Well I’ve counted out my top 5 red-haired characters and looked at lovely ladies with blue-hair but today we are looking at my top 5 blonde anime girls. Now this list has undergone a few revisions over the years most recently last November, but the Winter 2022 season gave me a character I just had to mention.
And that sadly knocked our favourite moon princess, Sailor Moon, right off the list.
As always, I’d love to know which characters would appear on your list so feel free to leave a comment sharing your favourite blonde anime girls.
Who are my top 5 blonde anime girls?
Number 5: Amber from Darker Than Black
Amber in Darker Than Black is a bit of an enigma because she’s only really in flashbacks until the second half and even then she is in and out of the show. That said, I like her character. She plays everything very casually even while she’s probably the only character with the full picture of what is really going on. And she makes some really hard choices and pays the price for them.
While I still feel she might have clued some of the other characters in a bit earlier, she has sound reasoning for her actions in the end and she seems to genuinely respect Hei’s final decision in the series. Amber, for taking on everything and doing it with a smile, you have taken the fourth position as one of my favourite blonde anime girls.
Number 4: Riza Hawkeye from Full Metal Alchemist
What’s not to love about Riza no matter which version of Full Metal Alchemist you are watching? She likes dogs, she’s the only one who can really deal with Colonel Mustang, she’s a crack shot, and she’s a hard worker. Add to that she’s also a voice of reason and logic and occasionally a motherly figure to the younger characters, and she’s just all kinds of amazing. If I ever do a best supporting character list, Riza is going to be on it.
She’s an idol with not one, but two guardian characters that take the form of an angel and a devil. Early on in Shugo Chara, Utau works against our protagonists and only uses Iru (the devil guardian). Later on she accepts Eru (the angel) and she begins building herself up from scratch as an idol and a person.
Other than her brother complex, Utau is a fascinating character and a good rival for Amu early in the series. She’s also pretty awesome as an idol even if she does use her powers for evil early on. As a character, Utau experiences the best growth and development in this series.
Number 2: Marin from My Dress Up Darling
How could I not add this adorable and expressive would-be cosplayer to the list of awesome blonde haired anime ladies. Marin from My Dress Up Darling is truly fun to watch in action and any given episode has her pulling dozens of wonderfully emotive expressions.
That she is also just a truly lovely person just makes every episode with her a joy.
Number 1: Maka Albarn from Soul Eater
It had to be Maka from Soul Eater. She’s one of my all time favourite characters and she’s just plain awesome. She hits the books, fights with a scythe, and is still a genuinely nice person who is able to make a real connection with Crona who is need of human contact.
Unlike so many heroes, Maka isn’t just strong because she is. She’s actually probably the weakest in the group we follow, but she is an incredibly hard worker and very determined to succeed. Even Maka going crazy is highly entertaining. Oh, and don’t make her mad when she’s carrying a book or you will get hit with the dread Maka chop.
And that’s my list. As I said, feel free to add your own suggestions to the list in the comments below and let me know what you think of my selections.
Welcome to another top 5 list for Tuesday and this week I am counting down my favourite magical girl anime, mostly inspired by how much I’ve been enjoying Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka (while not perfect, it has been quite fun as a darker magical girl series). I’m not convinced I haven’t already done this but if I did I can’t find it so let’s all just go with this is the first time I’ve put this into a top 5 list.
Now magical girl anime and I have a real nostalgia thing going on as some of these were the shows that got me into anime and they really stuck with me. While there are some more recent entries in the list, the nostalgia is strong with this one.
With that in mind, I’d love to know what magical girl anime are your favourites and why. Is it something a bit older that reminds you of your childhood or are you into some of the more recent entries into the genre. Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Honourable Mentions: Kamichama Karin
This one is a bit of a weird one, but for whatever reason I kind of got stuck on it a few years ago and I’ve binge watched it a couple of times since. While it doesn’t stand out as much as some of the other entries on this list, it is a fairly functional magical girl show and it is very easy to get caught up in it and lose track of time.
Number 5: Is This A Zombie
It feels weird to give the number 5 spot to a comedy anime about a male zombie character who manages to acquire the power of a magical girl and then undergoes a transformation into a cute pink dress complete with chainsaw. I do love that as his power level rises the frilliness and flowery add-ons on the dress get even more over the top. It is a great jab at some of the impractical magical girl costumes out there.
Whichever way, when I think about magical girls, there is literally no way to not think about Ayumu so that is why he got the number 5 spot on the list even though technically he’s a zombie who is borrowing magical girl powers.
The only ‘dark’ magical girl story that made it onto my list. What can I say? As much as I love horror and dark stories, when I got to watch a magical girl story I kind of go wanting something a little bit more sparkly. Madoka Magica managed to balance its darker subject matter with some really great magical girls, cool powers, and spectacular fight sequences in a way that while it was dark and serious, it still felt like a magical girl story and not a horror that just happened to feature magical girls right before they got slaughtered. I really did enjoy Madoka Magica and it is another anime I regularly binge watch.
