magical girl

noun

In Japanese anime and manga, a young girl with superhuman abilities who is called upon to fight evil.

OriginJapanese 魔法少女 →
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Meanings

nounmagical girl (plural magical girls)

plural magical girls

  1. In Japanese anime and manga, a young girl with superhuman abilities who is called upon to fight evil.

    The magical girl starts out as a typical schoolgirl. Her transformation—via a glamorous costume, and amplified by special powers—gives her a new identity.

    2013, Christopher Hart, Magical Characters, Watson-Guptill Publications, →ISBN, page 17
    2 more examples

    Contrary to conventional magical girl anime, in which protagonists happily accept their superpower, shōjo heroines are reluctant to become Magical Girls in Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

    2014, Lien Fan Shen, “The Dark, Twisted Magical Girls: Shōjo Heroines in Puella Magi Madoka Magica”, in Norma Jones, Maja Bajac-Carter, Bob Batchelor, editors, Heroines of Film and Television: Portrayals in Popular Culture, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 183

    The magical girl genre was originally aimed at girls: series like Sailor Moon were first serialized in shōjo manga (girls' comics) magazines and contained many traits common to that genre.

    2015, Deborah Shamoon, “The Superflat Space of Japanese Anime”, in Lilian Chee, Edna Lim, editors, Asian Cinema and the Use of Space: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Routledge, →ISBN, page 98

Origin

  1. Japanese魔法少女
  2. Englishmagical girl

Calque of Japanese 魔法少女 (まほうしょうじょ, mahō shōjo).

More words from Japanese

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Cantonese 魔法少女
  • 魔法少女 (mo¹ faat³ siu³ neoi⁵)stock character in Japanese media
Chinese Mandarin 魔法少女
  • 魔法少女 (mófǎ shàonǚ)stock character in Japanese media
French magical girl
  • magical girlstock character in Japanese media
Japanese 魔法少女
  • 魔法少女 (mahō shōjo)stock character in Japanese media
Thai สาวน้อยเวทมนตร์
  • สาวน้อยเวทมนตร์stock character in Japanese media
Vietnamese ma pháp thiếu nữ
  • ma pháp thiếu nữstock character in Japanese media
Cite this entry
APA

magical girl. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/magical%20girl

MLA

“magical girl.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/magical%20girl. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “magical girl,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/magical%20girl.

Source: magical girl on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.