#magical girl essay

[frenchnewwaves]

Joan Didion's Packing List:

TO PACK AND WEAR: 2 skirts 2 jerseys or leotards 1 pullover sweater 2 pair shoes stockings bra nightgown, robe, slippers cigarettes bourbon bag with: shampoo toothbrush and paste Basis soap, razor deodorant aspirin prescriptions Tampax face cream powder baby oil

TO CARRY: mohair throw typewriter 2 legal pads and pens files house key

“This is a list which was taped inside my closet door in Hollywood during those years when I was reporting more or less steadily. The list enabled me to pack, without thinking, for any piece I was likely to do. Notice the deliberate anonymity of costume: in a skirt, a leotard, and stockings, I could pass on either side of the culture. Notice the mohair throw for trunk-line flights (i.e. no blankets) and for the motel room in which the air conditioning could not be turned off. Notice the bourbon for the same motel room. Notice the typewriter for the airport, coming home: the idea was to turn in the Hertz car, check in, find an empty bench, and start typing the day’s notes.”

—Joan Didion, “The White Album” (1979)

[indilaras]

Yuri Cyhaino Week 2024

Day 4: magical girls

for justice (and a peaceful life)

Image description in alt text.

<- Day 3 | Day 5 ->

[tsubasaclones]

under its surface, cardcaptor sakura is a tragedy about the cycle of abuse and grooming, and how the people around the victims of grooming are also affected by it by being conditioned to see it as normal. in this essay i will

[g0ldgauntlet]

Memories I Unlocked About My Little Pony (G4) That Made Me Realize Some Things.

(Image Description is in alt text. Post also contains minor spoilers for Arcane Season 1)

The "Party of One" Episode

Pinkie's portrayal in that episode felt like a fairly accurate representation on how mental health can fuck with you (Though, please note that I'm not a mental health expert, I just found her really relatable in some ways as someone who is undiagnosed). She has some of the most intense range of emotions, even going a bit overboard before and during the initial birthday party for Gummy to the point of exhausting herself, but her friends don't judge her for her behavior (Even if it's clear from the expressions on their faces that they don't agree with every decision she makes).

However, the moment that Pinkie feels like her friends are hiding something or trying to avoid her, her mental health begins to decline (Especially because she knows she's being blatantly lied to). Then we see her lack of emotional regulation and starting to overthink everything based on these interactions, assuming the worst. You can't even fully blame her for it because, again, no one is communicating with her properly, but the severity of her actions still showcases that her mental health is playing a part in her blowing the situation a bit out of proportion.

Plus, there's this quote-

Tell me that my friends are all lying to me and avoiding me because they don't like my parties and they don't want to be my friends anymore!

-which is a conclusion that she came up with herself. No one actually said this to her, but she assumes this is the case, and she wants Spike to validate her assumption even though he knows that's not true either. Spike gives in and tells her what she wants to hear, though, and she enters a depression because of it. This is now what she actually believes.

Of course, after this, we get the infamous facial expression that is this:

By this point, Pinkie is in the middle of having a mental breakdown. She's trying to isolate herself from her friends, now viewing them as enemies, and she's replacing them with random things that she's trying to use as a coping mechanism as she attempts to host her after-party for Gummy. The kicker is that these methods are failing. Pinkie much more rapidly shows signs of losing her composure as she puppeteers for these inanimate objects like they're real people. She keeps twitching, and then eventually it feels as if the objects have actually come alive, but in reality, the next conversation that takes place is all in Pinkie's head. These inanimate objects take the form of her negative thoughts convincing her that she's justified in believing that her friends are actually horrible people who think horrible things about her and that she shouldn't associate with them ever again, even though Pinkie herself doesn't actually believe any of that deep down. It's a very good visualization of how Pinkie's new view of her friends is still eating away at her despite her trying to shift to a new sense of "normalcy." This scene is honestly a child-friendly version of Jinx having "conversations" with the voices in her head during Arcane Season 1 (Her even going as far as to make inanimate versions of her dead friends), with Jinx also initially trying to hold onto hope that Vi still cares about her despite her mental health continuously declining.

When the other five members of the Mane Six are finally ready to talk to Pinkie, she explodes and tries shutting them all out. While they're all concerned for her due to the way that she's acting, they don't give up on her. At most, Rainbow Dash just calls Pinkie's inanimate object party creepy once she finds her, but she's still determined to drag Pinkie away from the unhealthy atmosphere (And mindset, in a metaphorical sense) that she's locked herself into. Dash takes Pinkie to the barn at Sweet Apple Acres, and it's revealed that there was a party waiting for Pinkie. Unfortunately, she continues to assume the worst of her friends, and by extension, the motives behind the party.

