The story in this anime is extremely complex. Everything starts rather simply, but things got exponentially more complex as things went through.
-------Spoiler ahead:
The story was fine until it touched the laws of the universe and thermodynamics. The principle of harnessing the energy of a witch conversion to nullify the universe's entropy is way too far fetched.
The time travel aspect of this anime was good, but nothing exceptional. It certainly improved the story.
Furthermore, the concept of witches and grief seeds was not very good in my opinion. For instance, familiars are spared so that they collect human energy, to become a witch, and only then be killed by a magic girl so that they can collect the grief seed and get the witches energy, which essentially is indirectly absorbing human energy.
So pointless. Why not make it so that magic girls, if they wish so, can directly kill humans to get stronger? I think evil magic girls could be explored more and replace witches.
Kyubey being evil, or perhaps simply neutral, was a plus to the story.
Because of these issues, and the over the top ending, I can not give this anime a high rating for the otherwise good story.
6/10
The artstyle was hit or miss. I particularly did not enjoy the way witches and their barriers were made. In general, the art was mediocre. It delivered its purpose, but just that.
5/10
I liked the music of the anime, and overall the sound quality and effects were good and fitted the anime well.
7/10
Character development was the main theme of this anime. The plot mainly served as a way to display the characters feelings, rather being the focus itself.
As such, we got to know all the characters deeply and know their personal struggles. That said, it became a bit repetitive, and in no way was it a masterpiece.
7/10
The plot was initially dull to me, but then, it got overtly complex trying to achieve depth. It got me going in conjunction with the characters, but it was not a particularly memorable experience to me. The enjoyment was mediocre.
5/10
Overall, the anime certainly pleased the fans of the genre. But to an outsider, it just provided a fair experience. The plot certainly is the most interesting aspect of the anime. I am sure some will think of it as a masterpiece. But to me, complexity is not necessarily quality, so this anime can not have masterpiece status to me.
6/10.
