One of the reasons that anime remains such a groundbreaking storytelling medium is that it's not afraid to take risks and mix up its formula. There are many popular genres that attempt to add some form of structure to anime, but modern series even turn to those conventions as elements to subvert and deconstruct.
Anime's magical girl genre where ordinary girls transform into fantastic superheroes is a perennial crowd-pleaser that’s definitely guilty of certain stereotypes and clichés. Audiences continue to watch magical girl anime because they're a comfortable option that usually doesn't rock the boat. However, these formulaic details can become an anime's secret weapon when they're properly embraced and explored.
10 Puella Magi Madoka Magica Treats A Magical Girl Transformation Like The Beginning Of The End
It's become increasingly in vogue for magical girl series to use its popular premise as shorthand for much more disturbing and melodramatic storytelling. Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a masterclass in postmodern magical girl narratives.
The anime hides behind familiar trappings like cute creature mascots and unique weapons, but in Madoka Magica, agreeing to become a magical girl is akin to a death sentence. Madoka Magica embraces magical girl clichés, but as a way to highlight the uneven, toxic relationships that they're built on. It's an enlightening lesson in power dynamics and fate.
9 Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Finds Extreme Power In The Strangest Of Places
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is a magical girl anime from 2004 that's cut from the same cloth as Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura. Nanoha Takamachi innocently helps out a beleaguered ferret, only to learn that it's in fact a powerful mage.
Nanoha assists this mage on his mission to find and recover the 21 scattered Jewel Seeds, but Nanoha's mission becomes significantly more difficult after a similarly-powered individual, Fate Testarossa, also shows up with her eyes on the Jewel Seeds. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha uses this familiar framework to really explore the depths of Nanoha's character.
8 Wonder Egg Priority Uses Personal Trauma As The Trigger For Superpowers
Wonder Egg Priority is another progressive take on the magical girl genre that's infinitely darker than its cute aesthetics and young characters initially let on. Wonder Egg Priority turns the internal demons that Ai Ohto and several other conflicted girls face into literal monsters that they need to defeat.
Wonder Egg Priority finds a fresh point of view by turning the genre's subtext into text and then pushing it to an even more exaggerated place. It's a rare example of a magical girl series where characters starkly discuss abuse and mental health concerns as a growing darkness threatens to consume them.
7 Puni Puni Poemy Pokes Fun At Every Possible Magical Girl Stereotype
At only two episodes, Puni Puni Poemy is an OVA spin-off of the uproarious gag series, Excel Saga. Despite its status as a spinoff, it still manages to make a whole series' worth of commentary in this pair of installments.
Excel Saga broadly lampoons every anime genre imaginable, but Puni Puni Poemy specifically narrows in on magical girl material as the precocious Poemi Watanabe gives her all to take down the extraterrestrial menaces who made her an orphan. The humor in Puni Puni Poemy never misses, and the anime is at its best when it indulges in genre tropes since that's what fuels its comedy.
6 Tokyo Mew Mew Verges On Parody With Its Feline-Like Mew Mew Warriors
There's a rare earnestness to Tokyo Mew Mew that prevents the show from coming across as a complete parody of the genre. In this radical riff on magical girl theatrics, Ichigo Momomiya and four other girls who are infused with the DNA of endangered animals, transform into "Mew Mews" to help protect the planet from alien warfare.
The whole "cat girl" trend is something that gets mocked in anime, so to literally weaponize that stereotype through the already-heightened mechanics of a magical girl series is actually kind of brilliant. Against all odds, Tokyo Mew Mew finds a rhythm that works.
5 Cardcaptor Sakura Banks On The Basics & An Engaging Formula
The English dub known as Cardcaptors does a great disservice to the iconic magical girl series Cardcaptor Sakura, and it even attempts to edit the series in a way that makes Syaoran Li, a boy, the protagonist. Cardcaptor Sakura has a revered reputation in the genre and all of its ideas, such as Clow Cards or Sakura's anthropomorphic helper Cerberus, connect with audiences.
Cardcaptor Sakura establishes a clear goal of 52 Clow Cards that must be recovered. The cards are obtained through an effective episodic structure where life lessons coincide with magical girl combat and Clow Card collection.
4 Little Witch Academia Turns Magical Girl Mechanics Into An Educational Process
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In many magical girl anime, there are nebulous and original powers that the series creates for its characters. Little Witch Academia cuts out the middleman and is instead a magical girl series where the characters are literally in school to hone their budding magic abilities.
Seemingly inspired by works like Harry Potter, it's thoroughly impressive how Little Witch Academia seamlessly blends magical girl concepts with school-based drama and slice-of-life silliness. Akko's journey to becoming a skilled witch is as touching as any magical girl story, and it's hard to not root for her since she's such an unabashed witch fangirl.
3 Mai-HIME Crafts An Impossibly Unique Power For Its Magical Girls
Mai-HiME is an anime series from 2004 and 2005 that takes the magical girl genre in some really creative directions that are built upon the fundamentals. Mai Tokiha is a typical transfer student who's struggling with the changes, but she learns that she's one of a dozen chosen girls who have the HiME mark.
This HiME branding means many things, but most importantly, Mai can control a mechanical and supernatural spirit hybrid known as a Child. Mai's Child is a magical girl talent that feels both familiar and also completely original. The emphasis on Mai's younger brother, Takumi, is also a unique touch.
2 Princess Tutu Gives An Overlooked Animal The Magical Girl Treatment
Most magical girl anime take a typical adolescent female who feels overlooked in her everyday life only to experience an awakening in her new role. Princess Tutu is a 26-episode series that embraces these magical girl ideals, but subverts them at the same time.
In this case, this means that the series' magical girl fantasy affects a duck, not a girl, and turns the animal into a human ballet performer. Princess Tutu cleverly pays service to texts like The Ugly Duckling and Swan Lake, yet still through a distinct filter that feels unique to anime.
1 Sailor Moon Sets The Standard For The Best Magical Girl Clichés
It's hard to discuss anime's magical girl genre without shining a light on the Sailor Moon franchise. There are more than 200 episodes across the various Sailor Moon series, which embrace magical girl tropes as a badge of honor.
Not only does the anime's central character wind up being a chosen individual, but all of her friends receive the same luxury. These predictable details work in the show's favor and even the American-produced "Sailor Says" morality lessons that follow the end of each episode are a fitting way to lean into magical girl ideals.