[Disclaimer: While this blog post discusses Rule 34 statistics, it doesn't contain explicit imagery, embedded links to pornographic material or excessive coarse language.]

It's the tenth of the month, so you know what that means. That's right! It's time for another in-depth analysis of clop!



My previous Rule 34 blog posts are available at the following links.

August 2012 / At the rate things are going...

September 2012 / Famous Bronies

October 2012 / Digimon

November 2012 / Equestrian elections

December 2012 / Top 11 Hottest Animated Women

January 2013 / General porn statistics

February 2013 / Touhou review

March 2013 / Season three wrap up

April 2013 / Idolm@ster

May 2013 / OC woes

June 2013 / Ribald Rivalries

July 2013 / A major announcement

August 2013 / Rule 34 Origins

September 2013 / Equestria Girls Review

October 2013 / Three years of MLP:FIM

November 2013 / Season Three Episode Retrospective

December 2013 / Twilight Sparkle's Rival

January 2014 / Passing the Bechdel Test

February 2014 / CP Atone

March 2014 / Loli and Stitch

April 2014 / The Binding of Wonder Woman

May 2014 / Cybersix Showdown

Without further ado, here's the latest data from Rule34.paheal.net!



As of June 10, 2014, here's the state of Rule 34:

Pokemon still holds the lead with 78,083 images. 1,377 new explicit images were added during May, giving Pokemon a 1.7% increase in porn from last month. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is in second place with 53,746 images. 1,511 new explicit images were added during May, giving My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic a 2.8% increase in porn from last month. Touhou is in third place with 48,793 images. 1,057 new explicit images were added during May, giving Touhou a 2.2% increase in porn from last month. DC Comics is in fourth place with 24,283 images. 136 new explicit images were added during May, giving DC Comics a 0.5% increase in porn from last month. Street Fighter is in fifth place with 18,348 images. 96 new explicit images were added during May, giving Street Fighter a 0.5% increase in porn from last month. Naruto is in sixth place with 18,226 images. 249 new explicit images were added during May, giving Naruto a 1.3% increase in porn from last month. Marvel Comics is in seventh place with 17,409 images. 94 new explicit images were added during May, giving Marvel Comics a 0.5% increase in porn from last month. Sonic Team is in eighth place with 16,608 images. 210 new explicit images were added during May, giving Sonic Team a 1.2% increase in porn from last month. Digimon is in ninth place with 12,534 images. 150 new explicit images were added during May, giving Digimon a 1.2% increase in porn from last month. Super Mario Bros is in tenth place with 11,314 images. 240 new explicit images were added during May, giving Super Mario Bros a 2.1% increase in porn from last month.

After falling behind last month, My Little Pony is back on top with the largest monthly increase of all top ten porn producers. There seems to be a struggle for Street Fighter to hold on to fifth place. Naruto is only 122 explicit images away from caching up. We'll have to see if there's a ranking upset in the coming months.



Now that we've gone over the monthly update for the top ten porn producers, it's time to analyze the latest data regarding Rule 34 images for the mane six.

As of June 10, 2014, here's the state of Rule 34 for the mane six, according to Rule34.paheal.net:

Twilight Sparkle has 8,029 images. 204 explicit images were added during May, giving her a 2.6% increase from last month. Rainbow Dash has 6,717 images. 161 explicit images were added during May, giving her a 2.4% increase from last month. Fluttershy has 6,276 images. 222 explicit images were added during May, giving her a 3.6% increase from last month. Pinkie Pie has 5,833 images. 149 explicit images were added during May, giving her a 2.6% increase from last month. Rarity has 5,241 images. 165 explicit images were added during May, giving her a 3.2% increase from last month. Applejack has 5,073 images. 138 explicit images were added during May, giving her a 2.7% increase from last month.

Congratulations to Twilight Sparkle for being the first individual character on rule34.paheal.net to reach the impressive milestone of 8,000 explicit images! She's succeeded in garnering more smut than any other character and will continue her role as a pioneering princess of porn! Applejack also reached a personal milestone with 5,000 images! Kudos to our two beautiful bookends, Twilight Sparkle and Applejack!



