aryanna76 - 2013-06-28 12:57:11

For many months now, Madoka Magica has been brooding over me. It was the last big anime of 2011 that I failed to watch, and now, looking back on how I selfishly pushed it to the side time and time again, I lament how stupid I was. That's why, this weekend, I decided to sit down and marathon it, just let it all wash over me and see what feelings bubbled to the surface. What came to the surface was pure horror, unabated enthrallment, and unparalleled enjoyment. Not since Steins;Gate have I been so enraptured by one single story, so much so that I would gladly spend days writing about thoughts towards it. Not since Gurren Lagann has one single art style captivated and amazed me so. Not since Toradora have the characters of one anime been so real and so alive. The kicker? Madoka does all this in 12 episodes.I have to admit, one of the main reasons I put off this anime for so long is its genre. I'm not one for magical girls, and the flashy transformations of Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura were the main things that turned me away at an early age. But Madoka Magica is different, the third episode onward really shows its dual nature. Under the surface, Madoka Magica is a cold, thrilling experience that (I won't lie) sort of scared me at first. The story twists the job of a magical girl into something to be feared, and frequently makes you question the decisions of the characters. It makes you think, "Would I give up living for a wish?", and pulls you into the plights of the characters and the story as a whole.Speaking of characters, they're the thing that brings this whole production together. The emotion and feeling that they bring to the table is insane, and is so raw and intense that it'll make you cringe at some parts and laugh at others. One of the reasons the characters can do this is because each and everyone of them is flawed in one way or another, and some carry interesting back stories you'll learn of as you get to know them. No one character is two dimensional or flat, and each one can convey an emotion through a simple glance, a facial expression, or their eyes. That's hard to do, especially in anime, but SHAFT succeeds. We are rarely ever told what a character is feeling, and instead, we are shown it. A small twinge in their voice, or a subtle fidgeting can give away their entire mind set, and the series is better for it. Of course, the mood can also be put across by shading, or rain, which is also good.The main reason the characters can do this is because of the ingenious art style put in place by SHAFT, which is sort of the one touted in Bakemonogatari only toned down, with less abstract things in the backgrounds. These abstract things are replaced by flamboyant works of art, making fences, schools, and views all spectacular. And then there are the witches. Every time a witch is fought, the backgrounds morph into different things, and the witch itself always has a different design. This is where SHAFTs unique sense comes into the picture. The witches are often abstract, as are the environments they're fought in. Weirdly enough, these sudden changes in surrounding are frightening to the viewer, and sets an immediate sense of tension that prevails throughout the fight, never failing to remind you that the characters are in great danger every time they enter these worlds. You won't forget it. (These comments apply to the BDs)The sound in Madoka Magica is nothing short of terrific, and the two songs (Connect and Magia) set the tone of the anime quite nicely (soft and fun on the outside, thrilling and intense on the inside). Magia, for me, is especially captivating, and the lyrics fit the story quite nicely. The soundtrack is spectacular, and has the rare ability to set the mood of a scene as soon as it comes on, only adding to how spectacular this anime is.Overall, Madoka Magica just furthers my claim that 2011 was the best year for anime. Everything it sets out to do is done marvelously, through stunning animation, a beautiful story, and real, fleshed out characters. It succeeds in bringing more people to the genre in a way that's definitely not convention, but is better for it. This is a masterpiece, only the second ten I've ever given (Steins;Gate), and I think it deserves some of your time.Don't you?

