The slides for the panel The History of Magical Girl Anime: R (Is That Returns, Romance or Rondo) from Ayacon 2013. An update of the first time I ran the panel at Amecon 2012.

1. The History of
Magical Girl Anime ~ R
Is That Returns, Romance, or Rondo?

2. Panel Outline
So What Makes A Girl Magical Anyway?
~~
The Genesis of Magical Girl Anime
~~
History and Timeline
~~
Looking Beyond The Shoujo Demographic
~~
Magical Girls – A Worldwide Phenomenon
~~
Credits and References

3. So What Makes A Girl
Magical Anyway?

4. Defining “Magical Girl Anime”
How does one define “magical girl”
(mahou shoujo) anime? Is it any
anime that prominantly features a
female magic user? Well a lot of this
is roughly down to opinion but
magical girl shows tend to fall into a
certain set of rules. Most of them are
marketed and aimed at young girls
themselves, and many of them aim
to teach morality lessons or provide
an escapist fantasy for their young
audience.
Later shows of course have deviated
from these core concepts but the
main stable of magical girl shows
tend to stick to them.
There are several sub ‘types’ of magical
girl, which can be roughly divided
into the following:
• Cute Witches and Magical
Princesses (or Majokko)
• Shapeshifting Magical Girls with
Skills Simulation
• Magical Warriors

5. Majokko – Girl Witches
In Japan magical girls who
were witches were some of
the most popular early
examples of magical girls,
long before the ‘super
heroine’ style shows more
well known by the English
speaking fandom were even
developed.
Generally these witches are
also extra dimensional
travellers, though Earth
Born witches would later
appear as well. In most
cases they use their abilities
to try and become better
witches and to help their
friends and family.
Occasionally these witches are
also magical princesses...
which leads on to.
Some examples:
•Mahotsukai Sally (1966)
•Hana no Mahotsukai Mary Bell (1992)
•Akazukin Chacha (1991)
•Majokko Tickle (1978)
•Ojamajo Doremi (1999)
•Ultra Maniac (2001)
•Sugar Sugar Rune (2004)

6. The Girls Who Would Be Queen
Ever since the early days of magical girls
anime has realised a fact that the
Disney corporation has also made a
lot of money from – a heck of a lot of
little girls like princesses. Therefore
many magical girls are themselves
princesses.
A common plot line is for a princess to
from another dimension, like the
aforementioned witches, to travel to
Earth to test her mettle before she
can ascend to the throne. Sometimes
she needs to collect plot tokens or
defeat a rival to do so.
Other times a princess is sent to our
world to save it via doing good deeds
with her magic or simply to have fun.
Occasionally the princess is not herself a
main character but instead is the one
who imbrues an ordinary girl with
magic.
Some Examples:
•Majokko Megu-chan (1974)
•Comet-san (1967) / Cosmic Baton Girl
Comet-san (2001)
•Hana no Ko no Lunlun (1979)
•Magical Princess Minky Momo (1982)
•Hime-chan no Ribon (1990)
From Parody:
•Dai Mahou Touge (2002)

7. Shape Shifting for Fun and Profit
Many magical girls have the ability to
shapeshift, particularly to turn into an
older women with a ‘glamorous’ job
role – such as air hostess, singer,
nurse or doctor. Alternatively she has
the power to mimic specific
individuals.
There are a few shows where a magical
girl has this as a side power unrelated
to her main powers or where a cute
witch uses her general witch abilities
to occasionally do a similar spell.
However, it is also very common to find
magical girls who have this as their
only major power. These shows often
have the girls use these abilities to
either do good deeds for other so that
she can spread a little joy and
happiness.
Another use of this power is to allow the
magical girl to sneak into places she
normally couldn’t go or to snoop
around and do detective work.
Some Examples:
Main Premise:
•Himitsu no Akko-chan (1962)
•Hime-chan no Ribon (1990)
•Magical Princess Minky Momo
(1982)
Side Power:
•Cutie Honey (1973)
•Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon

8. Who Needs Simon Cowell Anyway?
Perhaps the ultimate ‘wish fulfilment’
magical girl which first came into
prominence in the halcyon days of the
1980s. The basic plot of was to take
the idea of the shapeshifting magical
girl and to single her abilities down to
one particular career – idol singer.
In these shows a girl would be granted
the power to become an older more
confident version of herself usually as
thanks for having helped out a being
of great power. She would later go on
yo be recruited by talent scouts in
order to become an idol singer.
These magical girls would later go one to
be combined with the ‘magical
warrior’ style magical girls to become
magical singing warriors in Mermaid
Melody Pichi Pichi Pitchi.
Some Examples:
•Mahou no Tenshi Creamy Mami
(1983)
•Mahou no Suta Magical Emi
(1985)
•Mahou no Stage Fancy Lala
(1988/98)
•Full Moon no Sagashite (2002)
•Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch
(2002)
Oddly Similar Western Example:
•Jem and the Holograms (1985

