Unclear description: Magical Girl

I did put "usually" next to items a number of times. ;P

Stick that on the Analysis page.

Demographics are a huge issue with Magical Girl since the rise of Moe (the term stems from Sailor Moon somewhat Sailor Saturn is said to be the originator) The fact that it's aimed at Shoujo and Seinen different low-key sexual elements worm their way in such as Zettai Ryouiki and Yuri Subtext. primary demographic varies from show to show but the other one is always secondary.

Even Madoka Magica has a Shoujo fanbase and Studio Shaft knew it. (Which had the Moral Guardians screaming for it's removal from air.... Even though it aired at Otaku O'Clock.) Situation with Magical Girl is like My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic.

History though the difference in early works and post Sailor Moon is rather extreme.

Edit: Mai Hime and those series are messy. They really don't fit any of the requirements, they are Magical Girl Warrior, but the shows themselves are not Magical Girl Shows.

edited 9th Sep '11 8:54:37 PM by Raso

I would keep the history stuff, but it may be worth trying to write it more concicely. A stab at a draft (Rolling Updates in effect):

Known as Mahou shoujo ("magical girl") in Japanese, or just majokko, Magical Girl is both a character type found mainly in anime and manga and the name of the genre that features them prominently. The character is most often a young girl, somewhere between preteen and young adult, who has, discovers or is given magical powers and some mission to carry out by transforming into a heroine with a frilly outfit and flashy powers.

The meaning of Magical Girl has changed over the years; At one time or another it has been used to mean any of these tropes:

• Cute Witch - The first shows to claim the designation of mahou shoujo — Mitsuteru Yokoyama's Mahotsukai Sally (Sally The Witch, 1966-1968) and Akatsuka Fujio's Himitsu No Akko-chan (broadcast 1969, but its manga predates Mahotsukai Sally) — both claim to have been inspired by the American sitcom Bewitched. Shows like Majokko Meg Chan later established many of the plot tropes to make recurring appearances in the genre - girls with a strong personality, a fight against an evil enemy and a Dark Magical Girl rival.
• Magic Idol Singer - an offshoot of the magical girl trend that fed off the culture of IdolSingers in Japan, where the girl is or transforms into an idol singer (often with Older Alter Ego) and is given other magical powers to achieve their dreams, possibly fighting for justice on the side. Established first by Magical Angel Creamy Mami.
• Magical Girl Warrior - considered by most the "modern" magical girl type, where the girl is more or less a Super Hero, fighting evil forces in the world. Borrowing a lot from Sentai shows, this version was pretty much codified by Sailor Moon though had a predecessor in Cutey Honey 20-odd years earlier. Even shows that still use Cute Witch magical girls now borrow a lot from this type.

The archetypal modern Magical Girl will follow this setup, or something close to it:

• They are, or appear to be, an ordinary person to most people. The Ordinary High-School Student is very common; next most common is a magical Princess Incognito assuming a civilian identity (possibly for a Magical Girl Queenliness Test). Worlds that aren't modern-day Earth have more freedom in their origin stories, especially if magic is common in the setting.
• They are offered The Call to become a Henshin Hero. Popular vectors include a Mentor Mascot or a royal relative from a Alternate Universe.
• They usually take on the role with a Secret Identity and as a result have to Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World. Sometimes close friends or family will be entrusted as Secret Keepers, sometimes not. (A world with commonplace magic may make this unnecessary.)
• They assume their hero form with a sparkle-filled Transformation Sequence, often with a Transformation Trinket, have a costume sporting Frills of Justice and have flashy magical powers.

