The origins of the magical girl genre
Note: this first chapter is an almost verbatim copy of the excellent introduction from the BESM:
Sailor Moon Role-Playing Game and Resource Book by Mark C. MacKinnon et al. I took the
liberty of changing a few names according to official translations and contemporary transliterations.
It focuses on the traditional magical girls “for girls”, and ignores very very early works like Go
Nagai's Cutie Honey, which essentially created a market more oriented towards the male audience;
we shall deal with such things in the next chapter. Once upon a time, an American live-action
sitcom called Bewitched, came to the Land of the Rising Sun...
The magical girl genre has a rather long and important history in Japan. The magical girls of manga
and Japanese animation (or anime) are a rather unique group of characters. They defy easy
classification, and yet contain elements from many of the best loved fairy tales and children's stories
throughout the world. Many countries have imported these stories for their children to enjoy (most
notably France, Italy and Spain) but the traditional format of this particular genre of manga and
anime still remains mostly unknown to much of the English-speaking world.
The very first magical girl seen on television was created about fifty years ago. Mahoutsukai Sally
(or “Sally the Witch”) began airing on Japanese television in 1966, in black and white. The first
season of the show proved to be so popular that it was renewed for a second year, moving into the
era of color television in 1967. Soon afterwards in 1969, Himitsu no Akko-chan (“The Secret of
Akko-chan”) debuted on television and ran for a year and a half. Many magical girls have followed
these two, including:
1970 Mahou no Mako-chan (“Magical Mako-chan”)
1972 Mahoutsukai Chappy (“Chappy the Witch”)
1974 Majokko Megu-chan (“Meg-chan the Witch Girl”)
1978 Majokko Tickle (“Magical Girl Tickle”)
1980 Mahou Shoujo Lalabel (“Magical Girl Lalabel”)
1982 Mahou no Princess Minky Momo (“Magical Princess Minky Momo”)
1983 Mahou no Tenshi Creamy Mami (“Creamy Mami, the Magic Angel”)
1984 Mahou no Yousei Persia (“Persia the Magic Fairy”)
1985 Mahou no Star Magical Emi (“Magical Emi, the Magic Star ”)
1986 Mahou no Idol Pastel Yumi (“Pastel Yumi, the Magic Idol”)
1990 Esper Mami
1990 Mahou no Angel Sweet Mint (“Magical Angel Sweet Mint”)
1992 Hana no Mahoutsukai Mary Bell (“Floral Magician Mary Bell”)
1992 Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (“Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon”)
1993 Hime-chan no Ribbon (“Hime-chan's Ribbon”)
1994 Ai to Yuuki no Pig Girl: Tonde Buurin (“Super Pig”)
1995 Ai Tenshi Densetsu Wedding Peach (“Wedding Peach” )
1995 Nurse Angel Ririka SOS
1996 Kaitou Saint Tail (“Misteryous Thief Saint Tail”)
1998 Mahou no Stage Fancy Lala (“Fancy Lala”)
1998 Card Captor Sakura
In the 60s and 70s, the general criteria set forth in the original two magical girl stories,
Mahoutsukai Sally and Himitsu no Akko-chan, helped to maintain a consistency of elements to
define the genre. The target audience was obviously defined to be young girls (shoujo anime),
usually under the age of ten and sometimes much younger. Both characters were Princesses of the
Land of Magic, but their abilities were different. Sally-chan used her powers directly, casting spell
of various kinds to effect things around here. Akko-chan, however, used a magical compact to
transform (“henshin”) into an alternate identity to become anyone, or any living creature, she
desired. Therefore, her magic only affected herself and not anything else around her. Both girls
were 10 to 12 years of age, and both stories were focused on the “coming of age” traumas that girls
experience as they grow into adolescence and become young women. The girls in these stories were
unique with respect to those around them – they had abilities that other people around them had not.
Most of these magical girl traits apply not only to the magical girl stories, but also to other shoujo
stories about idols, fantasy adventures, and romantic dramas.
With the creation of Mahou no Princess Minky Momo (“Magical Princess Minky Momo”) in 1982,
new standards were incorporated into the genre. Society had changed – women everywhere were
gaining more independence in a world that had always been controlled by men. Minky Momo was
the first magical girl story to incorporate a very important element into its story – for the very first
time, the heroine of the story dies. Although Minky Momo was still targeted primarily for young
girls, it was also created to be viewed by everyone. The story operated on a number of different
levels and to this day remains one of the greatest classic stories in anime history. Minky's story was
designed to make children actually think about their world. Adults enjoyed the show for exactly the
same reasons that stories like Walt Disney's Bambi are suggested viewing for people of all ages. The
Minky Momo series also broke the gender boundaries when many boys found themselves
profoundly affected by the story of a young girl whose death was felt by the entire world.
