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Have you ever had such a special connection to a piece of media that you end up perceiving it as not just perfect in general, but perfect for you? That's how I've felt with Madoka Magica and more specifically this movie, Rebellion. Even though I can see myself recommending this movie to many people in my life in the future I doubt that most people will understand just how much I love this film and why. I also understand this movie has its vocal crowd of people that straight up don't agree with how the story's direction was taken and there is a valid discussion ... to be had there. I'm willing to acknowledge that some critiques of this film have legitimate reasoning and validity but even after all of that I always find myself appreciating what I love about what this movie did.

On my first viewing of this movie I was ecstatic to go in and see where they could possibly pick up and continue the amazing 12 episode masterpiece of a series but I was just as confused as I think anyone would be going in and kept rapidly checking for answers. It was around the 20 minute mark where I began to worry about how this movie was going to manage its runtime and explain everything. Thankfully they not only managed it well but I think this movie legitimately uses its runtime perfectly. No scenes are too short or too dragged out, we're given a perfect amount of world building, mystery, action, and character introspection.

The beginning half of this movie is a masterpiece in itself for how it plays on the initial viewer's thoughts and emotions. Once again going into this film was extremely confusing at first given the context of where the story left off previously and the writers were fully aware of this and utilized it so well to play with the viewer's expectations whilst also giving many hints along the way. Up until about 45 minutes in, the viewer is unsure if this movie is actually a continuation or not and neither possibility is ever totally confirmed until Homura finally drops her hair down on the bridge and her theme starts playing in the background, then the film lets you know with most certainty that this is in fact a continuation. Even after multiple rewatches this reveal hits so hard every time, in fact for me personally it only got better and better every time.

Even after that huge reveal we are hit with another mystery to follow for the rest of the middle act of the movie. Following the rest of the movie we get so many amazing character moments and interactions between the girls that just make their already amazing characters even better. Homura in particular was elevated to a god-tier status of a character in my books and is so brilliantly done in this movie. I already had this thought when watching the tv show but this movie definitely proved to me that Homura is sort of the real main character of this series or is at the VERY least the one that drives the majority of the plot. This may change when Walpurgisnacht Rising releases but for now it's very true.

All of that said and I haven't even gotten to the animation, cinematography, or music. While the tv series could be critiqued for its outdated visuals at times (which were majorly fixed in the other two movie adaptations) Rebellion absolutely perfected the visual style of Madoka Magica and there isn't a single bad shot in this film. The screenplay, symbolism, motifs, and just the shots themselves are all off the charts and make me confident in calling this film a masterpiece. To top it all off the music is top notch as per usual with this series and many of the tracks on this ost are in my opinion perfect for this film and elevate every single scene. I already loved the original ost of this series but man there is a good 20 tracks on this movie's ost alone that I think are fucking amazing for many different reasons.

I'll be honest, after watching the tv show I actually did expect this movie to be a 10/10 given how wonderfully written and executed it was I had little worries for this film. What I didn't expect was for this to immediately land in my top 3 films of all time and at the time of me writing this, it may be my all time favorite.

I've gushed for far too long but I love Madoka Magica and I love this movie, I absolutely cannot wait for Walpurgisnacht Rising and I can't imagine having to have waited for it for over a decade. Even if it doesn't surpass Rebellion (which I believe it very much could) this series will forever remain as one of the greatest I ever came across.

Not a lot of people know about this series, and it's a real shame. Girls' Last Tour is, in my opinion, the best and most fascinating post-apocalyptic world ever. While it is extremely simple and seems to have no deeper substance lore-wise to delve into on the surface, it actually benefits from that simplicity and gives this somewhat jokey, light-hearted series a permanent undertone of mystery, intrigue, and a fear of the abyss.

Seeing these two girls, who may just be the last humans alive, rediscover Earth and its last civilizations is excessively interesting to read/watch. You get to learn more about this distant future as ... the girls continue to cover more ground; however, in doing so, the viewer is simultaneously left with WAY more questions, and for those wanting answers, you aren't going to find them here, at least not clear ones. One of my favorite parts about this deliberate choice is that we are basically just along for the ride with the girls, and we know just as little as they do. But after each chapter, we get another piece of a puzzle that will never be complete, so the gaps can only be filled in with the viewer's interpretations/theories. To a casual audience, it might seem cheap or hollow, but it allows for so much more than it would if we were simply just told what happened.

