An American Writer's Thoughts on Japanese Animation

What Comes After – Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka Spoiler Review

Here we are, technically one week into June, and I’m doing one last Magical Girl review to put something of a capstone on the month. The show in question is not a great classic, nor is it a landmark in the evolution of the genre. Rather, it is by its very existence a fascinating look at what has developed and how in terms of the Magical Girl genre. The show is, if the title was not a sufficient hint, Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka.

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Sacrifice, Despair, and Slice of Life – Yuki Yuna is a Hero Spoiler Review

The modern era of Magical Girl is still, essentially, “Post-Madoka” – there hasn’t been another game changer like Madoka Magica or Sailor Moon since, and so what remains is to analyze the themes and tropes of the genre as they exist. After Madoka hit, what did the Magical Girl genre do with it?

Some shows didn’t change a whole lot. It’s possible to get Magical Girl shows that reach to one side or the other of Madoka in terms of what influences they express. There are some harder to escape traits. Since Sailor Moon, the Magical Girl character herself has been more defined as a type of warrior, and since Madoka the image of what a Magical Girl is has more often included the idea that her powers are a burden, not a gift. Some shows play less with these aspects and some more, but when you think about a Magical Girl nowadays, chances are she wields weapons and has a heavy purpose. When speaking of shows that take more, especially from Madoka, though, you’ve got Yuki Yuna is a Hero.

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Kyuubey, I’ve Come to Bargain – Madoka Magica Spoiler Review

Last time when talking about Sailor Moon, I mentioned that there was another show that had to be addressed when it came to studying the growth and evolution of the Magical Girl genre. There are plenty of other big, famous landmarks in the genre, like Lyrical Nanoha or Pretty Cure, but the game-changing elephant in the room is Madoka Magica.

In some senses, it feels almost perfunctory to talk about Madoka, the same way it did to discuss Neon Genesis Evangelion. But as with Neon Genesis Evangelion, I need to establish a baseline to talk about other works, both the two remaining in the Magical Girl May series this year (yes, I’m actually going one week into June) and any other post-Madoka Magical Girl show I may choose to review in the future. So, let’s dig right in.

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Magical Girl Raising Project Audio Commentary, Part 2

A tip for budding writers: Unpredictability and investment are things that need to be carefully managed in death games. If you don’t care one whit about the characters, or if their deaths are forcefully telegraphed, you lose the drama that is supposed to run so high in the genre.

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Seasonal Selection – Tower of God Episode 7

This week was another case of “webcomic time” stretching the pacing of the show. Anak and Endorsi finish their fight (going into a more exaggerated comedic style for part of it as well) and, wiped out on the floor below, and seem to reach a sort of truce with one another as they converse down there.

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