Puella magi madoka magica anime review

Spoilers for madoka magica and tw for obsession, despair and death

Please note: this review doesn't cover Magia Record, the spinoff series. I have made a separate post regarding that.

“If someone tells me it’s wrong to hope, I’ll tell them they’re wrong every time!”- Madoka Kaname

Genre: psychological, action, tragedy, magical girl (Yuri implications)

Where I watched it: Netflix

Characters: 8.5/10 (The series wastes no time getting the point across, and this attitude is reflected in the characters- all unique, beautifully developed throughout the series, they are reflections of all the different things being "human," can mean, with characterization being used as a tool to explore key themes in the anime- selfishness and selflessness, hope and despair, good and evil etc. Personally, I think Sayaka in particular was crucial to the reader if they were to understand life for magical girls, as she started off the anime as the bright picture of hope, just a regular teenage girl who wanted justice, and by the end, she was in a very different position)

Setting: 9/10 (This is some of the best visual storytelling I've seen in anime, with the witches' labyrinths reflecting them as people in so much detail we get overwhelmed, and the last battle between a witch and Sayaka being treated with simplistic setting and contrasting black, white and red to direct your focus to her, and her suffering. There's often something happening in the background, which, more often than not, holds hidden meaning in terms of the story)

Plot:10/10 (the anime is only 12 episodes in length, short and straight to the point, but it does its job at telling the story, wasting no time to build a wholesome and light-hearted facade for the first few episodes, before tearing that all away in a matter of minutes and heading in a much darker, more sinister direction)

Comfort: 3/10 (this is not a light or a comforting watch as it explores several dark themes, with things often not ending on a positive light for the clueless girls who decide to become magical girls)

Philosophy: 8.5/10 (this anime sits almost unrivalled when it comes to symbolism and the depth of analysis that can be done, such as the nature of wishes and what makes an action truly selfless)

Art style: 8.5/10 (the art tends to be on the cute, aesthetic side at first, which is visually pleasing and in line with the facade of perfection. This changes with the witches' labyrinths, which look a bit like brightly coloured collages, and in the darker scenes the pallet turns more dull to match the mood)

Originality: 9/10 (although we're not strangers to "dark" magical girl anime now, madoka magica was the first of its kind and, with its unique visions and plot twists, paved the way for many others)

Consistency: 9/10 (the quality stays high throughout the episodes and even the film, without fillers or too much fan service)

Addictiveness: 9/10 (This anime easily makes it to my top 5 this year- the characters, plot and setting are crafted so meticulously, it's guaranteed to get you hooked- the complexity of the world, the explorations of the girls' true nature and the ever deepening mystery of what a magical girl is make this a very addictive series.)

Average score: 8.4

Madoka Magica starts off like a seemingly normal slice of life anime, with girls who lead privileged lives and have no bigger problems than boys or looks. Once the mysterious transfer student is introduced and gives Madoka an ominous warning not to change her life to protect herself and those she loves, the plot starts moving. After being rescued by veteran magical girl Mami Tomoe from a witch labyrinth, the girls discover you can make a contract with Kyubey, a seemingly harmless creature from outer space, where he grants you any wish of your choice in exchange for your service as a magical girl fighting witches. The girls view it in a positive light at first, but after they witness a few fights and encounter the "real" magical girls, things quickly turn sinister. The girls realize they have essentially sold their soul and signed a death warrant in exchange for flawed and misguided (though well meant) wishes and spiral into despair as they try to find a way out. The only person who can provide this is Madoka, who has been watching from the sidelines, terrified, but has so much potential as a magical girl that she could potentially become god.

Masterlist

I think you can't call something a "beautiful deconstruction of a genre" if you aren't familiar with the genre.

Magical girl ramblings of the day: GUSHING OVER MAGICAL GIRLS

I think it’s the best time to bring this manga series up considering it’s getting an anime adaption next year.

First and foremost I’d like to clarify that I don think anyone should watch this anime when it comes out, or even slightly support it.

