Just something that has been on my mind for awhile. Has the magical girl genre hit a wall? I really don't follow anime like I use to so I really don't know how the genre is doing as of right now. Just in general I really feel like the genre is just stale even with the "dark" magical girls series. 

It's basically all the same. Girls meet mascots, get said powers, and save the world. That's the case in dark magical girl series as well. They just get tortured. XD

Is there nothing else to do with this genre?

This is pretty much why I am in love with Ladybug. It mixes the magical girl and the superhero genres together. It feels so refreshing yet the same old at the same time.

Interesting thought. Hate to be a contrarian but I actually had the opposite reaction to Ladybug. I felt it was very standard magical girl vs monster of the week affair. Then again the only episode I've watched so far is the Bubbler one.

I do kind of agree that the genre has gotten stagnant, with barely anything noteworthy coming out in recent years. Precure has pretty much dominated the market on kids MG shows and Madoka's success has lead to a slew of half-baked cash-in attempts trying to play the shock value game.

Other than that we don't get much. There hasn't been anything similar to Creamy Mami, Minky Momo or Ojamajo Doremi in a long time, shows that revolve around characters using magic to solve every day problems. Instead the "fighting evil by moonlight" side of the genre seems to have overtaken the rest. Magical idol singers have been replaced by the slew of non-magical ones like Aikatsu and Love Live.

The closest we've gotten to traditional witch-esque MG shows lately are those movies like Little Witch Academia and that Yoyo Nene thing, with the former recently having a TV series announced. There was also that Pleades thing that got a TV series. Supposedly that was okay despite the third episode having a lot of fanservice.

You've got to watch more than one episode. The Bubbler is the weakest. ;)

It's a shame really. I wonder if I just out grown magical girls as whole. I should be enjoying Crystal, but the first two seasons left the a sour taste in my mouth. I am aware season three is much better, but I just can't bring myself to watch it.

The more I think about it, the more I realize the future of the genre may not lie with Japan, or the more traditional approach we've come to know and love with stuff like Sailor Moon, Tokyo Mew Mew, Pretty Cure, and the like. For better or for worse, PMMM changed magical girls forever, and the darker take on the genre may allow people to go into new territory with it (though why Princess Tutu, Sailor Nothing, and Revolutionary Girl Utena didn't leave the impact PMMM did is a question for the ages). However like I said the genre may find a new home in other places. For instance, take something like Star v. The Forces of Evil,which combines a Cute Witch story's slice of life elements with Magical Girl Warrior tropes (and apparently is seen as a Deconstructive Parody of sorts by some). And Steven Universe, with both a magical boy and magical girls, and a unique world and power system. And Ami mentioned Miraculous Ladybug above too so...

TL;DR: Dark series may have killed off the traditional formula, but some series are giving it new life.

I agree with Sailor Zelda -- magical girl seems to be becoming more popular in places outside of Japan. From what I understand from my friend in Japan, shoujo seems to be all about idols these days. It's mostly just idol shows that are coming out. I mean, I guess it would make sense that magical girl just isn't as big anymore... It's been going since the 60's, Japan has kind of run out of ideas.

And yeah, I definitely agree with Mew Ami -- there are much better episodes of Ladybug than The Bubbler. And I've only seen, like, six episodes.

So I guess all we have now is western shows! XD

I have noticed a lot of idol shows lately. I have watched Love Live and enjoyed it, but I really can't get into the idol genre. I'm just a very causal Love Live fan aka I enjoyed watching it, but I will never take apart of the fandom.

Yeah, idol shows don't really do it for me, either. They're really cute, but... Kind of boring. I dunno, I'm not into magical girl idol shows much, either. I prefer other types of magical girls.

yeah Idol shows are kind of boring. 

I liked the music in Love Live and the characters. But I can't see myself getting into the genre. First off the cast of characters is too big in some of them. I will never understand idol groups with a bunch of members.I can barely remember names of a band with four people so how do expect me to remember a band with like 12+ members?

Magical idol shows have always seemed very selfish to me. Like, you could be using your magic to fight  crime or help people or something, but nope you're just gonna use it to make yourself famous and stuff. 

Anyway, back to the topic at hand... I'm coming up with a story right now where I'm purposefully going to try and reconstruct the genre, while putting my own spin on it. I'm going to try and address some of the problems that have been pointed out (like the psychological impact that would come from having young girls fight a war against monsters and not having anyone to be a confidant).

Sounds cool! I like the idea of realistic magical girl stories. Good luck! :3

So a while back I was watching some anime reviewer, Gigguk or Digibro or somebody and they mentioned that Japan has been having fewer kids in recent years, hence there's less reason for anime studios to try to target kid audiences, hence the increased focus on stuff like light novel adaptations and moe shows.

If that's the case, I can see why we don't get nearly as many traditional magical girl shows, and why a lot of the most recent ones we get are either Westernized versions like Ladybug, or ones that target multiple demographics like Little Witch Academia. The few exclusively kids MG shows we have are mainstays that can afford to keep going like Precure. Even Jewelpet ended up getting axed.

Speaking of Precure, I've noticed that in recent seasons they're breaking their usual aversion to swimsuit episodes. Usually a beach episode of Precure will do something like having them work at a food stand, or training in jogging suits or something. But nope, they actually get the characters wearing swimsuits, even if it's just for a little while.

Now why could that be... maybe cause they feel the need to cater more to a certain periphery demographic? 



There is no other explanation for why this scene even exists. XD