9. Like Xena and Buffy With Frills
Probably the most famous magical girl type in
the west. These girls are imbrued with
magical powers (or sometimes is
‘scientifically enhanced’ via with a version
of technology that really stretches Arthur
C. Clarke’s Third Law of sci-fi writing) to
fight evil.
These girls have proven their mass market
appeal more across the world as they tend
to be the type of magical girl that has gone
on to be parodied the most outside of
Japan, but also to have genuine non-
Japanese shows follow their examples.
Though early examples focused on singular
magical girls, these shows were the first to
really branch out into depending on an
ensemble cast as they were also heavily
influenced by sentai team shows (e.g.
Super Sentai, Science Ninja Team
Gatchaman – perhaps more familiar to
some of you as the Power Rangers
franchise, or Battle of the Planets). These
shows promoted friendship, camaraderie,
and team work.
Some Examples:
•Cutie Honey (1973)
•Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon (1992)
•Ai Tenshi Densetsu Wedding Peach
(1994)
•Tokyo Mew Mew (2000)
• The Pretty Cure Franchise (2004)
Western Examples (Direct and
Indirect):
•She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985)
•Princess Starla and the Jewel
Riders (1995)
•W.I.T.C.H. (2001)
•Winx Club (2004)

10. I Fought the Law and I Won
(with magic)
A smaller collection of magical girls fit into this
subtype, these girls are on the other side of
the law to our aforementioned magical
warriors though for honourable reasons.
They use their abilities to steal items from
under the nose of the police and do so with
a high degree of style and stealth. Often
having a rivalry with someone who is
somehow related to the police but who has
no idea that the thief in question is actually
a class mate or even their best friend!
These girls blend the magical girl genre with
the ‘phantom thief’ (kaitou) genre in that
they tend to steal for just reasons and leave
calling cards or even advance warnings to
give the police a head start.
These magical girls draw heavily on the
popularity in Japan for gentleman thief
characters such as the original Arsene
Lupin, there have also been occasional
cases of male phantom thieves appearing
as love interests in other magical girl
works.
Some Examples:
•Kaitou Saint Tail (1995)
•Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne (1998)
A with a male protagonist but a lot
of magical girl tropes:
•D.N.Angel (1997)
Shows with (male) secondary thief
characters:
• Sailor Moon (Tuxedo Mask)
• Codename Sailor V (Kaitou Ace)
• Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne (Kaitou
Sinbad)

11. So What Does All Of This Mean?
Whilst often dealing in wish fulfilment
and escapist elements, like most
fantasy, superhero and and sci-fi
genres magical girl shows are often
used to examine specific themes. As
shows typically aimed at young
women in their late childhood to
early teens the trials and tribulations
of puberty are often metaphorically,
or even sometimes directly touched
on – a prime example being Osamu
Tezuka’s Marvellous Melmo.
Romance, sexuality, death and other
issues can be either lightly touched
on or sometimes even directly
presented – for example the
relationship of Haruka (Sailor
Uranus) , and Michiru (Sailor
Neptune) in Sailor Moon. The
importance of friendship, and
discovering ones own identity are
frequent topics that are looked at in
shows such as Futari wa Pretty Cure
and Shugo Chara.

12. The Genesis of Magical Girl
Anime

13. The 1960s - The Beginnings
Which title was the ‘first’ magical girl
series? This actually depends on
how you look at it.
Himitsu no Akko-chan (Secrets of Akko-
chan)
• created by Fujio Akatsuki
• first debuted as a manga: 1962
(Ribon magazine)
• first animated: 1969
• generally believed to be first
magical girl manga
Mahoutsukai Sally (Sally, the Witch)
• written by Mitsuteru Yokoyama
• first debuted as manga 1966 (Ribon
magazine) as Mahotsukai Sunny
• first animated: 1966
• generally believed to be first
magical girl anime

14. The 1960s - Inspirations
Akatsuki and Yokohama both cited
the same source of inspiration for
giving the initial idea for both
Mahotsukai Sally and Himitsu no
Akko-chan. That source?
Sol Saks’ 1960s ‘fantasy sit-com’
Bewitched which originally ran on
ABC in the USA from 1964-1972.
The series became incredibly
popular in Japan when it aired as
Okusama wa Majo (My Wife is a
Witch) especially with young girls.
It was this that inspired both manga
creators to pen their own versions
but with young girls themselves as
the protagonists.

15. Bewitched
Bewitched has a lot of themes that would appear in
magical girl series, particularly those featuring cute
witches. It is the story of Samantha Stephens
newlywed housewife to Darrin Stephens who was
secretly a witch.
Though, in keeping with her husband’s wishes she tried
not to use her magic she always ended up breaking
that promise, especially when her troublesome mother
Endora (who deeply disapproved the marriage) turned
up.
The themes of having to hide their magic abilities, trying to
use magic to help others but screwing things up, and
meddlesome magical relatives or associates are
common tropes in witch themed magical girl series.
The show would later go on to have a direct inspiration on
series not aimed a young girls Okusama wa Maho
Shoujo: Bewitched Agnes. About 26 year old magical
girl who was married to a human but who began to
consider having an affair with someone else.
On a side note Bewitched was remade in 2004 into an 11
episode J-Drama also called Okusama wa Majo.

