[Midonin]

Spoiler for Madoka Magica 01 - innocent starter:

At this time of year, one year ago, So Ra no Wo To had begun. I have a similar feeling now. The premise puts two contrasting elements together, but now with superpowers in the mix, I have mixed feelings. Not about the show, that's in good hands. It's about the fanbase.

It was more surreal than dark, at least what I could get from the first episode, but I generally have an aversion to "dark" as a descriptive term. Being dark doesn't mean it's entertaining or well written. I do want to like the show, no mistake about that. Having recently watched the Nanoha movie and, ever since I stumbled into Chaos;Head and 11eyes those years ago, my interest for surreal alternate worlds has been mostly at the forefront, and this show has those.

I just don't want one element to overtake the other. It's still a magical girl show, and sweetness and light and comedy can and should still be there. Leaning the scale too far in either direction doesn't bode well. I don't want to be hearing false dichotomies like "either moe or memorable" either. That's just ignorant and looking to cause trouble.

I apologize for my three paragraph essay there. For the actual show, I enjoyed it. The characters are likable, the atmosphere is on par with Merry's, and it's rare for me to dislike anything from Shaft. I don't know much about the other people involved in the production beyond Shaft and Aoki Ume. But going in blind has always been a hobby of mine.