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Puella Magi Madoka Magica Review

Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a 2011 magical girl anime series directed by Akiyuki Shinbo. It is such a competent emotionally rewarding series.

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“There’re awful, horrible things in this world, I know that now.

But there’re a lot of things worth protecting too“

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The story follows a group of female middle school students who choose to become magical girls and must battle surreal enemies called witches. However, they consequently learn of the anguish and perils associated with their newfound roles. I truly admired how strong the storytelling here is. The script is very stellar and very sophisticated. And that is even more admirable having in mind that this is original work and isn’t based on either manga or any other previously published medium.

I will later talk about some of the flaws, but let’s first touch upon the themes. You have the darkness and evil that exists in the world and it will always exist. You have self-sacrifice and it is even touched upon how unfortunate and simply unfair life is. Some people grow up happy whereas some are bound to live a sad life owing to a number of predestined circumstances. And the entire concept of magical girl is turned on its head here wonderfully. They accept the role without thinking it through and eventually realize how terrible that role is and what serious and tragic circumstances it may bring with it.

But Madoka’s path from weak and scared to brave and sacrificial is what propels this show to greater heights. She truly is a superb main character and a rare one who isn’t brave from the beginning and who had to become courageous and to learn to make her own choices. That was beautiful to witness and so relatable. She is one anime protagonist for the ages.

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Sayaka is excellent as her best friend and her story is also quite strong. Homura is superb and the relationship between her and Madoka is simply beautiful. I wasn’t such a big fan of Kyoko, but Mami is sweet. Kyubey is great and I loved learning about the Incubators and their relationship with magical girls. Really well written story with well tied explanations.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica has one problem and that is the action. I thought that it had way too little action sequences and I do realize that this is above all a drama, but it still needed more action to sell those fantasy scenes. To me those scenes featured quite interesting designs, but the world building is still pretty weak here and the anime suffers from having way too short running time. Twelve episodes just wasn’t enough for this story and it needed more time for sure.

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But the score is good and the animation is quite commendable. I loved the animation in both dramatic and those fantasy scenes and even though I wanted more action and more witches, what I got was still pretty good. I liked the Incubators’ look and to me the character designs are stellar across the board. The pacing is sometimes rushed, but for the most part it is well handled and the show is very entertaining. It features excellent dialogue.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a magical girl anime done so right. Yes, its fantasy elements needed more work and the show is too short, but the drama is so well written, the character development is actually fantastic and the series is rich in themes, admirably dark in tone and with deadly consequences and many heartbreaking moments. Such an emotional, sophisticated and ultimately original take on this genre.

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Worst Episodes: That Would Be Truly Wonderful and I Won’t Rely on Anyone Anymore.

Best Episodes: This Just Can’t Be Right and My Very Best Friend.