Magical girls are a staple in anime, delighting fans with their magical powers and sparkling transformation sequences. Some use their powers to live a double life, like some idol. Some use their powers to fight evil. And others, the classic "cute witch" archetype, just use their magic to solve episodic problems.
But, while they are a powerful escapist fantasy, there are times when the magical girls go through stuff that makes the fans at home grateful to be normal humans with mundane problems. Granted, one doesn't cancel out the other: there's a whole bunch of perks and drawbacks to being a magical girl in anime.
10 Drawback: They Are Always Being Hunted By An Evil Villain
If a magical girl uses her powers to fight the forces of evil, then there's usually some sort of evil queen or overlord leading these dark forces, plotting the magical girl's downfall. Usually in the form of her literal demise.
Granted, in some anime, the villain was already targeting people anyway. So the magical girl's power not only allowed her to save the day, but it also allowed her to avoid becoming one of the faceless victims of the day.
9 Perk: They Occasionally Turn Out To Be Princesses
Granted, it's not too tied to magical girls, nor is it exclusive to them, but quite a few magical girls are royalty. If a magical girl is tasked with finding a mysterious princess, quite often, she might just turn out to be the princess all along. Other times, she knows she was a princess all along.
Even when they aren't a princess themselves, they might have a magical princess, queen, or even prince to support them, with the latter often being a love interest.
8 Drawback: They Usually Have To Collect Something
Many magical girls are tasked with a mission, usually having to collect something. In Sailor Moon, the Scouts had to find the Silver Crystal. Cardcaptor Sakura, as her name suggests, has to recapture the Clow Cards. And if this is something that'll end the show, there's bound to be stories where the magical girl loses and has to recapture these MacGuffins.
Even when the world isn't in danger, you might have to find something. Lunlun in Hana no Ko Lunlun had to find "the Seven Colors Flower," all so the Flower Star Prince can inherit the throne.
7 Perk: They Usually Get Cool Clothes (& Sometimes More Than One Outfit)
Whether those transformation sequences that usually produce their clothes actually happen or are just for the audience's benefit, the end result is usually a costume that becomes a defining part of their character.
In Wedding Peach, the Love Angels get lovely wedding gowns as well as traditional magical girl outfits. In Pretear and Corrector Yui, the heroines get different costumes depending on what power they are using. Even Cardcaptor Sakura, who doesn't have the typical uniform or transformation sequence, gets lots of different outfits courtesy of Tomoyo.
6 Drawback: Magic Always Comes At A Price Or Limit
Many magical girls face strict rules when it comes to their powers. Sometimes, they will lose their powers if their friends and family learn about them. Other times, they might risk something worse. Tonde Burin, for example, will get stuck as a pig if anyone figures out her secret identity.
Often, a magical girl's own life can be on the line. In the Sailor Moon anime, for example, Usagi using the Silver Crystal at its full power can drain her of her lifeforce. Although the fact she has risked this fate more than once reassures that there are some loopholes.
5 Perk: They Often Make Wonderful New Friends
Often, magical girls find themselves on teams with other magical girls, like the Sailor Scouts or the Love Angels. Often, these girls come from different backgrounds and different personalities and might have a good effect on each other. Sometimes, they even get to befriend other types of magical girls outside of their team. In Sailor Moon, for example, the Sailor Scouts eventually find allies in the Sailor Starlights and Princess Kakyuu. These don't always have to be other girls. Himeno in Pretear had seven knights to help her.
Even solo magical girls usually have some beautiful friendships. If a series has a dark magical girl, she usually ends the series on some good terms with the heroine, like Ahiru and Rue in Princess Tutu or Nina and Maya in Ultra Maniac.
4 Drawback: Their Social Life Starts To Get Weird
Magical girls often have healthy, admirable friendships, especially when they double as teammates and fellow magical girls, but their civilian social life, especially a romantic one, can suffer.
In Sailor Moon, Usagi will eventually get her prince, but her friend Minako wasn't so lucky, actually having to kill the man she loved back when she was Sailor V. Going by the '90s anime, it's been shown that her classmates turned on her when her Sailor V duties took up too much of her time. Even after becoming Sailor Venus, it seems like her only healthy relationship with someone outside the Scouts is her cat, Artemis.
3 Perk: They Often Have Talking Cats
Magical girls are defined by many things, like a costume or a transformation sequence, and one such iconic trope is the magical mascot. Such mascots take on various forms: an alien pig, a fairy from another world, a beloved stuffed animal brought to life, or even an exorcised demon.
Often, they are the source of the heroine's powers and serve as her mentor. Even when they aren't the ones giving the heroine their powers, they're still a healthy source of support.
2 Drawback: They Often Die Before Their Next Birthday
When magical girls use their powers like superheroes to protect the world, there usually is a big, final battle that involves the heroine losing her life. As seen in Sailor Moon, Wedding Peach, Pretear, Nurse Angel Ririka SOS, and Tokyo Mew Mew.
There also doesn't have to be a big battle for a magical girl to find herself less than alive. In Minky Momo, the titular heroine is run over by a truck after losing her powers.
1 Perk: They Tend To Rise Like A Phoenix
Magical girls tend to die quite often, but nothing says they have to stay dead. Sometimes, the power of love and friendship does the trick. Other times, it's some inner magic or even the villain repenting what they caused and using their powers to restore everything.
In Nurse Angel Ririka SOS, after spending quite a bit of time having her loved ones break down crying over her upcoming sacrifice, begging her not to go through with it, and Ririkia advising them to erase their memories of her to ease the pain- the last few seconds have her wake up anyway, assuring viewers the heroine wasn't really going to stay dead (even if the story is otherwise over.)