malymin: An image of Miho from Season Zero of Yu-Gi-Oh with hearts around her. (Miho)
[personal profile] malymin

Ok, so full disclosure - these are not mine! The author of the blog linked these on Cohost back before it shut down, and I think they're extremely informative and interesting. A lot of context that passes by most of us in Anglosphere spaces gets explained!

Why You Don’t See New Magical Girl IPs the Way There Used to Be (It’s Not Because of Madoka)

In today's post, H.C., having heard the fallacy "Madoka killed the magical girl genre and made everything into ironic parodies or nostalgia milking" one too many times, goes into the actual reasons you don't really see as many new magical girl IPs nowadays and discusses how people who often claim to be "defending" the genre are actually just as guilty of underestimating it.

The Myth of Madoka’s Influence on Magical Girls, and Why It Barely Did Anything Compared to PreCure

H.C. goes into the myth of Puella Magi Madoka Magica's influence on the magical girl genre again, this time tackling how the series was actually received by its Japanese and Western audiences when it aired in 2011, and also goes into PreCure and how its cultural clout is probably way more than you even realize.

The first link also goes into a lot of detail about why the following slew of reboots, sequels, and spinoffs exists:

I hope people here find them interesting!

erinptah: Madoka and Homura (madoka)
[personal profile] erinptah
By request from [personal profile] belacqua in the December talking meme: director's commentary on Persephone's Waltz!

AKA my 70K-word Madoka Magica longfic, in which Homura is...much closer to the edge than in canon. Close enough that "kidnap Madoka and lock her in a basement for the next month" starts to sound like a good idea.

Spoilers through the end of the fic (and through the PMMM series) follow!



Also, her thoughts about getting married one day: 'Would be nice if I can find a cool husband that resembles my Mama.' Hmmmm. )
erinptah: Human Luna (sailor moon)
[personal profile] erinptah
For the December talking meme, [personal profile] lielac prompted: "Talk about your top 3-5 magical girl shows/anime/manga/things!"

(not that I'm going to be terribly precise about the rankings, here.)

Puella magi
Top Two: Sailor Moon and Madoka Magica )

Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne )

Recommended for anyone who likes:
  • the identity-porn angle in Miraculous Ladybug
  • the Lupin/Zenigata dynamic in Lupin III, but with ladies
  • ridiculous off-the-wall Japanese adaptations of Christian mythology
  • pre-Madoka takes on "this magical-girl universe turns out to be way darker than it first appears"


Saint Tail )

Recommended for anyone who likes:
  • "let's go steal an X" as a heroic catchphrase
  • Steven-Universe-type "whoops, it turns out my mom got up to some shady things in the past, and now I've gotta use what I've inherited from both my parents to make it right"
  • Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, but maybe a little less weird, and the romance is cuter
  • everything is relentlessly adorable


Tokyo Mew Mew )

Recommended for anyone who likes:
  • Captain Planet, but with Japanese furries
  • the Sailor Moon villains in the Black Moon and Makaiju arcs
  • Catradora, but the angsty part is temporary and resolved
  • unusually good shoujo gender politics
  • bird lesbians




Honorable Mention

I didn't put Revolutionary Girl Utena or Read or Die on the list. Decided they were too genre-adjacent to really rank. And this is already longer than I meant it to be, so I'm not going to do a whole sidebar about them anyway.

Short version: they're also very good, and you should give them a look!
erinptah: Madoka and Homura (madoka)
[personal profile] erinptah
Title: And I Still Have My Hands On The Wheel
Fandom: Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Subject: Madokami/Homura
Rating: PG
Warnings: Spoilers.

A mix for Madoka's sacrifice, ascension, and incredible strength in rewriting magical-girl history with her own hands. (And a Homura who, for all her loneliness, still hears Madoka's voice and remembers that someone is fighting for her.)



( They say these waters aren't what they used to be / But I've got people back on land who count on me )