melody.gislason - 2013-06-28 08:18:31

Review out of 100. 35 for Story, 35 for Characters, 15 for Sound, 15 for Animation. Story: (33/35) Great all around story. There really isn't any bad points about it, aside from the fact that you should watch a different magical girl show before watching this. Characters: (26/35) They played their roles properly, which is what keeps it from getting lower. They aren't really fleshed out that much and are not as important as the plot. They could have been better. Sound: (15/15) Go on Youtube and listen to the song "Magia" right now. That should tell you how good the sound is (The english cover is also very good too).Animation: (14/15) All around great. The character designs fit this show to a T and the Witches are just stunning to look at. You will wish the whole show looked as good as when the Witches are on screen. Overall: (89/100) Watch it now. Madoka Magica is a fun little show about a bunch of magical girls fighting crime with their furry little friend and living happily ever after... Not. Don't let the first few episodes fool you, Madoka Magica isn't your normal magical girl show, as it is a lot more dark and serious than say, Sailor Moon. It is essentially a deconstruction of the magical girl genre, which means that it uses the same tropes or plot devices (cute girls fighting crime, a cute furry cat that gives them the power, etc.) but uses them in a totally different way and to get a different effect. One problem with this is that you have to have seen a magical girl show before to get the full effect, and if you are like me, you probably haven't seen many. The plot in this show is very good, and knows how to take its audience for a ride. (33/35)The characters are the only letdown of the show. They aren't bad per say, but they aren't particularly memorable. Because the show is so short (12 episodes), they don't feel very fleshed out. The characters felt like they served their purpose and that was it, as if they weren't an important part of the show. Thankfully, the show didn't mess up the characters, they just didn't give them enough attention. Granted, they weren't as important as the story, but I think it could have done a better job in this area. (26/35)The production values for this show are stunning. The score is done by the amazing Yuki Kajiura (also know for the .hack series, as well as Kara no Kyokai and Fate/Zero) and is one of her better works. The music is truly stunning, especially the ending song Magia, which is probably my favorite ending theme of all time. (15/15) The animation is also very good. Because it is a magical girl show, the character designs look like your stock magical girls, even though the show is much more dark. The best thing about the animation are the witches, which were animated just beautifully. Overall, I have seen better though. (14/15)Next to Steins;Gate, this is one of the best shows of 2011 (that I have seen). An amazing plot, with amazing production values. The characters could have been better, but I'd say they are adequate for the story and play their roles well. If you have time, watch this show ASAP, and if you don't have time, make time. Of course, try and watch at least one magical girl show before doing so.

andreane35 - 2013-06-28 07:18:32

This series is quite famous - and in some cases, infamous - so I had certainly heard my fair share about it. I wasn't sure what to expect, but what I wasn't expecting was the masterpiece I found.

While Puella Magi Madoka Magica may appear to be another generic mahou shoujo at first glance, it is actually an excellently executed psychological thriller with great drama and unexpected plot twists. While the show is certainly different, it never did feel like it was trying too hard to be different; it does a surprisingly good job of making a dark, story-driven show fit flawlessly into the mahou shoujo genre.

While the story and dark atmosphere is what makes Madoka stand out, both the characters and the art are well done as well. I feel the art needs no explanation since you can judge it for yourself, but the characters each have their own backstory and their own psychological reasons for being the way they are.

While I won't give spoilers about the ending, I will say Madoka had one of the best endings I've ever seen. I am sure the author had the ending planned out from the start, because he wouldn't have been able to make the show lead up to such a well thought out ending otherwise.

Overall, I can see why Puella Magi Madoka Magica Magica is so popular. Those that have yet to watch it may assume it's overrated, but it has certainly earned its popularity.

lang.caleb - 2013-06-26 00:04:04

This show is a wonderful and artsy magical girl anime. But calling it a magical girl anime would be highly deceptive, because rather than being a cute fun action show about girls with magical powers, its brilliant, dark, and heavily story-based. It wonderfully unique art, and background music that is amazing and orchestral. The show takes a bit of time before getting truly dark and serious, and so some people may turn off of it too soon before realizing how dark and storybased it is. I think one should watch...at least the first 4 episodes before deciding that they don't like this show. It's really short, only having 12 episodes, so anyone worried about taking a lot of time on it won't have to worry. Close to the end, though, the show pulls an Evangelion and becomes really weird and confusing, but for the most part this is a great show that may leave one amazed.

