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Year: 2011
Genre: Dark fantasy, magical girl, psychological thriller
Episodes: 12
Rating: 5 out of 5
What is the one wish that you have? Think really hard and long about this wish. What is the one thing you would wish for? There is no need to think about how crazy your wish might be. Your wish will be granted if you really want it. With that said, what would you give for that single wish? What are you truly willing to sacrifice for that wish? If you had to fight every day for the rest of your life, would you take that wish? I would give you an almost destructible body with powers you never dream of to fulfill your duties. Would you still take it? Here is a question, what if the wish you really wanted turned your whole new world into an absolute nightmare. Would you still take it?
Puella Magi Madoka Magica shows what happens when a wish can turn into a nightmare. How everything is not a rainbow, happy, filled dreamlike in the comic books. That with a wish and the abilities to fight, some jobs aren’t meant to have. A job and world where there will be more tears than smiles.
Overview
Puella Magi Madoka Magica follows Madoka Kaname. Madoka dreams of a girl that she has never seen before. As she dreams of the girl, her dream eventually becomes a nightmare. After talking to her family, Madoka walks to school with her best friend, Sayaka Miki, and tells her about her dream. While at school, the class that Madoka and Sayaka are in gets a new transfer student. Madoka quickly recognizes her and learns her name is Homura Akemi. Homura quickly tells Madoka to stay the way she is, or she will lose everything.
Madoka and Sayaka’s lives soon change when they meet a cat-like magical familiar named Kyuubey, who is being attacked by Homura. Kyuubey is saved by Madoka, and Sayaka, when the two girls get trapped, is a strange but colorful world. Kyuubey explains that they have entered into a magical world controlled by a witch and that the world is extremely dangerous. As danger soon falls upon them, the two are saved by a powerful girl named Mami Tomoe, who uses her magical abilities to defeat the witch.
Kyuubey soon offers the two girls a deal of a lifetime. He will grant any wish their heart desires in exchange for them becoming a magical girl and gaining enough power to make their dream come true. As the two contemplate the deal, they only see the bright lights of the powers. Little do they know and soon understand that sometimes a wish can bring more despair and pain than comfort.
Review:
This is, by far, one of the BEST anime series of all time. It is honestly a top 25 anime. Maybe a top 10 series depending on who you speak to. The anime hits all the points from the storyline, animation, and emotions. You will definitely get some significant feels from watching this series. I’m not into all the magical girl stuff, but this anime right here will change the way you view the magical girls’ genre. It pretty much takes all the happiness and turns it upside down and attacks the heart.
Where to begin with this series. Let’s start off with the story. The story is fantastic and yet sad. We meet two cute girls named Madoka and Sayaka. Their world is turned upside down when they enter a new world filled with witches. Each witch’s world is entirely different. This series is far more diverse than all the others because of the sheer responsibility and terror that a wish can have for a person. Many would think that begin a magical girl is great, and this series pretty much said, “We are going to show you terrors of being a magical girl, and it’s going to f**king suck a**.” That is what the series does.
In the beginning, when Madoka and Sayaka meet that always smiling Kyubey. At first, it seems nice and cute by telling the two that being a magical girl is “great.” Hell, we are even introduced to Mami, who is a veteran magical girl. She tells the girls that being a magical girl has its pains, but overall, it’s great because they are powerful and helping the world. Then BOOM, we get a MAJOR, unexpected death within the first three episodes. After the first death, the series takes a darker tone showing that it’s a job, and it’s a really shitty job.
The series also brings the importance of a wish. What would you really wish for to get a power to help the world? Yet, the wish is literally the end of your known life. You are no longer human. You become a doll. Since they are so young, the wish that they make is nothing compared to the price that they must give up. No wish is worth what they gave up, but the wish is so much to them in their minds that it makes perfect sense.
The series also does an AMAZING job at being emotional. Oh, the feels you will get from seeing this show. First, you will be happy because you think the girls are going to be okay. Then as s**t becomes more stressful and you learn more about the characters, you will start feeling their pain. You will start feeling bad for them because, just like naïve little girls, what they really wanted isn’t what they got. Sayaka pretty much f**ked her wish up and went into a depression and despair that no girl should go through.
Now one of the MAJOR highlights of this anime is how beautifully drawn it is. It is honestly one of the best animations I have ever seen in anime. Each character is explicitly drawn, and it seems as time goes on, the color in them becomes darker and darker with the feeling they emit. The animation for each witch is out of this world. The scenes are so different each time with a different theme, and none of them are alike, and that up the view that no person is alike in the world.
Now for the characters. How can’t you love and adore each character in this anime. First, there is Madoka Kaname. She is cute as a button and the protagonist. Kyubey tries his hardest to get her to be a magical girl. I like how caring she is, and most people might get annoyed by how hesitant and weak she might seem. She is actually a powerful character who has an extremely loving heart, and it showed at the end. Homura Akemi is my favorite and a G. When she first appeared, you think she was stuck up and so cold because she didn’t want Madoka to become a magical girl. When you find out what she’s been through and the very reason she is cold, you can only feel sadness for her. Just imagine trying over and over again. It wears on the soul. For Sayaka Miki, she was a toss-up in my eyes. She was the true loyal friend, and she wasted her wish on a person. To watch her spiral into depression is so sad to watch. Kyoko Sakura is another character that should be respected and love. The life she had was tough, and that is the way she fights. Then there is the little shit called Kyubey. Don’t let the cute face fool you. This creature is straight-up evil and manipulative. I don’t care what anyone says. He is a piece of s**t.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica is an all-time great show for all to watch, girl or guy. It can honestly be ranked in the top 25 of the greatest anime of all time. The character development, atmosphere, animation, and story are top-notch. This is an anime that will live on for generations to come.
