Not to mention, the armor, skirts, and weapons used by the girls are reminiscent of CLAMP's Magic Knight Rayearth (opens in new tab), another magical girl-influenced manga they did prior to Cardcaptor Sakura.Īlthough Utena's legacy is more recognizable in animation than comics, there is still a clear influence in webcomics and other independent works. Almost the entire main cast is gay or bi, and there is a nice balance of action and socializing that is reminiscent of the slice-of-life mo ments in Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura. Meanwhile, Mildred Louis' Agents of The Realm is a vibrant, down-to-earth magical girl webcomic that features its heroines in a college setting. Also, their uniforms are a more practical take on Sailor Moon's sailor suits and skirts, swapping out the skirts and heels for shorts and sneakers. The main characters are five diverse teenage girls using the power of zodiac signs to fight evil.
#Magical girls series#
Kevin Panetta and Paulina Ganucheau's comic book series Zodiac Starforce takes some obvious cues from Sailor Moon's planet-powered Sailor Soldiers. In the US, a generation of creators that grew up watching and reading these manga and anime have gone on to create their own diverse and queer mahou shoujo-influenced works. Today, the manga and anime counterparts of Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Revolutionary Girl Utena have a massive legacy. (Image credit: Paulina Ganucheau (Dark Horse Comics)) While not much is known about the Utena anime's English translation, its original Japanese version featured gay, lesbian, and bi characters, as well as hints of trans themes. Cardcaptor Sakura also faced similar censorship that erased the romantic tension between two male characters Yukito and Toya. Although the manga faced no censorship in Japan or the United States, the lesbian romance between Sailor Moon's characters Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune was censored in the original '90s anime's English translation that aired in the United States. Finally, Utena critiques gender roles and norms with a pink-haired girl prince whose growth is symbolized by roses.Īnother feature that these media share is that they all feature LGBTQ+ themes, which is groundbreaking when you consider the treatment of LGBTQ+ content and people historically in America. Meanwhile, the eponymous Cardcaptor Sakura is a sweetheart who wears colorful frilly outfits and would rather have her card spirits be her friends instead of just her servants. Sailor Moon's lead character Usagi Tsukino is known as a ditzy crybaby, but she fights evil with empathy as well as sparkly wand attacks powered by the moon. One aspect is that they featured a theme of young girls coming of age with the help of magical abilities that are powered by feminine qualities or objects. This is largely due to the fact that all three of them share common traits that would appeal to Japanese and American audiences beyond its female-targeted demographic. Magical girl manga empowering a new generationĪlthough Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Revolutionary Girl Utena weren't the only magical girl manga around, they could pretty much be considered the Holy Trinity of '90s magical girl media.
Alongside Sailor Moon would arrive Kunihiko Ikuhara and Chiho Saito's manga and anime Revolutionary Girl Utena and CLAMP's manga series Cardcaptor Sakura (opens in new tab).
Moreover, Cutie Honey featured a lot of action not typically seen in magical girl works at the time, which would make her anime adaptation popular with both boys and girls.īy the '90s, Naoko Tekeuchi's Sailor Moon would combine the influences of the aforementioned with influences from tokusatsu (Japanese shows with live-action special effects) and super-sentai (a Japanese superhero team franchise that would be localized as Power Rangers). Not only did she call out her transformations, but she also made grand speeches about love and justice. Although aimed at a male audience, Cutie Honey possessed traits that would later be applied to other mahou shoujo works traditionally aimed at young girls. In fact, a magical girl manga and anime series of the '70s that utilized the henshin in creative and lewd ways is Go Nagai's manga Cutie Honey.
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