Madoka Magica

I immediately became hooked.

Madoka Magica then struck me with unimaginable feelings.

This is such a well executed piece of drama, with characters very close to real.

The author did an amazing job fitting the story inside only 12 episodes. Maybe this is why, the experience is so dense.

I also need to compliment the soundtrack. It is so well done, after finishing the series I am still listening to them, constantly.

Madoka Magica uses the magical girl genre as a surface shield, just like NGE uses mecha genre for the purpose. I recommend you give it a chance even if you don't care much about the magical girl thing. Chances that you will like this even if you are distant to the genre are big, given that you appreciate anime ;)

I thought about giving this 10 instead of 9, but maybe in another world.

The packaging is definitely off brand for the series. The cover art and opening music theme portray a series that looks like it'll focus on teen romance and relationship drama. And magic i guess. The show then becomes a journey into fantasy/sci-fi and fatalistic existentialism. The art is interesting, as various scenes into the witches' territories are a bit psychedelic. The story was a bit loose and jumbled, but it evolved with enough interesting concepts of mankind's place on earth and in the universe that it kept me sufficiently entertained through the end.

If you're expecting this series to be the greatest series ever or a masterpiece due to the other reviews, well, don't raise your expectations too much. I guess it might be, depending on your taste, but if it isn't, well, you can always throw Death Note or Food Wars on standby.

I started watching this knowing nothing except that it was a 'dark' magical girl series. I've never seen any of the magical girl stuff (unless Claymore counts?) so I had no idea of how it was using/subverting the usual tropes. Still, it was pretty amazing... and very dark. By the time I got to the 9th episode I was feeling pretty distraught over the fates of all the characters and how awful the whole system was.

One thing that particularly stood out for me was the animation and the various styles to represent the bizarre Witches and the Labyrinths they create. While the main characters usually remain in regular anime mode everything else becomes a wild collage of symbols and strange creatures that symbolize the Witch and her obsessions. Each one seems to be a mysterious story unto itself.

Don't let the cutesy character designs fool you though... this isn't for kids, both because it's so disturbing and also because I don't think they'd really understand it once the true nature of the magical girls starts to come out.

I normally read up on a series before I buy it, but I lucked into this one without doing any research at all, and I'm so glad that I did. I'm a 42 year old male, so you might think I'm outside the demographic for this show, and so did I. I've been collecting anime since 1988, but I've never been into Magical Girl anime. I loved Tenchi Muyo, so I was able to stomach some Magical Girl Pretty Sammy, so I'm not completely unfamiliar with the genre, but it's really not my thing. I only watched this because Christine Cabanos, the English voice actress for the main character was going to be at a local anime convention and I wanted to be familiar with her work before meeting her. I did absolutely no research whatsoever. After watching the first two episodes, it was headed in exactly the direction I expected it to be going, and I wasn't too excited to hit play on episode three, but I'm so glad that I did. The first two episodes aren't all that interesting to watch, but believe me, you will enjoy them a lot more when you re-watch them, and you will. Once you finish episode ten and realize just what has been going on, a re-watch is practically mandatory.

It is absolutely imperative to avoid spoilers, but you do need to know one thing: Give it at least three episodes. The end of episode three marks a major turning point. To say that the plot gets serious at that point is an understatement. Everything changes; the story loses its frivolous nature, the art, settings and even the music change to suit the new dramatic nature of the plot, and it's at this point that you should make your judgment on whether or not to finish the series. Don't get me wrong, this is a Magical Girl anime to the end, but if you are a fan of extremely well written stories, and I mean on the level of Shakespeare, Goethe, and classical Greek legend, then this is for you, regardless of whether or not you like Magical Girls.

Lets break it down:

ART: 8/10 I've seen better animated shows. Especially close-ups on the character's faces leave something to be desired, but still, this animation is above average. The use of backgrounds and lighting to set the mood for the scene is done with masterful skill. The use of a completely different art style to set the witch labyrinths apart from the real world is jarring at first, but you can't deny it IS effective. Every image is meaningful.

STORY: 10/10 This is the real selling point of the anime. I have never come across a better written show, bar none. Again, I'm not going to give anything away, so I'm just going to ask you to trust me here. I can say that if you have heard that this is a deconstruction of the genre, then you heard right. It asks questions that other shows in the genre don't ask, and plays out the consequences of the character's actions and choices in a fully serious manner. However, its more than that. It borrows heavily from the classics to give a surprisingly deep and well thought out story.

