A huge part of Madoka's strength was in its art and animation. The characters were incredibly well designed and the imagery for their enemies was perhaps even more striking. The animation meanwhile was top rate, with over the top exhilarating action that never failed to satisfy. It would be hard for Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou to reach the bar Madoka did on that end, and yeah, it doesn't quite. The character designs are a little weak; not terrible, mind you. The characters are plenty cute as they should be, but the art style has a somewhat more super deformed look than I personally care for and the characters designs aren't immediately distinctive. The designs for their enemies, the Daemonia, fare better, most of them looking really cool and disturbing; still maybe not as memorable as Madoka's witches, but quite good and effective. The animation is great too; fight scenes are visceral and appealingly flashy. It's all pretty solid.
There isn't really as much to say about sound. The voice actors are convincing and do a pretty good job of defining their roles. The music is appropriate and good at setting the tone. Opening and ending themes are fine though nothing overwhelming. Madoka's themes weren't the most memorable part of it either though.
The story is the important thing, and Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou does a pretty good job with it. It follows Akari, a girl who is pulled into an enigmatic organization of magical girls fighting against Daemonia terrible monsters born from humans afflicted with negative emotions. She is put on a team with three other girls who she comes to know and bond with as they struggle against the Daemonia and the conflicted emotions that the battle against them provokes. It's a solid setup and I'd wager it still has plenty of twists and turns to lay on us still at this point. The story is delivered well, doing a good job of setting its atmosphere. It really helps highlight why Madoka worked so well. With its cuteness and sincerity, the magical girl genre really does mesh beautifully with dark elements and horror; the contrast just works really well, and Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou does nothing if not capitalize on it just as Madoka did.
Characters are key to the formula working though. Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou does pretty good on that front. Again, their not as immediate as Madoka's cast, but the magical girl team here are a likable bunch who are developed quite well. Akari herself is about what you'd expect from a main character in a magical girl anime; she's sweet, friendly, earnest and a little naive, but with a lot of resolve. Nothing too groundbreaking, but she works. Seira is strict, distant one that could maybe be described as the Homura analogue; her and Akari come from very different mindsets when it comes to the Daemonia problem which puts them at odds. Luna is a shy magical girl who is quickest to befriend Akari; she's likable and nice, but seems conflicted and self-conscious. Ginka rounds out the team with a lot of exuberance and is probably my favorite character. She's smartly developed and just a lot of fun. So far each of the main characters had at least one really good character building episode. There are other magical girls too in the organization, some of which get some screen time. Most of these supporting characters have interesting designs and seem fun.
All the elements work pretty well here. Nothing is quite as perfect as it was in Madoka Magica, but I'd say the sum is greater than the parts here. I'm sure some might sneer and say it's derivative or Madoka lite, but I don't think that's giving the show quite the credit it deserves. Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou is a smart show that knows what it's doing and has a lot of heart. Definitely recommended.
Update: as a short addendum having now completed the anime, ultimately Genei wo Kakeru Taiyou is a somewhat more uneven anime than I would have hoped. There are a lot of very obvious threads left hanging at the close--a number of elements introduced are not fully explored and there are characters who feel kind of extraneous. That said, in its best episodes in the second half (particularly the stuff with Luna), the character development on the core cast becomes incredibly effective and got me pretty invested in all of them. What we end up with is a plot that's more emotionally coherent and compelling than it is actually complete. Also, while I had some hang ups about the art style at the time of my review, it grew on me over the second half and the animation remained slick and impressive throughout. Ultimately it left me kind of scratching my head still wanting it to come together somehow, and I hope there's a second season or something to give the answers, but it also left me smiling and satisfied. I probably just have a weakness for this kind of show; I don't know. Whatever it is, despite the apparent faults, my score stays what it is.
