Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica follows the story of Kaname Madoka who is suddenly thrust into the world of magical girls. This is not a happy go lucky story though. You quickly see that there is more to this show than meets the eye.
Madoka Magica is what's known by many as a deconstruction. It takes something well known, in this case magical girls, and asks all the questions other magical girl shows don't or wont. Why is there an animal here trying to help us? Why does he want us to be magical girls? Where did he come from? Just what are witches? What do they want? Where do they come from?
So, in typical magical girl fashion, squirrel-cat thing Kyubey appears to Madoka and makes her an offer to become a magical girl. In return, he will grant her any one wish. Usually when things sound too good to be true, it's because they are. These girls learn that lesson the hard way.
On the character side of things we have our "protagonist" Kaname Madoka. Originally seeming like your typical girl but her traits shine more later on as her past is explored better. Then we have her best friend Miki Sayaka. She is headstrong and diligent. Always wanting to do what's right and just even if she has a hard time doing that herself. Then we have Sakura Kyouko the smart mouthed almost tsundere girl from another town. There's Tomoe Mami the caring and loving one. She wants to protect everyone even at the cost of her own well being. Then finally we have Akemi Homura... Homura is an interesting character because almost nothing is revealed about her until later in the series. Up to that point she seems like little more than a Rei Ayanami clone.
What makes these characters so great is how fleshed out they are in such a short amount of time. Each one has clear-cut motivations and flaws. Their back story and contribution to the plot is astounding. Even the side characters. You'll find yourself rooting for these poor girls. Hoping and praying that they will win even if it seems less and less likely with each passing episode.
The music gets a special note here. The soundtrack was composed by Kajiura Yuki and is fantastic. Each track is able to immediately set the tone of the scene and emphasize the emotions. The themes for every girl is spot on. These are tracks that remain in your mind long after the anime is over.
The animation side of things suffers a bit. Studio Shaft is well known for having questionable quality shows air, then fixing them later for box set releases. While you can easily say owning the box set fixes this, they are so unreasonably priced most people will watch this streamed. Unless they pirate.
Overall Madoka Magica is a fantastic anime and a well done deconstruction. I can not recommend this anime enough to people. The plot is very mature and changes protagonists on a whim and that can be jarring to some. However, if you can see past that you are in for an amazing tale.
Madoka Magica is often considered a masterpiece and I often find myself having troubling debating that.
