Madoka Kaname and Sayaka Miki are typical to middle school students with typical lives, but everything changes when they meet Homura Akemi, the new transfer student, and Kyuubey, a magical familiar who resembles a cat.
They are presented with a deal by Kyuubey: in exchange for him granting any one of their desires, they would all turn into magical girls with the strength to realize their aspirations. Insisting that nothing is as it seems, Homura Akemi, a magical girl herself, warns them against accepting the offer.
Mahou shoujo Madoka Magica is a tale of friendship, hope, and sorrow that explores the challenges of being a magical girl as well as the price one must pay to realize a goal.
| IMDB Rating | 8.2 |
| Released In | January 7, 2011 |
| Total Episodes | 12 |
What is Madoka Magica?
The Puella Magi Madoka Magica, commonly known simply as Madoka Magica, is a Japanese anime television series created by Magica Quartet and animated by Shaft that premiered in 2011.
The plot revolves around a gang of middle school girls, lead by heroine Madoka Kaname, who enter into supernatural contracts in order to become magical girls (mah shjo). In confronting fantastical adversaries known as “witches,” they learn of the sorrow and peril linked with their new positions.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica has been well praised for its complex plot, graphics, themes, and soundtrack, as well as its innovative approach to the magical girl subgenre. It was a commercial success, with each Blu-ray Disc volume selling over 50,000 copies in Japan.
The series won several honors, including the Television Award at the 16th Animation Kobe Award, 12 Newtype Anime Awards, and the Grand Prize for the Animation Section at the 15th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2011.
Is it worth watching Madoka Magica?
The answer depends on one’s preference. In my opinion, it’s worth watching.
The easiest way to describe Madoka as a series is to say that it is likely the most well-designed series ever. Every episode was written by Urobachi, who was also the main creative force behind it. This is evident in the way that each point builds upon the previous one, resulting in the eventual completion of every thread, no matter how little.
When I watched this program with friends when it was still showing, we would constantly suggest things the characters should be doing, just for subsequent episodes to reveal that those suggestions had already been made and that’s why they don’t work.
Even more impressively, it accomplishes this while subverting the clichés of magical girl programs by using tropes and elements that you might assume to go one way but are instead pushed in another route to keep the audience guessing.
The general design is in keeping with this. There are a number of extremely subtle things throughout the series that aren’t explicitly addressed, such as how the Witch’s worlds are fuzzy, dark, and confused whereas the actual world is full of bright, wide places with hard-edged architectural designs (representing order) (representing chaos).
Later in the series, when things begin to unravel, more scenes take place at night and in locations where the environment itself becomes increasingly perplexed or unsettling as the two extremes converge.
This is a directorial flourish that is uncommon in most episodes. This extends to background art as well; there is graffiti that appears in the Witches realms in the backgrounds, and some fans felt compelled to try to decipher it before realizing that it is mostly quoted from operas (including Faust), which would be of great assistance to the characters if they could only read the writing on the walls.
The characters themselves are next, and there are three standouts among them who all manage to be very engaging.
Homura is arguably one of the most badass heroes in any show who’s given herself an impossible task and absolutely refuses to accept not being able to complete it.
Madoka is a very different lead than most magical girl shows since so much of the show is about her deciding to become a magical girl or not, and Kyubey is a whole discussion on its own about whether they’re really good/evil or can even be judged by human standards.
The show is primarily a deconstruction of magical girl tropes; however, while it will make sense to anyone who hasn’t watched many magical girls shows, many of its twists do play on expectations, so some of their impacts are lost if you aren’t as intimately familiar with them.
Because there is so much going on in this show’s plot and so many possible outcomes, it is best to watch 1-2 episodes at a time and then reflect on or discuss those episodes in depth so that when the show pulls the rug out from under you later, it will hit you harder.
The impact this program has on the genre as a whole should also be taken into account.
