Majokko Tsukune-chan is a surreal parody of the Magical Girl genre. It's sort of like a cross between Sally the Witch and Azumanga Daioh.
Tropes used in Majokko Tsukune-chan include:
- Art Shift
- Beach Episode: Complete with Smashing Watermelons.
- Bishie Sparkle: Yosei
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Frequently:
- When Tsukune and friends spend New Year's Day at home, an offscreen voice says it's because crowd scenes are hard to animate.
- When Tony comments that Tsukune has changed a lot since he last saw her, he pulls out a volume of the Tsukune-chan manga for reference. Kokoro then remarks that the anime’s character designer used recent volumes of the manga for reference, and Mr. Mayor asks “Can we talk about something like that?”
- When Shioretta shows up in her Yamato Nadeshiko garb, Tsukune takes a moment to recognize her and then asks "So you aren't a new character?”
- Card-Carrying Villain: Nabule introduces herself as "the evil witch."
- Cheerful Child: Kokoro and Kanako
- The Chew Toy: The Mayor.
- Chick Magnet: Yosei
- Comedic Sociopathy
- Crash Into Hello: Shioretta and Yosei first meet via midair broomstick collision.
- Cute Witch
- Defeat Means Friendship: Played hilariously abruptly with Shioretta.
- Discussed Trope: Kanako asks Tsukune if she has a Non-Human Sidekick/Fairy Companion, and the Mayor is shocked to discover that Wizarding School, Magical Girl Queenliness Test, Magical Land, and The Apprentice are all Truth in Television.
- Enjo Kosai: When Mr. Mayor gives Tsukune her New Year’s money, Tony jokes “So that’s the going rate for enjo kosai these days?” Mr. Mayor protests that it's Not What It Looks Like.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Mr. Mayor
- Everything's Better with Dinosaurs: One gag involving a random guy being chased by a T-Rex was presumably thrown in solely because of this trope.
- The Faceless: Mr. Judge, Watermelon Master, and Love Smith wear masks all the time.
- Finger-Poke of Doom: Tsukune does this to a couple of crooks who try to rob her, sending them soaring into the stratosphere.
- Flying Broomstick
- Gag Series
- Girlish Pigtails: Kokoro and Kanako
- Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: This is how witches cast magic. Shioretta also does it a lot when she's being dramatic.
- Gratuitous Spanish: Nabule opts for an “Adios!” while running away.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Love Smith tries to snag Yosei by throwing syringes full of Love Potion at him. He dodges the first two and deflects the third back at her, making her fall in love with herself.
- Hyperspace Mallet: Tsukune uses one to defeat the Daimaou, after he uses an anti-magic barrier to de-power her.
- Idiot Hair: Love Smith has one that sometimes reaches out and grabs people.
- In the Blood: Why is Yosei hiding in a planter box? His maternal grandfather was a carrot. Why does Yosei have an Arm Cannon? His paternal grandfather was a cyborg.
- Magic A Is Magic A: Tsukune explains that while she can reverse her magic spells, she can't reverse any collateral damage that results from said spells.
- Meta Guy: Tsukune
- Mood Dissonance: One of the main sources of humor involves cutesy characters reacting in inappropriately cheerful or blasé ways to horrible events.
- Must Have Lots of Free Time: Tsukune says this verbatim to the Watermelon Master, who spends his life judging watermelon-bashing contests around the world.
- Noblewoman's Laugh: Shioretta
- Non-Human Sidekick: Pupurin is this... for about the first 50 seconds of the first episode, at which point Tsukune casually roasts him alive to feeding a starving man. Afterwards, his ghost fills this role.
- Ton-chan is Kokoro's cute piggy sidekick... who likewise only lasts about a minute before one of Kokoro's explosive sneezes turns him into a pork roast.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: There's an episode called "Tsukune-chan vs. Aliens." It's five seconds long, and all we see is the mayor asking Tsukune-chan for help, and then a brief shot of the alien ship blowing up. Afterwards, an off-screen voice says "But I wanted to see that..."
- The Ojou: Shioretta
- The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: The Mayor. Tsukune herself points out that he spends most of his time hanging out at her house rather than doing his mayorly duties.
- Power Incontinence: Kokoro's magic goes wildly out of control whenever she sneezes.
- Puni Plush
- Punny Name: Shioretta Flower's first name means "wilted."
- Ring Ring CRUNCH: Rather than killing her alarm clock, Tsukune magically teleports it into the Mayor's bedroom, where it clonks him on the head.
- The Rival: Shioretta
- Rose-Haired Girl: Kokoro is the cheerful variety.
- Running Gag:
- Tsukune's house exploding.
- Kokoro getting a new pet and then immediately killing it with one of her magical sneezes.
- Sensible Heroes, Skimpy Villains: Nabule wears a cleavage-baring corset top, fishnets, high-heeled boots, and a miniskirt, while Tsukune favors a simple long-sleeved sack-dress.
- Shout-Out: When Tsukune's parents briefly appear in an Imagine Spot, they look exactly like Sally Yumeno's parents.
- Slice of Life
- Stringy Haired Ghost Girl: Mr. Mayor gets haunted by one of these. It turns out to be a scam created by Nabule.
- Stupid Crooks: The robber duo.
- Unusual Ears: Love Smith has cat ears.
- What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made on Drugs?
- Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him: After using a bunch of spells to try and beat Nabule, Tsukune finally brains her with a nearby pot, commenting “I should’ve just done that right from the start instead of using magic.”
- Widget Series
- Yamato Nadeshiko: When Shioretta finds out that her crush prefers this type of girl, she tries to become one herself.