hcummings - 2013-05-22 09:19:55

Madoka Magica is a story of Hope, Friendship, Despair, Evil Fluffy Magical Creatures, Cotton Balls with Moustaches and Parasailing Men in Orange Jumpsuits.It's also the best damn anime Japan has put out in a rather long time.I hes­it­ate to use the word ‘sub­ver­sion’ when describ­ing Madoka Magica, as it’s a word thrown around by many, not under­stand­ing what it is Madoka is sub­vert­ing in the first place. What I see is a group of girls, who oth­er­wise would spend their time eat­ing cake, being cute and gen­er­ally being insuf­fer­ably nice to each other, hav­ing great powers given to them and then made to suf­fer because of it. This power is that of hav­ing their wish gran­ted in exchange for being a magical girl, some­thing other magical girl anime, and anime stor­ies in gen­eral, paint as being a glor­i­ous thing. How­ever in Madoka Magica, this wish and power bring each char­ac­ter noth­ing but des­pair. Not only do their lives effect­ively end because they became magical girls and suf­fer in the gruelling battles against the witches, their wishes that are meant to be an equi­val­ent trade off bring them noth­ing but more mis­for­tune as well.Sub­ver­sion or not, the main appeal of Madoka Magica is what a per­fectly told story it is. There’s a very delib­er­ate and clear path behind each character’s devel­op­ment. I found Kaname Madoka’s devel­op­ment the most fas­cin­at­ing, espe­cially in con­trast with what she could have been. Because of her own wimp­i­ness and not becom­ing a magical girl, she keeps draw­ing more and more into her­self, get­ting increas­ingly depressed with everything that hap­pens to the girls around her. Shaft’s anim­a­tion, often one that is more gimicky than use­ful, add hugely to the story-telling here. The altern­ate dimen­sions of the witches are fright­en­ing and bizarre places. The back­grounds have become increas­ingly dreary as the series goes on, mim­ick­ing the change in tone and depres­sion of Madoka. Also spe­cial credit has to be given for the way they frame Kyubey.Kyubey is mag­ni­fi­cent. In a show with a cast of rather for­get­table char­ac­ters, if mem­or­able stor­ies, Kyubey stands out as the most fas­cin­at­ing and deadly vil­lain since Johan Liebert of Mon­ster. Again, full credit has to be given to Shaft’s art­work and how they frame Kyubey. How his shad­ows cast over the girls, stand­ing on their shoulders or their win­dowsills, push­ing Madoka into becom­ing a magical girl her­self. How they fre­quently draw atten­tion to his unmov­ing expres­sion, one that doesn’t change no mat­ter what latest cata­strophe these girls he per­son­ally made magical girls face.But what really makes him so chilling is how he simply doesn’t under­stand. What we and the char­ac­ters see as evil is at a level he can­not com­pre­hend. Kyubey isn’t evil, and never was, which is pre­cisely why he works so well. Pos­sibly the best line in the anime came in his con­ver­sa­tion with Madoka and why he made them magical girls, say­ing “if you feel like sac­ri­fi­cing your­self for the uni­verse, give me a call”. The heat death of the uni­verse is so far bey­ond any­thing Madoka her­self can com­pre­hend or care about, entropy not hav­ing any effect for a bizz­lion odd years, but equally Kyubey can’t under­stand why his actions cause the girls to hate him so much.There are some prob­lems with Madoka Magica though. Well, one spe­cific prob­lem. The char­ac­ters are dull. Their stor­ies are fas­cin­at­ing, cer­tainly. I’ve got­ten pretty emo­tion­ally inves­ted in the wimpy­ness of Madoka and Homerun-chan the time trav­el­ling les­bian, but as people they simply don’t have much per­son­al­ity. Without Kyubey, this would just be yet another anime about a bunch of incred­ibly dull girls being insuf­fer­ably nice to each other, except with some occa­sion­ally nice visu­als. Well, not all nice visu­als. I’m rather par­tial to the square-head design of the char­ac­ters, but their facial fea­tures go rather array when the shot of it is any­thing other than a close-up.Over­all though, Madoka Magica is pretty fant­astic anime. It’s per­fectly con­struc­ted and very delib­er­ately paced, keep­ing enough rev­el­a­tions with each epis­ode to keep it riv­et­ing while keep­ing to the themes of the story without des­cend­ing into shock tac­tics for the sake of keep­ing out interest. They had to keep the twists com­ing, oth­er­wise the story would flounder when stuck with these bor­ing char­ac­ters, but it hasn’t done that once over the course of the show. Well, per­haps bar the first two epis­odes, but the speed at which it upped the ante after set­ting the scene means I’m will­ing to for­give the show for that.Heck, they even somehow managed to piece together an acceptable ending that fit the plot and themes of the story, something I really was not expecting.In short, Madoka Magica is a bloody fantastic anime. It's not perfect, but damn is it ever entertaining. Highly recommended, perhaps not for a first-timer to the world of anime, but certainly for one who thinks anime hasn't been able to buy an original idea for years.

