Pretty Pretty Please I Don't Want to Be a Magical Girl is a 2025 independent animated Comic Fantasy webseries created by animator Kiana Khansmith (storyboard artist for Big City Greens and Pokémon: Path to the Peak). It stars the voices of Anairis Quiñones, Bennett Abara, Christine Marie Cabanos, Aleks Le, Shara Kirby, Marieve Herington, and Michele Knotz.

The series follows Aika, a magical girl who has become disillusioned and unenthusiastic about her job, and seeks refuge in an ordinary high school as an ordinary girl. Unfortunately for Aika, her old life has a certain way of creeping into her new life. The pilot animatic premiered on YouTube February 28, 2025. The second episode animatic premiered January 31, 2026 and featured the announcement that Mercury Filmworks would fully animate the pilot.

Media: Pilot Animatic

Pretty pretty please, I wish for some tropes!:

• Affectionate Parody: The pilot riffs on the classic tropes of Magical Girl Warrior cartoons, with Zira as the enthusiastic fan voice playing off of Aika's boredom with the Strictly Formula lifestyle. Among numerous references to shows like Sailor Moon and Puella Magi Madoka Magica it even casts actors who've played magical girls in said shows, and as confirmed by Word of God is meant as a love letter to the genre.
• All There in the Manual: The I Don't Want to Be a Magical Girl tag on the creator's Tumblr page has some background information on the characters and the series as a whole, along with art and comics.
• Ambiguously Absent Parent: Episode 2 reveals that Aika is living alone in a treehouse in the woods. Zira starts lampshading this and asking where her parents are, but Hoshi shuts her down before we get any answers.
• Amusing Injuries: The climax of the pilot animatic consists of Aika bashing in Eclipse's shins with a lead pipe (contrasting humorously with the traditional magical girl image of more magical combat) and with audible sounds of cracking bones when he rights himself afterwards. Episode 2 contains many more instances of Eclipse's legs getting comedically crushed.
• Animation Bump: The only complete animation as of the pilot animatic is the sequence of Aika walking over, and attacking Eclipse with a lead pipe.
• Arboreal Abode: Episode 2 reveals that Aika is living in a literal treehouse in the woods.
• Artistic Age: Aika and Zira are 15 and 16 respectively, but they look like preteens because of the pilot's art style. Their designs would be updated in episode 2 to be taller and less chibi-looking.
• Aside Glance: When Zira refers to Hoshi as a "magical mascot", Hoshi glances at the screen and remarks quietly they are "more of a magical friend".
• Bilingual Bonus: The Pretty Pretty Please part of the logo is written in katakana.
• Bisexual Love Triangle: Played for Laughs in a comic, where despite Eclipse attempting to rile Zira up over his nonexistent romantic tension with Aika, his "love rival" simply stares and gets a nosebleed due to being attracted to both.
• Bland-Name Product:
  • In this comic, Lady DeVoid asks Eclipse what he can give her in return for power. Eclipse has $7, a spare button and a 4 for $4 coupon at Sandwich Queen (Burger King).
  • In Episode 2, Zira looks up Gooble on her phone.
  • In the author's supplemental comics, Tumblr is shown to be referred to as Crumblr.
• Body Horror:
  • It goes unshown, but Hoshi apparently scrambles the insides of an unfortunate student that they happen to magically phase through, with subtitles describing "bones cracking" and the shocked girl Sidney exclaiming "I think my kidneys are backwards!"
  • Eclipse's fate after confronting Aika's bad side is to be hit in the knees with a lead pipe and have both his knees bent the wrong way.
• Boring, but Practical: Sure, Aika could use magical star beams to defeat her enemies, but why do that when a lead pipe reliably gets the job done?
• Brick Joke: In Episode 1, Aika jokes that she has to kill Zira now that she's learned that Aika is the Star Guardian. Near the end of Episode 2, Hoshi makes a comment that implies that Aika was more serious than Zira thought.
• The Call Knows Where You Live: Aika tries to trap Hoshi in a box to get out of her magical girl responsibilities, but Hoshi manages to escape and track her down.
• Captain Obvious: Devoid states to Eclipse as a warning that while he's been given faster recovery he's not invincible and states that "[i]f you die in real life, you die for real." Eclipse bluntly points out that "[t]hat's generally how it works, yeah."
• Cast Full of Gay: According to this post, all the major characters are LGBTQ in some way.
• Cosmic Motifs:
  • The heroine Aika is a star-themed magical girl with hair puffs shaped like pointed stars, star patterns on her dress, and a star-shaped Mentor Mascot.
  • Zira has a moon motif, with a moon pin on her beanie, braids shaped like crescent moons, and round glasses that alternate between opaque and see-through much like the phases of the moon. She also has a white bunny on her shirt alluding to the Moon Rabbit and is a fan of the manga Moon Sailor. Her name Zira comes from the Berber name "Tiziri", meaning "moonlight".
