Do you need a transformation sequence to be considered a magical girl show? No. Is it one of the most instantly recognizable parts of the genre? Absolutely. The transformations have become interwoven into the fabric of the magical girl genre and have caused genre fans to spend hours on YouTube looking up compilation videos of sequences of transformations from decades past, specific series titles, and more. Even non-fans can recognize the iconic sequences. Throw in some glitter, ribbons and posing and you've got a dozen or so people saying "Just like Sailor Moon!". The entrancing nature of the whole affair can sometimes make you forget the five minute time chunk the transformation eats up. Transformations have become so popular it's made it's way into non-Magical Girl shows like DC Super Hero Girls on Netflix or Cartoon Network's Craig of the Creek. How did this glee inducing genre staple start? Where did it come from? And why can a good transformation make or break a series for genre fans? Let's roll on back to the 60s and find out. Sparkle Cadet from Craig of the Creek
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When it comes to mixing genres with Magical Girls there is a lot of obvious choices that you can chose from - Romance, Drama, Comedy. Even if you wanted to boil it down to more specific genres like Isekai and Slice of Life feel like more obvious choices. Mecha seems like a far cry for a genre that usually centers around softer aesthetics of frills and lace, and yet from the 90s till now there are about a dozen or so Magical Girl shows with mecha influences, and vice versa. There's something about the combination of cute girls and robots that makes for a winning formula. Long running franchises like Lyrical Nanoha had definitely figured it out- the series started in 2004 and has an installation as recent as 2018 at the time of writing this- but Nanoha wasn't the first. The genre mixing goes way way back to a show called Magic Knight Rayearth. Vita from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's
Miracle romances have been a common thing in the magical girl genre since the 90s when Sailor Moon popularized the phrase. Even before then shows like Creamy Mami and Magical Emi usually had some sort of romance angle going on. So, in a genre with an emphasis on miracle romances which shows are the MOST ROMANTIC? Or at the very least which ones are the most focused on the romance aspect of the story.
While this may not be the "most" of either of those options here's a list of 4 magical girl anime that have romance as the focus. Hey friends!
This list was originally posted on tumblr back in 2017 but I'm moving it to this blog for easier updates. So here's a list of Magical Girl Indie comics! Some are available for free online, some you’re able to purchase as a PDF or even a physical copies. Bold are faves and an asterisk (*) means they are currently not updating or that the series is complete. This is by no means a complete list and I'm finding more to add frequently. . If you see one missing, let me know! I do my best when it comes to web comics as many of the web comics available are incomplete or without much content. Before adding to the list i try to review them to make sure they meet at least one of the following criteria:
For the sake of this list I'm defining Indie Comic as self-published not through any major comic publishers such as Boom, DC, Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, etc. HERE’S A FUN NINA FACT. There are a few things as much as I love magical girls and one of those things is sharks. So Shark Week is here and I often make magical girl lists for various things so why not also make one for shark week?
Finding where to watch magical girl shows can be a big pain! Here are some shows and places you can stream them (LEGALLY of course)..
This list may be incomplete! You can help complete it by contacting me here. This is directly related to the post "What Is A Magical Girl" I always eventually get asked about my stance on "Cute High Earth Defense Club Love!" and whether or not it's a magical girl show as it doesn't contain any girls. My answer is always the Parody Rule - yes, it counts, as a parody of the genre. It counts how Scary Movie can be considered a Horror Comedy despite it not being very scary at all. Or how Puni Puni Poemi counts even that it doesn't technically check all my boxes. Or how I count Puri-puri Prisoner* as a 'Magical Girl', because he's a very obvious parody of the genre. Basically if the show (or a character) is a very obvious Parody of the genre, it counts under the Parody Rule. *Puri Puri Prisoner is a shitty okama trope but, like, not all Magical Girls are good Magical Girls, you feel?
I start all my panels off by addressing this: What is A Magical Girl?
It seems cut and dry, an easy answer, but there is tons of in-fighting in the fandom as to what shows count. "Revolutionary Girl Utena isn't a Magical Girl series", "Bee and Puppycat doesn't count because it's a western show", "Black Rock Shooter is definitely a magical girl series." This gets particularly frustrating when I'm choosing which content to consume. So after being unsatisfied with the definitions online I've created my own. Next up is my list of… Magical Girls with Different Body Types!
And.. uh… I’m gonna level with y’all, it’s not at all impressive. If anyone can think of any others I would be highly appreciative but the list of magical girl shows that have magical boys in it is bigger than this list. which is… sad imo. Hopefully the future will be better. Hey y’all!
After a twitter poll my next Magical Girl list is… Magical Women (Magical Girls who are currently 18+ yrs old) Middle School and younger seems to be the quintessential age for Magical Girls. But what about us ladies who grew up and never had a chance to run into a magical cat or be hit in the head with our henshin compact? This list is dedicated to everyone who holds out hope that they can still become a magical girl! I will be including all works in this list- western, eastern, indie comics, etc. because it is very difficult finding magical women. |
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