The major aspect about magic anime has to lie in the possession of magical powers that may or may not be in a world of magic. Why do we say “may not,” exactly? Well, sometimes characters will have to hide the fact that they have powers from mere mortals (like in the world of Harry Potter), but for the most part, many magic anime tend to revolve around beings with great magical power that may even surpass others in the magical world that they live in.

One man from present day Tokyo was murdered and sent to a different world in the body of Tanya Degurechaff, a young girl with extraordinary powers. Tanya challenged “God,” who she deems Being X rather than admitting to the existence of a God, and is constantly battling with Being X. In this new world, Tanya is working towards becoming a high ranking official in the military so that she may have a peaceful life, but Being X is not going to make that dream an easy reality.

Youjo Senki is a great magic anime as it features a man from the nonmagical world that is our own who is reincarnated as a girl into a world where magic exists, but not everyone has it. Despite that, Tanya is quite OP in Youjo Senki as she always seems to be able to pull off even the most ridiculous in times of war. Being X is always trying to get Tanya to admit to the existence of a God, which means granting her more powers and forcing her to fight her hardest. In this world that Tanya finds herself in, only the best have magic and Tanya appears to be the best of the best considering she’s a young child who rises the ranks of the military so quickly.

Fiore is a land with many mages and wizards with great magical ability. These mages join together in order to make money and take on missions to survive. These are called guilds, and the strongest amongst them is Fairy Tail, where the strong may not quite mean the most orderly. It is here that a young mage who utilizes celestial gates, Lucy Heartfilia, wishes to go. Along the way, she comes across a strong wizard named Natsu Dragneel and his cat partner, Happy. This unlikely friendship will help lead Lucy to Fairy Tail, but she’ll also be finding her own path to strength with Natsu.

Another land full of magic can be seen in Fairy Tail in the shape of Fiore, a world where magic exists in the people and things. Lucy is the main character and she proves to be quite weak for a majority of the anime, but we can see that her magical power grows, although Natsu appears to be inequivocal in that aspect as he seems to only trump every single person and obstacle that comes across his path. People in Fairy Tail are not judged by their magical power (unlike in Black Clover), but great magic does go a long away, especially if you want to fight against evil here.

There’s also another type of anime that falls under the umbrella of magic anime, and it has to be magical girl anime. This is a type of anime in which characters (usually girls) are granted the power to transform into a being with magical powers in order to fight the forces of darkness or something. This is such a popular genre of magic anime that they even parody the magical girl genre with anime like Mahou Shoujo Ore and Cute High Earth Defense Club Love!, but there are very specific anime that come to mind when one says the words “magical girl anime.”

Tsukino Usagi may seem like your usual teenage girl, but she was granted the power to become the celestial soldier, Sailor Moon, after coming across a talking cat named Luna. With these powers, Usagi will fight against even and defend love and justice. However, she’s got a bigger mission as she has to find the Silver Crystal and gather together the other Sailor Guardians that will lead Usagi to the lost princess of the Moon Kingdom. The only thing standing in her way is Queen Beryl, the Dark Kingdom’s queen who wishes to use the Silver Crystal’s power for herself.

You absolutely cannot talk about magic anime, and especially not magical girl anime, without mentioning Sailor Moon. Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon is an anime that resonates with many of us and the newest reboot of the series, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Crystal, made many otaku experience nostalgia. The reboot follows the manga much more closely than the original (which has lots of fillers). Each episode has about 5 minutes of magical girl transformations (we are not kidding) and the girls are constantly utilizing their powers as sailor senshi in order to defeat Queen Beryl and other evil doers who are threatening the earth. If you want a magical girl anime that does not feel cheesy or overdone, you know you will love Sailor Moon, regardless of which series you do end up picking up.

Kaname Madoka and Miki Sayaka start off as your typical school girls, that is until they come across a magical cat-like creature named Kyuubey who grants them the power to become magical girls. Of course, should they choose to become magical girls, they will have one wish granted. The new student, Akemi Homura, is a magical girl and is very adamant about not allowing Madoka or Sayaka to become magical girls. Things may not be as they seem, but who can pass up the opportunity to have their wish granted with no limitations?

While Puella Magi Madoka Magica is actually not the first dark magical girl anime, it’s definitely one of the most notable as many deem it being the anime that changed the face of magical girl anime. Starting off with a rather cute facade, Puella quickly decends onto a dark path that has you fearful of what is next to come. You will be deceived by all the cute faces, but not is all as it seems. The creepy animation style suits this anime so well, along with the rather eerie things that go on in the background. If you are not paying attention, you may be thrown off, but this is not going to be the happy and hopefuly magical girl anime that most expect. If you want to see a different type of magical girl anime that is not like Sailor Moon, Mamotte! Lollipop, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, or Kamichama Karin, you will want to watch Puella Magi Madoka Magica which will help prove to you that magical girl anime don’t have to be cliche and cutesy.