Jennifer Berman JAPN 313 May 11, 2012 Final Paper

Magical Girl Anime

Many anime fans in the U.S. became interested in anime

through watching English dubs of it on TV stations such as Cartoon Network’s

“Toonami” block. For some people, their first anime was Dragon Ball Z, for others, it

was Gundam Wing, and for many, it was Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon was one of the

biggest hit anime of the 1990s, both in Japan and overseas. It is also one of the most

famous titles in the “magical girl” subgenre of anime and manga. The magical girl

genre has a long history, starting back in 1966, and works in this genre continue to

be produced today. This paper will talk about the background and history of magical

girl anime and manga, and discuss why it remains appealing to Japanese audiences.

Magical girl (mahou shoujo) series are about just that: a young

girl who has magical powers of some kind. The girl often has some sort of special

object, like a wand or brooch, and by saying some magic words she can use the

object to transform into wearing another costume (as in Sailor Moon), into an older

form of herself (as in the 1980s show Mahou no Tenshi Creamy Mami, or as in 2002’s

Full Moon o Sagashite), or into anyone or anything she wants (as in the 1960s show

Himitsu no Akko-chan). Some magical girls use their powers to fight evil, while

others, such as many of the 60s and 70s magical girls, use them to help others in

everyday tasks. Some other magical girl series may have the protagonist using their

powers in order to achieve a dream or goal of theirs, typically wanting to become an

idol singer, as in Full Moon o Sagashite. Magical girls all have secret identities, and

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they must protect their identities from being revealed or else they will be punished

by losing their powers.

Magical girls began as a subgenre of shoujo (girls’) manga in the

1960s. At that time, most manga artists (mangaka) were male, and many of them

started off doing shoujo manga to develop their careers before switching to shounen

(boys’) manga (Toku 22). Two of these male artists, Akatsuka Fujio and Yokoyama

Mitsuteru, would be the creators of the first two magical girl series, Himitsu no Akko-

chan and Mahoutsukai Sally.

Fig. 1: The first two magical girl anime: Mahoutsukai Sally (left) and Himitsu no Akko-chan (right)

Mahoutsukai Sally (“Sally the Witch”) was created by Yokoyama

Mitsuteru, who later became well-known for Tetsujin 28-gou (U.S. title Gigantor), an

early mecha anime. The original manga ran in the shoujo manga magazine Ribon

starting in July 1966, and it was adapted into an anime by Toei Animation the same

year. Not only was it the first magical girl anime, it was also the first anime that was

aimed at young girls (Shimada 200) and the first to have a female protagonist

(Yoshida). The series was inspired by the American sitcom Bewitched, which was

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airing on Japanese TV under the title Okusama wa Majo (“The Wife is a Witch”). It

became popular with young Japanese girls, even though it was on at a late timeslot

(Yoshida), and Mahoutsukai Sally also became successful, running until 1968

(Shimada 200). The show is about Sally, the princess of the land of magic, who

becomes interested in the human world and comes to live with two human girls. She

uses her magic powers to solve everyday problems in her and her friends’ lives, but

she must keep it a secret that she is a witch. Many of these plot elements, such as the

magical girl protagonist coming from another world, would be used in successive

series.

Toei followed up Mahoutsukai Sally with an adaptation of another

magical girl manga, Himitsu no Akko-chan (“The Secret Akko-chan”) by Akatsuka

Fujio. The manga had actually started before Sally, having run in Ribon magazine

from 1962 to 1965, but the anime aired from 1969 to 1970 (Shimada). The title

character Akko-chan (full name Kagami Atsuko) receives a magical compact mirror

from the “spirit of mirrors.” By looking into the mirror and chanting the spell

“Tekumakumayakon, tekumakumayakon, ______ ni nare!” (“……, turn into _____!”), she

can transform into anyone or anything she wants (Shimada 201).

With the success of these two shows, Toei Animation

continued producing other magical girl anime throughout the 1970s. Toei’s magical

girl series from this era are known as “majokko” (“little witch girl”) series. Some

examples include Mahou no Mako-chan, about a mermaid who fell in love with a

human and goes on land similar to The Little Mermaid; Majokko Tickle, which was

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created by Nagai Go (known for such works as Devilman and Cutey Honey), and

Majokko Megu-chan.