16. History and Timeline

17. Himitsu no Akko-chan
(Secrets of Akko-chan)
Atsuko "Akko-chan" Kagami is a girl who
owns a mirror which holds special
sentimental value to her. One day, it is
accidentally broken and she decides
to give it a burial rather than just
discard it.
Shortly afterwards, she is approached by
a magical figure who is moved by her
actions and replaces her mirror with a
magical one. This mirror gives her the
power to turn into anyone else and
gain there abilities.
Has been adapted several times as
anime, and in live action:
• Series: 1969 (eps 94), 1988 (eps 61), and
1998 (eps 44)
• Movies based on said anime: Five between
1969 – 1973, and two in 1989
• Also set to receive a live action film in
September 2012

18. Mahoutsukai Sally
(Sally, the Witch)
Originally named Sunny in the manga,
our protagonists name was changed
to prevent legal action from the Sony
corporation under fears of sounding
similar.
Sally was the princess of the magical
kingdom of Astoria who longed to
come to Earth and make some
friends. Whilst there she uses her
magic to solve problems and help
people out as well as to learn to be
more proficient.
Adapted as series twice and has one movie:
• Series in 1966 (109 eps), and a sequel
series in 1989 (88 eps)
• Movie in 1990 associated with 1989 series

19. History and Timeline
Akko-chan, and Sally introduced several of the genre
tropes including the ‘princess of another kingdom’
character type, the trope of a human girl being gifted
with a specific power – disguise, the ‘transformation
trinket’ and the magical phrase to activate a magical
girl’s powers.
Both girls were around the 10-12 mark at both series
were aimed at girls the same age or younger and by
and large were coming of age stories.

20. The 1970s – Rivals, Monarch
Quests, and Panty Shots
The next magical girls to appear
were those of the 1970s, still
shows generally aimed at young
girls but now featuring a wider
range of ages.
It was in the 1970s that we saw
some bigger changes including
the introduction of:
• Older protagonists
• Somewhat darker themes
• Rival magical girls
• Trials of suitability for becoming
Queens
• Examples aimed at audiences
other than young girls
• Fanservice!

21. Mahou no Mako-chan
(Magical Mako or Mako the Mermaid)
The first magical girl adaptation of Hans Christian
Anderson’s famous fairytail The Little Mermaid. It
follows the story of Mako the mischievous mermaid
daughter of the Dragon King the Japanese God of
the Sea . Much like in the original story Mako is
curious about the human world and finds herself
rescuing a human boy who falls overboard. She then
goes to the sea witch – in this case her grandmother
to become human and search for him.
Mako does not lose the ability to talk, she instead
sacrifices her life in the sea to become permanently
human. She is then taken in by a fisherman –
Urashima - and his two grandsons. Her father is
unhappy about this but gives her a magic pendant -
The Tear of the Mermaid - that she uses to help
enrich the lives of those around her.
The king of the sea as visits dry land from time to time to
scold Mako, make sure she’s alright and to try and
stop her from showing off too much fanservice.
• First of Several My Little Mermaid Adaptations in
Magical Girl Form
• An early example of fanservice despite being aimed
a girls
• 48 episode anime series (1970)

22. Cutie Honey
Created by creator-powerhouse Go Nagai, though
this anime series was intended for male
audiences, it had a massive impact on the genre
and needs mentioning in the main time line
because of it. Honey Kisaragi thinks she is a
normal girl until her scientist father is murdered
by the Panther Claw group.
It is then she finds out she is actually a specially
designed self aware gynoid who the villains want
to extract her – till now unknown to her – ability
to create matter from the air.
Honey Kisaragi’s true form has always been
designed to be that of the warrior of love – Cutie
Honey! Who she transforms into with the phrase
– “Honey Flash!”.
Though aimed at boys and young men Honey’s
assertive mischievous heroine was very popular
with girls this popularised several tropes which
would later become magical girl staples.
• Cutie Honey was the first magical girl warrior
• Nekkid! transformation sequences
• Introduction of speeches, transformation
phrases, and attacks – popular boys shows
staples to the genre
Versions:
•Cutie Honey (TV anime, 1973, 25
eps)
• Several Cutie Honey Manga
•Shin Cutie Honey (OVA ,8 eps,
1994)
• Cutie Honey Flash (TV anime,
1997, 39 eps)
• Cutie Honey (Live Action Movie,
2004)
• Re: Cutie Honey (OVA, 2004, 3
eps)
• Cutie Honey the Live (TV show,

23. Hana no Ko Lunlun
(Flower Child Lunlun or Lulu, The Flowe Angel)
Lunlun is a French orphan living in a florist with her
grandparents, on her fifteenth birthday she is
approached by plant spirits who hail from the
“Flowern Star” who need her assistance.
Lunlun is a descendent of plant spirts herself on her
mother’s side, and she is tasked with the quest
of travelling around Europe looking for the
“Flower of Seven Colours” that is required for
the prince of the Flowern Star to ascend to the
throne. She is aided by two sprits who take the
form of a talking dog and talking cat, as well as
mysterious photographer called Serge. Her
advisory is the selfish Togenishia and her minion
Yabooki, as Togenishia wants to take over
Flowern Star for herself.
Lunlun has a magical pendant she can activate with
the phrase "Fu Flay Lu Fey Lora” to request from
flowers outfits which will give her useful ablities
like mountain climbing, sailing, or bull fighting.
• The first Magical Girl to make it to the USA
though only a few episodes were show under the
title Angel.
• An early example of a magical girl having a
mysterious protector in Serge.
•50 episode anime (1979)
• 15 minute OVA ‘film’ (1980)