Fluttershy has generated more explicit imagery this month than any other member of the mane six, including Twilight Sparkle! Fluttershy has surpassed Rainbow Dash's porn production numbers in each of the last six monthly updates. Only 441 images separate them. If Rainbow Dash doesn't improve her numbers, Fluttershy may soon take second place.



Special thanks to Infinion, who made these amazing graphs of the data I collected.

To start off with, here's the master chart of the top ten Rule 34 producers.



This chart represents more than three years' worth of Rule 34 data. In order to more closely examine the numbers, Infinion has broken the data into more manageable semi-annual charts.

Oct. 2010 - Mar. 2011.

Apr. - Sept. 2011.

Oct. 2011 - Mar. 2012.

Apr. - Sept. 2012.

Oct. 2012 - Mar. 2013.

Apr. - Sept. 2013.

Oct. 2013 - Mar. 2014.

Which brings us to June 2014.



To get an idea of how far My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has come since its premiere, here's a chart highlighting the monthly numerical and percentage increase of MLP porn.



For those who desire a more consolidated look at the raw data, here's the numbers for the top ten porn producers, as well as their monthly increase.

Now let's take a look at the Rule 34 stats for the mane six. Here's their master chart.



In order to discover what these numbers mean, we'll need to delve deeper. In order to do that, we'll break down the data into semi-annual chunks.

Oct. 2010 - Mar. 2011.

Apr. - Sept. 2011.

Oct. 2011 - Mar. 2012.

Apr. - Sept. 2012.

Oct. 2012 - Mar. 2013.

Apr. - Sept. 2013.

Oct. 2013 - Mar. 2014.

Which brings us to June 2014.



For those who desire a more consolidated look at the raw data, here's the numbers for the mane six, as well as their monthly increase

There's never been a better time to be a fan of Sailor Moon.

It's one of the most iconic anime series of all time. The original English dub of Sailor Moon was one of the first anime series to achieve massive popularity in North America and introduced a generation of fans outside of Japan not only to magical girls, but anime in general. For those unaware, Sailor Moon chronicles the adventures of a team of super heroine schoolgirls who defend the Earth from invading demonic forces. When 14-year-old Serena rescues a cat from being bullied, the cat returns to inform Serena that she is destined to be a heroine and protector named Sailor Moon. She is tasked with finding other Sailor Scouts to assist her in locating the missing Moon Princess and Silver Crystal in order to protect them from the rulers of the nefarious Negaverse. It was a huge hit during the anime boom of the early 90s. However, the version of Sailor Moon which aired then was heavily edited to "Westernize" certain characters and plot points, remove content which was deemed inappropriate by censors and even changed the relationship between two characters from a lesbian couple to cousins.



Yes. Because making them cousins makes scenes like this much less awkward than if they were lesbians. (sarcasm)

The final season of the series, Sailor Stars, never saw a U.S. release. For nearly a decade, the Sailor Moon license has languished in North America, which is a real tragedy considering how pivotal the series was for a whole generation of anime fans.



Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal is a new animated series set to debut in Japan on July 5th. Many North American fans wondered when the new series would reach them, if at all. Viz Media recently answered that question in a big way.

Viz Media is going to simulcast Sailor Moon Crystal around the world as it airs in Japan. Not only has Viz Media secured all North American distribution rights to Sailor Moon Crystal, but also all the episodes of original Sailor Moon series, the movies and all additional specials. Viz Media recently confirmed plans to re-release the original 1992 Sailor Moon anime, uncut and remastered using the Japanese HD release as their source, retranslated and redubbed. All 200 episodes, including the previously un-dubbed and un-released in North America, Sailor Stars.

