Series Review – Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica

Honestly speaking, I have to say I’m very impressed with how this show went about. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica started off a slightly slow, uninteresting note, but it just continuously kept building up on top of it’s previous episodes, culminating in some breathtaking scenes in the final few episodes of the series. There are a ton of things this series does right, but it does have it’s fair share of flaws too. However, the flaws don’t really hurt the show as a whole, and it ends up as a great watch that always perks your interest and gets you speculating. Considering it was Shaft behind this series, I was very wary of this being a hit or miss series initially; obvious it turned out much more of a “hit” than a “miss”. And who in hell would have thought that a Magical Girl series could be this dark and chaotic.

What is nice here is the actual production values for the series. The animation is solid, and the art is really out there; the crazy Shinbo style witches really adds a unique flair to the atmosphere of this series, and does add a touch of that “bizarre, crazy” feeling that works so well here. There are the odd quirks to Shinbo’s animation style all over the place here, but if you could get over all of that, the artwork was surprisingly fitting for this series. The Hidamari sketch-styled character designs did feel a bit awkward at first, but after a few episodes it’s rather easy to adjust to. The music to this series was just as good, with Yuki Kajiura’s soundtrack here doing a great job at complementing some of the haunting scenes. I’ll admit that it’s not her best work, but some of the music adds much more depth to certain scenes here. The music also contributes greatly to the overall atmosphere, and I have to say, the music and animation fits the darker-toned story itself very well.

The story itself does have it’s flaws here and there, with a select few pacing issues early on. That pretty much got ironed out by the third or fourth episode, though, and the story just kept piling on the intrigue from there onwards. What was Kyuubey? What were the witches? What is Walpurgis nacht? All the questions that this show kept prompting, in combination with some stunningly haunting scenes and moments, created a compelling plot that was worth following through until the end. The mysteries here all kept the series gripping, always managing to perk curiosity. The finale, in all it’s grandiosity, was truly unique and unexpected. The scale at which it happens, and the huge implications of it all, was a pretty epic, bittersweet,  yet satisfying finale. Of course, the finale does feel too “convenient” and “happily ever after” in some ways, but I personally feel it is a fitting way to end such a depressing series with a bit of hope.

Now the biggest contributor here, yet also the biggest flaw, would be the characters. There were some pretty well fleshed out characters, such as Kyoko, and Sayaka, but there were also some rather odd twists to some of the cast. For one, while Akemi Homura was indeed one of my favorite characters here, the extremely sudden change in character around episode 9-10 felt very out of place. Yes, I do understand there are good reasons behind why she suddenly changed in personality (or perhaps the better description would be she stopped hiding her real personality), but her sudden change from stoic, cool-headed Akemi to “Madoka, Madoka!” crying Akemi was a huge shift that could have been transitioned into a bit better. What was lacking here was a sense of character development for the two main characters to this series, Akemi and Madoka, whereas Kyoko and Sayaka got much more development as characters. Don’t confuse character development with likability here; Akemi and Madoka both turned out to be very memorable characters, it’s just that they don’t get much of their character development until literally the last two or three episodes.

The big thing that must be noted here is that Kyuubei has to be one of the best villains we have seen in a long time. The way in which his intentions were slowly, but surely, revealed to Madoka and the others just heightened the tremendous impact his presence had in this show. For an evil white furball, Kyuubei was probably the most interesting, attention-captivating character in the entire series. Without his presence, the plot would have probably lost much of it’s compelling aspect, so I do have to give credit where credit it due.

All in all, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica redefines the entire magical girl genre in many ways; it took the stereotypical “girls get magical powers” idea, and twists it into a compelling, dark plot that captivated audiences all over the world. It introduces the idea that not all magical girl shows need to be happy, sugary affairs. And in the end, this series introduces a breathtakingly original, very gripping human tale.

Animation/Art: 8.5/10

Music: 8.5/10

Characters: 9.0/10

Story/setting: 8.5/10

Overall Enjoyment: 8.7/10

Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica – 12 (Final)

Episode 12 Final –

Oh boy, what a totally unexpected final episode. I was expecting Madoka to change things up, but the way in which things unfolded took me by surprise. Personally speaking, I liked this ending a lot. However, at the same time I can easily say that this will probably turn out as a very disappointing ending amongst many members of the fanbase, or at least it will be considered controversial.

