Madoka Magica

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 really liked it, despite it being about young girls...the only other magical girl series I've watched is sexy magical girl which is a crazy hentai...this was nothing as mental as that...

i had heard this was very dark, and i didn't think so to begin with, but maybe i was thinking 'dark' in terms of horror, which this isn't really, it is 'dark' in terms of despair and hopelessness...its actually a very intelligent, well thought anime, that had me guessing up til the end and keen to watch every episode...

Madoka meets a strange creature that looks similar to a small dog, with long ears that talks (it is anime, so that is not as weird as it sounds!) named Kyubey. He offers to grant any wish she wants in return for making a contract for her soul, to fight witches for the rest of her life...what will her one wish be?

awesome animation, interesting characters and a gripping story, but probably too deep and possibly disturbing for younger viewers (theres a lot of trippy imagery in this!)...its pretty awesome...

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.

This anime I truly believe is a masterpiece, however, it does not receive the review it deserves based on one misguided fact: that this is a series for children.

Madoka Magica, is dark in its themes, it struggles with the definition of good and evil, right and wrong and even the existence of the human soul. It takes on tough issues and sadly these are thrust onto young pure-hearted girls, but their reactions are what give a main strength to the series. Though they are too young to deal with things that even adults run from that leads to an incredible amount of admiration from older audiences.

However, though I said the series has dark themes, do not be mislead into thinking that it is not visually appealing, because it is. Oh god, it is.

Adorable characters, wonderful weapons, skillful imagery as well as the battle scenes, even the bad guys we're meant to hate, draw us into masterpieces of art. The visual stimulus here is incredible and undoubtedly one of its major draw-cards.

The story is skilfully done too, two young girls on the cusp of adulthood, open-minded and willing to do whatever they can to make the world a better place. But very soon they realise that 'give' results in 'take' and this new world they enter will give them a great gift, the power to fulfil any wish they desire, but in receiving the power to save the universe there is more sacrifice than they bargained for.

If you like good looking animation, done up cute, and something that really draws you inside a well-constructed world - then give this a go! I recommend this to every single 16+ girl and guy that likes a bit of good-looking mind-bendiness. Younger audiences I give them caution, it's a great show, nothing sinister, however it deals with issues that the characters should not have to deal with in reality. There's a bit of psychology here that young audiences might not only find difficulty with understanding, but may find confronting.

All in all - Ah - may - zing!!!

It begins very cheesy, as Urobuchi described as a healing series, however, what occurs in the first two episodes has the only purpose to manipulate your expectations. After the third episode the shows true nature begins to creep through and only in episodes nine and ten that the full nature of the whole fictional universe is revealed. Truly a marvelous piece of entertainment and also a work of art. Its a very rare accomplishment, a TV series combining artistic value and entertainment value.

I never cried watching TV, I never felt so affected that I was unable to sleep, but Madoka managed to affect me on a very deep level that no other TV series (including Evangelion) has ever managed to match. It set a new standard for what I came to expect from television: brilliant writing, memorable characterization, over the top visual style.