“SAILOR MOON is one of the extremely rare breed of anime series truly deserving of the title of ‘Legendary’,” said Charlene Ingram, VIZ Media Senior Manager, Animation Marketing. “Since its initial debut in the mid-1990s, SAILOR MOON has been unavailable to English-speaking fans for nearly a decade. It has also never seen a complete and proper unedited release in North America…until now!” “SAILOR MOON was groundbreaking in the way its storyline and main characters resonated with both a male and female audience, and these aspects continue to attract a new generation of fans eager to see this iconic series,” said Brian Ige, VIZ Media Vice President of Animation. “We’re thrilled to be able to release this empowering action title uncut and in its entirety."



With Sailor Moon fresh on everyone's minds, now seems like an ideal time to analyze the history of the magical girl anime. When most people think of this particular genre, a few things spring to mind. Frilly dresses accompanied by a transformation sequence, keeping powers hidden with secret identities and cute talking animal sidekicks. While Sailor Moon may feature many of the tropes associated with the magical girl genre, their origins are stepped in a legacy that's fifty years old.

We'll start with the original magical girl: Samantha Stevens.

What? You were expecting an anime? Bewitched premiered on ABC in 1964 and ran for eight seasons until 1972. The show starred Elizabeth Montgomery as a witch named Samantha who marries an ordinary mortal man and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban housewife. Throughout the series, episodes of Bewitched involved Samantha hiding her magical abilities from the general public while also using them to help others. Bewitched is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. By the end of its first season, Bewitched was the second most watched program on ABC. NBC wanted their own show with a magical girl, so I Dream of Jeannie was made to directly compete with Bewitched.



The show starred Barbara Eden as a 2,000-year-old genie, and Larry Hagman as an astronaut who becomes her master and eventual husband. I Dream of Jeannie first aired in 1965 and ran for five seasons until 1970. As an interesting side note, Barbara Eden recently appeared in costume as Jeannie at age 78 alongside Bill Clinton at the Life Ball 2013 AIDS Charity event.



Barbara Eden's appearance as Jeannie makes sense considering that the theme for Life Ball 2013 was 1,001 Nights, where guests were immersed into a fascinating world of poetry and fairy tales, mythical creatures and djinns, desirous poems and wise allegories.

With all this talk of imitation, one might assume that Sabrina, the Teenage Witch was also trying to ride the wave of popularity generated by Bewitched. In actuality, the Sabrina comics first appeared in 1962; two years prior to the premiere of Bewitched. Once Bewitched became a hit, Sabrina saw a surge in popularity and was soon given her own TV series.

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch has enjoyed a fair amount of mainstream success during the last 52 years. In addition to her original comics and animated series, Melissa Joan Hart starred as a live-action version of Sabrina, which aired for seven seasons on ABC from 1996 to 2003. In 1999, a new animated series was made that lasted 65 episodes and Sabrina even appeared in a bizarre series of crossover comics with Sonic the Hedgehog.



The latest animated version of Sabrina premiered on the Hub Oct. 12, 2013.

Sabrina's also slated to star in a new series of graphic novels, which will have a much darker tone than her previous comics. The head writer of the new Sabrina graphic novels, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, said they'll be an "homage to Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, Carrie and The Little Girl Who Lived Down the Lane."



So, if Sabrina arrived on the scene before Samantha Stevens, why is Bewitched considered the genesis of the magical girl genre? While I Dream of Jeannie and Sabrina the Teenage Witch both found success in America, neither of them were able to resonate with Japan like Bewitched. The series was especially popular amongst young girls. The Japanese company Sony has owned the rights to Bewitched since 1989. The series was so popular with Japanese audiences that in 2004 a new series was made called Bewitched in Tokyo.



Which brings us to the magical girl genre of anime. The Secret of Akko-Chan is considered to be the first magical girl manga, which debuted in 1962; the same year as Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.



The Secret of Akko-Chan was created by Fujio Akatsuki and tells the story of a young girl named Atsuko "Akko-chan" Kagami, who is given a magic mirror that allows her to transform into anything she wishes. The manga was adapted into an anime in 1969.

When the series was remade in 1988, Akko-chan used her mirror to make Ameican pop culture references, as evidenced by the animated credits sequence.

While Akko-Chan may be the first manga of this genre, the first real magical girl anime was Sally the Witch.