It's then explained that the reason why they were avoiding and withholding information from Pinkie was because they were trying to keep the party a surprise, and it was meant to be their way of celebrating Pinkie's birthday...which she forgot was that exact day.

When I tell you that I felt secondhand embarrassment-

Yet, it's not even unrealistic. A bunch of misunderstandings and a lack of having the full context to the situation led Pinkie to assuming the worst outcome and letting her negative thoughts consume her, which I think multiple people (Myself included) have experienced before. Pinkie is still given a rather mature moment, though. She perks right up after realizing that she was wrong about her assumptions, but then she feels ashamed and embarrassed for how she acted and for having doubted her friends so much. However, they reassure her that they hold no ill will towards her and make it clear that anyone can experience these types of misunderstandings.

Then we get the central message from Twilight: That good friends have your best interests at heart, and you shouldn't immediately assume the worst of them. I think it's a good way to encourage people to work on their sense of trust in others, as well as encouraging them to find ways to manage their mental health in any way that they can without necessarily demonizing those who are struggling with those issues.

I think this episode was why I was never the biggest fan of the MLP creepypastas, such as Cupcakes. I can definitely see that people had fun with this crazy portrayal of Pinkie (And I'm not going to tell you that you're wrong for liking it), but I think her canon portrayal is much more sympathetic to those who struggle with mental health issues.

Fluttershy Would Swear If MLP Had a Higher Age Rating

I remembered how upset she could get whenever she was pushed too far, and one of those moments was when Twilight brought up Discord early on in the series. Fluttershy saying "That...big...dumb...MEANIE!" with such vitriol instantly made me think that she (Or the writers, honestly) actually wanted to say, "That...MOTHER...FUCKER!" instead.

Then I decided to check out an episode from one of the later seasons that I didn't watch: The one with her brother, Zephyr Breeze. Fluttershy says that she's "peeved," and it's treated like she said a swear word. She absolutely would have said that she was "pissed" if this wasn't a kids show.

Does Fluttershy need to swear? No, definitely not, but it would be very funny and not all that unrealistic to me if she dropped a word or two whenever she got angry.

Flash Sentry Deserved Better

This boy got screwed over so hard that it's honestly really sad. He's a good example of MLP's consistent lack of development within a lot of its male cast, but it was much more noticeable with him since he was the love interest of the main character, and as a result, a lot of attention was focused on just him.

I honestly wouldn't be able to tell you much about Shining Armor (in the show, not the comics, which I have never read) aside from him being Cadance's husband and Twilight's brother, and then basically being used as a partial plot device so that Cadance could use the power of love to defeat Queen Chrysalis. The same goes for Big Mac, whose most defining trait was not saying much besides two words, and I believe that Soarin also has minimal development. I don't even remember that much about King Sombra in the initial first few seasons aside from what the cast members tell us about him (though I could be wrong here, it's been a while since I watched the show and I heard he gets more characterization later).

It seems fairly obvious to me that a large reason behind why Flash - and his dynamic with Twilight by extension - was not expanded upon later was because Bronies (and by that, I specifically mean a very vocal crowd of older adult men) within the fandom sent so much backlash over this character in Hasbro's direction that they decided to sideline him instead. It still astonishes me that grown ass men had so much influence over this show when they weren't even the target demographic, and that's not even the only time that they had ruined something for other people. Flash was not that different from what I just mentioned about the male cast members, meaning that it's not a "Flash Sentry" problem - It's a "Male MLP Character" problem.

I will, however, acknowledge that the decision to have main universe Twilight go to a universe where the cast members are highschoolers was a strange decision by the writers. A college setting would have been just fine, especially since Lauren Faust has said that Twilight might be at least around the age of a college freshman in human years.

As a kid, I liked Flash, and I used to theorize about what the writers were going to do with him later on. As I got older, I realized that way more people liked Flash than I thought (Especially on TikTok. Good lord LOL), and others were mostly indifferent towards him. It was upsetting watching him get sidelined, and I didn't like Timber, who I had assumed was supposed to be Flash's replacement but ten times more annoying.

Flash had become the fandom scapegoat and punching bag. I think it would be more fun to see people reclaim him and make content of him in their image based on their headcanons or whatever, like they did with several other characters in the show. I, for one, am definitely planning on doing so myself!

Rainbow Dash Is Basically Sonic For The Girls and I Owe Her An Apology

I used to HATE Rainbow Dash as a kid. I thought she was the most annoying out of the Mane Six (With Fluttershy as a second-least favorite but that was a whole other thing. I don't dislike her anymore, don't kill me LOL). However, it was not lost on me that people would constantly make comparisons between her and Sonic, and I'm now realizing as an adult that this makes more sense beyond them both having super speed.

