Forum - View topicPuella Magi Madoka Magica (TV + movies).
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darkchibi07
 Posts: 5466 |
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Main Series - Puella Magi Madoka Magica (TV) Movie 1 (compilation) - Puella Magi Madoka Magica Part 1: Beginnings (movie) Movie 2 (compilation) - Puella Magi Madoka Magica Part 2: Eternal (movie) Movie 3 (sequel) - Puella Magi Madoka Magica Part 3: Rebellion (movie) Movie 4 (sequel) - Puella Magi Madoka Magica Walpurgisnacht: Rising (movie) Spinoff - Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story (TV) (discussed here) Genres: action, drama, magic, psychological, thriller Themes: alternate reality, dark fantasy, death, fighting, magical girl, moe, school, time loop, tragedy, witches Plot Summary: After experiencing a bizarre dream, Madoka Kaname, a kind 14-year-old girl, encounters a magical creature named Kyube. Madoka and her friend Sayaka Miki are offered the opportunity of gaining magical powers if they agree to make a contract with the strange little being. He will also grant them one wish, but in exchange they shall risk their lives by accepting the responsibility of fighting witches. Invisible to human eyes, witches are catalysts of despair in the areas they inhabit. An ally of Kyube, a magical girl named Mami Tomoe, befriends and encourages the two girls to accept the contract. For an unknown reason, another magical girl named Homura Akemi is determined to prevent Madoka from accepting the deal. Available on: Amazon Prime, Crunchyroll, FUNimation, Hulu, Netflix ---------------------------------- NOTE: Discussion for those who are watching the series for the first time in 2012 via Blu-Ray/DVD or official streaming releases begins with this post. Reading posts prior to that point runs the risk of seeing untagged spoilers. [Added by Key on 2/16/2012] ----- This is it! This is Akiyuki Shinbo's and SHAFT's original production of a magical girl series. The first episode really has your typical opening episode you've seen in a lot of magical girl shows (girl's premonition, girl's intro and her day-to-day life, token mascot in trouble, trouble/monsters appears). The thing that grabbed me in this episode is when Madoka was walking with Homura to the nurses' office, and then Homura turn around and said to her spoiler[that if she loves her family and friends, she shouldn't be lying to herself.] At that moment, there are a bunch of theories running through my head of how this series will turn out. And something tells me this is where the screenwriter Gen Urobuchi will come into play. Visuals are cool as expected especially during the darker scenes where the girls seems to get themselves caught in one of Zetsubou Sensei's OP sequences. And not to mention Yuki Kajiura's music is solid and appropriately utilized. Overall, it's promising, and I'm definitely curious where this series will take. |
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vastoceans
 Posts: 107 |
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I'm with you - it looks promising considering how hit or miss this genre can be. You can really tell in the first few seconds that this title has SHAFT and Shinbo written all over it. I know some people will reject it immediately for that - to me, SHAFT rocks! I absolutely love the cute character design (especially the eyes) paired with the dark battle scenes. Animation seems top notch and I have a feeling that will be consistent throughout the season. Biggest question mark will be the quality of the writing/plot from here on out, especially being an original production. Considering the writers involved, I hope they manage to balance the darkness with the fluff. I'll be sticking with this one unless it really goes off the deep end.
Last edited by vastoceans on Thu Jan 06, 2011 10:40 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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EmbraceMe
 Posts: 2013 Location: Growing old and jaded. |
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I'm not a fan of "Mahou Shoujo" genre animes, but I decided to give this a try. I'm interested in what SHAFT will do with this.
The beginning (first 5 minutes) was really interesting and drew me, but then it disappointed me spoiler[with it ending up a dream. If the anime is what it's like in the dream, then it's sure to be really interesting.] The dialogue, especially the part where they (Madoka and Homura) were walking, was really interesting too. It seemed to connect with the beginning of the episode. The animation/visuals was really intriguing, the sudden change from the "magical" look to a "darker" look really caught my interest. I agree that it seems promising and I'm definitely curious as to how this anime will turn out.[/b] |
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garfield15
 Posts: 1516 |
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I really liked it! It ended up much darker than I thought, but had a light touch.
