What is a magical girl?

Magical girls are a concept popularized by Japanese Anime. Simply put, they are girls with magical powers. But the mere presence of magical powers within a girl does not a magical girl make.

There are three core types of magical girls, and sometimes these types even mix!

• Magical warrior type: These magical girls transform into warriors or heros of some kind and fight evil with either magical weapons or their fists.
• Transforming idol type: Transforming idol magical girls use their power to transform from a little girl into a beautiful teenage or adult woman so that they may follow their dreams of being an idol or popstar. Sometimes they can transform into other careers as well.
• Helpful witch: Also known as Majokko, these magical girls are witches which take after the western appearence of witches (pointy hats, broomsticks, potions, etc). Except these witches are helpful in their community and use their powers to solve problems.

Magical girls are a character trope, but they are also the subject of a media subgenre known as the magical girl genre. Magical girls can be traced all the way back to the 60s, but exploded as an established genre in the 80s and 90s. While the magical girl genre began as a genre aimed at young girls, there are now magical girl anime, manga, videogames and more aimed at all ages and genders. While every magical girl series must contain at least one magical girl character, not every magical girl character is from a magical girl franchise.

Why do I like magical girls so much?

There are so many reasons! But one reason I keep coming back to is the "strength in femininity" that magical girls exhibit. Many western superheroines adopt masculine traits and shun femininity as weak to become strong. While there's nothing wrong with a woman being masculine, I also think there should be nothing wrong with being feminine either. Why do I have to act like a boy to be considered strong? Magical girls were frilly pink dresses and prance around doing all sorts of "weak" girly things and they can still kick ass and save the world. I also appreciate that many magical boys, the male equivalent of magical girls, are also shown to engage in "feminine" activities and interests and are still shown as strong and not any less manly.

I love girls. I love being a girl. And I love seeing girls in positions of power and be confident and respected in the media I enjoy. I especially like to see that without things like wearing pink or cooking or raising children being seen as stupid or weak. Why are these things seen as weak or dumb anyway?? Everyone needs to cook so they can eat and raising kids is fuckin hard!! And also, pink is awesome! Everyone should discover the joy of wearing pretty clothes and eating a cute girly parfait, including guys. If I go on a date with a guy and he tells me he is too manly to try a bite of my pink sugar fairy strawberry chocolate dream kira kira parfait- I am not taking him home with me.

Other things I like about magical girls are the outfits, the action, the relationships and romance (hopeless shipper), the cute animal companions and of course the toys!!

My magical girl media lists

These lists were last updated 03/10/2023. For an up-do-date list, visit my anime/manga tracking page.

Magical girl toy collection

Magical links

Shrine archive - My previous magical girl shrine from 2017

My Pinterest board - My personal magical girl Pinterest board

Magical Girl of the Day - A Tumblr blog that once upon a time posted daily magical girls.

Bootleg Magical Girl Wands - This blog is run by one of my friends!

Magical Girl Openings - A really good YouTube playlist