ismael.parisian - 2013-05-18 10:39:35

"Paella Magi Madoka Magikarp" is the epic tale of one Paella Magi (magic users who direct their talents towards making ludicrously tasty paella) named Madoka and her life long quest to make the ultimate paella, the Paella of the Gods. In order to do that, she must first obtain that rare and elusive ingredient - the mythical pokemon Magikarp.You may have realised by this point that I'm trolling you. And that's a bit like this anime: while the early episodes baits viewers into thinking it's an extremely moe magical girl show, with the only thing remarkable about it being extraordinary width of the moe girls' faces, it soon reveals itself as something unexpected.While the traditional demographic of a magical girl show is young girls, "Paella Magi Madoka Magikarp" isn't. Though the cutsey element is there, it's accompanied by a strong, detestable whiff of moe. That's right, in keeping with the trend in recent years, it's one of those magical girl shows aimed at pokemon trainers. And by pokemon trainers I mean otakus."Paella Magi Madoka Magikarp" is really about some mutated squirrel thing named Kyubei trying to persuade Madoka and her friends - but mostly Madoka - to make a contract with him to become Paella Magi (or Magis? What's the plural for this word??) who can go around battling witches (who causes bad things to happen to people, like suicides and stuff) with their magical power. But soon it becomes clear that this is far from the whole story...The first couple of episodes probably strike most as being ok at best and terrible at worst depending on their level of tolerance for generic magical girl fluff (of which I'm not particularly fond of) and bland moe guff (of which I'm allergic to). Underneath it all though, there's a hint of something unsettling, like a stray note sneaking into an otherwise consonant chord. This starts to manifest itself towards the end of the third episode, at which point the series starts to show its true form as a dark, twisted subversion of the genre. The remainder of the series contains plenty of shocking revelations, religious symbolisms, and a dose of moral dilemmas thrown in for good measure. It seems that the purpose of the earlier magical moeblob material is to lull you into false expectations that the later episodes can rudely jerk you out of. Just how well does the whole thing work though?Well first of all, the moe still annoys me, and was a big barrier I had to get past in order to enjoy the show. I understand that it's used for misdirection, but do they really need do it this way? "Planetes" (now THERE'S a truly excellent show) did a similar thing, but mostly through its story instead of deliberately being obnoxious. Even in this show itself, Kyubei's cute mascot-esq exterior only makes him seem more sinister than annoying when constrasted with his unknown intentions. Clearly, making the show very moe isn't necessary, and I'm not entirely convinced that it's there PURELY for misdirection and not for pandering purposes. Perhaps I'm just a cynic. Then there's the visual style. Trashy moe character designs aside (Madoka's mum could have passed for her sister), I've never been a fan of SHAFT's style, and even though people tell me "Paella Magi Madoka Magikarp" is the least "SHAFTy" work they've done, I can still see it quite clearly. Just look at the glass classrooms; odd designs for things like buildings, chairs, and decorations... it's the kind of things Apple would come up with, if they did interior designs. Like Apple, SHAFT often gives off an annoyingly smug air of pretension, and of style over substance. No where is this more obvious than in the witch fighting scenes. Within the realms of witches, the show tries to build up an overwhelming sense of chaos and madness by continuously bombarding your visual sensors with sprawling masses of psychedelic, surreal imagery: cut out butterflies; wicked barbed wires strewn across the screen; grand concert halls with designs reminiscent of the style of "Gankutsuou"... the themes vary from encounter to encounter, often accompanied by discordant instrumentals or wailing vocals, curtesey of the distinctive compositions of Yuki Kajiura. Is it different? Hell yes! Is it effective? If truth be told, it's all a bit too much. With the exception of one or two scenes, most of fighting feels flat and dull in spite of, or rather because of, the eccentric art style. There's a sense that it's trying too hard to be different... just for the sake of being different (a very SHAFT thing to do), and the design themes (with the aforementioned exceptions,) mostly have little if any relevance to the battle at hand. At least the music is good though.The plot is probably the main draw of "Paella Magi Madoka Magikarp" - it's full of the unexpected, and isn't afraid to think big. Some parts are deliberately left vague to let viewer draw their own conclusions, and from the amount of discussion the show's generated, it's clear it's been effective in that regard. Although there're a few plot holes if you look a bit deeper, I think those who take it apart and catalogue its plot holes are missing the point a little - first of all, it's no good trying to apply hard logic to some of the abstract concepts which can be open to interpretation; also, given the scale of story and the fact that it involves overpowered elements such as wishes, it's almost too much to expect the story to be completely water tight. For what it's attempting, I think it's a damn good effort just to make the plot (mostly) functional, at least on the surface. It's hard to say much more without spoiling things, and believe me, there's a heck of a lot to spoil. The cast starts off pretty generic, particularly Madoka herself, a timid girl whose paper thin personality can be summised by the description "naively nice". Other characters were also pretty forgettable, if not as annoying as Madoka - I remembered most of them as "Madoka's friends" - and even Homura seems to fall unremarkably into the quiet and mysterious stereotype bin. A few episodes in though, some of the characters starts to grow beyond their 1D state. Sayaka (fomerly known as one of "Madoka's friends") is fleshed out through her unyielding ideals (and/or selfish desires?); Homura through her compelling backstory later on; and Madoka... remains naively nice. (If it wasn't for the fact that she's the titular main character, I'm not sure I could have remembered her name...) Despite the brainless drivel that assaulted me in the early episodes, the dialogues in "Paella Magi Madoka Magikarp" can be superb when it tries, adding depth to the characters as well as throwing in some philosophical musings. Kyouko's telling of her own backstory contains a good dose of cynicism on human nature; Homura's despairing admissions of her feelings in the final episode is heart wrenching; Kyubei's dispassionate speech about cows (yes, cows) and the greater good knocks down the ego-inflated perception of our own worth. Those are some of the most memorable, most poignant moments from the show. There's a limit to how deeply (as in, not very) the show looks at these issues, but it generates enough food for thought to lift it above being mere shallow entertainment.Having said that, I do think it's a show that's clever rather than intelligent. It's the kind of show that you can spend ages trying to work out details of what happened, or freeze frame and observe the plethora of symbolisms littered around the witches' realms. But it all boils down to a superficial coolness rather than something deep. The various themes it does touch on are used for making the story darker and colourful rather than as topics for serious exploration. That's not what it's going for though - it's no "Planetes" after all."Paella Magi Madoka Magikarp" could have been improved with more episodes. Though for the majority of it the pacing is great, revealing bits and pieces of the plot at just the right times, there are some parts that feels rushed. For example Kyouko's change of attitude feels too quick to be convincing; one shocking piece of revelation about paella magis fell out of a facepalm worthy act of stupidity on Madoka's part, and the event feels too engineered to be beliveable. Also, Homura's backstory episode bulldozed through an incredible amount of material, mowing down character consistency and story integrity along the way... it was like killing someone by bashing their brains out with a hammer - powerful, effective, but a bit crude.I guess I should talk about the ending, considering all the hoo-ha it caused. I personally really like it. For me, it wraps up things up in satisfactory fashion, both emotionally and in terms of the story. What's more, provided a kind of justification for the design of Madoka's personality - Madoka's fate and what it symobolised could only have worked so well with the pure and naive personality she has.Taking everything into consideration, "Paella Magi Madoka Magikarp" is an over hyped show. I think those that who are writing essays on the deeper meanings it contains are crediting it with more depth than it has. End of the day, "Paella Magi Madagasca Madoka Magikarp" is a rollercoaster ride that goes a bit too fast at times and is un-necessarily coated in moe style... but it's a ride I ultimately enjoyed. For a show that mainly aims to be entertaining and to keep viwers guessing, it's done more than enough.

