Welcome to the Fantasy Zone
This Zone is dedicated to the lesser known elements of anime hosted by the cast of Victory Script.
What weapon is the best?
Who will win in this Death Battle?
Is this costume practical?
You name it, it's all covered here in the Fantasy Zone!
Of all the genres in anime, the magical girl genre is one of the most over looked and here are five anime that fell by the wayside.
Saint Tail
The daughter of a stage magician and retired thief steals art to give back to their rightful owners, it takes elements from Cats Eye and functions as the predecessor for Card Captor Sakura, utterly charming with an adorable lead and beautiful setup that far exceeds it's time period, Saint Tail is a must for magical girl fans.
Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne
Arina Tanemura's take on the magical girl genre with her extreme wide eyed style of animation blending heavy moments of psychological themes with a magical thief plot, best remembered for arguably the best transformation scenes in the genre.
Full Moon
Tanemura again this time going heavier on the psychological elements and heavy references to suicide is Full Moon, a take on the magical idol genre, it's worth noting that despite what the audience gets put through, the ending is always a happy one. This was breaking boundaries long before Oshi no Ko.
Pretear
A loose blend of Snow White and Cinderella elements, with pretty boys transforming into the lead girls costumes, (don't think too much about it) the lead is tasked with saving the natural world of leafe with the help of her seven knights, probably one of most fiercely independent leads seen in the genre long before the trend of strong female leads were needed for absolutely everything.
Wedding Peach
Written off as a Sailor Moon clone thanks to the era it came out, Wedding Peach is alot closer to Precure in terms of content, predating it by a decade and it's been referenced more times than Sailor Moon with the wedding dresses and the champagne drinking scene having both been referenced in Pokemon of all things, lead character Momoko is also one of the main reasons why most lead magical girls are pink coloured.
Honourable Mentions
Corrector Yui - Megaman.Exe if it were a magical girl series, it's so obscure that no one remembers it.
Nurse Witch Komugi - A spinoff of a horror anime, it's as silly as it sounds.
Magical S Project - The official Pretty Sammy tv series spun off from the Tenchi Muyo franchise, way better than it has any right to be.
My Wife is a Magical Girl: Bewitched Agnes - An example of an adult magical girl series with an adult lead, heavily influenced by the American 60s sitcom Bewitched, worth your time if you can find it.
Sally the Witch - If only for historic purposes, this is often cited as the first magical series.
Everyone knows a good transformation when they see one whether it be a makeover, power up or a magical transformation, there are your iconic ones like Sailor Moon but there are others that may not be as well looked at as you might think, got a whopping 25 entries with no restrictions, in no order either.
1. Beyblade G Revolution
Ming Ming is a magical idol of sorts as she's very much younger than the rest of the main cast but when she blades, she shows up in her true age dropping the UwU act.
2. Akazukin Chacha
Chacha is another unique one as not only does she get older everytime she transforms into her princess warrior form but requires rings worn by her two best friends to work.
3. Tenchi Universe
Azaka and Kamidake were often seen as mobile logs that protected Ayeka at all times but Universe gave them prominent forms as Royal Guards more akin to what were used to seeing whenever Tenchi and Ayeka battled, honourable mention to Achika for her battle form.
4. Sailor Moon
We've seen the scouts transform enough times to the point that it has it's own official run time in the Anime Encylopedia, but during the Sailor Moon S movie we were treated to Luna's human form, argubly one of the most beautiful transformations in anime.
5. Kiss Him Not Me
Kae Serinuma throwing a sulking tantrum over a dead anime character stops eating only to emerge as a bishojo attracting every guy in sight.
6. Suite Precure
Precure is no stranger to villain face heel turns but the former feline Cure Beat not only becomes a Precure but loses her cat form in the process, on the bright side she has guitar hair.
7. Wedding Peach
I like how utterly pointless the wedding dresses are in the transformations but they still showcase them every episode anyway.
8. The Incredible Hulk
A rare western example from the 90s cartoon of the Hulk in She-Hulk. Following the blood transfusion, the radiation doesn't make her so much angry but trigger what I can best place as pleasure making her flirty rather than angry.
9. Cinderella Monogatari
The simplest transformation on this list, an extra petticoat, a bow and an elaborate hairdo is enough to see out the royal ball for Cinderella.
10. Pretear
Himeno gets several costumes to wear but come with the added bonus of all her husbandos transforming into her costumes.
11. One Piece
Nico Robin going all giantess demon with Demonio Fleur, utterly terrifying to witness and insanely brutal to watch.
12. Dragonball Super
It's not Ultra Instinct or whatever passes for Gohan's latest Saiyan form it's Trunks' Rage Saiyan form after he snaps fighting Black Goku, his look resembling Broly in the eyes.
13. Mahou Shounen Majorian
We've seen young girls become teens to battle but how about young boys become teen girls, the dynamic here is less the TG transformation and more the dynamic between the duo as their relationship is bullying because the victim is too feminine, the irony.
14. Kiddy Grade
Eclair and Lumiere go through so many forms that it needs it's own entry to explain it.
15. Uta Kata
Here's the Kiddy Grade creator releasing a magical girl show with a different costume designed by a different mangaka every episode.
16. Magical Emi
The green haired magician girl is another girl to teen transformation but with a design that can only exist in the 80s.
17. Card Captor Sakura
The only time Sakura ever went through a transformation was the first time she gave herself wings complete with a dress that Tomoyo didn't design.
18. Hime Otogi Lilpri
Aikatsu and Pripara follow the same theme of costumes on cards but Hime Otogi Lilpri has the element of surprise on their side.
19. Miraculous Ladybug
Our second western entry focusses on Shrinking Violet Goth Girl Juleka who becomes Purple Tigress.
Looking at the pictures, you wouldn't guess it was the same person, well it is the power of clout.
20. Interspecies Reviewers
Our randy Reviewers decide to transform into women to see what sex feels like in their shoes, five star ratings all round.
21. Marchen Awakens Romance
The talking hammer weapon Babbo comes with some extreme forms including a gargoyle, a sexy goth angel and OP Puss in Boots.
22. Kuragehime
I could include any character makeover in this show but Mayaya's is the most dramatic, goes to show what the promise of capsule toys means to an Otaku.
23. Tokyo Mew Mew
The best choreographed transformation sequences in all of anime.
24. Star Twinkle Precure
They sing their transformation sequence, why didn't anyone else think of that?
25. Ranma 1/2
Will need it's own entry really, girl Ranma you always wonder who's really in control of the body, Ranma or the cursed drowned girl.
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