Dash is sweet, but like Sonic, she can also be cocky, competitive, heroic, and reckless. She is the one who influenced the rest of her friends' lives early on (Via the Sonic Rainboom), just as Sonic did with his friends, eventually forming a tight-knit group. She gets up to shenanigans with a cheerful, pink-themed character (Pinkie, of course), and has a yellow-themed friend who decides to stand up for herself and can keep up with Dash when she puts her mind to it (Fluttershy). Like Sonic, she also loves reading, and her presence revolves a bit around having a cool factor.

It is kind of shocking, yet funny that I held this double standard against Rainbow Dash as a child, since she and Sonic share similar traits, and yet I thought Sonic was cool while Rainbow Dash was unbearable. Internalized biases have a chokehold on people, I suppose.

Sunset Shimmer Is a Reformed Villain Done Right

(Please keep in mind that it's been years since I watched the Equestria Girls movies, so I might have some details wrong here)

She started out acting like an arrogant, highschool queen bee type of person who thought she was owed everything, only to be humbled by Twilight. Then she begins to realize the error of her ways, and while the Humane Six forgive her right away, not everyone else does, and Sunset Shimmer simply has to live with that. The sins of her past continue to haunt her, but she still finds the resolve to strive to be a better person and help other people who need it (Such as SciTwi).

I think her arc was a realistic portrayal of someone who had done something messed up and then realized later that her mistakes will cause people to see her differently. Despite that, and despite knowing that some people may never forgive her, however, Sunset wants to keep moving forward so that she can make amends and help people heal rather than hurt them. I liked the message behind this as well - That people should continue to try to do good things, even if your past mistakes can't be reversed. The past shouldn't hold you back for the rest of your life.

[stardustizuku]

Part 1: The Love Square. Why it worked, and why it failed.

People who aren’t as interested in Magical Girls as I am, specifically Magical Girl Animes with Romance, may not understand why the Love Square was such a big deal. Why it was the core; the life of the series.

Okay, so how many times have you seen a love triangle unfold? Quite many, I must guess. Some really good, and some, uhm, not so much.

In Magical Girl Animes they’re common – and the most popular ones have one very particular dynamic. Let’s run down it, shall we?

Our main character falls in love with another man, someone unreachable, unattainable. It’s someone she genuinely looks up to, and is most likely popular already.

I call this character “The Prince”

In Princess Tutu, it’s Mytho. In Shugo Chara it’s Tadase. In Tokyo Mew Mew it’s Aoyama. Sailor Moon has Motoki Furuhata in Season 1, and Mamoru in Stars.

He is the type of guy you want to fall in love with. Nice, kind, good-natured, a good leader, pretty and everything.

There’s one issue, though. The person who our Main Character’s crush likes is not her, but her alter ego. Mytho is in love with Tutu, not Ahiru, Tadase is in love with Amulet Heart not Amu. The one she becomes thanks to super natural magic.

Then, there’s the opposite. I like to call them the “Rebel” character.

You know who I’m talking about. The Ikuto, the Kishu, the Fakir or even Seiya of the story. They serve to be a contrast to the “Prince”. They’re often times, the only one who gets to see through the MC’s disguise and comes to understand her. “Rebel” characters are rarely in love with alter ego, but instead feel attraction to the MC or the “real one”

These are all fan favourites characters that fall under the “Bad Boy” trope. And for good reason.

Bad boy characters are popular with little girls, teen girls, women or even AFAB people in general since they call out something in our society. There’s very real pressure put forth by either parents or society to adhere to certain gender roles, and what they mean.

In other words, you’re “supposed” to be a good girl.

You have to get good grades, you have to smile all the time, you have to be polite, and you have to play nice. A bad boy character in fiction allows the viewer (in this case and for simplicity) girls to push back or be rebellious in a very safe way.

You don’t have to be good, you’re just following the steps of a bad guy with a heart of gold. He will help you break out of your shell, and be more confident. You get to feel like you’re trying to be the good girl society tells you to be, while finally exploring these darker aspects of your personality.

In YA and more mature books, this can involve anything from trying alcohol, having sex, or allowing oneself to be angry (exploring the “bad” or “not good” emotions AFAB people are always told they shouldn’t have).

But in audiences more aimed towards children, like those in Magical Girl animes, shoujos or tween cartoons, they exist in a more subdued way – although still tapping into this idea of rebellion against the status quo.

That’s why these characters are fan favourites.  

So, to summarize. You have the MC in love with a “Prince” who in turn is in love with the Perfect Girl version of the MC. And a “Rebel” who is in love with the Real Version of the MC, flaws and all.