The 1980s also saw the creation of some of the most memorable magical girl stories ever told.
Studio Pierrot created four popular shows during this period: Creamy Mami, Persia, Magical Emi,
and Pastel Yumi. In addition, a whole new generation of girls was brought up with remakes of the
first magical girls ever: Mahoutsukai Sally and Himitsu no Akko-chan. Although some boys also
expressed an interest in the genre, it was still dominated by and targeted for young girls. One of the
reasons for this was very simple – many of the girls were portrayed to be idols, or what Westerners
might call “pop stars” of music, movies, and television. The idol industry was booming in Japan in
the 1980s, and adapting this popularity into the magical girl genre was only natural. The 1980s also
saw the birth and growth of the OVA (Original Video Animation) industry. Since many people in
Japan owned VCRs, it could be profitable to create an anime series exclusively for the consumer
market and video rental outlets.
By the 1990s, traditional gender roles had changed considerably. Society encouraged men to be
caring and tender, and women to be more forceful and assertive. The idol and OVA industries were
showing signs of drastic slowing as the audience changed and people began looking for a new
“fad.” A whole new generation of girls was introduced to the continuation/remake of Mahou no
Princess Minky Momo in 1991. Megumi Hayashibara, one of the most popular seiyuu (voice actress
or actor) of the 80s and 90s, was cast in the leading role.
Also in 1991, Naoko Takeuchi debuted a new manga (comic book) story called Codename wa
Sailor V. This story featured a sailor-suited, super heroine, teenage girl who tracked down and
punished criminals. The following year, in February of 1992, Takeuchi began an expanded version
of this story in Nakayoshi, a monthly shoujo manga collection for young girls. This new story
featured a team of five teenaged girl super heroines who fought the evil invaders of the Dark
Kingdom, and was called Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (“Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon”). Only one
month later, the animated version of the story aired on national television – the rest, as they say, is
history. The Sailor Moon series combined the elements that had always been so popular among
young girls with the sentai (lit.: fighting squadron) elements that have always been popular
throughout Japan, especially with young boys. As the dual stories continued, more and more young
boys and older fans of both genders began watching the weekly exploits of the Champions of
Justice. Viewers chose their favorite characters, and watched them grow as they struggled not only
with the responsibilities of being defenders of Love and Justice on Earth, but also with boy troubles,
school work, parents, their own friendships, and many other common problems that adolescent girls
experience worldwide. Takeuchi had discovered a very simple way to vastly expand the market for
young shoujo stories – incorporate elements that were popular with female and male audiences, and
with a wide variety of age groups.
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon ran for a total of five years, with two hundred television episodes,
three theatrical movies, and several live-action musical plays. Additionally, it inspired various beat
'em up, JRPG, and fighting video games, as well as an endless plethora of licensed merchandise.
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon demonstrated that television could be a very successful venue for
promoting not only a story, but also they toys and related products. The show proved beyond a
doubt that the risk of making an expensive television anime could indeed be highly lucrative. This
fact, coupled with the expanding popularity of anime overseas (especially in America) encouraged
studios to gamble on higher quality productions.
By 1994, studios were beginning to air series that were originally slated to be produced as OVAs.
Example of such high quality television series include Magic Knight Rayearth, Blue Seed, DNA²,
Zenki, Ai Tenshi Densetsu Wedding Peach, and others. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon also helped
gain acceptance of stories featuring young girls in starring roles. This is not to say that the young
girls in the stories have become any less feminine – as a general rule, they have not. However, the
girls do show a greater level of independence and headstrong behavior than many of the earlier
characters. Strong young girls can be seen in Magic Knight Rayearth, Kaitou Saint Tail, Ai Tenshi
Densetsu Wedding Peach, Nurse Angel Ririka SOS, and others. These stories are some of the most
emotional and dramatic stories seen in any genre.