Now onto what the manga is about; it’s about a girl who’s super into the Tres Magia, a trio of pastel magical girls who fight the forces of evil. She gets confronted by a creature who asks if she’d like to be like them too, which she eagerly agrees before transforming into a bdsm based outfit, and being declared on the enemy side.

I went into this manga knowing purely it had Yuri, and I thought that was interesting and the designs and magic system seemed cute before I was jumpscared with bdsm. To be frank, nsfw mangas are okay but not when they involve children. It gets worse when they get a 8 year old on the enemy team, and they proclaim her as dirtier than the rest of them, with her powers also being bdsm based.

That’s when I dropped the manga. I tried pursuing through it so I could atleast write a good review on it, but I couldn’t continue once the 8 year old was brought into the picture. I’m disgusted that this manga is getting an anime adaption but then again, Miss Kobayashis Dragon Maid got one too. It’s sad that we keep getting anime adaptations of blatant ch***p**n.

I only wanted to make this post because I don’t think a lot of people understand just how horrific this anime will be, if based on the manga. It’s not cute, it’s not good Yuri. If you want something cute with good Yuri in the magical girl franchise, I beg you to seek other media. Such as Madoka Magica, Magical Girl Raising Project, Sailor Moon, and so much more.

Finally WATCHED Puella Magi Madoka Magica: the Movie Trilogy Rebellion

Media I’ve Experienced in 2024 (February) SPOILERS

Same as last time, in order of when completed on a scale of 1-10

Clone High (2023) Season 2 (8/10)-Like a lot of people I wasn’t really on board with Clone High’s revival. If you want to know my thoughts it’s honestly a 6, it has some good jokes but it’s weighed down by more forced and obvious comedy. Season 2 however really surprised me, there were a ton of jokes I found funny, brought in some fanservice like Skunky Poo coming back and Cloney Island being fully realized, and a ton of the character chemistry works.

Bumblebee (10/10)-I never thought a solo Bumblebee movie with humans would work but it turned out to be pretty heartwarming and emotional. Charlie and Bee’s relationship felt real along with some fun action scenes.

Clone High (2002) (9/10)-I tried to watch the original Clone High back in 2022 but my memory got clouded by a lot of personal stuff at the time. So checking the original out felt like a reminder of what the show used to be. The bait-and-switch comedy is top notch, Gandhi’s prescience will always be welcome, and by God the emotional soundtrack makes a ton of scenes even funnier.

Hello Kitty:Roller Rescue (5/10)-Pretty basic beat-em-up, cute soundtrack and visuals, nothing too special. I’m probably just spoiled from playing Island Adventure.

The LEGO Movie (Rewatch) (10/10)-I watched this movie on the exact day of its 10 Year Anniversary and by God, this movie is as funny as I remember it. And after I just watched Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s other work in Clone High I can definitely tell I was spoiled from their comedy from age 8 too. The animation still looks great and I can basically recite the script from how many times I watched it in the past. While yes I’m biased, it’s a very sentimental type of bias that I can never let go.

The Lost Boys (7/10)-The Lost Boys is an old but fun movie. It captures the feeling of adolescent summer fun on the boardwalk along with the relatively small sense of horror of the vampire cult.

Us (9/10)-Back on Halloween last year I watched Get Out and I thought it was good as a psychological thriller but not really scary to me. Us on the other hand was a step-up in my opinion. The doppelgänger plot is really cool and the way the tethered family goes around terrorizing everyone felt thrilling. And man the twist, I’m not gonna spoil it but that twist felt like a complete game changer.

The Marvels (2/10)-This movie is not good but not the worst MCU movie ever. Personally I liked the interactions between Kamala, Monica, and Carol even though I’ve grown to dislike Carol overtime. But otherwise the villain is forgettable, a lot of the fight scenes are complete white-noise, and a lot of scenes are completely cringy and predictable.