24. The 1980s – The Studio Pierrot Era
The up until the 1980s the predominant
studio producing magical girl anime was
TOEI Animation (the major exception to
this being Marvelous Melmo).
This was changed with the introduction of
the wildly popular Magical Princess
Minky Momo animated by Ashi
Productions.
However, though that company would later
become Production Reed and indeed be
known for it’s magical girl shows the
1980s were dominated by one
production house: Studio Pierrot.
Studio Pierrot shaped the magical girl
scene for the entire decade and
introduced certain tropes that are still
with us today:
• The magical idol singer genre
• Multiple magical girls – abliet not yet as
teams – meeting one another
• Marketing really picked up… hey it’s the

25. Minky Momo
Animated by Ashi Productions, and the first
magical girl not animated by TOEI.
This anime is could be called the epitome of the
‘magical princess’ mahou shoujo show.
Momo is the princess of the Fenarinarsa the
land of fairy tales, which resides in the sky,
she is sent down to Earth on a mission – to
reconnect the Fenarinarsa to human hearts
as her homeworld is in peril, it’s residents are
disappearing.
She has the power to transform into and adult
and gain any skill set for example, police
officer, master thief or similar. In many ways
this followed earlier examples lead, but then
went darker towards the end of the series.
It was later reinterpreted in the early nineties
where another Momo comes from a different
kingdom in the sea Marinerursa and has more
varied transformation powers not just
becoming an older version of herself. The two
Momo’s later meet, and the first Momo even
crossed over with another magical girl from a
different studio, Creamy Mami which leads us
to…
Fenariarsa Momo:
• Magical Princess Minky Momo
(1982, TV anime, 63 episodes)
• Long Goodbye: Creamy Mami vs
Minky Momo Gekijou no Daikessen
(1985, Short OVA)
• La Ronde in my Dream (1985, OVA)
• Hitomi no Seiza SONG Special
(1987, OVA)
Marinerursa Momo:
• Magical Princess Minky Momo:
Hold on to Your Dreams (1991, 65
episodes)
• The Bridge Over Dreams (1993,
OVA)
• The Station of Your Memories
(1994, OVA)

26. The Studio Pierrot Girls
Maho no Tenshi Creamy Mami / Magical Angel Creamy Mami (1983,
52 episodes)
Yu Morisawa has a huge crush on her slightly older childhood
friend Toshio. Unfortunately he sees her more like a little
sister. One day she encounters an alien spacecraft and helps
out its pilot. In return he gives her two alien kittens, and a
limited time only gift – the power to age to sixteen at will and
back again but only for a year.
Yu finds herself scouted by a talent agency and picks the stage
name Creamy, the name of her parent’s creperie.
Mahou no Yosei Persia / Magical Fairy Persia (1984, 48 episodes)
Persia is a young girl who grew up amongst the animals of the
Serengeti running free in the wild. She is found by Japanese
benefactors and sent to Japan to live a normal life, however
mid flight she is transported to the land of “Lovely Dream”
which is in peril. To save it she is given the power to transform
into an older version of herself in any profession to collect love
energy.
Mahou no Star Magical Emi (1985, 38 episodes)
Mai Kazuki desperately wants to perform in her grandparents’
stage magician troupe Magic Carat. However she hasn’t quite
mastered her skills yet. One day she is approached by a mirror
sprite named Topo who gives her the ability to not only become
older, but in that form to perform real magic.
She uses this ability to save Magic Carat’s reputation when a show
almost goes wrong. She then becomes a star attraction.

27. The Studio Pierrot Girls
Mahou no Idol Pastel Yumi / Magical Idol Pastel Yumi (1986, 25
episodes)
Yumi Hanazono is a budding artist, it is her best subject in school at
which she’s otherwise not very proficient. During a flower festival
she saves a dandelion from destruction, to her surprise the flower
spirit comes to her with a magical gift.
A magical wand and locket that she can use to draw in the air and
create anything she wishes. Yumi doesn’t have the best situation
at home, her mother is an alcoholic and her parents argue.
Mami, Emi, Persia: Charming Young Girl Magic Trio (1986, OVA)
The three girls get stuck in their older forms and have to undo this.
Witch Girl Club Quartet – Alien X from the A Zone (1987, OVA)
Yuu, Persia, Mai and Yumi fight an alien on the moon that has been
stealing women's youthful beauty. The ones who have alter egos
transform and Yumi draws them some powered armor.
Harbor Light Monogatari: Fashion Lala Yori (1988, OVA. 1998)
An OVA magical girl Cinderella story. Miho is a girl who lives with her
mean aunt and equally mean older cousins – with the exception of
the youngest of her cousins Shuri – whilst her father is at sea. She
dreams one day of becoming a fashion designer and also would
like to enter and win her seaside town’s “Disco Queen”
competition.
After some exploits involving a biker gang, bombings, and the
competition being a fix a magical book in her attic glows and
reveals it contains two dinosaurs – Pigu and Mogu who transform
her in Fashion Lala to save the day with the power of disco.

