Magical girl - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

belong to a sub-genre

Genre

Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...

of Japanese fantasy anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

and manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

. Magical girl stories feature young girls with superhuman abilities, forced to fight evil and to protect the Earth. They often possess a secret identity

Secret identity

A secret identity is an element of fiction wherein a character develops a separate persona , while keeping their true identity hidden. The character also may wear a disguise...

, although the name can just refer to young girls who follow a plotline involving magic and a transformation (such as Full Moon o Sagashite and Sailor Moon

Sailor Moon

Sailor Moon, known as , is a media franchise created by manga artist Naoko Takeuchi. Fred Patten credits Takeuchi with popularizing the concept of a team of magical girls, and Paul Gravett credits the series with "revitalizing" the magical-girl genre itself...

). Ojamajo Doremi features magical girls as protagonists, but its plot differs from the standard as the girls use magic for friendship, behavior and achieving goals, rather than for attacking antagonists. The Japanese language identifies magical girls as , though this term does not generally apply to modern magical-girl anime. Sally, the Witch

Sally, the Witch

, is the first magical girl genre anime in Japan. This may be the first shōjo anime as well. The first magical girl manga was Himitsu no Akko-chan but it took longer to be adapted into an anime. Both series deal with henshin style transformations , but neither is the first anime to feature this...

(1966) counts as the first magical girl anime.

Magical boys occur much more rarely, but one can readily identify them: they operate along similar lines (as with D.N.Angel

D.N.Angel

is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yukiru Sugisaki. The ongoing manga premiered in Japan in the Kadokawa Shoten shōjo magazine Monthly Asuka in November 1997. The series went on an extended hiatus after the August 2005 issue, returning in the April 2008 issue...

and Mei no Naisho

Mei no Naisho

, subtitled make miracle, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Shiroi Kusaka. The story centers on an effeminate high school boy named Mei Haruna who was raised as a girl by his now-deceased witch mother; Mei too can use magic, though he is not proficient at it...

). Magical girls generally differ from catgirl

Catgirl

A catgirl is a female character with cat traits, such as cat ears, a cat tail, or other feline characteristics on an otherwise human body. Catgirls are found in various fiction genres, and in particular Japanese anime and manga where they are more commonly referred to as Neko or Nekomimi , in...

s and from magical girlfriend

Magical girlfriend

A magical girlfriend is a female character often associated with romantic comedy anime series, and is sometimes considered a genre of its own, or as the leading lady of the "fantastic romance" genre, which combines the fantasy and romance genres.As Thomas LaMarre states, "Anime fans become...

s. Sometimes the catgirl and magical girl character types cross over; the magical girl may have cat-ears and -tail as part of her costume, or a catgirl could have some form of magical powers. Examples of these include Tokyo Mew Mew

Tokyo Mew Mew

, also known as Mew Mew Power, is a Japanese shōjo manga series written by Reiko Yoshida and illustrated by Mia Ikumi. It was originally serialized in Nakayoshi from September 2000 to February 2003, and later published in seven tankōbon volumes by Kodansha from February 2001 to April 2003...

and Hyper Police

Hyper Police

is the name of a manga and anime series created by Minoru Tachikawa under the pseudonym MEE. It is a comic science fiction, set in a period in the far future, in which humanity is almost extinct and most of the population are monsters...

. A magical girl and a magical girlfriend typically differ in that the magical girlfriend is not the protagonist.

General examples

A general example of a magical girl is Sakura Kinomoto

Sakura Kinomoto

is a fictional character, the heroine of Clamp's manga series Cardcaptor Sakura. In the English anime adaptation of the series, Cardcaptors, her name is changed to Sakura Avalon. For all Japanese-language productions of the anime , Sakura is voiced by Sakura Tange...

from the series Cardcaptor Sakura

Cardcaptor Sakura

, abbreviated as CCS and also known as Cardcaptors, is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by the manga artist group Clamp. The manga was originally serialized monthly in Nakayoshi from the May 1996 until the June 2000 issue, and later published in 12 tankōbon volumes by Kodansha...

