Tokyo government makes a magical girl anime video about the dark side of contract scams【Video】

Magical girl contract goes very, very wrong in public service ad.

Magical girl anime series have been around for a long time, and though the genre has ebbed and flowed in prominence since becoming firmly established in the 1980s it’s enjoying a revival in popularity as of late. So, in and of itself, it wouldn’t be too unusual to see a new magical girl video, but what makes the one we’re looking at today unique is who it was produced by: the Tokyo metropolitan government.

As the video opens, our heroine is standing face-to-face with a fearsome flame-covered monster. As plucky and brave as she may be, she’s clearly no match for this villain in a fight, at least not in her ordinary schoolgirl form. Fortunately, at her side is an adorable mascot/mentor creature, a must for any full-fledged magical girl anime.

“OK, we’ve formed your contract,” recaps her cherubic companion. “Now transform into a magic girl!” “OK!” the heroine responds determinedly, followed by a transformation sequence with all the colorful iconic sparkles we’re used to seeing from this time-honored tradition of Japanese animation.

But things get decidedly less conventional from there, as you can see in the video.

“Wow! I really transformed!” gushes the now pink-tressed heroine, obviously happy with her decision to become a magical girl. That satisfaction is short-lived, however, as her companion creature matter-of-factly states “All right, here’s the bill for your first payment.”

Confused, the magical girl peers at the contract paperwork the creature has just unfurled, and is shocked to see that it includes the clause “By entering into this contract, you agree to pay a transformation fee of 800 million yen [US$5.44 million]).”

“I didn’t hear anything about that!” screams the heroine, as the monster she’s suppose to be fighting is left standing alone awkwardly in the distance. “I didn’t hear anything about that!” the magical girl repeats, at which point her companion creature, the marking on his forehead glowing ominously and revealing itself as the yen mark, drops his voice an octave and grimly informs her:

“It’s your fault for not reading the contract.”

Remember how we mentioned the video was produced by the Tokyo government? Specifically, it was made by the Tokyo Metropolitan Consumer Affairs Center, and it ends with the warning “Be careful with contracts.”

The comedy definitely helps make the message memorable, but there’s also a bit of a real-world parallel to the premise. While kids in Japan obviously aren’t making contracts to gain superpowers, the modern technological and entertainment landscape means that teens, and even younger children, are regularly dealing with service contracts for things like smart phone data service, mobile game in-game purchases, streaming service subscriptions, and more. A generation ago, the dangers of predatory contracts or contract fraud were things you could wait until you were a full-grown adult to worry about, but nowadays even young kids need to be aware that signing a contract without fully understanding it can lead to some very big problems.

Of course, you can’t make an anime about a magical girl whose contract turns out to have a hidden dark side without bringing up memories of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and more than a few commenters for the video were reminded of its treacherous companion creature Kyubey.

“That guy’s as nasty as Kyubey…”
“He’s even worse than Kyubey. Truly devious.”
“I love how his voice gets all sinister at the end.”
“If anything, I think magical girls’ contracts should stipulate that they get supplemental combat pay.”
“What an age we’re in, where we have magical girl educational videos.”
“I think they could legit turn this into an anime series, where the story follows a main character who’s a magical girl in order to pay back her debts.”

At the moment, the Tokyo Metropolitan Consumer Affairs Center doesn’t seem to have any plans to expand on the video’s characters and plotline, but with the voices for the magical girl and her companion provided by anime industry professionals Ayumu Kotomiya and Kisho Taniyama the cast has the skills to go beyond a 30-second short.

Source: YouTube/東京都 Tokyo Metropolitan Government via Otakomu
Images: YouTube/東京都 Tokyo Metropolitan Government
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