Okay, now that I've said that let me explain. If you haven't already heard, the first two Madoka Magica movies are mostly recaps of the regular t.v. series with some added/modified scenes. I recently finished the series subbed and re-watched it dubbed. Before watching the 3rd Madoka movie which continues the story, I decided to watch the first 2 movies to avoid missing anything (I know, I'm crazy). The recap movies are great in their own right, but I would argue that it is mainly because it adapts an already great series. Other than the upgraded art and animation, I would argue that the t.v. series is superior in every way. The first two movies are great, but the series is just better.
THE BAD
Actually, not that bad. However, some of the changes in the movie make the series a better way to experience Madoka. One unavoidable change is the various cuts that the movie had to make in order to adapt the 12 episode series into 2 movies. A newcomer would be none the wiser, but to me the movie felt a bit rushed. There wasn't enough time for the viewer to soak in the plot twists or emotional moments. The anime series is fairly devoid of anything unnecessary to begin with so some movie cuts actually get rid of good character development and back story. Even when the essence of a scene remain in the movie, cuts make some scenes slightly rushed and lessen its impact.
This brings me to my other main complaint which is the decision to change the soundtrack for parts of the movie. This ruined what I consider one of the most beautiful scenes in the show (a little over half way through episode 7). The perfect syncing of the music to the visuals in the series version can be called nothing less than art. The movie fails considerably in comparison. Such a change was a clear mistake in my opinion.
THE GOOD
Luckily, the bad is overall not that bad but merely bad in comparison to the series. One thing that the recap movies did better was adding detail to the animation. On more than one occasion I consciously noted how pretty the animation was. There was one scene where I felt like the more detailed art actually detracted from the focus of the scene, but overall the movie excelled in the animation. The series isn't bad, but the movies overall did better in this department.
BOTTOM LINE
I enjoyed watching the recap movies and even preferred one scene from the 2nd movie to the original equivalent. However, due to the pacing and music choices, I highly recommend watching the series first and then watching the recaps as either a refresher or if you're a hardcore fan. It's enjoyable enough seeing the better art and other slight changes. However, I didn't notice anything essential that is unique to the recap movies and thus one could very easily go straight from the series to the 3rd movie.