This particular dynamic is used as a thesis of sorts in any good story. Only by understanding both the real and idolized version of the MC can a man can “win” the love of our protagonist. And only by our MC knowing who she is, what her alter ego means, or how she relates to these dichotomies, can she understand herself.

And really, depending on how each show tackles its themes, it can have different answers. Tokyo Mew Mew offers the idea that the Prince is the correct option, while Princess Tutu says it’s not. Then there’s those with open endings such a Shugo Chara. Again, they use the dynamic, the thesis of their characters, to come to a conclusion that neatly ties to the theme.

Princess Tutu, for example, ties the ideal version of Mytho with the tragedy of a fairytale. Ahiru has to let go to be able to reach a conclusion. In Tokyo Mew Mew Ichigo sees her flaws (the cats ears) as something someone as perfect as Aoyama could never love – yet he shows he isn’t perfect and that he loves her with or without the perceived flaws she has.

That said,

It’s exactly why I loved Miraculous Ladybug when it first aired. It managed to boil down this interesting dynamic into the Love Square. The perfect and the real, the idolized and the true.

Ladybug represents the perfect version of Marinette. Adrien represents the perfect version, while the real one is Chat Noir. Chat was both the “Bad Boy” and the “Prince” all in one. Both Marinette and Adrien were in love with the “Perfect” or Idolized version of each other.

This was something never before seen. It would make for amazing content, right? Explore why we prefer an idolized version of someone, realize that true love means caring even when you’re not perfect. What our perceived “flaws” meant to others, and if they were truly flaws – or if our environment was the one teaching us they were. The possibilities and themes were limitless. We could have had something great-

No.

Sorry, we. We didn’t get that.

What we got were padded episodes, new love interest that refused to deal with this complexity, and a stagnant rship that refuses to explore any of the flaws of their characters - why they’re not perfect, or even a reason why they stay in love

This is why the Love Square fails. This, is the core of why and how it works. People can expand upon this in million different ways, but you inevitably come back to this.

The real and the idolized. The want vs the duty. The expectations and the responsibilities.

Instead of having an episode where Marinette realizes that Adrien isn’t perfect, that he isn’t a model 24/7 or that he has flaws, secrets and fear just like anyone else, we got Kagami.

Instead of Chat realizing that Ladybug isn’t perfect, that she isn’t always composed, that it’s just a persona put forth to feel more in control of a situation, we got Luka.

Both characters that I love, but they bring very little to the themes the Love Square was introducing, to begin with!

More focus should have been put in how these two bounce off each other.

How much better would the story had been if we got to see Marinette and Chat have a conversation? The two very flawed, very real, very confusing version fo these characters, just trying to understand each other.

And by the way, this is exactly why MariChat is the most popular dynamic.

Marinette acts like a girl. Scared, confused, and lonely. She isn’t a hero, she isn’t her perfect version. She is just Marinette. While she can put the mask on, at the end of the day, it’s still just a mask. And Chat? Well, we get to see him. Not the model, not the paper cut out, but a silly kid who wants to break free from a life of imprisonment by the parent who’s supposed to love him.

We get to see something real.

But, unfortunately we do not get that.

Their relationship stays static. The reason for this is a bit obvious.

The writers, to my opinion have come to this bizarre conclusion:

Developing this dynamic would mean changing dynamics, ending the status quo morphing the story into something new. And they assume a “new” means an “end”.

They’re thinking that the endgame is Adrien and Marinette realizing their identities, so they don’t wanna develop it for fear of bringing an ending “too close”.

Say you have 7 seasons prepared, you can't have them find out their identities in season 5 because their reveal should be in season 7. It should be the last couple of episodes even. After that, they'll date and it's over. So better drag this on for seasons on end.

This just proves to me: flawed writing skills and lack of direction.

WHICH wouldn’t surprise me seeing how Chloe ended up.

It is plain bad writing. Changing stuff doesn’t necessarily mean an endgame is near. It just means things are changing.

I’ll be mean to this series and compare it to the Magnus Opus of Magical Girls: Sailor Moon

Sailor Moon got together with Tuxedo mask in the first season, yet the writers were able to up the steaks of their relationship through its 5-season run: Through memory loss, a long distance romance, anxieties of hurting one another, or simply…developing their relationship. People change. And so does how they interact with other people.

These created amazing episodes that highlighted how much Usagi and Mamoru loved and cared for each other. It wasn’t just chance, it wasn’t just fate. This took work, it took time, and it took trust. This wasn’t something so easily lost. That’s why SailorMoonStars hits the hardest.

In the very last season, Usagi is in a long distance rship with Mamoru. And it breaks her. We see that she misses him, dealing with the turmoil of him not answering her messages. She’s devastated, seeking comfort in other people, but unable to forget him. Not even as Seiya begs her to take him instead of Mamoru, can she bring herself to give him up– because they’ve been together for a long, long time. And we’ve seen that.

