how would you make a magical girl anime?

[Akito Kinomoto]

So I ask, but it's also an excuse to talk about the paradigm shift magical girl anime have had since Puella Magi Madoka Magica aired a decade ago (feeling old yet btw?). It wasn't the first magical girl anime to go dark, but the effect it's had on the genre is still around today. The mega IPs like PreCure and Sailor Moon are always going to be their own thing, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a post-Meguca MG anime that doesn't feel like it's trying to copy it. And it's not hard to see why, because as far as most viewers were concerned, dark MG anime were fresh and exciting

I said that in past tense like the novelty wore off, but if I'm being honest...actually it did. Or maybe it's only because I've been around the anime scene since the mid-2000s and remember what MG anime used to be before 2011. But I'd not be surprised if someone only knows MG anime in a post-Meguca era; maybe the idea of an MG anime being a lighter mood is new to someone?

But back to the topic itself. How would you make a magical girl anime?

Spoiler for vague idea:

my own idea makes the Gurren Lagann to Madoka's Evangelion. Almost a throwback to what MG anime used to be before Madoka. I said almost because we're keeping the intensity of Madoka without going dark, something a lot of the Madokapycats can't distinguish. I want the show to be kid-friendly and heavy, a streak of maturity to respect the audience while not being superficial for a higher age rating

to that end, it's going to have a dark magical girl in the vein of Fate Testarossa or Homura Akemi. But because of irreconcilable differences between them, the dark magical girl never joins the MC. She'll have the hallmarks of a tragic heroine without being a hero. Instilling the lesson in the MC that there are people she can't "save." At the end, this steels her resolve to save those she can

what exactly the story would have to be for this counterbalance to work is something I haven't thought of yet

[0cean]

I'd go with one of the generic formulas of the late 1990s to early 2000s, but tell the story from the perspective of the villain. Of course, this time around the villain would win.

The entire formula only works because the villains are completely retarded. Just by making the villain the protagonist you'd have him acting a lot different and all it would take is to apply common sense. After having achieved his goal in a given world, he could also travel to different worlds to harvest whatever the villains in these type of shows are after. He could eventually meet another villain competing over the resources.

There are endless possibilities by making this simple change.

[BWTraveller]

I'd go with something like Nanoha, but with a bit less fanservice. A panty shot here and there is fine, but the first season went way overboard. Basically, like Nanoha or My Hime, I'd aim for more action-based material, with a bit less "magical girl" and a bit more "young girl mage". If the outfit exists it's of the girl's own creation, and is somewhat functional or at least doesn't get in the way of the individual girl's fighting style. Attacks are serious attacks, like energy weapons or real blades. The enemies may be similar to some MG series with goals like draining the life or some emotional "energy", maybe simple conquerors, maybe even unthinking phenomena, but there'd be more to them than that. Enough to make the girls question their own "good guys" status, or even make them realize partway through that they'd been fighting for the wrong side. Heck, could even have some switch sides and make it a quest to find a peaceful resolution between warring factions.

Oh, and while most of them would be girls there'd be at least one or two magical boys or boys with their own brand of power either working as equal partners or dedicated to supporting and/or protecting the girls (not as in "you can't take this I'll protect you" but rather "I'll watch your back"). Something like Seiya from Nurse Angel Ririka (the anime, not the manga). And of course, if the boys have costumes then they're proper costumes, not frilly dresses.

[TnAdct1]

One idea is more in line of the generic formula of the 1990's and early 2000's, but with some spoofs of some of the tropes and an eventual evolving of a theme of "freelancer vs. organization" in terms of bigger threats. For instance, this is my idea of what the team would consist of the following:

• Main girl 1, who has been a freelancer mahou shoujo for some time, with her using her powers to do typical good deeds in her hometown like a superhero (i.e. stopping thieves, helping people in danger).
• Main girl 2, best friend of main girl 1, who is well aware of her friend's secret life as a mahou shoujo, with her initially being more like Tomoyo (from Cardcaptor Sakura) in terms of support until the arrival of the show's "big bad alien group" leads to her training to become a mahou shoujo herself.
• A "Rei/Mint" type character who does things differently from the two main girls (i.e. her henshin sequence has her in the nude, her outfit is more sex appeal-focused).
• A member of a "mahou shoujo organization" who, due to her being a freelancer before joining the group, is assigned by one of the nicer heads of the group to assist the freelancers and see if they can deal with the "big bad alien group" without any additional help.
• A seasoned member of the "mahou shoujo organization" who is sent to deal with the "big bad alien group", despite her fellow agent and the nicer head of the group feeling that she isn't really needed.

[Sheba]

Magical Girl K-On meet Beck meet Jem & the Holograms (the 80s cartoon) meet Power of Rock. They have music battles against all kind of musical groups, black metal, Malsteem-like guitar hero, rappers, Daft Punk-alike electronic music duo, boys bands, you name it. Save the world with the power of music. The vocals would be the heroine, idealist and friendly, also able to play piano. Bassist would be the childhood friend on the shy side. Guitarist would be the gyaru delinquent with a single mom, and was the bully defeated through the power of friendship (a Vegeta stereotype if you will). Drummer would be the girl who was too tall for her age, intimidating at first but actually gentle. Keyboard, also chapman stick, was the bullying target of the guitarist, and the half-foreign rich girl (for your yuri shipping needs, and before you get your panties in a knot over a bully developing feelings for their targets, read Great Teacher Onizuka).