Starting our list today is arguably one of the best-known series for modern magical girls. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica (Puella Magi Madoka★Magica) takes the happy-fluffy vibes of the 90’s magical girls and locks them away in a dark, depressing place.

Everything about Puella Magi Madoka★Magica is designed as a warped, twisted version of Sailor Moon and its ilk, right down to Kyubey, the innocent-looking critter that grants wishes and creates magical girls. The interwoven story of Madoka and her classmates veers into a psychological sci-fi affair that’ll stick with you long after the final pages.

Magica Quartet has created a huge universe of interconnected stories between anime, manga, and video games, with twelve official spin-off manga and several direct adaptations.

Puella Magi Madoka★Magica is the 3-volume adaptation of the anime, while Majuu Hen (Wraith Arc) is a direct sequel series between the Madoka Magica and Rebellion movies. A “what-if”-styled series, Homura’s Revenge, explores an alternate ending to the original series, while the Puella Magi Oriko Magica series is an alternate-timeline entry that fits between the fourth and fifth anime films.

In a different vein, Puella Magi Tart Magica: The Legend of Jeanne d’Arc is a fictional retelling of Jeanne d’Arc’s life reimagined as a magical girl. Puella Magi Suzune Magica and Puella Magi Kazumi Magica are both standalone series with entirely new casts of magical girls and evil witches.

If you enjoy the dark world of magical girls in the Puella Magi universe, there’s plenty for you to read!

The starry-titled Majo Kaitou Lips (Stellar Witch LIP☆S) is a light-hearted magical girl comedy that leans heavily into the classic feel. High-schooler Miku Hoshino is heartbroken when she misses out on seeing her favorite idol group perform—so naturally, she seeks the help of a witch…and turns into a magical witch herself!

Now Miku has to keep her identity hidden at school, while meeting new comrades, encountering villains, and falling hopelessly in love with pretty boys! A definite calling card to Saint Tail and Sailor Moon (with some timey-wimey elements to boot), Stellar Witch LIP☆S is a huge injection of nostalgia mixed with a modern art style!

All five volumes are available digitally via Kodansha.

Having just wrapped up its fourteenth and final volume in English, Mahou Shoujo Tokushuusen Asuka (Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka) is a surprisingly long series that fuses magical girls with military girls!

Three years after the Earth was ravaged by the Disas—otherworldly monsters that take the shape of stuffed animals—the magical girls who defended the world are called to battle once again. In between fighting to protect the Earth, these magical girls will need to overcome their individual trauma and their own interpersonal issues to become a unified fighting force.

If you ever wanted your magical girl story to have guns, boobs, and blood, you’ll be in good hands with Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka.

Like nothing you’ve read before, Machigatta ko wo Maho Shoujo ni shite shimatta (Machimaho - I Messed Up and Made the Wrong Person Into a Magical Girl!) is a hilarious and ecchi magical girl comedy starring a violent, delinquent main character.

Majiba Kayo smokes, swears, and promptly beats the stuffing out of the magical critter Myu on their first meeting. Things are off to a swell start for this magical girl as she throws down against all manner of humans and monsters standing in her way! Kayo stands up to all her problems in a rough-and-tumble way, but she’s got plenty of emotional depth hidden beneath her scary persona.

The imagery in the first volume alone—a magical girl half-naked with a cigarette hanging from her lips—is fantastically unique. If you don’t mind the artist cramming a panty-shot into basically every other page, you’ll find an incredibly amusing anti-hero magical girl story like no other in Machimaho - I Messed Up and Made the Wrong Person Into a Magical Girl!

Hot off the (digital) press comes a modern magical girl story that fuses gorgeous shounen designs with adult women getting their chance to be heroines!

Kabushiki Gaisha MagiLumiere (MagiLumiere Co. Ltd.) describes a world where magical girls are hired out by firms, and where monster attacks are basically another part of daily life. Similar to Boku No Hero Academia (My Hero Academia), being a magical girl is a dream job, but not something everyone can aspire to do.

Enter college-aged Kana Sakuragi, forever helpful, but unlucky in finding a job. Her fortunes change when a chance encounter with the MagiLumiere Company sees her starting work with a group of powerful magical girls! The colorful crew of MagiLumiere is full of eccentrics, and Kana is still just a rookie…but her enthusiasm and energy will help get the job done!

MagiLumiere Co. Ltd. is currently streaming digitally via Manga Plus (Shonen Jump App).