28. The 1990s – Warrior Girls and the
Anglosphere
The 1990s saw several significant
events for the genre. The focus of
the genre arguably shifted and
the image of the magical girl, as
superheroine style warriors really
came to the forefront.
The 1990s saw:
• Warrior style magical girls
becoming the iconic ‘default’ – at
least to the west
• Magical girls becoming
introduced to the Anglosphere –
mostly in the form of Sailor Moon,
and Cardcaptor Sakura.
• This had a knock on effect of
popularising shojo manga in
general in the English speaking
world.
• Episode counts sky rocketing – 80
plus episodes was always the

29. Hime-chan no Ribon
(Hime-chan’s Ribbon)
Himeko Nonohara is a 14 year old tomboy who
tends to go by the name of Hime-chan.
Unbeknownst to her she has a doppelganger
from a magical land who happens to be it’s
princess, Erika. Erika gifts Hime-chan with a
magical ribbon of the princesses’ own
invention to test out for a year so that she
can help prove Erika’s worth as future
Queen.
The ribbon at first only gives Hime-chan the
ability to transform into anyone else, with the
strict time limit of an hour lest she be trapped
in that other for forever. Later on the ribbon
also gives her the power to create and a
clone of herself, to shrink or grown herself or
others, to freeze time and to freeze objects
that are in motion.
Erika also brings to life Hime-chan’s favourite
stuffed animal for company – Pokota the lion.
Nobody other than the Hime-chan, Pokota,
her friend Daichi and other magical land
inhabitant Sei are allowed to know of the
magical ribbon or else their memories will be
wiped.
Versions:
•Hime-chan no Ribon (Manga, 10
Volumes, 1990)
• Hime-chan no Ribon (Anime, 61
eps, 1992)
•Hime-chan no Ribon (Remake
Manga, 3 volumes, 2009)

30. The one everyone knows! Sailor Moon is the story
of lazy, crybaby, 14 year old Usagi Tsukino
(a.k.a “Serena”) who rescues a cat from being
bullied by some neighbourhood rascals. This
cat – Luna – approaches her that night to tell
her she is destined to be Sailor Moon – a
heroine and protector of the long dead moon
kingdom.
She is also told she must gather the other
members of the Sailor Soldiers (“Sailor
Scouts”) – later renamed Sailor Guardians –
and find the missing Moon Princess and
Mysterious Silver Crystal (“Emporium Silver
Crystal”) lest it falls in to the hands of the
nefarious Dark Kingdom (“The Negaverse”).
This series was instrumental in many ways:
• It was the first to really hit big in the Angelosphere,
albeit through a less than stellar dub - and was a
major player in popularising shoujo manga in the
west.
• In it’s homeland Japan, it was the first proper ‘sentai
magical girl team’. There had been team ups before,
but these were one off OVAs and this was the first
show to have a band of similarly uniformed colour
coded magical girls as a focus.
• It re-popularised the ‘warrior style’ magical girl – a
superheroine who uses magic to fight.
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon
(Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon)

31. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon
(Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon)
Sailor Moon
1992-1993
Sailor Moon R
1993-1994
Sailor Moon S
1994-1995
Sailor Moon
SuperS
1995-1996
Sailor Moon
Sailor StarS
1997
20th Anniversary
Sailor Moon
2013
Codename wa Sailor V
1991-1997 (3 Volumes)
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon
1992-1997 (18 Volumes)
?

32. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon
(Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon)
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
2003
The Sailor Moon Musicals a.k.a ‘Sera Myu’
1993 – 2005, 2013

33. CardCaptor Sakura
The other one everyone knows! Cardcaptor
Sakura by CLAMP is the story of Sakura
Kinomoto a young girl who is tasked with
collecting the magical spirts of the tarot
inspired Clow Cards and returning them to
Card form with the magic she is only just
learning how to use.
It bridges the gap between a cute witch and
warrior series by having a wide array of
magic fight scenes but balancing them with
the fact that a lot of Sakura’s magic is not
exclusive to fighting – many of the cards
preset Sakura with puzzles rather than
fights.
CCS is mildy a Magical Girl deconstruction as
there is no transformation sequence for
Sakura herself – her costumes are all hand
made by her best friend (who has a huge
crush on her) Tomoyo Daidouji. Sakura was
also a return to the more tomboyish and
sporty heroine like Akko-chan.
Probably the second most well known magical girl
show in the west, also like Sailor Moon received a
dub that was heavily edited.
• One of CLAMP’s semnial works and did a lot to get
their names well known to western fans and
improved their popularity in Japan.
• Manga ran in Nakayoshi (1996-2000, 12 Volumes)
• Anime (70 episodes, 1998-2000)

34. Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne
(Jeanne, the Kamikaze Phantom Thief)
Maron Kusakabe is the reincarnation of the
legendary Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc) who has
been given a new mission of from God; she has
been equipped with heavenly powers and tiny
angelic companion called Finn Fish to hunt down
the demons living in beautiful works of art. The
only problem is when she does dispell these
demons the piece of art in question disappears –
making her look like a thief.
Maron’s best friend Miyako has vowed she will one
day capture Kaitou Jeanne for her apparent
crimes meaning Maron has to sneak around
behind her friends back to complete her mission.
In the meantime another phantom thief who calls
himself Kaitou Sinbad has appear on the scene
stealing Jeanne’s thunder. She surmises he must
be working for the devil as her opposite, on top of
this a really handsome but annoying boy called
Chiaki Nagoya has just moved in next door and he
wont leave her alone.
The first popular work by Arina Tanemura who has
gone on to create several more magical girl
series, Maron is actually a much less happy
protagonist than she first appears – her parents
have divorced and essentially abandoned her
also her scenario is not as straight forward as
Maron first believes.
Versions:
•Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne
(Manga, 7 Volumes, 1998)
• Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne
(Anime, 44 episodes, 1999)

35. The 2000 & 2010s – Today’s Magical
Girls
The magical girls of the new
millennium have largely
extrapolated on the examples set
by shows like Sailor Moon in the
nineties with a focus on magical
warriors, and the production
style of Ojamajo Doremi in terms
of preference for animation
studios preferring to control the
storylines and other elements
themselves rather than adapt
from a manga authors idea.
What the last decade has provided
more examples of is shows which
have a smattering of magical girl
elements but then a more
convoluted or darker plot, for
example Princess Tutu, though
many series that fall into this
category are technically not

36. Another series form the manga creator Arina
Tanemura. Mitsuki Kouyama is a 12 year old
orphan who dreams of becoming a singer, she
has several major problems standing in her
way – she is too young to audition, her
grandmother who looks after her forbids her
from singing, and Mitsuki has throat cancer
which is refusing to have operated upon as
she could lose her voice. She is visited one
night by a pair of shinigami, gods or spirits of
death who tell her she has only a year left to
live.
Mitsuki offers to go quietly with the shinigami
when her year is up if they give her the chance
to fulfil her signing dreams. Takuto, the male
shinigami of the pair gives her the power to
turn into a 16 year old blonde version of
herself who does not have any illness in her
throat. She auditions for a contract at a talent
agency becoming known by the stage name
Full Moon. She hopes her music will reach the
shores of the USA where a boy she likes
named Eichi now lives who she promised she
would follow her dreams of being a singer as
he promised to become an astronomer.
Like many Tanemura series not everything is as it
seems at first however.
Full Moon o Sagashite
(Searching for the Full Moon)
Versions:
•Full Moon o Sagashite (Manga, 7
Volumes, 2002)
•Full Moon o Sagashite (Anime,
52 eps, 2002)

37. The Pretty Cure Franchise
Starting with 2004’s Futari wa Pretty
Cure (“Together We’re Pretty Cure”)
and often called simply PreCure for
short these shows have become the
primary ‘Magical Warrior’ type
magical girl of this era’s anime scene.
Initially followed up by a sequel series
Futari wa Pretty Cure: Max Heart in
2005 the show was later cemented as
a franchise with most new series
following a new group of girls with
different power sources and reasons
for becoming heroines each time,
somewhat like Super Sentai or Power
Rangers. There have also been “All
Stars” crossover movies.

38. Pretty Cure
Futari wa PreCure
2004
FwPC: Max Heart
2005
Yes! PreCure 5
2007
Y!PC5: GoGo!
2008
FwPC: SplashStar
2006
Fresh PreCure
2009
Heartcatch PreCure
2010
Suite PreCure
2011
Smile PreCure
2012
DokiDoki! PreCure
2013

39. Shugo Chara!
(My Guardian Characters)
So one day this girl wakes up and she’s laid
three eggs…
..okay not exactly, Amu Hinamori is considered
the ‘cool and spicy’ badass of her primary
school. She’s reserved, has a rock chick
look, and rumours abound about her fighting
prowess. Unfortunately, no of this true, Amu
actually is a very sweet girl who is bad with
words – something her school mates take as
aloofness. Amu hates this, and one day
wishes she could be the person she really
wants to be.
In come those aforementioned eggs, which
appear in her bed the morning after and
eventually hatch into chibis called ‘shugo
chara’ or ‘guardian characters’.
Amu is then recruited onto the student council
who all are character bearers too. They are
fighting against an evil organisation called
Easter.
Amu has managed to activate the powers of the
Humpty Lock and transform into Amulet
Heart and, and later Amulet Spade and
Amulet Clover and fight against Easter who
have been looking for the legendary ‘hearts
egg’ the Embryo by destroying children’s
dreams.
• Shugo Chara! (2006) and Shugo
Chara! Encore (2010) manga
• Shugo Chara! (2006, 51 eps)
• Shugo Chara!! Doki – (2008, 51 eps)
• Shugo Chara! Party (Comprises:
Shugo Chara!!! Dokki Doki anime, and
Shugo Chara Pucchi Puchi! shorts)
(2009, 25 eps)
• Shugo Chara Chan yonkoma (2008)

40. Looking Beyond the Shoujo
Demographic

41. Shows For Older Demographics
and Parodies
Though ‘core’ magical girl shows are aimed at a
young and typically female audience there have
been examples of magical girl shows aimed at
other audiences.
Many of these are parodies, though some are
serious or semi-serious examples. Also, there
are inevitably examples that are intended for,
shall we say, ‘mature viewing’.