  • Eclipse reflects his moniker with an asymmetrical design, clothing that is bright on the outside and dark on the inside, and a staff that resembles a moon crescent but turns more eclipse-like when dark magic swirls in its center.
  • DeVoid harkens to the vacuum of space, in her name, her dark black skin and dress, and pointed horns and wings also reminiscent of Aika's star motif.
  • Miss is Earth; she has a green and blue color palette, and a number of floral tattoos under her shirt.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Aika the Star Guardian and Eclipse, two supernatural beings armed with great magical power! How long does their climactic duel last? Not even a minute, since Aika breaks Eclipse's legs with a lead pipe.
• Department of Redundancy Department:
  • Aika’s title as magical girl is Star Guardian: Guardian of the Stars. Eclipse says the full thing every time he mentions her.
  • Aika and Zira's high school is called School McSchool Memorial School.
  • When Lady DeVoid gives Eclipse the power of faster recovery, she makes it clear that he's not invincible and that "if he dies in the real world then he dies for real."
    Eclipse: That's... generally how it works, yeah.
• Dislikes the Shiny Weapon: Star Guardian has access to a variety of exotic magical weapons, but instead prefers to rely on a simple lead pipe because it's less flashy but also less likely to fail.
  Zira: You don't have, like, a magical star beam or energy blast or something?!
  Aika: Mm. Yeah, I guess I do. But, like, what even is a star beam, y'know? Now, a lead pipe to the shins? That's just reliable, baby.
• Dissimile: After Aika defeats Eclipse in her unorthodox way:
  Zira: That was just like Moon Sailor except not at all!
• The Door Slams You: In Episode 2, as Eclipse is about to enter the library, he ends up getting slammed by the door as Aika and Zira walk out without noticing him.
• Double Meaning: The lyrics of the ending theme "Her Song", in which the singer longingly talks about a girl she likes and how she finds her amazing even if the girl herself doesn't, is just as much about Zira to her superpowered classmate as it is about Aika appreciating Zira's mundanity and good heart.
• Driving Question: What exactly caused Aika to want to stop being a magical girl?
• Foil: Aika and Zira act as foils to one another where. Aika wants to be a normal girl, though she shows a lack of knowledge of what normal people do and is forced into being a Star Guardian, which shows distaste and even burnout from doing her duty. Zira is a normal girl who is a fan of Magical Girls and shows admiration for Aika being one while being naive towards what it means to be a Star Guardian.
• Foul Cafeteria Food: After befriending Zira during lunch, Aika enthusiastically scarfs down her food, then cheerfully admits that it's bad.
• Funny Background Event: Often done using signs.
  • In the scene in the first episode where Aika summons her lead pipe, the cafeteria menu can be seen and shows that the lunches being served are less than stellar:
    • Monday and Thursday: Meat
    • Tuesday: Pesto
    • Wednesday: 8 Olives
    • Friday: "Seeecret"
  • In the second episode:
    • A poster in the library is shown to say "Please GOD READ. Media literacy is dying."
    • Immediately afterwards, three bookshelves are shown, labeled "Curled History", "World History", and "Whirled History". The middle of which attracts Aika.
    • The boba stand the trio go to is called "boboboboba".
• The Ghost: Aika mentions other magical girls back where she used to live, possibly teammates, but the closest they've come to making a proper appearance is vague silhouettes against the moon in a flashback to how Eclipse first found out about the Star Guardian when looking through a telescope.
• He Is Not My Boyfriend: Zira assumes that Eclipse is Aika's love interest, to Aika's disgust and Eclipse's approval.
  Aika: I think I threw up in my mouth a little.
• High-Dive Hijinks: In Episode 2, Aika and Zira perform river jumping by leaping off the nearby bridge.
• Hourglass Plot: At the start of the pilot, Aika is eager and spunky while Zira is quiet and withdrawn. Towards the latter half as the truth of Aika's Star Guardian identity is revealed, Aika is now sullen while Zira is fangirling with glee.
• I'd Tell You, but Then I'd Have to Kill You:
  • When Zira asks if it’s alright now that she knows Aika’s secret identity:
  Aika: Oh yeah, about that. I have to kill you now.
  Zira: What?!
  Aika: I’m kidding, I’m kidding!
  • In Episode 2, Hoshi remarks they're glad Aika didn't kill Zira. Zira is touched, before realizing the implication that it was actually an option after all.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: If the title of the series wasn't obvious enough, Aika is strongly uninterested in being a magical guardian and is more interested in becoming a normal girl going to high school. It goes to the point that her reason for befriending Zira is because she's a real life high school loser.
• Immediate Sequel: Episode 2 is set immediately after the pilot.
