It’s been a fun ride, but now it’s coming to an end.
The Good
The Media Channels and platforms course certainly had a wide variety of content and I learnt a lot. What’s even better is that I became genuinely curious about many things that were new to me. Since every lesson had a different topic there was only so much we could cover, though many of the themes did overlap. Now I can say I have a basic understanding of a good variety of topics and it’ll be easier to do further research on my own. I’m delighted.
Keeping up with the blog wasn’t always easy, but it was certainly worth it. Somehow I think I’ll even miss the practice of writing my weekly (or not so weekly) media stuff. I know there are many people who earn their living by producing content, for example by writing a blog, and twice as many people who don’t see that as a real job. Well it is one heck of a job and now I have experienced it first-hand.
..and the Bad
I chose Blogger because I thought it'd be easy since I've had a couple of blogs on this platform in the past. Turns out time had sugarcoated my memories but starting a new Blogger blog quickly reminded me of the truth. The user experience is terrible, there are countless weird bugs and modifying the look of the blog is an absolute horror. Also making the blog responsive is more a challenge than it seems at first glance. For example no one will see your embedded Youtube videos on mobile if you don't go to the post's HTML view editor and edit a certain class from the code. (For anyone who's interested, it's class="BLOG_video_class")
There are manyarticles on why Bloggersucks. For me it was a bad decision since I didn't have the time to put in a lot of effort in learning how to make things nice and pretty on a platform that I'm not going to use professionally, ever. So my blog ended up looking quite lame. If you want something free and neat go to Wix (or Wordpress.com, though I haven't tried that one myself so can't really vouch for it). But please don’t ever make a blog on Blogger. Just.. Don’t do it. If you already did, I'm sorry. I feel your pain.
Magical girl animation (mahō shōjo/majokko in Japanese) is a staple in Japanese TV programming that targets mainly female prepubescent viewers. When talking about the genre, there are two series that are often credited as the first: Mahōtsukai Sarī (Sally the Witch, 1966) and Himitsu no Akko-chan (The secret of Akko-chan, 1969), the latter being based on a manga that was published in 1962. Curiously enough both of them state the American sitcom Bewitched (1964) as their main source of inspiration. Sally was the first Japanese animation targeting young girls and she is the first example of the “Cute Witch” (魔女っ子, majokko) archetype (a young witch, often a princess of a magical kingdom, whose powers are of genetic origin), while Akko-chan was the first one to introduce magical powers gifted to an otherwise ordinary human who would use these powers to transform.
The 1970s continued with various majokko animations such as Mahōtsukai Chappī (Chappie the Witch, 1972) and Majokko Megu-chan (Megu, the Little Witch, 1974). In 1973 Cutey Honey started airing and it had one of the first female protagonists in an anime targeted at a male audience. She can be seen more as a superhero than a magical girl but she’s definitely the prototype of the "Magical Girl Warrior" (a subgenre that would later be cemented by Sailor Moon.)
Magical Angel Creamy Mami
In the 1980s series such as Mahō no purinsesu Minkīmomo (Fairy Princess Minky Momo, 1982) and Mahō no tenshi Kurīmī Mami (Magical Angel Creamy Mami, 1983) introduced heroines with the magical power to turn into older versions of themselves. Creamy Mami was also the first series that gave birth to a new subgenre, "Magical Girl Idol", where the girl’s secret identity is some sort of an entertainer (usually a singer). The 1990s marked an important point in magical girl history when Bishōjo Senshi Sērā Mūn (Sailor Moon) came out in 1992. The series was a global success and it triggered the first wave of cute action programs with female protagonists, such as Powerpuff Girls (1998), Totally Spies! (2001) and W.I.T.C.H. (2004, based on a comic that was first published in 2001) in the US and Europe.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
In the 21st century we have seen the magical girl genre expand its themes to more mature and darker ones, such as death and the price of magical power. Examples of this type of shows are Mahō shōjo Madoka Magika (Puella Magi Madoka Magica, 2011) where all magical girls are doomed to become evil in the end and Mahō Shōjo Ririkaru Nanoha (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha) that has overall a different tone, focuses much more on combat and is actually targeted at male viewers.
