The “magical girl” genre has been popular in anime and manga for a long time, though it was around for years before the sailor senshi of Sailor Moon arrived in the early 1990s. Magical girl series typically feature a team of young school-aged girls (though often there’s just one of them) who gain special powers that they use to fight evil.

One of the earliest manga series to establish some magical girl tropes was Himitsu no Akko-Chan, which started serialization in 1962. It features a girl named Akko-chan who is granted a magical mirror and learns to transform herself into anything she wishes. The series was written by Fujio Akatsuka, who was also known for the comedy series Osomatsu-Kun. In terms of things that were animated, though, it was Sally the Witch that got out of the gate first in 1966; it follows Sally, the princess of the Magic Kingdom, who teleports to earth and uses her supernatural magical powers to fight crime. Sally the Witch was inspired heavily by Bewitched, which was popular in Japan at the time.

The women’s liberation movement in Japan had an impact on the magical girl genre during the 1970s, with series that featured more free-spirited girls in the lead roles. Series such as Mahotsukai Chappy and Majokko Megu-chan also coined the term “majokko” – literally translating to “little witch” – as a way to describe magical girl series.

It wasn’t until the 1980s that the now-commonplace transformation sequences were introduced, with shows such as Creamy Mami introducing the idea – Creamy Mami was the alter-ego of the 10-year-old Yu Morisawa, who gained the power to transform into an older, 16-year-old version of herself.

In 1991, Sailor Moon debuted as a manga, and helped to breathe new life into the genre by featuring more action than other magical girl series had before. The series is also credited at popularizing the genre worldwide, and helping to get more manga published to English-speaking audiences. Sailor Moon is also credited as influencing American-made cartoons such as The Powerpuff Girls.

The 50-year history of the magical girl genre continues on, with more recent hits that have included Puella Magi Madoka Magica, a more serious take on the genre, and Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!, a show that features the typical tropes being parodied by featuring a team of high school boys instead.