In light of the recent article
I linked to promoting a new magical girl show in the US trying to rival Winx (and the fact that Winx is currently no longer on Nick Jr. US), it got me thinking (and researching) about how the genre has been doing in the US since the original Sailor Mooon burst on to our screens, so I did some research... Short version: Not very good
It doesn't help that in the years since the Winx came along, Japanese anime (Sailor Moon included) has seen itself mostly relegated to DVD releases and online streaming (and fansubs, of course
) AFAIK, the US hasn't had a
mahou shoujo anime on mainstream TV since
Doremi and
Mew Mew and even those shows had to be edited to conform to (ahem) American standards, which probably explains things
Even the mega-phenomenon
Precure has appeared to have mostly passed North America by: After 4Kids briefly held the US license and did nothing with it, YTV Canada dubbed just the first season for domestic release, and it wasn't until more recently that another season was dubbed:
Smile Precure (season 9), dubbed by Saban (4Kids-style, to boot) as
Glitter Force for Netflix... and no offense to
House of Cards and
Stranger Things, but when was the last time a Netflix-only cartoon got mainstream buzz?
So enough about Japan, what about Western-made magical girls? Well, it seems that outside of the early years of Winx, America just isn't latching on to those either...
*
W.i.t.c.h. was expected to be Disney's next big hit after
Kim Possible, but ended up limping into obscurity after 2 seasons (covering the two comic arcs that were published in the states) And I'm sure some people will claim that our favorite fairies were part of the reason
*
Angel's Friends: First season bought up by a
syndicator for E/I considerations, now legally available on
YouTube*
LoliRock and the Winx spinoff
PopPixie: Netflix'd, like
Glitter ForceSuddenly,
Miraculous really does seem appropriately-named when you think about it
And you'll also notice that these shows are all European productions (though
W.i.t.c.h. was co-funded by Disney, and even had Greg "Gargoyles" Weisman as a writer at one point)
As for what's been taking North America so long to roll their own, it seems like in the mid to late 2000's, US TV animation was going through a phase where they were averse to female protagonists: In 2007, Chris Reccardi made a magical girl-inspired spy cartoon
pilot that was never picked up for series, seemingly for that very reason
(And between
Korra and
Young Justice, I imagine some will argue that there's still some pushback against girls
)
The whole "girl aversion" thing appears to have toned down with the dawn of the new decade, and quite a few American shows that lie just outside the fringe of the typical magical girl trappings seem to be doing well: You've got
Star vs.,
Steven Universe, and the latest incarnation of
My Little Pony (plus its more "traditional"
Equestria Girls spinoff series of specials)... Other than the lack of transformations (and in
Steven's case, the focus on the male lead rather than the girls), these shows have all most of the other magical girl formulaics down pat... So, what gives? The best reasons I can come up with are:
- Those successful shows have something to offer the boys in the audience without feeling too ashamed: the superhero elements in
Miraculous, the pop references in
MLP, Star Butterfly's wackiness...
- As much as we'd like to think otherwise, the American common denominator seems to prefer eye candy and wacky hijinks to character-driven storytelling
You pretty much have to lure them with the former to get away with doing the latter...