Anime: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica 681n

Madoka Magica is one of the most popular anime of all time, and, when taking reprints into , the 6th best selling. Selling an average of 84,257 copies per BD. More than other best selling classics like Monogatari Series Second Season, Fullmetal Alchemist, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and Fate Zero.

Madoka is directed by Akiyuki Shinbo. As such, the directing is stylish and unique. The witch realms are psychedelic and wild, often using fabric cut outs and 3-D animation to produce an unnerving vibe. Seeing as the juxtaposition of contrasting ideas, whether they be visual or thematic, is a favorite aspect of mine; it is no surprise that I am a fan of the character designs.

The fights in Madoka, usually taking place in the aforementioned witch realms, are always a treat for the eyes. They rely heavily on the very stylish and flashy effects and lots of spinning and flying around. The lighting changes to fit the tone, but very drastically, to the point that it can just look silly.

The music in Madoka is composed by the legend herself, Yuki Kajiura. Sure, she’s made the same OST 4 times. But Madoka is not only the first time she used it, but the best. Boasting calming choirs and a wide variety of instruments. The opening song, Connect, is a pop song, but the lyrics are quite somber, and it’s been stuck in my head for the past 3 years. It’s no secret that Madoka’s presentation is a rarity, and it delivers splendidly.


Madoka is a powerful show. Both in its striking visuals and music, along with its groundbreaking impact on the industry as a whole. Despite that, it’s flawed. Deeply flawed. If you like Madoka, my highest recommendation goes to Fate Zero. It does everything Madoka does 50 times better, and it’s a Nasuverse work. The only thing it doesn’t do as well is the visuals and music, which Madoka wrecks it in, but Zero’s visuals are impressive nonetheless. I twisted and turned for 3 years about this score. Watched all the movies and re-watched the show multiple times. And I’ve come to this. Madoka gets a flat 5/10. But hey, I’d prefer a show that takes risks, but trips a few times along the way and ends up a 5, rather than one that took no risks, and out of the sheer fact that it doesn’t have any technical flaws, gets a 5.

Don't be fooled by this anime. From the art and all the promotional material it looks like your typical Magical Girl anime. That was a purposefull deception. If you aren't familiar with this franchise, then do yourself a favor and stop reading reviews right now. The most important thing is that you avoid spoilers, and if you keep doing what seems like reasonable research before investing your time into a series, you can end up ruining the experience. For goodness sake don't read the Wikipedia article!

I'm like you, and I normally will read up on a series before I buy it, but I lucked into this one without doing any research at all, and I'm so glad that I did. I'm a 42 year old male anime fan, so you might think I'm outside the demographic for this show, and so did I. I've been collecting anime since 1988, yet until very recently I had never even finished a single episode of Sailor Moon. I loved Tenchi Muyo, so I was able to stomach some Magical Girl Pretty Sammy, so I'm not completely unfamiliar with the Mahou Shoujo genre, but it's really not my thing. I only watched this because Christine Cabanos, the English voice actress for the main character was going to be at a local anime convention and I wanted to be familiar with her work before meeting her. I did absolutely no research whatsoever. After watching the first two episodes, it was headed in exactly the direction I expected it to be going, and I wasn't too excited to hit play on episode three, but I'm so glad that I did. The first two episodes aren't all that interesting to watch, but believe me, you will enjoy them a lot more when you re-watch them, and you will. Once you finish episode ten and realize just what has been going on, a re-watch is practically mandatory.

I've already told you how important it is to avoid spoilers, and even revealing the nature of the show is a major spoiler, but you do need to know one thing: Give it at least three episodes. The end of episode three marks a major turning point in the series. To say that the plot gets serious at that point is an understatement. Everything changes; the story loses its frivolous nature, the art, settings and even the music change to suit the new dramatic nature of the plot, and it's at this point that you should make your judgment on whether or not to finish the series. Don't get me wrong, this is a Mahou Shoujo anime to the end, but if you are a fan of extremely well written stories, and I mean on the level of Shakespeare, Goethe, and classical Greek legend, then this is for you, regardless of whether or not you like Magical Girls.

