Magical Girls in Anime and Manga ( Briefly, for goodness sake, I've only got 10 minutes after all... <___< )

History

Mahotsukai Sari (Witch Sally) - 1960

    Black and White

    Second season was in color

    Girl from the Witch Kingdom gets sent to Earth

    One of the first stories to feature a 'tomboyish' friend.

Maho no Tenshi Creamy Mami (Magical Angel Creamy Mami) - 1983

    Example of Pop Idol movement.

Bishojo Senshi Sailor Moon - 1992

    Takeuchi Naoko

    Best one EVAR

    First Sentai of girls

    Somewhat older characters

    Set standards for plot elements

    Yuri AND Yaoi (OMG)

Card Captor Sakura - 1998

    CLAMP

    Less 'shojo' shojo

    Male and female main characters had equal importance

    Appealed to a male audience more than past shows

    Lots of Yaoi, some Yuri (Duh, its CLAMP)

Main Components of a Magical Girl Show

    Either: Normal girl gets powers, or Magical girl is transported to Normal world

    Lots of shiny items and cute outfits

    Transformation sequences of varying degrees of disco

    Love interest

    Other love interest

    True Love interest

    Unwanted attention from secondary character

See also: Anime