Kaitou St. Tail
Mysterious Thief Saint Tail

In the case of St. Tail, the term "Magical Girl" takes on particular siginificance...

Haneoka Meimi is an energetic middle-school girl who has a secret -- at night, she becomes the mysterious thief, St. Tail. Though her alter ego is well known, know one knows her real identity except for her best friend and partner in crime, Mimori Seira. Seira is a novice-nun, and works within the church at the Catholic school she and Meimi both attend. Through the confessions of troubled people who come to see her, Seira is able to find "work" for St. Tail. Though St. Tail is a theif, she never steals without reason, and never for profit.

Since stealing is a crime, St. Tail is wanted very badly by the police; and one particular police officer's son... Asuka Jr. Attending the same school as Meimi, Asuka Jr. is seemingly oblivious to the fact that she may indeed be the mysterious thief. Instead, they fence with words and trade insults back and forth (much to Seira's amusement). Meimi is as interested in Asuka Jr. as he is in St. Tail, but the competition between the thief and the junior detective keeps them apart.

Yes, like most magical girls, Meimi does have a pet. Her hedgehog Ruby. No, it doesn't talk or perform magic.

Strictly Shoujo St. Tail Information

Great St. Tail Sites

Doi St. Tail Encyclopedia

St. Tail Fansubs

VKLL

In a slight twist, Meimi does not actually seem to have many "magical" or supernatural powers, other than the normal "anime" powers to leap tall buildings, hop up on light posts, etc. Her transformation sequence is very kawaii, and demonstrates her magical background. Meimi's father is a magician, and often she uses some of his tricks to distract and confuse her enemies as well as the police.

Meimi's props include a locket which she holds when she transforms, along with a hat and cane used for magic tricks. She yells "It's SHOW-TIME!" when she is about to form a really good trick, and often gets away using many balloons to fly. Though Asuka Jr. is not her only rival, he is the only one which matters to Meimi.

Kaitou Saint Tail is currently being fansubbed by VKLL, 5 volumes of which are available. It is based on the manga of the same name which ran in the monthly magazine Nakayoshi, written by Tachikawa Megumi. There are a total of 43 anime episodes, none of which have been licensed in the USA to date.

Technical series info was taken from the Doi St.Tail Encyclopedia.

Strictly Shoujo Notes on St. Tail:

St. Tail is a very interesting example of the "Magical Girl" genre. Firstly, Meimi doesn't really do much in the way of "real" magic, or have one standard attack other than her phrase "It's SHOW-TIME!" However, it is the involvement of her parents which intrigues me the most. Though not all Magical Girls are lacking parents, they are usually not around very much, and seem to hardly notice that their children are out of the house at all hours saving the universe. In St. Tail, not only does Meimi still have both parents, but they play a very active role. Meimi's father is constantly doing magic tricks and asking Meimi how she is. Her mother, realizing that her daughter takes after her, pays very good attention to Meimi's comings and goings - but doesn't let on that she knows. It adds a little bit of spice to an already juicy plot ^_^