It is very likely that many boys who experienced shoujo storytelling prior to Bishoujo Senshi Sailor
Moon had already learned that this genre featured something that appeals to everyone – namely, that
these stories focus on people and relationships. Rather than conflict or action driving the story, it is
the characters and their relationships with each other that advance the plot. Again, this is especially
true for magical girl series, because these stories deal with the various upheavals that everyone
experiences with the onset of adolescence. Adolescence is possibly the most turbulent period in
anyone's life, and thus many people identify strongly with one or more characters in these shoujo
stories.
Since the shoujo stories focus on characters and relationships, they tend to portray the characters as
very real people, with human strengths, weaknesses, virtues, and flaws. Even though the stories are
nominally written for females, the strong portrayal of the male characters makes them appealing to
boys and men as well. In many ways the broad appeal of shoujo stories can be likened to
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which is widely considered to be the greatest love story ever told
and is favored among diverse audiences. There is a great deal of nostalgia and idealism portrayed in
the young shoujo stories – the idealism, the innocence, and naïveté of youth that we lose as we grow
into adulthood. The young shoujo genre allows adults to experience the fleeting beauty of innocent
youth once again, and encourages us to believe in and strive for our dreams.
One of the most significant strengths of shoujo storytelling can unfortunately prove to be one of its
greatest liabilities for North American audiences. Many stories involve a great deal of symbolism
and thus if the audience misses the symbolic references, or misunderstands them, they may also
miss or misunderstand the story as well. Common symbolic references include: the various
meanings of flowers, plants and animals, seasonal symbolism, meaning of personal names, flights
of white doves, clouds, angelic symbolism, Biblical symbolism and even different clothes. All of
these symbols add incredible depth and meaning of the stories, but their contexts are not explicitly
stated to the audience. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon is a typical example of symbolic storytelling –
there are many hidden meanings within the story, depicting the true nature of the characters and
their relationship to each other. Symbolism is common in the North American culture as well, and
thus the hidden references in young shoujo stories may not seem at all that “foreign” if the audience
knows where to look.
The changes with which magical girls are confronted during their “coming of age”, both physically
and emotionally, will account for some of the greatest adjustments in their lives. Consequently, the
shoujo stories tend to develop the plot rather slowly compared to the shounen (young boy) stories.
After all, growing up does not take place overnight – it might take several episodes, or even
volumes, before the audience begins to see the true “heart” of the story. By the end of the story, the
young girl is a different person . She will doubtless retain the fundamental charm that always
defined their personality, but she has grown wiser as well.
The primary element that defines a magical girl is the fact that she has abilities that others around
her have not. This is a very important distinction: without it, most girls in anime and manga would
be magical girls! These abilities can come from two different sources: either she has been granted
these abilities by some outside or “higher” power, or the abilities are hers by birthright. If the
abilities are her birthright, she will either always have them, or she will discover them as she
reaches adolescence and “comes of age.” If she had been granted the abilities by an outside power,
it has happened at that particular moment in the story because she was deemed to be ready for the
challenge. Giving her the powers sooner would have been premature, and she would not have been
capable of handling the responsibilities they represent. Giving them to her later is unfeasible – once
the innocence and purity of youth is lost, it can never be regained. Such magical girl stories are
highly idealistic, but they also display a level of realism. They strive to show young girls that their
ideals are attainable, but that there will very likely a cost. Since Minky Momo first aired in 1982, it
has become fairly common for the magical girl to die at some point in the story. She is normally
brought back to life, but her rebirth is consistent with the other fundamental elements of the story.
The physical changes a young teenage girl goes through at this time in her life carries important
symbolic meanings in the magical girl stories. The girl will usually be 10 to 14 years of age, and
thus is very likely going through puberty. Though it may not be explicitly stated, the awakening of a
young girl's sexuality is a common symbolic element in magical girl stories. She is now capable of
bearing life, and it is this capacity, coupled with the various other elements that define her as a
person, that make her a “magical girl.” The magical girl's transformation sequence is symbolic of
this change from childhood to womanhood.
Of course, one of the most cherished fantasies children have is to be older. Parents reinforce this
tendency when they say to their children: “You'll understand when you're older” or “Not now. Wait
until you grow up.” When the magical girl transforms, she will normally become a slightly older
version of herself (after all, she doesn't want to be an adult quite yet). This instantaneous aging can
cause some problems, however. For example, if the girl's secret identity is discovered, or becomes
famous, how can she live the lives of two people at once? This problem occurs during Creamy
Mami, and it has a very adverse effect on the main character's school work. Her grades and health
really start to suffer as she tries to be two people at once – the tomboyish schoolgirl she really is,
and the Magical Angel Idol that everyone loves.
