Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011)

The magical girl genre holds a special place in my heart. When I was young, Sailor Moon introduced me to an amazing new world and changed the way I perceived superheroes. Fight scenes in shows like Lyrical Nanoha left me enthralled, and Cardcaptor Sakura's unrelenting sweetness could get through to me even at my most cynical. Some shows, like Princess Tutu, took the genre to stranger, sadder places, but very few series strayed far from what fans loved about the genre. Then came along a series that was willing to draw parallels between magical girls and Faust.

I almost hate to review Madoka Magica because I think it's at its best when you don't know what's coming. On the surface, it's sweetness and candy, everything you'd expect a magical girl series to be, but underneath, it's twisted, subverting and deconstructing everything fans know and love about the genre. Even as the show's darkness becomes more obvious, it continues to shock and horrify. Even when you know what might be coming, it's easy for the cuteness to lull you into a false sense of security.

 The animation in Madoka Magica is pretty uneven, but when it's at its best, it's fantastic. The cutout animation is amazing to watch, and incredibly effective. I've hardly ever seen something like it used in an anime, and never in a show like this. Other scenes, especially the simpler ones, suffer from inconsistency and poor movement. While the show's opening theme is fairly forgettable, the rest of its music is fantastic, and really helps to set the mood.

Storywise, Madoka Magica's biggest weakness is that some elements aren't fleshed out enough. There's one arc in particular that really would have benefited from at least one more episode. As is, it feels like some parts of the story are rushed or don't feel entirely earned. It's an ambitious series, and I would have loved to see what the writer (Gen Urobuchi) would have done if he'd had 24 episodes instead of 12. Still, even as is, I found Madoka Magica to be thrilling and satisfying. As cruel and terrifying as it can be, it's still a love letter to magical girls in its own way.

It's hard for me to say how much Madoka Magica relies on the viewer's knowledge of magical girl tropes. I can think of a few moments that might not be that effective if you're not familiar with the cliches they're playing with. Because of this, I can only recommend Madoka Magica wholeheartedly if you're a magical girl fan. But hopefully, even if you have no interest in the mahou shoujo genre, you can still be captivated by a show about magical girls.

12 episodes, approx. 24 minutes in length

Buyer's Guide: 
To be blunt, I wouldn't suggest buying Madoka Magica at this time. Right now it's overpriced, and the release itself isn't very high quality. If you want a physical copy, you'd be better off importing the series (the MSRP prices are pretty close to Japanese prices anyway) or holding out for a better release.

4 lives put on the line for cake out of 5