Iwakami decided early on that they would produce an original project to give Shinbo more freedom in his directing, and to develop an anime that could appeal to a wider audience than the usual demographic that the magical girl genre was aimed towards, intending for the series to be accessible to "the general anime fan." Gen Urobuchi and Ume Aoki were contacted to work on the project as the screenwriter and original character designer, respectively, and the four (Shinbo, Urobuchi, Aoki, and Shaft) collectively created the series as the "Magica Quartet."
Iwakami's decision to create an original project for Shinbo aimed at a broader audience than typical magical girl shows, with Gen Urobuchi and Ume Aoki joining as collaborators to develop the series under the "Magica Quartet" banner.