Been a while since I revisited this topic and I recently rewatched several of the series on this list. Magical Girls are my favorite genre. I estimate usually I've seen around 100 magical girl franchises. Now some of those don't have an anime, but some have multiple so depending on how you count I probably have seen a similar or possibly greater amount of MG anime specifically. My tastes are pretty divergent between the most famous things in the genre and spicy hot takes so it should be fun to make a top 10 list.
As always my definition of a Magical Girl series is one in which:
1: The protagonist identifies as a girl
2: The protagonist has extraordinary magic or magiclike powers
3: Points 1 and 2 are explicitly or implicitly associated
This list also led to another contentious point as to what counts as a separate anime vs another season of the same show. Some shows have two seasons but are obviously the same show. But do you count Sailor Moon Seasons or Ojamajo Doremi seasons as the same show? They have notable changes in who's making them and the style of the series but it involves the same characters in the same continuity. Do you count All of PreCure as one thing? Each PreCure season has an entirely new cast and plot but it's technically in the same universe? What about Nanoha or Madoka or Minky Momo all of which provide their own interesting cases to consider, and what about movies?
For the purposes of this blog, I considered the dividing line if the series' title changes, however I didn't count movies distinct from the series they were associated from. This did lead to my Top 10 to have several spots by different series in the same larger series however if that's unsatisfying I will include three honorable mentions to show what the list would have included if I had only considered the top of each.
Honorable Mentions:
13: Tokyo Mew Mew New:
I am more of a Manga Girl then an Anime Girl and when an MG franchise has both, I tend to prefer the manga. That said I did feel divided on whether I preferred Tokyo Mew Mew or Tokyo Mew Mew New. or now I am tentatively going with New. Tokyo Mew Mew is a really nostalgic property for me, with a cast of characters and a central romance I really enjoy in all its versions and I was very excited for it to get a new anime adaptation and I think New strikes a pretty good balance between the Manga's strengths and 2002 anime's strengths. I think the depiction of Ichigo and Mint in this version in particular, the two most primary Mew Mews, is fantastic, I think the adaptation of the raining romance scene from the manga as the end of Season 1 with My Sweetheart playing was really emotional, and it has my favorite ending themes from any magical girl series, the first ED for TMMN is the cutest thing ever. I fully recognize that somehow despite this being a more recent anime, this in substantial part a nostalgia pick for me. I know that thematically this series is the deepest, but the characters and the central romance have a special place in my heart, a blend of cuteness and melodrama that is enchanting to me.
12: Princess Tutu
I don't think anyone would protest Princess Tutu being here, they're probably more going to protest it being only an honorable mention. Tutu is great, and if I was ranking Magical Girl series based on which had the least flaws, it would be number 1. I think Princess Tutu is as close to perfect as any Magical Girl series is. It is thematically and narratively incredibly rich, exploring themes of predestination, identity, and personal narrative. I like all the characters: in particular Kraehe and Drosselmeyer are both fantastic villains. I think the plot is great, and the symbolism especially during the two season finales and during the ep where Fakir awakens to Drosselmeyer's powers is some of the best in MG anime. It's not higher not for anything wrong with it really, I just have a stronger connection to other series. Like I don't have any kind of special connection to PrincessTutu, I just recognize it as a really really good magical girl anime. Which is funny because a few of my favorites do explore similar themes but we'll get there.
Compared to Tokyo Mew Mew New, or indeed TMM in general, I mean it's kind of a division of appealing to my heart vs to my head. Tokyo Mew Mew is a series I watch to be immersed in Ichigo's friendships and romance while Princess Tutu is a series I watch to analyze the meaning of the scenes. That's not to say there's nothing to think about with the former or nothing moves me with the latter, just that I feel them in different places within me. I put it above mostly for personal preference at the moment, but it could go back and forth.