• Lighter and Softer: It's part of the Magical Girl Genre Deconstruction sub-genre, but compared to most entries, it is very lighthearted and fun. The magical girl is just burnt out and not actively in danger of dying and/or having her soul destroyed, the enemies are comically evil Punch Clock Villains, and the magical mascot is just kind of a jerk (and somewhat understandably so) and not actively malicious or callous at best.
• Little Girls Kick Shins: In Episode 2, Eclipse gets kicked in the shin by a little kid after making him angry.
• Love Triangle: A completely one-sided one where Eclipse thinks he and Aika have a forbidden romance going on much to her annoyance, while Zira pines for the same girl although she isn't open about her feelings.
• Mad Libs Catchphrase: To transform her magic staff into a different weapon, Aika has to say, "Pretty pretty please, I wish for a [x]." She doesn't have to say the whole thing to get a weapon, but Hoshi is pleased when she does.
• Magical Girl Genre Deconstruction: The cartoon is about a Magical Girl Warrior who's grown tired of the constant Monster of the Week adventures, growing into a more cynical character who brushes aside the usual conventions like a Transformation Sequence and elegant supernatural attacks in favor of Boring, but Practical solutions like just changing immediately and beating her opponent up physically rather than with any magical means.
• Minor Living Alone: The second episode reveals that Aika is living alone in a treehouse in the woods.
• Mundane Object Amazement: During lunch, Aika is extremely excited to meet Zira, "a real life high school loser".
• Money Spider: The Voids grant Aika "Cosmic Cash" upon being defeated. The sight of it is a sign that they are involved somehow. Aika takes advantage of this discovery as an excuse to stay on Earth.
• Noodle Incident: Aika ran away in hopes of living a normal life, and is disgruntled at the thought of working as the Star Guardian again, but what specifically prompted her to do such has yet to be stated.
• Pipe Pain: Aika ultimately defeats Eclipse by summoning a lead pipe with she uses to break his shins. Simple, but effective.
• Precision F-Strike:
  • A random student in the cafeteria, commenting on Aika's high test score, casually remarks "The curve is fucked".
  • Popup text displaying "HOLY SHIT" appears when Aika breaks Eclipse's legs with a metal pipe.
  • A bonus audio clip has Lady DeVoid declare: "To serve me is to serve cunt".
• Running Gag: In the second episode, Eclipse is constantly getting hurt in the legs on top of the partially-healed beating Aika gave him in the first episode, while repeatedly just failing to catch up the group until they reach Aika's treehouse. When the defeated tree monster falls on top of his legs, he just leaves.
• Sarcasm Mode: When Devoid asks Eclipse what's stopping him from going back to fight, he sarcastically replies "Oh, I don't know... the fact that just moments ago, my shins were obliterated?"
• Ship Tease: Aika and Zira are constantly hinted to have feelings for each other in the webcomics posted by Kiana. Episode 2 makes Zira's crush on Aika a lot more blatant, with her passing out in shock when Aika mixes up "date" and "hang" and accidentally asks her out.
• Shout-Out:
  • Zira reads a manga called Moon Sailor.
  • Hoshi declares "it's time to wish upon a star!", alluding to the theme tune of Kiana's workplace Disney.
  • Aika being able to transform her weapon into another weapon of her desire is reminiscent of Marinette's Lucky Charm, which can produce any item she needs for a given situation.
  • This comic shows Aika breaking into a military base to get access to military-grade weapons, which is pretty much what Homura does in Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
  • Aika turns out to have grown up watching Pretty Princess Pinky Popo with Hoshi.
  • Zira takes Aika and Hoshi to get milk tea from Bobobo-bo Bo-boba.
  • When Eclipse gets kicked in the shins by a little kid in Episode 2, the camera abruptly zooms in on an X-ray of his bone snapping.
• Specific Situation Books: In Episode 2, Aika finds a section in the library covering post modern afro-futuristic ice sculpting.
• Stopped Dead in Their Tracks: Played for Laughs in Episode 2, when Zira abruptly stops and collapses onto the ground upon hearing Aika wants to go on a "date", before correcting herself that it's "hang out".
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: When joining Zira's table at lunch, Aika introduces herself as a "normal girl of average talent and zero secrets!"
• Transformation Sequence: Humorously inverted. Aika's actual transformation is her unceremoniously poofing into her Star Guardian outfit in a single frame (saying that she doesn't have the time). Her detransforming back to her normal clothes is treated like a proper magical girl transformation.
• Title Drop: When Aika is asked why she's running away from being a Star Guardian:
  Aika: Well, truth be told, I don't want to be a magical girl.
• Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World: Discussed. Aika would much rather go to school and be normal than fight monsters as a magical girl, much to Hoshi's chagrin.
  Aika: Unless it's a minimum wage cashier job, I should not be working! I'm fifteen!
• When Trees Attack: In Episode 2, the Monster of the Week takes the form of a tree monster upon getting infused with void energy.