Magical girls have been criticised for many matters throughout the years, for example for being cash cows.
Something I learnt reading research papers on magical girls (linked in the source section at the end of this post) is that most if not all magical girl anime is actually comparable to a series of 25-minute long toy commercials. Anime is typically made at a loss of a million yen per episode and thus relies on sales of media or merchandise to make a profit. All those cute mascots that accompany the magical girls on their adventures? Merchandise. All those detailed magical trinkets that give the girls special powers or help them transform? Merchandise. The writers, directors and producers form a committee with the sponsors who make the merchandise, and more often than not the toy is designed by the sponsor company before its appearance in the animation. In the case of Pretty Cure their transformation and power-up trinkets are all merchandise, and these toys are the only part that’s CGI-animated in the transformation sequences. This way the original form of the toy can be respected meanwhile it is integrated into a scene that repeats in every single episode when the girls go through their metamorphosis.
Animation-wise I also learnt that these transformation sequences were originally meant to save time and effort in the production, since they were repeated so many times during the series. However nowadays its treated more as an opportunity for the animators to show off their skills and grow their portfolio. The transformations of the complete team of the girls in Smile Pretty Cure! lasts over three minutes and consist of 10,000 drawings, whereas roughly 3000 drawings are typically required to animate a single episode.
Then there's the feminism controversy.
Though it can be stated that magical girl anime has reflected the empowerment of Japanese women throughout the years, these girls are still way more fantasy than fact. The heroines are portrayed assertive, active and self-reliant but are often nevertheless sexualised in various ways and subjected to the ‘male gaze’. For example the transformation scenes showing the girls changing clothes (and in many cases naked) is a staple in the genre, but the tastefulness of it seems to vary depending on the show. It can also be noted that as opposed to the transformations in series like Power Rangers the magical girls usually seem to go through a “make-over” rather than a “power-up”.
As an example see the transformation of Vivio, a 9-year-old girl who’s a character in the series Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha ViVid (starting at 0:30). The camera swipes over her behind and chest way more than any other body part, and though she transforms to an older version of herself, it’s still a child that we’re talking about. As mentioned earlier, the Nanoha series is mostly aimed at a male audience.
This blogpost talks about something that’s called internalised misogyny (regarding magical girl anime). That would be when women oppress themselves and their peers: it’s not out of spite, it’s just an inevitable reflection of the society and culture we live in. Women might reject the frilly, colourful and pretty magical girls because we’re “meant to like” things that are traditionally labeled “feminine”, while in reality there’s no shame in liking “girly” things if you just genuinely find them nice.
So I wanted to make magical girl designs for three women that had some historical impact in the real world.
In visual terms there are certain tropes that repeat in the magical girl genre, like bows, frills, lace, bright colours and colour-coding the characters if they’re a team. Magical trinkets and motifs such as hearts, stars, wings, wands, gemstones, cards, brooches and so on are also something you’re very likely to find in this type of shows.
I started my process by researching each woman's background and also looking into their wardrobe. The challenge was to respect their personality and fashion choices while making the outfits loyal to the genre. My first thought about Tarja Halonen in a frilly dress was rather funny to be honest, but I didn't want to make the characters a joke, so I had to integrate I also wanted to colour-code them like a true magical girl posse so they would look good when fighting against evil forces together. Red, green and blue are a very common combination for team. (Even more common would be to go for pink instead of red, but I just saw red more fitting for Frida. More on that later.)
Frida Kahlo 1907–1954
Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter who went through a lot of pain and suffering during her life, and has famously portrayed this in her paintings. She had polio when she was 6 years old and that left her right leg thinner and shorter than the left one. When she was 18 she was in a bus accident that nearly killed her and left her recovering in a full body cast for a long time (this was also when she seriously started painting).