MUSIC: 10/10 If you have never really paid attention to Japanese composers, this show may change that. The music is absolutely perfect. Where the show wants to be light and uplifting the music does that quite well. Where the music really shines is in the dramatic scenes and the action where the music can set the tone for a scene equally well, if not more so, than the visuals. Previously, my favorite anime composer was Yoko Kanno, but after watching this, Yuki Kajiura is now top of my list and not likely to ever be deposed.

THE DUB: 8/10 Some other reviewers have given Christine Cabanos a bad rap, but I don't agree. She does a good job here as the main character Madoka. The role was demanding, with a LOT of emotion, and I think she delivered that emotion believably. Christina Vee does an outstanding job as Homura. Her character is almost the opposite of Madoka, with little emotion (at least in the first half of the series) and an intensity that doesn't really suit a middle school student, but once you have seen the full series, you will understand that this is exactly what her character called for.

OVERALL: 9/10 If you are looking for a light, fun piece of entertainment, then this may not be for you. I wouldn't recommend this for younger audiences either. It really is written for a more mature, discerning, intelligent audience, and may even be off- putting, if not inappropriate for young viewers. Hint: Parents, don't buy this for your eight year old daughter. Now, by inappropriate, I don't mean it has a lot of blood, gore, and sex. In fact it has no sex, only the briefest nudity (like during transformation sequences, as is typical for Magical Girl anime), and although it does have violence, it isn't all that bloody and definitely not gory. Still, the story deals with very serious material, and the realities of being a Magical Girl are atypical of the genre to say the least. This is a deconstruction of the Magical Girl genre in a similar sense that Unbreakable was a deconstruction of the Super Hero genre.

If, on the other hand, you grew up with Sailor Moon and would like someone to write a Magical Girl story for your now older and more refined tastes, with a story that will change the way you look at the genre, then get this. If you just like well written stories, that don't pull any punches and make you feel like you've been on an emotional roller coaster by the end, then this is definitely for you.

The trailers and posters of this show are practically false advertising: When all they show is cute girls with wide eyes and colourful hair smiling and having fun, the show looks like it could be a shoddy clone of Sailor Moon. In reality, beyond the physical appearance of the characters Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a psychological-horror style genre deconstruction that has more in common with 'Faust' or 'Requiem for a Dream' than it does with anything else in the Magical Girl genre.

Like the other infamously existential anime 'Neon Genesis Evangelion', Madoka Magica starts out with the pretension of being representative of its genre so it can tear down those assumptions and tropes moments later. The first two episodes are a brilliant but not entirely out-of-the-ordinary set-up for a magical girl anime. By the end of the third episode it is made abundantly clear that things do not go according to plan. The remaining 9 episodes cover a nightmare-inducingly fatalistic and hopeless series of events that rank this show as among the emotionally darkest works of fiction I've ever seen.

There are no monsters that jump out at you, and there are no gruesome character deaths to make you cringe. Make no mistake, this is definitely horror - but it's horror in the sense of total and utter despair, regret and hopelessness in the face of the inevitable. The juxtaposition of the impossibly grim storyline and the overly cutesy visuals leaves a constant feeling of nausea and unease, such as how Kyubey keeps his cute-but- cold smile even as the story descends into hell. The casting of well-meaning and naive 14 year old girls as the tragic heroes only adds to this contrast.

The plot will surprise you at every turn - even if you're a savant at foreseeing twists, I can guarantee you that you will be caught of guard at more than once. I really can't say anything about the plot except the obvious, which is that there is more than meets the eye in the world of magical girls - but keep in mind that just as you think you understand what's going on, you don't.

My single problem with the show is that the ending felt rushed and incomplete, and the set-up for the 'Rebellion' movie at the end seemed a bit forced. I think the last episode or two should have been an entire movie, like 'End of Evangelion' - squeezing such apocalyptically dramatic events into a 20 minute episode was bound to leave things undercooked. Otherwise I have no complaints. This is, without a doubt, one of the best made stories in any medium that I've ever seen. It's arty but not pretentious, emotional but never clichéd, action packed yet thoughtful. It manages to hit hard without losing subtlety. Every character is believable, interesting and necessary. The art switches between clean and conventional scenes of the real world to portrayals of psychedelic lovecraftian destruction with total fluency - Madoka Magica is at every point incredible to look at. The soundtrack is well produced, emotionally versatile and never boring.

Even if you don't like anime or have never seen it before, if you like stories with originality, intellectual and emotional depth, themes of cosmic significance and painfully human characters, watch Madoka Magica. You will enjoy it.