I'm not going to go into anything weird like that though. I'm aiming for fairness, and giving what is due, its due.
There is a premise you have to accept, even if you deny the characters, the narrative, and the whole concept as a rehash of a lot of things (I can think of analogues from Eva - with the 12 Aliens, to Muv Luv Alternative). You have to accept that if you like Madoka, then you must like Yuuki Yuuna, because Yuuki Yuuna is fairer in its narrative.
(At least until the ending, but both Madoka and Yuuki Yuuna suffer equally in this regard)
In this case, the under-reliance on dark twists (well, comparatively, to Madoka at least), and focus on Slice-of-Life, is actually a boon. One of the weaknesses of Madoka was simply that lack of care to have sustained characterization, in that I couldn't see clearly, for example, why Homura was so fixated on Madoka in the first place.
People don't give Tougou her due. She has everything you would label as the 'dark brooding character', and she is one, but she also has a sense of humor, and a personality (even if half of it is made out of a mix of running gags about Nationalism). That's a complete slap in the face to Homura as a character. She's probably the best character of the show because she shows a greater and more human diversity of emotions and reactions to the events around her.
Everyone else can fall under quite a number of stereotypes. Cool Big Sister. Shy Little Sister who wants to gain the strength to protect the one she loves. The Shounen Archetype. The Recklessly Anti-social girl. I wasn't expecting much from the characterization here, but what it actually did with the stereotypes surprised me, because it made them more than stereotypes.
The other thing is that, if Madoka is beautiful, and experimental, and avant-garde, Yuuki Yuuna has focus. Although none of the scenes really reaches the titanic psychological framing of Hideaki Anno, for example, there are some great subtle touches in various places. Usage of Silence, especially with some parts involving the sisters. Subverting Karin's growth as a character by adding further awkwardness in her development arc. Scenery fleshes out the town. Sometimes repetition of scenery, beyond just cutting costs, is used to frame a sense of monotony. A few bits here and there show, at the very least, a adequate control of direction, though not overwhelmingly so.
In the end I came into Yuuki Yuuna expecting Entertainment and Emotions. I wasn't expecting a grandiose masterpiece. At the end it delivers wonderfully on this aspect. The battles here are simply more tense than Madoka's are. There are multiple curves and bends tracking ups and downs, with the adequate punctuation and reveal when things 'ramp up a notch'. You feel the sense of danger, and the sense of rebound, and the sense of getting higher and pushing through, which fits the whole main theme of the show to a T. Madoka fight scenes are like Giallo scenes - stupidly lush and intricate, although more for the aesthetic. Yuuki Yuuna has those full Indiana Jones or Mad Max Fury Road fights with tension and thickness.
Neither is the story straightforwardly a 'darkness for darknesses' sake' story. This is where I call it fair. There are dark reveals. But the conflicts come from purely, and purely, character's reactions to these reveals. Madoka only has one developed 'be careful what you wish for' type deal, stemming from a character's actions, while the rest is purely plot-flow (wow Sakura had this weird religion-related plot backstory. Does that aspect of sin or Christianity even play in her whole character? Nowhere in sight). Yet Yuuki Yuuna manages to explore the effect on all its characters. In the ending, at least until the last part, everyone reacts within the frame of what was set for them. All of their motivations led them to fight on their own terms, and this is something that many action shows lack, giving no discernible foundation for characters to act the way they do. The tragic backstory is really only abused twice, and, even then, it fits at key moments, while the characters already had enough to stand on their own, such that it became complementary to their motives, rather than supplementing them entirely for a cheap knock-off. (I'm looking at you too Jun Maeda)
(You also cannot criticize Yuuki herself for having Shounen Hero-Blood, since she has it from the start, and acts upon it at every turn, and never shuns away from this premise, as opposed to Madoka, who literally has her Will come out of nowhere.)
Even the weakest characters, the sisters, have their primary struggle arise from a set-up that was established quite early (episode 4). I'm really aiming at quite a number of people who somehow have Madoka on their list as higher than this, when Yuuki Yuuna is foundationally stronger, and then proceed to try and attack characterizations without much else than saying "they're stereotypes". Yea, they are, and the director was obviously working with full knowledge of that, and how he makes a fuller statement is noteworthy of itself. (Think, for example, of how many death flags he purposely triggered)
Even then, Madoka is still unshakeable in my heart for the level of pure spectacle and pushing formal boundaries animation-wise. Yet I'm not really laudatory of its other aspects. Logic, people, is what Yuuki Yuuna has in spades more than Madoka. Logic to push through a premise for the most part, in a fair (notwithstanding the ending) way that gives credence to what it set out to be, and Yuuki Yuuna set out to be Entertaining Fun Emotional.
So, if, somehow, you're a person that hates a fully Entertaining Fun and Emotional slice-of-life-action-comedy-drama, then you need more Yuuki blood in you.
