[Archon_Wing]

Alright, here goes with the real deal.

The magical girl genre is not necessarily one of my favorites, but it's I've been familiar with it as long as I've encountered anime. Who could forget the silliness of Sailor Moon, plus its colorful characters? Or the classic moe character of Sakura from Cardcaptors? They weren't exactly my kind of thing, but they frequently left behind concepts of hopes and dreams that would leave much to the imagination. Even as an adult now, I could still find these things to be of value, even if reality frequently contradicts these ideas-- they're still worth holding.

But the anime that would reinvent the MG genre in my eyes would have had to be Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, which showed us that it was possible to have high energy action, cool fight scenes, and most importantly, awesome weaponry in these shows. Nanoha's standard armament is no pretty wand-- It was made to break shit! The first season of this series had one of the most memorable endings ever, with an extremely dramatic flair thanks to the characters the writers created. What had started as a generic show may have gone on to slingshot the genre into this century.

So skip a couple of years, and I see the same director off to create yet another magical girl series. Intially I was quite skeptical of this, since I was no particular fan of Shaft and their odd style. But it was a pleasant surprise, as writer Gen Urobuchi had quite a few surprises in store for us, the result leaving me much more confident in the future of anime.

Visuals: 7/10
The weakest part of the show definitely lies in the visuals. It doesn't help that I'm not fond of the Shaft LSD kind of imagery. I mean how could you take fighting some paper plastic monster amidst a bunch of cupcakes seriously? Even as Mami was getting owned, all I could think about was "Omg they're hiding behind a donut!" I can't help but shake the feeling that they are being cheap. (Well, perhaps not Higurashi level cheap, but hey)

Now, I can't say that it was all bad. After all, the bizarre imagery helps invoke a sense of being out of this world. The witches and anything involving Kyubey are so alien that it is frightening to think of what they are dealing with. Things beyond your comprehension can do that.

The architecture involving their buildings is pretty interesting, giving us kind of a futuristic feel to it. I always get the feeling if something hits that school, that's gonna be a disaster. All that glass...

The fights are quite disappointing; perhaps the best one was Kyoko vs Sayaka, and perhaps the very last fight. I found myself being pretty underwhelmed by the majority of them, and there doesn't seem to be enough focus on them. It's kind of like Mai-HiME in which the fights seem to be a huge tease, but end up being too short, and you're left wondering "Hey, don't stop now!!" But at least Mai-HiME kept the fights high energy and tense.

Note that there is no excuse for this. Evangelion was not focused on the mecha, but there were still great fights going on. I won't hold this too much against Madoka, but it could be done better.

Visuals in general are pretty competent, especially the non drugged ones. Overall, I'd say a lot of hit and miss, but still good.

Audio: 10/10
Note that I did not include this in the last post. But the soundtrack truly is amazing and memorable. The song "Magia" literally sent chills up my spine when they used it at the end of episode 3. There was no escaping what we were in for-- that's the use of a good soundtrack. It sets up the atmosphere and it leaves me anticipating for more. Yuki Kaijura could be said to be the real star of the show; then again, she's pretty much lighted up every show and movie she's ended up working with. Even if you hate Madoka, listen to the soundtrack!

Connect is not as notable as Magia, simply because it's more conventional (and how deceptive too) But it turns out it fit the show anyways, which I felt was a nice touch. The best use of it was probably at the end of episode 10, where it brings things for circle, letting you know who's perspective this song is coming from.

The BGM is more Kajura win-- notables include the angsty song that plays right before Homura shoots Kyubey, and the last battle theme, as well as pretty much the entirety of episode 12. Oh, and Mami's battle theme... well the list can go on.

The voice acting is decent. I actually appreciated Ai Nonaka the most as Kyoko. Her initial appearance as a bratty, arrogant, possibly murderous bitch that really needed to be slapped really left an impression; the change in her tone as the series went along was also excellent as well.

And Kyuubey. Just damn you Kyuubey.

The audio experience in Madoka is one of the best-- it makes up for the visuals, at the very least.

Story: 9/10

Spoiler for length:

"Because the truth hurts, Jazmine. The world is a hard and lonely place and nobody gets anything for free. And you want to know what else? One day, you and everyone you know is gonna die. " -- Huey Freeman, The Boondocks

Madoka seems to start out as standard magical girl fare. But even at the start, something was amiss, and as we all know nightmares in the beginning aren't just nightmares, but frequently plot relevant. We start with Homura leaving Madoka bizarrely cryptic notes and suddenly she becomes compelled to save what is apparently a... thing. Kyubey... yea, nothing good can come out of this critter who is most definitely not of this world.

But we get a short break when the badass Mami comes out and becomes basically their mentor. All is not right, though, when we learn about her past and the fact that becoming a PM might actually suck. Then Mami just gets killed off in a unceremonious, almost callous fashion. We are greeted with the fact that this is going to be a long way down and this would only be the first step to cracking the poor minds of these poor girls.

Sayaka's fall unfortunately came very naturally and tragically. While Madoka was ambivalent about what to do, Sayaka took action and tried to save others. But it doesn't work that way, no matter how good your intentions are. Sadly, she was doomed to fail if she had followed that course, and she did.

Kyoko's story was not executed as well as Sayaka's. While it makes sense that one would want to ragequit after finding out the truth, you'd have to wonder why she came up with utterly convoluted plan which also gets Madoka in trouble. She could have gotten them both killed, and honestly even if she wanted to die, she'd have better sense than that.

I also was constantly bothered by the fact that Madoka's tagging along in these adventures. That can't be tactically sound, no matter how much you slice it. It's also at this pont the show presents us with the controversial entropy concept. It was probably better to just label it as a plot device and move on, instead of arguing about science. Sure I understand the concept of "far beyond your understanding" but I would admit the handling was shaky at best.

