Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Puella Magi Madoka Magica




The Winter series Puella Magi Madoka Magica has been running away with the popularity since episode 3 and is finally returning. (AT LAST!) It's only appropriate this blog take a long look at it as the epic 13 episode anime concludes this month.

Magical girl has long been a staple of anime and often pushed aside in the Western Markets (which dashes hopes of a potential license). Series like Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha are perhaps the best known series of this genre of Anime (if you could call it a genre). Now Madoka will go down in the category and perhaps even eclipse the others.

Neon Genesis Evangelion launched in the 90s and has forever been remembered as the series that changed Mecha forever. Magica will be the series that changed Magical Girls forever. The series written by Gen Urobuchi of the visual novel production company Nitro+ has deconstructed Magical Girls with a dark harrowing story of magic gone horribly wrong. This series has even shot to become one of my favorites of all time. Never before have I seen a show who's creators have enjoyed messing with people's heads. Between Urobuchi claiming this was going to be a happy show (and if you know his work, you know that's strangely off beat) and the terribly unfitting opening theme song well after the characters and their lives start going to Hell in a hand basket, then followed by the eerie ending song from Yuki Kajiura and Kalafina.

The animation style and character designs look very simplistic on the surface but looking deeper you'll find the art styles and the environments have exceptional detail. Between the massive fictional city to the school based on a glass prison (no really). The series earns an enthusiastic A+ from me!









1 comment:

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