Number 10: Mei Ling (Cardcaptor Sakura)
The Original Cardcaptor Sakura manga was heavily criticized for being overtly dark and serious so when it came time to adapt the series it's a good thing they added a character that could be both a very funny comedic relief as well as a cute heart of the show who could add more kawaii.
Mei Ling's love triangle with Sakura and Syaoran definitely improves the series and doesn't make the already messy love situation they have more confusing and her very aggressive nature towards Sakura is clearly both hilarious and a symbol of how genuine and pure her love for Syaoran is, which is clearly why she is the most beloved character in the show. Mei Ling is a good example of how an adaptations always make series even better then they already were.
9: Emille (Mahou Shoujo Erena)
Because really, if turning into a dark magical girl for LITERALLY NO REASON and proceeding to grow tentacles and tentacle rape your own sister and mother doesn't make you a good character, I don't know what will.
8: Naria Spring (Naria Girls)
Naria Spring, civilian name Urara, truly is the pinnacle of Magical Girl Leads. Quirky, Relatable, Beautiful, and Cool, she is a great example of the hero who lives in us all.
From the very first episode about her we learn that when giving internal monologues about her friends she refers to them as the big-breasted one and the delicious flat-chested one, she has weird dreams and gives exclamations at random points. Such deep insights show really Naria Girls characterization-driven storytelling and it continues all the way to the last episode where she spontaneously says that she can fly, fires literally one attack at the enemy and when it doesn't work gives a heroic sacrifice to stop it. Truly she is one of the most heroic figures in all of anime.
To capture Naria Spring's essence, the creators of Naria Girls had to create a whole new style of 3-D animation that truly tests the limits of how photorealistic animation can be, creating animation that is so real it looks tangible and yet so stylish that it looks like artwork. It is without competition the best animation ever created. Unfortunately it was clearly stolen and ripped-off by the creators of some Web Animation called "RWBY" who made it infinitely worse! How dare they?!
7: Princess Kenny (Princess Kenny)
Princess Kenny is without a doubt the pinnacle of magical girl leads. Quirky, Relable, Beautiful, and Cool, she is a great example of the hero who lives in us all.
She originally was allies with the humans of the Kingdom of Koopa Keep (KKK) in a violent war against the Evil Elven Kingdom led by Drow Kyle, over a magical stick that controls the universe, but united with them to stop it from falling into the hands of a greater enemy. She then shocked everyone by taking the stick for herself and died twice to protect the stick from falling in the hands of the warring factions and their innanities. All this despite being the victim of a sexual assault attempt earlier in the series and (possibly) being stabbed in the head by a unicorn's horn numerous times. Truly she is both an example of all the greatness of a classical princess combined with the pragmatic sensibilities of a modern woman. Truly she is one of the most heroic figures in all of anime.
To capture Princess Kenny's essence, her creators had to create a whole new style of 2-D animation that truly tests the limits of how photorealistic animation can be, creating animation that is so real it's tangible and yet so stylish it looks like artwork. It is without competition the best animation ever created. Unfortunately it was clearly stolen and ripped-off by the creators of some Television Animation called "South Park" who made it infinitely worse! How dare they?!
6: Kyousuke (Puella Magi Madoka Magicka)
Kyousuke is the love interests of both Sayaka, the magical girl, and Hitomi, the emotional soul of the series and fan-favorite character. But while either Hitomi or Kyousuke really could have gotten onto this list, I eventually had to give it to Kyousuke.
When his hands got destroyed to the point that he thought he would never play violin again, and his best friend Sayaka brought him violin music to cheer him up, he yelled at her for trying to torture him since he can't play violin anymore. This causing of Sayaka to go into an emotional turmoil of guilt and despair at his sadness because of his emotional outburst really shows how much Kyousuke values his violin playing. And later when his hands magically get healed for reasons he doesn't know, and he doesn't even vaguely apologize to Sayaka or get the slightest hint that she likes him despite everything eventually causing Sayaka to become a witch...that clearly shows just how focused he is on his violin-playing, and it was even said by the show's writer that if Sayaka and Kyousuke DID start dating, he would have stood her up on their dates....so that he can keep practicing with that FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF violin. Really that level of dedication and single-mindedness is rare in the modern world, and it's really inspiring to see that level of dedication to one very specific thing to the exclusion of all else. We all should try to put as obsessiveness into our hobbies as Kyousuke does.
5: Chloe (Miraculous Ladybug)
Chloe is a pretty blue-eyed blonde girl with feminine bodily proportions and made up features which automatically made her at least a contender for the top stop.
But beyond that Chloe, at least originally, is a big fan of the Ladybug, the main magical girl of the series and wants her to succeed. Boy, I am sure glad she's not another rich spoiled bully girl character who's vain and shallow. What an absolute cliche character archetype that would be. Good thing this show doesn't have that.
For averting one of my biggest pet peeves in all of fiction, along with looking how I hope to reincarnate someday, Chloe easily snags the Number 5 spot on this list.
4: Pretty Cure Max Heart Opening (Pretty Cure Max Heart)
Really on the entire team of Magical Girl Opening Theme Songs, this one absolutely deserves to be the main girl leader. She has everything you want in a proper magical girl, she's energetic, optimistic, she always has a final kick in her right at the end when you think she's died down.
Overall, the Pretty Cure Max Heart Opening is probably the most well-developed and interesting character in the Pretty Cure Franchise, and I definitely wish she would come back for another season, that wouldn't be awkward at all.
3: Umino (Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon)
At first glance, Umino might seem like a very typical 90s nerd character, one of the shallowest character in the Sailor Moon canon, but that couldn't be further from the truth.
Umino may present himself as an awkward nerd just trying to get some action with Usagi or Naru, but he's really a secretly passionate person, who spends his spare time in his wholesome hobbies like crossdressing, wearing a tuxedo and a mask to fight monsters, and watching pretty girls from the shadows as a silhoutte. Yet he is not at all ashamed about this and will do them in front of the objects of his affection, even for them.
Umino is such a great character because he is an expression of how we assume what kinds of hobbies a person should and shouldn't have based on our pre-conceptions of them, and refutes that saying instead we should hold our weird hobbies with all the passion we can and that heartwarming message is why he gets the number 3 spot on this list.
2: Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic the Hedgehog)
Eh. He's alright.
And the number one best magical girl character isssssssssssssssssss
1: Me (Real Life)
Easily the least appreciated character by the fanbase, I spend a large amount of my free time watching animes for little girls and reading manga for teen girls about girls with magical powers fighting evil forces and analyzing it for the sake of understanding how it relates to the human condition and the feminine identity, and I get nothing for it.
.....
Oh btw, I hear in the West it's some holiday that happens every first of April sooooooooooo uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...... Happy April Fool's Day.
Imp, you magnificent woman, you
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