Puella Magi Madoka Magica

[Ramiel]

What I watched

What I expected

What I got

This show is basically a psychological thriller veiled as a Magical Girl show, seriously. Made by Shaft and Gen Urobuchi (Saya no Uta, Fate/Zero), music by Yuki Kajiura (Tsubasa Chronicles, Kara no Kyoukai, My-HiME, Pandora Hearts) and an AMAZING ED by Kalafina (see below).



Airing now. Currently up to episode 6 out of 12, new episodes on Thursday. I suggest you at least watch until episode 3, that's when shit gets real.

Also, look at this guy.



He's so fucking evil. I am 100% sure he is the mastermind behind everything. DON'T TRUST HIM!

[Noize]

Yeah, ep 3 was when i quit watching it.

Spoiler!

The blonde haired chick dies

, everything went all emo on me.

[Ramiel]

Yeah, ep 3 was when i quit watching it.

Spoiler!

The blonde haired chick dies

, everything went all emo on me.

Working as intended.

SHAFT's face:



(Also, god, you really didn't need to put that spoiler, I'm sure those who watched episode 3 know what you mean without needing the spoiler. But yeah, for those who haven't seen this show, DO NOT LOOK AT SPOILERS )

[Tipsynaruto]

I really like it. it is so SHAFT for doing this.

I was watching Arakawa 2 and saw the damn commercials and you would not believe its the same damn show.

The blue hair girl gets annoying, but its good psychological stuff.

I suggest peeps should persevere and keep watching. Its kicking up at ep 6. Its only at the end of 6 is that damn cat REALLY evil and shows its true nature.

[Kei]

I've been meaning to download this for a quite sometime, guess I'll download it tonight, my cousin told me it's pretty good. Honestly, I like dark themes and what not, and the show had Mahou shoujo in it so I was hesitant. >_>

[Tipsynaruto]

Honestly, its so non mainstream that its refreshing. Normally, i shy away from these psychological animes with almost ZERO silver lining, but i do say, this is just the right dose for me. I think i ODed lately on comedy, harem and crummy rom com that i need a shot of depression to get rid of this nasty aftertaste of it.

Trust me, characters sometimes get whiny, but i like.

Ep3 is the make or break with most people thinking its just another magical girl anime. Ep 6 begins the mindfucks for the characters and does it in a typical SHAFT LSD induced fashion

[Gaige]

/necro

Watched it a while back but rewatching it now. It's an incredibly intense experience. It starts off as a Magical Girl anime. I don't watch those. Too peppy and full of cliched ideals for me, but the person who recommended it to me told me it wasn't a standard Magical Girl anime in any case. Although I started to get that vibe right from the offset, with the whole Homura trying to kill Kyubey thing and Mami threatening to kill Homura with this serene smile on her face.

Of course, the real idea that this wasn't any kind of Magical Girl anime came in around episode 3, when Mami died. It was basically the person closest to a standard set by typical magical girls in anime, and she went and got her head bit off. Things went further and further downhill from there. It deconstructs every aspect of a magical girl anime, right down to the antagonistic monsters they face, who end up being incredibly tragic when it comes to the revelation of where they come from.

Of course, anything beyond that is a huge spoiler. Mami's death is more or less known by most people at what really sets off this intense deconstruction of the typical Magical Girl (Mahou Shoujo in Japan) genre which is so very popular with younger kids and adult men. It challenges the norm in ways I never saw coming, and was an incredibly compelling experience from beginning to end. Absolutely worth the time I put into watching it.

[Æsahættr]

I quite enjoyed this anime...even if I do hate half the cast (Why are Sakura and Sayaka so popular? They're AWFUL characters!) and my favourite character gets killed off after the third episode. But as others have said, it was extremely refreshing to find a magical girl anime that wasn't all sunshine and rainbows...not that I mind sunshine and rainbows, but still. I would have watched it regardless, but it's not very often I find something different.

But after that third episode, it was just as predictable as any other magical girl anime; I could see EXACTLY where the plot was going; it's an unoriginal plot put into a different genre to make it original. Looking forward to the movies, though. The soundtrack is excellent - I fell in love with Mami from her theme tune alone; it's one of my favourite battle tracks - and the art style is nice. Also this:


...yeah, I only posted in this thread to post that. Gets me every time. xD;