Another Fantastic Victory for True Anime Fans
Contrary to Western tourists who consume safe, mundane “flavor of the month” shows and project their preferences onto the Japanese manga/anime industry, demanding censorship for anything they dislike, the cultural impact of “Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete” (Gushing over Magical Girls) continues to be felt months after its broadcast ended.
“Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete” faced criticism on social media during its premiere for its significant elements of fanservice and masochism, integral to its narrative. The story centers on Hiiragi Utena, a girl infatuated with magical girls who is recruited by a sinister organization to become a dark magical girl.
It explores themes of good versus evil, the corruption of ideals, and the subversion of traditional magical girl tropes, with Utena’s journey involving masochistic themes and the humiliation of those she admires.
As expected, social media puritans lambasted the series for its sensual nature, often labeling it as pedophilic due to the perceived “childlike” physical appearance of the characters. This issue was exacerbated when TV Tropes, a media cliché wiki website, banned “Gushing over Magical Girls,” deeming the show as “pedo pandering.” Meanwhile, Netflix’s “Cuties,” a documentary featuring real-life underaged children engaging in erotic dances, remains permitted on the website.
Despite this backlash, the anime defied these critics with exceptional sales.
During the airing of the anime adaptation, manga sales for “Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete” skyrocketed, with first volume DVD/Blu-ray sales being exceptionally high for the erotic series. It sold over 8,000 copies in the first week, thrashing titles like “Chainsaw Man,” which was a social media phenomenon at its premiere, and “Frieren,” one of the fan favorites of the season.
This success highlights that popularity among trend-chasing Westerners does not necessarily equate to true popularity. Meanwhile, the Korean-derived “Solo Leveling” has garnered monumental praise and appeal on platforms like Twitter.
For instance, only 58,730 users have rated “Gushing over Magical Girls” on MyAnimeList, with an average score of 7.69. In contrast, “Solo Leveling” (Ore dake Level Up na Ken), which also premiered in the Winter 2024 season, has an average rating of 8.32 from over 349,634 users.
Naturally, you might assume that “Solo Leveling” was a commercial success with domestic audiences and fans eager to purchase Blu-ray and DVD volumes of the series.
However, you’d be wrong. Despite all the hype and apparent popularity surrounding “Solo Leveling,” those only interested in the medium because anime has gone global seemingly refused to spend a dime on the franchise itself.
On Twitter, the Nakayasee account revealed that the third volume of the “Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete” Blu-ray/DVD release achieved impressive sales, totaling 9,675 copies in its initial week, surpassing its previous volume sales.
In comparison, “Solo Leveling” sold only 91 DVDs for its third volume, and its Blu-ray sales were so poor that they did not appear in the rankings. Coincidentally, Solo Leveling was also beaten in terms of sales by “The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You” which sold 591 copies.
Additionally, you may recall the special edition of “Gushing over Magical Girls” first volume, priced at well over $200 USD, which included an 18+ 1/7 scale figure of Hiiragi Utena. This edition, emphasizing that real anime fans appreciate risqué content, sold 1,620 units in its fourth week.
The immense popularity of “Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete” (Gushing over Magical Girls) is evident as fans continue to seek more of the magical girls or want to relive the “spiciest” scenes in Blu-ray/DVD format even weeks after the broadcast ended. Secondly, there is significant disappointment in the performance of “Solo Leveling.“
Despite high expectations and promises of being one of the best of the season, it failed to make the anticipated impact, underscoring the sentiment that many Korean manhwa adaptations are relatively bland and uninspired, it was never really intended for the Japanese market in the first place given how it features a Korean dub.
Given that its primary target audience is the Crunchyroll crowd, it’s no surprise that “Solo Leveling” has accumulated a large following of fervent “fans” and shills who hyped the show every week throughout its premiere.
It’s no wonder the Japanese demographic has largely ridiculed and ignored the series, as most productions made in China or Korea heavily rely on fad gimmicks like, “I got kicked out of [X] despite being ridiculously overpowered because they were idiots; now let’s endlessly watch their downfall instead of focusing on the main character for some reason.”
In the case of “Solo Leveling,” its immense popularity has led to almost every MC in Korean manhwa being turned into a necromancer of sorts. It’s truly satisfying to see a series vilified by puritans for its erotic nature remain one of the most popular adaptations in recent memory, trouncing safe and sanitized content like “Solo Leveling.”
