Mahou Shoujo Haru No Shimai

The Spring Sisters, as they appear on Claudio’s shirt. The kanji is the title of the series.

Mahou Shoujo Haru No Shimai (roughly translating to "Magical Girl Sisters of Spring",) is an in-universe anime which premiered in the U.S in 1985. Production on the series began as early as 1977. The soundtrack consists of funky jazz and J-pop. It's Claudio's favorite anime, and he often rambles passionately about its sheer brilliance.

The series focuses on the Spring Sisters, a group of half-human, half-Season Witch magical girls. They control their powers by balancing their human and Season Witch sides, and end up saving the day. Their mentor is Father Seasons, who each of the girls relate to in a different way. Their rivals are the evil Winter Sisters (despite the name, both sets of sisters were born from Father Spring), who try time and time again to destroy the world.

Trivia

• Claudio may be obsessed with the series because it reminds him of Aaron, as 1985 also was the year that he went missing.
• It was apparently influential enough to inspire the creation of Sailor Moon.
• Claudio describes one of the episodes in detail, Season 16 Episode 309, "Run, Run Haru Natsu". It focuses on the girls having to handle their powers as though they were purely Season Witches. The title roughly translates to "Run, Run Spring and Summer".
  • 16 multi-hundred episode seasons in just ~20 years!? In case it wasn't clear by now, this story is way past 1999.
• According to the Essentia 2000, different versions of the series appear across various realities. In one, they're brothers, in another they're sea lions, and in yet another they're an incestuous cat-girl polycule.