Epic Career Quest (7/10)-Waking up after a Super Bowl aftermath was weird for me. I don’t know the general opinion is on this series but I found it entertaining. The characters being mismatched kind of works for me as someone who likes these types of ensembles like Drawn Together. And as a growing adult their messages about imposter syndrome and making your goals really stuck with me.

Terrifier (6/10)-I don’t know if this is a personal thing after seeing so much Invincible and Mortal Kombat but the violence here literally had no effect on me. Sure, this movie is scary but the plot kind of drags for me personally.

Terrifier 2 (8/10)-This movie is a step up in terms of scares and production value. Not to mention there’s more of a plot when the first was just a simple murder plot here it’s an extensive plot about people’s perception of Art The Clown and who he is. Where this movie falls flat for me is the sword thing, I personally thought that was an asspull and kind of out of place in a serial killer movie that a fantastical item just doesn’t fit.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Season 2 (8/10)-Moon Girl Season 1 was a fun show that does a lot of cool superhero stuff while also doing enough to stray away from Marvel to make it its own. What do I think of Season 2? It’s on the same level. Nothing really noteworthy, they still do fun things, visuals are nice, and some of the plots are interesting.

Megaman X4 (9/10)-Probably my favorite Megaman X game given what I think about future games. The gameplay is fast paced and fun, the bosses are challenging but fun too, and the transition from SNES to PS1 translated greatly. And the cutscenes exist, if you know you know.

Jujutsu Kaisen (9/10)-Yeah I decided to ride the JJK train and unlike Naruto I do understand the hype. The animation is fluent especially with the domain expansion and curse enemies. I loved characters like Gojo, Maki and Nobara from their entertaining personalities. And Where Our Blue Is will always be one of my favorite songs in anime.

Freddy Vs. Jason (7/10)-The human parts suck especially if they get in the way of crossovers. But Freddy and Jason when they show up together they make the most out of them fighting each other and killing others. Not to mention the setup that has Freddy provoking Jason to getting into Elm Street works really well.

Venom:Let There Be Carnage (3/10)-If I described this movie in one word it would be annoying. Venom is a very obnoxious character who constantly screams and complains about everything. The cliche drama between Eddie and the rest of world is insufferable. The only remotely good part of the movie is the effects on Carnage as it was done pretty well. But other than that I have no desire to watch this one again.

Re:Cutie Honey (8/10)-Kill La Kill mixed with Ghost in the Shell. I honestly thought this was animated by Trigger. But in all honesty I love the fast paced action and character moments.

Resident Evil Revelations (4/10)-Boring. The ship location gets old and I wasn’t scared even once. I honestly like RE6 more than this considering that game has a lot of variety and fun gameplay. This game is so slow and unfulfilling.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica (9/10)-I love how subversive this anime is. Flipping magical girl tropes to be grim dark was a unique twist and made the characters more real than the traditional magical girl stereotype.

My Favorite Tropes: Couple Edition

I’ve made a few posts forever ago about some of my favorite tropes in anime, but I wanted to make one specifically about common tropes seen in ships/pairings. I thought this would be a fun idea, so let’s get into it!

Rivals to Lovers

I have a confession: I don’t particularly care for enemies to lovers. I think the stakes are way too high and I am not into watching my faves have opposing moral codes/try to kill each other (though I know many people are, I am not). However, I do enjoy pairings where the characters are fighting against each other to win something. The idea of them always thinking about beating each other and constantly trying to one-up each other just leaves a lot of room for romantic tension.

Bickering Couple

Ok, hear me out. I think this trope gets a lot of hate because it tends to bleed into the “straight couples who hate each other” trope, but I personally find it very entertaining (though it is definitely more of a guilty pleasure). As long as they aren’t too horrifically mean to each other I think it can be a compelling and realistic portrayal of how confusing feelings can lead to defensive behavior, especially when the characters in question are teenagers and still figuring themselves out. (to reiterate, the straight couples who hate each other trope sucks, but I hope you understand why I consider this to be different)

Tragic/Doomed

I don’t know what this trope is actually called so I’m just going with Tragic for now. I will admit, I am a bit of a masochist in this regard because I have so many pairings that I really love that just do not end well at all, in one way or another. I think the emotional impact of a pairing that just doesn’t work out in the end holds a lot of weight, and couples who are doomed from the start have such a poetic, Shakespearean vibe to them that I can’t help but be interested in.