oledner - 2013-05-16 21:27:02

I want to start this review off by stating that I absolutely loved this anime. Very few anime manage to capture my attention enough to compel me to spend time reading wikis and even going as far as doing research. In fact, I loved Madoka so much that I watched it twice within a week, mainly to see if I could pick up on any details that I missed during my first watching. I was particularly interested in all the supposed references and parallels to Goethe's works (namely, Faust), but as I am unfamiliar with German literature, I honestly couldn't discern much. But, I digress. As difficult as it may be, I try to be as objective as possible with my ratings. This task is particularly difficult to accomplish with Madoka, as I would love with all my heart to say that it is an unparalleled masterpiece. But it simply isn't. And I will try my best to explain why.I can't say that I'm a fan of or that I've had much experience with the magical girl genre of anime. I've watched Sailor Moon, and that's about the extent of my exposure to this particular genre. Therefore, I feel unqualified to talk about genre clichés and whatnot, so I won't say anything like, "Madoka Magica redefined the magical girl genre with its twisted and dark plot" or "Madoka Magica is a refreshing break from the classic cheerful magical girl animes". From a completely objective standpoint, Madoka had a compelling and intriguing plot. It starts off not unlike the typical magical girl anime (or so I would presume): we are introduced to the protagonist Madoka Kaname and her friends Sayaka Miki and Hitomi Shizuki in a typical middle/high school environment. The mascot character of the series, Kyuubey, appears shortly and offers to grant Madoka and Sayaka any wish under the condition that they become magical girls and dedicate their lives to fighting malicious beings called witches which, apparently, are the cause for many unexplained accidents and suicides. Sounds like a simple and innocent proposition, doesn't it? But, obviously, there's more to it that. The story, in short, follows Madoka as she gradually learns of the hardships and suffering that befalls all the girls who choose to accept Kyuubey's offer, and truth behind the witches and the seemingly good-natured concept of wish-granting. The plot definitely introduces one of the more creative concepts I've encountered in my history of watching anime. To be frank, I can guarantee that you will never be bored at any point during the series. The action is fast-paced, the drama is effective but never overdone, and the shock value alone is enough to keep you at the edge of your seat.So where does Madoka fail to live up to my expectations? One of the biggest issues I have with the series is its choice of Madoka as the central character. Simply put, she just doesn't have what it takes to be an effective protagonist. Remember what I said about her being thrown into a situation where she is forced to cope with the consequences of becoming a magical girl? In a sense, I lied. She is never really faced with that situation, because she is always on the sidelines, watching the action unfold around her. It is due to this reason that we simply cannot sympathize with her and her story in the same way that would if she had played a more important role. It's difficult for the audience to feel like they are part of the show because, frankly speaking, Madoka isn't part of the show. It honestly feels as if she could be demoted to the role of the narrator, and it wouldn't make a difference as far as the unfolding of the events is concerned. Until, of course, the last episode. On the topic of the last episode, I must admit that I was thoroughly confused throughout the majority of it. Those of you who have seen the anime will probably know what I mean. I also can't say that I enjoyed the way the series ended. It was, by all means, a satisfactory resolution to a series for which I had difficulty predicting an ending, but, in hindsight, it came across as borderline absurd. Madoka's sudden and drastic change of personality was not in the least bit convincing, and, as bittersweet as the conclusion was, I had a hard time believing that a middle school-aged girl could muster up the courage to show such a huge sense of responsibility and selflessness. I would honestly like to discuss some of the plotholes that cause the believability factor of the series to waver, but doing so would inevitable lead to some major spoilers. I suppose some of them are minor enough to the point that they can be overlooked, but as a highly critical person, I found them difficult to ignore. Hopefully, those of you who have watched or are planning to watch the anime will be able to set these flaws aside and not let them affect your enjoyment of the series. If I were to rate the art of the series on character design alone, I wouldn't be able to give Madoka more than a 5. I simply did not like the way the characters looked. I've heard that the characters look much better in the manga, and apparently not even the animation in the anime did the manga justice. The series has often been criticized for reusing the same bland appearance for all five of its magical girl characters, and this criticism is justified. But it becomes pretty obvious when the witches show up that the characters weren't the major focus of the animation team. The first thing that came into my mind during the first witch fight was that the animation must have been inspired by LSD-induced hallucinations. Although that opinion never really changed throughout the series, I grew to appreciate the witch sequences so much that I was more excited to see the design of a witch's lair than the battle against the witch herself. The sequences feature some of the best examples of surrealist imagery I have ever seen. I guess it's to be expected of a studio that produces art-driven anime like SHAFT. In addition, I love how many elements of a witch's past are (presumably) incorporated into the design of her lair as well, undoubtedly leading to fan speculation on the histories of the many witches featured