Do You Gush Over Magical Girls?
Ummm...
After cute magical girls and depressed magical girls, Japan presents - raunchy magical girls! Gushing over Magical Girls (MahoAko) is the latest take on the magical girl genre and has defied all expectations of what a magical girl show should be. It's titillating, amusing, and embarrassing even when it is second-hand.
Magical girl shows are not new to experimentation. The whole trend of a decontructed or "grim" magical girl shows can be attributed to the popularity of Madoka Magica. Ecchi (perverse) magical girl shows aren't a new concept either. MyAnimeList lists 18 entries having the "Mahou Shoujo" (magical girl) and "Ecchi" tags. However, most of these are OVAs or short series, with only two entries other than MahoAko having a full cour-length season. MahoAko also boasts a vastly superior rating of 7.54 at the time of writing, compared of all of the other shows that are below 7.
What then makes MahoAko so compelling?
The production quality of MahoAko is suprisingly pristine for what's essentially softcore porn. The JP voice actor of main character Utena is a debutante and her performance has been perfect for the character. The voice has the slightest quiver of doubt before fully committing to the act of a domme. Asahi Production wasn't a well-known name but they did an awesome job of elevating the source material. And the source material is no slouch either - Utena's golden reaction faces are equally as good in the manga.
The production team have also fully committed to the depravity, even decensoring parts (read - boobs) from the manga. Till now, the laundry list of fetishes explored in the series include:
- Bondage
- Spanking
- Tickling
- Blindfold play
- Wax play
- Electric shocking
- Exhibitionism
- Mind control
- Age regression
- Diaper play
The marketing doesn't hold back either. The promo posters leave the barest to imagination, while hidden away in the website is a brick breaking game which bit-by-bit reveals what's under Magia Magenta and Leoparde's dresses. If you're thinking how any of this is age-appropriate for the characters, you're not alone. The official listing for most of the characters' ages is 14. However, as we have seen before, age listings are merely a suggestion, to be ignored when convenient. If it helps you sleep at night, just think that this is all Utena's imagination as she makes sense of her sexuality.
The success of the MahoAko anime has resulted in increased sales of both blu-rays and the original manga. It's a sign that the market has a demand for yuri BDSM anime and that audiences can tell when the effort has really been made.
So, do you gush over magical girls?