Despite the heavily edited version of this that I saw originally, complete with a truly terrible English OP, I really did get caught by the plot of Cardcaptor Sakura so when I was older and I could access a translated but less edited version of it, I jumped at the chance to watch this anime again. Syaoran and Sakura are beautiful in the leading roles and I just love how cute and happy this anime is.
While Sakura doesn’t include some magical girl tropes, no spinning costume transformations, Sakura actually has to change clothes if she wants to wear one of her friends’ hand-made costumes, it very much captures the spirit of Magical Girl anime and is an excellent started anime if you have kids you want to introduce to something without worrying too much about some of the anime tropes out there.
Another super adorable, super pink Magical Girl anime. This one grabbed me because of Amu. She’s got such a mismatch between her inner and outer personality and I love how she struggles with figuring out who she is, particularly when she has so many guardian characters with each one presenting a different aspect of who she might be. While the overall plot of this one is a bit harder to take seriously, there are some really excellent character arcs for a lot of the cast and it ends up being a story well worth the effort of investing your time into.
Did you expect anything else to top this list? I mentioned at the start that this was a nostalgia fuelled list in the first place and Sailor Moon is the starting place for me and anime so of course it was always going to be number 1. Serena and the Sailor Scouts are characters I grew up loving and I don’t think anything is going to change that anytime soon.
While Sailor Moon villains might border on the idiotic or ridiculous, the core cast remain full of heart and life and if you want cute costumes and pretty sparkles, Sailor Moon has you covered. Also, some darker moments and real danger which certainly pushed beyond what a lot of ‘girls’ TV shows were doing when it came out.
So that is my list of my favourite magical girl shows. I’d love to know yours.
If you missed the first post on Magical Girls be sure to check it out and then let’s get into part 2.
If she’s a magical girl, what powers does she have?
Right so we’re back to magical girls and I wanted to look at the characters and the magic powers that crop up in these stories. While this is where many of these stories differentiate themselves, there are still a lot of common factors between shows.
Alas, I am only going to be looking at the main characters from a handful of anime. There is too much content to get into side characters and villains (though I may do a post on those guys at some point – it won’t be in this series).
So who are our main contenders? Serena (Sailor Moon – original anime series), Amu (Shugo Chara), and Madoka (Madoka Magica).
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Serena – The Ultimate Magical Girl?
How do we describe her?
She’s a klutz.
Who over eats.
And she’s not particularly bright.
And she’s a cry baby.
Wow. It’s a good thing she likes cats and rescued Luna or else she was kind doomed as a character. Even her friends regularly run her down but they all agree on a couple of things. Serena is stubborn (and while that is sometimes a negative a certain amount of stubbornness is needed to not just give up on things) and she’s also happy most of the time and loyal to her friends.
As a magical girl, Serena’s path is a long one.
Her initial transformation aside, she struggles in the early battles to hold her nerve and to use her powers effectively. She regularly needs a pep talk from one of the scouts of Tuxedo Mask to get her moving again and while the threat doesn’t feel very real at times she’d rather let someone else take care of it.
However, as the danger intensifies and as Serena ‘grows up’ she begins to embrace her roles as the Moon Princess. Admittedly, it’s midway through season 2 before you see her settle on this and even then she is plagued by the occasional doubt about whether she’d just like to be ordinary.
Serena and Darien
Serena’s love story is integral to the overall plot as there’s a whole lovers in former lives issue and Serena and Darien’s love regularly saves the plot from falling apart by generating a much needed power boost or saves one or the other from what should be death.
While Darien’s presence is very much a positive for Serena’s development, he himself gets very little development or chance to take the lead. It’s a magical girl show so show up, give your speech and then wait on the sidelines until she requires some moral support. I always felt a bit sorry for Darien.
As to the magic itself, Sailor Moon relies heavily on devices. Transformations can be undone by removing brooches and powers rendered useless by knocking wands out of hands. The girls themselves seemingly cannot activate their power without these device and accessories (which makes you wonder how any of the villains ever lost to them when there was such an easy path to victory).
The device aside, Sailor Moon is the champion of shouting out attack names and key phrases for transformation in English. I wonder if shouting it louder made your power more impressive?
Amu is straight away a different character from Serena. She is cool and admired for being cool and aloof. However, that’s all her outer character and one she has deliberately established. The audience is let on to her inner monologue and uncertainties and we know she’d love to ooh over the cute things and gush at the prince.
And unlike Serena, Amu isn’t inherently a magical girl. Nope. She did not get reborn after dying tragically in a past life. Nor was she chosen by destiny. Apparently being indecisive and wishing for a change in your life is enough because Amu created her own magic, even if she regularly regrets it during the first part of the series.
What? You can’t see the difference? She now has a heart in her hair and she’s ridiculously over the top and exuberant.
Amu’s indecisiveness is crazy. She doesn’t just manifest one alternate personality in the form of a guardian character but three (later four but you know). This leads to a whole range of different transformations, though Amulet Heart is her main go to.
Yep, I’d look like that too if someone put me in a cheerleading outfit.
