Talk:Magical girlfriend

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Expert[edit]

I have forgotten to explain the expert tag. ..I'm not really sure if it was the appropriate tag or not or if I should've used the Japan portal instead, but..

Well, basically, I believe that this page is in need of someone who can read both Japanese and English fluently has access to more references than most of us here.. And.. yes, perhaps it would require a lot of experience editing Wikipedia because this article appears to require a lot of work.

Even the cited sources aren't that good.. Repku (talk) 19:43, 31 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Nevermind the expert thing, but regardless, this page needs improvement.

I'm starting to wonder if we even have any good, English-language sources to create a knowledgable, well-sourced and verifiable article about this.. I think this is mostly just heresay.. How do we verify this? What reliable source ever tries to define what a magical girlfriend is? Repku (talk) 23:33, 14 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What is the Ideal?[edit]

I modified the "Magical Girlfriend personality" to be the "ideal girlfriend (woman) personality" based largely on the previous description. I suplemented this with what I got from message boards, such as http://www.goddess-project.net/board/index.php?showtopic=1870&hl=tale+genji which seemed to have some research behind it. However, the "ideal japanese woman" as basically a gentle, selfless, humble, capable, domestic is not as common a idealization as simply the "Moe (slang)" personality. However, if we were to change the section to simply talk about Moe girls we would be doing the work of that wikipedia entry and then the ideal/non-ideal list won't make sense as almost every girlfriend is described as "Moe." Even older leads like Mizuho of Please Teacher! (according to the Moe (slang) entry). Mizuho is certainly not the "ideal woman" however, as she is capable of doing all sorts of petty, less-than-selfless things, such as unapologetically staying out late with her colleages or leaving Kei to make & eat dinner alone when he comes late. Jaydubayubee 19:57, 30 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]


Examples, What counts as Magical Girlfriend?[edit]

Does The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya qualify for a magical girlfriend anime, as well? --Koveras ☭ 21:09, 14 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Edited Sakuraba Aoi from Ai Yori Aoshi out of the list. She doesn't technically count as 'magical girlfriend' because she doesn't really have any special power, magical or otherwise. Her devotion to the lead male (the only thing to come close) is common to virtually all 'perfect Japanese woman' type characters in a harem anime. Also moved Amano Ai from Idealized to Less than Idealized, since her personality is more akin to Lum than Belldandy (ie. more likely to chew out the potential boyfriend than to accept him and all his foibles without question). 219.95.30.18 06:59, 12 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]

How is Akane from Ranma 1/2 a magical girlfriend? Commander Nemet 20:48, 28 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

For that matter how is Shampoo? I know she has the curse and tendency to discover magical items (both rather commonplace), but she is not depicted as being innately more "magical" than the other, more or less, mundane characters. Jaydubayubee 04:47, 13 July 2007 (UTC) Also she is originally a "normal" girl, who gets cursed later and is not Ranma's chief love interest nor does she cohabit with him. Ranma 1/2 is also simply not a magical girlfriend comedy, even if it is harem, this would be like calling Deedlit of Lodoss Wars a magical girlfriend. Jaydubayubee 22:00, 19 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The "less than idealized" list should be standardized. Either have reasons beside every character as to why they are not idealized or take them out all together. TheFilth 23:46, 9 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Actually I think these lists aren't encouraged on wikipedia, but I'm not touching them. I personally have nothing against stuffing helpful junk at the bottom, its more useful than annoying, people pursuing this page might find this list the most helpful bit about the page. Jaydubayubee (talk) 06:48, 18 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I did take out Nyuu/Lucy of Elfen Lied. Elfen Lied is definitely not by no stretch of the imagination, a romantic comedy, even if there are some elements of romantic comedy. The show is clearly meant to be disturbing rather than lighthearted. I think it is obvious that a magical girlfriend belongs to a certain sub-genre (we could call them "magical girlfriend stories") of the romantic comedy genre. Jaydubayubee (talk) 06:48, 18 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've removed Tenchi Muyo, Shakugan no Shana, and Zero no Tsukaima.

