Gekijouban Mahou shojo Madoka magika Shinpen: Hangyaku no monogatari

The original series and the movie duology that retold it ended with a finale that was heart-rendingly bittersweet yet incredibly positive, but also had a slight note of dissatisfaction. Rebellion seeks to rectify that and just... doesn't?

From a technical standpoint, the movie is fabulous. The soundtrack is lovely, and the visuals are gorgeous. What surprised me even more was the imagery: Where I found the abstract depiction of the Witches odd and jarring in the series (and to a lesser extent also in the duology), I found it absolutely beautiful in Rebellion.

But as fantastic as it looked, it could not hide some problems with the pacing I feel this movie has. A runtime of almost two hours certainly isn't short, so I wonder if it was truly necessary to spend five minutes on a fairly silly 'magical transformation' sequence that is meant to be partially satirical. Similarly, there were two quite long fight scenes that just dragged on where nothing really mattered. IMHO the pacing is one if this movie's biggest flaws; I was never quite bored but I certainly came close occasionally.

The biggest flaw, however, is the plot, or rather its conclusion. I love the premise, I love how it is revealed, I love how it is concluded. I don't love what happens after the conclusion of the premise. Similarly, I love how all our favourite characters are there, and I love how the writers managed to unify their tragic fates with the positive premise (particularly Sayaka). I don't love what they did to Homura at the end.

All in all I find the final choice the maker's did to be a questionable one. They did not want to conclude their movie trilogy with a clichéd, super sappy, overly perfect ending. Turning clichés around is one of the most beloved and major themes of Madoka Magica, so I suppose it fits the modus operandi. But the series and duology are also so beloved because their final message is so utterly positive, and the one of Rebellion just isn't. I don't really see why.

It's a bit similar to the duology, where Beginnings ended with horrible revelations and Eternal tried to fix anything, only that there is no fourth movie to fix Rebellion's ending. Which is so weird because the movie had its perfect ending, and then threw it away for another dramatic twist that just didn't get fixed in the end.

From a theatrical standpoint, I guess this is excellent. From a personal standpoint I find this fairly unsatisfying. Still an amazing movie, though. You just might want to replace the last ten minutes with 'And then they lived happily ever after' in your head.

Madoka Magica was, and still is, one of my favorite Anime series. The show had amazing animation, great soundtracks, action, emotion, and a great amount of character development.

Knowing the first two movies were a review of the show, I was intrigued to see what the third movie would have to offer, given the ending from the original series/duo-logy was one of the most powerful of any show I had ever seen.

This movie in my opinion was a huge letdown. The beginning had many aspects I enjoyed from the original series, but as the movie progressed I could sense it struggling to keep the balance of its characters, and flowing as the first two movies did. The movie seemed choppy and I struggled to connect in the same way as I did with the original series.

If you are content with giving up on the touching experience from the first two movies, feel free to ride a less emotional, confusing, and character altering experience. This movie lacked many of the qualities that kept me watching the original series, and overall left a sour taste in my mouth. Besides a scene here and there, I contemplated turning it of numerous times.

As a huge fan, the artwork is still wonderful, the music is great, and the action scenes are thrilling. however, if the emotional ride, the characters, and the story are what compelled you to watch Madoka Magica, I highly recommend you stick to the series, as you will be disappointed with this movie.

"Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part III: Rebellion" is a movie sequel for popular "Madoka Magica" anime series. It is preceded by two movies which retell the events of the anime. "Rebellion" is a first proper sequel with new story.

All sequels following a successful work of art are automatically suspicious of being blatant attempt on cashing in on the previous achievements. The creators may run out of ideas, get lazy or just lose interest in continuing story at original level of creativity. This is absolutely not the case with "Madoka Magica 3". I'm still surprised how good this sequel actually was.

Everything what TV anime series was praised for is present in the sequel. Soundtrack is equally good and animation style is even better - while equally imaginative it's even more psychedelic, more detailed and more stunning. The storytelling is as brilliant as it was in original series. It gradually reveals the new mysteries of the (now slightly different) world and is meant to surprise the viewers and to shatter their expectations. And yes it does shatter them! At least one of major plot twists (there are many) is of the category "Absolutely didn't see that coming!". And yet it isn't some random event pulled out of thin air - immediately after re-watching one will definitely see why it made perfect sense.

This particular plot twist is a reason why not everyone liked the movie, there were even accusations of "ruining the franchise". I can't delve into details why I find these accusations unfounded. If you like the original series you must watch the sequel to see for yourself.

While its predecessor had as main point the subversion of a genre, this subverts what had already been established by the anime. Focused on the character Homura, this film studies the psychological and personality of the character through symbolism and subliminal messages, while giving us a tragic continuation of the previous story that, although melancholic, reached a minimally happy ending.

The anime that had worked out mixed feelings in the midst of a chaotic situation is no different from this one, which decided to focus entirely on negative but natural feelings of most people, what is evident with this is what had already been shown in the background in the series, that Homura is the main character of Madoka Magica, everything that happened previously was only because of her actions, that is, Madoka was only capable of her achievements in the previous one because of this.

The film majestically works on selfishness and desire, that even in a world that was balanced and healthy there are still those who do not accept it, who can still suffer even with the guarantee of a "happy ending".

In addition to expanding the fantasy universe, he also masterfully studies the philosophy between good and bad, which when they are unbalanced are nothing more than pure chaos, Homura who until then had not noticed this "flaw" in Madoka's plan at the end of the anime , decides to take the lead, until he realizes that regardless of the fear of becoming a witch, he disappeared, that would not necessarily cease the negative feelings and apprehension that we feel daily, causing the character to take drastic measures in the face of the situation.

Rebellion is responsible for creating one of the greatest antagonists of anime, not because of its psychopathy and supposed malice, but because it is something so close to us and our actions that it makes us reflect; "What if I was in this situation? It would probably do worse! ".

Where I've had points to argue in the previous 2 entries, in this film, I have zero problems with anything. I can easily suggest that the "adaption" is over with now and we're into original content territory now, with the problems of the series no longer hanging over the films head, we can completely focus on this as the movie plot and get the character development we need.

Everything is done masterfully in this, from the animation and character development to the addition of previously unknown people in the story that act as easter eggs for fans of the series and the story behind it, while not detracting from the overall plot.

Everything in this movie is done to perfection with glorious animation and set pieces, to one of the best character writing points I've ever seen in fiction. The character development works so well in this, so much that I think it has effected the industry to a degree with some series and their attempts at a shocking revelation. Its to be expected though, as there will always be people who see a trope and think its good to copy, but sometimes not putting in the work necessary to make it good for them.

But in this movie, it does everything as well as I'd want.