The Magical Sempai (手品先輩 Tejina Senpai) manga is written and drawn by the mangaka Azu. It premiered in February 2016, and is serialized in Kodansha's seinen magazine, Weekly Young Magazine. The manga is published across 8 collected volumes. The final Japanese volume of the manga was released on March 5, 2021. Azu has stated that the manga ending is not a cancellation. A licensed English translation of the manga is published digitally by Kodansha USA's Kodansha Comics imprint.
The manga follows a third-year high school student, Sempai, and her junior, Assistant, and their magic club. While Sempai is a talented magician, her severe stage fright repeatedly lands her and her assistant into risqué situations. As the series goes on, other characters join in on the antics, like Sempai's older sister, Madara-san, Saki-chan, and Ma-kun.
In November 2019, a spinoff titled Isekai Senpai: Tejina Senpai wa Kono Sekai de mo Ponkotsu na You desu (異世界先輩 ー手品先輩はこの世界でもポンコツなようですー Fantasy World Sempai: Looks Like Magical Sempai is a Failure in This World, Too) was published via Ichijinsha's Manga 4-Koma Palette magazine.
In 2020, a crossover chapter titled "Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro x Magical Sempai" (イジらないで、長瀞さんx手品先輩, Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san x Tejina Senpai) was published via Young Magazine and Magazine Pocket. The story feature Sempai and Assistant meeting Hayase Nagatoro and her Sempai from the series, Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro, after both couples end up on a small desert island.
One-Shot Version[]
One-shot-Sempai is more cheerful and youthful
The one-shot version of Magical Sempai featured a much more innocent Sempai than the current version. She had a younger, more cheerful, "cute" appearance and wore a sailor-style school uniform. Although the manga still focused on comedy, risqué situations were minimal to non-existent.
Redesign[]
Current Sempai "doesn't understand the world of perversion" but frequently makes suggestive comments
Two chapters (11 parts total) from the original one-shot version of Magical Sempai are included as a bonus feature at the end of Volume 6. A short foreword by the author explains that "they said it would be hard to run that version," so in response, the manga was crammed full of "dirty jokes and stuff". In addition, Sempai was given a more suggestive design and more prominent fangs. The stories in the one-shot version were remade with all-new art for the serialized version.
Japanese volumes[]
| Volume | Cover | Release date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
August 5, 2016 | ISBN 978-4-06-382835-1 |
| 2 |   |
December 6, 2016 | ISBN 978-4-06-382888-7 |
| 3 |   |
April 6, 2017 | ISBN 978-4-06-382955-6 |
| 4 |   |
September 6, 2017 | ISBN 978-4-06-510144-5 |
| 5 |   |
November 6, 2018 | ISBN 978-4-06-513559-4 |
| 6 |   |
September 6, 2019 | ISBN 978-4-06-516993-3 |
| 7 |   |
July 6, 2020 | ISBN 978-4-06-520194-7 |
| 8 |   |
March 5, 2021 | ISBN 978-4-06-522586-8 |
English volumes[]
| Volume | Cover | Release date (digital) | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |   |
September 12, 2017 | ISBN 978-1-68-233907-7 |
| 2 |   |
October 10, 2017 | ISBN 978-1-68-233908-4 |
| 3 |   |
November 14, 2017 | ISBN 978-1-68-233909-1 |
| 4 |   |
February 6, 2018 | ISBN 978-1-64-212120-9 |
| 5 |   |
February 5, 2019 | ISBN 978-1-64-212668-6 |
| 6 |   |
January 7, 2020 | ISBN 978-1-64-659199-2 |
| 7 |   |
November 3, 2020 | ISBN 978-1-64-659795-6 |
| 8 |   |
August 31, 2021 | ISBN 978-1-63-699316-4 |
Trivia[]
A comparison of the unlicensed translation (left) and licensed translation (right) of chapter 5 part 3
- In addition to the officially-licensed English translation, an unlicensed English translation made by fans was also released. The fan-made translation covers the manga up to chapter 58. Some dialog in the unofficial translation differs considerably from the official translation, causing some jokes to not work as intended. However, the licensed release also uses somewhat more liberal translations in certain parts, likely in order to better get the vulgar humor across.
- In the second episode of Wotakoi:Love is Hard for Otaku, the cover for Magical Sempai Volume 4 can be seen when the group visits Animate to shop after work. The manga versions of Wotakoi and Magical Sempai share the same publisher, Kodansha.
List of chapters[]
- Main article: List of Chapters