I am also serious about the lack of parents, considering Homura's were never mentioned at all, and Sayaka, well I guess we have to guess about her funeral. Surely, they must have cared?

Fortunately, the show does go on addressing which would have been critical plot holes. Homura mentions that telling everyone didn't work, and when we get to episode 10, the results are utterly brutal when certain people learn the truth. That episode is effectively the "answer" episode which helped the story straighten itself up before it went too crazy.

The finale felt a bit rushed, although that might be expected from a 12 episode anime. Homura runs into the fight with all her heart, in what is most likely a futile struggle; literally throws everything she has at uber-witch, but even in this dark moment, I was still hoping that Madoka had figured something out... and she does!

Now it'd be easy to say that the story is teaching us that taking the easy way out is bad and one shouldn't rely on the system. But life is cruel, and sometimes one has to play along within the system. Madoka just runs with it and saves everyone; their efforts were not in vain.

So PMMM finally shows us that it really is rooted in the magical girl genre. I've never had a problem with our heroes cheating their way out of a rigged game, so I greatly enjoyed this ending. I wasn't too fond of the yuri implications (must every MG show have this???)

The plot is tightly knitted. It's not the most sophisticated plot ever, but if you get rid of all that entropy crap, you get a story that is very consistent with itself and addresses most issues.

Usually I ask at the end of the show, "what's the point of this", and Madoka managed to give its message in a convincing matter. It's not just about being self-sacrificing and caring about others-- one must use their heart and mind too

Characters: 10/10

Spoiler for length:

PMMM's characters are what really makes the show shine. If it were not for Urobuchi's skillful handling of them, this show could have easily fallen apart.

But good characters can carry a plot, no matter how silly it is.

Madoka would have easily been the victim of a weak lead carrying a strong cast... or so it seemed. The truth was that she was actually the real badass in the original timeline, but being faced with the truth, it caused her to waver. Well, who wouldn't? That really hammered home that we are often the products of our experiences. after all, this is the same person, but when confronted with things that throw you into doubt, it's much harder to go along.

Fortunately, Madoka, despite her general lack of confidence manages to keep a calm mind and manages to use her brain in difficult circumstances. Well, besides the whole hanging along to fight witches thing, of course. She managed to save a bunch of people from committing suicide, and this is before she is a PM! In another timeline, she mercy kills Mami with only a few seconds to decide, and finally when she makes her wish, you could almost tell she had something up her sleeve.

She's not the greatest hero, but she's definitely a good one

Homura's also a great main character, and some would argue that she is the focus of the story since the anime really covers her struggle against fate. Of course, this gets flipped around so many times that neither of them are gonna agree on who's the main character any more. Is it Madoka, the savior who needed courage from Homura, or is it Homura, the one who protected the savior but got the courage from the Madoka? The story is truly inseparable with them.

As for Homura herself, she is a flawed character that sometimes really doesn't know what she's doing. She was never meant to be a hero, but really had no choice. It's frightening how close she came to breaking, and amazing that she didn't break already. Her strength is in sheer determination despite lacking the potential to be really godly like Madoka.

Sayaka is the unsung hero of the series... while it's easy to see her as a cause of problem, she also saved Madoka when she needed it the most. Sayaka's a pretty damned selfless person herself. Many people, including Kyoko, would call her foolish for not wishing for Kamijou's love. She actually didn't want to care about that first and foremost, after all, wouldn't something like that feel kinda fake if his love was artfically created? That, and I realized she really does want Kamijou to get better.

Her fall was to be expected, my only complaint is that maybe she shouldn't have broken so fast. But when you consider that she jumped into the role of a PM, shit was going to happen. If this was any other series, life would have been better.

Kyoko is a stellar supporting character. I was completely expecting to hate her guts, as she was probably going to be some fanservice bait bitchy character. But I was wrong! In a allegedly cynical world, some people have to be practical and look after themselves. But it is a bit ironic that someone with this mentality ended up sacrificing herself for another. Maybe it was because she found out the truth, or maybe she could have been a hero all along, despite her hatred of it. I still think the show could have better presented her way of going out though.

Mami. Poor Mami. Someone who was forced into the role of a PM and fears being alone. She was actually a warning to Madoka about what this all entails, and she lived her brief role. Well, she's kinda ok now, kinda funny she's one of the people that end up living.

And Kyubey. What else hasn't been said about this little bastard that caused all this crap. We know little about him, except we should hate him. Whether he has good or bad intentions is irrelevant, this guy is worse than a lawyer, but you kind of need him...

He's incomprehensible and menacing. And he doesn't give a shit. Nasty antagonist indeed.

The cast for Madoka is also not the most complex one, but they interact well and complement each other perfectly. One of the best casts I've seen.

Enjoyment: 10/10
This pretty much goes without saying. I haven't been so enthusiastic about following a series for quite a while. I gave a damn about the story and hoped our heroes would win. And they did-- yay!

I'd say Madoka managed to never be boring. You have a decent mix of drama interspersed with some lighthearted moments. Well, before everything goes to hell, but at least they came back. Shaft made this a rather fun ride and left much to think about, considering all these discussions I see.

Overall: 10/10
Is this the greatest animu ever? Probably not. But I haven't been this into an anime since Clannad or Higurashi, so I think I can spare to rate this a 10 instead of 9 point something.

And actually the last scene can really summarize my anime viewing experience in general. Every time I almost fall into despair because the new seasons' shows are like a desolate desert filled only with curses, something (Higurashi, Clannad, Durarara!) tells me to keep going. And judging by spring season, maybe Madoka shot the anime industry with an arrow too.

So thank you, Urobuchii. Thank you, Shinbo. Thank you, Shaft. You've saved anime for me.

*Imagines a bunch of people congratulating me*