Actually, that could have been awesome. Old women who can do magic....are witches. Seems like a missed opportunity here.
[[quoteblock]]Is that deconstructive or just a really grim take on the genre? [/quoteblock]]
Just a really grim take on the genre, because there is no reason why that would be more logical.
A deconstruction isn't "darker", just applies Reality Ensues more or takes the tropes to their logical conclusion. A deconstruction can even end up lighter.
Well, Madoka seemed to take that quote from Dark Knight Returns and run with it:
Either you die a hero, or you live long enough for people to see you become the villain.
The three finest things in life are to splat your enemies, drive them from their turf, and hear their lamentations as their rank falls!It is logical progression because you're extrapolating as to why the Magical Warriors are entirely young teenage to pubescent children as opposed to adult women.
hashtagsarestupidWell, you can only have Reality Ensues so much. You can't have Magical Girl without magic, so you can't have to much reality. After that, it pretty much depends on where you want the reality to happen. It's the same problem you get with supers deconstruction really. Because of that, you get different ways to deconstruct then.
They do reveal their identities to their families and friends near the end of Fresh Pre Cure, and earlier in that series, they tell their dance teacher about being Cures after they're hospitalized because they were too exhausted from trying to do the dance training plus fighting the stronger monsters that Eas was using at the time. Their parents are worried at first and want to prevent the Cures from going to their final fight, but then Inori's dad says that they should trust that the Cures know what they're doing and decide for themselves if they are able to do it, and they end up seeing the Cures off when they go to Labyrinth for their final battle.
That was one of my favorite things about Fresh Pre Cure because I had wanted to see one where they revealed their identities and didn't keep it a secret. As for the argument that "what if the magical girls get grounded or otherwise forbidden from fighting monsters?", then the parents would be dooming others to suffer from monster attacks for the sake of keeping their superpowered daughter safe (and given the plans of many magical girl villains, would only keep her safe until the villains won and destroyed the world or turned it into a place where monsters would run amok with no heroes to stop them), plus the monsters might be the type who would attack the girl anyway, meaning she would have to transform to defend herself and her family.
Doesn't anyone think that the parents might be proud of their daughters on some level, even if they were also very worried? Also, what if the parents were magical themselves, or at least used to be, like Kaoruko from Heartcatch Pre Cure?
Also, what about deconstructing Villain Tropes as well as the heroes? Things that would make it harder for the villains and not just the heroes. Like a deconstruction of You Have Failed Me where the villain kills off all his/her minions for failing but then realizes that he/she has killed someone who is important to his/her main evil plan (like someone whose powers otherwise would have been able to charge the Doomsday Machine).
edited 14th Oct '13 8:20:16 AM by Rainbow
Another reason for the parents to be in the know is because then it could avert Adults Are Useless and the parents could help their magical daughter. Maybe not by directly fighting the monsters if they're regular people who would just get killed or badly hurt, but they could help advise on strategy and things like that.
It doesn't even have to be related to the Monster of the Week directly. Could be something stupidly simple as fabricating an excuse to give the teacher for the class she missed. There was a family emergency, or she came down with a sudden fever, or whatever.
Or if nothing else, emotional support. Especially at the age that magical girls usually are.
This "faculty lot" you speak of sounds like a place of great power...One of the things Il Sole penetra le illusioni did right was that many of the parents knew and were supportive to various degrees. It also explored that issue a bit.
@Kyle Thatcher: Or what if the teachers knew as well and were able to excuse the magical girls from class if they needed to go fight monsters or as a reason that assignments weren't done? Like in Puni Puni Poemi, there's a scene where the Aasu sisters are going off to defend against the aliens and Futaba excuses herself from class by saying she has to go defend the Earth and the teacher just lets her.

Here's one—what if the energy/magic magical girls use cuts from their lifespan?
edited 13th Oct '13 6:51:18 PM by lalalei2001
The Protomen enhanced my life.