42. Examples Aimed At Other Audiences
Though core magical girls shows are aimed at a
young female audience, there are examples that
aren’t necessarily parodies that are aimed at older
or male audiences.
These tend to be either darker in nature, more action
based, or are ‘for mature audiences only’.

43. Puella Magi Madoka Magica
(Magical Girl Madoka of the Magus)
Aww doesn’t that image look adorable? All cute pastel
colours and magical girls looking like they are
having fun with their sweet looking mascot
character Kyubey?
...don’t let this show fool you for a second. This is the
story of Madoka Kaname, an apparently ordinary
teenager who one day stumbles across the secret
world of magical girls who fight grotesque beings
called witches. This happens when the enigmatic
Homura Akemi transfers to her class and later
attempts to kill the marshmallow like talking
creature called Kyubey in front of Madoka.
Homura tells Madoka that she doesn’t her to become
involved in this fight and puts up a very austere and
cool front to Madoka. However Madoka and her
friend Sayaka run across a different magical girl
called Mami Tomoe who is friends with Kyubey and
tells her more – Kyubey can grand any wish to young
girls who are willing to make contracts with him and
become magical girls.
Madoka must decide if this is something she should do,
if there is a wish she wants that much, or if she
should listen to Homura’s warning.
"With kindness comes naïveté.
Courage becomes
foolhardiness. And dedication
has no reward. If you can't
accept any of that, you are not fit
to be a Magical Girl."—Homura
Akemi

44. Some More Examples
Lingerie Senshi Papillion Rose (2003, OVA. 2006, TV Anime, 6
episodes)
An adult magical girl show in that sense of the word adult. Both the
OVA and the TV series have somewhat different plots –
focusing on Tsubomi / Papillion Rose.
The raunchier OVA features mainly Tsubomi, a gentleman’s club
waitress who transforms into Papillion Rose to fight an evil
dominatrix elf who works for a tyrannical Queen.
The tamer but still fanservicey TV show has a wider cast, and they
all fight a group of STD spreading transvesties.
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha (Several Series: 52 episodes)
Nanoha Takamachi meets the mage-turned-ferret Yuuno Scaria
who tasks her with the collection of 21 ‘Jewel Seeds’. To do
this she must become a magical girl. Eventually she becomes a
very competent magical warrior and one who lover her work.
Actually aimed at adult male fans Nanoha possibly has more nods
to mecha shows – in particular the Gundam franchise. Nanoha
hangs lampshades on some of the genre’s sillier aspects.
Earth Maiden Arjuna (2001, TV Anime, 13 episodes)
Juna Ariyoshi was an ordinary teenager until the day she died in a
motorcycle accident. As her spirit left her body she saw Earth
in all it’s suffering being eaten by worm like creatures called
Raaja. A boy called Chris appeared before her offering to
resurrect her if she agreed to protect the Earth.
Juna was then given role of “The Avatar of Time” the being who
can decide the fate of the planet. A darker existential tale.

45. Parodies
The magical girl genre is very open to
both affectionate and more critical
parody. Most of these appear in other
anime in some form, usually in ones
aimed at older audiences, but there
are western examples. Western
examples tend to specifically parody
Sailor Moon, it being the most popular
example in the west – an example of
with would be the Megas XLR episode
“Ultra Chicks”.
Some of these parodies are simply one
episode nods, others are the basis for
whole series. Some of these parody
series are semi-serious or at least still
have a honest core plot of there own
which could qualify themselves as full
examples; other shows are just out
and out silly gag shows.
There has also been a show still aimed at
the same core demographic as
magical girls, young girl, but that is
which is a definite parody: Tonde
Buurin.

46. Parodies – Some Examples
Magical Girl Pretty Sammy (1995, OVA, 3 episodes. 1996, TV anime
26 episodes. Sasami: Magical Girls Club, 1 volume manga
(2005) and 26 episode TV anime (2006))
Originally appearing as a joke in Tenchi Muyo itself the OVAs and
TV anime exist in alternate universes that use some of the
same characters in different ways. In the magical world of
Juraihelm the mage Tsunami is selected as Queen but she
must choose a girl on Earth to be her champion for good.
She selects Sasami Kawai but Tsunami’s rival Rumia then creates
Pixy Misa a champion of evil from Sasami’s best friend Misao.
Dai Mahou Touge / Magical Witch Punie-chan (1 manga volume,
2002. OVA, 2006, 8 episodes)
Punie Takanara is the princess of Magical Land, a kingdom in the
sky. She is sent to Earth to train as Queen for a year as per
tradition like many magical princesses before… except, she’s
evil, will break bones with her wrestling moves and her
magical spell is “Lyrical Tokarev, KILL THEM ALL!”
Ai to Yuuki no Pig Girl Tonde Buurin / Super Pig (3 manga volumes,
1994. TV anime, 1994, 51 episodes)
Karin Kokubu is a underperforming clumsy girl. She ‘rescues’
small pig she finds one day. He turns out to be the prince of the
pig planet Ringo. He offers to fulfil her desire to be a heroine
and gives her a transformation device that turns her into his
worlds ideal heroine… a caped pig! If she can collect 108
pearls from doing good deeds she’ll be able to turn into a
prettier heroine. However if anyone finds out she’ll be stuck as
a pig forever!

