Investigate and review the uprising of horror which has slowly leaked into the Magical Girl genre. Don't get me wrong, there were some dark themes in Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura considering they were primarily aimed at a younger audience, but looking at series such as Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Magical Girl Apocalypse, I think it would be interesting to think about why horror works so well in what should be a story about cutesy manga girls wielding bright and colourful powers.
Great topic! These diversive stories you mentioned makes you look back on your childhood and series like Sailor Moon/CCS under a brand new light. – Allthefujoshiunite9 years ago
I believe thing are changing because the audience have gotten more mature and have begun to be uncaring of the redundant happy go lucky idea leading to writers having more option on how they decide to make their work to attract a different audience. – trojas19 years ago
While that may be true, you have to realize anime is more of a consumer product more than anything else. You might see 'popular' magical girl anime because it never really picks up viewership that well since these shows are tailored specifically for children. Stuff like Ojamajo Doremi among others were like Super Sentai versions of anime for Shojo audiences. I haven't seen anything of these horror based magical series so I don't really have much input there. – AtkMode9 years ago
Madoka Magica might have popularized the "dark magical girl," but the earliest example I am aware of is Arina Tanemura's "Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne" (now published by Viz under the title "Phantom Thief Jeanne"). It seems very straightforward at first, but the more you progress in the series, you start to realize that there's something else going on. (Spoiler: Kyubey was not even a surprise to me because of this series.) – sydneyschulte9 years ago