These incidents had an effect on many things in her life, including the way she dressed. There were various clothing choices she would make to hide the state of her body, such as handmade shoes with wedged heels with the right heel higher and long traditional Tehuana skirts and blouses (so she not only hid her legs but also wore these blouses with a square shape to put emphasis on her upper body and head). Other prominent features of her style were bold colours, a lot of patterns, rebozo (traditional Mexican shawl), jewellery indigenous to Mexico and her signature hairstyle composed of braiding and flowers. Topping everything off with her unibrow and slight moustache that don't really fit any traditional beauty standards for women we could say that she had a very iconic look.
In my initial sketch I drew her with a long skirt, true to her style. I changed my mind when going through her numerous self-portraits and realising she really portrayed herself very raw in her art, without hiding literally any part of her body. I thought that attitude might carry on to her magical girl form, so in the end I went for a short skirt.
Her right leg was amputated later in life and she had these special boots made for her complete with a prosthetic leg. I thought these boots already scream magical girl as is so I drew inspiration from them directly, exaggerating the bell part.
Frida is often pictured with a red rebozo, red lipstick, red flowers in her hair etc, so that seemed like a natural colour choice for her outfit. Red's also often viewed as a colour of passion, love and courage, which are themes at least her paintings transmit to me. Her magical item is the brush wand. She was the first of the magical girls I drew, so I also spent the most time on her. Once I had the process down, drawing the others didn't take so long.
Tarja Halonen 1943–
She was Finland's first female president 2000-2012 and she was known for paying attention to human rights, gender equality, democracy and civil society. She's a feminist and served as the chairperson of SETA (Finnish National organization for Sexual Equality) in the 80s. This sparked quite some rumours about her being a lesbian, which she has denied. According to an article by Helsingin Sanomat Tarja states that when she was considering becoming the chairwoman, she asked herself if she's really so pathetic that she doesn't have the guts and courage to stand up for gay rights, when those people suffer discrimination every single day.
It wasn't that easy to find information about Tarja's style. I went through a myriad of photos from various articles and the Independence Day Reception and drew inspiration from the clothes and dresses I saw her wear. According to an article by Yle at some point she was criticised for the way she dresses, but it's not really elaborated how, just stated that she was told to dress more modest. I didn't really see it fitting to make her outfit outright revealing but I did make the other side of her dress hem quite short. Regarding the colour of the dress in various photos I've seen her wear quite a lot of green. It goes very well with her hair and I think it also transmits a cool but lively close-to-earth vibe. Her magical item is the Grand Cross of the White Rose of Finland.
Nina Simone 1933–2003
This woman was singing about how Black Lives Matter even before the movement existed. According to her an artist's duty is to reflect the times.
She started out as a classical pianist and began playing at nightclubs when she wasn't accepted to study in Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia (which she later on realised was because she was black). Just playing the piano didn't cut it for the clubs and she was required her to sing as well, and to hide this from her religious mother she took on the stage name Nina Simone (she was actually born Eunice Waymon). She mixed a wide range of musical styles and didn't really start singing politically until she wrote the song Mississippi Goddam (1964), that according to her own words just "burst out of her" after the assassination of Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers in 1963. She became involved in the Civil Rights movement and wrote even more songs that criticised racism but also promoted black self-love.
For me designing Nina's dress was the trickiest out of the three women, and I had to look for a lot of reference pictures. The details are quite directly inspired by her several outfits, for example the sleeves are a frillied-up version of a blouse she had on in some pictures. To me the most outstanding part of all of her outfits was her bold hairdos and different types of hair accessories, so of course I had to include those.
I was hesitating between white, black and blue for outfit, but went with blue in the end. There are many photos of her wearing black or white dresses (and other outfits, for example netted jumpsuits) but I was more convinced of making my third design with a more traditional magical girl colour after all. Blue can be seen as the colour of inspiration, peace and intelligence, so I think it suits her quite well. Her magical item is, surprise surprise, the microphone.
In the name of art and human rights, we'll punish you!
All of the illustrations were drawn entirely in Procreate.
