The genre of magical girl anime has provided Japanese animation enthusiasts with many iconic, formidable teams throughout the years. From classics such as the ever-popular Sailor Moon and the Sailor Scouts to the darker, genre-defying Madoka Magica and her friends, these teams have more than proved that they can hold their own against the forces of evil.
Their combined strengths make for some of the most entertaining, heartfelt battles and storylines in entertainment history, not unlike those we see from their Western superhero counterparts in recent Marvel films. Perhaps they could even give the famous Avengers a run for their money with their varied skillsets and out-of-the-box powers.
10 Tokyo Mew Mew And Their Enhanced Animal Powers
The Avengers have Spider-Man and his Spidey-sense, and Tokyo Mew Mew has a group of five colorful teenagers with the enhanced powers of five different endangered animals at their disposal. This might not sound like much, but considering the attributes of a cat, a wolf, a porpoise, a bird, and a monkey effectively help Ichigo and her four friends conquer the malign alien forces that want to take over Earth, they are more than prepared to take on Thanos and his Infinity Gauntlet.
9 Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Her Mage Friends, And Their Impressive Spells
With their incomparable close and long-range combat magic, Nanoha Takamachi and her other mage friends from the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha series are a definite threat. They differ from other magical girls as the audience gets to see them grow up and mature alongside their magical abilities which include spells, telekinesis, teleportation, and healing.
Nanoha and partner-slash-best-friend Fate Testarossa later join the Armed Forces team Riot Force 6, a group of highly capable individuals whose main goal is to stop the villain from obtaining a number of powerful gems. Sound familiar? Maybe Nick Fury should've asked them to join his Initiative instead.
8 Magic Knight Rayearth And Their Universe-Defying Talents
Many powerful things come in threes, and no team proves this better than CLAMP's iconic Magical Knights. The trio of middle schoolers goes through a journey of self-discovery, loss, and friendship so tear-inducing that it could easily compete with some of the MCU's most heartrending scenes.
Add to that the Knights' ability to travel to other worlds and champion female empowerment and anime lovers will find one of the best teams among the elite of the magical girl genre. Perhaps they could aid Wanda Maximoff in her upcoming universe-hopping endeavors.
7 The Princesses Of Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch And Their Enchanting Voices
While the Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor have dominion over small sections of space, the MCU has yet to introduce a team with authority over seventy percent of the Earth's territory. Armed with their supernaturally boosted voices and the power of the seven seas, the mermaid princesses from Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch harness far more power than most would assume.
Their moonlighting as teen idols is also a huge asset to their adventures. From fighting water demons and evil songstresses to collecting magical pearls to summon the goddess Aqua Regina, their concerts-slash-battles never fail to entertain, if only by listening to a few of their addictive tunes.
6 The Major Arcana From Day Break Illusion And Their Tarot-Inspired Skills
Day Break Illusion has magical girls a-plenty. There are twenty-two in total, which makes for an interesting set of skillsets based on the tarot's major arcana, but the show mostly centers around four pre-teen girls and their fight against the evil forces known as Daemonias.
The foursome consists of Akari, Luna, Seira, and Ginka, who harness the power of the Sun, Moon, Star, and Temperance cards, respectively. Naturally, when their elemental abilities are combined, the four of them are a strong force to be reckoned with and could easily challenge the Marvel magic users. A fight between them and the Ancient One would be fun to watch.
5 The Candidates Of Symphogear And The Power Of Music
Unlike most magical girls whose abilities usually manifest with the use of a cutesy artifact, the characters of Symphogear get their magic from their armor. The Candidates, the collective name for the magical girls on the series, activate their armor, commonly known as 'gear', by singing and harmonizing with a relic that is unique to each of them.
The gear includes deadly weaponry that varies for every Candidate and includes blades, energy cannons, scythes, and even shurikens. They're definitely better equipped than non-supernatural Avengers like Black Widow and Hawkeye will ever be.
4 The Shugo Chara! Guardians And Their Soul-Purifying Abilities
Considering the Shugo Chara! characters' mission is to purify corrupted hearts, there's no doubt they'd be able to flip a couple of MCU villains to the side of good. An encounter with Amu and her quad of Guardian Characters would be enough to show them the error of their ways and put them on the better path of realizing their non-evil dreams.
The Guardians of Seiyo Academy have saved multiple children and the odd adult from falling into the greedy claws of Easter Company, all while maintaining a relatively normal elementary school life. Now, that's an achievement on its own!
3 Card Captor Sakura And Her Team Of Mighty Clow Cards
Another of CLAMP's masterpieces, Card Captor Sakura takes playing with cards to another level, and Sakura herself has proved time and time again that she's a master player. With the combination of Eastern and Western magic under their belt, Sakura and Syaoran could certainly rival Doctor Strange when it comes to the mystical side of magic.
Once awakened by Sakura's staff and magic circle, the Clow Cards' elemental and space-and-time-defying powers are difficult to defeat, and when used for good, they're capable of saving the entirety of Tokyo. Maybe Tony Stark should've given her a call when New York was getting destroyed by Loki.
2 Madoka Magica's Magical Girls And Their Powerful Wishes
The girls of Puella Magi Madoka Magica definitely don't have it easy, but they have some of the most compelling and jaw-dropping fights in the genre. Their powers, which stem from the wishes they made when they became magical girls, include Mami's ribbon manipulation, Sayaka's regenerative ability, and Madoka's energy bow. Having Homura, who is arguably the best character and best offensive fighter on the team, is enough to make them a formidable squad. Her time-altering abilities alone could fix several of the MCU's unfortunate events into a better timeline, no snapping of the fingers required.
1 The Sailor Scouts And Their Fight For Love And Justice
The Sailor Scouts are one of the most well-known teams in anime history. As the princesses of the planets of the solar system, each Sailor Scout possesses various abilities that, united, can take down even the fiercest of villains. Even clumsy Sailor Moon gets serious when it's time to defend Earth from the evil aliens that want to get their hands on the coveted Silver Crystal. Utilizing the powers of eight planets and the Moon means they could probably take on the Black Order or Loki's army of Chitauri and come out unscathed. They could certainly deal with Ultron better than the Avengers did, but then again, so could any of the other magical girl teams.
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