A magical girlfriend, exotic girlfriend, monster girlfriend, nonhuman woman, or supernatural lover, is a female

stock character A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a type of character in a narrative (e.g. a novel, play, television show, or film) whom audiences recognize across many narratives or as part of a storytelling tradition or convention. Th ...

often associated with

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

and

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series, and is sometimes considered a genre of its own, or as the

leading lady A leading actor, leading actress, or leading man or lady or simply lead (), plays a main role in a film, television show or play. The word ''lead'' may also refer to the largest role in the piece, and ''leading actor'' may refer to a person w ...

of the "fantastic romance" genre, which combines the

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

and romance genres. As Thomas Lamarre states, "Anime fans become familiar with a whole range of female figures that are either not really human (robots, aliens, deities, animals), or that possess extra-human powers of some kind or another (from

cyborg A cyborg (, a portmanteau of ''cybernetics, cybernetic'' and ''organism'') is a being with both Organic matter, organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline. Magical girlfriends can be one or many in a single series (always attached to the male lead). Because of the tendency for rivals to appear even when there is one female lead and because of the unnatural gender balance among the cast, magical girlfriend comedies are often conflated with

harem A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...

comedies. A good example of this conflation is ''

Oh My Goddess! , or ''Ah! My Goddess!'' in some releases, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kōsuke Fujishima. It was serialized in Kodansha's manga magazine ''Monthly Afternoon'' from September 1988 to April 2014, with its ...

'' which is "one of the prototypical 'harem' titles" despite the short-lived nature of most of the romantic rivalries.

History

Magical girlfriends initially derived from the US television series ''

Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typi ...

'' and

I Dream of Jeannie ''I Dream of Jeannie'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy sitcom television series created by Sidney Sheldon and starring Barbara Eden as a beautiful but guileless 2,000-year-old Jinn, genie and Larry Hagman as an astronaut with whom s ...

, which was dubbed for the Japanese market. ''

Sally the Witch , originally titled , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mitsuteru Yokoyama. It was serialized in Shueisha's monthly ''Ribon'' magazine from July 1966 to October 1967. Its 1966 anime adaptation was one of the most popular ...

'' was the first anime series inspired by ''Bewitched'', leading to the popularity of

magical girl is a Genre#Subgenre, subgenre of primarily Japanese fantasy media (including anime, manga, light novels, and live-action media) centered on young girls who possess magical abilities, which they typically use through an ideal alter ego into wh ...

s in Japanese anime.

Genre characteristics

Often series in the genre start with the male lead encountering the female lead either by pure chance or by an unusual event, after which the female lead somehow becomes bound or otherwise dependent upon him, often forcing a situation of

cohabitation Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a Romance (love), romantic or Sexual intercourse, sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. ...

. In many cases, this situation is repeated with other characters (''

Tenchi Muyo! is a Japanese anime, light novel and manga franchise. The original series began with a six-episode Original video animation, OVA called . This original series was created by Masaki Kajishima and directed by Hiroki Hayashi, and it was rel ...

''), overlapping with the

genre. However, the male lead is often inexperienced with women despite typically being a " nice guy". This situation often prevents the relationship from advancing beyond a platonic level throughout most of the series, as an ideal girlfriend doesn't come on strong herself and is generally passive in the relationship. In parodies, the character may be "too young" (i.e. Nakahito Kagura in '' Steel Angel Kurumi''; Negi Springfield in ''

Negima! Magister Negi Magi ''Negima! Magister Negi Magi'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ken Akamatsu. It was serialized in Kodansha's Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from Febru ...

'') or otherwise have a more rational, ambivalent attitude towards women. A famous early reversal of the cliche occurs with the overtly lecherous Ataru Moroboshi of ''

Urusei Yatsura is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from September 1978 to February 1987. Its 366 individual chapters were collected in 34 ''tankōbon'' volum ...

'', who is simply uninterested in ''monogamous'' relationships despite the fact few women besides his romantically aggressive alien girlfriend find him attractive. Another feature is that soon after the male and female leads begin to live together, other (usually female) characters from the female (or male) lead's origin appear (friends, siblings, relatives, rivals or even enemies), either becoming frequent visitors, cohabitors, or generally causing a disruption, or even moving in with the lead couple. Sometimes a character from the male lead's origin will appear. Examples include

Ai Yori Aoshi is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kou Fumizuki. The manga was serialized in Hakusensha's manga magazine '' Young Animal'' magazine from 1998 to 2005 and the chapters collected into 17 volumes. It is a love story b ...