Fig. 2 Toei’s 70s majokko (left) and Majokko Megu-chan (right)

Majokko Megu-chan, which aired from 1974 to 1975 on NET (today

TV Asahi), was not only an influential magical girl show, it pushed the boundaries of

the genre. Like Mahoutsukai Sally, it was the story of a young witch from a world of

magic who comes to live with humans, however the twist is that she is competing

with a rival witch, Non, to become queen of the magic world. The series was edgier

than previous magical girl anime, and depicted Megu in a more sexual way,

including “fanservice” scenes. The lyrics to the opening theme song also had Megu

boasting “these two swellings on my chest / are proof I can do anything” and “even

without make-up on / you’re already crazy about me / when I shed pearly tears /

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boys are a snap!” Aside from the sexual elements, the show also dealt with mature

themes such as domestic violence, substance abuse, and extramarital relationships.

The 1980s brought new hit magical girl anime from other studios than

Toei: Ashi Productions (today Production Reed)’s Mahou no Princess Minky Momo

(1982-83), and Studio Pierrot’s Mahou no Tenshi Creamy Mami (1983-84). The title

character of Minky Momo comes to Earth in order to help people regain their lost

hopes and dreams, so that her kingdom will be saved. Momo transforms into an

adult version of herself, with a different occupation depending on the situation.

However, the ending of the series is a bittersweet one, with Momo dying in a car

accident but reincarnated as the daughter of the human couple that took her in. In

1991 a second series was made, with a different Momo from a kingdom under the

sea. Mahou no Princess Minky Momo was not only popular among young girls but

also with male otaku.

Fig. 3: 1980s magical girls included Minky Momo (left) and Creamy Mami (right).

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Mahou no Tenshi Creamy Mami (“Magical Angel Creamy Mami”) was

one of the first examples of cross-promotion marketing (known in Japanese as

“media mix”) in anime. The anime was used to promote a new pop singer (or “idol”

in Japanese) named Ohta Takako. She not only sang the opening and ending theme

songs, but also voiced the main character, and her picture was on the single for the

theme songs (Fig. 3). The story is about Yuu, an ordinary 10-year-old girl who helps

a lost alien, and in return gets a magic wand allowing her to transform into a 16-

year-old. In her 16-year-old form, Yuu becomes the famous idol singer Creamy

Mami. Studio Pierrot would produce 3 more magical girl series in the 80s following

the success of Creamy Mami, and they even made two OVAs (direct-to-video anime)

where their magical girls teamed up.

Fig. 4 The Studio Pierrot magical girls

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The 1990s would change the magical girl genre forever with the

release of Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (“Pretty Soldier

Sailor Moon”) was created by Takeuchi Naoko and ran in the shoujo manga

magazine Nakayoshi from 1992 to 1997. It was adapted into an anime by Toei

Animation, which also ran from 1992 to 1997 with a total of 200 episodes. The story

is about Tsukino Usagi, a 14-year-old girl living in the Azabu-Juuban district of

Tokyo. One day she finds a black cat with a crescent moon-shaped mark on her

forehead. The cat, Luna, reveals that Usagi is actually a magical girl, “Sailor Moon,”

who must protect the earth from evil. As the series goes on, Usagi finds other “Sailor

Senshi” (literally “Sailor Warriors” or “Sailor Soldiers”; known as “Sailor Scouts” in

the English dubbed version) who fight alongside her, and discovers among other

things that she and the other Sailor Senshi are reincarnations of the Moon Princess

and her protectors, respectively.

Fig. 5 The five main “Sailor Senshi”: Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Moon, Sailor Venus and Sailor Mars

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Sailor Moon popularized a new type of magical girl, the sentou

bishoujo (“beautiful fighting girl”), who fought evil with her magic powers, often

with a team. The team format was heavily influenced by Toei’s “Super Sentai”

franchise of live-action shows, which also feature color-coded superhero teams that

fight evil monsters, and much like the sentai members in those shows, the Sailor

Senshi shout out the names of their magic attacks before attacking. The series was

developed with an anime in mind from the beginning, and the basic storyline had

been plotted out in editorial meetings a year before (Schodt 95). The Sailor Moon

series was exported to many countries, including the United States, where it was

first shown in syndication in 1995 to capitalize on the popularity of Mighty Morphin’

Power Rangers (itself an American adaptation of the Super Sentai shows). The series

was originally dubbed by the company DiC, which changed the names of the

characters (Usagi became Serena, for instance) and censored certain plot points.

