To be blunt Madoka Magica isn't as amazing or genius as some people say it is. It's not a bad series but it's not particularly good either. I started the series trying to keep an open mind, I've already heard a lot of good things about it and I can say I was a bit hopeful. I finished the series in one sitting and I was left unimpressed and maybe a little disappointed.
Below are some of the reasons on why I liked/disliked the series.
- Story -
I didn't find the story to be too intriguing. Yes, it's a dark mahou shoujo anime with tragedy, so what? A lot of the elements that are in this anime has been done before in other animes and mangas, just because it's been done with a mahou shoujo genre doesn't mean it's anything new or refreshing. It had nothing much to offer.
The tragedy part of the story was indeed tragic but only because the series tells you so. They continuously threw sob stories in my face telling me to feel bad or something but not once did I feel any sadness or grief over the characters, the reason will be further explained in the - Characters - section.
The connections of mahou shoujos and witches was interesting but at the same time I found it funny that teen angst is what was fueling the universe.
- Characters -
This is where I am ready to unleash myself.
I disliked the characters very much. All of them. Especially Sayaka.
The characters are just very poorly done in my point of view not because the characters themselves are bad (though some are and they're are pretty stupid) but because of how they are presented.
Mami... I remember when she died I was laughing from the surprise that she was actually dead because a second ago she was talking about how she wouldn't be alone. I didn't find her death significant because there was nothing about her character that the show gave me a reason to care about. All I know is that the writer wanted us to see her as what a mahou shoujo is SUPPOSED to be and that's it. As a character? She's very dull and meaningless.
Sayaka is just a bad character overall, I suppose she's the example of what the fate of a mahou shoujo is meant to look like in the series... but that doesn't excuse what an idiot she is. She makes on bad decision after another and refuses to acknowledge that what she's doing might not be working. In the end rather than a character she's just an example, kind of like Mami.
Kyoko... I actually liked her for a bit, she kind of had her shit together. I didn't understand why she was suddenly kind to Sayaka, I didn't see a reason for it at all but I shrugged it off and just tried to go with it... then when she chose to die with Sayaka so she won't be alone anymore... Ugh... That was just really dumb. NOTHING LED TO THIS, nothing showed why she was suddenly nice and why she cared so much for Sayaka. If it's because they all share a similar pain as a mahou shoujo, I still can't see that as a good reason. All I can see her as if a disposable character to add to the tragedy... and maybe because they needed someone to be the color red.
Homura... I have the biggest problem with Homura. She's our big tragic heroine who has sacrificed everything to save Madoka... and yeah, so what? The show doesn't explain clearly enough as to why she's so desperate to save Madoka other than having a girl crush on her. We aren't given a clear view of why Madoka is IMPORTANT to her. We're just told that Homura has gone through all this mess just to save her and it's a good idea but as a plot or a plot twist, it was poorly executed.
Madoka. I don't care about Madoka, there's no point to her to be honest, other than having the potential of being the strongest mahou shoujo and witch. I found the reason for her potential to be quite dumb, if people with the most sorrow can become a more powerful mahou shojo, wouldn't that be Homura instead of Madoka? Also the reason why she has that potential shouldn't just apply to Madoka, it should work with the other girls as well. It really didn't make any sense to me.
Overall the characters are poorly done, they don't develop and when they do, it's not done well or in a way we can see. I'm not saying all characters have to develop for the good of the character, I'm saying characters should develop properly and in a way that's reasonable. If you're trying to tell a story, you need to show people where the character began, where they are going, and how they get there. Things shouldn't just happen for the sake of plot and unfortunately Madoka Magica is a good example of characters being sacrificed for the story.
If anyone makes an excuse saying that the reason the characters were shown this way was because the anime was only 12 episodes, bite your tongue. That's no excuse, that's bull shit.
- Art/Animation -
The character designs are cute, not my style but cute. I very much disliked the animation and art for when they enter a witches domain. I felt like it was disjointing and didn't well together with the rest of the series, it felt kind Tim Burtony.
One of my biggest dislike was how they used the animation to hold your hand and spoon feed you emotions and reactions. They'll use different angles of a shot to tell you THIS IS SIGNIFICANT or just keep changing perspectives and highlighting reactions or expressions telling you FEEL SOMETHING.
- Sound -
Nothing about the music stood out to me so not bad or good. Just whatever.
- Overall -
TL;DR:
The story was interesting but wasn't nearly good enough because you need good characters for it to hold together, sadly the series did not have that. The characters were merely sacrificial lambs for the sake of the story. Despite what people say, this is not a that great of a series nor is it a good deconstruction of the mahou shoujo genre.
