Showing posts with label Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Show all posts

Friday, April 22, 2011

Puella Magi Madoka Magica


Puella Magi Madoka Magica


The End of Madoka


WARNING: Here be spoilers


After a month long delay Puella Magi Madoka Magica came to its long anticipated finale, which will no doubt polarize viewers. Going into it, I expected a sorrowful tragedy after a grueling 8 episodes (yeah the first two don't really count) of watching everything go to Hell in a hand basket. Between Sayaka turning into a Witch, to Kyoko's death, to watching Homoura go back time and time again to stop Madoka's untimely death. As a deconstruction series of Magical Girls one could only expect the worse, instead we got a Gainax Ending. Maybe.

In the end Madoka's ending is bittersweet, Madoka transcendens space to become a God so that other Magical Girls won't have to suffer the little bastard QB finds a new energy source, but alas the quest of being Maho Shoujo is not over as new demons take place of the witches. Okay this post may sound negative but in all actuality I really did enjoy Madoka's ending. After marathoning all 10 episodes to prepare for the finale, it started to get a bit soul crushing. Watching Homoura shoot Madoka again, that isn't easy! Good ending and all I did find it a tad funny and half expected the cast to start saying "Congratulations!"


CONGRATULATIONS! Okay sillyness aside while this ending may have bordered on a tad Deus Ex Machina, I'm quite willing and ready to forgive and forget. Madoka sacrificing her self (how appropriate for Good Friday) makes her all the more lovable now, but not as loved as Mami ;) and Homoura became my favorite character of all time! Some might find this a tad anti-climatic I however think it was perfect. We were treated to some badass action in episode 11 as Homoura unleashes a barrage of hard core artillery fire proving she is AWESOME.

Akemi Homoura
Time to die Walpurgis!

Awesome as she is Homura is unable to defeat Walpurgis on her own, and as she prepares to turn back time Madoka comes to make her wish. As the universe erases it self to restart in a new way, Madoka is erased from time and space except for poor Homura. Now she can't get her lesyay.



Eat your heart out Michale Bay

A bitter-sweet ending at its finest without too much of an asspull this series will still remain among my top favorites. One can hope this will get a proper R1 License and not a royal screwing by Aniplex, less I mention $400 Garden of Sinners movie -_-

Post Script: There has been much talk of an alleged sequel or spin-off, if this does happen let us hope we won't get the same mind warping results of End of Evangelion, but all the same stay true to what made Madoka great.



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!