Keep in mind, this isn’t like Sailor Moon evolving in Super Sailor Moon or then becoming the Princess. These are entirely separate identities with totally different powers (more or less the same results though). And then later, of course, we start combining these powers and then things just get silly.
Where Amu is very similar to Serena is the journey she goes through as a character. She matures and stops worrying about petty things quite so much and stops complaining about things not being fair. She learns to just deal with things as they are and take them as they come. She also eventually gets over her ‘Prince’ crush though Ikuto probably had something to do with that.
Ikuto is definitely the best boy.
Seriously, who needs a Prince when you have a bad boy whose alternate self is a cat? And unlike Darien, Ikuto actually gets to play a more active role in the story. He stirs up the core group, acts as an antagonist, get’s close to Amu and then disappears leaving her to fret for his safety and try to save him. He (like Darien) also gets brainwashed and has to be saved but then hangs around for the final fight instead of ending up with amnesia in the hospital.
The magic here comes from their guardian spirits (which are like manifestations of their dreams). Problem is, these spirits live in eggs and they can get stolen, sealed shut, or broken. Way to shatter your dreams literally. It’s like someone gave you that thing at school where they make you care for an egg for a week, only in this case if you break your egg you will not only have no super powers but become an empty shell of a human being. Tragic.
Once transformed though, the characters generate weapons and magic appropriate to their character. When she’s the cheerleader, Amu uses a baton or pom-poms. When she’s the artist, she uses a paintbrush. As Su, she uses a whisk (so cute and yet so useless – except for remake, that’s a remarkably useful power for cleaning up supernatural messes).
I will point out that I spent a lot of time when I was younger trying to make a heart shape with my fingers like Amu and I am still convinced it is actually impossible to position your hands the way she does and end up with a clear heart. You can put your fingers together but it really doesn’t look particularly heart like.
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Lastly, the girl who didn’t become a Magical Girl – Madoka.
Finally, we have Madoka. And I know, she isn’t a magical girl until the very end of the series. That’s why she’s included. We have the traditional magical girl (Serena), the slightly more modern and self-aware magical girl (Amu) and now we have the not a magical girl and hesitant to become one because it could cause you to die.
That’s not the only reason Madoka is interesting. She also has no love interest. She saves the romance angst for her best friends to deal with. All Madoka has to deal with is her rampant insecurity because she feels she has no special… oh wait. She is a modern version of Serena with the self-awareness of Amu. Now the pink pony-tails make sense.
Still, the magical girl transformation is definitely impressive – they do make you wait all season for it. And her power is pretty undeniable (she recreates the entire lore by which magic works). Similar to Amu, her power is based on an inner wish, but in this case manifests by making a contract with the dev…
Oh no, just Kyuubey. Close enough. Once a wish is made the magical girls get a soul gem that enables them to transform and then their power is kind of linked to their wish. Though watch out, if you get too far away from your soul gem, well you have no soul. This isn’t a good state to be in as it pretty much leaves you dying in a coma.
I said their power was kind of linked because it’s a little odd. Madoka though has a bow and arrow, because arrows are cool nowadays, but she has the overly frilly dress of someone who grew up on a rich diet of what a magical girl should look like. It’s almost on par with the parody outfit from Is This A Zombie?
Let’s be honest. None of these girls are going to hold their own in a straight up swordfight. Serena will trip, Amu will be sarcastic and Madoka will wring her hands together in distress as she tries to think of a way to help (though which side she would help is debatable). But what these girls do possess:
Loyalty,
Honesty, and
Perseverance
These characteristics are not bestowed on them by mystic eggs, lockets or creepy bunny things. These are traits they have developed through their lives and are traits that allow them to overcome the trials and hardships they face. And that’s the core of magical girl stories. These characters.
For just a little while you can believe that you don’t need to be smart or athletic or particularly talented at anything as long as you keep working hard and growing you will one day triumph.
And yeah I’ve missed a huge amount of points and ideas and haven’t even touched on the other cast members (friends and foes alike) but the post is already long enough so I’m calling it. Please feel free to add your points and argument below.
Those of us who have grown up on stories of pink and sparkling transforming girls kind of have a shared understanding of why magical girls are awesome. When we meet someone else who was watching Sailor Moon as a kid or teen we instantly geek out over which scout was our favourite and then we discuss the rest.
We know the darker magical girl shows that are starting to emerge: Madoka Magica and every following magical girl show.
We make our own lists of favourite magical girl shows and discuss the benefits of different costumes, attacks and hair styles. Honestly, it is really fun being in love with the whimsy of magical girl stories.
But why are magical girls so popular when essentially every one of these stories (whether it is trying to be cute, fun, funny, or deadly serious) is kind of identical at its core?
To really get into this genre of anime I’m going to break the post up into a few part
Firstly, what is the basic narrative structure of a magical girl story?
Secondly, who are the basic characters and what is with character transformations?
Thirdly, what about the magic itself?
A lot of these questions will be addressed in part 2 or part 3.
Keep in mind, everything here after is my own opinion and I am a crazy Sailor Moon fan so I doubt I’m going to be as critical of this genre as I would need to be to actually pull it apart.
