Yes, this is just another magical girl dark twist anime. Unfortunately, it's not that great of one either and here's why:
This is what a series looks like when it tries to have emotional shock factor, but fails because it's only 12 episodes long and has too many characters. When characters die, most of the times you won't even care because there are too many of them and you don't ever know their backstory until the episode of their death. This series has a damsel in distress, innocent, naive main protagonist. There are no moral messages to be gained from this anime and no overarching reasons for the events that happen. It’s, simply put, excessive “just because” death-game violence. However, I believe it's still worth watching if you like seeing violence and/or the death of magical girls.
I want to note that I actually did enjoy watching the series for the most part, but this is from my unbiased perspective as a person who has seen a lot of anime. It will probably be a lot better to the people that haven't seen as many anime.
This being a thriller, you should go into series expecting there to be intense, edgy battles and deaths. Most of the characters could have been expanded upon, but weren't, and that largely took away from the potential of the series. I honestly believed that it started off with the potential to be outstanding, but it quickly went downhill once the death game began. The great characters started dying off too quickly without me building any attachment to them. The main protagonist “Snow White” was excessively naive and innocent throughout the whole anime. Consequently, I did not enjoy almost any time she got screentime after the first few episodes because every side-character was significantly more interesting than her.
Story: 4/10
The basic premise of the story is that ordinary people were selected to become magical girls while playing a magical girl phone game. They are then forced into a death game where the magical girl with the least amount of "candies" at the end of the week dies. They initially gained these candies by performing acts of goodness, but Fav (the Kyubey knockoff) continuously adds in new elements that push some of the magical girls to kill each other instead. This is definitely not a "psychological" series; you can tell as it presents itself in the cliche, archetypal, non-unique characters. Taking that into consideration, I feel that the writers tried, but failed, to portray powerful concepts like friendship, desperation, loss, and psychological twists. This is largely because they introduced these archetype characters with amazing potential, but then got rid of them just as fast. Unfortunately, the fast pacing and the anticlimactic ending left me with feelings of wasted potential as I finished.
Art: 7/10
The art was nothing outstanding, but pretty good. There wasn’t anything particularly unique about it. I enjoyed the battle scenes and the fluidity of the animation. The characters were a bit too colorful and cute for me personally, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The brightness of the characters in combination with the dark background made the series feel less dark and more lighthearted.
Sound: 6/10
Non-unique, average, unmemorable ost. Although, the ending theme was relatively nice. Both the opening and the ending didn’t really suit the anime. Music was a bit too lighthearted for what was happening.
Characters:4/10
As I mentioned before, most of the characters die soon after they’re introduced. I liked most of them because of their diverse personalities, but I don't think you will be getting any new favorite characters out of this anime. If this anime was a real magical girl series with the same characters and similar deaths, I feel that it would have been significantly better. Most of the characters had great potential for development, but I could not form any attachments to any of them because of their short screen time and lack of backstories until the moment before their death. It was such a waste… *shakes head*
Enjoyment: 6.5/10
All things considered, it was alright. Never watching it again, but I don’t regret watching it at all. The fighting and characters were enjoyable enough for me to continue watching it this season. I looked forward to seeing what would happen in each new episode, but the end of the series made me feel that it’s just anticlimactic overall with nothing to be gained from the resolution (not even satisfaction). I would watch a season two to see where they go from here because it's still entertaining nonetheless.
Overall: 6/10
I can't give this series any higher than a 7 because it wasn't really that good and no less than a 5 because it certainly wasn't below average overall.
Bottom line: Would I recommend this to you?
If all you want is the gore/killing, then absolutely.
If you want a great story, then no it’s just wasted potential.
If you want both, then try Madoka Magica, Fate/Zero (anything but Ilya from the "Fate/" Series), Akame Ga Kill, or Mirai Nikki.
If you want a similar concept that’s better imo, then try Madoka Magica, Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha, or Btoom.
Hope this helps you make your decision! If so, let me know by clicking helpful! If not, let me know why you disagree~
