Houkago no Pleiades (TV)

Shows based on Vocaloid originals or involving utaites/producers who are/have been active on Nico Nico Douga (extended to YouTube for newer gens).
While not its own genre, these compositions tend to have a recognisable feel to them.
(Updating as I come across songs, you can poke me to add stuff as well :D)

2nd stack for post-2020 anime debuts: https://myanimelist.net/stacks/26372

Actual Vocaloids:
GUMI ~ Joshikousei no Mudazukai / Agukaru: Play with Ibaraki-hen
IA ~ Recorder to Randoseru Mi☆
Miku ~ Akikan / Watamote / Yami Shibai / Black Rock Shooter / Kemurikusa / ALFA-X / Aware! Meisaku / Petit Seka
MEIKA Hime & Mikoto ~ Hakata Mentai! Pirikarako-chan
Luka ~ Copihan
Meaw (possibly) ~ Honto ni Atta! Reibai Sensei
Go! Go! 575
Zunda Horizon

Prioritising first appearances/multiple artists bc of 50 limit. For composer entries, the singer is only listed if they're
At some point, I'd have been super hyped for any show with a Vocaloid producer but come late 2010s they've been popping up everywhere :')

*List is roughly sorted by anime based on Vocaloid songs > Male utaites > Female utaites > Producers

Based on the popular magical girl inphographic guide https://i.imgur.com/vFQ3vaZ.jpeg with notes attached to each entry

This is split into 2 Categories:
B. (starts with Utena) I've only seen Madoka Magica and I want to learn more about the genre, but idk if I'm ready for kids' shows.
If at the end you're ready to explore the mahou shoujo genre in full force, jump to Category A.

A. (starts with Precure) I like cute stuff and the magical girls aesthetic, and I can actually handle stuff aimed at little girls.
If at the end this isn't enough for you, congrats, you're into mahou shoujo and you should start doing your own research.

List of great magical girl animes, anyone whose interested should watch, I do fudge about a bit with the rules for a magical girl anime should be, but otherwise they all make sense.

A massive collection of mahou-shoujo anime to provide hours of entertainment for fans of the genre.

1-3 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/14457
4-5 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/14459 <= YOU ARE HERE
6-7 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/14693
8-9 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/14694
10 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/14695

shows with a maximum of 59,000 and a minimum of 25,000 members

Perhaps you watched a really dark, disturbing, and horrifying anime that you need help moving past. Here's some anime that are optimistic, happy, cheerful, and innocent.

This is a stack of Anime which each have a Main Cast of Only 5 Females, no more, no less, and no males will be in these Main Casts. (Creatures don't count).

If you like the types of shows featured in this stack, feel free to check out this stack series: Comedic All Female Cast/CGDCT Shows, as it might contain more anime you would like.

This stack will only contain the first season of each series.

Original anime series with all female main characters. Anime listed here are those I've seen and like.

This is a list of series that have gotten relatively little attention and are underrated, despite being very good. I'd encourage everyone to at least try some of the shows in this list -- you might really enjoy them.

A list of magical girl shows that contain significant sci-fi themes and elements.

Includes all* anime on the Anime+/GRAPH mahou shoujo/magical girl achievement list

Notes:
If the anime is saved under a different name in the original list (and the ID matches), the listed title is added as a comment. The anime will keep its place according to the list - even if it will no longer be alphabetically correct according to its main title on MAL. This is to make the job of checking and updating these much easier for me.

*The main stacks do NOT include hentai. This is both for people who want to avoid it, and because including it will significantly limit the stack. Please proceed to the Hentai Edition™ in the list below if you're into that.

Links:
★ Club - https://myanimelist.net/clubs.php?cid=67199
★ Original list - https://github.com/anime-plus/graph/blob/main/data/achievement/anime-mahou-shoujo.json
★ Watch order guides (you're gonna need them...) - https://chiaki.site/?/tools/watch_order

The whole series:
★ Part 01 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/31473
★ Part 02 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/31474
★ Part 03 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/31475
★ Part 04 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/31476 <== you are here
★ Part 05 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/31477
★ Part 06 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/31478
★ Part 07 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/31479
★ Part 08 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/31480
★ Part 09 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/31481
★ Part 10 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/31482
★ Part 11 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/31483
★ Part 12 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/31484
★ Part 13 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/31485
★ Part 14 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/31486
★ Hentai Edition for a) serious completionists and b) horny people - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/31496
★ Manga version - coming soon

Last updated: July 03, 2023
Feel free to let me know if something has been added and I haven't updated in a while, or if I've made a mistake somewhere! <3

A comprehensive list of my favorite Mahou Shoujo anime from its golden age in the 1990s to the genre's unfortunate fizzling out in the early 2010s.

Even though the genre can be traced all the way to the 1960s, it's hard to argue that those old works reach the necessary thematic or quality tresholds for inclusion as historical analysis isn't the sole focus of this list. Furthermore, I'm not particularly fond of various popular works such as Cardcaptor Sakura. Mahou Shoujo lists with all the usual suspects can be found elsewhere. A much wider net is being cast here.

As the landscape of anime changed, many elements of Mahou Shoujo bled into other genres. This, coupled with creative exhaustion within, lead to what can only be described as the death of the Mahou Shoujo in early 2010s. Latter Mahou Shoujo found itself forced to fit into one of two molds; Either a long-running, but creatively bankrupt franchise for small kids (eg. Jewlpets) or an "edgy" subversion with military elements and lots of suffering (eg. Magical Girl Raising Project). In general, neither succeeded at producing classics.

By the tail end of 2010s there were some attempts at reviving the classical formula, but these haven't yielded any notable critical nor popular success. As far as things appear now, the genre isn't coming back anytime soon, if ever.

Listed anime have been carefully considered and are a healthy mix of both popular and critical darlings and overlooked shows. Despite its high quality as a show, there will be no Madoka Magica on this list due to the part it played in the death of Mahou Shoujo. The ordering is somewhat arbitrary, driven by my own fondness.

Part 1 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/35206

Cute girls doing action things/Newer entries/more female-focused/2 or more girls that fight/Primarily girls doing action things


Fighting Female Protagonist
part 1 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/34135
part 2 - https://myanimelist.net/stacks/34283

Magical Girls with space themes