We see her reminiscent. We see her break down and cry because he hasn’t called her. We see her thinking of him when she’s with Seiya. We see her be in love with him and we see how much it affected her that he’s ignoring her.

And by the last few episodes, we get a payoff. We find out Mamoru is dead, and that he died confident that Usagi would be strong enough to protect the Earth in his stead. That he believed in her, and he thought of her until the moment he died - uttering her name as the last thing he could do.

That’s why when Sailor Moon defeats Sailor Galaxia, the woman who killed the man she loved, through purification and not violence – it all feels right.

It’s a very simple but powerful story, packaged in 45 episodes. With enough room to breathe, digest it, but not drawn out enough for it to be annoying.

All this, when the relationship was already established. We could have had something like this in Miraculous Ladybug, if the writers WERENT drawing out the reveal and get together until the very last second!

ChatBlanc could have been an AMAZING multi-episode mini-arc.

No time-travel thing. They find their identities, they date for a few episodes, something goes horribly wrong, and Marinette has to find a way to fix the mistakes she's made. Much like Sailor Moon R.

Maybe by the end of it, she fixes it but sacrifices most of her memories. The only thing she recalls is that she knew Chat's identity, Paris almost got destroyed, and that leads to her putting distance between them.

Or maybe one day she wakes up with the memories of Chat Blanc and spends and entire season trying to know what happened, and when she does, she's horrified.

Idk, million amazing things could have been done with this episode to further develop these two's relationship. Complex, interesting, beautiful things.

But no. Because, apparently, thinking of love post-reveal is too much. Instead, we watch them run and run in circles. Chat Blanc was a single episode, and half of it was time travel shenanigans.

And all of this, just because the writers don’t actually know what they want to do with the love square. So they add new rivals, new teams, new accessories, side plots - all to avoid touching the actual core of what made the series great.

It strongly reminds me of Star vs. in that scenario the creators also weren’t sure where to take the show.

It wasn’t until season 2 where they started the subplot of Star realizing Mewni colonized Monsters that it started having a sense of self. And it showed in the romantic subplot, which was all over the place. They didn’t know what they wanted, so the romance in that show was a mess. Lack of direction and intention, aside from the knowledge that Star and Marco were the end game

I personally don’t hate Star vs. I don’t like how it handled romance but I will give it much leeway because the actual plot of Intergenerational conflict and coming to terms with the harm your ancestors have done to others - is quite compelling and not something I see tackled often.

But Miraculous does not get that. Its episodic plot is simple and refuses to get into the murky waters of its own premise.

The only thing it had going was The Love Square. Because I assure you, very few people give a crap about the Miraculous being stolen.

So, their lack of willingness was the first thing to ruin the Love Square. Fine.

But it’s not the nail on the coffin. The real reason why this suffered, was something that happened waaaay before all this.

Because one thing that the show refused to explore up until late into season 3 and start of season 4 was the specific parts of the “Ladybug” character. What I mean is, what “ideal self” she is as “Ladybug”. And how her existence affects Marinette. This is the fundamental flaw that issss...

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[galaluni]

I was wrong, well kinda. gushing over magical girls is ACTUALLY about healthy kink culture but also about what I said earlier. I just started reading the manga and spoilers btw but

you can’t convince me the evil team isn’t a metaphor for unhealthy kink culture.

[short666bread]

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[that-weird-kid-from-your-school]

*Puella Magi Madoka Magica

+ Good Omens & Love Live

Decided to post this on here on impulse. The list is no order whatsoever. My friend wrote them based on what I wouldn't shut up about this year. Neither of us really know what a hyperfixation is, we kinda just added things I was really, really into, sometimes it lasted a day or week, sometimes longer.

[manic-pixie-dream-dude]

WIPs!

[pens-in-a-jam-jar]

Vivisecting the Magical Girl Transformation

I made this character back in Mahou March of like 2020 and only for this video managed to land on a transformed design for her.

(my ask box is 100% open if you wanna investigate into her deal or flail around about magical girls some more)

[always-a-joyful-note]

Revue Starlight is just ORV but what if it was theatre instead and what if we told you that a tragedy can always be rewritten? What if the end of the story, the end of the play, your defeat onstage - what if all that doesn't mean everything is over because you can always make a new play, always become better, always rebuild the stage and stand on it again? What if there WAS death but what if rebirth was also possible?

What if this tragic tale that always ends the same had new actors, you know? How would they play it? How would they spin the story a different way? Will they try to outshine the past, outshine others? Or will they find their own unique brilliance instead and join the stars that shine in the night sky?

[undedkat]

Boys should be allowed to watch and enjoy media for girls. Encouraged even.