Lets break it down:

ART: 9/10 I've seen better animated shows. Especially close-ups on the character's faces leave something to be desired, but still, this animation is well above average. The use of backgrounds and lighting to set the mood for the scene is done with masterful skill. The use of a completely different art style to set the witch labyrinths apart from the real world is jarring at first, but you can't deny it IS effective. Every image is meaningful. It's directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, so you'll probably have to watch it a second time to pick up on all the symbolism.

STORY: 10/10 This is the real selling point of the anime. Since I started watching anime in 1988 I have never come across a better written show, bar none. Again, I'm not going to give anything away, so I'm just going to ask you to trust me here. I can say that if you have heard that this is a deconstruction of the genre, then you heard right. It asks questions that other shows in the genre don't ask, and plays out the consequences of the character's actions and choices in a fully serious and realistic manner. However, its more than that. It borrows heavily from the classics to give a surprisingly deep and well thought out story. One that stands up to analysis, and if you're a writer yourself, prepare to be inspired.

MUSIC: 10/10 If you have never really paid attention to Japanese composers, this show may change that. The music is absolutely perfect. Where the show wants to be light and uplifting (mostly in the first two episodes) the music does that quite well. Where the music really shines is in the dramatic scenes and the action, where the music can set the tone for a scene equally well, if not more so, than the visuals. This music can lift your spirit or crush your soul, whichever is required for the scene. Previously, my favorite anime composer was Yoko Kanno, but after watching this, Yuki Kajiura is now top of my list.

THE DUB: 8/10 Not bad. Some other reviewers, particularly on Amazon, have given Christine Cabanos a bad rap, but I don't agree. She may be new to the voice acting scene, but she does a good job here as the main character Madoka. The role was demanding, with a LOT of emotion, and I think she delivered that emotion believably. Christina Valenzuela does an outstanding job as Homura. Her character is almost the opposite of Madoka, with little emotion (at least in the first half of the series) and an intensity that doesn't really suit a middle school student, but once you have seen the full series, you will understand that this is exactly what her character called for.

OVERALL: 9+/10 Now, I own the DVD and have seen the Netflix version. I haven't seen the Blu-ray version, but I have heard that the animation was upgraded, with a lot more detail added. If that is true, then I could see giving this a near perfect score. Perhaps I will update this review if I ever do watch the Blu-ray.

RECOMMENDATION: If you are looking for a light, fun piece of entertainment, then this may not be for you. I wouldn't recommend this for younger audiences either. It really is written for a more mature, discerning, intelligent audience, and may even be off-putting, if not inappropriate for young viewers. Hint: Parents, this show ain't for your eight year old daughter. Now, by inappropriate, I don't mean it has a lot of blood, gore, and sex. In fact it has no sex, only the briefest nudity (like during transformation sequences, as is typical for Magical Girl anime), and although it does have violence, it isn't all that bloody and definitely not gory. Still, the story deals with very serious material, and the realities of being a Magical Girl are atypical of the genre to say the least. This is a deconstruction of the Magical Girl genre in a similar sense that Unbreakable was a deconstruction of the Super Hero genre, and Madoka Magica contains no laughs.

If, on the other hand, you grew up with Sailor Moon and would like someone to write a Magical Girl story for your now older and more refined tastes, with a story that will change the way you look at the genre, then get this. If you just like well written stories, that don't pull any punches and make you feel like you've been on an emotional roller coaster by the end, then this is definitely for you.

Sadly, it's Aniplex, so it's expensive. It may be available on Netflix or Hulu or right here on Anime Planet, but titles on those sites come and go. I have a feeling that after experiencing this series, you will want to own it, like I did. And if, by the time you are reading this, it isn't available from those sources anymore, then take my word for it, it's worth the price of ission.