, where Kaoru's half-brother tries to take Aoi for himself, and

Omamori Himari , also known as for short, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Milan Matra. The story revolves around Yuto Amakawa, an orphan who, on his sixteenth birthday, meets Himari, a cat spirit samurai girl who has sworn an oath t ...

, where demonslayer Kuesu Jinguuji appears in volume 3 to claim Yuuto Amakawa as her betrothed. Even when there is one female lead, various rivals always threaten the relationship between the lead characters, often creating complicated "love polygons". These can vary from being from mundane characters such as men who fight for the affection of the female (and rarely male) lead, or rivals from the female lead's origins. The romantic relationship(s) in magical girlfriend comedies tend to remain static and platonic throughout the series. Commonly episodes involve some sort of superficial threat to the static nature of the relationship (which could be, and often is, the male lead or the girlfriend's desire to get closer), which is almost always resolved in some way that doesn't fundamentally alter that relationship. Action plotlines are often introduced through some sort of threat from the magical girlfriend's origins or through other means. If the romantic relationship(s) do move, it is very slow. As stated by Annalee Newitz in 1995, ''

Video Girl Ai ''Video Girl Ai'', known in Japan as simply , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masakazu Katsura. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from December 1989 to April 1992. ...

'', ''

'', and ''

'', magical girlfriends are akin to American television shows such as ''

'' and ''

'' as they portray women who are exceptionally powerful as well as traditionally feminine. Newitz again proposes that magical girl romantic comedies are the culmination between worlds of fantasy and reality. For example, in ''Oh My Goddess!'' Belldandy is a goddess who is accidentally summoned by college student Keiichi. Similarly, Newitz alleges that the idea that women “should conceal their power” is a common trope. This is because magical girls in the aforementioned shows almost exclusively use their powers in the home or in their private relationship, but not for power at work or influence outside the domestic realm.

The "ideal woman" personality, or ''yamato nadeshiko''

Many magical girlfriends are considered by both fans and critics of the genre to be idealizations of

woman A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or Adolescence, adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functi ...

-kind. This model of the ideal Japanese woman, the ''

yamato nadeshiko ''Yamato nadeshiko'' ( or ) is a Japanese language, Japanese term meaning the "Anthropomorphism, personification of an idealized Japanese woman." The term is the archetype of conservative and traditional femininity. Name origin and connotatio ...

'', is similar to that found in ''

The Tale of Genji is a classic work of Japanese literature written by the noblewoman, poet, and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu around the peak of the Heian period, in the early 11th century. It is one of history's first novels, the first by a woman to have wo ...

''. Ideal girlfriends are not necessarily magical in nature. Some "ideal" magical girlfriends may seem weak and emotionally needy, while others may possess a godly power stemming from their feminine traits. Ideal women have absolute dedication to whatever work they do and for whomever they have great affection, although depending on the character's actual talents this can make for anything from 'quite capable' to 'well-meaning klutz'. They usually have calm, gentle and demure personalities. They generally suppress selfish desires in favor of desiring good for others. Ideal women are always naive or innocent, sometimes explained by the girlfriend's origins which do not allow for many experiences with mainstream life. Paradoxically, other characters of the girlfriend's origin tend not to be as naive (e.g.

Belldandy is a fictional character in the popular anime and manga series ''Oh My Goddess!''. She was created by Kōsuke Fujishima as one of three Goddesses who come to Earth to reside with Keiichi Morisato, and she serves as his love interest. She is de ...

of ''

'' is more naive than even her kid sister). Ideal women are emotionally insightful, seeing the good in others when most wouldn't and forgiving their shortcomings. Ideal women are examples of '' moe'' girls in manga and anime. As such, ideal girlfriends are not overly independent. They are proper Japanese women who typically will not initiate romantic action themselves, except in a delicate or indirect manner. However, numerous characters are so innocent as to not understand the nature of their actions. Independence and aggression (especially in sexual matters) is a trait of parodies of the ideal girlfriend such as Lum in ''

