタシオ) Lord Enorme (ロードエノルメ)
 * Former leader of Enormita who defected to create the Lord Squad in the hopes of ruling the world and is now the leader of the Shio-chans. As Lord Enorme, her magic allows her to create monsters out of black goop. After she is humiliatingly defeated by Utena and ambushed by Sister Gigant, she escapes with heavy injuries and is later nursed back to health by Randa. She uses a stolen magical girl item to become the magical girl Imitatio, using her La Veritas form constantly to masquerade as Shion Imita. As Imitatio, she wields a large sword and can utilise various potions to affect her enemies. Initially driven by revenge against Utena and Enormita, she eventually reforms and becomes a true magical girl in order to protect Randa.
 * Former leader of Enormita who defected to create the Lord Squad in the hopes of ruling the world and is now the leader of the Shio-chans. As Lord Enorme, her magic allows her to create monsters out of black goop. After she is humiliatingly defeated by Utena and ambushed by Sister Gigant, she escapes with heavy injuries and is later nursed back to health by Randa. She uses a stolen magical girl item to become the magical girl Imitatio, using her La Veritas form constantly to masquerade as Shion Imita. As Imitatio, she wields a large sword and can utilise various potions to affect her enemies. Initially driven by revenge against Utena and Enormita, she eventually reforms and becomes a true magical girl in order to protect Randa.


 * Momo Momomori (桃森 百花) / Pantano Pesca (パンタノペスカ)
 * A member of the Shio-chans who enjoys indulging in perverted behavior. She is able to manipulate the earth to her liking and create golems.


 * Randa Tada (多田 蘭朶) / Berserga (ベルゼルガ)
 * A masochistic member of the Shio-chans. Formerly known as Magia Blanc, she fell in love with Michiko after being spared from her magical girl hunt due to being considered "too weak" to hunt. She can transform her own blood into sharp weapons.

Manga
Written and illustrated by Akihiro Ononaka, Gushing over Magical Girls began serialization on Takeshobo's Storia Dash website on March 29, 2019. It was also serialized on the company's Manga Life Storia magazine, until it ceased publication in July 2019. As of January 2024, eleven tankōbon volumes have been published. J-Novel Club licensed the series for English release, and began pre-publishing it in March 2022. Previously, Coolmic licensed the series and published the manga divided in, as of late December 2022, 68 "episodes" consisting of about 10 pages each, on a smartphone-only website, under the title "I Admire Magical Girls, and....". On March 15, 2024, it was announced the manga would go on hiatus due to Ononaka's health issues.

Anime
An anime television series adaptation was announced on March 16, 2023. The series was produced by Asahi Production and directed by Masato Suzuki and Atsushi Ōtsuki, with series composition by Noboru Kimura, character designs by Yasuka Otakil, and music composed by Yasuharu Takanashi, Akinari Suzuki, and Johannes Nilsson. It aired from January 3 to March 27, 2024, on AT-X and other networks. The series aired censored on all television networks and partially uncensored with censored audio on AT-X and streaming sites, with the fully uncensored visuals and audio being featured on the home media release. The opening theme song is "My Dream Girls", performed by Nacherry (a voice unit composed of Chiemi Tanaka and Natsumi Murakami), while the ending theme song is "Togetoge Sadistic" (とげとげサディスティック) performed by Fūka Izumi, Aoi Koga and Shiori Sugiura (with additional vocals by Yūka Aisaka and Minami Tsuda from episode 10 onwards).

Sentai Filmworks licensed the series in North America, Australia and British Isles for streaming on its Hidive platform and home video through Section23 Films, simulcasting the AT-X version as it aired.

Reception
In 2020, the manga was among 50 nominees for the 6th Next Manga Awards in the web category.