Majokko Megu-chan

Majokko Megu chan lives as the 9th mahou shoujo in history, coming after Cutey Honey and Miracle Shoujo Limit-Chan, and exists as a show at a cross roads between the sexy Honey and the innocent Akko chan from Himitsu no Akko Chan. This show felt like a response to Honey, acknowledging the metaphorical can of worms it opened in the mahou shoujo space while simultaneously choosing the status quo. This show looked into the face of greatness and chose mediocrity.

Majokko Megu has a wonderful first half, with consistently interesting episode up to episode 40, peaking with episode 32: A tense 25 ... minutes of horror and suspense at the hands of the villain Joker lurking in the shadows at every turn. There are episodes that acknowledge the darkness inherent to the human condition, where Megu confronts topics from suicide, abandoned children, living with survivor's guilt, and more, and all this plays into the show's theme of affirming the soul of humanity at large. The unfortunate reality is that this thematic density is almost unilaterally dropped by the show's mid point, never to be seen again; left in the dirt in favor of easier, less intrusive, and by extension more dull episode plots. With that said, its not as if there are no episodes with caring about in the second half, with episode 49 and 63 both standing out amidst mediocrity. The final 2 episodes are also decent, focusing on the true villain Sataan.

Megu and her nominal rival Non stand as apparent antithesis of one another: Where Megu cherishes humanity, Non scoffs at their importance, but just when it seemed the show was embarking on a journey to remember with Non's character, the entire arc is abandoned. Non increasingly sees the flaws in her world view through episode 45 until suddenly she doesnt, and returns to her starting point to remain an antagonist to Megu's ideals. I think this is a massive miss step for the show, and Non's appearance in episode 48 is the point of no return for a character with so much potential.

Visually, the show certainly has highlights worthy of seeing, but generally exists in a space of "its okay". Perhaps this is a bias of falling out of love with the show but i found less visual frames to glee over in the back half of the show. Occationally there are hints of color experimentation but largely the show plays it safe, visually.

In the end, I find it hard to consider Megu as more than an attempt to return Mahou Shoujo to its thematic roots established by earlier titles. Perhaps this was for the best back in 1974 when it seemed that Honey could have taken the genre in a different direction.

Episode 1 is about the main character learning that it's, Apparently, WRONG to expect that parents who really love her would not expect her to be nice to a family member who sexually assaulted her just because he is younger.
This is an accurate reflection of what the show is like in general. The message is that human society is better than the matriarchal witch society because human society is based on "love," something that witches don't value, but frankly, it's hard to see why anyone would value "love" as it is portrayed here.
The primary purpose of this show, although it is supposedly aimed at young ... girls, seems to be pleasing male viewers with the objectified image of a young teenage girl who is opinionated but not TOO opinionated, who not only allows herself to be sexualized but actually invites it in the opening song. The secondary purpose seems to be convincing young girls not to put up any resistance to being objectified, that its a compliment and is actually empowering.