By [ad_1]
Magical Girls, like those in Sailor Moon and Pretty Cure, as such staples of anime and manga, it just makes sense that “Magical Boys” would eventually get their chance to shine. And some of them have surprising histories.
Exactly what constitutes a Magical Boy is complicated. Some would argue having magic powers isn’t enough, but things like a transformation sequence, stock attacks, an age-changing motif, and maybe a talking animal mascot can sure make a difference. Some outright parody the concept, while others just resemble it. Plenty of Magical Girls even have male colleagues who could count as examples, too.
10 Sailor Moon: Tuxedo Mask Is An Early Form Of This
Sailor Moon revolutionized the Magical Girl genre in many ways, and arguably even introduced an early version of the Magical Boy: Tuxedo Mask. As Sailor Moon’s secret protector, the two have something of a symbiotic relationship. He often helps her fight against the monsters-of-the-day, or at least gives her the confidence to do it, but she’s often the one who has to save him when the higher-ranking villains kidnap him towards the end of each story arc.
How close he is to a Magical Girl varies from version to version. In the manga, he had his own attacks, like “Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber,” which was downplayed to throwing roses in the ’90s anime. He is sometimes given a transformation scene, but rarely as often as the Sailor Scouts. In fact, when he did get a transformation sequence in the live-action show, it mostly consisted of him literally putting on clothes.
9 Cardcaptor Sakura: Syaoran Li Even Became Sakura’s Co-Star Overseas
Syaoran Li of Cardcaptor Sakura comes from a clan of sorcerers and is distantly related to Clow Reed, who created the Clow Cards. He serves as something of a rival to Sakura, believing he should inherit the Clow Cards, but eventually comes to respect and fall in love with her. Through ofuda, he’s even capable of commanding the elements of lightning, fire, wind, water, and ice.
Not only was Syaoran already given a larger role in the anime adaptation compared to the manga, rather infamously, the Nelvana English dub tried to make him and Sakura co-leads, to the point of calling the series, Cardcaptors.
8 D.N.Angel: Daisuke Transforms Into The Legendary Phantom Thief Dark
Daisuke Niwa of D.N.Angel finds himself transforming into an older, purple-haired alter-ego on his 14th birthday after being rejected by his crush. He learns that, thanks to a family curse of sorts, he shares a body with a being named Dark, who takes over when dealing with feelings of love, and needs to steal cursed artwork to purify them. Only love, meaning someone he loves returning the feeling, can break the spell.
In many ways, this series is considered an early form of a Magical Boy, especially since it doesn’t explicitly parody the genre like later examples. That said, although Dark and Daisuke are technically different characters, the idea of an age-changing hero also harkens back to ’80s Magical Girls, like Creamy Mami and Minky Momo.
7 Kimagure Orange Road: Kyōsuke Kasuga Is A Teenage Esper
Similar to D.N.Angel, Kyōsuke Kasuga, the hero of Kimagure Orange Road, is often considered an early form of a Magical Boy, without explicitly parodying the genre. He is a teenage esper who must keep his powers a secret.
His powers range from teleportation, telekinesis, mechanical manipulation, and even has some limited form of time-travel, among other powers. In fact, the series’ Christmas special is considered one of the first anime to use a time-loop storyline.
6 Cute High Earth Defense Club: These Five Are A Team Of Magical Boys
Many early forms of the Magical Boy either existed as a sidekick for a Magical Girl or worked independently, but Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE! was having none of that, being a proper parody of the genre with five transforming Magical Boys.
With the help of a strange pink wombat, the five transform into the Battle Lovers, heirs to the throne of love, each controlling one of five elements: light, water, air, earth, and fire. Their rivals are the Conquest Club, who have a talking green hedgehog for a mascot.
5 Is This A Zombie?: Ayuma Combines Being A Magical Boy With Being A Zombie
In Is This a Zombie?, Ayumu was just a normal boy until he was killed by a serial killer, reanimated as a zombie by a necromancer, and accidentally absorbs powers from a Magical Girl, causing him to become one himself, complete with a frilly pink costume and a magic pink chainsaw.
In true Magical Girl fashion, he can even upgrade his costume with magical decorations, like roses and a tiara. This transformation actually negates some of the drawbacks of being a zombie, like a weakness to sunlight.
4 Pretear: The Seven Leafe Knights Are A Team Who Help The Pretear
While a Magical Girl is technically the star of Pretear, Himeno gets her powers from the Seven Leafe Knights, each of whom controls one of seven elements: wind, sound, light, fire, ice, water, and plants. Not only does she need them to transform, they literally become her costume.
Himeno can also fuse with one Knight at a time, meaning the others are there to help her fight an enemy during an attack. The seven even come complete with magical uniforms, in addition to civilian clothes.
3 Akazukin Chacha: This Series Has A Witch, A Wizard, & A Werewolf
In Akazukin Chacha, Chacha is an orphan witch who attends a magic school, where she encounters two Magical Boys: Shiine, another magician’s apprentice, and Riiya, who can transform into a wolf.
When the series was adapted into an anime, it was decided to have Chacha also transform into an adult superhero, inspired by Sailor Moon and dubbed the Magical Princess. Shiine and Riiya don’t get alter-egos themselves, but they do help Chacha transform.
2 Magic Kaito: Kaito Is The Magician Under the Moonlight
Before becoming better known for appearing in Detective Conan, Kaito Kuroba of Magic Kaito learned that his late father was the mysterious Kaito Kid and decided to stop the people behind his murder by taking on the identity himself.
Kaito is a skilled magician, ventriloquist, and disguise artist, skills which help him in his endeavors as a Phantom Thief. Granted, as the series went on, fantastic elements tended to get downplayed. But magician thieves aren’t unheard of in the Magical Girl genre: just look no further than Saint Tail.
1 Yu-Gi-Oh!: Yugi Even Gets A Transformation Sequence
There are a lot of fans of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise who’ve noticed that Yugi has quite a bit in common with a Magical Girl. He even gets a transformation sequence, complete with a magical artifact. In the Toei anime and early manga, he uses his powers to trap villains in Penalty Games, before eventually using them for card games. And much like any good Magical Girl series, the anime is known for friendship speeches.
Similar to D.N.Angel, the series has a bit of an age-changing motif, as Yami Yugi is taller than regular Yugi, and, depending on the dub, even has a deeper voice, although it’s complicated by the fact Yami Yugi is a separate person and was actually younger than Yugi when he died. This was also more or less unique to the anime, as they were the same size in the manga.
About The Author
[ad_2]
