There are many subgenres when it comes to the mediums of anime and manga and I would argue that one of the more overlooked are magical girls. While certainly not overlooked financially, I feel that many non-otaku (and even some otaku) look down on the magical girl subgenre as inferior, mindless entertainment. While I can understand how this misconception can develop, I also believe that there are many wonderful examples that disprove the stigma.
The history of the magical girl subgenre has an unusual start. Two of the earliest magical girl titles, Sally the Witch and The Secrets of Akko-chan, saw their creators cite American sitcom Bewitched as an inspiration. As you might expect, these early magical girl series were primarily slice of life comedies with little to none of the combat that we have come to expect from modern magical girl franchises.
While there has been some debate as to whether the Cutie Honey franchise is a magical girl series (given the fact that the titular character is an android rather than a magical being), there is no doubt the impact the franchise has had on the magical girl subgenre. Cutie Honey is one of the earlier examples of a magical girl series with combat as well as introducing transformations involving costume changes where the characters become temporarily naked (something which is emulated by pretty much every modern magical girl series).
This concept of a magical girl warrior didn’t gain mainstream popularity until the 1990s with the release of Sailor Moon with series creator Naoko Takeuchi stating that she decided to combine the magical girl subgenre with sentai shows. The series became an instant success worldwide with an estimated merchandise revenue of $13 billion. Since then, magical girl series featuring combat have become the norm with magical girl slice of life series declining.
I can understand why many are so quick to dismiss these series. The heavy merchandising behind these series can seemingly convince people that their only purpose are to advertise products. Even I, someone who is willing to defend the magical girl subgenre, roll my eyes when I hear discussion of Pretty Cure, a franchise estimated to have grossed $8 billion in merchandising. However, that would ignore the many wonderful stories that this subgenre has to offer.
Interestingly, my favourite anime of all time happens to be a magical girl series. Originally released in 2011, Puella Magi Madoka Magica took the otaku world by storm, winning numerous awards and earning $400 million in merchandise revenue within two years. I did not get the opportunity to watch the series until 2012 and, by then, my expectations were sky high. It really says something that those expectations were not only met but exceeded with an incredible story that broke down and reinterpreted nearly every aspect of what a magical girl series is, animation that wove typical anime aesthetic with other styles and one of the greatest soundtracks I have ever heard in an anime series.
While I do believe that it is very easy to dismiss this subgenre as simply marketing for merchandise, I think that would be a disservice to the many wonderful anime and manga series that have been created under this mold. Let me know what your thoughts on the magical girl subgenre, which titles you have seen, which ones impressed you and any additional information you have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!