Art: 9/10
Character: 8/10
A cute little family friendly mahou shoujo anime, containing all the fun things you'd expect; despair, depression, and damnation
I knew what I was getting in to before I started watching Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica, and I was not ready for the rollercoaster ride of a series which it is.
I should mention, this review is of the anime series only, and does not touch the movies, as I have not watched them, and from what I'm told, they'll make me angry, so I'm going to avoid them.
So what is Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica about? Without giving spoilers, it's about girls who get given the chance to have any 1 wish they desire come true, in exchange for becoming a magical girl. The magical girls then have to keep peace in the world by killing witches as and when they appear.
So far, not really an out of this world plot-line for a mahou shoujo anime. But things get dark, and start to make Madoka Magica stand out after episode 2.
If you don't want spoilers, stop reading here, go watch the anime now, then return when you're done to see if you agree with my review.
English Name:
Japanese Name:
魔法少女まどか★マギカ
Episodes Watched:
I liked that character...
After I was finished watching Madoka Magica, and I was talking to a friend at work about it, he said "Madoka is like Game of Thrones. You are not allowed to like a character, if you do, then they're going to die."
Of course, I'm talking about Mami. I thought she seemed like a very cool character, and would have been a great tutor for potential mahou shoujo; Madoka... But then she goes and gets eaten by a witch. You know... FUN! I honestly wasn't expecting that, especially so early on in the series. I was told it was depressing, but damn, they didn't hold back at all.
The main character was an interesting twist too
When the title of the anime is called Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, and your main character spends less than half an episode as one, it's definitely unexpected, and I kind of liked it.
I liked Madoka as a character in general. Whilst being a little too goody-two-shoes, she seemed like a genuinely nice character, among a cast of heartless ones. She really stood out, and her resolve for good was portrayed very well.
Though I am a little upset how she ended up, it was so much better than what I expected her end to be like, especially after what we saw with Mami.
The sound was on point, but not spectacular
Both the soundtrack and the sound effects reminded me of Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya, so I can't say they were anything spectacular. However, they played extremely well with the setting, and never once did it feel off.
And the sound in the witches' lairs really helped set the scene, and add that extra bit of je ne sais quoi to it.
I would give the artwork a 10 if it didn't creep me out so much
I get that being creeped out by it was the point... but I really don't like that artwork on a personal level. It just doesn't look or feel right.
The artwork for the main characters, wasn't the best I've ever seen, but it was cute in its own right, and I cannot fault that.
The artwork for the main world was very well done, especially the oil refineries, and what not, being used to really add to the dark mood that the story was trying to put across. The use of location, lighting, etc. really helped add to the story, even when it wasn't really trying to be advanced in any real way.
My problem with the artwork was the witches' lairs. The artwork is just super creepy, and cannot be described with word alone.
It's just horrid. And when you have this type of artwork flying around the place, it's just super creepy. Again, I know it's meant to be, but I just can't bring myself to give the art a 10 because of this. It's definitely worthy of a 10, due to the usage of different types of artwork to portray many different things in a way that's both subtle and in your face... but look at those teeth in the second picture... and those aren't even the worst pictures from the witch lairs.
Also, I am not sure why, but the witch that Mami loses to reminds me of Cuphead. I've never played it, but that game's also very weird.
I'm kind of upset with the ending of Madoka Magica, but I'm also kind of happy it didn't end in tears like I was expecting. But hey ho, another day another anime. And next on the agenda is Kill la Kill. When it first came out I didn't really see the point in it, and I'm still kind of unsure why it was popular with my friends at the time... but hopefully when I'm done with it I'll understand why.
But that's for next time, so until then じゃね!see ya