Kara Dennison
December 10, 2024 
Wicked Part 1 is out in theaters as we speak, and fans everywhere are falling in love with the musical again. The second half comes to theaters late in 2025, but you can keep the magic alive ’til then with these truly enchanted anime! And yes, they’re all magical girl titles… in honor of Galinda and Elphaba, who we frankly think count as magical girls ourselves!
From spell-slinging at schools to fractured fairy tales to unlikely bonds, check out this trio of series while you wait for the second half of the musical.
The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies
One of the big appeals of Wicked is seeing the closeness between Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West… or Galinda and Elphaba. “Good” and “evil” aren’t necessarily as set in stone as many assume in Oz. (Or anywhere, for that matter.) And the gentle enemies-to-lovers series The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies also demonstrates this.
Once again, good and evil meet in the middle when one takes pity on the other. But instead of Galinda teaching Elphaba to be popular, Mira sees that Byakuya’s life really is pretty terrible. This magical girl is being taken advantage of by her familiar, and Mira just wants to see her happy. Sadly, as manga creator Cocoa Fujiwara passed away in 2015, the series will forever remain unfinished. But the anime adaptation does a great job bringing to life what was written.
Princess Tutu
Wicked posits that the classic story of Dorothy Gale freeing Oz from an evil witch was more complex than it seemed. And if you love a fractured fairy tale, you’ll adore Princess Tutu. This ballet-themed magical girl show is on a lot of must-see lists, and for good reason. Besides being beautifully animated and well written, it also tackles the biggest metafictional existential crisis this side of The Dark Tower.
A clumsy ballet student named Duck discovers two things. First, she really is a duck, and will turn back if she quacks. Second, she’s Princess Tutu: a magical girl tasked with reuniting the pieces of a legendary prince’s heart. But her story, and the stories of her fellow fairy tale characters, are extremely thorny. It doesn’t help that their author, Drosselmeyer, keeps butting in to make sure his masterwork stays on track! Sound intriguing? You can watch Princess Tutu on Amazon Prime!
Witchy Precure!
If your favorite thing about Wicked is the whole “going to school in a magical world” thing, look no further than Witchy Precure! The 2016 installment of the magical girl franchise takes its cue from classic witch-themed magical girl anime. Because its stars aren’t just magical when they’re transformed—they’re studying magic in mundane life, too!
The energetic Mirai and the studious Liko join forces to become Cure Miracle and Cure Magical, fighting back the forces of evil that threaten both the Magic World and the No Magic Realm. Plus, it’s a great time to catch up to the whole series. A 12-episode sequel series, following Mirai and Liko as adults, is scheduled to premiere as part of the winter 2025 anime season!
Need more magical anime? Look ahead to these upcoming winter releases!
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