Magical girl

For the Spanish film, see Magical Girl (film).

Magical girls (魔法少女 mahō shōjo, also known as mahou shoujo or majokko) is a subgenre of Japanese fantasy anime and manga which feature girls who use magic.

Genre history

Magical girl anime and manga

Manga and anime historians regard the Princess Knight manga, released in 1953, as the prototype for the magical girl genre.[1]:77 Himitsu no Akko-chan, serialized nine years later (1962) in Ribon, is generally accepted to be the earliest magical girl manga.[2]:8 Sally the Witch is regarded by historians as the first magical girl anime.[1]:78[3] It was adapted from the Sally the Witch manga, which was serialized in Ribon from 1966 to 1967, which was inspired by the Japanese dub versions of the American film Mary Poppins and the TV series Bewitched, which were popular among Japanese girls in the 1960s.[4]

Mahōtsukai Chappy (1972) and Majokko Megu-chan (1974–1975) popularized the term "majokko" (little witch) as a name for the genre. Megu-chan has been noted for its portrayal of multiple magical girls and the friendship between girls. Due to the women's lib movement in Japan, magical girls began displaying a "certain coquettishness" in the 1970s.[5]

In the 1980s, Magical Princess Minky Momo (1982) and Creamy Mami, the Magic Angel (1983-1984) showed girls transforming into a "grown-up image of themselves". This has been linked to the increasing prominence of women at this time such as Doi Takako, as well as the girl band Princess Princess and idol Seiko Matsuda, and the passage of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act.[5]

Kumiko Saito argues that magical girl anime is best understood as "twenty-five-minute advertisements for toy merchandise", highlighting the high production costs and the involvement of Bandai in Sailor Moon and Precure. She acknowledges that despite this and the childish plots, magical girl anime discuss gender roles and identities.[6]

The Sailor Moon manga and anime are considered to have revitalized the genre in the 1990s and paved the way for later successful titles.[2]:199[7] A key feature of the heroines of Sailor Moon is that their transformations make them look more feminine, as well as make them stronger. The romantic relationship between Usagi Tsukino and Mamoru Chiba and Usagi's care for her future daughter, Chibiusa are seen as points of difference between Sailor Moon and "typical Western superheroines".[5] Another notable example is Cardcaptor Sakura, with its manga and subsequent animated series being highly popular in and outside Japan.

After 2003, magical girl anime marketed to male audiences such as Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha became a prolific trend alongside the traditional female-oriented works.[8] The magical girl genre earned renewed popularity in the 2010s with the advent of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, whose mature themes and darker approach earned acclaim from viewers and critics outside its target audience.[9]

Magical "boy" works

After 2010, there was a notable increase in series portraying "magical boys" in protagonist roles instead of the traditional supporting roles. Cute High Earth Defense Club Love! is a 2015 television magical boy anime series created by Kurari Umatani and produced by Diomedéa, which parodies tropes and cliches common to magical girl anime.[10] In Is This a Zombie?, a zombie is resurrected by a necromancer after being killed by a serial killer, inadvertently gains "magical girl" powers, and is forced to become a "magical boy" (and thereby crossdress) in the process.[11] Prior to the 2010s an anime that featured an equal number of magical boys that fought alongside magical girls was Shugo Chara! half of the series' main characters were males that possessed the same powers as their female counterparts.

Magical girls in non-Japanese works

The Italian-animated series Winx Club uses a magical girl concept for its main characters, including transformations for each character.[12][13] In 2014, LoliRock debuted as a French anime-influenced animation series of the genre, and contains many references to Japanese magical girl franchises.[14][15] Miraculous Ladybug, another French series, blends magical girl conventions with modern superhero action and adventure storytelling.[16][17] Girls of Olympus, a French series, portrays a trio of magical girls as reincarnations of the Olympian goddesses.[18]

See also

Further reading

References

  1. 1 2 Gravett, Paul (2004). Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics (2. print. ed.). London: Laurence King. ISBN 1-85669-391-0.
  2. 1 2 Thompson, Jason (2007). Manga: The Complete Guide. New York: Del Rey Books. ISBN 0345485904.
  3. ↑ Boren, James (September 2003). "The Making of a Magical Girl". Animerica. Viz Media. 11 (9): 31.
  4. ↑ Drazen, Patrick (2003). Anime Explosion! The What? Why? & Wow! of Japanese Animation ([Nachdr.] ed.). Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press. p. 281. ISBN 1-880656-72-8.
  5. 1 2 3 Sugawa, Akiko (February 26, 2015). "Children of Sailor Moon: The Evolution of Magical Girls in Japanese Anime". Nippon Communications Foundation. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  6. ↑ Saito, Kumiko (2 January 2014). "Magic, Shōjo, and Metamorphosis: Magical Girl Anime and the Challenges of Changing Gender Identities in Japanese Society". The Journal of Asian Studies. 73 (01): 143–164. doi:10.1017/S0021911813001708.
  7. ↑ Poitras, Gilles (2004). Anime Essentials: Every Thing a Fan Needs to Know (4. [Ausg.] ed.). Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press. pp. 31–32. ISBN 1-880656-53-1.
  8. ↑ "AnimeNation Anime News Blog » Blog Archive » Ask John: Is Magical Girl Anime for Male Viewers a New Trend?". Animenation.net. 2007-10-22. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
  9. ↑ Ohanesian, Liz (October 22, 2012). "How Puella Magi Madoka Magica Shatters Anime Stereotypes". LA Weekly. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Binan Koko Chikyuu Boei-bu Love Anime with High School Boys Unveiled". Anime News Network. 2014-09-26. Retrieved 2014-12-30.
  11. ↑ "Anime Series' Official Homepage". Anime Series' Official Homepage. January 21, 2011. Retrieved January 23, 2011.
  12. ↑ Anders, Ella (February 13, 2016). "Winx Club to Receive Live-Action Film". BSC Kids. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
  13. ↑ Deheer, Laura (April 15, 2015). "Changing Anime Trends Over Time". GoodEReader. Oakbranch Media. Retrieved March 21, 2016. It is also thanks to Sailor Moon that the following ten years saw the rise of the magical girl, a genre that had always been around but rarely saw such success. In the aftermath of Sailor Moon came Cardcaptor Sakura, Shugo Chara, Pretty Cure and the like. The genre even reached around the globe to other nations of animation, such as France’s W.I.T.C.H. novels and Italy’s popular animated series Winx Club.
  14. ↑ "Lolirock Gets Ready to Rock". Advanstar Communications. October 1, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  15. ↑ Todesco, Bertrand (September 4, 2015). "Back to 2011! The creation of LoliRock - Part 1: Iris Genesis". Retrieved June 13, 2016 – via Tumblr.
  16. ↑ Anders, Ella (July 2, 2015). "Part Magical Girl, Part Superhero; Ladybug Arrives State-Side in Fall". BSC Kids. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  17. ↑ Collins, Elle (December 3, 2015). "Teen French Heroes Ladybug & Cat Noir Arrive On Nickelodeon". Comics Alliance. Retrieved February 27, 2016. The influence of the Magical Girl genre is inescapable; when Marinette’s mother is captured in a bubble and carried off into the sky, apparently along with every adult in Paris, Marinette transforms into Ladybug in a series of twirls and poses, just as Sailor Moon and other magical girls always do. She even has the guidance of some kind of talking ladybug creature, fulfilling another Magical Girl trope.
  18. ↑ "Girls of Olympus". The Animation Band. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
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