*SOME SPOILERS*
On a per episode basis, my stance is as follows:
1- Amazing! A complete rewrite from Chapter 1. Yes, we don't see Kuroe again after this episode and when referencing the game, episodes 2 and 3 suffered compared to if the adaptation was direct instead of new, but I'm judging it as its own thing! Art, Sound, Enjoyment, all a 10! Character, (not including Yachiyo as this episode deliberately creates mystery around her,) 7, let down a little by Kuroe for previously mentioned reasons and a minor inconsistency in episode 12, but this only makes me want to see her more!
2- Too fast. Also
...
depends on whether you're viewing the sub or dub as minor line changes warp the characters. i.e. sub Rena comes off as an abusive friend you can't help but hate, even after learning about how she feels. However, dub Rena is more immature and irritable, which makes how she feels actually touching.
3- Too fast. Pointless change to Friendship Staircase Rumour, now acting through a name being written on an actual staircase and appearing when it recognises a break up, instead of just the latter. This makes more sense on paper, but they don't answer the questions it brings, such as what happens if names are removed, altered after, or how the names get on the stairs in the first place due to the school's strong 'no graffiti' policy, but the biggest issue with this change is that, whereas the game had Kaede and Rena spiral out of control with eachother, it is now a deliberate act that Rena goes out of her way to do, knowing what will happen. Scratch, that, the biggest issue is Touka making a Perpetual Motion Machine. You can argue that she didn't, just know that you're wrong.
4- YES TSURUNO, SHE'S SO DELIGHTFUL! Besides a fight scene that didn't need to happen when Iroha's gem getting tainted could've easily happened in another way without it being forced, (a strong one given by the episode itself and expanded on next episode actually,) this episode is almost all Character, Art and Sound, 8!
5- Belongs with the original series, wow! Character, Art, Sound, all a 10 this episode! That reveal and showcase of (out of control) Giovanna was amazing! They actually fixed a plot point from the game too! In the game, Iroha lets her gem taint, not knowing of Doppels, death or apparently even Witchification being a consequence because... she's stupid? She gets guilt over how much she's actually helping and somehow convinces herself that she shouldn't take it despite clearly dying. Massive face palm. In the anime, its because she helps Yachiyo use a Seed and then the time to use Seeds is cut short, much more sense! The design change that the Commoner Horse went through to become the Commoner Dragon suits the Shrine theme much more appropriately.
6- Phoned in. Felicia is a good character but she only shines when she's with the rest, not alone. In the dub, Iroha and Yachiyo always talk like they're not trying, they are emoting but the voice never changes, like an energetic form of monotone. Pointless Misery Water change, instead of a countdown until massive bad luck, there is a quota of actions that can be taken before this happens. This removes all tension and makes every action of those affected annoyingly stupid when its clear that they simply should've stayed at home. Magius Member fight scene is teased as the stinger for this episode, but come next episode they supposedly left peacefully. (Pleeeeeeease be foreshadowing of something more later on, a Magius Member fight can be cool, give it a chance Shaft!)
7- Same as last episode, but this one moves towards action anyway, so its fine. Fighting Familiar hoards was something we haven't quite seen before, so it was nice to have an all-new kind of fight scene, changing it so that Giovanna is responsible for their victory, as well as Doppels being a way to win in general, will always be a win to viewers as just about all canonical uses of Doppels in the game don't exist or are extremely few and far between. The change in design to the Misery Water Rumour is... understandable. It looks like a bird bath with an owl motif, hence its name, instead of being creepily alive. What isn't acceptable is the watering down of the Amane Twins' fight with our main cast, their abilities and Doppel reveal. After further thought, Lucky Water breaks the show and I'm mad about a fate-breaking drink existing.
8- Episodes 8 to 10 actually take up a single Chapter, just as I wanted! Characters develop and story progresses! Still a little too fast, but nowhere near as bad as other episodes. Besides Iroha imagining herself in her place when the Invisible Girl rumour is being described, the parallels between Iroha and Sana are practically all lost.
9- Belongs with the original series. My heart shed a tear, its revealed that the Rumour monsters are a lot more people than monster, that despite their free will their tragedy is to be bound by instructions. Not only this, but we even get to see this fact put to action very well, Sana and AI's friendship won't be forgotten! Tarnished by Alina showing up, who is another example of a great character, but under time restriction, can only show off her crazy and not her calm. She does one attack to AI and then is teleported away by AI, sort of pointless when the amount of build this was given is considered, could her showing up not have been the stinger for next episode to allow for something more? Anyway, AI is beginning to corrupt and wants Sana to mercy her as the stinger instead.
10- Again, my heart throbbed in genuine emotional pain to see Sana and AI's last interaction, never forget! ...Really? Sana just happens to faint? Can't even say that she got a really small drop of the paint on her too? Or that her Gem tainted from feelings? Lazy writing. Speaking of, what are these Antennas? Why do they look like a Berserk reference? Why do they have a magnetic pull option? Were they holding up AI's Labyrinth? If so, why can't she do it naturally like others have proven capable of? Why are they so conveniently placed to save Iroha and Sana from falling even though they're not magnetic? They raise way too many questions and not in the good way. A WITCH ARMY?! HOLY SH- Oh, cut short? Lame, also, this means you teased the audience twice in a row and now they can't properly get excited for fight scenes, the very thing you keep shoehorning. This episode further characters Alina as all crazy and no calm, with her usefulness being, literally, striking a pose before whimpering away at a single well placed gunshot (scared off, she's perfectly fine). Thank goodness for this episodes latter half, Sana completes her arc by learning her place is with her new family after a quick trip to her house, as well as that much sought after family time between the 5 main characters!
