Puella Magi Madoka Magica
| I'm fairly new to anime. Everywhere, I see Madoka Magica being branded as a "masterpiece", a "10/10" and a "must watch". I prefer to watch something a bit more mature and the "magical girl" genre seems almost too out of character for my tastes. I know, I know. I've read the reviews. People have told me how Madoka Magica is actually a very dark anime, which makes it different from the usual magical girl stuff. I guess it has something to do with its plot, but I absolutely HATE it when someone spoils the plot of a show before I watch it. And the synopsis alone isn't helping me. Normally I would have ignored it without a second thought but with the amount of praise it has been getting, I get the feeling that I'm missing something important. I just want to know whether it's worth giving preference over other anime like The Tatami Galaxy, Shinsekai Yori and Hajime no Ippo. I have limited time and I can't watch all of them. |
| Don't watch it with any expectations of it being dark/sad or a masterpiece. Just go into it expecting it to be mediocre and you might actually like it. No, it's not better than SSY or Hajime no Ippo. Tatami is supposedly the best one out of EVERYTHING so I think you should watch that last. |
| I feel like Madoka is one of those shows that you either love it or hate it, like Mayuka said, dont go with expectations of it being a masterpiece (even tho for me it is, but its for different reasons like how the show means to me etc etc) so yeah, I dont think you're gonna waste your time, in my opinion is really worth watching. |
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| Don't watch it, it isn't worth the time compared to the other 3 you named. Its praise come from the shock of effect and because it is a deconstruction of its genre. |
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lady_freyja said: Hello, Kyusuke_Ryu said: I'm fairly new to anime. Everywhere, I see Madoka Magica being branded as a "masterpiece", a "10/10" and a "must watch". There is a big hype around that anime because it totally twist the magical girls tropes. It is provocative. So it have a very high "shock value". That kind of show tend to be popular, independently to its quality (I think it is good, but that's just my two cent'). BTW, it's not the first MG show who try to reverse or torn the codes and tropes of the genre, Nanoha did it too for example, but Madoka did it in a rather extreme way. I see. So it's special only in the sense that it is something shocking and different from the norm. Thanks guys. I guess I will shelve it for now. |
| I liked it for what it was: A short magical girl anime with pretty nice music and nice enemy designs (referring to the witches they fight) However, I don't think it was anything special, and the people applauding it seem to have never watched a magical girl series before because all of those are fucking dark and edgy and shit. Basically, it doesn't feel like anything out of the norm, even though people claim it is. |
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lady_freyja said: mintiel said: However, I don't think it was anything special, and the people applauding it seem to have never watched a magical girl series before because all of those are fucking dark and edgy and shit. Basically, it doesn't feel like anything out of the norm, even though people claim it is. A classic magical girls would be Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, Precure, or even Princess Tutu. The "by the power of love" things, it's all pink, kawaii et cætera. Then latter appeared the "military magical girls". Nanoha or Symphogear are good examples. And recently, there is those "dark and edgy" magical girls. Madoka is the most prominent one, but yes, there is others, like Yuuki Yuuna, Magical Girl Site… But it's a recent trend, and certainly not the norm. With overall tone? Yeah, some of the classics aren't seeping edge like Madoka was (or like people like to make it out to be), but you can't say that there wasn't dark moments in some of those. |
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lady_freyja said: ... and then it becomes a magical world losing its meaning...mintiel said: With overall tone? Yeah, some of the classics aren't seeping edge like Madoka was (or like people like to make it out to be), but you can't say that there wasn't dark moments in some of those. The "classic" magical girls work like the fairy tales. It's obvious for Princess Tutu which reuse a lot of fairy tales codes. The key concept here, is "magical girls is all love", it's beautiful, it's like a dream, being a MG is a wonderful thing. They also tend to be black and white. But sure, they can have some dark moments, like any fairy tales, mind you. The military ones try to be more "realistic", the character are usually more grey. They also tend to be violent, and with dark moments. But the madoka-like MG, it's the reversal of the classic ones; it's not a fairy tales, it's not the magical dream world, it's an horrific world where being a magical girl totally suck and is an horrible condition. That how they reverse the codes. The distinction is not really on the graphical part, but more on the moral part. |
zalMar 10, 2016 6:46 AM
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| If you just watch the first three episodes, no less than that, you'll sort of get the general idea of the show and whether or not you'll enjoy it. I wouldn't say it's a masterpiece, but it is a fairly enjoyable and interesting show. |
 Ahhh... Is this the blood... The blood of the Dark Soul? |