Ah yes, Madoka Magica. Upon request of another I am reviewing this show and believe when I say that I did not truly wish to do this because of two reasons. Firstly, I see no reason in reviewing shows that will receive exceptionally low scores as it only wastes my time and yours, plus make a lot of people angry at the same time. Secondly, the director of this series is someone I do not like either based on many of his other works in addition to this one, so it is not fun to talk about him. His name is Gen Urobutchi, sometimes called the "Urobutcher" due to the extremely harsh ways he kills his characters. Without further ado, make a wish and lets go:

Plot: The series uses the same one Sailor Moon did in order to start itself. A young and fairly naive girl discovers an animal that is not as it seems and through some means becomes a Mahou Shoujo (Magical Girl). Naturally she tells others and her friends become them as well. I am bound by spoiler-free style to not talk much about its overall plot to prevent ruining anyones experience. However, when a show has a plot this bad I feel their is very little to spoil, this is very true in light of the ep 3 death that nearly everyone knows about. Mami, a mentor of sorts dies from the attack of a demon (Called a witch) in ep 3 and from there the girls are left to fend for themselves with a magical animal named Kyubey "helping" them every step of the way. I also need to mention that Kyubey is the animal/entity that bestows these powers on the girls in the first place. Giving out wishes to girls in exchange for near slavery as Mahou Shoujo. The first plot hole we need to address is Kyubey itself. This "thing" is emotionless and claims to merely be following a prime directive to harvest the energy (fancier word used in show) for its alien planet. If Kyubey can grant these wishes for anything to the girls, why not take their energy by force? Why have a roundabout way of getting them to be Mahou Shoujo and waste time killing an infinite amount of Witches and a lot of crap when it could just take the energy and leave. Its because Urobutchi said so thats why. Next point is that one of the girls named Homura is actually a guardian for the main girl Madoka. For reasons that never had what I would consider sound reasoning she cannot tell Madoka to not become a Mahou Shoujo outright, and since Kyubey is likened to that of a god in power thus never dying she also cannot kill the instigator. It stands to reason that Homura's best option would clearly be to either kill Madoka to end her protection cycle (Oh yeah, Homura is stuck in a time loop protecting Madoka because terrible reset ending said so) or yelled it out to her at the several points she could of instead of being emo and stand-offish every chance she gets. Even reality would of had a collapse because of Madoka learning this it would still be preferable to the never-ending "Groundhog Day" scenario Homura finds herself in. I could go on through several more plot holes but these two illustrate my main point. Point being that the series ignores solutions to problems in order to create a false sense of danger despite it just being a reset ending so the danger isn't really there. 1/5

Character Development: I am guessing that at some point Urobutchi decided to take a page from Evangelion and use its characters as pure symbolism. This is great in theory, but the problem is that in Evangelion they were Characters with a personality first and symbols second. This series' cast are all supposed to be symbols first and every once in a while some part of them develops. Madoka despite being the main character never develops, all we see is an alternate reality version of her where she is better but thats not development, thats just another version of her. The only girl worth mentioning for development here is the blue-haired girl named Sayaka and her friend who is a sickly boy in a hospital. Thanks to their interactions both develop and learn to cope with that situation in a great way. But of course a good male character with development need not stay long and once he is healed is kicked from the story, thankfully not in Urobutchi's favorite method of death, but is simply fazed out. Sayaka's development ends shortly there-after and everyone else either stays the same or has an alternate "what-if" version shown near the end. 2/5 for taking a small amount of time out to develop someone. 2/5

Sound: Finally, a good aspect of the series! I will not lie I loved all the dark music and the way it helped build tension and atmosphere. If the plot and characters were as fun and interesting as this music it'd be another story. Then again, the music had nothing to do with Urobutchi in of design, so it makes sense to me. The openings and endings are nicely done too. Not much t say here since it was all handled quite well. It'd be higher if it actually had a better variety aside from brooding sadness, but it does that very well thankfully. 3/5

