What defines what a magical girl is (as opposed to magic knight, etc)?

[Painted Lattice 131]

As usual, TVTropes is my friend. Here is what Tvtropes has to say on the Magical Girls page.

 

 

Known as mahou shoujo ("magical girl") in Japanese, or just majokko ("witch-girl"). Magical Girls are empowered by various means with fantastic powers that both assist and complicate their lives, but manage to persevere despite this. No matter how hard this may be for the Western world to believe, Magical Girls have high crossover popularity in different demographics with some minor but appropriate design modifications, and make up a sizable portion of both shojo and bishoujo fandom. A Super Trope to:

• Cute Witch, where magic is mundane to the character.
• Magic Idol Singer, who (initially) uses her powers for her own benefit.
• Magical Girl Warrior, mostly in a superheroine role fighting evil.

Magical Girl Warriors arguably have the widest demographic appeal, and in the West are often synonymous with the idea of a Magical Girl. IMPORTANT NOTE: A girl who can use magic is not necessarily a Magical Girl in the sense of the trope or genre. A Magical Girlfriend, for example, usually does not fit into the same structure that defines a Magical Girl series.

 

It describes "Magical Girl" as a Super Trope to cute witches, magical idol singers, and magical girl warriors.

 

It also says that magical girls are synonymous with the idea of a magical girl in the west. As someone in the west, I have a difficult time wrapping my head around the differences between "magical girl" and "magical warrior"? What are the qualifications?

 

Are "magical boys" possible without being considered "magic knights"?

 

Is magical girl simply a genre thing, where it's aimed at young girls? It seems the main character has to be a normal young teenage girl that becomes thrown into this magical good versus evil world, and if it was a boy instead of a girl, would he become a "magic boy" or does it HAVE to be a girl (and have a romantic theme in there too)?

 

Please help me out... I am confused.
 

 

[duidamasterXD 9,627]

From my understanding, it's less about classifying a character and more about pointing to a genre of work. Hermione Granger from Harry Potter is a girl with magical powers, but she's not a "magical girl" because she doesn't come from a series that's been decided to be part of the genre. There was some reviewer on YouTube who pointed out that Magical Girl shows often emphasize the value of teamwork between several characters, and sometimes involve the theme of a character having their powers given to them by a small animal. They often also deal with the theme of growing up, framing the issue with stories that are more supernatural and fantastic, in a sense.

 

There have been shows that deal with similar concepts with male characters, like the show Ninjago (about four male lego ninjas who have to learn to let go of baggage, release their "true potential" and work together in order to save the world and all that stuff), but overall it's a much more common thing to do with female characters exclusively.

 

TLDR, it's more of a genre than anything, and the label itself can be attached to characters from shows that belong to that genre. My understanding of it isn't perfect, and if I have any of this wrong I'd love for someone who knows better to correct me.

Edited January 5, 2014 by DashForever

[Painted Lattice 131]

Ahh, that's very helpful. Thank you.