Issue 103: Winx Music Tour: Magic of the East

Winx Music Tour: Magic of the East is the one-hundred and third issue of the Winx Club Comic Series.

Synopsis
For the last leg of their music tour, the Winx are flown to the eastern city of Zhanjiang to host an entire TV special for the day. However, unbeknownst to the Winx, Mister Sakura, the man sponsoring their tour in Zhanjiang, plans to use them to drive out an angered spirit from the ancient Fox Gardens in order to build a mall over it.

Plot
The Winx are approaching the city of Zhanjiang in Jason Queen's private jet. The girls thank Jason for all that he has done and Jason assures them that it is no problem, though, he regrets not being able to accompany them to Zhanjiang. Bloom tells Jason that they cannot wait to perform on-stage and Stella claims that she heard that Zhanjiang has amazing shopping centers.

Meanwhile, in the city, two construction workers are walking through a park and seem to be afraid of something. One of the workers sees a mysterious shadow from under one of the cherry trees and the other decides to call their boss, Mister Sakura. However, the two of them are attacked by a wolf-shaped shadow before they are able to respond.

In another part of the city, Mr. Sakura has answered their call but is disappointed to hear his men fleeing. A girl dressed in red tells Mr. Sakura that she had already warned him of her sister, the Silver Fox. Mr. Sakura then tells the girl dressed in red that he will give her anything she wants if she can stop the Silver Fox from attacking any more of his men and the girl takes him up on his offer.

The following morning, the Winx are just getting out of bed as someone knocks on their door. Stella urges for them to stop all the noise and Tecna picks up her cellphone. Bloom goes to answer the door as Stella complain about how she will become wrinkly if she does not get enough sleep but, once she hears that a TV reporter has arrived, Stella leaps out of bed, insisting that she is always presentable for the camera. Musa and Flora notify Jason that the camera crew has just arrived along with their breakfast and Jason reveals that the reporter is a friend of his named Yumiko. She and the camera crew have promised to spend the whole day with the Winx Band and they plan to run a TV special titled Winx Music Tour: Magic of the East. Jason further reveals that they are already on live TV and internet feeds and Stella recommends all their fans watching to make sure not to miss their concert.

Many of the citizens of Zhanjiang tune into the Winx TV special, where Yumiko introduces every other member of the Winx Band. Mr. Sakura and the girl dressed in red are also tuning in as Mr. Sakura asks the girl if she is sure that the Winx may be able to help them with their issue. The girl assures Mr. Sakura that she can be trusted and claims that she, the Fire Fox, can never be wrong.

The next morning, the Winx Band is touring through the large city of Zhanjiang as multiple billboards air their TV special. Even people on the streets are eager to get a video of the Winx's limousine speeding past them! Stella is eager to move and, when Musa mentions that they have arrived near a mall, she storms the nearest shop to buy everything she can. Just as Yumiko and the Winx exit the limousine, Stella has already returned with one of the TV crew lugging multiple bags! Bloom assures Yumiko that this is normal for Stella as once she sees something she likes, she will not rest until she gets her hands on it. That is when Stella jumps in after hearing her name and Yumiko proposes that they check out the best restaurant in the city for a traditional snack.

Inside, the Winx have trouble deciding what to try first and Stella tries to eat a meatball but is having trouble as she has to use chopsticks to eat. She somehow ends up making one of the meatballs bounce off of a nearby pitcher and launch into her mouth all while the camera is still rolling. Yumiko applauds Stella on getting the meatball into her mouth and Tecna shows Stella that her meatball video had just gone viral on their website. Stella does not know what to make of the popularity at first but then she playfully warns everyone not to call her "Miss Flying Meatball."

A short while later, the Winx, Yumiko and her TV crew are continuing through Zhanjiang on foot until Musa gets a call from Jason Queen. Musa notifies the girls that they have become a big hit with Mr. Sakura according to Jason and Yumiko is surprised as Mr. Sakura is one of the richest men in the city. Musa further explains that Mr. Sakura had invited them out to the oldest park within Zhanjiang and Yumiko points out that the Fox Garden is rumored to be a magical place as it used to be the kingdom of the Celestial Foxes, the Silver Fox, Zenko and the Fiery Fox, Yako. Aisha quickly becomes intrigued by the legend as she thought she caught a glimpse of a red fox just a moment ago and Yumiko continues to retell the legend to the Winx.

Apparently, Yako lost her way home one day and had lost her ability to reconnect with nature because of it. Flora asks Bloom what she thinks and Bloom claims that going to shoot at the Fox Garden would not be a bad idea but advises that the Winx keep their eyes peeled.

Later that day, the Winx arrive at the Fox Gardens and begin their rehearsal. Zenko watches them practice from behind some nearby bushes with her fox friends as she assures them that the Winx may not be their enemies. Zenko notices that one of her fox friends is hiding and learns that Mr. Sakura's workers have returned. She quickly believes that the Winx were placed by Mr. Sakura to deceive her and lower her guard, so takes on a more monstrous fox form to launch fox-shaped spirit blasts at everyone in the park as a way of making them learn the Silver Fox's fury. In response, the Winx go into their Believix forms and shield themselves as they try to make contact with an enraged Zenko. As Zenko continues to attack, she accuses the Winx of putting up a distraction as their "accomplices" destroy her kingdom. Musa, who is currently flying, begins to realize what Zenko is talking about as many industrial workers are tearing down trees just on the other side of the park.

