The Egg and the Magical Girl: A Shugo Chara review

2024-08-14

Long time no see! It's been a few months since my last blog post, and Believe it or not it's all because of this blog post!

What is the significance of using Eggs as metaphor in Magical girl anime? Now I have actually written a blog post about this already which was written all the way back in August, though it always felt a little bit... shallow to me, and didn't really feel like the thoughts were actually complete at all. It is unlisted because of the lack of sense and quality but it is linked above if you want to read it! (Note: you don't need to read it to understand this post ;9) Though the quality of that unlisted post always bothered me, the main reason I never felt like that it was 'complete' was more because I hadn't finished Shugo Chara (or Doki!) at the time of writing. Since it was the main anime that inspired the making of the post as a whole, and is the main example of eggs as a visual metaphor in magical girl series (though not the first nor the last, refer to the post above for many more examples!) I just felt like I needed to have a better idea of it as a series to make any meaningful points about the subject.

Since I have finally (as of a few minutes ago) finished Shugo Chara Doki! I feel like I can finally write this post, and finally let the idea rest.

Disclaimer!! From here on out there will be major spoilers for Shugo Chara and Shugo Chara Doki! With minor spoilers for other Magical girl series. This post also contains discussions of fictional child abuse and neglect.

What sets Shugo Chara apart from many others in the Magical Girl genre is its core concept: that every child (regardless of gender or age) is inherently born with infinite potential. While many other MG series tend to have some kind of restriction; be that luck (in being the 'chosen' one), gender, a contract, or some other reason that restricts people from being a MG, Shugo Chara not only argues but constantly plays with the idea that every single human without restriction being has the capacity to be something magical, and that what constitutes as magical can be anything from being a world famous singer, a literal baby, or just a happier person. For Shugo Chara, the egg is used as a playful visual metaphor in ways that elevate this concept in many ways.

Hiding in your shell; a fragile strength

One of the most straightforward ways that the eggs are used in Shugo chara is the idea that people will often hide in shells which are simultaneously strong yet fragile, and hold an even more fragile potential that can eventually outweigh that strength. Shugo charas themselves will often sleep or hide in their eggs, but their owners will also often times hide behind the characters or personas they build for themselves. For some characters, like Tadase and Amu, their characters (as in; their chara change personalities) are mentally and physically stronger versions of themselves created to protect their feelings and emotions, while their personas (their outward personalities; like Tadase's capable exterior, or Amu's 'spicy and cool' exterior) are meant to protect their percieved 'proper' lives. In this way there is a clear difference between the person they feel like are supposed to be, versus who they want to be.

While this dichotomy is inherently interesting, its the third option of who they really are on the inside that makes this so compelling. What Shugo Chara posits is that real strength comes from recognizing all these parts of the self, and letting your true self influence your dreams, and your dreams influence your actions. In the series, this is mainly shown in Doki! Taking Tadase as an example: We're shown early on that he struggles with the difference between his character and his persona, with many a comedic instance of him Chara Changing right in the middle of doing his official King's Chair duties. Both are the hard shell that protects his fragile and weak inner self, but while his Chara change makes him confident and strong, it overcompensates for that weakness by making him egoistical. Meanwhile his Kings chair persona makes him agreeable and capable, but doesn't truly capture his earnest and genuine feelings. By confronting his past, his reasons for having Kiseki, and his own weak self, he can finally find his own real inner strength. This strength is then rooted in his fragility and his genuine desire for love and affection.

Trauma, parenthood, and Shugo Charas.

One of the less straightforward but equally as important ways that Shugo Chara uses eggs as metaphor is in the relationship between parent and child. In many ways, a Shugo Chara is both the idealized self, but also simultaneously both carer and 'child'. One of the brilliant aspects of the show is how it uses this to simplify seriously complex social situations of child abuse and neglect. The two characters which embody this concept are Rima and Ikuto, who both suffer from neglect to full on abuse respectively, and show a lot of similarities in their relationships with their Shugo Chara.

In Rima's case, her parent's

It's never too late to be reborn.

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