Art: Its no secret to those who know me that grossly dis-proportioned moe (Cute for sake of being cute, big eyes small facial features with waxy feel) turns me off from a title. The good news is that "Madoka Magica"'s designs were handled by someone with no knowledge of the story and it resulted in nice concept art. While I am not fanatical about it, the backgrounds in the witch's realms and the girls' designs are not the worst I've seen (See K-On! for pure moe hell). It gest the job done but does not impress me. 2/5

Final Thoughts: If I owe my critical views of moe and Urobutchi to any show it is this one. Every type of trope modern anime has come to behold from reset endings (Thanks Key/Visual Arts), moe visuals (Wow K-On! "nice" job), and also flat characters (Thanks every boring battle shonen) Madoka has it all in one pretty bloody Urobutchered package. As I sign off from this review, I urge to remind the haters that these are my views and they do not need to match theirs, if you are a lover of Madoka thats fine (even if I honestly am saddened by that fact) and you should continue watching whatever interests you. I am here to merely give a harsher analysis with more detail and higher bars for media to live up to. Oh and one last note, you gotta love how the name of the studio that made this is called Studio Shaft, Urobutchi sure loves to give us the shaft all day long. Final Rating is 4/10

There are shows I rewatch to relive the magic, only to learn the magic has faded. There are times I fear the magic has faded, only for it to persist. And there are times the magic persists, and creates a miracle that improves a show. This is the show where the magic persists. This is the story where the miracle unfolds. This is the tale known as Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

But honestly, the miracle shouldn’t have happened. There’s no surprise to keep interest, but only inevitability in knowing what happens. And it’s no secret the story is now exposed at the basic level; starting as a lighthearted fantasy before falling on a web of despair spun by its own builders. But more standout than the entire web is the strength of each thread. None of them insignificant. All of them a sight to behold.

And what viewers behold in the first few minutes is our titular character Madoka, running through a vacant hallway shaped by shadows and light filling the emptiness. It’s a fitting backdrop to establish what shapes the story VS what doesn’t. It’s also one of many stylistic choices used to great effect. The witches are chaotic, their designs equally so, while a certain character’s design grows steadily darker until it’s only a silhouette of despair highlighted by a smile of insanity.

But what makes these stylistic visuals work is how they’re not used to the point of ineffective. It punctuates scenes instead of the entire show, and allows normal visuals to do some heavy lifting. A veteran magical girl lectures two would-be rookies, but her own face is shadowed, creating a sense of uncertainty. A character’s dependency shows early on as she blindly searches for a facetowel before her mother slides one to her. And another character is usually eating, hinting at part of her backstory.

It’s visual cues like these that make every thread of this web so strong. Sometimes they’re obvious, sometimes they’re subtle, but all the time they move the story forward. Knowing a character has a doomed fate, isn’t the same as seeing them spiral to doom firsthand. Sometimes, a tragedy too obvious is the most painful to watch. Especially when the solution to their problems is clear, but young age and flaws stop them from making smart decisions.

After all, tasking teenagers with the responsibility of essentially saving the world, realistically, wouldn’t end very well. It’s their necks on the line for one wish. Many of the character’s reasons for becoming magical girls stem from well-intentioned naivety, but naivety is still naivety. It’s not about being careful what you wish for, but the price you’re willing to pay for your wish. Some of them have already paid the price of their wishes, while others are dealing with the brunt of costly miracles.

And it’s the cost of a miracle that makes up one of the major threads of the story. It deals with someone who tries to convince others she did the right thing, but can barely convince herself. Her story crosses paths with a feisty hothead who lives for herself, smelting a fire-forged friendship. Another thread works in secrecy, for a person shrouded in mystery due to the way her story unfolds. And the last thread, from someone seemingly useless, is actually about getting closer to making a wish; she’s stopped from taking action for most of the show, and it feels too convenient.