| Madoka Magica is alot different than Ippo. Ippo is just very fun and enjoyable to watch. Madoka Magica has IMO a really unique and strong plot with with dark setting. It's not a normal Magic Girl anime. I like both anime for very different reasons. |
| the point with madoka is that its a destruction of the magical girl genre. It just looks happy at the first few eps and gets pretty dark later and destroys the happy wish magical girl genre. it is a good series but i wouldnt call it a masterpiece if you want a rly good masterpiece mature anime try the ones in my favorites :P i am mostly just watching this kind of anime ^^ |
| My favorite quotes from animes: Those who seek miracles will never experience one. The hand of salvation only extends to people who try to make miracles happen. - Ef a tale of melodies. I destroy worlds. I create worlds. - Code geass We are humans. - Shinsekai yori 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10km run EVERY SINGLE DAY!!! - One punch man |
| Just watch it without any preconvceived notions and as blank as possible. If you like it, good for you. If you don't, too bad. |
lady_freyja said: If you haven't watched any magical girl shows then I wouldn't watch Madoka as the first. It's a deconstruction: it would be a similar situation as watching a parody before watching the shows the parody references. In some reviews I've read of Madoka this was the advice given: to watch the shows that are more normal to the genre (such as the ones @lady_freyja has mentioned) before watching a deconstruction. However, since you say you prefer more serious fare maybe you should give up on the whole idea altogether rather than cherry-picking Madoka and watching it "out of order" as it were.A classic magical girls would be Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, Precure, or even Princess Tutu. The "by the power of love" things, it's all pink, kawaii et cætera. Then latter appeared the "military magical girls". Nanoha or Symphogear are good examples. I'm in the same boat: I've watched a few magical shows that were around the edges of the genre (the military-ish ones like Strike Witches) but weren't pure magical girl ones (pink, kawaii, power of love, etc). I'm a bit nervous about watching Madoka myself as a I prefer happier stuff but I'm going to watch the pure magical girls ones first so it'll be a while before I actually get to Madoka. |
8oomerMar 10, 2016 8:55 AM
| Avatar: Anzu Kadotani from Girls und Panzer. Sig by MissIntrovert.  |
| I don't get questions like these. You can watch the first three episodes of any anime in about an hour. Why not just try it and see if it's something you want to continue? Discussing whether to watch a show here can take as much or more time as just watching it to begin with. |
| Moved and a tiny Cleaning: Keep threads about a specific series in their sub-boards please. |
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SeijiSensei said: I don't get questions like these. You can watch the first three episodes of any anime in about an hour. Why not just try it and see if it's something you want to continue? First, I had no idea that the first 3 episodes would be enough to give me a general idea of the show. I got that info here. Earlier, I dropped some great anime just because they started out a little slow. Second, even if I do decide to give my time to something that might prove worthless to me, I still have my data limit to consider. Internet isn't free here. SeijiSensei said: Discussing whether to watch a show here can take as much or more time as just watching it to begin with. You need a clock. |
| I wouldn't bother with that show. |
MasterTengkorak said: Moved and a tiny Cleaning: Keep threads about a specific series in their sub-boards please. Oops. New here. Rookie mistake. Will remember it. |
kamisama751 said: Madoka Magica is another bad show made by Urobuchi. Madoka Magica is deep. Throwing some themes and left them unexplored doesn't make the show deep or any better. Madoka Magica is dark. By showing charcters suffer for no reason. Those people who claim Madoka Magica being a masterpiece don't know a thing. Amen. Madoka Magica is an average story masked by the suffering of children. This isn't even the first time the suffering of children has been used to initiate shallow drama, shows like Alien 9 and Bokurano have already initiated this cliche. The only thing that keeps Madoka Magica and most other Urobuchi shows from being absolutely terrible is the production value. And that has nothing to do with Urobuchi's writing. He constantly gets the luxury of working with talented sound directors, art directors and composers yet he isn't able to create great shows. To me Madoka Magica was another instance of misused budget. |
Kyusuke_Ryu said: First, I had no idea that the first 3 episodes would be enough to give me a general idea of the show. Lots of people apply a three-episode rule to all the shows they sample. In the case of Madoka it matters a bit more because of the content of the third episode, but in general, if you don't like a show after watching three episodes you probably won't like it if you watch more. The only show which doesn't pass that rule for me is Juuni Kokuki, where it takes half-a-dozen episodes for the story to really take off. SeijiSensei said: Discussing whether to watch a show here can take as much or more time as just watching it to begin with. You need a clock. I was referring to the three-episode rule, not an entire show. I bet monitoring this conversation and writing replies has taken you at least half-an-hour if not more. |
| From your choices I would put it in the middle. Tatami > Madoka > Hajime no Ippo It's only 12 episodes, your other two choices aside from Tatami are longer, I think this is a no brainier. |
