One of the best things about watching magical girl anime is that there are a lot of really good costumes and increasingly powerful forms as the series continue. And with so many magical girl series out there, it’s hard to narrow down just which ones show the very best of their final forms.
With such varied and unique approaches to the concept, there are many options for which ones deserve to be considered the very best of the magical girl forms, and it also means that some tend to fall a bit short when held up against each other.
10 Lucia Nanami’s Second Idol Form (Melody Mermaid Pichi Pichi Pitch)
There are some magical girl anime out there that feel like they are just trying to cash in on the success and popularity of Sailor Moon, and Melody Mermaid definitely feels like one of them. The team is made up of mermaid princesses who, during battle, transform into human idol stars.
It’s a goofy premise, and definitely one not meant to be thought about too hard, but leader Lucia Nanami’s Second Idol Form is incredibly cute, with her pigtails and pink ribbons giving off true Sailor Moon vibes.
9 Sakura Kinomoto’s Episode 45 & 46 Battle Costume (Cardcaptor Sakura)
One of the things that sets Cardcaptor Sakura apart as a magical girl anime is the fact that she doesn’t actually have just one uniform that she wears when capturing cards. In fact, her costume changes in almost every episode.
But in her final battle, when she must fight and defeat Yue to officially become mistress of the Clow Cards, she wears a costume designed by her friend Tomoyo that is cute, functional, and iconic.
8 White Pretear (Pretear)
Becoming the white Pretear is, in a lot of ways, fairly similar to Usagi Tsukino evolving into Princess Serenity in the most difficult battles she faces.
Himeno transforms into this princess-like creature with wings in order to defeat the Great Tree of Fenrir in one of the climactic moments of the series. It’s an amazing final form that is literally the most final, as she dies following its use (though she is, in fairy tale fashion, resurrected with a kiss).
7 Akko And Diana’s Final Transformation (Little Witch Academia)
This is slightly outside of the realm of traditional magical girl ultimate forms, but what is more of a magical anime than a series about a magical witch academy? At the end of the series, Akko and Diana must join together their powers in order to save the school and magic itself.
The epic final moments of the battle, in which they hold hands, and their witch uniforms become white and gold, instead of their usual purple, is one of the most brilliant magical girl moments of the decade.
6 Ame No Habakiri XV (Senki Zesshou Symphogear)
Like Sailor Moon, Senki Zesshou Symphogear is broken up into several seasons, each with its own subtitle and each with its own new version of the Symphogear that the team wears.
The armor, worn by Tsubasa Kazabari, is named “Blade of Heavenly Wings” in English, and by the final season of the series, XV, it is as its very coolest, with a modern, Studio TRIGGER-esque design full of sharp angles and a strong mecha sensibility.
5 Nanoha Takamachi’s Blaster Mode (Magical Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS)
While Nanoha Takamachi’s appearance doesn’t change in her Blaster Mode, it is her most powerful mode, to the point that, like Himeno in Pretear, she physically suffers for its use.
She and Raising Star are able to drastically raise their power levels while using it, making them difficult to defeat, but it is also damaging to both of them, usually leaving them injured afterwards and having the potential to kill them if used for too lengthy a time.
4 Princess Form (Pretty Cure)
Pretty Cure’s Princess Form is the only ultimate form on this list which is able to transform the entirety of the team into an ultimate form, as opposed to just one person. Their costumes change, becoming much more luxurious and over the top, with tiaras and gowns, reflecting the fact that they are now princesses.
There are two major attacks that this form allows the group to do as a unit, Rainbow Burst and Royal Rainbow Burst.
3 Hyper Honey (Cutie Honey Flash)
If Sailor Moon is the definitive magical girl for many anime fans, then Cutie Honey is the series that opened the door and led the way for the series to take the crown. In Cutie Honey Flash, Honey Hayami has several different forms she takes in order to fight in battles, all of which have varying levels of revealing costumes and power.
Her most powerful form is Hyper Honey, which is almost unbeatable and utilizes all of her current powers, plus several more lipstick-based attacks.
2 Junketsu Senpu Zenkan (Kill La Kill)
As much as Kill La Kill is a critique of the magical girl genre, it is impossible to ignore that it falls directly into the genre itself. The series follows a girl named Ryuko as she tries to discover the truth of who killed her father, with the help of a Goku uniform, a magical outfit that, when transformed, gives her the power to fight in superpowered battles.
Her rival, Satsuki Kiryuin, likewise has a Goku uniform, and in its most powerful form, Junkentsu Senpu Zenkan, she is almost undefeatable.
1 Eternal Sailor Moon (Sailor Moon)
Sailor Moon is without a doubt the best known magical girl of all time. And throughout the series, her costumes and forms change as she becomes more powerful, growing stronger through her friendships and her determination to protect the world she loves. Eternal Sailor Moon is her final form, and it is without a doubt the most iconic.
From the wings to the color scheme to the staff, Sailor Moon looks her most powerful and most confident in this outfit, and it stands out above the rest.