, a normal girl who gains magical powers, and becomes involved in a quest for various magical objects. Another magical girl includes Lucia Nanami from Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch

Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch

is a shōjo manga and anime series created by Michiko Yokote, with artwork by Pink Hanamori. The manga was originally published in the monthly shōjo manga anthology Nakayoshi...

whose true identity as a mermaid princess prevents her from declaring love to a young surfer; she battles enemies using the power of her voice and songs with the help from the other mermaid princesses. Other magical-girl subjects may appear in the guise of witches, or (rarely) of psychic

Psychic

A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...

s (such as Hailey from Queen Bee

Queen Bee (graphic novel)

Queen Bee is a graphic novel aimed at middle-schoolers about cliques and popularity, written by Chynna Clugston, an American graphic artist, who has written several other comics for an older age group.- Style :The style is much like that of a manga...

). Examples of conventional magical girls include the protagonists of: Princess Tutu

Princess Tutu

is a magical girl anime series created by Ikuko Itoh in 2002 for animation studio Hal Film Maker. It was adapted as a 2-volume manga illustrated by Mizuo Shinonome...

, Sailor Moon

Sailor Moon

, and Shugo Chara!

Shugo Chara!

, also known as My Guardian Characters, is a Japanese shōjo manga series created by the manga author duo, Peach-Pit. The story centers on elementary school girl Amu Hinamori, whose popular exterior, referred to as "cool and spicy" by her classmates, contrasts with her introverted personality...

Genre history

In 1962 Secret Akko-chan

Himitsu no Akko-chan

is a pioneering magical girl manga and anime that ran in Japan during the 1960s.The manga was drawn and written by Fujio Akatsuka, and was published in Ribon from 1962 to 1965. It predates the Mahōtsukai Sunny manga, printed in 1966...

introduced the convention

Convention (norm)

A convention is a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted standards, norms, social norms or criteria, often taking the form of a custom....

that the magical girl gets her powers from a "special object". Paul Gravett regards Princess Sapphire

Princess Knight

is a Japanese manga that ran through four serializations from 1954 to 1968, as well as a 1967 Japanese children's animated series. It was dubbed into English and brought over to Western audiences in 1970, where it was called Choppy and the Princess. In 1973, this series was dubbed in Portuguese and...

as a prototype

Prototype

A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...

for magical girls. Born with two hearts, one of a girl and one of a boy, she must pass as a boy in order to save her kingdom from falling into the clutches of her evil uncle. In feminine guise (with aid of a blonde wig) she romances a prince.

The Japanese dub of the American TV series Bewitched

Bewitched

Bewitched is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Dick Sargent , Agnes Moorehead, and David White. The show is about a witch who marries a mortal and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban...

became popular among young Japanese girls in the 1960s. This occurred in the formative years of Japanese animation as a genre, and animators wanted to produce a series aimed at young girls; since the target audience approved of Bewitched, animators decided to make a series about a witch — not a witch in the usual Western sense of the word, resembling the evil witch in Hansel and Gretel

Hansel and Gretel

"Hansel and Gretel" is a well-known fairy tale of German origin, recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. Hansel and Gretel are a young brother and sister threatened by a cannibalistic hag living deep in the forest in a house constructed of cake and confectionery. The two children...

, but a witch in the same vein as Bewitcheds Samantha: a witch who looked just like a normal person and used her magic for everyday tasks and the good of others around her. This inspired Mitsuteru Yokoyama

Mitsuteru Yokoyama

was a Japanese manga artist born in Suma-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo. His personal name was originally spelled , with the same pronunciation. His works include Tetsujin 28-go, Giant Robo, Akakage, Babel II, Sally, the Witch, Princess Comet, and adaptations of the Chinese classics Outlaws of the Marsh and...

— best known in the U.S. as the creator of Tetsujin 28-go

Tetsujin 28-go

is a 1956 manga written and illustrated by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, who also created Giant Robo. The series centred on the adventures of a young boy named Shotaro Kaneda, who controlled a giant robot named Tetsujin 28, built by his late father....

— to invent Sally the Witch,
which aired on television in serial form in 1966.