in the anime. The animation is very fluid and the fight sequences are crisp and well-choreographed. I don't really have any comments or complaints about the non witch lair environments either, although the fact that all the buildings seem to made out of glass really stands out. It gives you the impression that the story is set in a futuristic world. Overall, the series is visually attractive, if one can overlook the mishaps in character design.Simply put, the soundtrack is flawless. The background music never once fails to enhance the atmosphere and manages to evoke a wide array of emotions. You know that you've found an amazing soundtrack when you can enjoy listening to it without the visuals presented in the animation. My personal favourite is Sayaka's Miki theme; although it seems like a joyful song on the surface, a melancholic undertone can be detected upon careful listening. Homura Akemi's theme stands as well, because it is quite representative of her character - cold, mysterious, and spine-chilling. The opening theme, Connect, is a pretty generic J-pop song, suitable for any magical girl anime. The cheerful opening also presents you with images of Madoka engaged in typical magical girl activities, lulling you into a "false sense of security". The ending theme is much more consistent with the atmosphere of the series, and I think the decision to not use it until the third episode was justified. Although unrelated to sound, I must also mention that both themes change visually as the story progresses. I won't discuss all the details, but one of the more interesting changes is that the ending becomes darker and darker every episode, reflecting the gradual descent of the characters into despair. The seiyuus did a great job on the voice acting, and I honestly can't say I have any complaints sub-wise. I particularly loved Kato Emiri's convincing performance as Kyuubey, as her voice remained consistent with his emotionless character throughout the entire series. While I loved most of the main characters of the show, especially Homura, from a subjective point of view, it's hard to ignore the fact that the series has some problems in this department. I have already discussed Madoka's failure as a protagonist in the story section of the review. In addition to this unforgivable "identity crisis", it would be an understatement to say that Madoka is one of the least interesting main characters in anime history. There honestly isn't much to her other than the fact that she's your average middle school girl faced with a not-so-average dilemma. Why the writers decided to centre the entire story around her is honestly completely beyond my comprehension. She does, however, change in the last two episodes and develops an independent mindset and sense of justice. Unfortunately, this drastic change in personality is all too sudden and happens too late in the series to rectify her initial shallowness. On the other side of the spectrum is the mysterious Homura Akemi. She's enigmatic, seemingly emotionless, and doesn't say or do much for the majority of episodes apart from the repetitive "do not become a magical girl" warnings to Madoka and occasional deus ex machina. We do find out later why she has developed into the type of person that she is, justifying most, if not all, of her actions. However, it's honestly difficult to feel sympathy for her because her personality is introduced too late in the series in the span of a single episode. Forgive me for speaking the truth, Homuhomu-chan. I still love you, though.My feelings towards the tomboyish Sayaka are mostly positive. I loved how her descent into hopelessness and despair was portrayed in such a relentless manner. I did feel sympathy for her because, unlike Madoka, she had a strong sense of justice from the start, but her childish naiveté led to her eventual downfall. The subplot with Kyosuke, although extremely generic, was also a welcome addition to the series, as it shed light onto her character and motivations and showed the extent to which she was affected upon learning about the 'fine print' of the magical girl contract.Admittedly, I found that Kyouko had the most interesting personality out of the five magical girls. She's cynical, selfish, hotheaded, and even reveals her sadistic side to Sayaka. Not exactly the formula for a likeable character, is it? However, when the story eventually sheds some light on her past, you begin to understand why she acts the way she does and she becomes even more interesting. It's quite regrettable that she is a major player in so few episodes. As for Mami, there isn't much to say about her, and it isn't exactly her fault. She has a motherly and optimistic character and introduces Madoka and Sayaka to the world of magical girls, but doesn't play a major role in the story.Finally, a couple of words on Kyuubey. He doesn't have much of a personality, and once again, it's not his fault. He initially seems good-natured and innocent, but you soon realize that this isn't the case. It isn't difficult to guess that his intentions are not pure and his manipulative side suggests that he has ulterior motives.Overall, I think the biggest problem of the series is that the seemingly less important characters contribute much more to the enjoyability of the story than those who are essentially forced into the spotlight without much depth to offer.I will say this one more time. I love Madoka Magica and I enjoyed every second of it. And that's why this review was so difficult for me to write. I wanted to present to the community a completely unbiased view on an anime that has been constantly revered as "the best anime of 2011" and even "one of the best animes of all time". The verdict? It simply does not deserve the amount of praise it gets. Don't get me wrong. I would definitely recommend Madoka to anyone without a second thought. Don't let this review change your mind about watching Madoka. After all, it isn't fair to judge an anime based on the opinions of another person. At the end of the day, I guess all that matters is whether or not you enjoy the anime personally.

