|
In the history of Japanese animated television series, the genre of mahō shōjo has developed for a long time. It has been 50 years since the first mahō shōjo work, Sally the Witch was made in 1966. Gradually, mahō shōjo developed certain kinds of stereotypes, for example, when we refer to mahō shōjo, we can doubtlessly think of a teen-age girl who uses her magical power to fight against evil. However, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, a TV animation produced in 2011 by a Japanese animation company SHAFT, broke the tradition, and brought up a great amount of discussions within the audiences. The introduction of this animation was also regarded as the “destruction” of traditional mahō shōjo.
In this research, Puella Magi Madoka Magica will be my main text. First, in order to give a brief introduction of the traditional image of mahō shōjo , I will start with discussing the history of the genre of mahō shōjo in the Japanese TV animation series. Second, characters and main themes in Puella Magi Madoka Magica will be analyzed. Main themes include the differences between majō and mahō shōjo, the coincidence of hope and desperation, and the relationship between time leap and Karma. Finally, based on the comparison of different representations between Puella Magi Madoka Magica and other traditional mahō shōjo, I would like to examine whether Puella Magi Madoka Magica reverses the traditional images of mahō shōjo, and to find out the meanings behind this kind of subversion.
Throughout the research, I think that Puella Magi Madoka Magica indeed explored more possibilities for the genre of mahō shōjo, but traditional image of mahō shōjo can still be found in the main character, madoka. As a result, I believe that the transformation of mahō shōjo images in Puella Magi Madoka Magica is not a subversion, but a reflection of nowadays teen-age girls, who have to face the difficulties and challenges when they grow up to be an adult.
|