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1 – The Basic Narrative
I don’t know how many magical girl shows you have watched but with few exceptions they start the same way. My main examples are coming from Sailor Moon and Card Captor Sakura but I’m trying to keep the information generic.
Usually there is some kind of hook. A look back at some ancient catastrophe or a puzzling dream that is suggesting some disaster in the future. While this is usually great for grabbing your audience’s attention and gives a frame for the narrative as a whole, it serves a greater purpose.
Most of the first episode of these shows will feature very little actual magic and usually it isn’t until the end of the first episode that our magical girl will actually do anything magical so this is kind of the only chance to show off something supernatural and cool in the first half of the episode. It also gives a more serious tone to what might otherwise seem like a fairly frivolous show.
After the destruction of the Moon Kingdom they were all sent to earth.
Sakura dreams of a mysterious girl and wonders what it could mean.
Regardless, we meet our very ordinary school girl doing very ordinary things. Usually there is a dressing sequence (putting on a school uniform, adjusting their hair, putting on their knee pads – nope that one was just Sakura because she fell victim to the roller blading craze poor dear).
Madoka may have actually included some characterisation and a touching moment with a parent in her dressing sequence, but she still had a prepping for school sequence.
Then we go to school. This is where the shows start branching out but there are a few commonalities.
The basics of the first episode include introducing the ‘normal’ friends who may or may not ever be involved in the magical side of the story. We learn what our protagonists are good at and what their insecurities are (in a highly manufactured fashion – Serena tossing her exam paper over her shoulder and hitting Darien highlighting both her lack of school ability and social skills in one quick scene).
We learn that deep down inside this girl is a good person despite all of their faults and absolute ordinariness. These are all very important things to know if the story is going to hold together.
Amu is all about her image even though she knows it keeps her isolated from her classmates.
Because then things change.
If we didn’t spend all of this time establishing a base line for our character would we know or care about how magic changed their life and the strain it put on their ordinary existence? And how could we know about their incredible development as a character unless we had a starting point?
The catalyst for change can be more or less anything (as proven in the parody Cute High Earth Defence when it is a pink wombat from space that gives the boys their magic powers). Cards, eggs, rings, brooches, wands, and more or less anything else you can imagine (that would make for good product placement and something pretty you can sell people – oh that’s just me being cynical, never mind).
Sometimes they tie it up with destiny (you were reborn or chosen) but other times it is convenience of circumstance. You’re here, you can activate this, go. Almost always this coincides with a villain attacking for reasons that will later be endlessly explained – don’t worry. It might also be worth noting the number of talking animal and mascot characters that are involved in this catalyst for change.
Being the mascot character in a parody show is not all it is cracked up to be.
Normally our protagonists then go through a few different emotions (usually in very rapid succession). Denial, incredulity, acceptance. Must admit, our modern magical girls have learned from their predecessors. They are less likely to take the talking cat at face value because they know that the whole magical girl thing isn’t all its cracked up to be. Plus, those outfits are pretty embarrassing.
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Not a magical girl but you can tell Ikuto would like to kill the person who designed that outfit.
There’s usually a fight sequence of some sort and then we can get onto the next episode. It’s interesting how most magical girl shows fall into a bit of a rhythm at first. Normal day, monster appears, fight it, defeat it, back to normal day.
During this time, we see our characters grown and develop and learn about their powers, new characters and rules are introduced and all of the logic behind the show is firmly established and they better not break their own rules later.
What also happens in most of these shows is the lore is being established. Who are the good guys and why do they fight? Who are the villains and why are they attacking? And the whole sequence may seem repetitive but it is gradually ramping up to a point where it can get away from character and world building and into the story itself without having to stop for explainers (the final pivotal reveals are of course held off for later – like how the Moon Kingdom was actually destroyed got its own episode right before the final battle sequence).
Madoka didn’t have long to establish its rhythm but still managed to cover this essential plot element.
At some point, even the frilliest of magical girl shows will start to take a turn for the darker side. Maybe that villain is unkillable, maybe someone got hurt, maybe the protagonist loses their confidence or their resolve, or maybe things just got a lot more dangerous, but for shows that generally begin all cuteness and light they inevitably turn dark.
And it’s amazing how many times it involves the love interest – boyfriend in distress much.
This gives the audience another chance to rally behind our heroes as they prepare for a final battle where the stakes have been made very real. The result of the final battle may be a foregone conclusion but you still sit on a knife’s edge hoping your favourite characters make it through unscathed (though by season 3 of Sailor Moon the scouts death’s have ceased to have a whole lot of impact).
And there we have a magical girl narrative. With that basic structure you could even argue that Soul Eater (with it’s heavy focus on Maka) is actually more akin to a magical girl story than an action or supernatural story. Though, Maka at least fights with more than pretty coloured lights and sparkles but we’ll save that for our discussion on characters and magic.
So, what did I miss? What are your thoughts on magical girls in anime?