They and their shows also come with any number of other common Magical Girl Tropes. The average Magical Girl series generally follows some form of Monster of the Week and/or Plot Coupon collecting format with an overall Myth Arc, and both The Power of Love and The Power of Friendship tend to figure heavily. Common supporting characters include a (usually male) Mysterious Protector serving as Aloof Ally and/or a Dark Magical Girl as The Rival. Magical Girl shows tend to have wide demographic appeal, not only with the main Shoujo demographic but with boys too depending on the levels of shonen or Seinen-style action, Moe and Fanservice.

edited 10th Sep '11 5:08:42 PM by Elle

Cute Witch is not a subtrope of Magical Girl. It's really more of a sister trope. There are lots of Cute Witch types that aren't even vaguely magical girls.

Fixed

History of a trope is what the Analysis is for. Talk about the trope and how to identify the trope in action on the main page.

I would reword the last paragraph, Due to Moe older boys / Seinen have always been in it (Magical Girl might be Moe's codifier) added Sexualized elements just make it bigger, Action elements drive the age down more as well as bigger male crowd.

Nanoha might have aimed straight at that crowd but others do the action thing too, Precure gets stuff like

Might want to add that these are Merchandise-Driven with objects and trinkets that are oddly marketable or simplistic, Egregious ones come with their own Stock Footage (Big name series such as Pretty Cure and Sailor Moon are Cash-Cow Franchise.)

As well as expand a bit on theme these series typically run on Power of Love and/or Power of Friendship especially Magical Girl Warrior. Extreme versions and Parody of this tend to be Love Freaks

Unlike Shōnen Magical Girl Powers are typically not very defined and tend to be tied to the users emotional state, like how good of friends they are with their partner or when the badguy does something that pushes the Magical Girl's Berserk Button. Mid-Season Upgrade of powers is extremely common (if not a rule.) as is Stock Footage for attacks and Transformation Sequence Especially in the big Finishing Move.

The show will usually feature a Monster of the Week format with an overarching Myth Arc type story. or after the Macguffin Of The Week in a race with the badguy to get the piece of whatever.

The series will feature a (Usually talking) Weasel Mascot or something small like that. Magical Girl Warrior will almost always have a Dark Magical Girl rival which tend to Heel–Face Turn into a partner Sixth Ranger via friendship (or Yuri),

As well as feature a Mysterious Stranger type that tends to show up and help occasionally often claiming Just Passing By often he or she will eventually join the main team as another Sixth Ranger (Series can and will do both or even more.) Cool Mask or cowl not required but it helps.

The Magical Girls are usually Color Coded For Your Convenance with Good Colors Bad Colors however Pink is the lead's Motif or Rose Haired Girl not red.

edited 9th Sep '11 11:20:49 PM by Raso

While a lot of that is valid info, it's way too much for the description, I think. The link to Magical Girl Tropes exists for that reason. I've edited in the bits I think are most relevant.

The stuff is all valid and needed it describes the genre. Magical Girl Tropes is just an index Golf Clap it does nothing to explain anything just a list.

The whole pink thing isn't listed anywhere on the site really, as well as powers and such are very important it a huge difference than other action shows in particular other anime and why it might turn off boys.

And the Mysterious Stranger is important too.

edited 10th Sep '11 1:24:35 AM by Raso

Me might actually need that trope, Mysterious Magical Girl Helper Guy or something (Tuxedo Mask! and Shaoran!). Unless it's just a particular type of Aloof Ally. Or actually it might be Mysterious Protector.

edited 10th Sep '11 2:00:25 AM by NoirGrimoir

Isn't this all Magical Girl Warrior?

As far as I understand Magical Girl is far broader than this. A simple Slice of Life story about a Cute Witch would fit under the genre too.

I think this page should be about the genre, not the character type. I am not even sure if there is really a Magical Girl character type defined enough to justify a trope about this, in the end this character type would be: A girl with fantastic powers (in Japan).

Deboss, the history of the trope is important to understanding it because the trope has morphed quite a bit over the years.

^^ Except there are many, many other shows with "girl with powers in Japan" that aren't considered mahou shoujo at all. It pretty explicitly means the transforming heroine type and has a distinctive flavor..