In addition to such obvious complications, there is another one that is even more serious, and quite
unexpected. Young girls often have a crush on an older boy. “Crushes” might be a quaint term, but
they can be very serious. The magical girl is normally very thrilled at her transformation – that is,
until the boy she loves falls in love with her secret identity instead of her. This often creates an
impossible competition between the girl's two identities for the boy's attention. It is also a very
biting commentary on our human tendency to never look beneath the surface. How many times do
people find out that the person they thought was so wonderful is really not a very “nice” person, or
that the person they thought was very annoying really has a pure heart? No other genre of anime
storytelling shows people that there is no “Mr. Right” more often than the magical girl genre.
The young shoujo stories are a celebration of life and love, especially the magical girl tales. A
magical girl will always be pure, sweet and innocent – aside from her purity, she is usually a normal
girl. She is an extension of all the positive energy in the universe, a girl who represent the physical
embodiment of all life and love. She is also a “channel” for this energy and thus will normally have
some type of “accessories” to help her channel this energy (compacts, wands, crystals, etc.). These
items are rarely the actual source of energy, however. She thinks with her heart, because her heart is
true; her mind might be deceived, but never her heart. In this “purity of spirit” that allows her to act
as a channel for the powers of life and love.
Since a magical girl thinks with her heart and not her head, she is prone to make decisions that are
not very practical, or that are the product of her idealistic emotions. For this reason more than any
other, she is often accompanied by a magical pet or mascot. The first series to really feature magical
pets as true companions to the young girl was Minky Momo in 1982, but they have now become a
standard element for magical girl stories. The mascot not only act as her companion, but also as her
confidant, friend and conscience. This last point is very important, because the magical pet is almost
always male. Although Sailor Moon's cat guardian, Luna, is female, the original magical pet from
Naoko Takeuchi's Codename wa Sailor V is a male cat, Artemis. The magical girl might make
choices that are morally correct, but very impractical or unrealistic. Her mascot acts as her
conscience to tell her when she is doing something that she should not, or to offer alternatives to her
chosen course of action. This often results in arguments, with the young girl defending her position
with phrases such as “I know I shouldn't do this, but I can't help myself, and I'm gonna do it
anyway!” The girl does eventually learn to take advice, though, and to tamper her emotional
judgements. By the same token, the magical pet often learns that the girl's emotional actions are the
correct path to follow, despite the difficulties. These types of interactions may parallel married life,
or interactions between close friends. Communication and understanding are the keys to any
successful relationship and the magical girl stories teach this lesson very well.
In some stories, the magical girl is granted her abilities for a limited time. She must follow a
number of rules concerning their use or face the harsh consequences. In Creamy Mami, for
example, Yuu is granted her magic for one year. If anyone discovers her secret, she will remain as
Creamy Mami for the rest of her life. In Hime-chan no Ribbon, Hime-chan is asked to use a magical
ribbon for one year by Princess Erika of the Magic World, which will prove that the ribbon that
Erika created is an useful magical item, and that she is capable of being a wise ruler. The ribbon
allows Hime-chan to transform into anyone else for a short period of time. If she exceeds the time
limit, however, she will remain transformed forever.
Even more dramatic are the stories in which the magical girl actively seeks to remain a “normal”
girl, without any magical abilities. In some stories, the girl heroine of the series may actually be
allowed to remain a normal girl by choice. For example, in Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, Usagi's
dying wish is to just be a normal girl; the wish is granted to her by the Illusionary Silver Crystal. In
Wedding Peach, Momoko and the others ask the Goddess Aphrodite to erase their memories and the
memories of the boys they love, so that they can live normal lives together. Of course, these desires
represent one of the main points of these stories too. There is nothing wrong with being “average”
or “normal”, and it is much better to be yourself, and to be true to your heart than to try to be
something extraordinary. The magical girl stories reinforce the idea that if you are true to yourself,
you already are something extraordinary... even if you do not realize it.
Sailor Moon's translation into English in North America is truly a landmark event. Many other
countries have already discovered the beauty and wonder of the magical girls and since then,
Canada and the United States have been able to partake in the magic, too. How has it changed
them?