Originally I wrote this post in response to a question I’d been asked regarding kids’ anime. I was asked of my top picks for the season which anime I’d recommend for kids, which kind of stumped me because to be perfectly frank I wouldn’t recommend any of the anime I watch these days for kids.
(Keep in mind, this post is not becoming a tirade against people who think anime is for kids or an extended rant– I’m simply explaining why I found it hard to answer this question.)
That isn’t to say there aren’t great kids anime out there, but I’m not a child and I don’t watch things that are particularly kid friendly. The other reason I wouldn’t make a recommendation for a child is I don’t actually know what the parent of said child deems appropriate for their child.
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For instance, are they okay with stylised violence or do they want something that resolves issues through discussion? Is it okay if girls have visible curvature or do you consider that unnecessary in a children’s show? What about themes? Drugs, mind control, hypnosis, death, life, relationships, good, evil, magic? Which do you find appropriate? And how would I know?
I can’t answer those questions for someone else. And I am not a good judge of what is and isn’t appropriate for the simple reason that my own viewing as a child was never particularly censored by my parents. That isn’t to say they ignored what I watched, but it is more that they would tell me what was in something and warn me if they thought it would scare me, but they allowed me to decide what I would watch.
Of course, they certainly steered me around things that would probably have crossed too many lines, but from a reasonably young age I became a massive fantasy and B-Grade horror fan.
Magic and spells and characters who faced death and monsters and incredibly fake blood filled the screen and I learned to love predictable and dependable narratives where good would ultimately triumph and villains would lose for the simple reason that they were villains. The fact that sometimes losing meant being thrown from a cliff and bursting into little pieces (Tremors) or getting struck by lightning and being completely destroyed (Willow) didn’t really concern me as a child and still doesn’t today because of course that’s what happens in stories.
And that was the clear line. What happens in movies and television was not reflective of reality. “It isn’t scary, it’s just TV.” “It’s a movie, so everything will be fine.” That was the message I got over and over again. A lot of what I watched wasn’t exactly kid friendly but nor was it particularly scarring (with the possible exception of ‘It’ – the original).
So when faced with the what anime is appropriate for kids to watch question, I kind of shrug. It entirely depends on the parent and how they frame the viewing experience and what the child has been exposed to previously.
My stance on censorship is entirely prosaic. All media should be clearly labelled with what it is and what it isn’t. Ratings aren’t overly helpful. Did that get a high rating because of foul language or because someone is going to get torn in half and blood is going to drip across the screen? There’s a real difference in which one I’ll sit through.
I have the DVD of Jormungand and it is restricted MA15+ in Australia with the helpful note that it contains strong animated violence. Yet I would argue that it is totally appropriate for teenagers because while it has strong violence the themes and questions it raises about arms dealers and child soldiers are an excellent discussion point. I’m certain others disagree with that view and that’s fine. That’s why labels are helpful.
What even makes something kids anime to begin with?
I’ve mentioned before that my earliest anime included Astro Boy and Sailor Moon, both seen as reasonably acceptable kids viewing. However, looking back, Sailor Moon gets pretty dark. She kills her enemies. Reduces them to dust. The scouts and Sailor Moon are in constant peril. Serena’s boyfriend is kidnapped, brainwashed and set against her. Ultimately she is forced to all but kill him (which effectively wipes out any memories he has of her) in order to save him. That’s a harsh line up covered in pastel colours and pretty sparkly moon wands.
Punish, turn to dust. Shrug.
Then there are parents who protest their kids engaging with Harry Potter because of the magic theme. How many anime, particularly kid friendly anime, involves magic as a central plot point? Card Captor Sakura and Shugo Chara, both anime I would probably recommend for younger audiences, are heavily steeped in magic.
And Shonen anime is full of violence. Stylised and sanitized at times, but extreme violence nonetheless. Yet people would argue that a lot of those stories are kids anime. Most of it makes Wile E Coyote’s antics in Road Runner look pretty tame and let’s be honest, anything involving dynamite is pretty dangerous.
For parents with kids watching anime, the best thing you can do is look the anime up yourself and view the online images. Is that appropriate for your child to be watching? And that is a decision only you can make because you know what you want your child to view and what you would prefer they didn’t.
Now, censorship is always a prickly issue so I’m certain there are some big opinions out there. Please have at it below but remember to respect the views of others.
Also, list the anime you think should be labelled as kids anime and why because I’m sure plenty of people out there would love the recommendation.
There are a lot of magical girl anime out there and some amazing protagonists that get shimmering transformations and attack sequences. However in this post I want to look at some of the supporting characters who may or may not also be magical girls but are certainly not granted main-character plot immunity. These are memorable characters who really help elevate the story and potentially the actual protagonist to heights they may not have reached had this character not been around.
I did limit myself to one supporting character per show so while I could potentially just have found five awesome supporting characters from Sailor Moon, I have limited myself to just the one.
Who are my top 5 amazing supporting characters from magical girl anime?
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With all that said though, I would absolutely love to hear your favourite supporting characters from magical girl anime so be sure to leave a comment below.