Also, the background music is incredible. |
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ninjapet
 Posts: 1517 |
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My first thoughts
- What the hell did I just watch? - This is grimdark even though the writer is known for this kinda thing - Drug trip much near the end? I enjoyed the first episode, I mean I really dislike magical girl shows but the setting made me want to watch this. Hopefully Shaft doesn't go powerpoint mode because so far I'm digging the series. Also just a little trivia. Hano the person who drew the end card happens to be a member of the circle Milktea who are well known for their Umineko comics and artwork. Which I thought was interesting because this explains why they didn't put out a new comic during C79. |
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Divineking
 Posts: 1293 |
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I'm not really a fan of this genre, but damn that looked amazing! The visuals, musical score and animation were all top notch, and the story looks like it has the potential to go somewhere. This show wasn't even on my radar before, but I'll definently be checking it out.
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~~EpiC~~
 Posts: 243 |
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I also enjoyed it and will be watching it. Hopefully they do something with all these generic characters. The art is amazing. The writing is..
But why so much praise for the soundtrack? Its really basic Kajiura. Not that I hate her or anything, its just exactly like all her other stuff. Though two of the themes played caught my interest (at the end with the Yellow haired chick and in the hallway in the middle of the show). |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15457 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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So this is what you get from mixing SHAFT/Shinbo with the magical girl genre. Actually mention OP sequences of Zetsubou Sensei, I remember them doing a magical girl opening one time. *watches Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei OP 3* Interesting comparison.
To keep repeating what others are saying, it looks promising. So first episode uses the formulae of spoiler[dream sequence, see normal life, mysterious anti social transfer student, telepathic mascot and said mascot asking to contract.] And of course we have plenty of the SHAFT expected quirky animation, which can be hard to understand what suposed looks like shown, and what was given an artistic touch. Firstly I like the character designs, they are a bit different to what SHAFT normaly does, but that is a good thing I think in this case, this being SHAFT we will likely see shifts every so often though. Also that little bit of seeing her family worked rather nice, something pretty cool about the father being the more homemaker, and her mother not wanting to get up, plus the high five. I guess it is not the same sort of cliche family. I wonder if they are planning to parody the genre, do it straight, or mix things up a bit. I guess all there is to do is to wait and see, it is an original production, Shinbo is notorious for being very creative. |
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Sakura-Alchemist
 Posts: 489 |
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o`uo I watched the first episode, i loved it~ I can't wait for more! I love Magical girl shows, and this one looks like it'll have more plot and story then the typical for children magical girl show(that i also enjoy but i can only take so much of monster of the week.)~ Here's hoping it stays interesting, but even if it doesn't I'll watch it anyway cause i like Magical Girls~
Just Saying this in case, i feel like that cute magic creature thing with the contract, i feel like it's a trap. I Don't trust it completely yet. >A> maybe I'm not the only one who felt that way? |
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garfield15
Posts: 1516 |
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Surprisingly accurate summary. |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7983 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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As someone who enjoys very few magical girl crapola I have to say this is pretty good and is more reminiscent of the magical girl shows I do like rather than the typical stuff. I enjoyed the weird trippyness and especially the Yuki Kajiura music since her stuff always rocks. The series kind of got off to a slow start though since our main characters still haven't spoiler[discovered any of their powers yet.] Looking forward to more of this.
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The King of Harts
 Posts: 6712 Location: Mount Crawford, Virginia |
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When did magical girls start using guns and talk about killing people? Oh, and shoot cute, little, furry things while running through dark corridors?
I really, really like the tone of this show, and the fact that it has the Higurashi "cute girls doing not-cute things" is something that always keeps me interested. Really looking forward to see where this goes.
You're not the only one; I do not trust that squirrel-thing. Something that cute and bubbly in this setting is just off. Then there's the fact that he associates with the wicked blond chick who let Akemi off the hook by "not killing her this time". Those are some big ol' red flags. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15457 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Well that one girl was trying to kill the 'mascot', it would look like the reason is that she doesn't want it to make contracts with people that can ruin there lives. It could be like a Kampfer deal where spoiler[it is just a tool used in some sort of plan that is currently unkown.]