11- Another 3 episode chapter, yes! We learn more about a single Amane Twin, Iroha is an idiot by inviting a high up Magius to her house, not that they were hiding their location but still. This causes friction with Yachiyo because its no other than Mifuyu, so the little mug mats they got go to waste because of foul moods. Everyone but Yachiyo then leave to the location they were asked to go for more info. Hate to be a hypocrite, but it felt like nothing significant happened this episode, just an excuse for the characters to be somewhere without their backbone.
12- Yachiyo realises that they've gone to the Memory Museum and springs to save them! Lots of backstory on Yachiyo, recap of the Puella Magi curse, as well as how the characters take it. Iroha didn't know any of this? How does she not? Can she really not draw lines between her occurrences of Doppelling and Witches? Wait... that means... she thought the bad part was the FIGHTING?! What was she talking about with Kuroe then? Were they on the same page or does Kuroe know? If they didn't want to fight, why didn't they say no? Again, way too many questions. Oh and Doppels are properly explained, I guess.
13- Yachiyo and Iroha bond, drawing parallels to the original series. Best, genuinely followed through on fight scene, ever. Bless you Sayaka, bless you Mami! This episode is the full package; Story, Art, Sound, Character, Enjoyment, all a 10! And that stinger, the 6.8 has me in complete agony because I need the second season! Please, let it happen, please!
Episode quality is all over the place. Some episodes belong with the original Madoka Magica, others are so bad I could swear that they're phoned in. I want to score highly for story and character, I really do, but it only does it right half the time at the most generous, thus the score of half, though my previous statement should speak volumes about when its right. And if you're asking me, it appears as though this decision was done so that budget could go to important things I'll resist spoiling, so as long as you don't mind a few vegetables before getting your meat, its fine!
It also needs to take a more solid stance on whether its a copy of the game or absolutely different, as I've noticed that all of the amazing episodes have either been one or the other. Most importantly, it should stop expecting us to have already played the game to understand certain elements. Even if they're unimportant, we don't know that they're unimportant because this franchise demands we look incredibly close at small details - this way it has of putting in 'easter eggs' stands out like a sore thumb. That said, it should cease making pointless and lame changes, for example:
Campanella changing from this creepy, possessive force over Yachiyo with the power to manipulate a storming, roaring, vast ocean with the wave of her lantern to the form of a glorified scorpion, ocean manipulation and lantern now gone, her signature features, is lame. (That said, Doppels have been shown to have separate forms for when their master is in control and out of control, so maybe her out of control version, if planned for season 2, won't disappoint?)
Misery Water taking effect being about allowed actions taken running out instead of time ticking away to zero means that the situation isn't urgent like in the game, in fact it means the solution is for the affected girls to stay at home until its solved for them. This could've been made good if it exploited the fact that Puella Magi are made selfish by the system in order to survive and lead to a powerful message about sticking together being good, but nothing else but that was changed, ultimately making it a pointless change.
NEVER SHOW A GOAT GETTING HEAD AGAIN PLEASE, MY EYES STILL HURT.
And many more.
WE DON'T NEED OR WANT A FIGHT SCENE EVERY EPISODE. Fans of the game and original series don't want this, the former due to I'll get into in a bit and the latter because this new addition hasn't been designed in a way that allows characters to be understood within the original's brief episode count. As for anime-only MR fans, they must be puzzled by the pacing and briefness. It's clearly about the characters and the anime has absolutely starved them of screen time. Shaft, listen, imagine all the budget you can maintain if you gave the characters screen time just to be an adorable family like in the game, maybe splash here and there for the franchise' well known visual story telling through abstract art, winning fans over all the while? It's win-win!
SLOW DOWN. The pacing is constantly going too fast. Some have said that this is actually a lack of focus at play, but I stand by my take as if the pacing was correct that would fix much more than focus. It desperately yearns for each chapter from the game to be translated into 3 episodes, not 2! Shaft, again, see my previous point. If 3 episodes were used per chapter, that would allow for a much more thorough understanding of the characters, meaning that episode 13 could act as a massive stinger for the upcoming focus on Magius! Though this is assuming an adaptation akin to the game!
Minor issue, but the generic depiction of Seeds is very boring.
Overall, I would definitely give it a watch and so should you! After updating with the original obviously, but also not expecting quality akin to the original? Look, it's amazing but the new writers are bound to stumble, just give them a chance to grow! If season 2 comes around and has the same problems, then its time to stop.
Story - 3/10
Art - 8/10
Sound - 8/10
Character - 5/10
Enjoyment - 7
Overall - 6/10
Apr 1, 2020
*SOME SPOILERS*
On a per episode basis, my stance is as follows: 1- Amazing! A complete rewrite from Chapter 1. Yes, we don't see Kuroe again after this episode and when referencing the game, episodes 2 and 3 suffered compared to if the adaptation was direct instead of new, but I'm judging it as its own thing! Art, Sound, Enjoyment, all a 10! Character, (not including Yachiyo as this episode deliberately creates mystery around her,) 7, let down a little by Kuroe for previously mentioned reasons and a minor inconsistency in episode 12, but this only makes me want to see her more! 2- Too fast. Also ... |
