"Magical Girl" is a theme suitable for entertainment creation, isn't it?
Around this topic, the creative and publishing industries in the Material World have engaged in a debate that has lasted for decades, and this debate still hasn't reached a clear conclusion to this day.
In the past Material World, dating back to about 50 years ago, entertainment creations related to "Magical Girls" have always been popular themes. People were filled with various imaginations of the mysterious Magical Girls, attempting to project a variety of fantasies onto these mysterious Guardians.
Some of these fantasies were positive, filled with admiration and longing for heroes; some were critical, questioning the origins and purposes of Magical Girls; of course, there were also some that were unspeakable and often didn't make it to the stage of respectability.
The prosperity of this kind of creation lasted for a long time, and "Magical Girls" had evolved from a term with a clear definition into a symbol of entertainment merchandise. Eventually, even the real Magical Girls were ascribed certain idol and entertainment attributes, with some fans of Magical Girls spontaneously organizing to support their favorite Magical Girls in various ways.
However, there is always a limit to everything.
As works related to Magical Girls became widespread, naturally, some people with ulterior motives mixed in, either seizing the discourse for personal gain or spreading rumors to smear others. The public, swept up in public opinion, was unable to discern truth from falsehood, and the term "Magical Girl" began to sour in the public discourse.
Faced with these troubling rumors, most Magical Girls could only opt to turn a blind eye or silently endure. After all, their voices were too small in the face of public opinion; no matter how they spoke out, they couldn't avoid being further misconstrued.
However, even among Magical Girls, there were those of diverse temperaments. Faced with increasingly absurd rumors and gossips as well as entertainment works, a few strong-willed Magical Girls were angered.
"I can't control the mouths of most of you, but can't I deal with those unethical paparazzi?"
This was approximately 40 years ago when the conflict erupted, an originally quoted statement made by a retired Magical Girl from Ciro State during an interview after exposing her identity.
Thus, starting from Ciro State, Magical Girls and retired Magical Girls began a head-on media battle with the publishing and distribution circles. This confrontation gradually spread to the eastern states, resulting in a messy situation where nobody came out on top. However, from the looks of it, the Magical Girls seemed to have won.
Because the Magic Kingdom expressed its stance to the city governments in various states and directly terminated the dispute.
Works that misrepresented, slandered, or maliciously speculated about Magical Girls would no longer be published or distributed. In the following 40 years, commercial works themed around "Magical Girls" gradually faded from the market over the next few years, leaving only those Magical Girl animations created for young girls and children.
Of course, works that portrayed Magical Girls in a positive light still existed and still had their audience, only they were no longer a topic of interest to the general public.
Now, 40 years later, people's perception of Magical Girls seems to have returned to the past: in reality, Magical Girls are heroes who protect the city; on the virtual level, Magical Girls are animations for children.
It is under this backdrop that, a few years ago, a mobile game named "Magical Girl Squad" quietly began operation on the intercity network in Dongying State.
The mode of this mobile game is the very popular card drawing and character development, which is truly lackluster in content: it simply lets players assemble and nurture their own Magical Girl squads, presented in the system as very ordinary character development and turn-based combat. The game graphics weren't impressive either, with Magical Girl illustrations resembling cute, simple doodles from children's books, while within the game levels, they were 2-head-tall pixel figures, completely failing to arouse anyone's desire to try the game.
According to a later interview with the game's producer, he said that this was how he envisioned Magical Girls.
Sadly, what he envisioned as "Magical Girls" failed to gain market recognition. With such a mediocre presentation, even described as utterly lackluster, combined with a rather plain name, it naturally didn't receive much feedback. This mobile game ran into a deficit just a few months after its operation began and entered a state of loss.
This is a common occurrence in the Material World's game market, with too many games going unnoticed after launch or server openings, never to catch attention again. Naturally, this game was no different; even if it fell into silence afterwards, no one would give it a second glance.
But this game did not end its operational life there; it miraculously survived.
The turning point occurred two years ago.
At that time, "Magical Girl Squad" had already plunged into a complete operational crisis. As a small company's trial product, this game brought its producers to the brink of bankruptcy. Then, whether it was due to the company being acquired or a new investor stepping in, this game mysteriously came back to life.
The game was updated to a 2.0 version, which, aside from retaining the original storybook art style and development gameplay, experienced a significant evolution in graphical expression. Moreover, the developers also added detailed game backgrounds and stories to this game, which originally had almost no setting or plot.