iryan - 2013-05-04 02:14:50

(AUTHOR'S NOTE): This review was written when Hummingbird only displayed one positive review and one negative review for each series. It was intended for the negative review slot and designed to help anyone searching for a dissenting opinion in response to the almost universal praise Puella Magi Madoka Magica receives. The content and scores have been left unchanged as to perserve the explanatory nature of the review.

So...

You're either deciding whether or not to watch this show.

Or you watched it and felt it didn't meet your expectations and want to know why.

Certainly, it's possible to not like Madoka Magica. No one work will be perfect in everyone's eyes. However, if you understand what Madoka is and how it functions, it's very hard to formulate an argument that Madoka Magica doesn't effectively do what it set out to accomplish. It's simply too well made. And criticizing the series because you just didn't like the type of story told would be like trying to criticize the Mona Lisa for smiling.

Instead of that, you may find this explanation more helpful than any poor review.

You will not enjoy Madoka Magica to its fullest extent if you have not seen another magical girl anime series prior to watching it.

Period. Full stop.

There are simply too many references, themes and tropes attacked and analyzed in this series for someone to come in ignorant and come out with even a halfbaked understanding of what just happened. The tale told in Madoka Magica is a tale of the destruction and redemption of the genre itself: one wish to throw the genre so far off the rails that it becomes interesting, novel and horrible, and one wish to recreate it from the ashes.

If you are still interested and would like some context, I can recommend personally Cardcaptor Sakura, Sailor Moon season 1 or season 3 and the R movie, Lyrical Nanoha season 1 or A's, Shugo Chara, or most every Pretty Cure series, HeartCatch in particular. These are very standard and quality iterations on the same story -– the story that Madoka inverts.

