Summary

The magical girl genre inanimeis full of popular shows that have had a profound impact on the medium. Each story follows a girl or group of girls who gain magical powers and must stop evil. These stories often feature dazzling transformations that show the change from the mundane to the magical.

With so many magical girl anime to choose from, which ones are truly the best? You have your traditional cutesy magical girl shows, as well as others that test the limits of the genre with darker content and more thought-provoking themes. These are the eight best magical girl anime you should be watching.

8Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Finding A Wish Worth Making

One anime that offersa more philosophical interpretationof the magical girl genre is Puella Magi Madoka Magica. While most magical girls focus on the team beating various monsters and spreading happiness, Madoka Magica focuses on the weight of the decision to accept a contract.

On one hand, you get any wish granted to you. However, those wishes might come at a higher cost than imagined. As the girls fight to keep the city and the world safe, they soon realize that it’s not all fun and games. Madoka Magica is a darker take on the genre with twists, turns, and revelations that make getting to the end so satisfying.

7Pretty Cure

Countless Themes And Incarnations

If you’re looking for a more traditional magical girl anime, then the Pretty Cure franchise has a wide variety of teams and themes to get attached to. Some examples include Delicious Party Pretty Cure, which focuses on cooking, and Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure, which has a nautical theme with mermaids.

Pretty Cure is fun, friendly, and wholesome, making it a perfect show to get into the genre. With so many themes, finding one that aligns with your interests is incredibly easy. Every character is also cleverly designed if you’re looking for cosplay ideas for your next convention. So, if you’re ready to transform your magical girl experience, this is a great place to start.

6Magical Angel Creamy Mami

Magical Angel Creamy Mami is one of the earlier magical girlanime released all the way back in the 80s. However, it still follows many of the tropes that would later become staples of the genre. When ten-year-old Yū Morisawa is abducted by a spaceship, she helps the friendly alien Pino Pino recover a lost item.

Her kindness is rewarded with a special wand that transforms her into a 16-year-old girl for one year. During this time, she is also given two cats as guardians to watch over her. Her new abilities allow her to become an overnight sensation as an idol. Now, she needs to focus on her newfound career and fight shady producers who want to steal her talent.

5Revolutionary Girl Utena

Revolutionary Ideas

Utena is revolutionary indeed, as she takes the anime in directions that were not as common in the time period. When she is given a Rose Signet Ring by a prince who saves her life, she vows to someday follow in his footsteps and become a prince herself.

While the anime focuses on Utena’s transformation into a prince, it also questions gender roles and other topics such as toxic relationships and same-sex couples. As an anime, it wastes no opportunity to have plenty of metaphors and symbolic imagery as Utena fights to be the perfect prince for Anthy Humemiya, the Rose Bride.

4Tokyo Mew Mew

The Magical Girl For Animal Lovers

Tokyo Mew Mew has aliens, parasites, cat girls, and magic. When Ichigo Momomiya visits an endangered species exhibit, she merges with an Iriomote cat and gains the ability to transform into Mew Ichigo. Now, she is a powerful cat girl who must stop an alien invasion.

These aliens are parasites that can transform animals into monsters that Mew Ichigo must fight. On her journey to save the world, she must also find the other four girls who were present when she first received her powers. Together, they become the Mew Mews, and each has their own distinct animal traits to assist them in battle.

3Princess Tutu

Surprisingly Bittersweet

While many magical girl anime focus on girls who become magical, not many focus on animals that suddenly gain power. In this case, a duck named Ahiru transforms into a girl who can then become the titular Princess Tutu. Now she must use that power to save a prince with whom she also falls in love.

However, while the premise might sound silly enough, the show does not shy away from deeper topics such as free will and finding a sense of self. Mix it in with ballet and a bittersweet ending, and Princess Tutu is worth a watch for what it brings to the table.

2Sally The Witch

The First Magical Girl Anime

If you’re looking for the anime that started the entire magical girl genre, then take a trip back to the 60s with Sally the Witch. It’s a simple story about a witch princess who wants to make friends and, in her quest to do so, ends up on Earth.

Using her powers, she can stop crime and save the day on multiple occasions. However, she must do this in secret so that she can keep living her life as a normal elementary school girl. After becoming close with the tomboy Yoshiko Hanamura and the girly Sumire Kasugano, she decides to extend her stay on Earth. It’s iconic, it’s part of the genre’s history, and it’s cute.

1Sailor Moon

The Most Iconic Magical Girl Show

It’s impossible to bring up the magical girl genre without mentioning Sailor Moon. This is the magical girl anime that most fans were exposed to, with the show leaving the confines of Japan and airing on American TV.

The girls are all based on different planets as they transform into their iconic sailor suits to fight evil. The anime has everything you could want from a magical girl anime. It has romance, talking cats, campy villains, and evenan ending that you wouldn’t really expectuntil you see it.