Winter 2024 Anime: Gushing over Magical Girls

Synopsis

Utena Hiiragi is a fan of the local magical girl team, Tres Magia. Her wish to be like them seems to be coming true when a mascot character called Venalita offers her the power to transform. Or is it? Turns out Venalita is recruiting Utena to be a general of the evil organization Enormita. Utena feels reluctant to fight against the magical girls she admires, but she might be enjoying it more than she thought she would be.

Comments

Halimun Muhammad (The Indonesian Anime Times)

In his book An Introduction to Eromanga (2020 [2014]), Kaoru Nagayama cites manga artist Aki Nakata’s childhood encounter with a torture scene in Mitsuteru Yokoyama’s Iga no Kagemaru ninja manga. According to Nakata, the scene felt erotic even though she wasn’t aware of SM bondage yet at that age. Such a first experience of eroticism through children’s manga was not a rare one, Nagayama contends, regardless of whether the author intended to make the scene erotic or not.

By that logic, it should come as no surprise that fighting scenes in superhero TV shows like Sentai or magical girl anime could come off as sadomasochistic turn-on even if they didn’t intend to be erotic. The feeling can be incited by seeing the heroes taking beatings from, struggling, or resisting their enemies while in tight or flattering costumes. Even in American superhero comics, Alan Moore highlighted this erotic potential in his Watchmen comic. Some of the superheroes in the comic admit that brawling in their tight costumes is actually kinky, not to mention references to some past villains who were open about it.

Gushing over Magical Girls thematizes this eroticism in superhero media, specifically in the fighting magical girl genre, by following the protagonist Utena Hiiragi’s sadistic side awakening towards the magical girls she admires. Even before Venalita gives her powers, we see a glimpse of Utena grinning when her favourite magical girls are taking an enemy attack. There is, of course, a paradox in Utena’s adoration and aggression towards her heroes, but they need not to be mutually exclusive. In regards to cuteness, scholars have argued that the foregrounding of delicateness, weakness, and helplessness in cuteness can evoke not only the feelings of care and empathy, but also the feelings of aggression and domination towards the cute object (Plourde, 2020). It’s conceivable that the superhero’s strength can also incite both feelings of support and aggression toward the superhero figure.

Gushing over Magical Girls adaptation appears to be decently competent. The first episode adds sufficient padding to make the pacing work for a half-an-hour episode, rather than just adapting the early chapters 1:1. It also gives Utena’s character introduction more room to breathe early on. It’s also worth noting that one of the show’s music staff, Yasuharu Takanashi, was the music composer for many Pretty Cure series. It lends further referential element to the genre the show is parodying through the way some of the music has similar vibes to early 2010s Pretty Cure music. 

One notable cut in Gushing over Magical Girls‘ first episode is the one where Utena whipped a flower and it transformed into a monster. The shaking of petals after it was struck, the morphing of the stalk into giant size; the physicality of the actions can be felt. That’s something that perhaps could enhance the sensuality of Utena’s kinky treatments of the magical girls if the production could get the right people to work on them.

Cakra Bhirawa (The Indonesian Anime Times)

At first, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this anime. My initial impression was that it was a story about a girl who becomes a magical heroine from nothing. However, as it turns out, this anime is quite ecchi, which is surprising considering it’s a magical girl anime. It’s not something you see very often.

That being said, I really enjoyed the first episode! The animation and art style are fantastic, and the transformation sequence is particularly well done. The characters are expressive and emotive. I like how each character managed to express their “face”. I’m not sure; maybe I’m also turning into a villain who likes to see a magical girl being depressed or afraid. Putting the ecchi stuff aside, I think this anime has a lot going for it. I’m interested to see where the anime will be going.

Oh! Also don’t forget about the theme song. It’s a blast! The opening & ending scream an Idol x Magical Girl vibe. I have been replaying the same song over and over! It’s the new earworm of this season for me.

Overall, I think this anime is a great choice for anyone who enjoys magical girl anime. However, there is a catch – it’s quite ecchi, so if you don’t like that kind of thing, this may not be the anime for you. Additionally, I have a hunch that the plot could get even kinkier in later episodes.

Facts and Figures

Screenshots and Trailer

The Indonesian Anime Times