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kamisama751 said: It is not really the production value. They are all ok to good but the scripts are very terrible. That's what I mean though. These studios keep giving Urobuchi a big budget for his half assed scripts when there are better younger scriptwrtiers struggling to find work. Btw great taste in anime. |
A classic magical girls would be Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, Precure, or even Princess Tutu. The "by the power of love" things, it's all pink, kawaii et cætera. Yes, Princess Tutu was very pink and kawaii with its antagonist who kept writing the story with his own blood, after his hands were cut off, so that he could keep writing it even after his death and create the greatest tragedy. And as a result characters struggling against their predetermined fate like dying as a useless knight. It is so kawaii. |
| "The moment one sits down to think, one becomes all nose, or all forehead, or something horrid. Look at the successful men in any of the learned professions. How perfectly hideous they are! Except, of course, in the Church. But then in the Church they don't think. A bishop keeps on saying at the age of eighty what he was told to say when he was a boy of eighteen, and as a natural consequence he always looks absolutely delightful." |
| Actually, it was said much later, somewhere in the second part of the series. In the first episode, it is said that he is the man who is supposed to be dead. And it might not be as edgy as Madoka, but it did a better job when it comes to twisting fairy tales in a dark way than Madoka with its horror elements. At least I haven’t seen anyone to put Princess Tutu’s coherency into question. |
| "The moment one sits down to think, one becomes all nose, or all forehead, or something horrid. Look at the successful men in any of the learned professions. How perfectly hideous they are! Except, of course, in the Church. But then in the Church they don't think. A bishop keeps on saying at the age of eighty what he was told to say when he was a boy of eighteen, and as a natural consequence he always looks absolutely delightful." |
| Who dark, edgy and shock factor here? You see, the problem with Madoka is the inconsistencies, I mean, look at the gaping plot hole below. hail hydra |
| MC has pink hair. One of the characters has big bewbs. Another one is emo as fuck, but she's chill. Another character is kind of a bitch, but she's pretty nice. The other character is blue. There's a cat that talks with its mind. Jokes aside, I hella liked it despite a lot of the bull shit occurred. If you go in with no expectations, you might like it. If you go in listening to us praise it, you may be let down. |
 Banner credit to @turnip |
Who dark, edgy and shock factor here? You see, the problem with Madoka is the inconsistencies I would rather say that the problem is that Madoka’s authors didn’t do such a great story to begin with. The plot is not so unpredictable as it is said to be if you are capable of thinking and the main character is so badly written that even fans of this series don’t care about her too much. One just have to take a look at the results of the favourite character poll on this site. Despite Madoka being the main and titular character, she is the least popular of the four girls and Madoka is beaten by a landslide by a girl on which the show only begins to focus in episode 10, which just show how much the creators succeeded in making people interested and invested in Madoka. |
Lain666Mar 13, 2016 1:49 AM
| "The moment one sits down to think, one becomes all nose, or all forehead, or something horrid. Look at the successful men in any of the learned professions. How perfectly hideous they are! Except, of course, in the Church. But then in the Church they don't think. A bishop keeps on saying at the age of eighty what he was told to say when he was a boy of eighteen, and as a natural consequence he always looks absolutely delightful." |
Lain666 said: I would rather say that the problem is that Madoka’s authors didn’t do such a great story to begin with. The plot is not so unpredictable as it is said to be if you are capable of thinking You've really put quite an argument there, I have nothing to add. I really appreciate when people back their arguments. Besides putting down a statement, you've put objective and logically backed statements, even taking into account the audience's critical thinking skills. the main character is so badly written that even fans of this series don’t care about her too much. One just have to take a look at the results of the favourite character poll on this site. Despite Madoka being the main and titular character, she is the least popular of the four girls and Madoka is beaten by a landslide by a girl on which the show only begins to focus in episode 10, which just show how much the creators succeeded in making people interested and invested in Madoka. A good point, I think you did a good job of using something quantifiable as a poll to support your opinions. A reliable study is certainly important so I appreciate that you took the time to dig up a buried, dead thread; especially one on MAL, which is a leading authority in anime. Big thanks for the input and for adding something new and unheard to the discussion which has never been brought up before. |
| Don't listen to all these people and just go watch Madoka and Shinsehai Yori. It's way better than The Tatami Galaxy in many aspects, PM me and I'll explain on you how. As for Ippo Idk since I haven't watched it. Some people just hates dark stuffs and claimed them to be edgy, perhaps they're just too soft for those dark things. |
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