At the end of the last episode, Madoka pretty much declared that she would become a Mahou Shoujo. The big significance of this is not the fact that she is becoming a Mahou Shoujo, but because she gets a single wish that Kyuubei must grant. And oh boy, what a grand wish does Madoka ask for; the sheer scale of the wish is pretty enormous, with some tremendous implications for the entire foundation of this show.

Her wish essentially removes all witches from have ever existing, and can no longer ever exist in the past, present, and future. The sheer level of changes that wish induces would almost be equivalent to something like changing one of the laws of physics. Changing the laws of physics from the beginning of time itself would change the world in a huge way, which is pretty much what happens here.

Madoka’s wish makes it so that Mahou Shoujo in the past actually have never existed, or at least didn’t have to suffer from their status as a Mahou Shoujo. She literally took everything upon her self, all the evils and suffering of Mahou Shoujo, and made it her duty to get rid of it all. Put simply, Madoka sacrificed herself for the greater good of all of humanity (thus all the “god” references you’ll be seeing around when talking about this episode).  The ironic timing of the episode (good Friday in Japan, which probably isn’t a coincidence) does add a bit more significance to the events of this episode, which is an interesting touch on Shaft’s part.

I personally thought it was a bold, courageous yet at the same time tragic move on Madoka’s part. The fact that she took everybody onto herself was saddening in a sense, even if her transformed form was lovely to see.

The changes to the universe itself from the wish produced several effects; for one, Mahou Shoujo can no longer turn into witches, and witches themselves no longer exist. Instead, different apparitions roam the Earth, and Akemi is now hunting those apparitions out instead of witches. The most significant effect from the wish, though, was how Madoka pretty much disappeared from existence in every sense of the word. Nobody could remember her except for Akemi (who turned out to be an exception somehow), and there were changes to time itself that made it so that Madoka never even existed in the first place.

The general feeling I get for this episode is that the series was a giant “prologue” to a much grander story, almost like watching the story of the creation of an entire world, and that things are just beginning. The grandiosity and scale of everything going on actually leaves a feeling of awe in my eyes, and Madoka’s contribution to it all is extraordinary considering how useless she was only a few episodes ago.

Anyways, aside from the huge focus on Madoka and Akemi, this episode also did wrap up the stories for other characters, such as Sayaka, Mami, and Kyoko. Sayaka got a rather sad, melancholy finale with her crying while lovingly saying goodbye to a Kamijou that is almost no longer aware of her. Kyoko and Mami had a nice chat with Madoka regarding her motivations before they, too, disappeared for good. If you honestly think about it, the entire ending is depressing in the sense that virtually everyone in the main cast dies.

The ending felt bittersweet, yet satisfying in my eyes. There is some fairly decent conclusions for most of the characters, though they all leave a rather melancholy taste behind. Personally I found how everything unfolded rather satisfying, but my opinion is very subjective here. I do know that the ending was pretty over the top, so I do expect a lot of people to be disappointed with this ending. All in all, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica was one heck of a fun show to follow, with a rather intriguing finale. I really do hope my feeling that this series was a “giant prologue” is at least somewhat correct, because I would find it really cool to watch an anime set in the future, and they reference the times “before the wish”.

Overall Enjoyment: 4.8/5

Edit: Typo on the score. Had to fix it 🙂

Screenshots are later in the post.

P.S. What’s up with the part at the very end with Akemi and the black wings? I’m not quite sure what the significance of the scene is…

Also, this post turned out wayyy too long…. x_x

Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica – 11

Episode 11 –

The first half to this episode was all just buildup towards the epic second half where, yes, the infamous walpurgis nacht finally makes it’s appearance. And my god, what a beastly powerful witch it is. Now that I’ve seen it, I wonder how in the hell would Kyoko have made a difference in this fight? I would think you need several dozen Mahou Shoujo to take down this beast of a witch.

