Bright acoustic guitar and warm piano that immediately says visual novel romance. How to Date a Magical Girl came out in 2020 on PC and Mac with a soundtrack that swings between adorable and devastating. Sunshine Through The Window and Lazy School Day set up this perfect slice-of-life comfort zone before the rug gets pulled.
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Each girl gets her own theme. Hikari's Theme, Yui's Theme, Kaori's Theme, all distinct, all doing character work the writing doesn't even have to. Starlight Date is genuinely sweet without being saccharine. Then the darker tracks creep in.
Darkness Creeping In and Lost In My Own Nightmare shift the whole tone. Fighting For The Truth goes full battle mode. The contrast between Happy Days Ahead and Goodbye (But Not) Forever is... a lot. If you want a soundtrack that proves magical girl stories can have real emotional teeth, queue this up.