Childhood Friends to Lovers

I am a huge sucker for childhood friends to lovers. I just think they always make such sweet couples because they know each other really well and slowly realize they’re in love over a longer period of time. It’s usually very cute and wholesome!

Loud Idiot x Quiet Asshole

I’m not sure the exact name for this trope either (maybe opposites attract?) but I think that the dynamic of a couple who are complete opposites in personality is really fun to watch, because they both complete each other and make up for what the other person lacks. Specifically when one of them is very moody/quiet and the other is happy and outgoing. I just love that.

Overall, this is just a general list. Some of my favorite anime couples don’t fit into any of these at all, and others fall into multiple. Let me know your favorite ship tropes or if you like any of the ones I listed. Thanks for reading!

-threecheersforinking

I watched the Madoka Magica movie 1 for the first time today, I have thoughts I will be putting them in a row

⭐️Setting

I loved the setting of this movie, it felt empty and eerie but with this storyline that was something so much needed as it was the pioneer of the "Cute magical girl gone wrong" trope. I think they took sound and background designs to the max, you instantly notice how empty and how large the world around Madoka is. She and her friends are really the only specks of life in there. It's beautiful to see

⭐️Characters

I want to talk about the characters and their designs starting with Madoka herself, she was very present but not the main focus in this movie. It leads me wondering which movie will she be a magical girl, but that is what keeps you going, I guess. Sayaka's story was very present here, from start to finish, her reason for the wish (and thus becoming a magical girl) and then her reason for corrupting to a witch. It was nicely done. I also liked Homura, the red haired girl and Mami. I didn't end up hating the cat ad much as I thought I would, but I do not like it's design. It's eerie, but I think that's intentional so a definite pass.

⭐️Visuals

Say what you want but the visuals and sound effect are what makes this show so much more unique than its premise, it's beautiful. A puppeteer world almost. Collages, sketches, dark white scenes are shown and it's all so wonderful to look at because it gives a sense of how different rhe world of the magical girl is. Even when the real world itself is already eerie and empty, the other world is contrasting in that it is so full and tightly packed. A really nice detail

Sound design

Really quickly added in here, towards the end of the movie I noticed how quiet some scenes were. Like, way too quiet, and I believe it was intentional once more. The music was great where it was due.

⭐️Story

I love this concept a lot, I love how they portray Madoka as a 14 year old as well, optimistic but very scared and supportive of her friends. The plot twist at the end of this movie was a really interesting shock too and it left me wondering more.

But I can't only leave good here, some conversations felt very dragged out. I had to refocus my attention every now and then because I'd miss so much during purposeful empty sounding scenes where important things were mentioned. I wish it had more dynamic scenes, but at the same time it couldn't tell its story properly and I'm guessing (hoping( we get more dynamic scenes once Madoka hops on the train

Madoka Magica (2011): Unraveling the Enigma A Deep Review 2023 - retoreview

Introduction Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica (Puella Magi Madoka Magica is an anime series directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, produced by Studio Shaft a...

Hello Everyone! I finally finished to watch Madoka Magica!

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Everything was so unique, and I didn't expect to Cry : Homura's monologue in episode 11 really made tears fall out of my eyes, she sure is my favourite character, the one who suffered the most, the one who tried the hardest!

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The other girls were all also written in a such deep and understandable way, it's hard to find something or someone that I disliked.

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I really recommend this Anime to Everyone, it's mind-blowing, it shows you different points of view who faces different situations, lots of messages, and a super-cute artstyle!^^

(I took this photo you can use it without credits)

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That's all for now! ByeBye!