[hoopearringsunlikemine]

Supa team 4:

Supa team 4:

I have never felt more seen by any show.  

I would like everyone to know something about me, and my physical form out side of tumblr (yes I do have one actually). I am African-America,  and I shaved my hair. I also struggle with the feeling like I’m not black enough, one of those reasons being because of the fact that I don’t have enough hair to lock or braid. ‘Why am I telling you all this?’ You may ask, because with all this, a single show managed somehow help me and my struggle. When I tell that this show in eight episodes talking about teen girls becoming superheroes made me feel more seen than any (black,lgbtqia+, neurodivergent) focused show I’v seen so far I am telling you the TRUTH. For me it’s a 10/10 and I will recommend to anyone. 

Characters.

I’ll be honest with you. I see no flaws with the characters. In fact dare I say, this show has some of the best made characters i’v ever seen. With like actual depth, since the character are not only used for representation; writers can focus on the characters themselves. Which is rare to find, especially with black characters. 

Marjory

Right now my favorite character is Marjory. For multiple reasons but the main one being that she has no hair. Her hair is actually similar to mine, the only difference being I use designs (so people can differentiate me from others boys). The other being, she’s so rude(/affectionate). She always has something to say and often comments on the four main girls and of the girls don’t really like but never comment on her hair because it’s normal. We don’t see much of her character through out the first season but I’m (REALLY!!!!) hoping that we get to see her more and have the writers add more depth to her character. 

The main 4/ The Supa 4/ Momma K’s team 4

I love them all so much. They are all such amazing characters. The Supa 4 consists of Komana, Monde, Temwe, Zee, and Mama K. These writers KNOW what they’re doing, this is  a middle school; this is the experience. Each of the characters feel like an extension of myself and it hits hard.

First up we have Zee. Zee is the tall, skinny, athletic girl which I love because her body type is basically mine. I can understand her when her episode comes up and she becomes over confident, in a way it shows that in the future she might be insecure, because people who get overconfident that quickly are often insecure. Zee plays for the schools football/Soccer team and is very good at. She also seems to love it as well because that is her weapon when they power up! 

Next we have Temwe! Temwe our short queen, she is represented as an empty hole who is willing to eat anything. Apart of her character is that she has some anger issues and is a bit of a troublemaker. In middle school I felt/feel like I always was doing something wrong even in primary school it was always me doing the wrong thing. I do headcannon that she has ADHD sense in one of her episodes she had to studying to prevent getting kicked off the team. I also believe that she maybe a favorite of the principal, despite how hard he is on her.

even in the last episode he states how he sees himself in her. 

Monde is nextttt! Monde is the plus size queen.  This is once again a thing with the character designs, she is chubby not slimed down, not sexualized(she is in middle school btw.) she is just chubby, and this one character probably impacted so many people. She struggles with feeling left out in the friend group because of her being new to the school which is quite relatable. I also love her relationship with her sister, she lives with her sister meaning she is growing up with a strong woman! She is also the most involved with my favorite character: Marjory. 

Last but not least Komana. Komana is the second shortest, and the smartest of the team. She brings her A game when it comes to her smarts and does lack in the creativity department. She also is the only character (so. far/excluding Monde sister) with a ‘love interest’ which I love. She struggles with her self worth, thinking that everything she does has to be great and if it isn’t then she failed. She spent an entire episode feeling like she wasn’t good enough showing so much of her character! 

How does this make me feel?

I feel so very seen by these characters. In a way I feel like I’m being talked to threw these characters and I feel heard. Zee being similar to my body type is just like clarification, that the writers see me and others like me. Temwe is not only a character that I feel like the watchers can put themselves into but can match a person too.  It has been far too long where (kid) shows have been to afraid to represent any sort of body type that’s similar to Monde’s, but not this show. Komana is the one showing not everything will be easy for you and that feels good to see. 

[captaindeinony]

Dawn has untapped magical girl potential the pkmn company should release a bunch of shorts where random protags are put into theoretical magical girl situations

[stardustizuku]

Part 4: The New Team

The first moment I said “This is bad” at Miraculous Ladybug...the first moment I realized this was going downhill – was when they introduced …Sighs, Rena Rouge.

(To be fair, it started with Lila and her weird necklace but that could have just been fixed easily)

I knew the moment Rena came that this was gonna get bad. I felt it in my bones that THIS was the sign of something insidious and awful boiling in the back of the show. This character marks the beginning of everything downhill in the show - it’s a glaring reminder of how awful the writing in this show is.

Don’t get me wrong I love Alya. I love the character design of Rena and I don’t think that - in a vacuum - her existing is bad. But her appearance signified that something far worse happened behind the scenes.

They were trying to add more heroes.

