Nothing inherently wrong with magical girl anime. The problem, as with every other genre that saw a significant rise in popularity, is that for awhile every studio was trying to get in on the act. For awhile, it seemed like every other anime was about magical girls. I remember watching Tonde Burin, where the girl turned into a magical pig. Stereotypes and cliches developed and proliferated.
One of my first favorite anime was Hime-Chan's Ribbon. It was a magical girl anime about a girl who was unhappy with herself because everyone thought of her as a tomboy. She ended up with a magical ribbon that let her transform her appearance into someone else and a stuffed lion as her guide. It wasn't about fighting super-villains or any of that but instead about her character learning about life from the perspective of other people. Her powers were very limited and had major consequences if used wrong. It was really good and I had all 61 episodes on VHS. I honestly wish there were more anime like that.
By the way, Pokota is the lion and my namesake.
