Magical Girls

In Sleepless Domain, **magical girls** are teenage girls with unique powers that defend The City from the monsters that attack it every night.

## Becoming a Magical Girl

Magical girls usually receive their powers in their early teens. Most magical girls are given powers at age twelve, but some receive them at ages eleven or thirteen as well.

On the night they receive their powers, magical girls have **The Dream**, a special dream where they are visited by The Woman in White and granted their powers. Girls rarely dream of The Woman in White twice and usually do not remember the part of their dream where they encounter her. It is likely that dreams often have a theme that coincides with the person's powers; for example, Alchemical Water had a dream with elements of water in it.

After the dream, a magical girl's hair and eyes change color and remain so until she either loses her powers or passes away, even when untransformed.

Magical girls lose their powers when they turn 18 or 20 years old. However they can lose their powers via overexherting them as shown in Chapter 2.

## Appearance

Magical girls usually have brightly colored hair that may suit their power; for example, Alchemical Water has blue hair. The color of their hair matches the color of their speech bubbles as well.

When they are transformed into their magical state, magical girls wear a costume that often suits their theme and personality. Their hair may be styled differently as well. Elements of the costume may change gradually over time or suddenly if a girls' life goes through a sudden change, but the general design will always remain the same. Costumes can be themed differently and their appearance depends on the girl’s personality; magical girls have been shown wearing a wide variety of outfits when transformed. Girls can also have makeup as part of their transformation, as shown with Outrageous Lemon.

Magical girls also have special **symbols** on their bodies that indicate their powers. Symbols can be located anywhere on a girl’s body, including her arm, cheek, or even eye. When magical girls transform, their symbol disappears from its previous location and shifts onto another part of their body or becomes an element of their costume. When a girl loses her powers prematurely, the symbol is replaced by a scar of the same shape.

If a magical girl becomes pregnant when she still has powers, her powers will leave her and flow into her child when she gives birth. If that child identifies as a girl, when she reaches the age range when magical girls receive their powers, she is sure to become a magical girl, because of her mother’s power dormant within her. When she receives her powers, her eyes will be her mother’s magical girl color, but the rest of her will be unique.

When a magical girl loses her powers, her hair, eyes, and speech shift back to their normal colors. This does not apply to girls who die while transformed.

## Powers

Magical girls can have all kinds of powers. Similar to their costumes, powers often suit the magical girl's personality; for example, Alchemical Fire had a tempestuous, angry personality, suiting her element. Not all powers are meant for direct combat; some are utility or recovery-based.

Some common powers are elemental powers, including fire, water, wind, earth, and ice. Other common powers include energy blasts in various shapes and forms. For example, Heartful Punch fires heart-shaped energy blasts from her gauntlets. When they transform, some magical girls may receive objects or tools that they can use to fight monsters. For example, Outrageous Lime uses a baseball bat. Other girls may be able to summon animal familiars that help them to fight monsters; for example, Techno Blitz has small bird familiars used for surveillance. Certain skills may also be amplified when transformed; for example, Outrageous Apple is more skilled at skateboarding when in her magical girl form.

Each magical girl has a certain amount of skills related to their power. Magical girls can manifest different attacks and skills as they get stronger. Girls can exercise different levels of control over their powers, and some girls may have trouble controlling them. To have full control, girls need to hone their powers and develop them to get stronger. The strength of their powers varies with each girl; girls with more flashy or powerful skillsets seem to be quite popular with the public. Healing magic is the rarest and most powerful type of magic.

It has been stated that magical girls can use their powers to get past the barrier.

## Teams

Magical girls often form teams to combat against monsters. Often, the teams are thematic, meaning that the girls' powers, costumes, and symbols match. Members of thematic teams usually know each other before they are granted their powers, although this is not always the case. Examples of thematic teams include Team Alchemical, Team Forte, and Team Melty.

Other times, the teams are non-thematic, meaning that there is no common element among the girls' powers. Examples of non-thematic teams include Team Blitz and Team Outrageous. These are often teams of convenience and mutual benefit to ensure safety in numbers.

Magical girls can battle alone as well, although this is considered more dangerous. Examples of solo fighters include Rue and Heartful Punch.

## Organizations

Magical girls are monitored by a multitude of organizations, including the **City Defense Department**, the **Board of Magical Girls**, and the **Magical Girl Support Institute**. The City Defense Department is in charge of battle logistics and protecting the city. It is unknown how much control the CDD has over how magical girls defend the city. The Board of Magical Girls is in charge of magical girl status and registration, and the Magical Girl Support Institute focuses on research centered on magical girls. The MGSI and the Board are sub departments of the CDD.

Magical girls register as a defendant of the city with the Board. When they register, they are assigned a personal counselor to help them deal with their transition. Registration does not mean that the magical girl is obligated to defend the city each night, nor does it mean they have to attend Future's Promise.

Future's Promise is the school designated for magical girls. The education at Future's Promise is of high quality, and the school has been shown to have better conditions than the average public high school. There are no grade levels in Future's Promise since magical girls are not granted their powers at one certain age; rather, classes are assigned according to the girl's proficiency in certain subjects.

## Media Culture

In the world of Sleepless Domain, magical girls are treated as celebrities. They are regarded as champions of the city and there is much media and tabloid attention surrounding them, including media outlets such as magazines, merchandise, and television talk shows. This allows magical girls who are popular enough to make money off of their celebrity status. Many popular magical girls have managers.

However, the public may not be fully aware of the dangers magical girls face every night in return for their stardom. They have come to ignore the deadly combat magical girls must undergo and treat magical girl deaths like trivialities. This also leads to a stigma surrounding magical girls who refuse to fight.

According to Heartful Punch, one of the most popular magical girls, the public likes to view magical girls as perfect warriors. They shy away from the idea that magical girls are as flawed as any other person, because this realization means that magical girls don’t exist just to fight and die for the city.

For more information about magical girl media culture, see Magical Girl Branding.