When looking at a definitive template for what makes Mahou Shoujo what it is , i would look to series runners like Sailor Moon, Futari Wa Pretty Cure, Puella Magi Madoka Magica .
From there , we can look at some of the features of this series through lenses of the Mahou Shoujo genre in light of Tropes like MonsterOfTheWeek, ObligatoryBossFight, PlotArmor .
Television Tropes are archetypal themes that appear across an array of series . Sailor Moon having to fight a new baddie every episode isn·t a Sailor Moon thing , it·s a serialized television show thing . Punishing you in the name of the Moon , that·s a Sailor Moon thing .
Then , what are some of the tropes that are common to Magical Girls , regardless of format , whether it be Television, VideoGame, Manga, or other .
The most obvious answer is that they have to be magical and they have to be girls . Magical means practicing the use of non-material means of combat and/or conducting affairs , girls means feminine , trim of ankle and wrist , and not prone to outbursts that would crease our pleated skirts and ruffle our seifukus .
That·s not to say that Magical Girls can or can·t be tomboys , Makoto Kino(Sailor Jupiter) was as rough and tumble as they come . Even still , tomboys have a kind of grace to them that guys are typically larger than .
Moreover , i think that overcoming boundaries is a solid theme thruout these series . Sailor Moon introduced the idea that a Sailor Soldier could be pretty and dainty and still act as a valid force multiplier . Futari Wa Pretty Cure introduced the notion that girls can fight too , that we could also kick and punch in addition to Marble Screwing their ascii art . And then Puella Magi Madoka Magica dispelled the notion that guns and magic were mutually exclusive , that girls could weild these things and magical powers .
So yeah! . That·s a brief summary of how i feel about Magical Girl anime! . ^-^;;
