Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Darker Side of a Magical Girl

Alright, I have to tell everyone now that, out of all the genres of anime out there, I am the least fan of magical girl anime. And the prospect of sitting down to watch this anime kind of gave me the willies. The misconceptions on magical girl anime run abound in our society and in Japanese society. Sailor Moon: A bunch of girls transforming without the power to beat the bad guy without the help of Tuxedo Mask. The Powerpuff Girls on Cartoon Network and their original, scarier version of transformation from Powerpuff Girls Z. I mean, come on, those transformations take forever. And the bad guys are a joke. Mojojojo? (I gotta say, Him is the only good bad guy from that series.) But then I was presented a show that completely breaks the stereotype of what exactly defines a magical girl anime, even though it clearly stays in the boundaries… to an extent.

In the town of Mitakihara, there exists a school in which Madoka Kaname, Homura Akemi, and Sayaka Miki, three young middle school students, exist in a world of evil. All around them, evil spirits known as witches cause havoc and chaos in the best way they know how. Murders and suicides. And the only way these beings can be stopped is by the power of the magical girls. And the only way these girls can become magical is through the power of through Kyubey, a creepy cat-like alien that will grant your wish.

Kyubey. Screw that little freak...

And that’s where the twist comes in. After encountering Mami Tomoe, a veteran magical girl who has lived the life of a magical girl, the true weight of just exactly what it means to fight the witches hits them. Sayaka and her love interest clashes with the use of her wish and his disability, and Madoka and her indecision leaves conflict in her wake throughout the show. The ending is slightly confusing, but there is a constant element of danger that is ironically juxtaposed (my least favorite word to use, sorry) against the comically drawn witches of innocence and childish fantasy. It all works out in the end, as expected from a magical girl anime, but not in a way that leaves everyone in a win-win situation. With that breath of fresh air achieved in 12 episodes, an amazing amount of twists and turns are evilly inserted in a short amount of time, really breaking away from what I would consider a bland form of anime into a more interesting one.

You know what caught my eye the most? The animation in relation to the witches. Every time in which the magical girls had to interact with the witches in their world, I was blown away by the different animated styles of the witches. Either crayon colored whimsy or a collage of layered paper, I was intrigued by the clash of anime and art. The fluidity of the two worlds combined was stylistically stimulating.

Some of the more interesting artwork in Madoka Magica.

The pain and anguish behind the show that permeates each episode is something one wouldn’t expect from a livelier, happy form of anime. The choices and decisions of the characters and the secrets they hide from one another leave gaps that none of the characters can cross in order to connect. Not as a

The interesting girls of M.M.

drawback, but more as a connection by separation. Feeling for the characters comes as a challenge for me (especially some of the more fated of characters like Sayaka and and Mami) but one character that stood out with her cruelty and activity was Kyoko Sakura. Although you don’t meet her until later, she’s well worth the wait.

So, all-in-all, Madoka Magica is a quick watch with a lot compiled into its short run. And, in this case, quality over quantity, one of the greatest assets of the anime. With an interesting plot scope and character development (for the most part) with the combination of fate and decision, the magical girl stereotype is effectively squashed. The powers are interesting and the tradeoff is quite good. Never sign the contract, but check this show out. A solid 7.3 out of 10.

This has nothing to do with the show, but it gives you a taste of the anime’s look, with some Suckerpunch 😛

Ga-Rei: Zero

Before I start this review I have to admit that I check Wikipedia before I get too deep into a show. I wanna know the characters I’m looking out for and the basic premise before I dive in. I did this for Ga-Rei: Zero. And boy, was I surprised. There was no Kensuke Nimura (Todd Haberkorn). Although he was in the last minute of the last episode. Every other character was present in this anime, and I finally understood after all 12 episodes that this was a before the manga story that explained how the characters got to where they are. So much more sense now.

So thisstory is about Kagura Tsuchimiya (Leah Clark), a spirit hunter who fights off demons with her samurai blade. She is descended from spirit fighters like her parents and it is one day that her mother dies and passes on the family’s spirit,

Yeah, this show's pretty ridonkulous.

Ga-Rei Byakuei. Going to live with her family’s relative, Yomi Isayama (Alexis Tipton), she hopes to become stronger for her father, but not without resentment. Months pass as the two fight different level classifications of demons until one day everything goes wrong. And then that’s kinda where the anime ends. It’s left open ended for the manga arc to pick up where this built upon, but who knows?

The fighting in this show is rather bloody and intense, quite interesting to see for me not having watched many shounen (is that what this is?) with female protagonists. It just gives credence to the idea that girls can kick just as much ass when it comes to shows like this. (They really are the dominating forces in this one.) The subject matter is rather dark, owing to the fact that nothing good comes out of this situation. I mean shoot, the first episode establishes a group of characters you expect to follow the entire show and then subsequently eliminates them with Yomi. Pretty redonkulous.

Girls with Duel Monsters. Pretty B.A.

Other than that, it was a decent show for its brevity and promises of a continuation. The voice acting was decent from a group of as not well known voice actors from Funimation. I was really happy for the establishment and buildup with a new, interesting way of looking at the spiritual side to “exorcism”/demon fighting in anime, which I always appreciate (although I’m a huge fan of Bleach and am excited for the new season dubbed). I can’t say enough that I liked this show and hope for a continuation visually.  I’d give this show a solid 7.5 out of 10.