Created by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Sally the Witch appeared in manga and anime form in 1966. With her red dress and ginger hair, Sally looks strikingly similar to Little Orphan Annie.



In the anime and manga, Sally the Witch is a princess from the magical kingdom of Astoria who comes to Earth to make friends. She uses her magic to help people by solving their problems.



Akatsuki and Yokoyama both cited Bewitched as a source of inspiration for the characterization of Akko-Chan and Sally in their respective anime series. These two early examples introduced several tropes to the magical girl genre including the "princess from another world" and "girl who is given an enchanted artifact." Concepts like transformation, using supernatural powers to help others and magical secrecy would become hallmarks of future magical girl anime series.



In the 1960s, the protagonists of the magical girl genre were mostly preteens. As the audience for them grew and matured, so did the shows. By the 1970s, new themes were explored within the magical girl genre.

Nearly one year ago, I wrote a blog post about Osamu "Father of Manga" Tezuka, who famously said, "Another thing I'm seeking after in animation is metamorphosis. I feel a kind of eroticism in it and I'm fascinated by that eroticism when drawing." Given his love for transformation, it was only a matter of time before Tezuka left his mark on the magical girl genre.



Based on the manga by Osamu Tezuka, Marvelous Melmo is an anime which premiered in 1971. Melmo is the eldest of three children, but when she's 9 years old her mother dies in a car crash. Her dying wish is for her children to grow old enough to take care of themselves. As an answer to the mother's prayer, heaven gives Melmo a bottle of red and blue pills which alters the age of whoever consumes them.



Like Akko-Chan before her, Melmo uses her transformative abilities to help those around her. Swallowing a blue pill ages her by ten years while the red pill causes her to regress ten years. Since Melmo's clothes don't grow when she does, the series contains copious amounts of panty shots, in addition to plenty of child and adult nudity.



When it premiered, Marvelous Melmo was highly controversial amongst Japanese parents because the series dealt with themes of puberty, evolution and sexuality. It also contained the kind of faux science that would cause Darwin's head to explode. Melmo can take both a red and blue pill together which causes her to revert to a fetus. From there, she can reorder her DNA to rapidly grow into whatever animal she wants.

If Melmo is the evolution of Akko-Chan's transformation magic, then Meg the Witch Girl continues the spellcraft started by Sally the Witch.



Premiering in 1974, Meg the Witch Girl was more rough around the edges than earlier examples of the magical girl genre. Meg leaves Witch World to come to Earth, where she's adopted by a former witch who married a mortal. With the help of her adopted mother, Meg learns to hone her powers in an effort to prove she's worthy of the throne and crown of Witch World. Throughout the series, Meg dealt with some of the darker themes of family life and society, like domestic violence, extramarital affairs and even suicide.

Meg the Witch Girl also contained a fair amount of fan service. She was often seen in her bra and panties. Meg's sexuality was so ingrained in her character that her action figure even included a leering pervert accessory!



Meg the Witch Girl also contained decent fight scenes; especially between Meg and her rival.

Meg the Witch Girl is an early example of the magical girl genre broadening its horizons by embracing mature themes like sexuality. As a result, it garnered a wider audience of both young men and women.

Released in 1973, Cutie Honey took the concept of fan service and cranked it up to eleven. In the series, Honey Kisaragi is a 16-year-old girl who discovers she's really a super android after her father is killed by the criminal gang known as Panther Claw. It was originally envisioned as another magical girl anime targeted at young girls, with a focus on romance and a series of Cutie Honey dolls. It was supposed to air on the 7 p.m. Monday time slot that aired all of Toei’s magical girl series since Sally the Witch. Instead NET TV decided to air Miracle Girl Limit-chan in that spot, and moved Cutie Honey to the Saturday 8 p.m. slot. That was the second half of the variety show which previously aired Devilman and Microid S. Due to the change, they decided to remodel the series. The doll idea was cancelled, the romance subplot was dropped and the series was retooled as the first magical girl anime marketed to adolescent boys.