A magical girlfriend isn't anyone who is both magical and someone's girlfriend, but someone who is at the center of a magical girlfriend story. This includes such requirements as that the story be a romantic comedy, there be a single girl and not a harem, that the story be set in some approximation of the ordinary world, and that the magic be introduced because of the girl and not fix itself on the protagonist for some unrelated reason. 4.245.110.46 (talk) 14:59, 7 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

how to get one?[edit]

hi, i am 15, male, usa how do i get a magical girlfriend? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 204.112.159.243 (talk) 09:31, 21 January 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Try calling the Goddess Relief Line. Brutannica 06:44, 9 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, or if you can't get through, hang around some garbage dumpsters.Yanqui9 03:25, 18 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Kissing inanimate objects has been known to bring them to life Jaydubayubee 06:48, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
They can also come out of adult videos, which is a rather unique excuse to get them Jaydubayubee 06:48, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If all else fails locate a place of supernatural or extraterrestrial activity. *WARNING* Magical girlfriend may attack upon discovery. May torch your school. May instead become your teacher. 19:57, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

title?[edit]

should this really be under "Magical girlfriend"? how about "Magical girlfriend (Anime)", as the page is not about simply any magickal girlfriends from any other literature styles or such. Liddell 23:33, 24 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

As far as I know the term "magical girlfriend" is a term used only to refer to anime charactersJaydubayubee 04:47, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Rewriting the characteristics section[edit]

I'm posting this comment here since it's inappropriate on the actual encyclopedia page. Brutannica 01:17, 24 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

NOTE: Someone please write a better description then this. This is pretty much describing Ah My Goddess (Especially the second paragraph) and not the genre as a whole. If I wasn't such a terrible writer, I'd fix it myself.

This section as well as that of the ideal girlfriend (given the odd title of "magical girlfriend personality") needed severe revamping, a lot was omitted and a lot of included material seemed to be describing AMG or small subsection rather than the genre. Jaydubayubee 07:57, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]


Early Ideal Girlfriends?[edit]

Belldandy is the earliest example of a ideal magical girlfriend I can find. Which is odd because Lum is a parody of the ideal girlfriend, and you can't have a parody before you have the original (Urusei Yatsura goes back to the 70's). Is there an earlier example? Jaydubayubee 08:16, 13 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

According to this review Urusei Yatsura is the first harem comedy http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/ai-yori-aoshi/manga. I surmise Lum just parodies the traditional girlfriend. If this is so, I would guess that shows such as Tenchi Muyo! and Oh My Goddess! to be the trendsetters. Which would make Belldandy perhaps the earliest ideal woman. Jaydubayubee 05:32, 9 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You guys are making me feel old! Ayukawa Madoka, Kimagure Orange Road is older than AMG, but I think that the genre had to be in a classical period by then, as evidenced by UY. IMO, Minmei from Robotech's Macross Saga was the first Americanized instance of a magical girlfriend.MMetro (talk) 01:50, 15 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I might misunderstand but I don't think those are examples of magical girlfriend. In Kimagure Orange Road Ayukawa Madoka isn't described as having powers but her counterpart Kyosuke Kasuga is. Our explanation of "magical" girlfriend is of an exotic, powers-bearing, girl paired with an ordinary male in a romantic comedy story. As such not only is Orange road a failed example but so is Macross Saga (checking the list [Elfen Lied]] isn't a romantic comedy either). I hate to say I haven't seen it but from what I see there is a Sci-Fi plot over and above the love interest, and I don't think Minmei's singing is a power. Jaydubayubee (talk) 06:51, 18 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

References[edit]

I'm not a fan of the second paragraph. I don't think this article should be using Wikipedia itself as a reference for the harem (genre) thing. Do we have any other references we can use? --Optichan 21:55, 8 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I took out the reference from the list of references and added other references. One reference I didn't use in this review of Ai Yori Aoshi there is the suggestion that OMG as well as basically all seinen is harem: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/ai-yori-aoshi/manga. Generally speaking, words tend to get stretched in their definition, its human nature and I'd reference a cognitive science or linguistic book, but again I'm too lazy to flip through them until someone complains. However, there are hundreds of articles on prototypes and exemplars, as well the infantile tendency to overgeneralize (infantile, basic tendencies, are often found to influence adults), all showing that words do, in fact, get used in the looser way Jaydubayubee 05:32, 9 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Magical Boyfriend[edit]

I would like to see a mention of gender reversed takes on the genre, but right now the only title I can think of is Absolute Boyfriend. Also, would anyone know if there are any same-sex versions? --Paul Soth (talk) 11:44, 1 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

  • What we really need is a separate article about it..

I'm pretty sure I've heard of this before, so I don't see a reason why we couldn't have an article on it, however, I don't think this should be part of this article. We may talk about it briefly, yes, but I believe a source would be needed first and I believe it would be separate enough that it would require a new article more than it would a reference to it in this one. Repku (talk) 13:40, 21 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Not notable[edit]

As far as stock characters go, "Magical girlfriend" does not have significant notability, since it is merely a combination of "magical girl" and "girlfriend."

"魔法彼女" search results on Google are below 2,000 hits with most of them being instances where 魔法 is the last word in a parenthesis or a sentence (i.e. false positives).

It looks like the original author may have had "magical girl" in mind and got it wrong, and as a result the articles are needlessly separated.

