If you come here expecting Sailor Moon turn back, activate nitro and get as far away as possible. Nothing so lighthearted waits for you here.
The anime tells the story of... Nah, that would be a spoiler. Madoka, a normal highschool girl, gets introduced to a world of terrible monsters known as witches and those who fight them, magical girls (those are different... kinda... maybe... ok f@ck it, lets continue). A creature known as Kyubey offers to give her magical powers, along with fullfilling one wish, in exchange for her eternal servitude as a magical girl onwards. Along with Madoka comes Sayaka, a close friend of hers who is also offered this chance. Both Madoka and Sayaka spend a large part of the series trying to decide if they want to become magical girls, and also what their wish is. One magical girl specifically, Homura, from the start tries to convince Madoka otherwise, for unclear reasons.
The anime's main focus is regret, aka the girls making decisions that later backfire 100% of the time. The sentence "This is too cruel." has almost become a catchphrase for the anime, as the girls are continuously psychologically tortured and manipulated. In addition, Kyubey might not be exactly the happy little funny sidekick you'd expect in a magical girls anime. Just to clarify, this isn't an adventure anime, it's a drama. The protagonist is obviously Madoka, but equal, if not more, focus is given to Homura. Every scene is painted in the most surreal way possible, successfully creating a continuous feeling of unease that really gets to the user. But there is a reason I gave it 8 instead of 10, right?
Spoilers warning: Lets be honest about this: Kyubey's deal is a win win situation, I would take it without a thought anyday. Hell, Kyubey doesn't even force the girls to fight, all of them fight because of personal reasons, yet they keep whining about their "terrible fate". Hey, here's an idea, wish for a billion dollars, get an ageless repairable body, get amazing magical powers, the ability to transform into an unstoppable monster if you ever were to become completely desperate AND THEN JUST WALK AWAY. "K, thanks, bye, have a nice evening!" Seriously, Kyubey's contact is a win-win situation, what's to complain about?! But I digress... A second complaint would be that the art of the anime sometimes comes out as "forced". While it reminds of the Monogatari series a lot when it comes to style, the chaotic scene change just doesn't come out as natural as it does in Monogatari. In addition girls faces' are way too squary, making them look unproportinally large.
But let me be honest, those are just water under the bridge. If you're looking for plenty of well-acted drama, surreal scenery and an interesting plot, then you have found it.