Commentators regard Cutie Honey

Cutie Honey

is a Japanese media franchise created by Go Nagai. Cutie Honey first appears on volume 41 of the 1973 edition of Shōnen Champion. According to Nagai, she is the first female to be the protagonist of a shōnen manga series....

, which began in 1973, as the prototype for the transforming

Henshin

is the Japanese word for "transformation," literally meaning, "to change or transform the body." This word is primarily used in manga, anime, and tokusatsu dramas for when a character transforms into a superhero. usually have a "henshin call", a catchphrase which they recite when they transform...

magical-girl genre. Sailor Moon

Sailor Moon

, which began in 1992, later popularized the genre. At the same time, many related video games ware made too. Typically, such transforming sequences involve pirouetting, loss of normal clothes (usually censored) and the sudden appearance of a magical girl uniform and weapon.

According to the analyst John Oppliger of AnimeNation

AnimeNation

AnimeNation is an American retailer of anime, manga, and other products of Japanese culture. It was founded in 1995 and is located in Tampa, Florida...

, after 2003 magical girl anime—marketed (at least partially) to male audiences—has become a prolific trend alongside the traditional female-oriented works, coinciding with the rise of moe-genre popularity. As a prime example of this, note Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha

is an anime television series directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, with screenplay written by Masaki Tsuzuki, and produced by Seven Arcs. It forms part of the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha series. The Japanese Association of Independent Television Stations broadcast thirteen episodes between October and...

Common themes and features

Magical girls generally obtain their powers from some sort of enchanted object: such as a pendant, a wand, a compact, or a ribbon. By concentrating on this object, and in some cases by speaking a special phrase or command, a girl undergoes an intricate transformation sequence

Henshin

and changes to her fully powered form. A major theme of magical girl stories involves learning to harness these powers and develop them fully. Teams of magical girls often learn to combine their powers to perform massive, super-charged attacks. Powers or no powers, though, magical girls rarely suffer defeat even in normal form, as they tend to learn how to cope with opponents in their powerless form, or they might have learned some ordinary acrobatics

Acrobatics

Acrobatics is the performance of extraordinary feats of balance, agility and motor coordination. It can be found in many of the performing arts, as well as many sports...

, martial arts

Martial arts

Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....

, or other offensive or defensive actions to supplement their supernatural talents, although they do need to use their power against whatever villains they have to fight.

Magical girls do not operate alone in their adventures. They occasionally receive the help of mysterious, magical boys. These boys sometimes disdain their female counterparts, but at other times they show romantic interest in one of the girls, or vice versa. Another common theme involves some sort of talking-animal sidekick

Familiar spirit

In European folklore and folk-belief of the Medieval and Early Modern periods, familiar spirits were supernatural entities believed to assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic...

with magical powers of its own. These pets rarely participate in combat; instead, they offer advice and help train the girls in the use of their abilities.

Magical girls' power potential is generally inestimable, which also makes their abilities vaguely defined. While their powers evidently have a source behind them, the extent and exact nature of those powers usually remains unknown or unclear. However, because the function of magical girls is generally to unleash and harness such mystical powers, and their ability to summon powers depends on their mind state, which, in turn, depends on various emotional factors such as combat awareness, sense of duty, realizing what they must protect and the fact that they are the ones to protect, and so forth. Thus a magical girl may summon extraordinary new magical powers—powers previously unavailable to her—in the last moments of an epic battle. Such powers can serve as a deus ex machina

Deus ex machina

A deus ex machina is a plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.-Linguistic considerations:...

to resolve the major conflict in a climactic fashion. To some extent, this seems to differ from shōnen

Shonen

The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...

in that shōnen tends to define a hero's powers specifically and to indicate what those powers can achieve (in most cases said powers increase as time goes by, usually by extensive training), whereas magical girl series tend to leave these factors ambiguous, and instead allow her powers to be more free-flowing and open to change based on the situation. However, since magical girls tend to harness their power using their mind and might even fuel their power with their mindful indomitability, the extra powers can generally be attributed to a power source from their mind or the power sources' response to their mind. Unlike shōnen characters, who tend to have an affection in adventuring and heroism, magical girls are generally peaceful and they tend to prefer the normal way of life, so they tend to develop combat awareness along the way and experience an emotional upheaval during an epic battle, resulting in a dramatic power increase that might be repeatable only when the situation calls for it.