—Tokek (talk) 17:05, 9 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Please see my comments on the AfD discussion. Magical girlfriends aren't usually magical girls, and magical girls who are someone's girlfriend aren't usually magical girlfriends. Magical girl anime are usually about a mostly-normal girl with magical powers, who does things that normal girls would do while also using her magical powers (often secretly). A magical girlfriend is a supernatural or otherwise non-normal being who magically appears and becomes the girlfriend of the protagonist of the anime, representing a form of wish fulfillment for guys (though there would be magical boyfriend anime/manga that is the equivelent genre for girls, e.g. Absolute Boyfriend). Calathan (talk) 15:12, 10 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Maho kanojo[edit]

Mention of maho kanojo, in Japanese, should be removed as the term is fake. This was detailed in the AfD and disputed by none. "Magical girlfriend" is, however, valid as a term used in English to describe an aspect of Japanese culture. —Tokek (talk) 02:55, 28 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Corresponding examples in Western live-action[edit]

To what degree would it be appropriate to also include the Western programs Bewitched and, even closer to the anime formula, I Dream of Jeanie? While the focus is primarily on anime and manga where this is a very common theme should the article be expanded to cover other areas? More importantly, would these examples that are more familiar to Western audiences help to increase understanding? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.169.74.129 (talk) 21:17, 12 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Are there any reliable sources citing them as examples? Because without a reliable source to back up the claim, it's unverifiable, original research, and possibility a non-neutral point of view. —Farix (t | c) 22:28, 12 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I found some blog articles and reviews:
EDIT: http://welltuncares.wordpress.com/tag/wcp-magical-girlfriends-are-magical/ A five-part blog series on Magical Girlfriends, and references Urusei Yatsura, Tenchi Muyo, and I Dream of Jeannie. he's done some research and he's also referenced the wikipedia article AngusWOOF (talk) 23:29, 17 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
http://blogfonte.blogspot.com/2003/09/theres-something-vastly-amusing-about.html relates Ah My Goddess to I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched
http://www.fpsmagazine.com/feature/060627magicalgirls.php fps magazine, Issue #8, affirms Sally the Witch as first Shoujo anime and Magical Girl anime.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Bewitched TV Tropes article on Bewitched "Furthermore, Bewitched is credited as a major influence on the very first Magical Girl anime, Sally The Witch (Mahōtsukai Sally, broadcast 1966-1968), making it the ultimate ancestor of all Cute Witch characters in Japanese animation. More recently, explicit homage was paid to Bewitched by the anime Oku-sama wa Maho Shojo: Bewitched Agnes (2005-present)."
Sally the Witch - article in Wikipedia has a linked reference on how that was inspired by Bewitched AngusWOOF (talk) 16:56, 15 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
http://comics.ign.com/articles/873/873178p1.html IGN review of Mamotte Shugogetten - "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". If you are, then think "Oh! My Goddess!". Either one works if you're looking for a comparison." AngusWOOF (talk) 16:32, 18 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]


Weird Science would also fit in since it's about some high school guys creating a perfect girl android who has extraordinary powers. AngusWOOF (talk) 18:04, 17 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
My Stepmother is an Alien works as well. The main guy falls in love and marries an alien girl who tries to keep that part a secret. AngusWOOF (talk) 20:00, 17 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]
I've added the section for the Western live-action. Rather than list all the possible movies, since that can lead to more debate, I've cited the IGN review above and also added the Mannequin review which defines the terms quite well. AngusWOOF (talk) 20:11, 14 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Magical Girlfriend or Not? List of titles to be considered[edit]

Here's the list of possible magical girlfriends that were originally listed in the main wikipedia article but it's rather ridiculous to have [citation needed] all over the place, so I'm putting them here for discussion. When a character and title has the source to confirm it belongs on the list, then you can add them back in. AngusWOOF (talk) 20:34, 17 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

robots such as Joi in Blade Runner 2049[edit]

Joi is a hologram, an intangible projection, not a gynoid machine. 2A01:CB0C:CD:D800:1C22:68E3:8D60:8E8A (talk) 16:15, 7 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Occasionally magical girlfriends?[edit]

Can a character be a magical girlfriend/boyfriend for some episodes, but not the entire series (for example, if someone gets powers temporarily, or if a couple gets together or breaks up)? Does the term only apply if the story focuses on the relationship(s), or can the magical girlfriend/boyfriend storyline be a subplot, maybe only involving the supporting cast (that is, not the main characters)?

Would any of the characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer be considered magical girlfriends/boyfriends? Buffy and Angel are both "magical"; Willow is not magical at the start of the series; and not every episode is about who is or isn't in a relationship.

--173.67.42.107 (talk) 06:33, 30 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

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