11: Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt:
I know some people find it weird to even include this an MG but I certainly think it is. The protagonists are girls who use magic and this magic is explicitly connected to their femininity even if in a much more sexual way then usual. The garments of these delicate maidens indeed. Also because of my own rules this is based entirely on S1, though it's placement probably doesn't change if you include Season 2. But yeah I love Panty and Stocking. The worst I can say about it is that it can be inconsistent and has a bunch of gross out humor I don't like. But when Panty and Stocking is good it's really dang good. I can have a childish humor around sexual things and the show mixes that with parody, insanity, and silliness. Like Panty nad Stocking at its best is probably the funniest anime I've ever seen. And it's not just pure comedy. I love Panty and Stocking as characters, and my favorite episodes are the two that show them at their best. I love the theme and spirit of the show, the sex-positivity, the refusal to let other people tell you what does and doesn't make you who you are or make you a good person. It's not like me in real life, in real life I am an introverted nervous person who wants to make everyone like me, but that's why it's a series that means a lot to me because it honestly does tell me something I need to hear sometimes. The spirit of Panty and Stocking is what makes it funny and also a series that genuinely uplifts me, the spirit of self-acceptance and freedom and refusing to let others tell you what should matter to you. I also really love series that take cross-cultural inspiration, and I can't think of a single anime with more Western inspiration as Panty and Stocking. I am almost talking myself into moving this higher just by talking about it.
Panty and Stocking is nowhere near as pretty or as flawless or sophisticated as a Princess Tutu but in some ways that's what I love about it, that it in revels in itself, that it encourages you to revel in yourself, to embrace the spirit of freedom and fun.
10: Re: Cutie Honey
I. Love. CUTIE HONEY! Some of the series are not so good, but this franchise in general is so fun and has some of my favorite series within it. Re is a great series, but not just great, but great in a way that appeals to me specifically. The series shares much the same DNA as Panty and Stocking and you can feel that in its bouncy chaotic cartoony energy, vibrantly sexual world without focusing on shame, and fast pacing. Re might lack in complexity but outside of that one factor it has everything I want in a series. It's got themes that appeal to me, humor that appeals to me, girlishness and sexuality in equal measures, one of my favorite sapphic romances in fiction, all in a snazzy stylish package. There are series I like more but Re is a series I think of when I think "what do I want fiction to be more like." I want it to be more like this.
Comparing it to Panty and Stocking is surprisingly easy. Panty and Stocking edges Re Cutie Honey in a few ways, but Re is a work I enjoy on more levels. The world of Panty and Stocking is cynical and mean and gross. And that's part of what makes its unhinged charm work, but Re Cutey Honey has alot of what I love about Panty and Stocking in a world that is still very upbeat and bright and friendly, as well as girly and cutesy and romance-oriented. Obviously neither are for children but in some ways it's like the more Shojo-y to Panty and Stocking's more Shonen-y.
9: Magic Knight Rayearth:
Magic Knight Rayearth is another series that is massively nostalgic for me. But MKR is a work that complements that nostalgia with some of the most compelling characters and one of the most engaging plot in the genre, at least for most MG fans. Clamp does a fantastic job creating three instantly fun protagonists, each having an amazing contradiction at their core. Of them Umi is my favorite, the way she is an elegant lady while also being the one who gets all easily upset makes her at once both relatable yet aspirational to a younger me. I am guessing most people who are reading this probably know the twists already but MKR has some of the most famous twists in the genre as well. More then anything MKR is the quintessential 90s series, all the best traits of the time are here, where things were being edgy and subversive for thematic purposes rather then shying away from it or doing it just for the sake of it, characters that felt unique, that 90s style that made everything feel so grand, the deliberate mixing of realism, cartoonish antics, and dark fantasty/sci-fi. The thing I will say is I DO prefer the manga for MKR. The anime's pacing feels rather sluggish to me, and also Clamp's drawings are so intricate that 90s technology was not really able to consistently model it and so had to simplify it immensely. I'm really excited for the new anime. Also the second season changes a lot from the second half of the manga and I do prefer the manga's take on it, though the anime's isn't bad, Debonair and Nova are fun villains and some of the extra time was spent with Lady Aska as well as Tatra and Tarta which was good.
Comparing it to Re, I mean both are series that hit a lot of sweet spots for me. Both series are deliciously playful and fun. Re has the advantage in cutesyness, romance, and being a series made for adults made with years of more advanced technology. MKR has the advantage in Clamp's visual direction, thematic and plot depth, and a greater cast depth both in numbers and complexity. But while I love both MKR feels more filling. Re is a sweet, it's candy. MKR is a meal, and while that might not be as immediate in the jump it gives you, it sustains you longer. Re is great, and it gives me all the things I want, but MKR gives me what I want and more.
