A Kind of Magic – Part 1

When people think of a common representation of anime and manga, they’ll probably think of giant robots (mecha) and martial arts (ninjas/samurai). However, there is another genre that has an almost equally popular following in the anime and manga fandom. That genre is magical girl. I say it is almost equally popular because as a genre, mahou shoujo (which is the Japanese term for magical girl) doesn’t get the popularity it deserves. In a largely male culture, action packed anime will always be in the spotlight. This doesn’t mean I think any less of them, but it’s a little disappointing that not enough mahou shoujo shows get recognition.

Cutie Honey and her alter-ego, Honey Kisaragi

So what are magical girls? Well, magical girls are simply girls with magic powers. These girls are usually between 9 and 15 years old, which helps establish a sense of innocence. After all, these types of girls are peace loving and kind-hearted, no matter what troubles they face. Even before they were bestowed with powers, they always had a great sense of justice. It’s this sense of justice that allows them to fight evil and save the Earth. Actually, parallels can be drawn between magical girls and superheroes due to their need for keeping their identity secret, having super human powers and having to transform. Now, the transformation sequence for magical girls is quite special. With superheroes, they simply change into a costume in a flash. With magical girls however, there’s a transformation sequence (which I will delve into later).

A Brief History

The American sitcom, Bewitched was quite popular among young women in Japan during the 1960s. During the 60s, animation was starting to take off in Japan with such series as Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atomu) and Gigantor (Tetsujin 28-gō). However, despite really popular, the flourishing anime market was aimed at young boys. So as not to neglect young girls, the creator of the Gigantor manga decided to follow in the footsteps of Bewitched by creating an animated series based around a witch, Sally the Witch. It should be noted that a witch in Japan isn’t necessarily evil. This is something that is common in the west but in Japan, a witch is simply a woman who uses magic for the benefit of others (much like in Bewitched).

The cast of Sailor Moon

In 1972, a certain magical cyborg made her TV debut. Cutie Honey is considered to be the first transforming magical girl anime, and is used as a template for almost every single mahou shoujo show since. Cutie Honey is also the first female protagonist of a shounen manga, so she’s quite the trend setter! Unfortunately, the original TV series is quite hard to obtain, so I have yet to see it. In 1992, Sailor Moon aired and popularised the mahou shoujo genre.

In part 2 of my look at the magical girl concept, I’ll go into what is typical of a magical girl, and also give a bit of insight into particular shows.