One genre to rule them all
Half a century of magical girls later, I think I can safely say we've come a long way. This genre has
contributed extensively to the expansion of the anime and manga market in the Western world, and
it continues to turn people from all over the planet into dedicated anime fans. Fans of all genders.
What made it so appealing to the male demographic? What was the secret ingredient?
One of the first obvious attempts at drawing the boys into magical girls was Go Nagai's manga
Cutie Honey, later adapted into an anime. In my opinion, males are easy to market to, just give them
sex and violence, and as you can see from many of his works, Nagai is simply a master of them.
This creator gave the genre an older (16+) magical girl, that is in fact a robot, wearing revealing and
frequently damaged costumes, who is willing and able to fight to the death for what she believes in.
He also introduced dark stories, lesbianism (though not in a positive way in this case), a merciless
supervillain organization, and a sexy, beautiful, yet legitimately intimidating adult woman as the
main antagonist. In the following year's Majokko Meg-chan you can see the titular protagonist
teasing the viewers, dueling a fellow witch, enjoying the attention of a bunch of boys, being spied
on by a pervert... and that's just the opening I'm talking about! Beyond the opening, and compared
to previous shoujo series, in Meg-chan you will find a less hyper-feminine heroine, a properly evil
villain as well as a rival, the discussion of mature themes like domestic abuse, extramarital
relationships, drug abuse, parental abandonment, and most serious and severe consequences for
losing fights, which cannot be undone by the convenient application of magic. Meg-chan is the first
attempt to appeal to both genders as well as creating a more serious story, and by being as early as
1974, it means these things are about as old as the magical girl genre itself.
Many of Nagai's elements also returned - in a less extreme form, of course - in Bishoujo Senshi
Sailor Moon, and contributed to that series's popularity. Magical girls with proper erotic content,
designed for the pleasure of otaku, can be found in works such as Papillon Rose or the adaptation of
the eroge Magical Canan. But it would be a mistake to assume titles aimed at the shoujo
demographic are lacking in the sex department: I too was surprised to see in a sex scene with nudity
in the old, legendary, non-magical girl romance manga Glass no Kamen (“Glass Mask”). As for
magical girls, Shoujo Kakumei Utena (“Revolutionary Girl Utena”), for example, has no shortage of
sex and fanservice for everybody. The surprise in finding so much sexual content in shoujo anime
and manga stops the moment you realize the intended target audience are girls who want to grow
up, which means that, just like their male counterparts, they might want to do grown-up things.
Utena also happens to be a classic, combining Buddhist and Jungian philosophy, playing with
surrealism and European fairy tale conventions, discussing gender roles, lesbianism and incest, and
the American DVD release says it's from Sailor Moon's director. Transformation sequences are a
staple of the magical girl genre and, of course, opportunities for fanservice as well, as the magical
girl changes clothes by magical means, giving the camera license to zoom on her body according to
the anime staff's whims - a body that very frequently changes and grows into a somewhat olderlooking, more beautiful girl, thus the transformation sequence can appeal to both boys and girls.
Speaking of lesbianism, another way of attracting more male viewers is yuri. For example you can
have the protagonist attracted not to the school's Prince Charming, but to another pretty girl, most
likely a schoolmate, a friend and a fellow magical girl. Kannazuki no Miko deserves a mention here,
not only because it's a shounen magical girl story, but because the anime adaptation is a pioneer in
the yuri genre. Just make sure you don't miss the post-credits scene. Earlier yuri works weren't as
kind to the protagonists, ending-wise. Yuri or no yuri, the more numerous the beautiful girls in your
anime, the more likely it is that a male viewer finds a character suiting his very specific tastes to
dote on, based on looks and personality. Sailor Moon was able to do this by introducing the concept
of a team of magical girls, borrowing from the male audience oriented sentai series; it also had
some lesbian characters, for good measure. The fantasy of a young woman being very successful in
the things both men and women love, like Sailor Uranus (described as “having the strengths of both
sexes” in the very manga!), appeals to both genders.
As animation evolves, so does the depiction of fighting in magical girl series. 2004 in particular saw
the rise of two major magical girl franchises. One is Toei's Futari wa Pretty Cure, first title of their
post-Sailor Moon, yearly cash cow franchise, Pretty Cure (also known as Precure). The other is
Seven Arcs's Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha. Pretty Cure is certainly a series targeting primarily
little girls, but Toei wants to appeal to the whole family. Nanoha is a seinen. Both series give us
amazing fight choreographies. Pretty Cure fight villains mostly with punches and kicks while
magical girls in Nanoha have weaponry with moving parts, intelligence, alternate forms, and a
substantial destructive potential. After over a decade of Precure, a fairly formulaic franchise, fans
cannot agree over which series is best, though they majority usually recommends Futari wa Pretty
Cure, the first, or Heartcatch Precure, which is a series with great development for secondary
characters and victims of the week, beautiful character designs and again very good fighting action.