8: Go Princess PreCure
One of my favorite things when it comes to Go Princess is: In the 90s it was subversive when Utena declared her goal to be a prince. 20 years later it was subversive when Haruka declared her goal to be a princess. Go Princess PreCure is a stage in a grand meta-narrative unfolding across some of the biggest works in the genre, this Saturday Morning Cartoon for young girls deciding to put its own voice in confidently and creating something beautiful in the striving. Even beyond that it's an amazing season. The plot is constantly engaging without any dead space the way some PreCure Seasons can have. All the Cures are great this season. The Symbolism is on point and draws huge emotional highs. Twilight Princess' arc and its' resolution with the birth of Cure Scarlet are some of my favorite moments in the whole of PreCure. I love the Fairies this season, Puff being one of the most adorable Magical Girl Mascots I've ever seen, and Prince Kanata is my favorite male love interest in PreCure, not that high a bar admittingly but still he's great. Yui is also maybe my favorite civilian character in the franchise and I love all the symbolism about her saving PreCure. If I had any complaint it's that the villains are just fine. Dyspear is an alright final villain for PreCure, and The Three Musketeers are fine. But this series has a bunch of great episodes that I really love. The ep about Cure Kirara's recruitment or her conflict with Ranko, the Princess of Flowers, The defeat of The Twilight Princess, the following ep with the birth of Cure Scarlett, the ep where Yui saves everyone. Go Princess is not just a fantastic season, but it's a series that's part of the MG inter-genre dialogue within itself about femininity and power and that's why I love about this genre.
Comparing it to MKR, I am not sure Go Princess' overall cast is quite as strong as MKR's, though it's close and Go Princess has the benefit of two decades of advances in animation techniques and the genre figuring itself out, it's more directly relatable to me, and it doesn't have MKR's pacing problems.
7: Cutie Honey Flash:
Like I said, I love Cutie Honey, and Flash is my favorite series in the franchise, above even Re. Flash is amazing, like from this part on I would understand fully if someone said this series was the best series in the genre. Flash has that element of Re I love, that the stylish, sexy, girl-power confident brand of Magical Girl femininity but with a more subdued 90s style. Seiji is maybe my favorite male lead in any Magical Girl anime, despite his lack of powers he is constantly helping Honey and supporting her, and their romance is very sweet. The second part is the best, it introduces Misty Honey, one of my favorite villains from any MG series, and she and hers conflict is fantastic, the battle between the Warrior of Love and the Warrior of Hate which causes both to experience each others feelings as they come to mirror each other. The First and Third Parts aren't quite so good, both have some slower eps and not quite as intense pacing, but both kick into high gear near the end, with the last few eps of the series being absolutely fantastic. Honey realizes the full power of the airborne element solidifier, culminates her relationship with Seiji with intimacy and having a daughter with him, and the series ends with a message about the eternal progression of warriors of love to stop the forces of greed and crime, tying it into the greater meta-narrative of Magical Girls. This series is so underrated and under loved and I really wanted to put it even higher. It takes Cutie Honey's mixture of goofy 60s Silver Age Sci-Fi and 70s Sexy Crime Thrillers, and mixes in MG Girl Power into a beautiful, fun, and empowering experience.
I think Go Princess has a lot of small advantages on Cutie Honey Flash, its civilian cast is better fleshed out and handled, its sections are more cohesive, its villains have actual arcs. But when comparing their most important elements hit me more. I like Honey, Seiji, and Jill more then Haruka, Kanata, Dyspear though it's not by far, and I think that Honey's themes have more complexity to them. Like Go Princess' themes are often fairly simple such as the triumph of hope over despair, they're just presented in an artistic beautiful complex way, while Honey Flash I think the themes themselves are actually interesting and connect more subtly to the increase in womens agency in the 90s. I feel like Go Princess outside of the central cast are actually things I feel more neutral to just presented in this adorable girly elegant princess-y and artistic way that I really love while Cutie Honey it's presenting something that matters to me, that connects to me personally in a way I feel stylish and cool.
