Magical boy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Magical boy or Mahō shōnen (魔法少年, Japanese for "magical boy") is used to refer to anime and manga that have magical boys in them. This is the male counterpart of mahō shōjo or magical girl anime. Because they are usually associated with shoujo, magical boys are typically bishonen and designed to appeal as a crush object (although sometimes with a mischievous or cold demeanor). An example of a magical boy is Daisuke Niwa of DNAngel, who can transform into the phantom thief Dark Mousy; another is Pegasus Seiya.

By literal definition, characters like the leads in Negima and Shaman King could qualify, although they lack many of the standard cliches with the job title. Tsukasa of .hack//SIGN could be considered a magical boy, although contention arises about the extent of his "magical" powers.

However, magical boys are traditionally supporting characters, who help or hinder the lead magical girl(s). An example of such is Syaoran Li from Cardcaptor Sakura, Sakura Kinomoto's rival. Together, they capture the Clow Cards. Another is Mamoru Chiba from Sailor Moon, who transforms into Tuxedo Kamen to help the lead girls when they are in trouble. Other examples of this type of magical boy include the Blue Knight of Tokyo Mew Mew, Kaitou Sinbad of Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, and Angel Limone of Wedding Peach.