Nanoha is known, among other things, for the emphasis on befriending your opponent after
defeating her in a fight, and a certain villainess hated by generations upon generations of viewers
for the cruel way she treats Fate Testarossa, one of the most notable and beloved “dark” magical
girls since Sailor Pluto.
Those two series have contributed greatly to the image of magical girls as warriors. Before those,
Magic Knight Rayearth did. A trio of girls is transported to a fantasy world where they become
knights who wield weapons, wear armor, cast elemental magic, and pilot giant dragon armor gods
which are a fantasy equivalent of mecha. It is also a shoujo manga and anime. In another shoujo,
Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, the mermaid heroines use songs, more than physical trauma, to
vanquish their foes. The anime adaptation cuts some of the least family friendly content off the
manga, it's more sugary, the villains are less threatening... This didn't stop many male fans from
loving it. There is a long-standing culture of appreciating cuteness (kawaiisa) in Japan, and moe is
an economic force that moves billions and billions of yen in the direction of manga, anime DVDs
and Blu Ray discs, action figures and all manner of other merchandise - including music CDs. Senki
Zesshou Symphogear has an ensemble cast of voice actresses, including professional singers, who
portray ancient relic-toting heroines using songs to power blades, guns, and fists. It has many
elements commonly found in fighting shounen anime, such as bloody fights, abundant property
destruction, a very manly parental figure, the occasional training sequence, and a manga being
published in a shounen magazine.
So, when I'm watching a magical girl anime, is it meant for a primarily female audience or a
primarily male one? Some times it's obvious, for example the amount of panty shots can be telling,
but other times it can be confusing. Confusing to the point that the manga of Mahoutsukai Tai! (or
“Magic User's Club”), by Junichi Sato, was first on a shoujo magazine, then on a shounen one.
Cutie Honey was a shounen and Cutie Honey Flash was a shoujo. I myself can hardly believe that
Princess Tutu, with its fairy tale setting, ballet dancing, cute protagonist, and heartwarming content,
had a manga published on a shounen magazine. The situation is confusing to the point where we
should probably stop caring too much about such classifications and demographics, and focus on
what is really important: magical girls can appeal to you whether the series is shoujo, shounen or
seinen, because the magical girl genre is universally appealing.
When it comes to being universally appealing, among the recent series, Puella Magi Madoka ☆
Magica takes the cake. It's a TV series and a trilogy of movies (the first two being a recap of the
series), with plenty of seinen manga publications, a novelization, and some videogame adaptations.
The sale of related goods grossed approximately 333 million U.S. Dollars before the release of the
third movie, and the series received widespread critical acclaim. What was the secret to this
success? First of all, it all started with an ensemble staff. Nanoha director Akiyuki Shinbo,
Bakemonogatari producer Atsuhiro Iwakami, tragedy- and nihilism-loving writer Gen Urobuchi,
baroque composer-musician-producer Yuki Kajiura, and mistress of moe Ume Aoki as the original
character designer, all joined studio SHAFT in the creation of Madoka, while the animation troupe
animation troupe Gekidan INU Curry, who specialize in surrealism and Eastern European
techniques of animation, designed the magical girls' enemies and their otherworldly realms. The
result was forcing lovable middle schoolers through a grim, bloody, tragic mix of well trodden myth
and literature, such as Faust, Freudian-Jungian works and other German classics, Paradise Lost, The
Little Mermaid, The Nutcracker; there were some Buddhist and Christian influences to boot, as well
as science fiction, with the ultimate fate of the universe at stake, and alternate time-lines allowing
for infinite stories with infinitely different relationships. While that mosaic of sources might sound
intimidating, in actuality, Iwakami and Shinbo wanted their series to be accessible to “the general
anime fan” - and succeeded - so you can also enjoy Madoka for the beautiful art direction, elaborate
fight choreographies, gorgeous soundtrack, and the emotional torture of the heroines - after all, it
was the Western fans that managed to decode the Runes, the mysterious alphabet of the Magic
World, not exactly what the creators think when they speak of average anime fans. In the previous
generation, the “gateway drug” to the magical girl genre was Sailor Moon. Now it's Madoka.