On its own, this series does wonderfully with the interactions between Chito and Yuuri, and given that they're (for the most part) the only ones present in this show, it's impressive to say that I never got bored of it, even on multiple rewatches. Despite this being impressive, the biggest reason this series/anime is elevated to such soaring heights is the presentation.

The art in the manga is astounding, and some panels had me just staring at the landscapes/wastelands for a while. Thankfully, the anime adaptation adapts the style nearly flawlessly; in fact, I think if they were given a higher animation budget like MAPPA or Ufotable, it would actually end up detracting from the series, since the simplicity and intricacies are what sell the world and give it its character. On top of animation, the anime adaptation blessed our ears with one of the greatest OSTs of all fucking time, and it fits the series PERFECTLY. I genuinely don't know how they did it, but bravo to everyone involved, Kenichiro Suehiro, you have my full respect.

The only reason this anime isn't a 10/10 is that it does not adapt the final 2 volumes and give us the proper ending, an ending of which that I suggest all fans of the series read, as it is what I would consider to be a life-changing read and the only way this story could've ended.

Ever since my initial viewing, I knew that this series was truly something special and is one that I find myself coming back to time and time again. And much like a lot of my other favorite series of all time, it changes me a little and gives me something new to appreciate each and every time.

Living sure is nice, huh?

Thank you, Girls' Last Tour.

Anohana is weird to me. As a fan of these tear jerker type stories, I really did find enjoyment in it and I think this might be some of Okada's best work conceptually and thematically. Because of those things alone Anohana will stick with me for a while and I'm glad I got the chance to watch it. However I feel as though the original story itself should've been a movie all on its own even if the anime was only 11 episodes a lot of it felt super dragged out and by the time I got to episode 9 the emotional weight of the ... story was just slipping. Not to mention that these characters of the "Super Peace Busters" are downright insufferable at times and not in a way where I can connect with them, they just straight up do dumb shit. Like why the fuck is Yukiatsu dressing up as Menma 10 years later, why does he have that stuff, and why does Popo(the only consistently cool one) cultishly tell Jin-tan to say that he loves Menma? I can see what this story is going for and that's why moments like these are so painful to watch, it doesn't do anything for their characters and even if it technically does they could've done it in a way more believable way.

This movie is sort of sweet but I also don't really see why it exists, the amount of actual new stuff we got is akin to that of an OVA episode so I don't know it didn't even really resolve anything.

If I'm going to leave my impression on this show then I can't do it without acknowledging the ending song "Secret Base". It's how I found this anime and it left me sobbing without even knowing what this show was about and honestly I feel as though that song wraps up everything that is good about this show neatly into one of the most emotional pieces of music I've ever heard.

Overall I am glad that I watched Anohana but the way some of it was handled and the character's weird choices keep me from rating this beautiful story any higher than a 7 or 8.

Going into this show I was a bit worried due to its significantly lower rating than the original show and just the overall thought of them making a side story to milk off the original, and maybe they were to an extent but I think this show actually did pretty well as a side story.

The beginning is a bit weird and a little hard to get into but thankfully this is one of those shows that just gets better each episode. That being said this means that the beginning of the show is kinda weak but it posed some interesting mysteries very early on.

Characters ... are almost universally a step down from the original but that show has some of the best written characters I've ever seen so it was unfortunately expected. That being said these characters are likeable and I absolutely love Yachiyo's character as well as Iroha, I think she's a nice protagonist.

I'm a bit confused as to where or when this takes place in the timeline, either I'm dumb or this might actually become a serious problem I have for this story.

Animation is decent but doesn't have as cool or interesting details as the original in my opinion, however the ed to this anime is probably my favorite of all time and I connect to it immensely.

Overall I am left pretty excited to see where this goes in the 2nd or 3rd season and I think this could end up being a very nice addition to this awesome series.