Final episode title cards: 1968-1975

Alot of fans claim both Honey and Limit are not true magical girls because their powers come from science and not magic. Both series are officially considered magical girls by Toei Animation. Both characters are officially considered magical girls as well. Limit aired on the same time slot that had aired every magical girl series produced by Toei Animation since Mahotsukai Sally. Cutie Honey was originally slated for this time slot, but instead aired on a different one. Both characters have appeared on various official products that list them as “majokko” (meaning a young witch) or “mahotsukai heroine” (magician) heroine. Generally the lead characters of these series were called majokko. The term became popular after the 1974 series Majokko Megu-chan. Even today most of Toei Animation’s early magical girls are called majokko.

Out of all the characters only Sally, Chappy, Megu, and Lalabell are actual “witches”. Akko, Mako, and Lun Lun are just girls with magical items. Honey and Limit have scientific advancements. Ecchan herself has no magical powers to speak of, she is just a ninja. So it’s not fair to deny Honey and Limit the title of magical girl!

Puni Puni Poemy is an adult magical girl parody OVA, spun off from Excel Saga. In the opening sequence Poemy goes head to head with various magical girls. In this image you can see Non and Megu from Majokko Megu-chan. Other magical girls that appear are Sailor Moon, Majokko Tickle, Mahou Shoujo Lalabell, Magical Emi, Miracle Shoujo Limit-chan, Mahoutsukai Chappy, and ultimately Mahoutsukai Sally.

Magical Witch Punie-Chan, is another magical girl parody that has a similar reference. In the fourth episode, Punie’s mother names all the witches she had to defeat to become Queen. The witches include: Akko, Sally, Megu and (Minky) Momo.

Eye catch collection for Toei’s magical girl series. Sally’s eye catch was redone in color for later episodes. Mako-chan had two different eye catches for the first two episodes only. Cutie Honey had an heart-shape animation eye catch for the middle of the episode, and end of the episode. Lun Lun and Lalabell both had different variations.

retrosofa:

Usagi Tsukino and the girls had a number of magical items during their adventures. Brooches and wands that allowed them to transform. Some had their own personal items - such as Mercury and her mini computer. Sailor Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto each had mythical talismans. Most of the items in Sailor Moon are used for transformations. Such as the “Luna Pen” and “The Holy Grail”. 

Magical items are present in nearly every magical girl series. The first major item would be Akko-chan’s magical compact. Given to her by the fairy of the mirrors, this compact allowed her to transform into anything. During the original broadcast, a replica of the compact was sold. It sold very well. Despite this, not alot of early magical girls had their magical charms reproduced as toys. Instead companies usually focused on producing dolls, coloring books, and make up kits. 

The next series to do so was Hana no ko Lun Lun in 1979. Lun Lun was the first magical girl to have a major toy marketing plan behind it. Lun Lun’s “Key of Flowers” was produced as a toy, and sold very well. The key was redesigned halfway through the series, and thus a new item was able to be sold. Doing so is very common now, but this series was the first case.

Almost every magical item in Sailor Moon has been released as a toy over the years. In 1992 toys were made of the Moon Stick, Sailor Moon’s brooch, and even a tiara with a “Frisbee”. Sometimes the demands of toy companies could have an influence on a series. Naoko Takeuchi’s original design for the Sailor Starlights had them with short hair. Bandai (producer of Sailor Moon merchandise) requested them to have longer hair instead, so dolls could be more marketable.