I can honestly say that I am not the biggest fan of magical girl series at all. I have watched some, but not a lot of the larger and longer ones that have affected a lot of cultural constructs besides maybe Madoka Magica. That is a bit of a failing in some ways for me. Especially since on a lot of technological level to magic, magical girl series are like mecha series but with skirts instead of machines and metal. You know, except if one counts a series Symphogear which is both which is really cool in its own way. That mecha musume concept is very interesting. I suppose that it’s a magical girl series after all.
If I had to talk about any sort of favorites series, its Nanoha and that is one that I watched a long time ago. (Still angry at the lack of legal ways to watch it right now). I feel like that is the most me kind of magical girl series though. What if Star Trek met magical girl series? Spaceships going around to protect worlds and searching for magical artifacts as well. Some of the most innovative stuff that hasn’t really broken as much new ground. Plus, Nanoha is just a good magical girl with some of the technology for transformation and abilities being so cool. One day, I will rewatch it. But who knows when that will be?
I know that Madoka Magica is a series considering the movies and its spin off series, but Yuki Yuna is probably my second favorite so far. I still haven’t dug into the great Mankai chapter yet. I hope that doesn’t change in the time being. Or maybe it will maintain itself because that is well written. Who knows? The mystery is there even if I know a bit about the reputation of the show there. Yuki Yuna feels like the most genuine sort of series that knows where it wants to take its characters and how to write its characters in emotional and smart ways. A great exploration of the usual magical girl branding.
For the future, I should try looking into the longer and older magical girl series. At some point, that will be Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura. Whether they are long or not, I feel like that is always something that I will miss from my own anime queue card out of a card that is missing a lot of things in it. That’s ok because I don’t really care too much, and I’ve put that time into watching older mecha series. What if I did though? Something to ponder about in the future because there is always too much anime to watch and turn to here.

Your comparison with mecha series is interesting… But I usually think of Magical Girl series as being more akin to the superhero genre.
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What’s the difference though? All are cases where people use a stronger form of themselves to do what they do
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The key is “what they do”, not “how they do it” (the stronger form of themselves). Magical Girls frequently follow the same plot beats as are found in the superhero genre… An individual or small group that faces an existential threat to their world or reality.
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Super robot shows do the same thing. What are you trying to say?
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You can join me when I do Sakura, whenever that is lol.
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Yeah, sure 😊
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Having watched Cardcaptor Sakura already, I loved it mainly because of the main protagonist’s cute factor and her whimsicality. Another thing I liked was the story’s simple lore and how level-headed she becomes from the moment the series gets going. I definitely say she’s one of my favourite female protagonists out there, and IMO it’s worth the watch compared to Sailor Moon.
My advice: stick to the original 70-episode series, not the 2018 redux.
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Ok, I’ll put it on my list and fit it in somehow. We shall seee. Hmm.
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