More action and nudity were added to appeal to teenage boys, while Honey's assertive and empowered attitude appealed to teenage girls. Cutie Honey is the progenitor of the elaborate transformation sequence, which would later become a staple of the magical girl genre.



The 1980s was a return to the more youthful and innocent days of the of the magical girl genre. Action and nudity took a backseat to adorableness and marketability. It was the 80s, after all. The protagonists were cuter and their accessories were even more toyetic.

One of the more influential magical girl anime series of 80s featured a protagonist named Minky Momo.



Not quite. Magical Princess Minky Momo premiered in 1982 and featured a titular protagonist who, like Sally, was also a witch-in-training. The series is notable for being the first to add adorable talking animal sidekicks to the magical girl genre.

By using a toyetic magic wand, Minky Momo is able to transform into an adult version of herself, with an occupation and skill set tailored to fit the situation, such as a police officer, stewardess or veterinarian. Minky Momo personifies the desire of young girls who yearn to become adults.



One of the more influential magical girl anime series of the 80s was Magical Angel Creamy Mami. Premiering in 1983, this was the first anime to feature the magical singing pop idol. The protagonist's origin story is like a cross between The Green Lantern and Gem and the Holograms.



Yū Morisawa is an ordinary 10-year-old girl, until she helps an alien who came to Earth. The grateful alien gives her a toyetic wand which allows her to transform into a 16-year-old girl. Due to her transformation, she's suddenly an excellent singer. She adopts the stage name Creamy Mami, which sounds like the title of an Al Jolson porno. She becomes a famous singing sensation overnight. The backgrounds used in the Creamy Mami theme song are so 80s, it hurts.

There was actually a rivalry between Minky Momo and Creamy Mami.

Creamy Mami also introduced the first team dynamic to the magical girl genre. In 1987, Creamy Mami, Persia, Magical Emi, and Pastel Yumi joined forces in a crossover event to protect the Earth by fighting aliens on the surface of the moon using their transformation abilities and magical powers.



Which brings us to Sailor Moon.



This awesome anime learned from its predecessors by taking the magic and secret identities of the 60s, the sex appeal and transformations of the 70s, the talking animal sidekicks and team dynamic of the 80s and combined it with the warrior action and posturing of the male-targeted Super-Sentai shows.



The result was a series which has been the quintessential definition of the magical girl anime for 22 years.



As of June 10, 2014, Sailor Moon has 8,952 explicit images on rule34.paheal.net. In other words, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic generated six times as much porn as Sailor Moon in one-sixth of the time.

Ponified versions of the Sailor Scouts made cameos in the official My Little Pony comics.



Equestria Girls incorporated several elements from the magical girl genre, including the transformation sequence.

While discussing Sailor Moon and My Little Pony, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the celestial sorority created by Lauren Faust: Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls. (MWGG)



Lauren has been pitching MWGG to networks for nearly a decade in the hopes of turning it into an animated series and toy line, but it hasn't happened as of this writing.

"Maybe one day [Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls] will be a cartoon, maybe not. My original intention in their design was for a line of dolls, but it has proven difficult to get the opportunity to pitch to toy companies. The few I made it through to had this to say: 'We love it!! Make a cartoon and give us a call!!' Sigh.... What a tough business." - Lauren Faust, Oct. 9, 2005.

Lauren said that five years before the premiere of Friendship is Magic. She went to Hasbro specifically to pitch MWGG. Hasbro declined on MWGG, but they did ask Lauren if she'd like to 'reboot' My Little Pony. And the rest, as they say, is history. The brony phenomenon wouldn't exist as we know it without MWGG being the catalyst that brought Lauren to Hasbro.



One would think that after the overwhelming success of Friendship is Magic that studios would be eager to run with Lauren's other ideas. Hopefully this renewed enthusiasm for Sailor Moon will prompt people to take a second look at Lauren Faust's celestial sorority.

Is the time right for Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls to get their own show? Feel free to discuss Sailor Moon's influence or any aspect of the magical girl genre in the comments. Thanks for reading and be sure to watch for another Rule 34 update next month!