47. Magical Girls ~ A Worldwide
Phenomenon

48. Non-Anime Examples
There have been examples outside
of Japan that aren’t parodies but
that play with the same or similar
tropes as magical girl shows.
Many that have come along in later
years have been directly inspired
by the magical girl genre, some
could argue there is synchronicity
to this. After all, the first Japanese
examples were inspired by
Bewitched so arguably things
have come full circle.
However, there have been odd cases
of shows sharing very similar
magical girl themes and tropes
but that date from a time too early
before the rise of magical girl
shows in the west to in all
likelyhood be direct inspirations.
However, they are very similar and
worthy of looking at in that vein.

49. Some Non Anime Examples
She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985, 93 episodes)
I don’t need to summarise this one, I can just play the helpfully
descriptive intro!
The show, like it’s literal brother show He-Man and the Masters of
the Universe was animated by Filmation and was created to
promote Mattel’s “Princess of Power” toys, themselves a spin
off of the “Masters of the Universe” toyline.
The show, like many ’80s kids shows, was hokey and dumb but was
charming in it’s own way and gave little girls a heroine to look
up too.
Jem / Jem and the Holograms (1985, 65 episodes)
Jerrica Benton inherits a record label and an orphanage from her
late father. Unfortunately her father left half of his record label
to Eric Raymond who wants to oust her and has just signed the
bullying band “The Misfits”. Jerrica then receives Synergy, a
powerful computer which can make lifelike holograms.
Jerrica uses Synergy to transform into Jem and best the Misfits.
Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders / Starla & the Jewel
Riders (1995, 65 episodes)
Gwenevere (or Starla, internationally and therefore over here) is a
princess of Avalon of Arthurian myth. She is on the mission to
rescue her mentor Merlin from banishment. She fights her evil
aunt – Lady Kale - who wanted to take over the kingdom.
Gwen/Starla and her friends must collect the seven crown jewels
of Avalon to restore stability to this magical land and stop Lady
Kale from getting them.

50. More Non Anime Examples
W.I.T.C.H. (2001, Comic, Ongoing. 2004, TV Animated Series, 52
episodes)
Based on an Italian comic book, and animated as an Italy-France-
USA co-production by Disney Europe. This the story of five
girls who discover they are “The Guardians of the Veil” the
barrier between our world and that of Metamoor a magical
place ruled by the tyrannical Prince Phobos.
The girls gain the powers of air, earth, fire, water and
quintessence to fight against Phobos and attempt to restore
the true ruler of Metamoor to the throne.
Winx Club (2004, 104 episodes – but ongoing)
Another Italian series. Winx Club follows the story of Bloom, a girl
who believes herself to be ordinary until she meets and be-
friends Stella Princess of the magical Solaria dimenison. When
she realises Bloom is also magical Stella convinces her to
attend the magical fairy school of Alfea. A sort of marriage
between magical girl show and Harry Potter fantasy.
Penny Crayon (1990, 12 episodes)
A BBC series from the early nineties that though unlikely to be
directly inspired by magical girls has certain traits she shares
with them. With the voice talents of Su Pollard.
Penny Crayon is a girl who has a magical set of crayons and
pencils, like in Pastel Yumi and later Fancy Lala her drawings
are able to come to life though she needs no incantation for
this. Her drawings have a tendency to cause trouble.
She is followed around by her rather adoring friend Dennis/

51. …and finally

52. And Finally
References:
• Anime News Network Anime Encyclopaedia:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.co.uk/encyclopedia/
• Wikipedia:
http://www.wikipedia.org/
• Hitoshi Doi’s Anime Page:
http://www.usagi.org/doi/anime2.html
• Black Sun: Monochrome Anime:
http://blacksun1987.blogspot.co.uk/
• Majokko Club:
http://www.majokkoclub.com/

53. And Finally
References:
• Magical Girl Genre List:
http://www.angelfire.com/moon/sailormoon19/MagicalGirlGenre.html
• Wikipedia:
http://www.wikipedia.org/
• TV Tropes:
http://tvtropes.org/
• Bewitched @ Harpies Bizarre:
http://www.harpiesbizarre.com/
• The Ultimate Cutey Honey Resource:
http://tuchr.tripod.com/home.html

54. And Finally
References:
• The Mike Toole Show, Wake Me Up Before You Shoujo:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.co.uk/the-mike-toole-show/2012-06-17
• The Oracle: Your Sailor Moon Resource:
http://www.soul-hunter.com/sailormoon/
• T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews 4.0: Harbor Light Story from Fashion Lala
http://www.themanime.org/viewreview.php?id=1556