Magical Girl Friendship Squad: Origins
Two friends must save the universe while paying rent.
This adult animated sitcom, created by Kelsey Stephanides, aired on Syfy’s late-night TZGZ block. It centers on two aimless young women tasked with figuring out how to save the universe. The show served as the pilot for Magical Girl Friendship Squad, which premiered on TZGZ on September 26, 2020, with a first season of six 15-minute episodes.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Animated comedy; Magical girl
- Creator
- Kelsey Stephanides
- Writer
- Diana McCorry
- Director
- Krystal "K" Downs
- Starring
- Anna Akana
- Brianna Baker
- Anika Noni Rose
- Estelle
- Daisy Hobbs
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Seasons
- 1
Facts from the source article.
Characters
Alex, voiced by Brianna Baker, is a friend of Daisy who uses her birth control as her object of power and has a strained relationship with her sister, a yoga teacher in Minneapolis. Daisy, voiced by Anna Akana, is a stoner and antihero who uses her Tom Selleck bong as her object of power and sleeps with a woman during the second episode. Nut, voiced by Anika Noni Rose, is a red panda who gives the pair the ability to transform into magical girls. Corporate executive is voiced by Daisy Hobbs, and Verus by Estelle.
Production
Magical Girl Friendship Squad: Origins is an anime-inspired animation created by Kelsey Stephanides, who came up with the idea in 2015 while studying media, culture and communications at New York University. An avid fan of the magical girl genre, she discussed the concept with her professor James Belfer of Cartuna, who advised her to pitch it to Cartuna; the studio loved it. Production began as a short-form pitch to networks, and the series was pitched around for years until Syfy picked it up in 2019, wanting to reboot it, polish it, and have longer episodes, leading to the main show Magical Girl Friendship Squad. The pilot was written by Diana McCorry, creator of Human Kind Of, and Stephanides described it as a parody of the magical girl subgenre that set up characters later expanded upon in the main show. Adam Belfer and James Belfer were executive producers, along with Daniel Shepard and Stephanides for this pilot. Anna Akana voiced Daisy in both this series and the main show, with Brianna Baker as Alex, Anika Noni Rose as Nut, and Estelle as a guest star as Verus. The series began airing on Syfy's TZGZ block in January 2020 and continued through the year.
Reception
Reception to the show has been mixed. Joyce Slaton on Common Sense Media described the humor as mature and filled with iffy topics and strong language, noting that protagonists Daisy and Alex do drugs, drink, and joke about smoking pot. She observed that Daisy wakes up with a woman in her bed and vomits after an intense hangover, while battles with creatures are played for laughs with bursts of sci-fi/fantasy and blood. Slaton noted that both protagonists have atypical body types for anime and wear costumes modeled on Sailor Moon, calling the show an agreeably loopy surreal fantasy.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Magical Girl Friendship Squad: Origins first air?
Magical Girl Friendship Squad: Origins first aired on 23 February 2020.
When did Magical Girl Friendship Squad: Origins end?
Magical Girl Friendship Squad: Origins last aired on 1 March 2020.
More in American Science Fiction Sitcoms
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced