The late Cocoa Fujiwara never got to finish this story. Even if you don't love the series, that's a tragedy, and for readers, it means knowing that you're embarking on a journey without a finish – when the third volume contained in this omnibus concludes, it's obvious that the story wasn't meant to. It ends mid-arc, but it's also a storyline that the anime adaptation never covered, so it's a bittersweet finish, and fans of Fujiwara's works and/or the anime version may want to pick this up to see where the plot was headed.

Whether you want to, however, may be dictated by one other deliberate choice made on the part of the anime's creators. In the show, it's not entirely clear what the age difference between Mira and Byakuya is – we know she left school after middle school (the end of compulsory schooling in Japan.) She could be between fifteen and eighteen, while Mira's age remains unstated, allowing viewers to make assumptions. (I thought he was around twenty.) But the manga explicitly states their ages: Byakuya is fifteen or sixteen (she and fellow magical girl Hibana were in the same class at one point, and Hibana is fifteen), and Mira is twenty-seven. That's enough of a difference that it may be uncomfortable for readers, even if the suspicion is that the entire setup is meant to be played for laughs. Hypercompetent Mira being such a baby when it comes to love? As a juxtaposition, it's fairly classic, seen across genres in both manga and prose works.

It's also a story about an adult man falling madly in love with a child. That won't be comfortable for everyone. Likewise, knowing the characters' ages can make the fanservice angle of the story discomfiting, although again, I'm fairly certain that it's not intended to be taken seriously. The male gaze is strong with this title, but that's part of the point. Byakuya's familiar/mascot animal is a creepy grown man in a catsuit, and he's very keen on making her use her ample assets to keep him in the style to which he'd like to become accustomed. Cat Familiar is at least a hundred times grosser than Mira, and the implication is that Byakuya's Glass Happiness outfit is entirely his creation, designed to show off Byakuya's body. It's a tongue-in-cheek reference to how magical girl stories aren't always for the original intended audience of little girls, acknowledging the adult male fanbase in a way designed to poke fun at the shift in audience. Cat Familiar stands on the side of the creepy people co-opting the story for their titillation, while Mira is the defender of Byakuya's purity of spirit. Part of the joke is that Cat Familiar needs Byakuya to remain a virgin so that she can still transform, while Mira is more keen to respect her.

This perhaps sounds too analytical and highbrow for what is, at the end of the day, a comedic series, but comedy can still have something to say. (See everything Terry Pratchett ever wrote for a brilliant example.) Fortunately, The Magical Girl and The Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies is still very funny. The send-ups of the magical girl genre are more on than off, with Cat Familiar gleefully warping the basics of the genre to make Glass Happiness say embarrassing catchphrases and the low-key battles between Cat Familiar and Bird Familiar poking at fun mascot characters in general. (Cat Familiar's ability to revive also seems like a clear reference to Kyubey of Puella Magi Madoka Magica.) Similarly, the second magical girl, Hibana (we never learn her magical girl name) is a caricature of a tsundere: she bites like a poorly trained chihuahua and fully half of her dialogue consists of the word “fuck.” (Or “f*ck.”) It's a bit funnier in the anime because of the way her voice actor says it but still delightfully insane. The contrast between Hibana and Byakuya is very entertaining.

As I mentioned before, the manga goes beyond what was adapted and embarks on a new storyline where Byakuya is captured by the evil organization (not Mira, specifically) and imprisoned in a tower for torture (by Mira, specifically). Mira, needless to say, is not good at this, and the situation quickly devolves into their happy “married” life, with everyone else assuming that he's taking his time doing terrible things to her. It doesn't go very far, but it's the only new material we'll ever get (from Fujiwara's pen, at least), and that alone may be worth picking up the book for. Also included is Fujiwara's first published manga, which is clearly where she got the ideas she developed later in this series. It's rough and the work of a creator who isn't fully developed, but it's still interesting, if not bittersweet.

As four-panel manga go, this is a good one. Chapter titles come at the end of each four-panel page rather than at the start, as is a bit more common, and the pacing works well. Fujiwara's art is lovely, although if the fanservice aspect isn't something you enjoy, this may not be your cup of tea, as we get many images of Byakuya's barely-clothed breasts. It's not a finished story, but it is fun to read, even if we'll never know the ending.