Gen'ei wo Kakeru Taiyou (“Day Break Illusion - Il Sole Penetra le Illusioni”) and Yuuki Yuuna wa
Yuusha de Aru are, like Madoka before them, stories where the heroines question the motives of
those that give them magical powers and make them fight. I can't stress enough that this is an
element that defines those three series and is not typically found in other works, in which, even
when she is created against her will, the magical girl, quickly enough, accepts her mission. This can
be confusing to those anime fans whose first magical girl series was Madoka, and who are often
distrustful of the mascots, the cute critters who employ and recruit magical girls. Said fans are likely
to suspect that a mascot might hail from a species with a bizarre, alien outlook, and might be unable
to comprehend human emotions or business transparency.
Thus far, few magical girl anime series appear to have followed Puella Magi Madoka ☆Magica's
footsteps into a darker territory, where anything is vulnerable to corruption, and the road to Hell is
paved with good intentions. Nothing is sacred in Madoka, not even the Power of Love. But many of
the elements you can find in Madoka are far from unique. Throughout this half-century, the
protagonists of this genre of anime have been bleeding, killing, dying, falling to despair, hurting the
people they love, failing to redeem corrupted characters, becoming cosmic goddesses, declining
offers to become magical girls, arguing with their mascots, using magic for disagreeable or selfish
purposes, interacted with characters suffering from incurable diseases and disabilities, etc. It could
even be said that the earliest series had some of the least perfect main characters, for example the
magical idol singers are easily tempted into exploiting their powers to further their own careers, at
least initially. Even the most flowery and optimistic series tend have their share of relatively darker
episodes: Ojamajo Doremi is a franchise for little girls with extremely few characters being
malicious, and yet it has an outstanding ability for making the viewers cry, by showing them the
best and the worst that life has to offer, without manipulating you into feeling sad or making the
drama the star of the anime... sometimes you may cry of joy as well.
Where does the drama in magical girl shows come from? With adolescence being the most turbulent
time of one's life, it's only natural that all the purity and innocence the previous chapter spoke of are
threatened, friends and lovers quarrel, and ideals and aspirations clash against reality. Countless
antagonists in magical girl stories have seen all sorts of beautiful things and concepts stepped upon,
and therefore stopped believing in them. So did their victims. Sometimes this happens to the
protagonists as well. They remind us that we cherish beauty, hope and love because they are fragile.
The magical girl protects all the good in the world at the best of her ability, with the darkest series
we've seen fundamentally choosing to give the opposition a better chance than usual. She achieves
this with the appropriate combination of violence and mercy, action and words, and reason and
empathy. A magical girl often destroys her foe only after trying everything in her power to achieve
an understanding, even when such a monumental effort seems futile, because her prime directive is
to befriend others. It is when, in her final moment, a villainess deliberately refuses the magical girl's
saving hand, that you know she truly was beyond redemption.
What stands in the way of a magical girl? All this time we've seen magical girls wrestling things
like growing up, trials, dilemmas, temptations, misunderstandings, love confessions, betrayals,
negative emotions and the expendable monsters of the week created out of them, their own limits
and powers, poor misguided fools, megalomaniac dimension-conquering witches, loyal henchmen,
corrupted and brainwashed hostages, supernatural creatures of folklore and horror,
incomprehensible eldritch abominations, math problems, returning ancient evils, upcoming
apocalypses, their own artificial evil clones, disasters natural- or magical- or human-made, death,
non-evil yet mischievous forces of nature, and other magical girls. It's a very flexible, constantly
evolving genre you can use to tell all manner of stories; regardless of what the plot may be,
relationships and origins and motivations are everything. Even irredeemably evil queens who want
nothing but to destroy humanity need a backstory, possibly involving revenge – if the ultimate evil
itself is not particularly developed as a character, its servants could be, each with his or her own
reason to fight for it and an unique, individual relationship with their boss, be it debt, blackmail,
some twisted perversion of the idea of love and so on.
