Time to introduce my latest purchases, all of them girl-power-themed, animesque, and translated from the Italian:
Leila Blue Series, by Miriam Dubini.
Essentially, a retelling of "The Snow Queen", in which the titular heroine's mother Grace is enchanted and taken to the Ice Palace. Leila decides, in response, to gather an army of magical creatures... Shards of a shattered mirror lodge in human hearts, Grace's being warmed by her fiancé-husband and her love for her daughter, which in turn led to her capture to bring her back to the fold. The Snow Queen's army is also present guarding the ice palace - as a large flock of diamond-like dragonflies...
A six-book series with lots of references to Celtic culture and fairy tales.
Milla & Luna Series, by Prunella Bat.
Milla is the red-haired tomboy, while Luna is the dark-skinned beauty. They are a witch and a fairy, respectively, and also the chosen ones who, again and again, fend off the decadent Dark People. A great animesque take on the magical girl genre!
Princess College Series, by Prunella Bat (author of Milla & Luna)
No magical girls, but still lots of glamour and high culture in this ongoing mystery+slice-of-life novel series about the students at the titular all-girls boarding school and the cadets at a nearby military academy. Animesque illustrations, comedy, romance, the power of friendship, rivalry between classmates, all which compensate the lack of phlebotinum both as magic and technology...
