About deus ex magical girl

magical girls with goofy hats

Featured image: “MMD TDA:Magical Girls” by AmaneHatsura

I’m D. G. D. Davidson, archaeologist, librarian, science fiction fan, blogger, author, and magical girl enthusiast. You’ve arrived at my blog dedicated to manga, anime, science fiction, and anything else I feel like discussing, but especially magical girls.

What exactly is a magical girl? Like all genres, magical girl, or mahou shoujo in the Japanese, is hard to define. Generally, magical girl stories are coming-of-age tales about young girls (age seven to sixteen, typically) who are born with, or else acquire, magical powers to save the world, fight monsters, or make people’s lives better while also dealing with the trials and tribulations of growing up. Usually, magical girls can be divided into the “cute witch,” “magical idol singer,” and “magical girl warrior” sub-genres. The cute witch is the original magical girl type, beginning with the anime series Sally the Witch and the manga Himitsu no Akkochan. The magical idol singer was defined by Creamy Mami, and the magical girl warrior began with Cutie Honey but was defined by Sailor Moon. The original inspiration for the magical girl was the American television series Bewitched. Although it is usually considered to be specifically Japanese, there are examples of the genre from elsewhere such as the popular Italian cartoon series Winx Club.

I’m not sure I qualify as an otaku or weeaboo, but I am a guy who discovered serendipitously that he enjoys magical girl anime. I do not claim my knowledge of this peculiar genre is comprehensive, but I’m absorbing more and more all the time, so let us call it “modestly wide-ranging.”

This site is always under construction. It features news, reviews, and essays. It also exists to promote my own work: I am the author of Jake and the Dynamo.

I showcase art, which I display under fair use with attributions (when I can find them), as in the eyecatch of this page. I accept suggestions or submissions, or remove art if asked by the creator. So if you’re an artist looking to spread your reach and you draw magical girls, leave a comment and if I deem it appropriate I’ll almost certainly feature your work.

I write reviews on a “what I’m watching or reading” basis, so not all will be of recent or popular works.

This is not intended as a site for children, but I try to keep the posts and the artwork Safe for Work, and I ask readers for common courtesy in the comment box, which is supplied by Disqus. At present, there is no profanity filter and there are no specific commenting rules, but I may add them as need be.