Conceptually how I’d define what I like about Anime in general and how I’d define what I like about the Magical Girl Genre specifically are virtually exactly the same. No single Genre embodies what I love about Anime as a whole more than the Magical Girl Warrior.
Yet the Magical Girl Genre has had some bad luck that holds back every example of it from similarly perfectly embodying all of that. The status of being my Favorite Anime has changed a few times since I first had one at all, but it’s never once been held by a Magical Girl show or movie. In fact I often feel like I’m forcing myself even by usually having one in my top 10.
Now I love this Genre unconditionally so much that even its Mediocre or fatally flawed entries give me a lot of Joy. And there are plenty of near perfect examples that I love more than most Anitubers seem to love their favorite Anime.
The first problem is the classic standard form of the Genre is a show that airs for a full year which is inevitably held back by a bunch of Mid or sometimes even bad one off Monster of the Week episodes. Now do not misunderstand me, my favorite episodes of these shows are also usually one off monster of the week episodes with little if any bearing on the overarching plot. But the more opportunities you give a show to drop the ball the more they eventually will.
On the other end of the spectrum the shows that have only one Cour lack fun one off episodes which are conceptually part of the Genre’s appeal. And the few two Cour shows that do exist have something off about them. None perfectly follow what I have deemed the ideal 26 Episode Anime Structure.
Some great Magical Girl anime are held back not because they did anything wrong but because I feel they could have been better. From Pretty Sammy’s TV Anime to Pretear to Yuki Yuna Is A Hero.
There are a handful I have given a 10 out of 10 rating to. But I’ve given a lot of 10/10s and so it’s a steep competition to stand out among them. To people who think I shouldn't give them out so easily I say 10/10 means a Masterpiece, I happen to feel a lot of those exist but they are still a minority of the total of what I’ve seen. Point here is the few Magical Girl Anime I’ve given a 10/10 still have steep competition to be something I’d rank as a personal absolute favorite.
Sailor Moon R: The Promise of The Rose is probably the best movie installment of the Genre (certainly the purest form of Sailor Moon). But the non Magical Girl Anime Films it’s most directly competing with are other annual tie in movies to ongoing TV Shows, a sub type of Anime films many don’t treat with respect, but Pokémon 3 Spell of The Unown is a movie you could almost trick people into thinking Ghibli made, and Detective Conan has four movies I consider not just great among Conan films but Masterpieces of the Detective Genre in general.
The thing is, many of my absolute Favorite Anime are not part of the Magical Girl genre but they feel connected to it in some way. Noir has been the most consistent holder of the top spot and I already did a post on its climatic Sailor Moon reference. A lot of my favorite Male Protagonists are characters who personality wise practically are male Magical Girl Protagonists. There are several reasons I’m confident the Fate/ Franchise wouldn’t exist without the Infinity Arc of Sailor Moon.
Interestingly since I started writing this the title has started to become less definitively accurate as I’ve also been doing a bunch of Fate/ rewatching in May of 2022. And so have come to view Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya as possibly my favorite Fate/ Anime and my Favorite Magical Girl Anime and maybe even a contender to dethrone Noir. However that may not stick if my mood changes later and a different franchise becomes my current main hyper fixation.
But also I’m hesitant to unconditionally endorse Prisma Illya as a Magical Girl show while the 3wei arc is still incomplete even in the Manga. If it fully delivers on the promise made by episode 9 of the 3wei TV Anime and what I’ve heard about certain character deaths doesn't stick then it can easily become my ideal Magical Girl Saga, but right now that’s still an IF.
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