Oh, I'm sure he'd like to wear trousers, but unfortunately, the magical girl forms' rather ridiculous outfits are the only things that offer any measure of protection against the various beasties they're fighting.
What's precedent ever done for us?Hey, I know!
How about a magical girl story set in the past? For example, Feuderal Japan or Medievil England? It'd be interesting to see how that works out.
Of course, since there'd be no modern day items, like cellphones or e-mail, one would have to be imaginative in finding appropriate substitues.
Oddly enough, Demashitaa Powerpuff Girls Z of all things already did the 'Magical Girls born and raised in Feudal Japan' angle in one episode.
Yeah, but I was thinking more along the lines of an entire series.
On another note, why does the Mentor Mascot always have to be an animal or stuffed toy? Just once, I'd like to see a magical girl being mentored by the ghost of a previous magical girl (who's a ghost because she either A: sacrificed her life during the final battle to seal the Big Bad, or B: was executed because the people she saved grew fearful of her immense power) who has returned as a ghost to help her successor in battling the forces of evil.
I always had the idea for one of my characters to be trained by her mother, who had been a Silver Age type back in her prime.
It'd be funny to see how Mum's old habits clash with my character's more modern sensibilities and her dislike of over-the-top theaterics.
The three finest things in life are to splat your enemies, drive them from their turf, and hear their lamentations as their rank falls!Regarding these last two posts, I think you might be interested on checking Kaitou Saint Tail, although it's not quite exactly the same thing. But it comes close.
Hm... how about a Mentor Mascot who turns into a powerful animal in order to join the protagonist in battle? Gives the mentor a bigger role than that of a teacher on the sidelines.
Or maybe a humanoid doll mascot (never seen one of those anywhere) who turns into a mighty robot.
Or perhaps the mascot could have a human form, but had to take on their animal/stuffed toy form in order to avoid akward questions about where they came from. Hey, it worked in Pretty Sammy.
I think that kind of happens in Yes Pretty Cure 5, where Milk (little rabbit-like character) gains a human form in the second series (Gogo) and she also gains similar powers to the Cures, complete with her own transformation and items.
I had another idea!
How about combining the Mentor Mascot and the Mysterious Protector? As in, the mentor has a crush on the magical girl, and becomes a human in order to aid her in battle.
Of course, this creates an interesting Loves My Alter Ego situation - the mentor is in love with the magical girl, but the magical girl is in love with the Mysterious Protector. To make things more interesting, the protector's identity wouldn't be revealed until much later, and the mentor's human form would probably bear resemblance to a boy at school (whom the magical girl also has a crush on).
Well, the way I see it, it's deconstructing the idea that the Mentor Mascot can't be anything other than just that, a mentor who's also a mascot. By falling in love with the magical girl and becoming her protector, the mascot gets a much bigger role than the traditional one.
Of course, that's probably just me.
Oh, you meant the first idea. *blushes*
Well, if you think about it, it's kinda a twist on the Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World thing, in that the magical girl isn't an ordinary schoolgirl. It also adds a sense of irony, since a member of an organisation bent on world conquest/destruction has to save the world from the same thing.
That a good enough explanation?
Unless the girl happens to be The Mole, her working for the same organization she opposes means she's either too dumb to notice she's actually helping the bad guys, or the organization is vague and huge (read-ill defined) enough to have an employee that actually could conceivably have no logical way of knowing she's working for fiendish villains.
Honestly, "Surprise! You're working for the villains!" is such a commonly-used trope that it probably warrants some playing-with of its own. How's about the organisation being so vast and labyrinthine that only a few departments are actually evil without even the ownership knowing much about it, and that taking down the whole business just to get at those would have massive and unpleasant social fallout when all the legitimate, above-board workers lose their jobs?
edited 20th Aug '10 10:49:21 AM by Iaculus
What's precedent ever done for us?The added element, of course, is that since the protagonist would be working for the company, they'd have a more personal stake in the matter.
I mean, what if they liked their job? What if they didn't want their buddies to get turfed onto the streets? What if they genuinely thought they were doing some good for the community... and they were right?
edited 20th Aug '10 10:57:50 AM by Iaculus
What's precedent ever done for us?Um...that's not quite what I meant. It's a very good idea (and one that should appear more often) but not quite what I meant.
What I meant was: she knows that she's working for an organisation that could be considered "evil", but she also knows there's no such thing as Black-and-White Morality, and that while the organisation's done quite a few things that she opposes, it's also done quite a few things that she agrees with. So she's torn between her duty as a magical girl and her loyalty to the company.
Um...that's not quite what I meant. It's a very good idea (and one that should appear more often) but not quite what I meant.
What I meant was: she knows that she's working for an organisation that could be considered "evil", but she also knows there's no such thing as Black-and-White Morality, and that while the organisation's done quite a few things that she opposes, it's also done quite a few things that she agrees with. So she's torn between her duty as a magical girl and her loyalty to the company.
Ahh... dropping in some Grey-and-Grey Morality. Now we're getting somewhere. Bonus points if the Magical Girl's patron faction ain't all that trustworthy either, which shouldn't be hard to accomplish. Not many folks are going to blow up the CEO's office just because the magical talking cat who always speaks in cryptic riddles told them to.
edited 20th Aug '10 3:52:43 PM by Iaculus
What's precedent ever done for us?

Wow.
It's a interesting idea.
If nothing else, it would either completely change what it meant to be a magical girl, lead to a massive reconstruction of Gaogaigar proportions, or...........
just get copied by everyone.
You sure you just don't want to put the Main character in pants? it hasn't been done, and you're idea is little awesome, but also a bit scary. (It may be the gender bending, outside of Ranma 1/2, I've never been big on any form of gender bending).
One Strip! One Strip!