6: Sailor Moon
Season 1 of the Toei 90s Sailor Moon Series, the most famous, influential Magical Girl series of all time and it's not close. What can I say about Toei Sailor Moon that hasn't been said. How every arc of Season 1 became the blueprint for the genre from then? From Jadeite's Arc forwarding the pre-Sailor Moon genre's emphasis on identity, to Nephrite Arc's setup of redemptive love, to Zoisite's Arc playing with gender and LGBT themes as well as setting up collectathon type plots, to the Kunzite Arc's setting up like every magical girl finale from that point with fixtures on the main girl having to fight her love and ultimately saving everyone by showing's love triumph over death, of a girl representing and having the strength of the community she builds around her. Everything about Season 1 Sailor Moon is what the genre is compared to. Toei Sailor Moon is not a consistent experience. It can be very silly, or very dark. It has a half dozen outright bad episodes. It has like 20 really good episodes including its final 3 episodes are some of the best in the entire genre, with the last ep being my favorite of any SHOW I've ever seen. Its cast are the most famous characters in the entire genre, who other characters in the genre would be based on for the next 20 years until Madoka. Sailor Moon was the expression of the heart, fast or slow, intense or soft, heralding a new age of Magical Girls and a new way society thought about girls in the 90s and on, an image of feminine strength we still grapple with. It meant everything to me as a child, and even now that I am an adult and painfully aware of its flaws (I really dislike episode 4, the fat shaming episode), I am still somewhat awed by this series. Toei Sailor Moon is inconsistent about everything, but when it's good, it's really REALLY freaking good.
Sailor Moon vs Cutie Honey Flash was the hardest comparison on this list. I adore both and for similar reasons. Both have numerous advantages over each other. I think Sailor Moon has a better expanded cast overall though Jill is a far more active and engaging villain then Toei Beryl, and Seiji is a better romance then Toei Mamoru imo, especially in Season 1. Flash in more consistent and improved and focused much of what I didn't like Toei Sailor Moon. I can see saying Flash at some point is my favorite MG anime, when I would find it hard to imagine saying that about Season 1 of Toei SM. However Flash doesn't have the variety, the versatility. It's a focused, very specific experience. Toei Sailor Moon is a work with so much going on, every episode making me want to write paragraphs and paragraphs about it. And Sailor Moon Season 1 has those final few episodes, episodes that changed everything for me, episodes that if I'm honest, Cutie Honey Flash feels like an elaboration onto. Both were formative for me, but it's not a comparison which was more formative. Cutie Honey Flash is a series I have a lot of fun with and a series that makes me emotional. Toei Sailor Moon, especially Season 1, is a show that awes me and leaves me speechless at times. It seems to capture the essence of emotions in a way that Cutie Honey Flash and indeed no other show, heck not even later seasons of Sailor Moon do.
5: Heartcatch PreCure
Heartcatch PreCure is a season I have called the best PreCure and the perfection of the PreCure experience. I have cooled on it over the years but only the slightest bit. This season is AMAZING! What bad can I say about it? It has a few duller episodes, some of its fairies are just alright? Heartcatch has maybe my favorite PreCure Cast. Tsubomi is maybe the single most relatable Cure in the series. Erika is one of the funniest, and their dynamic is ever delightful. Cure Moonlight was initially my favorite Cure in the series when I was younger, I just thought she was the coolest and her story arc was so impressive. And Cure Sunshine, she might be my favorite right now. She represents to me the very thing I love about Pretty Cure and to some extent this entire genre, being able to embrace and love girliness and femininity and find power in it, that girls don't sacrifice our femininity to be strong, but that your femininity can BE the source of power. The villains are fun mirrors to the Heroines, and all their final fights are delightful, as is the finale as a whole, representing the power of belief and life. The Movie is amazing and I love its message about small kindnesses. This season will make you laugh, will make you cry, will make you cheer. It is a season that convinced me Magical Girls as a genre will never die out, because it gave me the same cheer and excitement that the genre as a kid.
If I'm comparing Sailor Moon Season 1 vs Heartcatch PreCure, it's difficult because the worst of Heartcatch is far better then the worst of SM Season 1, but the best of SM Season 1 is better then the best of Heartcatch. I love both casts of Heroines and the villains. That said while both are extremely versatile in the emotions they evoke from me, I do feel like Heartcatch feels more cohesive at the time. With Toei SM, particularly the Jadeite Arc it's clear they didn't quite no where they were going and were still floating on the vibes of Pre-SM Magical Girl anime for better or worse, whereas Heartcatch is a cohesive experience that knew what it was going to be about from the first episode, something you can feel with its continual emphasis on growing and embracing life and potential rather then static sterility.
