[Dawnstorm]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I like to approach anime ranks from a "literary critique" perspective (only broadening it to account for the importance of visuals and audio, of course), but a "consumer review" is just as valid a way of approaching it, I have to admit.

First off, I, too, have given Madoka a 10/10. I'm not going at it analytically, as I don't take ratings seriously, to be honest. They're a fun way of expressing your reaction. I, too, like the "literary critique" approach, but I don't think evelauation is part of the function of literary critique; or rather it is, but not directly. By that, I mean: you describe flaws, but you leave the evaluation of how much they matter to the reader of critique. The best you can do is an educated guess: if you enjoyed A, you might enjoy B. If you think X, then flaw Y will annoy you to no end. Statements, such as these, are as far as you can go towards evaluation on a literary critique.

A rating, such as 10/10, implies such an evaluation. The source of weighing flaws against merits in this case is me, since this is my vote, expressing my "overall series impressions". If I were to guess a sort of abstract or statistical distribution, I'd distort the poll results by pre-empting them. Or in other words, I'm not going to vote less than 10, because I know that others will do so, and the show is thus not "objectively" perfect.

On to "perfect". As I said, I don't take rating terribly seriously, but I'm a bit of a nit-picker, and to me - nitpickingly speaking - a "perfect" score makes no sense. Nothing ever is perfect. In an earlier post, you say that flaws make a show "not perfect". I agree, but not in the sense that absence of flaws makes a perfect. Philosophically speaking, I'm a relativist, which means perfection, too, describes a relation. A perfect fit, if you will. For example, a flawless sponge won't help you drive a nail into the wall. Even a seriously flawed hammer will be better.

Now a "fit" is easy to see where there is an obvious purpose. Art doesn't have that. How, for example, do you evaluate Kyubey's introduction of entropy. Many viewers had a wtf-reaction, but I sat there, thinking of course. I certainly didn't expect that, but many things I've been seeing suddenly made sense, such as the winding down of a wish into dispair. Entropy serves as a nice model of how the Incubator's see emotion. The whole magic system, now technologically harvested magic, suddenly made sense to me. And after seeing the ending, it makes even more sense with the "victory of hope". (Personally, I don't much like the conclusion, but I think it fits well with the rest of the show. Here, I am in the odd position where I find something that I think fits harder to forgive than something that I think doesn't.) But if you construe the show differently, then maybe you won't think the entropy concept makes sense. And who - then - is right? (Personally, I operate on a charity principle: All things being equal, I chose the interpretation that makes for the better show.)

As to the two flaws you mention:

1) Kyouko's conversion. I agree that this hints at a flaw, but it's not - I think - so much a character inconsistancy as it is a pacing issue. Kyouko's character, in general, has been pretty rushed. I'm also not happy with the one-shot exposition of the backstory. Too much to take in a short time. I think, her actions do make sense, but the show doesn't give you enough time and emphasis to properly appreciate it.

2) Junko's behaviour in the ending. Here, I flat out disagree with you. I thought, that how Junko was handled in the last two episodes was the best thing about these episodes. (I've talked about it elsewhere, and I know you read the post since you replied. No encore here. )

(Aside: Your posts made me realise that I need to re-watch 5cm per Second, as I didn't quite get it all the first time round.)

I honestly think that Madoka is among the best anime I've ever seen. (Last season had, IMO, two master pieces: Madoka and Hourou Musuko. The last thing before that I'd have put that lable on would have been Durarara!!!. This season? Wait and see.)