Number 5: Tama
Tama is the LRIG owned by main character Ruuko in Selector Infected Wixoss. Unlike other LRIG’s, Tama seems pretty innocent and actually fairly harmless however her infant like demeaner changes dramatically when put into a fight. Throughout the various Wixoss stories, Tama has continued to appear and her story actually ends up overtaking that of most of the protagonists and magical girls. There’s a supporting character that knew she was destined for stardom.
Number 4: Eru and Iru
While not a single character per se it would be hard to split the angel and devil pair from Shugo Chara. The two characters are born from Utau and assist the singer in her performances providing either healing or enslavement as required. But when left to their own devices, the two have a bit of a love-hate relationship and when you throw in that the devil is manipulative and playful while the angel is directionally challenged and a little on the slow side and you have two show stealing supporting characters.
Whether you are watching the original series or Clear Card, it would be impossible to list great supporting characters in magical girl series without touching on Tomoyo from Card Captor Sakura. The camera wielding best friend to the protagonist is there through thick and thin and always has just the outfit for the occasion.
While not totally pure and innocent as she regularly pushes Sakura out of her comfort zone for her own entertainment, her loyalty is without question and ultimately a lot of the plot of the original series probably couldn’t have happened without Tomoyo’s convenient assistance. Truly a show stealing friend.
Number 2: Junko Kaname
While most anime parents will fall into the category of nominee for worst parent ever, occasionally we get these brilliant parents who seem actually aware of their children, provide largely decent guidance, and just have a genuinely good relationship with their kids.
Madoka Magica provided not only a great mother but a great supporting character in the form of Junko Kaname, the over-worked mother who still has time to offer love advice, help pick out hair ribbons, and ultimately realises her daughter is in over her head but takes the time to listen. While so many magical girls either don’t have mothers or their mothers remain oblivious to their plight, Madoka provided a very different kind of family dynamic and was a much stronger anime because of it.
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Number 1: Molly/Naru
While Sailor Moon Crystal didn’t do Molly any favours, the original Sailor Moon series saw Molly playing victim of the week more often than not. On first watch it is hard to take the character seriously as she seems to exist just to fuel our protagonist’s shopping addiction and obsession with falling in love. However she’s got a lot more going for her and really she’s pretty awesome.
Throughout the first season she has her own heart-breaking romance where she is anything but a damsel in distress and those events help to make her a little more mature and insightful even if she is still mostly running around like a ditz. In times of crisis, expect Molly to show up with just the right words of encouragement to get our hero into her tiara and out onto the battlefield.
And that is my list of 5 Amazing Supporting Characters in a Magical Girl Series but feel free to add your own choices into the comments below.
Last week I looked at my favourite male characters with pink hair and realised, tragically, there just aren’t that many that I’ve remembered. Totally opposite problem this week when I tried to narrow down my list of lovely anime ladies with pink hair. Ultimately I went with characters who I felt were striking in appearance (pink hair does tend to stand out) as well as characters who added something to the plot of their story. The list ended up being a bit interesting.
I’d love to know who you are including on your list so please share your choices in the comments below.
Please note, there will be spoilers below.
Honourable mentions: Emi Yusa (The Devil is a Part-timer) and Yuno Gasai (Future Diary).
Kofuku may be a god of poverty and have a tendency to bankrupt men and tear rifts into the underworld leading to more phantoms being released, but you have to admit, as one of Yato’s few divine friends she’s certainly a lot of fun. She gets that sometimes you just have to go with things yet ultimately she’s ready to do what needs to be done. As a character who has offered advice, shelter, power, predictions, and full on muscle to the team when needed, Kofuku definitely earns a spot on this list.
Amu is definitely one of my favourite pink haired characters of all time. The contradiction between her outer appearance and personality is one that causes her no end of confusion in this magical story that very much focuses on her finding out what she actually wants to be and who she is. With three different guardian characters all pulling her in different directions as well as her own heart, Amu is a very fun character to get to know and to watch grow up and learn to really harness all of her potential.
And here is another spoiler warning just in case you missed the one earlier in the post.
Yuki is a fantastic character. When we are first introduced to her, she’s your basic school-girl air-head all happy to be with her friends and join in club activities. As you follow Yuki around in a typical day during the first episode, you note that not everything seems quite right, but it isn’t until the end of the episode you realise that Yuki is living in a zombie apocalypse and just hasn’t admitted it to herself yet. Yes, this adorable pink haired protagonist is firmly convinced everything in the world is fine and it is up to the rest of the club members to keep her from wandering outside of the barriers or getting herself killed. That would be interesting enough, but Yuki’s character has a beautiful arc as she comes to terms with what has happened and she is fantastic to watch. Definitely an anime to check out and Yuki’s character will leave a lasting impression.
Megumi may not be the main character of her series, but she is the first victim we see on screen in this vampire horror story. Megumi, so desperate to escape village life, ultimately dies and comes back as a vampire and is pretty much asked to continue living a village life. While she at first has a great deal of fun tormenting those who used to be friends, as life sours for the vampires, Megumi starts looking seriously at escape. While she is never a fantastic character, Megumi gives us some excellent creepy moments and she is a character who is very true to what she wants at all times.