4: Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Once again, I feel like what can I say about Madoka that hasn't been said already? The original Madoka is one of the most influential MG anime, probably second only to the First Season of SM. Madoka has lots of discussion about what it did, but from my experience, Madoka came out as people who grew up with the 90s Magical Girls entered adulthood, and realized the world was not what what we were told, harder, and Madoka was the anime that acknowledged that and grew along with us. It was an anime about realizing the world wasn't what you thought as a child reflected in Madoka's dreams of being a traditional magical girl being subverted by the brutal reality. It was a space where you could feel your pains about being born to a corrupt system that saw you as another expendable cog, that cared about your function rather then your feelings, be validated in its pain and ultimately it said that if you held close to those feelings, that they were powerful enough to remake the whole system, that you would never be alone in that fight. It has a primordial emotional feeling shared only by the original Sailor Moon, letting dark emotions dance across the screen in impressionistic depiction in Witch Labyrinths and ultimately be cleansed in the redemptive ending. The Puella Magi cast are all layered and interesting. My favorite is Mami, the underappreciated one. Homura is also by far the most influential MG of the 2010s and one of the most influential MG of all time. If I had anything I didn't vibe with involving the original Madoka, it's that of the 12 ep run I'm super into the first three and last three. The middle six are primarily about Sayaka and Kyoko and this part I'm not as quite as interested in. It's important, it's showing the Magical Girl system that Madoka has to fix and the two characters are both well realized, but I just prefer the start and end of the series.
I've gone back and forth between Madoka and Heartcatch many times over the years. They came out around the same time and for those who actually watch PreCure, the two have been compared a lot, usually to point comedically Heartcatch CAN be seen as darker. I like the characters of Heartcatch more, but I like the plot of Madoka more. Madoka doesn't have as many important characters, and there's a very small number I actually don't like (Kyosuke), but Heartcatch's plot while beautifully displayed, is simpler and less inspiring to me as Madoka's. At the moment I feel like Madoka holds a more special place in my heart, but I expect it to go back and forth more.
3: Cardcaptor Sakura
It's funny because I've never actually thought of Cardcaptor Sakura as my favorite Magical Girl Series. This is partly because it's genre doesn't have special appeal to me. That said it does rank highest of all the multi-season series here. What it does have are massive nostalgia and being really well done. Cardcaptor Sakura was the first Magical Girl series I ever saw any of, and it was indeed a magical experience. Even back then I knew something was different about it, but I didn't know what it was. What I now recognize about it was that it was a worldly series. It feels weird to talk about it as the best Magical Girl anime because the series is ever humble. It rarely has massive stakes, it doesn't have melodrama, it barely has characters conflicting. However in that is CCS's greatest strength. CCS teaches the viewers to appreciate the world around them, to exalt in the magic of the world. When the series says that Sakura's friend Tomoyo's special power is her ability to understand others, for some series that would sound patronizing comparing that to Sakura's magic. In CCS it feels real, because the series shows just how valuable that skill is, how magic it is. That's what everything in CCS is like, making the mundane and magical dance around in a light hearted dance. Sakura's magical powers are many, but the series insists her greatest magic is her invincible spell, her belief that everything will be alright, her bright optimistic spirit. Sakura is the culmination of the earlier Magical Girl Spirit, that a strange little girl might fly into town, bringing cheer and love along with her, a representation of that spirit of innocent youthful love to resolve conflict. In doing so, Clamp basically created the Iyashikei genre, slice of life focused on healing the viewer through exposure to that which which was magical and beautiful in the world around us. And all that's on the broad level. The plot is pretty basic in CCS but the characters are among the best in the genre. Sakura is obviously one of the most popular magical girls. Tomoyo is maybe the best civilian character from any MG work. Syaoran is maybe the most famous best Magical Girl Rival character. Kero-chan is probably the best MG mascot character. It just keeps going, all of Sakura's family, all of her family all have wonderful scenes, Yue is a fantastic character I was very interested in as a kid, Eriol and his two minions make for wonderful late additions to the cast, and beyond that CCS also has two amazing season finales that are among the best in the genre. Worst I can say is that Iyashikei is not a special genre for me, and some of the eps are not that exciting? I can name plenty that are. I don't give the series as much credit as it deserves sometimes because it's so humble and down to Earth, and yet if CCS wants to prove anything, it's that such things can be among the most wonderful.