Also consider Princess Tutu and Revolutionary Girl Utena for more unorthodox stories and supplementary viewing.

Secondly, pedants should stay away. If you are concerned with plot holes, semantics, like to point out inconsistencies, or if I casually mention the show touches on thermodynamics and you are now more interested, you will most likely end up focusing on these minor details instead of what the show is truly about.

Madoka Magica is a show about emotions, particularly those of teenage girls. The writing and pacing found in this series is tight and clean, to the point of brevity. The combination of these two facts means that technical explanations fall by the wayside to make room for the internal struggle of the girls. Details are not important and beware treating simple plot devices as anything more than just that.

Likewise, do not seek out this show for its macabre tone, nor its action, nor for its art, nor for its music. All of these segments exist here in the highest quality, and all contribute to making the series more than the sum of its parts. But once again they all only serve. They present beautifully the mental state of the main characters and betray masterfully the expectations we've garnered from previous magical girl series.

There's example after example of this throughout the series, each writ with effort and careful premeditation. From the opening scene being a "dream" to the opening theme song's subterfuge, to the title of the series in Latin to the violins throughout Sayaka's scenes to Kyouko's quote about stories where love and courage triumph. The list literally goes on for pages, and each bit is as sweet and poignant as the last.

I implore you all to watch Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

But do not start here. Start on the TV Tropes page for "The Power of Friendship" or "You Are Not Alone," figure out what they mean for magical girls, and wind up back here when you understand it thoroughly.

Then you'll understand why there isn't a negative review here for Madoka Magica.

kassulke.magnus - 2013-04-25 22:18:23

I'll start by stating that, for me; a shounen viewer - this story is something very different.Story...The set up, without spoiling anything, revolves around magic girls fighing evil 'witch' entities. There is no real case of 'she is the chosen one' - all girls pretty much bought the situation upon themselves.Madoka - the leading female, is a nice girl who is new to the chaotic life a magic girl has to endure.Though if you take this concept and think that Madoka (the lead) then goes on to continuously save the day - you're wrong. :PCharacter...We often see the intro 'normal highschool student' in order to describe the 'n00b' placed into an odd situation.Within this series, effort has been put in place in order to show use that Madoka is not only 'normal', but 'ideal' - she's a nice girl who has no reason to be unhappy, she has; two loving parents who are actually interested in her life, a cute little brother, a beautiful home, good friends and she attends a pleasant school, there isn's a hint of malice within her.Madoka may be the lead, yet she doesn't dominate the plot - we are introduced to a number of girls, all possessing a differing personalites, motives and backstory put forward as the story progresses - there's bound to ba a character for everyone.Art...The are has me a tad mixed - the art isn't bad and bad art alone doesn't put me off, however, the characters are the typical 'moe' design (I'm not a massive fan of) we see quite often in anime these days, but not only are the cast purposley 'cute', but they look like cardboard cut-outs.As cheap as the chracter design appears, production seem to have blown the budget on the scenery artwork, which provides us with numerous different trends of stunning artwork that almost doesn't fit, yet is entirely appropriot down to the situation.Overall...I would say that I personally enjoyed this story and would reccomend this to anyone.Though I don't generally seek out magic girl anime's, even I can tell that this is something different, not conforming to what's 'tried, tested and apporved'.

bmetz - 2013-03-18 03:26:49

Anime seem to come and go; as you grow older, you understand you can't watch as much series as before, you have more responsibilites, so you must tread carefully, make precise picks. You fail so much, because there are just too many series these days, they drone you with mindless plots and repetitive characters. Then you meet Madoka.

I originally intended to watch Madoka for the simple reason of "watching a Magical Girl anime". I can't believe I was so engrossed by this series by the end of the first episode. Then came the next one, and the next one, each more intriguing and shocking than the previous one until the absolutely brilliant Grand Finale. 

I shouldn't bother trying to explain the plot, it's a girl who wants to become a Magical Girl, simple as that. But no one has ever cared about how a Magical Girl feels; we just expect them to fight evil and save the world, we never think about the price they must pay. 

Madoka Magica has suberb animation, beautiful music (by Yuki Kajiura), a delightful cast of voice actresses, and clearly defined, lovable characters (and don't forget a ruthless antagonist). 

Here's to hoping the anime industry can deliver another great masterpiece as Madoka Magica. 

Favorite Song: Connect

Favorite Character: Kyuubey (yes, Kyuubey)