When I first herd of, "Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica", I thought I looked like a mediocre, fan boy generic anime, that would be excruciating, and humiliating to watch. And in fact, for the first 4 episodes it is.
With that being said, this is the one time I actually listened to my friend when he said, "it gets better". Normal when my friends say this about anime, they're normally wrong, which is mostly due to the fact that I don't have the patiences to sit through 50 episodes of filler, then a fight that lasts for about 20 more episodes. But this anime is a rare exception. Trust me when I say this, it really does get better.
For the first four episodes, the characters talked to each like they were reading a cliché Teleprompter slightly off screen. But after the first four episodes it's as almost like the writer was fired, and a new one was brought in actually making two people talking to each other sound like two average people having a conversation. I normally hate most dialogue unless it's really good, which is why I give some anime' a 6 or 7, but with Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica, this is not the case. In fact, some of the dialogue was so well written it felt as though I was in the story, and could jump in at any time and say my input on the situation, which is saying something.
The plot Itself could use some touch ups, but overall it's great, just not well executed. I found myself at times trying to figure out why this line of dialogue is relevent to the story, and why I should care. And belive me when I tell you that at one point, one charater actually asked another character what kind of shampoo she uses. But that was in the shitty first four episodes, not in the later ones when it felt like they got a new writter, or the current one stopped smoking so much dope and could string a sustenance together. In the later episodes the plot becomes so interesting, I could hardly pry my life away form the computer screen, and lost a weekend over it. (sort of a spoiler but not really alert) The ending was not predictable, and I can honestest say I was surprised by the way things played out. But, this doesn't necessarily mean that it's good. In fact, seeing someone beet a small child in the middle of the street is surprising to see, but that doesn't mean you should applaud them of doing so. After you get explained about why everything is happening, the plot is quite linear from there on.
Overall, this anime has one thing going for it that most don't, it's enjoyable to watch. I recommend this anime to anyone who wants to see a truly fun to watch, enjoyable and at times, intense anime.