Magical girls spend much of their time trying to keep their powers and their normal identities secret

Secret identity

A secret identity is an element of fiction wherein a character develops a separate persona , while keeping their true identity hidden. The character also may wear a disguise...

. The reasons for this vary: they may wish to avoid capture by the enemy, they may simply feel embarrassed, and sometimes they have even received severe warnings not to let their friends and family know about their secret powers. However, despite their best attempts to keep their normal and supernatural lives separate, strange events tend to occur to magical girls in normal life with alarming regularity, forcing them to transform and fight.

Magical girl stories tend to be emotion-oriented, upbeat and cheerful. Magical girls often represent that special time in a young, Japanese girl's life where she is free from adult responsibility and submission. The characters fight for idealistic

Idealism (disambiguation)

Idealism may be:* The philosophical notion of idealism* Idealism in international relations theory* Idealism * Idealism , the debut album by Digitalism...

causes such as love, peace, hope, and beauty—rarely for revenge. By forming teams, the heroines learn the values of friendship and co-operation. Even the magical girls' enemies leave them alone most of the time; the girls need to pursue the enemies and to attempt to thwart their plans. The genre can be intriguing due to the contrasts and conflicts the magical girls represent, caught up as they are between the childish and the mature, or between helplessness and power.

Magical girl in Japan

Until the appearance of Sailor Moon

Sailor Moon

, the original term mahō shōjo in Japan referred primarily to girls who did not transform themselves and who used magic for acts of mercy and succor rather than for heroism against evil; for example, Mako of Mahō no Mako-chan

Mahō no Mako-chan

is a Japanese anime series by Toei Animation. The story is based on the Hans Christian Andersen tale The Little Mermaid. The series has been dubbed into various languages including French, Spanish and Italian...

. In fact, magical girl series such as Himitsu no Akko-chan

Himitsu no Akko-chan

and Fushigi na Merumo existed in which the heroines received the power to transform themselves into whatever they wished, not for the sake of fighting evil, but for the sake of adventure. However, the term is generally used in the west

Western world

The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...

to refer only to evil-fighting magical girls. The series Sally, the Witch

Sally, the Witch

and Minky Momo are hardly known in the United States although they are popular works of magical girl series in Japan.

One series transcended these two cases: Akazukin Chacha

Akazukin Chacha

is a shōjo manga series by Min Ayahana. It was serialized by Shueisha in the manga magazine Ribon from 1991 and 2000 and collected in 13 bound volumes...

, a Japanese mahō shōjo manga, portrayed the adventures of the protagonist Chacha and her friends. When Nihon Ad Systems

Nihon Ad Systems

, NAS for short, is a Japanese anime production and character merchandising company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the advertising agency Asatsu-DK. The "Ad" in its title is an abbreviation for "Animation Development". Along with animation studios Sunrise, Toei Animation and TMS Entertainment, it is...

and Studio Gallop adapted the manga into anime, Chacha became a "Magical Princess" in order to battle with villains. Another genre-crossing series, Majokko Megu-chan

Majokko Megu-chan

is a magical girl anime series. The manga was created by Tomo Inoue and Akio Narita, while the 72-episode anime series was produced by Toei Animation between 1974 and 1975. This series is considered an important forerunner of the present day magical girl genre, as the series' characterization and...

(Toei, 1974–75), sees the heroine, Megu, use her magic not only to fight villains but also to deal with everyday situations (such as teaching her younger brother to swim). In 2004, Pretty Cure

Pretty Cure

is a Japanese magical girl anime metaseries created by Izumi Todo and produced by ABC and Toei Animation. The first program Futari wa Pretty Cure debuted in 2004 and has continued with sequels and spinoffs into the current series Suite PreCure♪ airing in 2011 as part of Asahi Broadcasting...

and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha

premiered, both shows featuring an emphasis on combat alongside magical girl based powers.

General examples

Genre history

Common themes and features

Magical girl in Japan

See also