Zenko gets ready to launch another attack as she promises to make the Winx pay for everything until she suddenly begins losing her power. As she becomes more drained, Yako approaches from behind and thanks the Winx for their help. Stella immediately becomes suspicious of Yako but Bloom urges for her to stay calm and she asks Yako what she did to her sister, Zenko. Yako reveals that while the Winx kept Zenko busy, she captured all of her fox friends and loaded them into a truck. Without any of the silver foxes, Zenko has no power. Yako laughs over how no one will be able to stop Mr. Sakura's plans now and Musa realizes that Mr. Sakura planned for them to be there to distract Zenko away from his workers. Yako then reveals that Mr. Sakura plans to build a new shopping centre over the Fox Gardens and with the money he will make, Yako will get a new kingdom to rule over out of it. Yako laughs again over how the Winx can do nothing to stop it until Bloom mentions that there is still one more thing that they can do. She reminds the Winx of what Yumiko told them and they get the idea to try and heal Yako's severed ties to nature with Flora's special Believix Power. The Winx all focus their Believix magic onto Flora who then releases her special Believix power, her Breath of the World.

As Flora's Breath of the World spreads throughout the Fox Garden, all of Mr. Sakura's workers stop what they are doing as they realize how badly they have been harming the nature there. They stop tearing down the cherry trees and even release the foxes that Yako had previously captured. Yako also comes to her senses as her severed ties to nature are healed and Zenko welcomes her sister back with open arms. Also, Yumiko has her cameraman capture the entire scene on live video.

Bloom praises Flora on a job well done as Musa points out how much of a crowd has suddenly gathered. As it turns out, a rather angry mob of people rushed to the Fox Gardens in order to defend it. That is until Yumiko reveals that Flora's Believix Power had also reached Mr. Sakura's heart and Mr. Sakura himself rushes out to the Fox Gardens to proclaim his love for all of the nature and everyone there. Zenko thanks the Winx for returning her sister to her and Yako asks how they should repay them. That is when Musa ask the two fox spirits for permission to hold their performance at the Fox Gardens and Yumiko agrees as it would be a fitting ending for the TV special. And so, the Winx Band concludes their tour with a performance just under the cherry blossom trees as everyone cheers them on or dances along.

Days later, the Winx have returned to Gardenia now that their band's tour has concluded. The girls celebrate over how much of a success it was at the Frutti Music Bar until they see that Stella is down in the dumps. Musa reminds Stella that Jason promised to arrange another tour for them by next season but Stella knows this already, she just does not want to wait for a whole year because of how much she enjoyed performing publicly. Bloom then proposes that they perform at the Frutti Music Bar as she believes that since their tour started in Gardenia, then it should also end in Gardenia. That is when Roxy comes by with a tray of double smoothies for all of them.

Bloom asks Roxy if she will be able to help them organize one last concert at the Bar and Roxy agrees to do so. The girls all then cheer to the Winx Club Band and Stella gets the idea to celebrate with a new look. Musa volunteers to make ads for their Gardenia Concert and Tecna volunteers to try and post the concert online. With a bit of her technomagic, everyone at Alfea will be able to watch them perform as well! Roxy begins to feel disheartened after hearing Tecna mention Alfea and Bloom notices this. When she asks her what is wrong, Roxy explains that even though she had already sent out an application to the College for Fairies, she fears that she may not pass the entrance exam. Bloom assures Roxy that she knows exactly what Roxy is going through as she had to face many trials when she first realized she was a fairy. She tells Roxy to keep trying her hardest and, most importantly, never be afraid to make mistakes. She then claims that Roxy can always count on her like an older sister and Roxy thanks Bloom for the advice with a hug. The two Gardenia Fairies laugh under the full moon as they anticipate the new year.

Spells Used

 * Breath of the World - Amplified by the Winx and used by Flora to convince Mister Sakura's workers to stop tearing down trees and to return Yako to her senses.

Mistakes

 * Some of the Winx's Believix outfits hold minor errors.
 * Flora is often seen with one bracelet instead of two.
 * Bloom's gloves sometimes appear to be fingerless rather than stopping at the palm of her hand.
 * Musa's gloves are not fingerless in some panels.
 * The dark fuschia sleeves in Musa's Season 4 attire are missing.
 * Roxy's light green sleeves are missing.

Debuts

 * Mister Sakura
 * Yako
 * Zenko
 * Yumiko

Characters

 * The Winx Club
 * Bloom
 * Stella
 * Tecna
 * Aisha
 * Musa
 * Flora
 * Roxy


 * Humans
 * Jason Queen
 * Mister Sakura
 * Yumiko
 * Fox Spirits
 * Yako
 * Zenko
 * Animals
 * Kiko

Trivia

 * Starting from this issue onwards, the magazine's cover has a new style.
 * This issue is the third and final part of the Winx Music Tour miniseries.
 * The TV special in that Yumiko is in charge of shares the same name with this issue of the comic itself.
 * One of the girls that have tuned into the TV special has a plushie of Doraemon on her bed.
 * This issue marks the last appearance of Believix.
 * Despite this being Believix's last appearance, the cover already features the Winx in their Harmonix forms, which does not debut until the next issue.
 * This issue marks the first appearance of the Winx's Season 5 outfits.
 * Oddly enough, Roxy is just now registering to attend Alfea, when in her first comic book appearance, she had already enrolled and was attending Alfea.
 * It is learned that in order to attend Alfea, applicants must pass a magical entrance exam.
 * This is the comic in which Bloom tells Roxy that she can count on her as a sister.
 * Even though the setting is Zhanjiang, the city and characters seem to be more Japanese than Chinese as many of them have traditional Japanese names, like Yumiko and Mr. Sakura. Some of the billboards even have Japanese writing on them (a typical mix of kanji and hiragana) and romanized Japanese words.
 * One billboard has the word yousei written on it and that is the Japanese word for fairy.
 * In fact, the city of Zhanjiang seems more like the cities of Shibuya or Harajuku in Japan.