CCS vs Madoka seems like an extreme and crazy comparison... but honestly the two form something of a Taijitu in my mind. The extremes of heavy-heartedness and light-heartedness complete each other in my mind, the two halves of life. If this was CCS's manga vs Madoka, this might be different, but I actually prefer the CCS anime over the manga and I think I would rate it over Madoka. The reason is that Madoka for how incredible it was, it was something of a thing of its own time for me. Madoka does rely a little on surprise factor, and meant a huge amount in the time it came out, but I am an older person and the intensity has worn just slightly. CCS in contrast is a timeless and universal series. They released a sequel series Clear Card Arc that came out recently, and the change in time didn't do anything. CCS is a series I've grown in appreciation over the years as I've come to understand the world more and as I've come to understand the genre more, seeing the ways it culminates the trends in the genre. I can draw a straight line from Sally the Witch briefly putting aside the feud between her father and maternal grandfather with Sakura finally resolving the conflict between her father and maternal grandfather and seeing that progression is beautiful. I can see the line leading from Sailor Moon to Madoka, but the line is blurrier.
2: Sailor Moon S
Toei Sailor Moon is an inconsistent series, its weakness is it has low valleys but its strength it has high peaks. So what happens when you have a season that is almost all peaks? S loses some gas as it goes on but that's only from the absolute mountain it reached. Sailor Moon S is what happens when you have Ikuhara get full control of Sailor Moon without studio interference like with SuperS or being distracted with the movie like R. Sailor Moon S blew my mind as a child. Two edgy anti-hero Sailors. And they're a lesbian couple, and the butch one flirts with Usagi. Like there was queer stuff in CCS but romance is so innocent in CCS...in Sailor Moon S, the sexuality is constantly brewing under the surface with Uranus and Neptune. More then that there's a Dark Sailor who can end the world and she's actually a frail girl who befriends Chibi-Moon. The villains of this season aren't just scary people looming in the distance who might have tragic backstories, but a bunch of insane goofs with hilarious quirks that can also become threatening and monstrous at will. Like from the first episode you know that things are different when Rei starts getting apocalyptic visions and the monster of the week shrugs off the Silver Plot Device Crystal. This is a season that's going to test Sailor Moon's ideals, and that's exactly what it does. As an adult this season is exactly as good as I remember it as a child. It mixes the anime's goofy comedy with a bit of the Manga's pace and cosmic horror, to tell an awesomely engaging superhero magical girl series about the conflict between idealism vs cynicism, between an innocent love and an adult pragmatism. Some people say as a flaw that the Guardian Senshi are used poorly this season. I respectfully disagree much as I do that they are used poorly in the manga. I will take quality of showcases over quantity. They have less episodes this season but I love their episodes this season. Mercury's ep with her racing Neptune and her insecurity, Venus' volleyball ep about her regrets, Jupiter's martial arts training ep, etc. The first arc this season the Kaorinite Arc is great, introducing us to the world of Haruka and Michiru as well as having one of the most underrated SM characters to me in Kaorinite. Second Arc absolutely fantastic with three of the best episodes of the series crowning it off, the amazing villain Eudial, the exploration of Uranus and Neptune's backstory, the episodes where they die and are bought. The third arc loses a little steal from the Outers' shtick getting more repetitive but it introduces Hotaru and that injects new life into the season at just the right time. Hotaru meant so much to me a kid to the point I didn't know if I liked her more then Usagi. An introverted frail pale girl with dark hair and who has seizures....it was certainly...familiar to me seeing that. It was me, Hotaru just felt like me, and seeing her body get taken over only for her to save everyone through her own force of willing even in the Toei anime when it's shortened made me feel like I could be more, like I could be a hero. The final episodes have problems but parts of the finale like that or like the final battle between Moon vs Uranus and Neptune when she beats them without throwing an attack, absolutely beautiful.
Comparing it to CCS....I was a Sailor Moon Girlie, not a Cardcaptor Sakura girlie. I wanted Magical Girl superheroes. And like, as an adult I recognize more of what makes CCS great and more of Toei SM's faults, but if we're talking about the best Toei SM vs CCS, I am going to back to my roots. I like Sailor Moon S then Madoka Magica or Cardcaptor Sakura because while they represent two sides of a spectrum, Sailor Moon S just is that spectrum. It is innocent, it is sexual, it is silly, it is edgy, it is light and airy, it is fast and intense, it captures the versatility that makes Toei Sailor Moon such a behemoth to talk about all in a nostalgic 90s superhero package that reshaped my world as much as Season 1 of Toei SM did, my favorite work by one of Anime's most interesting and in my opinion artistic directors Ikuhara. I've said that I think Naoko thinks of Sailor Moon more like Superman and Ikuhara thinks of her more like Spider-Man. But I love both characters and I think Sailor Moon S is the best version of that type of Sailor Moon depiction, a Sailor Moon who is young and idealistic and emotional and fighting against a cynical world that laughs at her ideals and proves them wrong by sheer force of will and the community she builds with her love.
