Ask John: Which Overlooked Bishoujo Action Anime Are Worth Watching?

Question:
I am a fan of moé/magical girl/bishoujo action anime aimed directly towards men/adult male otaku. It takes my love of moé and bishoujo’s and my love of action movies and blends them together seamlessly. Outside of Cutie Honey, D4 Princess, Akihabara Cyber Team, Mai-Hime franchise, Lyrical Nanoha franchise, Strike Witches franchise, Sky Girls, Symphogear, Black Rock Shooter, and Vividred Operation, what other titles could you recommend me?

Answer:
Your list of examples demonstrates that you’re already quite well-versed in a selection of contemporary bishoujo anime anime. You’ve already watched some of the best examples of the genre, and a number of the high profile titles that fit your criteria that you haven’t mention actually aren’t that good, such as Kiddy Grade, Bakuretsu Tenshi, Kampfer, and Maken-ki. But I think I can suggest a few other titles that may be worth your investigation.

The widely overlooked 2002 series G-On Riders is memorable for being a “megane shoujo” moé anime – an anime specifically designed to feature girls who wear glasses. Moreover, the series could be deemed a lighthearted predecessor to Mai Hime. Although comic, G-On Riders is filled with nicely animated action revolving around cute teen girls who wield extra-large melee weapons.

The Hyakka Ryoran ~Samurai Girls~ television series frequently gets automatically dismissed as a fan-service puff-piece, but viewers that give it a chance will find more substantial characterization and relationship building than anticipated, and a lot of gorgeously animated action. This year’s sequel series, Hyakka Ryoran ~Samurai Bride~ once again provides plenty of elaborately animated action, but the series’ climactic battle is less elaborate and less intense than the first season’s.

The Pretty Cure series has developed an international fan following because it debuted as literally a hybrid of Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z. The show took the conventional tropes of transforming magical girl anime from series like Sailor Moon, Wedding Peach, Akazukin Chacha, and Nurse Angel Ririka SOS and added intense, bone-crushing hand-to-hand fighting. The series’ first two seasons, Futari wa Precure and Futari wa Precure Max Heart, feature the franchise’s physically strongest heroines and were the only two season directed by Dragon Ball Z & Air Master director Daisuke Nishio.

The 2009 bishoujo gunplay action series CANAAN is available on domestic DVD & Blu-ray. The show isn’t moé in the least, but it does feature attractive young women and many of the most intense gunfights ever animated.

2007’s Getsumen Toheiki Mina television series seemed to get criminally overlooked. While the series’ core concept is rather silly, the show is attractive looking and includes enough action to satisfy. It’s certainly a better, more enjoyable show than many comparable series.

The 2010 three-episode Yozakura Quartet: Hoshi no Umi OAD series doesn’t entirely make a lot of sense, but it’s nice looking and contains a progressively increasing amount of spectacularly animated action scenes. While the story may be a bit shallow and frequently branch off into near incomprehensible tangents, the sheer scope of the spectacular action choreography and animation makes this series a “must watch” for bishoujo action fans.

2006’s Yumetsukai television series seems to have discouraged a lot of viewers with its retro vibe and sheer weirdness. But viewers willing to embrace the show’s oddity will find it unique, interesting, and rewarding. This show about young sisters that battle literal nightmare monsters indulged in flights of wildly imaginative fancy because the dream settings allowed for an eclectic mix of horror, Japanese mysticism, and anime action. Yumetsukai might not have ever existed without one of the first true moé bishoujo action anime series, 1985’s Dream Hunter Rem. The series about a petite girl who enters people’s dreams and battles nightmarish demons with a .357 Magnum and a heavily armed Volkswagen may seem a bit lacking in intense action by today’s standards, and the episodes do get narratively weaker yet more absurdly action-packed as they progress. However, Dream Hunter Rem does include a shocking degree of explicit gore and horror that was typical of the “Golden Age” but doesn’t appear in contemporary bishoujo action anime.

The animators behind the Lyrical Nanoha franchise continued on to create their own, original anime franchise. The protagonist of the two Dog Days television series is a teen boy, but the extended cast is near entirely adorably cute “kemono-mimi” (animal ears) girls. The pacing throughout both seasons is very brisk, and although very lighthearted and playful, the action is large-scale and reminiscent of Lyrical Nanoha. The series is engaging, nicely animated, and tremendously fun to watch.