Ever since the first magical girl anime appeared onto the small screen back in 1968, the magical girl genre has been an important part of the wider anime world, at first generally delighting girls who would practice transforming in front of their TV screens while their favorite show was on, then with Sailor Moon, boys could finally get into the act. Let’s take a look at the history of magical girls in GIFs!
The History of Magical Girls: The Early Days
Let’s look at some of the classics first. The original magical girl anime was Sally the Witch, which is also often considered the first shoujo anime as well, which ran from 1966-67. The genre was directly inspired by the popularity of American TV show Bewitched (in Japanese: Okusama wa Majo), according to the manga author. So basically, a generation of Japanese watched Bewitched and wondered what it’d be like to be Tabatha, the child able to use magic.
So in a way, the Queen of Magical Girls is Samantha, or her daughter Tabitha.
I’m interested in the way one genre crosses over with others, creating interesting results. After single-handedly creating what we would now call the genre of hentai with Harenchi Gakuen, legendary manga and anime creator Go Nagai brought his talents to the magical girl genre, creating Cutie Honey, which brought eroticism into the genre (in the form of Honey’s disintegrating clothing during her transformation sequence).
The Sailor Moon Era
Sailor Moon creator Naoko Takeuchi is a genius because she had the vision to unite two popular genres together: magical girls and sentai (five-team heroes), who battled the “monster of the week.” The extreme popularity of the show, coupled with its broadcast internationally, changed the world forever. Not only did the show tie the transformations to toys for viewers to buy (making it the biggest marketing success this side of Star Wars), but it offered erotic visual themes that would appeal to older-age boys. (There was a time when the nude transformation sequences were the sexiest thing the world knew.)
The Clamp Years: Magic Knight Rayearth and Cardcaptor Sakura
The magical girl genre lends itself perfectly to the gorgeous art and story style of CLAMP, a group of creators that started out as a doujin circle back in the day and managed to go professional. First came Magical Knight Rayearth, the first major magical girl work to come out after Sailor Moon, which I cleverly used to help my kids learn English. The bigger hit might have been Cardcaptor Sakura, which was broadcast on American television and thus got a wider following.
The Pretty Cure Series
One of the biggest successes in the magical girl space has been Toei’s long-running Pretty Cure (PreCure) series, which at last count has 15 different series, with extravagant names like HeartCatch PreCure! and HappinessCharge PreCure! Although there are many dedicated young girls who love this show, the PreCure series has always had a strong following by middle-aged men, too.
I was reminded of this fact a few weeks ago when I went to see I Want To Eat Your Pancreas but accidentally walked inside the wrong theater. The theater I’d mistakenly entered was the currently-running PreCure movie. I caught the eyes with a mid-40s age man for a few seconds before realizing my error and leaving.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Most readers will already be familiar with the legendary Madoka Magica, the hugely dark series that posits that magical girls exist as a mechanism for staving off the heat death of the universe. It’s a wonderful series created by Nitroplus’s star writer Urobuchi Gen (creator of Saya no Uta) and studio Shaft that forever changed the choices magical girl anime creators would have to make in the future. Let’s enjoy some lovely Madoka GIFs!
Vividred Operation
Made by the staff that brought us pantsu-challenged Strike Witches, which turned WWII into a battle between panty-wearing witches with machine guns, Vividred Operation was an innovative show that brought us the most incredible camera angles yet seen in anime. It wasn’t a huge hit with fans, but it’s worth a watch just to take in the amazing visuals the studio came up with.
Perhaps the best Vividred Operation GIF to ever exist is this one:
The Post-Madoka “Dark Magical Girl” Era
In the “post-Madoka” era, where horror has been shown to have a place in magical girl stories, two show stand out. First is Magical Girl Raising Project, about a phone app that lets those who have a pure heart be chosen to become real magical girls. There’s only one problem: the game is a giant simulation to create the strongest magical girl possible, and those who don’t win must die.
The other is the recently-aired Magical Girl Site, about a website that allows the downtrodden to become magical girls, so they can use their powers for revenge. It was also a great show, although potentially too dark for some because of its especially “grimdark” approach to the material.
Did you enjoy the history of Magical Girls in GIFs? Did we miss any major magical girl anime series that we should have included? Tell us on Facebook or on Twitter!