But who knows where the plot might go, it might be something crazy like it was put in that form as punishment and it is creating magical girls to release it's true power, and it will go Ganon in the last episode. Or it is the agent of some unkown force that is manipulating this universe, and it is creating magical girls to entertain an over thinking audience. But it might be just a cute sterotypical magical girl mascot. |
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Bento-Box
 Posts: 1049 Location: Florida |
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I have no clue where this series is headed. The dream sequence was really gripping. I wanted to know what was going to come next and it got me all excited. Then the series went moe after she awoke. I don't mind moe, but it felt like K-On! moe. And that's the type of moe that's a big turn off to me. From the way the camera was angled to how Madoka and her friends were moving and chatting with each other before school felt like "moe crap" to be completely honest.
It's my understanding that it's a big deal that Aoki Ume and Takashiro Kishida are doing the character designs. I like the actual design of the characters. And I love the manga type shading and line qualities. I think that gives each character more visual personality. For example, Madoka's character design just looks softer because of the way the hair is shaded and the lines are a little more fuzzy than Akemi's. That's a very neat concept. It's the way they're animated that bothers me. Sometimes faces are really dis-proportioned even during normal conversations. At some points, the series looks amazing. But when they're at school, it looks dingy. This is a big turn off, unfortunately. But it's not enough to make me stop watching the series - not yet anyways. I love the music. Then again, we're talking about Yuki Kaijura so it's just understood that the music is gonna be all cool and junk.  I think the music really suits the series - especially the "fight scenes". I know someone mentioned that it was "basic Kaijura" but that's just fine with me. She has a style and she knows what works. It's kinda like when I hear a John Williams orchestration. Yeah, it's got his signatures all over it to the point that it could be a formula (and probably is), but it never disappoints.
What I've seen of the transformation sequences is pretty awesome. Some of the outfits look kinda cool as well. What I'm not so sure about is all the crazy junk in the background. It looks like they took a normal, but innovative Magical Girl series and threw in some of the crazy stuff from Zetsubou Sensei's opening/ending sequences and Bakemonogatari. Although, some of the backgrounds are pretty cool. They look better than the character designs in my opinion. By the end of the first episode, it was pretty obvious that Madoka has stepped into some kind of fight between spoiler[Akemi and some other chick] and it appears that Modoka will have to make a decision in her near future. Based on what Akemi told her earlier in the episode though, it makes me wonder if Madoka will be willing to do what has to be done or if she will be overly protective of the things she loves and not want to change and thus causing a lot of character development, insight, and internal conflict to parallel the external battles that I hope to see a lot of. Although, she seems pretty intent on saving that white fluffy thing.  I'm interested to see where this goes.
As for the generic mascot... The fiance and I both think that it's evil. Not sure why we're getting that vibe, but it could be because spoiler[it's obvious that Madoka wants to protect Akemi or at least help her in the opening sequence that was a dream which I'm sure will turn out to be a premonition of actual events. Akemi doesn't seem like a "bad guy". She seems like the typical "confused" or misunderstood character from a series. (For some reason I'm reminded of Shaoran from CCS. Because Akemi is after the cute mascot, it makes me wonder if there is a good, logical, and correct reason for her to be pursuing him aggresively.] I just think there's more to that thing than meets the eye. Maybe it's a destructive time bomb or the reason the world is going to be flooded with Giga Puddi.
I'm also interested in her family's dynamics as it appears that family may not take a backseat to the main plot in this series. I'll probably be able to watch this for a few more episodes just to see where it's going. I like the premise of the show (from what I've seen) but I'm concerned that the moe factor will be a downer for me. I'm sure others will love the moe and this series will end up being a huge hit like other SHAFT stuff. It just may not be a good fit for me, unfortunately.  We'll see though. I really want to like it.
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Eivion
Posts: 569 |
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I was worried going into this as I'm not too into magical girl shows, but it looks promising so far. The dream sequence was interesting along with Homura's conversation with Madoka. Also loved the trippy scene.
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