The magical girl genre is often confused with the superhero genre. “Superheroes for girls” is a very
common shorthand explanation of the genre among Westerners, that makes them think this genre
contains the wrong elements. Surely, it is likely that the main character possesses abilities ordinary
humans do not possess, wears a distinctive costume, may work on a team of other extraordinary
people, and tries to do the right thing. But superhero fiction is heavily influenced by real life current
events, corporations, celebrities and politics, and is a part of American culture. Typically, magical
girls don't beat up random bank robbers they've never met, because the expendable antagonists
they've never before met tend to be superhuman threats, and villains use magic. They don't work for
individual (earthling) nations or corporations, but usually try to save the world in its entirety, not
just parts of it – incidentally this also leads them to save their town, school, family, friends and love
interests as well. They hardly ever deal with things like bad PR among non-magical girls, for being
a magical girl does not automatically imply being a celebrity, nor infamy. They don't live in caves,
they're almost always social animals. They do not exist in a mash-up of multiple European and
Asian mythologies (fairy tales aren't mythologies). Crossovers between different series are the
exception (i.e. crossover movies between series of the franchise of Precure), not the norm.
Characters are not trapped in an unchanging, ever-rebooting status-quo, their relationships broaden
and deepen, or break, as they grow up physically, mentally, morally and socially, and they affect the
people they directly interact with. And they don't shake hands with the Prime Minister. I'd argue that
the obsession with the latest headlines, politics, and “realistic” storytelling, the omnipresent
resurrection of the dead, and the ever-changing writers rebooting the universes are the greatest
differences between superhero fiction and magical girls. Compare how in Precure, any property
destruction by the bad guys tends to be nullified immediately after they've been vanquished, with its
lighthearted analogue, the “four color” comic books, where I would try to insure my car against
being used as a thrown weapon by superheroes. In the case of darker series, compare how Cutie
Honey and Bruce Wayne react to the death of their parents. Instead of thinking how magic
influences society and science and culture and mass media and corporations and armed forces and
governments and the average person, ask yourself: how the do the main characters and villains
influence those individuals who actually get to play a role in the story, and vice versa?
Shoujo:
1979 Hana no Ko Lunlun (“Lulu, The Flower Angel”)
1982 Tokimeki Tonight
1994 Magic Knight Rayearth
1997 Shoujo Kakumei Utena (“Revolutionary Girl Utena”)
1999 Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne (“Phantom Thief Jeanne”)
1999 Mahoutsukai Tai! (“Magic User's Club”)
1999 Ojamajo Doremi (“Magical DoReMi”)
2000 Shin Shirayuki-hime Densetsu Prétear (“Prétear - The New Legend of Snow White”)
2002 Full Moon wo Sagashite (“Full Moon”)
2002 Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch
2002 Petite Princess Yucie
2002 Tokyo Mew Mew
2004 Futari wa Pretty Cure (“Pretty Cure”)
2005 Fushigiboshi no Futagohime
2005 Sugar Sugar Rune
2007 Shugo Chara!
2009 Anyamaru Tantei Kiruminzuu (“Animal Detectives Kiruminzoo”)
Shounen and seinen:
1973 Cutie Honey
1990 Mamono Hunter Yohko (“Devil Hunter Yohko”)
1995 Mahou Shoujo Pretty Sammy (“Magical Girl Pretty Sammy”)
1996 Shamanic Princess
1999 Ojamajo Doremi (“Magical DoReMi”)
2002 Rikujou Bouetai Mao-chan (Ground Defense Force Mao-chan”)
2002 Princess Tutu
2004 Kannazuki no Miko (“Destiny of the Shrine Maiden”)
2004 Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha (“Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha”)
2004 Mahou Shoujo Tai Arusu (“Tweeny Witches”)
2004 Mai-HiME (“My-HiME”)
2004 Uta Kata
2005 Mai-Otome (“My-Otome”)
2007 Kamichama Karin
2011 Puella Magi Madoka ☆Magica
2012 Senki Zesshou Symphogear (“Symphogear”)
2013 Fate/kaleid liner Prisma ☆Illya
2013 Gen'ei wo Kakeru Taiyou (“Day Break Illusion - Il Sole Penetra le Illusioni”)
2013 Little Witch Academia
2014 Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru (“Yuki Yuna is a Hero”)
Parodies, that also happen to be either shounen or seinen:
2001 Puni Puni Poemy
2002 Dai Mahou Touge (“Magical Witch Punie-chan”)
2002 Nurse Witch Komugi-chan Magicarte (“Nurse Witch Komugi”)
2005 Majokko Tsukune-chan
2007 Moetan
Western magical girls
Who cares lol