^^^^ I'm trying to keep the main description down to that which is essential and a few options that are the most common. Too many optional qualities in a description get confusing, and for many of them it makes more sense to refer to the respective trope pages.

@ all: I'm having trouble thinking of a Mysterious Protector or Aloof Ally character that isn't Tuxedo Mask or Kaitou Ace (with deference to the Cardcaptor Sakura character someone said).

Yeah... if a Cute Witch has a transformation sequence then it's probably a Magical Girl show.

Coupe-sama in Heartcatch Precure (which twists the hell out of it and is flat out funny and sweet at the same time.) Cure Muse in Suite Precure a masked girl playing the role. (and playing it straight as an arrow at the moment the series is still airing.)

There are others that play with the role a bit too with them actually not showing themselves at all to the Magical Girl. They play the save the day role but not quite what we think of as standard for this.

There is also a The One Guy which is present in the work usually The Idiot to be laughed at or a Bishōnen with all the trimmings. (Steriotypical for them to be the protector so usually it's not him.)

(I haven't watch a large number of Magical Girl.. I am watching all the Precure series right now though which is why it comes up alot, fresh in my mind... shameless plug Watch Heartcatch Precure!)

The powers thing is really a kicker though it's how they work really and a major dividing point. (the Nanoha series made waves when it didn't use most of those elements, even though her original visual novel self still did, Madoka Magica even played this somewhat straight too.... Although it killed the people who did it)

edited 10th Sep '11 10:34:03 AM by Raso

I want to re-raise the possibility of splitting Magical Girl and Magical Girl Genre. I see pros and cons: Con, the example list of both pages would pretty much duplicate each other, with a few exceptions. Rarely is there a magical girl character outside a magical girl show. Pro, splitting them would give more room on the genre page to talk about the other tropes, plot points and stock chracters of magical girl shows other than the magical girls themselves. I'd be fine keeping them lumped, but I'm less sure at the moment that it's the best idea.

Yeah considering the amount of different information required to discuss both, it might make it worthwhile to split so there's adequate room.

That's not a terrible idea.

Would we have all the examples on one page?

The problem I see with it is it will lead to massive amounts of trope decay like what has happened to Dark Magical Girl (which has massive shoehorning) People will try and fit their random Cute Witch X into it or Harry Potter... who are most certainly not Magical Girl s. Males who fit this do exist though however are rare DN Angel and Negima (Pre-Genre Shift) come to mind as well as Mei No Naisho (which was a guy raised as a girl.)

The other wiki on this btw.

edited 10th Sep '11 7:41:32 PM by Raso

If the description is explicit that this is the Japanese trope about the main characters of the Magical Girl Genre, I don't really see how massive shoehorning could happen.

The Other Wiki's article appears to have the "original research" warning banners on it for good reason. For TV Tropes we're not so worried about that, but we can't really point at Wikipedia as an authoritative resource. I'm not sure there *is* an authoritative resource on the subject.

This is one trope that I do not think exists in Western media unless it's heavily influenced by a Japanese source, so we should go through any Western examples carefully.

Look at Dark Magical Girl... yeah that already got shoehorned even with notes.

Anyway after the Frills of Justice thread came up today... you are misusing it in the writeup, Frills of Justice is strictly for things like a Mid-Season Upgrade gives the outfit a Frill Upgrade (That trope is going to take a while to sort out I think)

Looking at the Western examples, I think there might all ready be some misuse, but I don't know the series in question well enough.

On the Magical Girl page on series I dont see any misuse (Italian works are Magical Girl... They love the stuff there.)

On the "Magical Girl trope referred to in other works" thing oh yeah misuse there, The Secret World Of Alex Mack is X Just X and pretty sure that isnt one. As well as it lists Magical Girl X Just X on the series page.

Dark Magical Girl though... most of it is misuse, its got crap from Babylon 5 for god sakes... should I open another thread for that or stick with this one since its overall Magical Girl stuff?

edited 11th Sep '11 6:03:02 PM by Raso