'', Kurumi in '' Steel Angel Kurumi'' or Hazuki in '' Tsukuyomi -Moon Phase-''. Parodies of the ideal woman are often selfish and become involved with the male lead because of their own selfish desires which are not (initially) shared by their mate. While the male lead usually has some sort of hold over his girlfriend (as "husband," "fiancé," provider, contract holder, client, creator, master, or even owner) the parody of the ideal girlfriend either succeeds in inverting the power balance of relationship or simply reverses roles. Shōjo artists have written another sort of parody of magical girlfriends. Shōjo writers put more emphasis on the girl. Examples include '' Absolute Boyfriend'', in which an ordinary girl gets a magical boyfriend, and '' Ultra Maniac'', in which a Middle School girl meets and becomes best friends with a magical girlfriend; followed by their misadventures at finding boyfriends. Susan J. Napier has described the popularity of the ideal magical girlfriend, for example,

and Ai to be a backlash against the "yellow cab" social phenomenon, where some Japanese women were seeking out sexual relationships with non-Japanese men.

Examples of "magical girlfriend" characters

of ''

'' * Lum of ''

'' (a parody of the ideal girlfriend) * Lala Satalin Deviluke of ''

To Love Ru is a Japanese manga series written by Saki Hasemi and illustrated by Kentaro Yabuki. The manga was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from April 2006 to August 2009, and the chapters collected into ...

'' * Chi of '' Chobits'' * Saati Namba of '' A.I. Love You'' * Haruko of '' FLCL'' * Shaorin of '' Mamotte Shugogetten'' *

Night Night, or nighttime, is the period of darkness when the Sun is below the horizon. Sunlight illuminates one side of the Earth, leaving the other in darkness. The opposite of nighttime is daytime. Earth's rotation causes the appearance of ...

of '' Absolute Boyfriend'' (male equivalent of magical girlfriend) * Sun Seto of '' My Bride Is a Mermaid'' - "The plot and situations are cribbed from any number of magical-cohabitating-girl anime" *

Valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ( or ; from ) is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become ('single fighters' or 'once fighters').Orchard (1997:36) and Li ...

of '' UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie'' - "Another Magical Girlfriend anime coming out this fall." * Phryne of '' Fractale'' - Zac summarizes "let's just call it 'mildly interesting, competently made magical girlfriend show'" *

In Western media

Tiffany White of

Pop Matters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fil ...

, in her review of the ''

Mannequin A mannequin (sometimes spelled as manikin and also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off dif ...

'' movies, classifies magical girlfriend movies with this template: * Main protagonist is a loser who has no luck with girls or has a real girlfriend who doesn't understand him. * Main guy finds a magical girlfriend (usually an angel, mermaid, or science experiment) and they fall in love. * An antagonist lurks about, and its sole purpose is exposing the magical girlfriend. * In the end, the protagonist and the magical girlfriend escape persecution, gain public acceptance, and spend the rest of their lives happy ever after. A.E. Sparrow of

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

, in reviewing '' Mamotte Shugogetten'', also relates magical girlfriends shows to their western counterparts:

"She's completely devoted to protecting her new "master" from any misfortune, utterly oblivious to the ways of the modern world, and (in cute girl manga terms) a total knockout. If you're not completely immersed in the world of manga yet, think "
I Dream of Jeannie ''I Dream of Jeannie'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy sitcom television series created by Sidney Sheldon and starring Barbara Eden as a beautiful but guileless 2,000-year-old Jinn, genie and Larry Hagman as an astronaut with whom s ...
". If you are, then think " Oh! My Goddess!". Either one works if you're looking for a comparison."

Examples of magical girlfriend in Western media include: Lisa from '' Weird Science'', "Angel" in '' Date with an Angel'', and Madison from '' Splash''. For science fiction, girlfriends can also be labelled as "algorithm-defined fantasy girl" and range from robots such as Ava in '' Ex Machina'' to artificial intelligence systems such as Samantha in ''

Her Her is the objective and possessive form of the English-language feminine pronoun she. Her, HER or H.E.R. may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Music Performers * H.E.R. (born 1997), American singer * HIM (Finnish band), once kn ...

'' and Joi in ''

Blade Runner 2049 ''Blade Runner 2049'' is a 2017 American Epic film, epic neo-noir science fiction film directed by Denis Villeneuve from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and Michael Green (writer), Michael Green, based on a story by Fancher. A sequel to ''Blade ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magical Girlfriend Female stock characters in anime and manga

Girlfriend A girlfriend is a woman who is a friend, acquaintance or partner to the speaker, usually a female companion with whom one is platonically, romantically, or sexually involved. In a romantic context, this normally signifies a committed r ...