I’ve come to the conclusion that my teenage self was wrong. Rebellion is significantly worse than the Madoka series. I couldn’t understand while viewing for the longest time why I cared so much less. The art quality is amazing, the OST is beautiful and the premise makes sense and is pretty interesting. I think it’s the art direction, dialogue/exposition/writing, sound design, pacing, and overall lack of impact. Madoka was an extremely hard hitting show where every scene mattered and every action felt. The visuals and stylistic choices greatly enhanced the story whereas in Rebellion it feels they’re trying to distract from it.
In the show, characters and there ideologies were defined and bounced off each other beautifully. In Rebellion, they are boiled down mostly to surface level traits and Homura’s ideology was all over the place. Rebellion is still worth watching at least once, but it’s a spectacular mess that prioritizes spectacle over storytelling. Sad to say, but Rebellion is a 6/10 from me.
