Warning: As this is a spin off series, there will be spoilers of Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, also refered to as Puella Magi Madoka Magica, in here.
Unfortunetly, the plot is easily the weakest point. Taking place in one of the different time zones. There, instead of witches, Kyouko and Mami are having to fight against a Black Magical Girl, a magical girl who has more or less switched sides.
Although this is an interesting premise, it isn't properly developed until several chapters into this seven chapter story resulting in it not being as developed as it could have been. Even so, once we learn of this, it does add a nice unexpected element to the mix and adds some new intigue to the story.
The ending as well is good and surprising while fitting the concept quite nicely, but seems a bit sudden and forced and the little epilogue it has seems out of place and unneeded.
The main problem I have with this story though is that at the beginning it didn't seem to know what it wanted to do and winds up switching focus characters and throwing in characters from the original series last second as well as ones who aren't needed for more than one or two scenes, or even LINES, which could have been proformed by other characters or just avoided without it making much difference.
As for the art work, it's very different from what was in Madoka Magica. It has a much rougher, creepier look to it. Although this seemed out of place during the more light hearted beginning, once it got more into the darker elements it really fit nicely.
While the style does result in some odder looking panels, it's effective and was a good choice for the series. All the magical girls the we knew from the original series are back and it gives a nice spin of their character designs. All are distuinguishable and unique with the new characters leaving a strong impresion.
Character wise, all the characters from Madoka Magica who are used here remain in character and are therefore what we expect. The few character who are unique to this, such as Oriko herself, are interesting and unique, but aside from Oriko they seem a bit underdeveloped. We do receive backstory for all these new characters though so I don't really have much room to complain.
This is a fun little escapade that I think anyone who enjoyed Madoka Magica should take a look at at some point. Although it doesn't add anything to the original story, with the exeption of the borrowed character it creates a story all it's own that remains enjoyable throughout and I therefore can't reward this with anything less than an overall score of 8, though it does lean towards a 7 oncein a while.