It is no secret that I have a deep love of Angel Beats, and a lot of that came about because of Iwasawa’s character. Prior to the episode that focused on Iwasawa I’d been enjoying Angel Beats and I’d loved the music and craziness of it, but when I first heard “My Song” and watched Iwasawa ‘accept’ things, I think that was the first time Angel Beats broke my heart and it was the moment I realised that this anime was something a bit special. While its blend of over the top action and comedy as well as melodrama may not sit well with most people, for me it was an emotional roller coaster that I never could get enough of. Iwasawa’s song and character moment remain one of my favourite anime moments ever.
That’s a wrap on pink hair. Leave me a comment telling me who is on your list, and next week we’ll count down anime with dark endings.
In Shugo Chara, Amu is an ordinary girl but her classmates see her as having a cool and spicy personality. She just wants to be cute and normal and find the courage to confess to the Prince of the school, Tadase. After making a wish one night, she wakes up to find three eggs in her bed. When the eggs hatch, Amu’s life is going to change as the school Guardians know she’s got them and suddenly want her to become the Joker.
Shugo Chara Review:
In case you didn’t pick it up from the super shiny pink colour scheme or the overview, Shugo Chara is another magical girl series, though technically there are as many magical boys in this show as girls so we’ll leave that to the side for now. Essentially if you are up for transformation, ridiculous costumes, a monster of the week that mostly seems ineffectual but somehow helps our hero learn more about herself and others, before building to a massive overly emotional final battle, then Shugo Chara is the show for you.
In this version of the magical girl/kids with super powers story various young people have a guardian egg and for those with particularly strong dreams or wishes the eggs become visible and may hatch into guardian characters. The guardian characters can do a character change with their owner which gives them some power though they are still strictly human at that point.
For Amu, when she does a character change with Ran, she becomes very enthusiastic and becomes really good at sports (cheerleader). Going a further step, they might be able to do a character transformation where they get a full transformation sequence and then the powers get really over the top. By the way, don’t break the egg. Bad idea.
Though it probably wouldn’t be fair to simply leave it at that because even within the magical girl genre there’s quite a bit of variety. Shugo Chara manages to be one of those adorably sweet shows that has just enough actual drama and heartache to keep it from tipping into cavity territory. Mostly that is because of the two older characters in the cast, Ikuto and Utau. Even though they are still students, admittedly older than our fifth grade protagonists, they have enough of a tragic back story for to fill an entire young adult novel all on their own.
So rather than skipping all over the place with this I’m going to take a plus/minus approach to this show.
Plus +
Pretty much every encounter between Amu and Ikuto is golden. Whether it is early in the story where Ikuto is strictly set up as the dangerous bad-boy, or later on where you start to see him as the stray cat, or further down the story where you realise he really is just a lonely teenager starved for actual relationships, his encounters with Amu really are the highlight of the show, and not just because his character change turns him into a cat boy and quite adorable with his ears out.
This relationship is enough to keep you going through the many episodes of this series (there’s 51 in the first series of Shugo Chara and then it just keeps going).
The rest of the guardians from the school (King, Queen, Jack, and Ace). While each of them get a moment at some point in the series, and the King, Tadase, is technically set up as Amu’s actual lover interest early on, to be perfectly honest I’m not sure these characters serve any point other than this show decided it wanted a team of 5 people.
For a large majority of the series the other guardians can’t do character transformations so their powers are pretty limited, and to be honest Tadase’s character change is incredibly annoying. Even after they can do character transformations, most of them aren’t overly helpful. Yaya in particular has the most ridiculous costume ever and her attack remains laughable.
I kind of get that Amu developed as a character through the support these guys gave her, but they could have easily given her one or two friends who would have served the same essential role and then they wouldn’t have had to keep coming up with excuses to make the rest of the cast relevant.
Plus +
If you want something kid safe, this one is more or less a winner. While some of the themes around Ikuto are a bit more mature there is no foul language, no overt nudity (although a couple of the costumes are a little on the skimpy side), and the violence is fairly limited to magical attacks rather than weapons (with one or two exceptions).
Minus –
Do not expect a complex storyline. The plot is strictly formulaic. At first the guardians are on a quest to find the embryo, some magical thingy that will apparently grant a wish. The evil company, Easter (not joking), is also trying to seek the embryo. Incidentally, both Ikuto and Utau are either working for or controlled by Easter for a fair amount of the series, as does a teacher who comes to the school.
The guardians have the genius plan of randomly running around and hoping they spot it (seriously, I don’t think ever come up with a better plan because they are strictly reactive in terms of seeking the thing) whereas Easter has the even more genius plan of corrupting other kid’s eggs and turning them into x eggs, which sends them on a rampage requiring them to be purified by Amu etc, etc.
Occasionally Easter comes up with plans in order to collect large number of heart’s eggs at once and are essentially ripping the dreams out of small children but seriously, their plans kind of remind me of most of the throw away villains from Sailor Moon. Some of the subplots fare better with Utau and Amu at one point swapping eggs and being forced to confront each other and their own weaknesses and Ikuto’s entire plot line is fairly interesting, but the overall story is as cookie cutter as they come in this genre.
