Being a magical girl sounds exhausting. You already have enough rubbish to put up with in trying to keep your grades up, dealing with puberty, figuring out relationships, and growing into the adult that society demands you become. Now you’re telling me I need to put on a finicky dress and fight extravagant bad guys and save the world? Nah fam, I’m good.
Obviously, we – especially the weebs amongst us – grew up loving magical girl anime shows like Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura, but rarely do these shows ever consider the harsh reality of donning the mahou shoujo moniker, or how an authentic teenager from our own reality might deal with this sort of cosmic responsibility. When it comes to Aika from the pilot of Pretty Pretty Please I Don’t Want To Be A Magical Girl, she won’t hesitate to bludgeon her enemy’s legs with a lead pipe spawned from the ether.
Pretty Please I Don’t Want To Be A Magical Girl Is A Huge Win For Indie Animation
Kiana Khansmith conceptualised the universe’s characters, story, and setting over on Tumblr in August of last year, and since then the universe has attracted a committed community making fan art, coming up with theories, and wanting to see more from reticent magical girl Aika. It’s taken several months, but last week saw the premiere of a charming pilot animatic which has already attracted over two million views at the time of writing.
It’s a hit, with many hoping it may eventually result in a commissioned series, an indie-funded original animation, or something more. It’s hard to tell right now, but if this reception is any indication, I wouldn’t be surprised if Pretty Pretty Please I Don’t Want To Be A Magical Girl becomes a very big deal.
The pilot is only ten minutes long, so you can make a coffee and watch it all in one sitting.
I first became aware of Khansmith’s work several years ago when I began reporting on and speaking with people working on shows like The Owl House and Amphibia, coming to learn that Khansmith had developed a comprehensive following working on Big City Greens as a storyboard artist and director as well as stints on Dropout’s Game Changer and Pokemon: Path To The Peak.
I’ll be real, I first came across them after falling in love with loads of art shipping Ash Ketchum’s mother and Jessie, depicting them as a loving couple, which has since been expanded in multiple illustrations and comics that could honestly support their own AU. Khansmith is a gifted storyteller, which carries over to the charm of PPIDWTBAMG.
That abbreviation is pure evil and I love it.
And I Can’t Wait For It To Subvert And Surprise Us
Aika is a brilliant lead character with spunk, enthusiasm, and a hard edge from years of having to balance her normal life with being a magical girl. It seems Khansmith is eager to present that balance in a full series if the opportunity arises, rather than having it presented as a straight satire with limited potential. That appears to be the best route forward, since you can still have a magical girl where the characters are fighting for a worthy cause yet still struggling with the roles they’ve been thrust into. There is so much potential there.
There’s also Zira, a nerdy girl and potential love interest of Aika who believes that being a magical girl is the coolest thing in the world, because why wouldn’t she? Their interactions during the pilot are adorable, and there are plenty of Khansmith’s comic online which do an amazing job of expanding on their relationship. I’d be here all day running down the rest of the cast and how many of them are faithful to tropes of the genre while pushing the boat out in ways I want to see so much more in modern animation.
Khansmith isn’t sure what the success of the pilot animatic will bring and whether she is curious to make Pretty Pretty Please I Don’t Want To Be A Magical into a full series or a longer short, or simply continue expanding on this universe with comics and illustrations. Whatever the future holds, I’m already on board. I’ll even bring my own lead pipe.