As I’ve stated in Part 2, where we talk about the Love Square, there is a very delicate balance between Chat and Ladybug’s dynamic. And throughout Season 1, which is meant to be the introduction to the series, we are given no indication that it will focus on anything else. There was more than enough drama with just those two superheroes to last you a very solid arc. But that arc never got developed neither as forefront, nor backstage, as far as seasons 1-3 is concerned.

Again, because the writers are idiots, who believe that developing the story might lead the Love Square to be concluded, which means having the creativity to develop it beyond what the 1 minute trailer told them to do.

So? What do we do? How do we develop this story further, without bringing in the complexities of its own premise?

Easy, you add useless heroes and McGuffins to sell more toys. They add nothing in terms of narrative cohesion, character development, or character relationships.

Like, Season 2 was 25 episodes long. And in those 25 episodes, it introduced a grand total of 3 potential superheroes. Of what are now

11 SUPERHEROES.

By the end of Season 2, a little less than halfway through the currently aired episodes in the USA, we had…3/11 of the entire team.

A team, by the way, that slowly took the emphasis away from what we were even watching this show, to begin with: The Love Square. Ladybug and Chat.

They were the core of the story. And the blatant addition of a new team, proved to me nothing more than a desperate attempt to distance themselves from it. For what reason? Either a lack of confidence in developing their main characters, or plain incompetence to detect what your show even is about.

As I stated in Part 3, in regard of theme, there’s nothing of the sorts connecting ANY of these superheroes together.

The new heroes have different powers – with absurd power balances.

The most powerful superheroes are supposed to be Cht and Laadybug, but I would argue that time travel is a biiiiit more powerful. Like, Garbiel could very easily time travel to save Emily or steal the miraculous before they're given to Chat and Ladybug. But sure. Whatever.

In regards of theme.

Chat and Ladybug have good and bad luck symbols as their animal counterparts. Then there’s Rena, the Fox; Carapace, the turtle; Hawkmoth, the moth; Queen Bee the bee…?? I’m not following that decision at all. If someone does, please do enlighten me.

And then there’s the newest superheroes, introduced in Season 4, and still being currently introduced…

The theme is the Chinese zodiac, but that’s only (checks notes) Excuse me, Paris? Uhm, yeah, Paris. So in Paris they have the Chinese zodiac, but in the USA and Beijin they have completely different powers not tied to the miraculous. And, I get it, you want new merch. Fine, all magical girls are thinly veiled ads for kid’s toys (I will buy the sailor moon blush one day, or so help me god) But, should you at least – try to make it make sense-

New superheroes or new powers should all connect to your theme.

Sailor Moon has planets, so introducing new Sailor Scouts it’s as easy as getting new moons, or suns in the galaxy. Something I find really cute is that Sailor Chibimoon has subordinates CereCere, VesVes, PallaPalla and JunJun. These were the asteroids once thought to be new planets in the Solar System before we knew of the AsteroidBelt and realized they were little rocks.

Mermaid Melody introduced new mermaids through the seven seas. There were only a finite amount of them. But even so, the only way to introduce Seira was through the death of Sara.

And Tokyo Mew Mew’s endangered animals allowed us to have Mew Ringo and (we don’t talk about brunononono, we don’t talk about brunooooo) Mew Berry.

Even Kamichama Karin WHICH I HATE so it goes to show how badly MLB messed it up – has a theme (sort of). It fumbles it extremely badly. Insulting to a degree how bad it does it…BUT IT DOES IT.

It’s greek gods. That’s it. You may have a new power, a new transformation or a new characters but you bet your ass it’ll be a Greek god. It may have no connection to the character’s personality or relationship to each other, but hey. At least it stays consistent on its terrible use of Greek Gods as nothing more than aesthetic.

So, your characters have no narrative weight behind it to justify why they’re here. You have no actual theme to tie all 19 of your superheroes (HOLY FUCK THAT’S A LOT OF THEM) aside from…animals? I guess.

(I swear to god PreCure puts more thought into their themes than this)

But at least, you would guess, your new heroes show interesting dynamics with each other that allow you to understand better either Chat, Ladybug, or each other?

No.

The team is bad.

They ditched the “Magical Girl” formula and decided to go for a bit of a “Super Seitan” feeling. I mean, Power Rangers type of show. More gender neutral, more focused on the villain of the week, and an emphasis on a big team.

Just. A bit of a problem.

But they did this, so into the show that we ALREADY had a sense of their character as a side character, so bringing them to the spotlight was uncomfortable.

Like suddenly making Molly a sailor scout or giving Tomoyo clow cards in the middle of the second season.

That’s not their purpose in the story.

And they’re introduced so haphazardly that there’s hardly any time for them to hang out with each other.

