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The List - Top 5 Magical Girl Series


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#HayamiLover



Joined: 22 Jul 2018
Posts: 800
Location: Eastern Europe
PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 2:43 pm Reply with quote
Symphogear, really? No, I do not want to say that this is a bad show. But there are obviously plenty of good Mahou-shoujo shows in the Jaoan, so you don't need to fill the space with the near-science fiction action moe. Seriously, I don’t understand why suddenly it became so popular to call any fantasy female all-female action show "magic girls".
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Heishi



Joined: 06 Mar 2016
Posts: 1359
PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 3:30 pm Reply with quote
While the best magical girl to me is both Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon, the truly best one would have to be one where it displays its yuri content unapologetically unlike many shows throughout its history.
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AsuraTheDestructor



Joined: 24 Dec 2013
Posts: 491
PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 3:53 pm Reply with quote
#HayamiLover wrote:
Symphogear, really? No, I do not want to say that this is a bad show. But there are obviously plenty of good Mahou-shoujo shows in the Jaoan, so you don't need to fill the space with the near-science fiction action moe. Seriously, I don’t understand why suddenly it became so popular to call any fantasy female all-female action show "magic girls".


Aside from the obvious Magical Girl influenced Trasnforming sequences, similarities to Nanoha but with punching instead of beams, and having various cast members that worked on Magical girls beforehand?

Of course it is.
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Nom De Plume De Fanboy
Exempt from Grammar Rules


Joined: 14 Jan 2011
Posts: 638
Location: inland US west, pretty rural
PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 4:03 pm Reply with quote
I gotta be that guy: Flip Flappers, which I like and own, feels more like a "jump in and out of another world" show. And Princess Tutu, which I almost adore, is kind of its own thing, in my humble opinion.

Added Nurse Witch Komugi R, which is much milder than the original. The original is one of my picks, but I do think it has a lot of just mean characters in its parody. R only has a couple jerks who are just background characters; mainly the producer who wanted some wardrobe malfunctions on tv.
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Actar



Joined: 21 Nov 2010
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Location: Singapore
PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 4:25 pm Reply with quote
Akazukin Chacha is not one many have heard of, but one of my top faves that didn't make it on the list~
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Engineering Nerd



Joined: 24 Apr 2008
Posts: 904
Location: Southern California
PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 4:34 pm Reply with quote
I am kinda sad that no one seems to remember Yūki Yuna is a Hero. That show and its spin-offs have some great writing and characterizations for the Mahou Shoujo genre, not
To mention how delicate they handle characters with disabilities.
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Redbeard 101
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Joined: 14 Aug 2006
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 4:50 pm Reply with quote
I'm simply amazed Black Lagoon won the last poll. Pleasantly surprised as I did vote for it.
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spegasaur



Joined: 01 Mar 2020
Posts: 10
PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 5:00 pm Reply with quote
I'm guessing Tanya von Degurechaff doesn't count as a magical girl?
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18508
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 7:36 pm Reply with quote
Psycho 101 wrote:
I'm simply amazed Black Lagoon won the last poll. Pleasantly surprised as I did vote for it.

Don't know why you'd be surprised. That one would adapt better to live-action than most and it was highly popular.

spegasaur wrote:
I'm guessing Tanya von Degurechaff doesn't count as a magical girl?

Not by any stretch. Among girls who uses magic, she is the antithesis of a magical girl.

While I have a hard time arguing against any of the titles chosen (except Symphogear, which I've heard great things about but am not personally familiar with), any such list that I made would have to include both Princess Tutu and Yuki Yuna is a Hero. Neither were influential in the way most of the titles on this list are, but the former is, in my opinion, the best of the more classically-styled magical girl series and the latter is the cream of the crop of the Madoka follow-ups in both technical merits and storytelling/characterizations. (I'd even argue that it's better than Madoka, especially its first season.)
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harminia



Joined: 24 Aug 2015
Posts: 2064
Location: australia
PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 8:06 pm Reply with quote
Actar wrote:
Akazukin Chacha is not one many have heard of, but one of my top faves that didn't make it on the list~


Chacha is so good! It's sort of weird in its magical girl-ness, the first time she transforms it feels so unexpected because it was just setting itself up as a cute fantasy before that.

I also added Pretear to the list because it's a series that has stayed with me a long time.

I'm glad someone added Fancy Lala.


Also, I've never seen Kyubey spelled as "Kyube"


Last edited by harminia on Sun Mar 01, 2020 9:22 pm; edited 1 time in total
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FireChick
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Joined: 26 Mar 2006
Posts: 2500
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 8:10 pm Reply with quote
My favorite magical girl anime is Fancy Lala. It just has so much heart for a series with a deceptively simple premise, and it is criminally underrated. I have all the DVDs and even bought a few obscure figurines of it! I wish someone would license rescue it, though. The DVDs are cheap but out of print, though they can be found easily on Ebay.
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Catsplay



Joined: 24 Sep 2015
Posts: 381
PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 8:23 pm Reply with quote
No Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya? Granted I know it's more of an actual Fate series then magical girl series but it would have been cool to see a mention.
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
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Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 8:43 pm Reply with quote
Catsplay wrote:
No Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya? Granted I know it's more of an actual Fate series then magical girl series but it would have been cool to see a mention.

Oh, it definitely qualifies as a magical girl series, just one keyed to the Fate universe. It's one of the better action-oriented ones (even though I could do without the loli elements) and I'd easily put it in my Top 10. However, it's not influential like most of the titles mentioned on the list are.
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7jaws7



Joined: 17 Aug 2013
Posts: 705
Location: New York State
PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 8:50 pm Reply with quote
It would take something really special for a magical girl series to take #1 over Madoka on my list.

But that hasn’t happened nor do I anticipate it happening anytime soon.

1. Madoka Magica
2. Yuuki Yuuna is a Hero
3. Symphogear
4. Cardcaptor Sakura
5. Sailor Moon

It’s not really top tier but Magical Girl Raising Project deserves a shout out as well for its creative character designs and synergy.
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VerQuality



Joined: 01 Oct 2016
Posts: 138
PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 9:37 pm Reply with quote
A really solid list. I think a lot of these entries are really hard to argue against (Madoka, Sakura, Sailor Moon), but I'm thrilled to see Symphogear make it on. It may not pack the thematic punch of most of the other series on the list, but no other anime puts a big dumb smile on my face quite as well as Symphogear.
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