Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica is really quite amazing. The first 5min of the first episode gets you pumped and excited for the show. It's dark and captivating and a great way to start the show. Then you're suddenly thrown into a world of normal and get to enjoy a more slice of life element while adding in a few mysteries at the end.
I was really excited for this show. I heard news of it (I hadn't heard of it until the tenth episode came out) and MAL'd, googled and wiki'd it. A mahou shoujo comebined with thriller and psychological mind screwing seemed mind blowing to me. I could only stop myself watching the series for two days until I gave in and marathoned the ten episodes.
The first three episodes were great. It was fast paced and terrifying. It was horrific or anything, just the things the girls went through was just terrible. I can't stand looking at Charlotte, one of the witches, either because her personality scares me. This is where Madoka sort of lost it for me...
I was expecting more terrifying encounters with witches and maybe even a few gruesome scenes. It was what I was expecting. Maybe I was expecting too much because I soon found myself a bit bored. I think my expectation were definitely too high. Yes Madoka was something new and different but it was not something like a masterpeice.
Don't get me wrong, Madoka is great. It goes through the mind of the mahou shoujo, why they became one and what was becoming of them. It was truly intriguing to see what the girls though, to see them hesitate to gain something that is usually seen as a blessing in most other mahou shoujo. The twists were somewhat predictable but it was still exciting to see what the characters themselves would do in the end. Some fates were changed, others weren't.
The psychological breakdown seemed to overpower the thriller side of Madoka though. It was so caught up in the characters' struggles that the action or the thrill had paid the toll. Like I said, I began watching this anime because I wanted something to give me chills up my spine while screwing with the minds of the innocent magical characters. That wasn't achieved. It seemed that the creators wanted the audience to question whether the characters should choose what certain path. I love psychological anime, especially when there's a thrill with it. Madoka didn't live up to that genre which is what disappointed me the most.
The art, as mentioned by many, is similar to Hidamari Sketch's. It is cute, colourful and is just pure eye candy. The colours of the costumes, the designs, the background, it was all hard to keep my eyes off of it. I rewatched the OP repeatedly because it was the only piece of animation where I felt I didn't have to read subtitles and just enjoyed the animation. It's a nice contrast to the darker themes of Madoka which I really appreciated. The genre that I wanted had shined in the art and not the story.
Sound was just wonderful. The OP song is catchy and easy to enjoy. It's a J-Pop song, which adds onto the carefree mask that Madoka puts on. The ED was it's polar opposite really. It was dark, sung by Kalafina which I thought was a perfect choice. Kalafina produces a wonderful deep and dark sound while they have the dark lyrics to accompany it. The music overall is directed by the same person who directed the music for Tsubasa Chronicles. Anyone else notice? It was the first thing that stood out to me. I actually don't remember any happy BGM, all I remember is dark mysterious music so I'll skip BGM for now. Seiyuu were great as well, just putting it out there.
Normally, characters are what I love the most out of anime/manga. I love creating a bond with the characters (yes I don't have a life :P (jokes)). I like to see what reactions the directors can make me feel. Unfortunately, I never really had any real attachments to the characters. Yes they were cool and all but nothing really stood out. I didn't find any of the characters particularly likable. However!! The breakdown on them was done quite well. I liked seeing them go insane. It was incredibly amusing. The ending also got me teary eyed because of the cruel circumstances.
I think one of the best parts of this series was the trolling. the director really did have some sense of humour, or thought, whichever you'd like to call it. It was fun watching the fandom go insane, even if I was part of that fandom slightly, kinda like Kuroshitsuji II except that doesn't even compare to Madoka, only the trolling. Other than that, I got bored at some bits. Not enough action/thriller for me. Some episodes were great and really got me pumped. Others I probably could have skipped if it wasn't for the importance of the knowledge you gained from them. Madoka was a good anime. Quiet psychological but not enough thriller. It is somewhat overrated. It wasn't as amazing as I thought it would be. None the less, it was good and I enjoyed it.