In fact, problems surface in the show’s writing because of ‘why didn’t they do this instead?’ scenarios. There’s also a problem with time. I would say people are fragile and can easily change, but the amount of time that es in the story, for character development, can be a little fast thinking about it outside the story’s context. So the show isn’t perfect. The characters develop at a believable pace within the story but might not work outside of one, and the ‘what ifs’ of every situation will make the extra-nitpicky squirm.

Still, the strengths of this show outweigh, outnumber, and outdo its nitpick-worthy problems. In addition to great visuals that paint a tight story and draw splendidly-written characters, is a music track that adds to its cast. The upbeat ‘Credens Justitiam’ matches the outlook of Mami, while the nostalgic ‘Confessio’ conveys jaded maturity for Kyouko. ‘Conturbatio,’ ‘Decretum,’ and ‘Symposium Magarum’ highlights how Sayaka changes through the story, while the ethereal ‘Sis Puella Magica’ is appropriately angel-like for Madoka. Finally, ‘Puella in Somnio’ and ‘Inevitabalis’ play different messages about Homura.

‘Inevitabalis’ describes the show especially. I rewatched this show knowing what inevitably happens, and the surprise factor gone. But, surprises don’t make this show. Solid directing does. I noticed things on rewatch I hadn’t noticed the first time around. There were visual cues I missed, like the ‘exclusion’ of certain characters from episode 10, and lines of dialog I caught that made previously ‘weakly developed’ characters like Madoka and Homura much better than I gave them credit for.

This is what I mean when I say this show created a miracle. I rewatched it fearing I wouldn’t like it as much, only for me to outright adore it. It takes magic for a show to keep its luster, but it takes a miracle for it to shine even brighter. And though I can’t call it a masterpiece because my mind won’t forget its minor flubs, my heart will likewise never forget the absolute pleasure of reliving the magic. The magic of Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

This show is kinda messed up, it goes behond your expectations and you have to be open minded to watch it.

About The Art: I disliked it a bit, not because it has bad drawing or anything, but because it still takes the Magical Girl art style, which i'm no fan.

Sound: The sound isn't bad at all, but again the characters take the voices of the Magical Girl thing, which i can find annoying, but isn't bad at all.
and the opening could be way more fitting in the anime, but if they did, they'd spoil it.

Story: Well the story is what made me enjoy the anime so much, because of the mindblowing plot, it goes far behond my expectations and i got really surprised with it.

Character: The characters are good, and though they have annoying voices, their personallities fit the plot.

So that's it, i enjoyed it very much, i think it's really worth the time, and you will feel completly mindblown with the story, if you are like me and dislike the magical girl style, just ignore the art and their voices because with a few episodes you will already be loving it enough so your brain can ignore it by himself :grin:

Shock tactics have been employed numerous times throughout history by armies in order to gain an upper hand against their opponents. Generally, these tactics consisted of full-forced charges or volleys from countless firearms. The point of such a manoeuvre wasn’t so much to guarantee a victory, but to place the enemy under constant psychological pressure. Aside from combat, shock tactics have also become a staple in entertainment and film. Although the goal no longer revolves around destroying your opponent (unless you’re Nanoha, of course), the objective remains the same. Through a combination of music, camera effects and characters, masters of cinema such as Alfred Hitchcock have employed similar shock tactics to place the audience under a state of psychological distress. However in more recent years, the focus of these shock tactics has shifted from using it to enhance the story or characters to simply being a cheap trick to keep the viewer’s attention. So now how does all of this fit into a show about a bunch of cute middle-school girls and their loveable, magical mascot?

