Dawn (StarLight)

"Dawn" is the first episode of StarLight. It was initially published in seven instalments between 2 January 2015 to 1 April 2015, as part of Project 20:15. On 13 April 2015, Ryan Nurse began publishing the episode to FictionPress in weekly instalments, with the sixth and final instalment being posted on 18 May. At over 10,000 words long, it is the longest single chapter or episode in any of Nurse's works.

"Dawn" serves as an introduction to the series, setting up the basic premise and introducing most of the central characters and backstory, as well as the show's signature fourth-wall-breaking style of humour. The episode depicts series protagonist Sanae Hikari's initial transformation into White Star, after receiving the newly-excavated White Star Emblem from her parents, as well as her first battle, against a sea monster that appears suddenly in downtown Mitsuzawa.

The episode has received mostly positive reviews, with its writing and humour being praised. The episode's frequent breaking of the fourth wall received a more mixed reception, with some reviewers feeling that it was broken too often.

Plot
After intentionally oversleeping, Sanae Hikari rushes to Mitsuzawa High School to begin the first day of her second year. On the way, she bumps into Hitomi Murasakime, a freshman student, but drops the toast she is carrying in her process. Upon arriving at the school, her best friend Amaya Kurozawa - anticipating Sanae's clumsiness - presents her with two fresh pieces of toast which Sanae eagerly wolfs down. During homeroom, Sanae and Amaya are delighted to learn that their favourite teacher, Inaba-sensei, is now their homeroom teacher; the pair are then assigned seats next to each other, though Sanae is upset about not getting her preferred window seat.

At lunchtime, a freshman named Ryouichi spots Sanae in the corridors and is instantly smitten, causing him to walk face-first into a female student who then accuses him of sexual harassment and slaps him. At the end of the day, as Sanae prepares to head home, she is accosted by conspiracy theorist Kazuo Ishihara who attempts to warn her of a perceived Illuminati plot to steal her genetic material, which Sanae ignores.

When she arrives home, Sanae is greeted by her parents, who are busy archaeologists and thus almost always absent. They present Sanae with an artifact found at their current dig site (which is just outside the city) as a present, before abruptly leaving. Sanae takes the artifact upstairs, and as she takes it in her hands, she suddenly feels a rush of magical energy which transforms her into a magical girl. At the same time, a mysterious winged woman appears before her: the woman identifies herself as Kousen, the creator and former owner of the artifact, and congratulates a confused Sanae on her newly-obtained power.

Kousen explains that there are two worlds parallel to Sanae's, known as the Worlds Above and Below. The World Above is inhabited by youkai such as herself, while the World Below is inhabited by vicious monsters. Kousen travelled to Mitsuzawa over 400 years ago to protect humanity from monsters that accidentally stumbled into their world; the artifact, called the White Star Emblem, serves as a source of chi, a powerful force that permeates the World Above and without which she is powerless. After suffering severe injuries (revealed in "Dusk" to have been inflicted during her battle with Kage, but here chalked up to a vague "defeat"), Kousen had been forced to seal herself away inside her Emblem, waiting for a worthy human to come into possession of the Emblem and inherit her powers. Since monsters are drawn to chi, any monsters arriving on Earth will be drawn to Mitsuzawa; Sanae thus agrees (albeit reluctantly) to take up the mantle of White Star and protect the city.

A short time later, as Sanae attempts to bring Kousen up to speed with modern technology, the city suddenly comes under attack from a massive sea serpent, which rises up from one of the city's rivers and demolishes a bridge. Sanae initially fears the gigantic monster will kill her, given her lack of training and experience, but after reassurance from Kousen she becomes more confident and agrees to fight it. The battle is initially fairly even, with Sanae inventing attacks on the fly, but after seemingly being defeated, the monster suddenly bursts back out of the river and snatches Sanae in its jaws. The girl is able to prise its jaws back open, however, and defeats it with an intense blast of chi called the "White Star Beam". The monster is destroyed, leaving behind only a small crystalline heart, and as the townspeople celebrate their new heroine, Sanae boldly promises to protect Mitsuzawa while Hitomi and a seemingly-jealous Amaya look on.

Cultural references
The episode references and parodies several common anime tropes, such as the protagonist being late for their first day of school and having to rush to school with a piece of toast in their mouth; Sanae deliberately oversleeps so she can do this, while Amaya remarks that the trope is "only ever parodied these days".

In his initial appearance, Kazuo repeatedly refers to the Illuminati, whose purported existence has spawned numerous conspiracy theories and Internet jokes. Later, after two citizens mistake White Star for a bird or a plane (a reference to Superman), Kazuo then mistakes her for a "lizard man", referring to another widely-ridiculed conspiracy. While talking with her parents, Sanae refers to Sweden as "that country with all the pirates", referring to The Pirate Bay.

In her introductory speech, White Star refers to herself as a "genuine magical girl", a phrase associated with the Vanishing Point character Ruby, Savior of Tokyo. During the battle, the first of several references to "FooTube" are made. The scene in which the seemingly-defeated monster bursts out of the river and appears to devour Sanae is a parody of an infamous scene in Puella Magi Madoka Magica; immediately afterwards, Hitomi interrupts the episode and makes two separate references to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. At the end of the episode, Sanae claims that she needs a catchphrase to use before fights, using Sailor Moon's catchphrase "In the name of the moon, I'll punish you!" as an example: when Kousen asks why she doesn't just use that, Sanae responds that it's "already taken".