Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Ranked #10,164 in Entertainment, #125,153 overall
So You Want To Change The World...
Among the entries of Winter 2010/Spring 2011 season, Magical Girl Madoka Magica (or Puella Magi Madoka Magica for the pretentious Latinesque sounding) garnered a lot of attention from even before it aired thanks to an all-star staffs. Animation by Studio SHAFT and directed by (a studio famous for weird shows along the line of "Goodbye, Mr. Despair!" and weirder images. Just see below) and directed by said studio's somewhat infamous director Akiyuki Shinbo. Story by Gen Urobuchi. Character design by Ume Aoki (the person who does Hidamari Sketch). And music by the great Yuki Kajiura.
The last two episodes were delayed due to the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster as well as some disturbing scenes that invoke the trauma of said disaster. But official announcement states that these last two episodes are aired back to back on April 21. A Grand Finale in its full glory.
EDIT: I'm kind of late to this news. Madoka Magica is licensed
The last two episodes were delayed due to the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster as well as some disturbing scenes that invoke the trauma of said disaster. But official announcement states that these last two episodes are aired back to back on April 21. A Grand Finale in its full glory.
EDIT: I'm kind of late to this news. Madoka Magica is licensed
The premise of Madoka Magica is standard for every ordinary teen to superhero story: the world is in danger (in this case because of Witches who spread despair and death in their wake) and there has to be someone (in this case the Magical Girls) to stop the disaster. Thus comes this little guy:
Meet Kyuubei, a Messenger of Magic. He is looking for volunteers to be Magical Girls fighting against witches. In exchange, he will grant any wish of the volunteer. But you know something is not right when quotes from "Faust" appear in the same context as "wishes".
Meet Kyuubei, a Messenger of Magic. He is looking for volunteers to be Magical Girls fighting against witches. In exchange, he will grant any wish of the volunteer. But you know something is not right when quotes from "Faust" appear in the same context as "wishes".
The core team from left to right: Akemi Homura, Miki Sayaka, Tomoe Mami, and our protagonist Kaname Madoka.
A Visually Stunning Work
By which I mean there are things I can't unsee
SHAFT is a studio (in)famous for their surreal animation and their experiences are certainly put into very good use in Madoka. On the other hand, it can get very disturbing. There is little actual blood or gore in the series but that does not mean that it is any less scary. As a wise person says, surrealism can create the greatest horror.
I didn't notice this before but a hallmark of a SHAFT production is how often they change the animation opening sequence of their series, and these changes are usually relevant to the plot. Here is a comparison of the Madoka openings.
curated content from YouTube
The Magic of Music
Nothing can go wrong when Kajiura is in charge of a "magical" anime
You can download the OP ("Connect" sung by Claris) and ED ("Magia" sung by Kalafina, a very Kajiuran song) here or buy the singles here.
The series has also inspired remarkably many good fan performances as this link and these videos show.
The first of the long awaited OST has been released with the second Blu-ray disc. See here for more information.
The series has also inspired remarkably many good fan performances as this link and these videos show.
The first of the long awaited OST has been released with the second Blu-ray disc. See here for more information.
curated content from YouTube
An Awesome Fandom
A hallmark of the anime fandom is definitely how passionate they are. And the sign of Madoka being something very special is how it makes the Internet revolve around it and everyone has something to say.
- Puella Magi Wiki
- Ah, the dedication of fans. This is a very thorough documentation of the show, up to and including major strains of speculations in the fandom. You know they are devoted when maths and modeling in MATLAB are involved. The downside is there are a lot of spoilers.
- Madoka Magica Thread in TV Tropes Forum
- Note the number of posts compared to other threads. To put things in perspective, there are days when they use up 15 pages within hours after an episode ends.
- Streams of fanarts
- Get right what is wrong!!!
- How to Make A Soul Gem
- Don't let it get tarnished.
And the endless discussion (here is just a drop in an ocean):
These sites illustrate a crucial aspect of fandom, especially of an original work like Madoka: speculation and interpretation. Philosophy comes up a lot too.
To put "Magical Girl Madoka Magica" into context in the anime world. i.e. why was it such a big deal when the "weirdo" Akiyuki Shinbo and his staff at SHAFT wanted to do a "Magical Girl" series.
Another "Magical Girl Madoka Magica" Meta
On Wishes
The turning point of the anime [Big spoiler]
Possible impact of the series
To put "Magical Girl Madoka Magica" into context in the anime world. i.e. why was it such a big deal when the "weirdo" Akiyuki Shinbo and his staff at SHAFT wanted to do a "Magical Girl" series.
Another "Magical Girl Madoka Magica" Meta
On Wishes
The turning point of the anime [Big spoiler]
Possible impact of the series
Everybody hates Kyuubei
Never before has a fandom been so unified in its hatred
(This image is not mine. I found it at http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/854595. Warning: site is NSFW) Also, check this out
Very simple: How would you want Kyubei to suffer?
What Would Be Your Wish?
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JohnnyFap
Jul 3, 2011 @ 6:54 am | delete
- Well, Kyuubei claims he can fulfill "any wish". So I would just ask for all witches to be gone, or for Kyuubei's race to leave humanity forever alone (heh).
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Buttersky
Jun 30, 2011 @ 8:54 am | delete
- Great lense, I love this anime too ??? ?? ???
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cuteordeath
Apr 24, 2011 @ 8:20 pm | delete
- I haven't seen this anime yet, but I really want to!
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Spin-off Mangas
Magical Girl Oriko Magica: Set in an alternate universe of the anime series.
Merchandise
- Madoka Magica Game Offers Custom Super-Deformed Magical Girls
- The official website for the Puella Magi Madoka Magica Online browser game revealed on Wednesday that the game will feature super-deformed magical girl player characters. Customization options will offer players about 400000 possible combinations to ...
- Madoka Magica Spinoff Manga's Kazumi Made Into Papercraft
- The publisher released the magical girl series' third book on March 12. Houbunsha has also published three volumes of the Puella Magi Oriko Magica side story manga. Both titles landed in the top five on Oricon's comic sales chart last May.
- "Madoka Magica Online" Prepares for Beta with Recreation of Anime Scenes
- On June 10th, voice actresses Ai Nonaka (Kyoko Sakura) and Kaori Mizuhashi (Mami Tomoe) will be hosting a special web radio show launching registration for the new phase of Puella Magi Madoka Magica Online beta testing. Testers will be selected in a ...
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