The problem with the bulk of magical girl titles out there is that they are far too stagnant in of their plot-formula and characters. Average middle-school girl gets magical powers from a cute mascot character and fights monsters each week? Repeat anywhere from twenty to fifty episodes before any plot development takes place? Likely if you’ve seen one title that follows this formula you’ll know what to expect from another and so on and so forth, leading to the genre not being able to offer much variety. However, Shaft’s newest entry into the magical girl genre is here to change things up.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica is an original series written by Gen Urobuchi and animated by the head-tilt loving studio, Shaft. The basic premise revolves around a young girl named Kaname Madoka and her sudden encounter with the magical creature, Kyuubey. Kyuubey is able to grant Madoka and her friends a wish at the cost of becoming a magical girl and having to fight against evil beings called witches. Though the premise seems almost identical to most magical girl titles at first glance, it is actually anything but. Instead of eating cake and being surrounded by feelings of love and happiness, Madoka finds herself surrounded by death, despair and isolation. While being a magical girl may seem like fun and games at first, the girls soon discover that it’s actually a one-way ticket to a never-ending hell. Within a few episodes, the show quickly shifts gears from a sugary magical girl title to something more along the lines of a tragedy.

Now on paper the plot structure of Madoka seems very well thought-out. Unlike the bulk of magical girl titles, Madoka abandons themes of friendship and happiness in favour of sadness and despair. If anything, it twists them round and round until you could’ve sworn you were watching something along the lines of Evangelion. In a similar vein, the entire product of Madoka feels like a deconstruction of all the genre’s clichés and tropes, much like Evangelion was with the mech genre back in the 90’s. And while it breathes a nice breath of fresh air into a rather stagnant genre, it does present a number of problems with the format of the show. Oddly enough, the largest problem with the show all stems from the fact that it has a single goal in mind from the very beginning. And that goal is to simply cause as much emotional damage as possible to the central character within twelve episodes. The more hardships that Madoka encounters, the deeper she falls into an absolute state of despair. To make matters worse, Madoka has the ability to save everyone around her by becoming a magical girl, but in order to do so she must place her life on the line. As you can see, this conundrum would cause a great deal of emotional stress to a girl who has barely experienced half of life’s hardships, let alone even hit puberty. And just like a certain plot device in the show, emotional stress quickly becomes the driving force behind the events. Now while this may seem like a plus at first, it quickly becomes evident as to why this goal is harmful to the series in the long run.

For one, the plot-heavy structure of the show already makes it so that events become the driving force behind Madoka’s emotional development rather than the characters. Since a lot of series focuses more on outright plot twists and important secrets being revealed, the characters tend to take a back seat at times. As a result, this leaves very little time for proper interaction between Madoka and the other characters. Sure, Madoka and the other girls do chat, but there’s very little in the way of actual realistic conversation between any of the characters. Now while the lack of character conversations may seem beneficial to the tight pacing of the series, it is actually crucial as character deaths are highly abundant. Considering that human bonds and relationships are part of the foundation for a healthy emotional state, it would make sense that if more time was given towards Madoka’s connection with the other characters that their deaths would have held more water. Unfortunately, Urobuchi and Shaft felt the need to simply go for a quick emotional appeal by trying to shock the viewer through numerous character deaths. And despite these scenarios being a bit of a shock the first time round, they quickly lose their impact as the story progresses. Towards the end of the series, characters start dropping like flies, and you’ll begin to wonder just how much emotional damage one girl can possibly take before she cracks.

However, the direction of the series does have its merits as a number of the plot twists are quite well thought out. And while some of them can be predicted with careful attention, others will completely take you by surprise. The general unpredictability of Madoka’s plot coupled with the tight pacing of the series makes for a highly entertaining experience. It’s easy to get swept up in the whole dark atmosphere of the show and want to watch it in one go. So from an entertainment standpoint, Madoka is highly successful in that regard. Unfortunately, the more shocking twists in the story only serve the same purpose as the numerous character deaths. Rather than be used to further enhance the characters, these twists exist to briefly wow the viewer or attempt to further differentiate Madoka from more standard magical girl titles. The fact that a number of these twists are simply clichés or devices borrowed from popular sci-fi titles makes their integration into the plot feel rather forced or even shallow.