Sailor Moon did not find much success in the U.S. at first, and only became popular

when Cartoon Network re-aired it in 1998. Sailor Moon was the first magical girl

series that ran on American television, and the first successful shoujo series there.

With the success of Sailor Moon in Japan, lots of other fighting magical

girl shows started being produced. The staff of Nakayoshi magazine signed up the

popular female mangaka group CLAMP to create new series for them, and they

created Magic Knight Rayearth (1993-1996), an RPG-influenced series about three

girls who are transported to the fantasy world of Cephiro and transform into “Magic

Knights,” and Cardcaptor Sakura (1996-2000), about a girl named Sakura who

accidentally releases magical cards known as “Clow Cards” and must retrieve them.

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Both series also received popular anime adaptations. The success of Sailor Moon,

Magic Knight Rayearth and Cardcaptor Sakura increased Nakayoshi’s circulation to

nearly 2 million copies per month (Schodt 92).

Fig. 6 CLAMP’s two magical girl series, Magic Knight Rayearth (left) and Cardcaptor Sakura (right)

Magical girl shows remain popular today. Currently the reigning

magical girl franchise in Japan is Toei’s Pretty Cure, which began with 2004’s Futari

wa Pretty Cure (The Two of Us are Pretty Cure), about a magical girl duo who fights

against the “Dark Zone.” After a sequel the following year, the following Pretty Cure

series focused on different characters every series, usually teams of five. The

magical girls in the Pretty Cure series use not only magic attacks, but incorporate

physical combat as well. As of 2012 there are 9 series in the franchise, as well as 13

movies (five of which are “Pretty Cure All-Stars” movies where all the characters

from all the series team up).

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Magical girl shows have become not only popular with young girls but

also with older otaku. Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon had large otaku fandoms,

and so does Pretty Cure. There have been several shounen magical girl shows that

are aimed at otaku, one of the earliest being Pretty Sammy, an alternate-universe

magical girl spinoff of the harem anime series Tenchi Muyo! starring the character

Sasami as a magical girl. Another such series is Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha, which

began as a spinoff of the visual novel game Triangle Hearts ~Sweet Songs Forever~,

but has become more popular than the original game. The rise of magical girl shows

for otaku can be linked to the increase in popularity of “moe” series that typically

star cute girls.

Fig. 7 Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha (left) and the characters of various Pretty Cure series (right)

One noteworthy recent magical girl anime is Mahou Shoujo Madoka

Magica, which aired in 2011. If one looks at the promotional art for the series, one

might think it is just another magical girl show, with girls in color-coded uniforms

and a cute mascot character. The upbeat opening theme song and cute tone of the

first two episodes would encourage that view. However, in episode 3, a huge twist

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involving the life of one of the main characters occurs, and the series gets darker

and more twisted from then on. The mascot character, Kyuubey, is eventually

revealed as an “Incubator” who preys on young girls’ souls by granting their wishes

and making them sign contracts to become a magical girl and fight “witches,” who

are depicted as horrifying monsters. However, when this happens, the girl’s soul is

taken from her and trapped inside a “Soul Gem.” When a magical girl fights enough

witches she becomes a witch herself, and thus the cycle continues. The title

character Madoka struggles to decide whether or not she should become a magical

girl, especially once she discovers the truth behind it. Madoka Magica became one of

the highest-selling anime series of 2011, and two movies, one of which is a sequel,

are due to be released soon.

The magical girl genre of anime and manga is one with a long

history. It provides girls with wish fulfillment and dreams that they might also have

magic powers of their own. By looking at magical girl shows, one can also trace the

evolution of female characters in anime and manga, from ones who use their powers

for simple tasks, to ones who use it to fight evil and protect their loved ones. As long

as there are girls who wonder “What if I could have powers?” or “What if I could do

magic?,” the magical girl genre will continue on.

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