Maybe it's because it's a magical girl show, and I didn't think Tweeny Witches was that great either. Both series have similar animation, so maybe I'm biased. My partner immediately compared it to Sailor Moon, but I've never seen Sailor Moon so I can only take her word on it. I wanted to like Madoka, but I found shows like Xxxholic and Shakugan no Shana more entertaining from the first episode.
A big problem for me was the lack of humor. For a show that was based on the concept of balance, I found it overly dramatic, and took itself way too seriously. Just a little bit of humor here and there would have made it SO much more watchable, but serious introspection and consequences can only take a show so far for me, and it became depressing in episodes 7 and 8 (just as I was starting to care for Sayaka). I did find their idea for the greatest source of energy in the universe pretty funny, although I probably wasn't meant to.
Episode 10 (showing the adventures of Homura) was good. More-show-less-tell. But having seen Serial Experiments Lain, I found the final episode predictable. In some ways Madoka may be this generation's Lain, except Lain kept its concepts mysterious and open to interpretation, while it felt like Madoka spoon-fed them to me. I'll concede Madoka looked fantastic, and it's only 12 episodes so I don't feel too bad about watching all of it, but I feel I wasn't its intended audience so I can't recommend it.