It’s a bit of a running gag in the fan community that Gen Urobuchi is a heartless bastard who derives great pleasure in killing off characters within his works. Anyone that has read Fate/Zero or the adult visual novel, Saya no Uta, will likely be familiar with the way in which Urobuchi utilizes character deaths to play with the reader’s emotions. However, unlike his previous works, the characters in Madoka are simply killed off without very much character development. It isn’t easy watching a beloved character being killed off right before our very eyes. However, in order for a character death to carry any emotional impact, there needs to be some prior development to establish said character’s core personality and relationship with others in the story. Would we feel anything for a character that appeared once, spoke a few lines and then died? Or would we rather see how a character’s death has affected everyone around them? In a sense, each character in Madoka is like a puppet on stage; after their role in the story has ended, they’re given the axe.

Considering she’s the character that the entire ordeal revolves around, one would think Kaname Madoka would at least be a fairly interesting character. Unfortunately, Madoka herself has very little in the way of an actual personality. Through her few personable interactions with the other characters, we find out that she’s a sweet girl with very little self-confidence. Most of her development comes from all the events around her rather than the strength or will of her own character. It is not until the very end of the huge slaughter fest that Madoka starts to show any reasonable development and change. In short, she’s almost like the female version of Shinji Ikari, just without all the psychological development. One could even make the argument that you could place anybody in Madoka’s shoes and the story would still progress in the same way.
Besides the title character, the other magical girls all have their personalities centered on a specific trait. You have the well-mannered senior, energetic best-friend, female badass and mysterious transfer student. With a few exceptions, each of the other magical girls goes through a small transition in a similar vein to Madoka’s where she faces despair before reaching an untimely end. Though each of the girls are likeable in their own right, they aren’t given nearly enough development to be ed after they’ve become sacrificial lambs. A final mention goes to the series mascot, Kyuubey. Though he seems to be nothing more than the complementary mascot character at first, he does provide the series with another layer of depth to set it apart from the bulk of magical girl titles. Despite remaining fairly stagnant over the course of the series, Kyuubey’s role in the story at least keeps it engaging.

As a title produced by the animation studio Shaft and directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, one can full well expect a lot of the studio’s signature style. Anyone who has seen popular Shaft titles such as Bakemonogatari or Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei will be quite familiar with the quality of animation in Madoka. The artistic direction of Madoka is one of the series’ strong points, consisting of dynamic lighting, obscure camera angles and the studio’s signature head-tilts. In particular, the witches’ designs and labyrinths are the visual highlights of the show, combining surreal imagery with modern-day photography. Unfortunately these scenes are few in number throughout the series, which is a shame considering they contrast nicely with the cute character designs.

Sound and voice acting are also of very high quality overall. Renowned anime and video game composer, Yuki Kajiura, lends her talents here with the soundtrack of Madoka. Kajiura is known for blending many different musical genres together such as synth, classical and even opera to create a dark and mysterious feel. As such it’s no surprise that the tracks fit very nicely into each of their respective scenes in Madoka. Often times, certain scenes are enhanced by the soundtrack, giving them a much stronger feel than conveyed by the series’ writing or character dialogue. Voice acting is also very strong overall as the all-star cast of seiyuu selected are able to successfully breathe life into their respective characters. In a similar vein to the utilization of Kajiura’s score, the voice acting is actually part of what greatly enhances the mood of certain scenes.

Despite deviating from the norm of magical girl titles, Madoka struggles to establish a strong emotional connection with the viewer and its characters. In an attempt to remedy this fault, the series engages the viewer through multiple instances of shock rather than the characters and their interactions. And while it is entertaining to see characters drop like flies, there’s very little to actually differentiate Madoka from the bulk of grim-dark titles out there. But for people who enjoy darker titles or a twist to their magical girl titles, there’s plenty to recommend about Madoka. However, for those who feel that the magical girl genre can still be creative without resorting to shock value, I’d encourage you to check out titles such as Princess Tutu or Revolutionary Girl Utena. While both aren’t traditional magical girl titles, they do possess elements from the genre, with their own unique spin and characters. And of course both titles were produced long before Madoka came into existence from the depths of Urobuchi’s sinister mind.

As an old saying goes: fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.