Magical girl anime is a subgenre of shōjo that focuses on ordinary girls and young women being endowed with super powers. Popular examples of this niche are Sailor Moon and Pretty Cure. In magical girl anime, it's standard to have superpowered heroines using powerful attacks to defeat their enemies.
These magic attacks can be achieved with or without weapons such as wands. And, the series they hail from doesn't have to be entirely traditional. However, this list is about classic magical girl anime from the 1990s to early 2000s. And, in a bid to keep this list streamlined, only a series' titular hero (e.g., Sailor Moon) will be eligible.
Without further ado, here are ten of the best finishing attacks in classic magical girl anime.
10 Pretty Sammy (OVA): Pretty Coquettish Bomber
This Tenchi Muyō! spin-off is a parody of magical girl anime, especially Sailor Moon. In the three-part OVA series, the next queen of Juraihelm selects an Earthling named Sasami to be her representative on the planet. Sasami is granted powers that turn her into Pretty Sammy, and she has to put a stop to Pixy Misa's naughty ways.
The stakes aren't too high in either the OVA or the TV reworking, but it's fun anime. Pretty Sammy can purge bad guys of evil with her Pretty Coquettish Bomber attack.
9 Nurse Angel Ririka SOS: Angel Aid Bomb Beam
Nurse Angel Ririka SOS was a 35-episode television series based on a manga written by Yasushi Akimoto. The show was about an elementary student who finds out she can turn into a heavenly guardian by using a magical nurse cap. As the legendary Nurse Angel, Ririka must find the Flower of Life and save the planet Queen Earth before the evil organization Dark Joker destroys everything.
Nurse Angel's ultimate finishing move Angel Aid Bomb Beam required a wand, much like her other attacks. She used it to defeat enemies both big and small.
8 Kamikaze Kaitō Jean'ne: Checkmate
As the modern-day reincarnation of Joan of Arc, Maron Kusakabe transforms into a kaitō (phantom thief) named Kaitō Jean'ne. She's notorious for stealing valuable items like artwork. It seems like she's a common criminal, but Kaitō Jean'ne is really trying to exorcise the evil spirits that have since possessed all these objects.
Later on in the series, Kaitō Jean'ne achieves a power-up with a more intricate technique for removing the aforesaid demons inhabiting the stolen items. This includes her wrapping the target with the ribbon from her wand before turning it into a harmless chess piece. Her trademark catchphrase is "Checkmate."
7 Vampire Princess Miyu (1997): Into the Darkness
Vampire Princess Miyu is not a traditional magical girl anime, but it fits the bill in many regards. This is especially the case with the 1997 television adaptation. In that series, the title character is posing as a school student during the day while fighting evil at night. She looks like a teenage girl, but Miyu is actually a centuries-old, daywalking vampire-Shinma hybrid. Shinma are ancient demons who feed on humans, and it's up to Miyu, her loyal servant Larva, and her familiar Shiina to send them back to the darkness.
Miyu wields a powerful flame that bears no particular or official name. She simply sends forth a stream of fire from her hands at the Shinma while ordering it back to the darkness.
6 Wedding Peach DX: Saint Grenade Crystals, Heart Impact
Kazuko Tadano, the character designer for the first two seasons of the classic Sailor Moon anime, reunited with Sukehiro Tomita for Legendary Love Angel: Wedding Peach. Tomita's manga was turned into a 51-episode television anime with an additional OVA (original video animation) series called Wedding Peach DX. The story follows the Love Angels, a group of female warriors who project Earth from Reine Devila and her devil warriors.
In DX, the Love Angels' powers are restored after a lengthy battle with Reine Devila's corps. The show's namesake is bestowed a magical pistol that fires an energy sphere powered by her three comrades' energy.
5 Magic Knight Rayearth: Fire Arrow
Magic Knight Rayearth is likened to a fantasy role-playing game. Based on the classic CLAMP manga, three students from different schools in Japan are transported to another world called Cephiro. They each gain magical powers, growing more and more advanced as time goes by, so that they can save a princess from an evil high priest. The series also involves giant robots called mashin (rune gods).
The show isn't named after Hikaru, but she's considered the protagonist of the three main characters. Her signature attack, Fire Arrow, isn't as powerful as Ruby Lightning, but she uses it often and well. Later on, Hikaru channels Fire Arrow through her mashin called Rayearth.
4 Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Power of Dios
Revolutionary Girl Utena is about as unorthodox as classic magical girl anime gets. In this provocative and weighty narrative about a young woman looking for the prince who saved her life, Utena gets wrapped up in the going-ons of her school's student council. These elite students meet in a mystical, shrouded arena on campus where they duel for the power to revolutionize the world. It's unclear what that really means, but now, Utena is a player and she is prized the enigmatic Rose Bride, Anthy.
In the series, Utena wields the Sword of Dios, which belongs to whomever is currently partnered with the Rose Bride. Channeling the mysterious force of the series' looming figure Prince Dios, Utena can use the sword to cut cars cleanly in half, among other things.
3 Cutie Honey F: Honey Virginal Invitation
Gō Nagai's Cutie Honey manga is seminal when it comes to contemporary magical girl stories. In his popular series, a young woman named Honey Kisaragi uses a device to take on whatever form she wants. This ranges in various disguises that assist her in the war against the evil Panther Zora and her gang Panther Claw.
In the 1997 adaptation Cutie Honey F ("F" stands for "Flash"), the show follows Sailor Moon's format more closely than ever. The two shows even shared production staff. Like the main heroine in Sailor Moon, Cutie Honey achieves an upgraded form matched with a lethal, new finishing attack. Hyper Honey carves a "V" in her opponent's body, which then leads to them exploding.
2 Cardcaptor Sakura: The Four Elemental Clow Cards
CLAMP's Cardcaptor Sakura (dubbed in English once upon a time as just Cardcaptors) concerns a young girl who accidentally frees numerous, inspirited, mystical cards called the Clow Cards. It's now up to her to catch them all as they can be quite dangerous if not properly stored.
Sakura Kinomoto doesn't have any signature, offensive moves, but she commonly uses the reclaimed cards to gather more rogue cards. This includes the Four Elementals: The Earthy, The Firey, The Windy, and The Watery. They aren't the most potent of the bunch, mind you.
1 Sailor Moon (1992): Moon Gorgeous Meditation
Naoko Takeuchi's well-known manga became a 1992 anime that is a now a household name. Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon chronicles the maturation of a 14-year-old girl named Usagi Tsukino. She is the reincarnation of the Moon Princess, and she present-day fights evil as Sailor Moon. Along with her other Sailor Guardian friends, Sailor Moon protects Earth from various harms.
In the fourth season SuperS, Sailor Moon is permanently powered up to Super Sailor Moon. This gives her access to the power of Pegasus, a winged unicorn whose origin and motives are not known yet. In the meantime, Super Sailor Moon borrows his energy to perform one of her most brilliant attacks. Moon Gorgeous Meditation has the greatest success rate of her all finishing moves, but she could only use it if Pegasus was available.