Anyways, the first half of the episode pretty much just further solidifies Kyuubei’s status as a heartless little alien, with him practically equating humanity to the status of cows and cattle. His little chat with Akemi certainly wasn’t nice either. All of this is after Sayaka’s funeral, which is pretty much just adding salt to the wounds, insult to injury, etc al.

The interesting twist here is that Akemi finally reveals to Madoka that she is a time traveler, and that Akemi knows Madoka from an alternative time plane. Of course, Madoka can’t understand too well because she didn’t retain her memories between time changes, whereas Akemi has.

I am pretty sure that the big revelation of Walpurgis nacht is actually a tribute to the original walpurgis night in the work this series is based off of, Faust. Aside from that opening scene with the odd green elephants, the witch itself was revealed to be gigantic. It’s absurdly strong too, taking hits from at least several dozen RPGs (Rocket Propelled Grenades), missiles, an exploding gas tractor, and huge number of preset bombs. Might as well had a nuclear missile used on it. Seriously, where in the world did Akemi get all this firepower?

In the end, though, Akemi’s fight was in vain (as expected). The sheer amount of firepower Homura unleashed upon it is absurd, but the fact that the walpurgis witch survived it like nothing  just shows how dreadful it really is.

Madoka finally stepped in and decided to do something about all of this, which means **drumroll** Madoka FINALLY decides to become a Mahou Shoujo. It’s been pretty obvious that Madoka will somehow make the difference, and the wish that comes with the contract is still around. Woo awesome buildup!

Overall Enjoyment: 4.3/5

Screenshots are later in the post.

Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica – 10

Episode 10 – I Can’t Depend on Anyone Anymore – もう誰にも頼らない (Mou Dare ni mo Tayoranai)

Oh hell yes, this is exactly what I’ve been waiting for, and with top notch production quality to boot. For the longest time, we’ve known almost nothing about Homura’s past, which is why I’m so glad this episode went into a lot of detail regarding how she became who we know her as today. Homura’s background info explains a lot about both why she cares for Madoka so much, as well as why Akemi desparately trying to rescue her. This episode does a great job with setting the tension for the final stage that will be Walpurgis night with a solo Akemi and a powerless Madoka.

This episode finally lays to rest a lot of the speculation amongst fans in the past few weeks, with a confirmation that Akemi, indeed, is traveling backwards in time to try and save Madoka. The interesting little revelation that I found interesting is that Akemi originally met Madoka as a Mahou Shoujo originally, which means that Akemi actually prevented Madoka from turning into a Mahou Shoujo whenever she went back in time. Madoka’s powers seem strangely inconsistent though; some times, she becomes a witch after defeating the Walpurgis night, sometimes, she just dies, other times she contracts with Kyuubei and literally blows up the opposing witch with one shot. Her powers seem a little inconsistent here, though I guess that’s just what changes with each successive time loop.

Aside from that, this episode went into explicit detail describing the path Akemi followed, slowly changing from a pure-minded, innocent girl, to the very serious and melancholic Akemi that we know today. Seeing just how futile things kept turning out for her easily explains why she no longer trusts anybody, with the tragic fact here being that she no longer even trusts Madoka, the very reason why she was fighting so hard in the first place.

Each timeline repeat just keeps emphasizing how the Walpurgis night is one beastly existence that just keeps terrorizing our main cast. This just makes the final few episodes seem even more ominous, knowing that Madoka and Akemi will be up against one tremendously overpowering enemy. The buildup and tension here is great, and definitely sets a much darker tone to the upcoming final episodes for this series.

The intriguing thing to speculate about, though, is that how Madoka and Akemi will pull through this time around. Based on the time repeats we saw so far, the main differentiating factor between “those Madokas” and the one we see now is that “our” Madoka is aware of everything about Mahou Shoujo (including the Mahou shoujo – witch connection) before she even contracted with Kyuubei. That main difference will probably be the big factor in determining how Madoka and Akemi end up fighting against the Walpurgis Night.

Overall Enjoyment: 4.6/5

Screenshots are later in the post.