Anime of the day: Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica

Alt Title: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Released: 2011

Kyuubey is a magical cat familiar. When he meets Madoka, Sayaka, and Homura, he makes them a deal: become a magical girl and in return he will grant their wishes. However, Homura is already a magical girl, and she tells the other that it isn’t what they would expect. Unlike other magical girl anime’s, Madoka Magica is a dark fantasy about the prices we pay for dreams.

Sometimes I scroll through Netflix or Crunchyroll with someone else, looking to watch something with them, and I end up just giving tidbits about what I know about each series?

‘Oh I read that one’s manga! I didn’t know there was an anime! That’s so cool, I love this one! Oh, should we watch it together? …no’

‘I started watching that one, but I got bored like two episodes in and just dropped it. Heard good things though’

‘No. Not this one. Go to the next one. Why? It looks cute and wholesome? Okay, do you WANT to be traumatized? That’s what I thought’

‘Oh!! This one!! Let’s watch this one!!!!! It’s very very funny and the art & animation is great trust me it’s totally worth it!! …Oh? You want something… else? …Alrighty then. Let’s go back and watch the previous option.’

Review Everything 24 - Evangelion 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon A Time:

It’s the little details I love. Mari signing her song for her own entertainment while she waits to be deployed, the Grip Shoes literally having Grip Shoes printed on them, Mari’s blast impact crosses being pink, little things that make the world feel real and lived in. It’s one of my favorite details about eh original show, too.

Kinda cool getting to see everyone in their plug suits, but I do miss when the boys also had boobie armor.

Seeing other locations besides Middle of the Ocean, the whole earth, and Tokyo 3 was pretty cool. I dislike the red wash that literally everything has but that color is from the 3rd impact and hey, Post-Apocalypse gonna Post-Apocalypse. It’s really cool seeing normal color restored when the red gets wiped out, but the red is difficult to look at while it’s there.

I didn’t realize how much I missed the high-octane Eva battling things that weren't other Eva with the pilots all verbally sparring with each other until Mari’s fight at the beginning of this movie. Watching her pilot her injured Eva like a driver in a Fast and the Furious scene was incredibly fun. I really like Mari a lot, and I’m glad we get some screen time where she’s the feature this time.

At the same time I cannot get over how goofy the Wunder and half the enemy robots are. It really lives up to its name of being a Wunderwaffe with how goofy it is and all the shit its expected to do. Wunder being a battleship plus an arc to hold a backup of all the living material is… weird. Why would you bring your arc into battle where it could be easily destroyed? I guess having it be able to protect itself is smart, but its secondary nature, and the thing we see it spend most of its time doing benign fighting feels like bad strategy. At least they launched them into space for the final battle.

Speaking of big, silly robots I wonder if the row of walking robots in the Paris scene were meant to be an on purpose reference to the Can Can or not. Because if it’s not, that’s pretty funny, and if it is that’s hilarious, and either way it makes the enemy a little difficult to take seriously as a threat

I don’t know if this is actually true or if this is a thing I’ve picked up from Japanese media as a trope and am now projecting onto this movie, but my understanding is that Japanese culture has a much stronger “it takes a village” mentality when it comes to kids than the US has. And overall they seem, from an outsider’s perspective, to value the safety and comfort of everyone as a whole as highly or maybe more so than personal safety and comfort. If that is true it really does shine through in the way everyone is treating Rei in this movie. Sure, she’s a fuckin’ weirdo, but who isn’t these days? What’s more important is to answer her questions, teach her some stuff, and get her up  and working as a valuable member of society who can take care of herself and contribute what she can rather than mock or shun her. One thing benefits your personal emotions in the short term, and the other has the potential to benefit all of Humankind in the long term, with the guarantee of helping the person directly and those around her in the short term. Like one small example of this attitude is when Rei is helping plant rice seedlings and when she trips and falls backward onto all the hard work they’ve just done the ladies helping her learn to plant rice have a chuckle at her fall and then help her fix the issue. She isn’t scolded, she doesn't get in trouble or get punished, because Rei being comfortable and confident in her rice planting skills and everyone getting along is more important. It was cool to see that element of Japanese culture I’ve come to expect be true.

