Magical girlfriend

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A magical girlfriend (魔法彼女, mahou kanojo) is a bishōjo character often associated with romantic comedy anime series; however, the genre is said to ultimately have its origins in Japanese fandoms for the American sitcoms Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie. As their name implies, magical girlfriends typically have unusual powers compared to normal people, magical or otherwise. They are slightly more prevalent as exclusive romantic interests to a lead (unlike harem anime), and usually have a more mature age and demeanor. They feature more heavily in seinen than shōnen stories. This character is not to be confused with the magical girl, which is a distinct concept—the two genres rarely, if ever, overlap.

1 Magical personality
2 Magical ability
3 Characteristics of the genre
4 Examples of "magical girlfriend" characters
- 4.1 Idealized
- 4.2 Less than idealized

[edit] Magical personality

Many magical girlfriends are ultimately idealizations of girls the (male) audience would like. (This sometimes produces mixed reactions in fangirls.) They have great 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 and demure personalities, which isn't always true of the other characters associated with them.

Some have little experience with mainstream life (especially the non-human examples) and are naive. On the other hand, this allows them to have few preconceptions and argueably makes them more openminded and empathic with others. They are usually considered emotionally insightful, seeing the good in others when most wouldn't and forgiving their shortcomings.

[edit] Magical ability

The term "magical girlfriend" can also be used more loosely, indicating just that the character is a "romantic interest" who has some form of unusual powers or other abilities due to their origins. These sources can be supernatural (Oh My Goddess!), extraterrestrial (Urusei Yatsura, Onegai Teacher), or technological (Chobits, AI Love You).

While this might still overlap with the above definition, their depiction can take an opposite, almost satirical bent especially in comedies. The main character's problems are amplified when his girlfriend (or would-be girlfriend) can give him not just dirty looks and guilt trips, but physically abuse him. A famous early example is Lum who generally electrocuted her would-be boyfriend whenever he acted up. A more extreme version would be Dokuro from Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan, who will not hesitate to bring a violent and bloody (but short-lived) death to the male lead whenever she is displeased.

[edit] Characteristics of the genre

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 the male lead which typically forces a situation of cohabitation. However the male lead often is inexperienced with women, due to him either being the atypical "nice guy," or is too sexually aggressive but clumsy with his advances. This situation often prevents the relationship from advancing beyond a platonic level throughout most of the series.

Another feature is that soon after the male and female leads begin to live together, other characters from the female lead's origin soon appear, either becoming frequent visitors or moving in with the lead couple. While often female as well, they however recognize the relationship of the lead couple as opposed to becoming rivals for the male lead's affection as seen in harem series. In the stereotype/archetype this starts with an "older woman" character (typically an older sister or the mother of the female lead), who comes off as more sexually experienced and feels that the relationship of the lead couple is moving too slowly for their tastes. This is then followed by a younger "little sister" type character who disapproves of the relationship out of fear of losing the affection and attentions of the female lead.

Afterwords, various rivals of the cast can appear to create numerous dilemmas. These can vary from being other men who fight for the affection of the female lead, "girl next door" characters that create emotional dilemmas for the male lead, "queen" type characters who sees the female lead as a rival to their popularity, and outright villainous characters from the female lead's origins. From here, the various interactions between the members of the cast provide the basis of the further events of the series, which in a series with a planned ending can result in the male lead choosing the girl he wishes to be with (either the female lead or the "girl next door") and the rest of the cast accepting the relationship.