Magical Girlfriend - Characteristics of The Genre

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 him, often forcing a situation of cohabitation. In many cases, this situation is repeated with other characters (Tenchi Muyo!), overlapping with the harem genre of anime. However the male lead is often inexperienced with women despite typically being a "nice guy". This situation often prevents the relationship from advancing beyond a platonic level throughout most of the series, as an ideal girlfriend doesn't come on strong herself and is generally passive in the relationship.

In parodies, the character may be too young (i.e. Nakahito Kagura in Steel Angel Kurumi; Negi Springfield in Mahou Sensei Negima!) or otherwise have a more rational, ambivalent attitude towards women. A famous early reversal of the cliche occurs with the overtly lecherous Ataru Moroboshi of Urusei Yatsura), who is simply uninterested in monogamous relationships despite the fact few women besides his romantically-aggressive alien girlfriend find him attractive.

Another feature is that soon after the male and female leads begin to live together, other (usually female) characters from the female (or male) lead's origin appear (friends, siblings, relatives, rivals or even enemies), either becoming frequent visitors, cohabitors, or generally causing a disruption. or even moving in with the lead couple. Sometimes a character from the male lead's origin will appear. Examples include Ai Yori Aoshi, where Kaoru's half-brother tries to take Aoi for himself, and Omamori Himari, where demonslayer Kuesu Jinguuji appears in volume 3 to claim Yuuto Amakawa as her betrothed.

Even when there is one female lead, various rivals always threaten the relationship between the lead characters, often creating complicated "love polygons". These can vary from being from mundane characters such as men who fight for the affection of the female (and rarely male) lead, or rivals from the female lead's origins.

The romantic relationship(s) in magical girlfriend comedies tend to remain static and platonic throughout the series. Commonly episodes involve some sort of superficial threat to the static nature of the relationship (which could, and often is, the male lead or the girlfriends' desire to get closer), which is almost always resolved in some way that doesn't fundamentally alter that relationship. Action plotlines are often introduced through some sort of threat from the magical girlfriends origins or through other means. If the romantic relationship(s) do move, it is very slow. For example, Oh My Goddess starts with Belldandy contractually bound to Keiichi and the other goddesses trying to separate them. After more than 100 chapters, Belldandy is no longer bound, but chooses to stay with Keiichi, and the other goddesses admit that Keiichi is worthy of a goddess' love.