Witches and Demons, that cannot be seen in our eyes, are all over the world, dragging people into despair and causing depression, murder, suicide, and many other crimes. It is the job of Mahou Shoujo(Magical Girls) to find and kill them before they have their way with other human beings.
It sounds like becoming almost like an Hero in a movie where you can save people's life. One life that could save many; it doesn't sound bad but almost too perfect. If one useless life can save these people than there's no reason to hesitate... That is what they believed...
After their death, witches drop a small item called "Grief Seed". These are used by MahouShoujos to cleanse their own "Soul Gems". If it isn't cleansed for a while, the MahouShoujo will lose her life.
It didn't take too long for them to come to realization of their mistakes. Like witches, they became invisible to everyone. Their sacrifice was not there to be seen by the people. Countless number of people were saved by their actions, but nobody was there to witness it happen. You will not thank someone for something that you don't see them do; you will not praise someone that you cannot see. This was now reality: you are risking your life for some guy you could possibly careless about and you will never be appreciated. They too got sick of this and they no longer fought for anyone. For pure reason of survival, they had no choice but to fight.
Story:
My only intentions for this anime was for some MahouShoujo Moeness. From the very first episode, I do not see Madoka become a MahouShoujo. Starting from episode 2, the only reason I continued this anime was to see Madoka become a MahouShoujo.(I will not be happy for a LONG time.) Instead of Moeness I get ridiculous amount of drama. I was totally dumb-founded and speechless by the end of the series. Immediately I desperately searched the web for the culprit behind my tears.
Google: Mahou Shojo Madoka Magica
Puella Magi Madoka Magica - Wikipedia
Written by: Gen Uro- *FACEDESK*
Gen Urobuchi have clearly been proven to me that he is a dangerous existence. The World started to make sense again. The story of MSMM was very similar to Fate/Zero, where he proves the misconception of justice. I would have prepared myself for this, but I did not even imagine him to be associated with a MahouShojo Genre. He has rewritten the genre in such beauty; his story has brought me to tears once again.
10/10
Art:
I found MSMM's art to be pretty sloppy in many ways. Actually to reword it, It wasn't at the best works compared to many other animes. The motions weren't very fluent and sometimes the characters seemed as if they weren't sketched at it's best. Most of all, I found the wiggly worlds really unappealing. The whole witch and everything were not even animated. I was totally disappointed about how ugly the monsters were... There was a cotton with a mustache that had butterfly wings as it's legs. (That's damn creative, I'll give credits for that...)
Well the reason why I'm not gonna go hater is because there's a really good excuse for this kind of art work. To begin with, MSMM was produced by Shaft studio. Starting from 2004 Shaft has been working on lowering their paint group and replacing them with the digital group. Their digital group has been growing since then and the results have come out in 2009 and 2011. Yes, Bakemonogatari & Mahou Shojou Madoka Magica. Even the best studios in all of Japan is desperate for better paint group but lowering it was declaring that they wished to go bankrupt. However they disguised the weakness of their sketches and paint works by many digital and computer affects in such genius ways. I've seen improvements in Mahou Shojo Madoka Magica so I'd say they really deserve a pat in the head... or a round of applause...
9/10
Sound:
The opening theme was very catchy. I heard Claris sang it, who also sang the opening for Ore no Imouto... It sounded more like a pop song of some kind but the opening video did a really nice job to highlight the dark theme of the anime. The musics that they used in the "wiggly land"(I'll call it wiggly, cause the images are wiggling) were gave great impression of thrill and the chill. Some of the musics really hit the spot to make me cry in the right moments and I've never really sensed any awkward moments where that one little note seemed as if it was lost...
10/10
Characters:
Despite being all depressing and dark themed anime, as MahouShojos all the characters still have their Moeness. This is probably the reason that gives even stronger impact to the people. It makes you wonder why these kinds of moe 2D girls have to suffer being a MahouShoujo... Madoka's excessive kindness, Sayaka's sad yet energetic, Mami's lady-like senior, Homuro's mysterious background and extreme talent, Kyouko's tomboy attitude. All of these characters don't seem to be the most original ideas. However the story moves on while each of these girls' lives are being distorted and changed.
10/10
Enjoyment:
The story was never too repetitive nor did it ever slow it's pace. It kept me impatient yet flowing in the right pace. One episode never ran boring all of the sudden nor did the other standout excessively compared to the others. It kept the right rhythm of the ups and downs like the graph of sinX. I decided to stay up to finish the series despite the fact that I had SAT exam the next day. Short but it has carried out a very heavy topic. It's very easy to watch the series in one shot...
10/10
overall 10/10
Story was good, not because it made me cry, but it also gave the most exciting ending. Art was fairly interesting, but you really should prepare for the different style. Music of the series really helped to keep the climax of a scene. Characters were just unforgettable, and it kept the night before exam very enjoyable.
uhh maybe not a "masterpiece" but probably one of the outstanding and must-be-recognized anime.
Idk about others, but I wish they'd finish this with a short OVA of a nice epilogue. Nothing big like a movie or 2nd season.. totally disagree...