Rena first appears in episode 37, Carapace in episode 44, and Queen Bee in episode 49.

AND NONE OF THESE CHARACTERS INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER.

Not until Mayura. Which is episode 52, which just akumatizes them or gets them out of the way one way or another. Meaning, they do absolutely nothing for the plot, bring nothing to the table, and makes you wonder why even waste air time bringing on-screen characters that do not matter.  

In any other show, yes. The characters slowly leaving the protagonist alone because they get trapped, killed or maimed is a good way to up the stakes of the finale.

Here’s the thing, though. I care about them. And they care for each other. They know they’re not losing just a teammate, they’re losing a friend.

I cried like a baby when Makoto died and Usagi only recognized her rose earring – because I love Makoto to death. I cried when Rei sacrificed herself to save Usagi, because I knew how much they bickered. I was upset when Mint and Zakuro fought, because I knew how much Mint idolized Zakuro.

Their failure meant something to the each other. Aside simply, “we lost manpower”. Because these people were, before superheroes, before their later egos – they were friends.

HOWEVER. This does not happen in MLB. Since they don’t GET to keep the kwamis, they don’t get to participate in every episode. We never get episodes focused on how they interact with one another. Which means there’s no sense of a “team”. Which makes you wonder why they’re even considered a “team”.

This is such a horrible decision it genuinely makes me wonder if these people KNOW how to create ANY story !!!

I feel like I keep comparing MLB to many decent and genuinely good magical girls animes. Which feels unfair, EVEN THO IT ISNT, because these are iconic anime’s that have left a print in media

So fine, let’s get this show to a level you all can understand how bad it is

DC superhero girls. And it’s GOOD, check it out if you can. It’s something to turn on and enjoy, with little overarching plot.

But get this, the entire focus is to watch the team girls Interact. A lot of the comedy comes from watching these girls having fun and watching them come to terms with their own superpowers. Watching them get in trouble as they hide their identity, and how they bounce from one another. Who helps who, who are besties, who kinda hate each other, who brings them together and who keeps them strong.

I especially love Barbara and Harley's dynamic, as well as Kitana and Wonderwoman's friendship. The episodes that focus on either of them make me really happy. And even if there's little overarching plot, because I know their situation, I wanna see them happy and have fun.

But because they all have to hide in MLB, you don’t see something like this. Which, btw, THIS is the foundation of both Magical girl GROUPS and Seitan. And I would argue you would get more leeway abt secret identities to one another in MagicalGirls that in Seitan. Seitan’s bread and butter IS team dynamics. The fact that we don’t know how two superheroes that ladybug and chat aren’t would behave around each other is an INSULT to the genre.

And to be fair, they could still keep their identities secret. Just. Have them interact every single episodes, without the need of Ladybug or Chat doing a 10 minute break to give them their Kwamis. It would have been fun to see Queen Bee chat with Ladybug, maybe hate Chat and fight with him to get Ladybug’s attention. Maybe, have Viper and Carapace make music references and vibing in the background. Have Ryuko and Queen Bee bicker. Have Rena and Chat make jokes at Queen Bee’s expense.

You could have amazing drama out of the team trying to find each other’s identities, but having Ladybug threaten them to take away their miraculous (MAYBE she’s paranoid about it since the events of Chat Blanc let her traumatized and will take away miraculous from them). Hell, maybe she took away Chloe’s miraculous not because “she’s unfit” but because she spilled the beans. And Chloe’s resentment is not just from losing her great title, but losing the first true friends she had.

And it would make the fact that Marinette is allowed to CHOOSE her teammate…a bit more bearable. Because honestly, THAT’S  a terrible concept.

Most teams DONT get to chose who their partners are, and that’s what makes it amazing.

Because it’s a bunch of people who are forced to be together, slowly learning to open up and depend on one another. Which creates amazing and profound bonds that one originally wasn’t expecting.

Take for example Usagi. She didn’t CHOOSE her team. Instead, she found it. They found her. While Ami and Makoto are kind to her, she’s always butting heads with Rei, and playfully competing with Minako. They don’t all coddle her, or think she’s amazing. They see her as a friend. A crybaby, clumsy but kind-hearted friend who will help them out.

Tokyo Mew Mew has the same. Ichigo isn’t in perfect terms with Mint and they butt heads. Zakuro is a loner that isn’t integrated fully even in later episodes. But they’re a team. They work together.

The fact that Marinette gets to pick, creates issues like…Queen Bee.

Which.

Leads me.

To Chloe.

A God, Chloe.

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[acornwinter]

GOOD LUCK ON UR ESSAY 👹👹 mine is due too but i refuse to finish it

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MAGICAL GIRL

@hisui-dreamer

you’re a healer… but-