1: DokiDoki PreCure:
Yes. I'm serious. I know this season is controversial at best but this is my favorite Magical Girl Anime. It's not like I have as deep a connection to it as I do the last several but I just love everything about DokiDoki. I heard it criticized so much that for a while I underplayed my love for it just because of how often I heard people critique it. But I'm tired of doing this. DokiDoki is my favorite Magical Girl anime, at least for right now, these are all changing all the time. I just adore everything about this season. What can I say that don't like. Some of the character arcs take some thinking to connect. Oh No, whatever will I do? Some of the villains are a little meh, but like... I still like them. IDK this season has an all star cast of Cures I love. Mana is amazing and the fact that she is disliked breaks my brain a little. She is the most superhero of any Magical Girl I've ever seen, she lives and breathes the desire to help people. All the other Cures I like ESPECIALLY Cure Rosetta. I said Sunshine might be my favorite but I said might because Rosetta might also take that spot. Regina is my favorite villain in PreCure and one of my favorites in Magical Girl anime. The First Arc and Third Arc are both Great. The first introduces you to the cures, the third seems like it's going to be more lowkey and then hits you in the feels every ep in a way I found really effective. The Second and Fourth Arcs are amazing, like I seriously cannot get over how much I love the finales to these two arcs. I also love the movie, it's my favorite PreCure movie and one of my favorite Magical Girl movies in general. IMy favorite genre after Magical Girls is Superheroes. Magical Girl Warriors are essentially Magical Girls + Superheroes so it's my favorite subgenre. Of all the Magical Girls, there's none that feel more Superhero-y then DokiDoki PreCure and in a way that complements the Magical Girl elements. I love Magical Girls for rejoicing in femininity and empowering it, I love Superheroes for their grandeur and DokiDoki makes me feel the connection between them. Beyond that I guess the reason DokiDoki is highest atm is just that... I can't find anything wrong with it, anything I dislike or disconnects me from it. Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Puella Magi Madoka Magica have all had a decent amount of criticism thrown their way over the years and I have agreed with some, disagreed with others. Princess Tutu I would consider the least flawed series, but it has one flaw for me personally just in that I don't emotionally connect to it as much. With DokiDoki though, it has faced lots of criticism. And if there's one benefit to that, it's that for someone like me who is sensitive to what other people think, if I still keep loving it after that it shows me how true that love is. In fact the more I analyze DokiDoki the more I love it. I love the way it closes off that era of PreCure with a big symbolic statement stretching back to the beginning. I love its ambition telling a story of a devastated world's survivor and father's loss of his daughter in Precure, I love how seriously and earnestly it treats itself yet also how willing it is to joke around with things like Mana doing an evil laugh back at the villain or surprise hugging Regina when she returns as a villain. I have loved Magical Girl anime as a little girl because in a world where people never seemed to understand, it presented the world like how I understood it. Even if DokiDoki is not understood by some, I will always love the story of a bunch of girly superheroes who want to save the world with the power of love. People say that Mana is too perfect, she's a Mary Sue. But I don't, I love Superman and Mana doesn't seem less flawed then him. Mana is a Superhero, the Magical Girl who saves the day. I don't see what's wrong with that.
Comparing it to Sailor Moon S, Sailor Moon S has a lot more personal history with me and I can easily imagine putting it higher, I have before. But Sailor Moon S is an acclaimed masterpiece with parts I don't actually like. DokiDoki is an underrated gem without and even without the complexity of Sailor Moon S, it's a work I feel deserves this spot. Sailor Moon is the Magical Girl Series people are aware of, but their ideas of what Sailor Moon IS are often somewhat inaccurate. Pretty Cure is more like what people think Magical Girl Anime is and I was to pick one series to represent the best of Magical Girl Anime to me, it would be DokiDoki Pretty Cure, a series unlike Magical Girl Manga, but always reminding me why I love Magical Girl anime. Not Magical Girls as a genre, but Magical Girl Anime, a medium and genre combination that emphasizes a bright and lively display of girliness and the bonds of community as the source of power.