Since the end of the moe boom 15 years ago, magical girl programs have become increasingly rare, and since Madoka debuted, everything has been attempting to imitate its tone in some manner, even though Madoka wasn’t the first “dark” magical girl show.
It’s hard to criticize Madoka too harshly for this, but when you consider how the genre is essentially doomed in its attempts to be as philosophical or gloomy as this, you must bash something, and even its own follow-up spin-offs may be charitably described as weak imitations, it’s hard not to.
They also produced the Rebellion sequel, which the majority of fans undoubtedly wish didn’t exist.
What kind of Anime is Madoka Magica?
The Anime is a dark fantasy magical girl psychological thriller and it belongs to the subgenre of Japanese fantasy media Mahou shoujo which revolves around young girls with magical powers.
The Mahou shoujo genre has mostly been created with a youthful, predominately female audience in mind.
Programs from the previous era were not dull. After all, many films from that era already had a lot of drama and tension in them. However, it is undeniable that the genre has grown quite formalized, to the point that any new release will undoubtedly be “playing by the genre rules.” Rules such as:-
- Evil and good are almost opposites.
- Being a magical girl is by definition a noble deed.
- Love, harmony, and peace, the noble ideals of your “profession,” unavoidably lead to righteous and moral behavior on your part.
- Even while the combat may be severe, there won’t be any blood or other obvious signs of physical or graphic violence.
- Except for horrible villains, nobody is truly murdered.
- Although they will develop the backstory, fights ultimately serve as interpersonal manifestations of the main events.
Is Madoka Magica okay for kids?
After watching it, I would categorically disagree that it is a children’s program.
The nature, foundation, and reality of love, as well as the fears associated with dying and protecting those you love, are just a few of the incredibly complex and adult subjects it covers.
Furthermore, it looks at topics like faith and the gap between what one wants to happen in reality and what has to happen, regardless of what one’s own aspirations are. Whether time is linear or limitless in nature is a topic of discussion.
Deaths happen to both friends and adversaries, and grief is felt in both cases, blurring the distinction between friends and foes.
In the end, several incredibly abstract ideas are portrayed using extremely exquisite and peculiar animation styles.
This Anime series is incredible and is on my list of must-watches. Having said that, if your kids plan to watch it, I personally think it should be restricted to kids at least 12 or 13 years old.
The problem wouldn’t be that it would injure or scar younger viewers if they viewed it, The problem would be that they might not comprehend it or might get it wrong.
It gives some pretty intriguing and, in my opinion, well-thought-out opinions on all of these weighty subjects, so it would be a tragedy if that happened.
Last but not least, if you have the time, watch the entire series or at least a portion of it to form your own opinion. After all, each child is at a different maturity level than another child may be at a given age!
How good is Madoka Magica?
Madoka Magica is excellent, with artwork that (for the most part) is gorgeous, spooky when appropriate, charming when not.
Shoujo Mahou Puella Magi, or Madoka Magica Madoka Magica begins with the introduction of the main heroine, Madoka Kaname, her two friends, Hitomi Shizuki and Sayaka Miki, a new girl named Homura Akemi, and Mami Tomoe, the role model and magical girl.
The series begins with a playful tone, typical of the magical girl genre. If you start to feel bored, please, at least watch till episode 3. That is when Madoka and Sayaka are forced to confront the truth of being a magical girl.
Conclusion
- The easiest way to describe Madoka as a series is to say that it is likely the most well-designed series ever. Every episode was written by Urobachi, who was also the main creative force behind it. This is evident in the way that each point builds upon the previous one.
- The show is primarily a deconstruction of magical girl tropes; however, while it will make sense to anyone who hasn’t watched many magical girls shows, many of its twists do play on expectations, so some of their impacts are lost if you aren’t as intimately familiar with them.
- After watching it, I would categorically disagree that it is a children’s program. The nature, foundation, and reality of love, as well as the fears associated with dying and protecting those you love, are just a few of the incredibly complex and adult subjects it covers.