Plus +
There is some really good music in this series. Okay, the theme songs are catchy but fairly horrendous when you think about them but within the show itself you have Utau who is an idol and regularly performs. Because Easter runs an entertainment company there are quite a lot of episodes that feature performances from various bit characters. However, the true stand out would be Ikuto on the violin. It is no wonder Amu tracked that sound down in the park because it was beautiful.
Minus –
It never really felt like there was much point in Amu having 3 and then 4 guardian characters. Admittedly, it was used as a plot point toward the end and early on it was showing that she didn’t have one clear dream but other than Ran, the other two guardians don’t get to do much, and the final one doesn’t come until very late into the show. It just felt like they could have done more with that.
Plus +
A final plus to finish on, Amu is the kind of heroine I could get behind. While she tries really hard sometimes to be upbeat, most of the time she is full of self doubt and confusion. She doesn’t really get the guardian eggs or why she needs to fight and she certainly doesn’t understand her feelings for either Tadase or Ikuto.
I like that she is essentially a good person but she is a kid. She starts the story in the fifth grade and while her outer persona may be super cool sometimes, you never really forget how young she really is. Over the course of the series I came to really admire her because she didn’t run away from her problems (although she did occasionally sulk) but neither was she the super positive, we can do it, kind of protagonist that just kind of gets on your nerves after awhile.
Realistically, Shugo Chara is kind of average in every respect. It is completely watchable and if you are in to the genre it is very binge worthy, however it is also quickly forgettable save one or two minor plot lines. It is cute and adorable and if you want a show where love, friendship, and dreams will eventually win the day, it is well worth checking out.
As promised, here is the male list for characters with blue hair. Hopefully you enjoy this selection as much as I did making the list and if you didn’t see it, check out my post featuring the females.
My selection is very much based on how interesting these characters are and how integral having blue hair is to their character. So, maybe I left off one of your favourites. Feel free to add suggestions in the comments below.
Please Note – There are spoilers below. You have been warned.
Honourable mentions to Nova (Arcana Famiglia),Okumura Rin (Ao No Exorcist), Black Star (Soul Eater), and Jellal (Fairy Tail).
Number 5: Toru from Hitsugi no Chaika
Toru is notable because he’s the only character on the list who has hair that changes colour, which makes his hair an absolute part of his character. Usually it is blue and he’s useful as a saboteur but not too flash; he kind of sucks at life but that’s because he spent his whole life training for a war someone ended before he had a chance to get into it. When he get’s serious though he does an iron blood transformation (signified by the red hair and eyes) and at the point he because a fairly impressive fighter. Toru is a likeable character and certainly quite distinct (even if he does at times come off as generic protagonist type b).
Number 4: Reisi Munakata from K
When I did my list of red haired characters, the red king made my list because of his volatile and fiery personality. Munakata is his perfect opposite and the dynamic between the two in K is phenomenal. Every bit the blue king, Munakata has a towering sense of pride but unlike his explosive counterpart, Munakata is the ultimate example of self-control. Whether he is having a smoke with a friend or commanding his clan, he is composed and focussed. Okay, not so composed when having to kill his friend but that just made us love him all the more.
Number 3: Kanda Yuu from D Gray Man
If the Munakata shows us blue’s cool and composed side, Kanda Yuu shows us just how explosive a character with blue hair can get. Deeply troubled and excessively violent, Kanda is one exorcist you do not want to mess with. Even before D Gray Man came back with Hallow, Kanda was one of my all time favourite fighters. After the last weeks of Hallow, knowing more about his back story, he may very well become one of my all time favourite characters ever. Certainly one of the most tragic.
Number 2: Ikuto Tsukyomi from Shugo Chara
This may seem a weird choice after the last two entries but Ikuto had to be here. Blue haired cat boy who plays the violin. I’m sorry, it doesn’t get much better than that. Whether he is playing the jaded teen, the playful (and sometimes slightly cruel cat) or is getting lost in the sound of his violin, Ikuto is the mysterious blue haired stranger that most girls kind of hope will show up in their lives (although not in their cupboards). He’s a great character with a troubled past (surprise) but his connection with Amu and his ongoing transformation is one of the strengths of the series.
Number 1: Grimmjow Jaggerjack from Bleach
I wonder if there was ever any doubt in my mind that Grimmjow would come in at number 1? For anyone who has watched Bleach, you know there is a ridiculously large cast of characters. Even amongst that enormous cast, Grimmjow distinguishes himself and drives himself into the mind of every single viewer. Whether they remember him for being psychotically violent, ultimately tragic, or as the guy who actually got Orihime to heal Ichigo so that he could have a fair fight and then lost that battle, Grimmjow made his time on screen count. His electric blue hair is every bit as important to who he is as a character as his sneer, his laugh and his insane levels of violence even in a world where everything is settled by violence. Grimmjow, you are definitely my number 1 male character with blue hair.
Who would you have put on your list? Share your thoughts below.
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