The depth of Shinji’s grief and trauma really hits in this movie. The joke in the fandom is that he’s a screechey little baby but he’s gone through a lot of shit, and this time it really feels real. Like this is how someone in that situation would actually react. It’s difficult to watch, but that’s part of what makes it work so well.

Most of the rest of the animation was either gorgeous to watch or impressive. A lot of the CG heavy scenes were not to my taste but I could recognize the skill that went into making them.

The one thing I was really hoping for from this final Rebuild movie was some forward movement. I want the story to go on, not loop back in on itself and start over again. Just because Shinji spends a lot of his time navel gazing doesn’t mean that the whole franchise should. I wasn’t looking for a good ending, or a bad ending, or even really an ending at all. I just want the story to start to move on, a hint that there is something more for these characters then to be stuck in a perpetual hell of Eva and Angel battles. And that’s pretty much what I got. Of course, I have been burned before, but until something comes out that argues this isn’t the ending of this version of Eva’s reality, I will believe that the ending we’re presented with is the true one.

I like the return, at the end of the movie, to Shinji talking to his Dad. The flashes of still images and sketches were a cool Homage to the original series that didn’t stick around long enough to become too corny. In this show based on inspiration from Christianity it made sense that Shinj’s Father was like Shinji in many ways, that Shinji had to atone for the sins of his Father, that Shinji had to sacrifice himself to rescue everyone. Being as big a Madoka Magica nerd as I am, it felt a little weird to have Shinji have his Madoka moment, but it worked, so that was all right. Seeing parallels in this version of Eva to two of my other all time favorite media, Madoka Magica and The Dark Tower series, that obviously says more about me and my interests then it does anything about Eva, but still. Indomitable Human spirit rising over and over from the ashes, ready to try anew once more, hoping for each result to be just a bit better than the last time. That’s the good shit. And man was getting to see those blue ocean waves at the end of the movie cathartic.

A criticism that has nothing to do with the movie but I want to complain about it anyway: Amazon’s X-Ray feature needs a retool. At 8:11 into the movie X-Ray is crediting Kaworu as being in the movie which, for me, was spoilers. I want the feature to either only ever show actors that are actively on screen [which I believe was the original intention] or for it to have to wait to show actors until AFTER someone says their name in the movie. I have this same complaint with  Closed Captioning. A character should be labeled something like Unknown until the audience actually sees who it is. Don’t tell me the reveal until the audience not using CC would also get it, geeze.

In summary: I think I liked this movie best out of all the Rebuild series. We really needed some time for Shinji and Rei to develop as characters, and Shinji was able to carry that growth forward through the movie. I am sad this is all there is to watch, but happy that I finally sat down and watched the movies, because now I’ve seen all of Eva.

Overall: 8/10

I have a few episodes left in Cardcaptor Sakura that I have been watching for an entire year (I wasn’t consistent). I still have the movies and Clear Card but I’ll push those off for a while (I still have 3 movies in Inuyasha to watch too. No I’m not watching Yashahime. I dropped it probably 8? Episodes in).

Anyways, I’m on a magical girl run (sadly) but the next ones on the list is either Puella Magi Madoka Magica or Magical Girl Raising Project. I only knew a little bit of PMMM and nothing of MGRP but I just wanted to know is PMMM like Fate (okay not Fate I don’t think anything could top Fate and it’s extensive universe) where there’s a ton of spin-offs, manga, movies and seasons that I have to consume? Or is the series just it?

Depending on the answer I’ll start one of the two 😅.

New Best Episode?!! 🔥 Gushing Over Magical Girls Episode 10 Review

Made a New Youtube channel

So after almost a year of arguing with youtube's moderators i finally just decided to make a new channel.

I would really appreciate it if my followers on tumblr would also subscribe to my channel and view / like some of my video. I've got a bunch of AMVs I've uploaded and plan to upload more.

I'm also gonna tag some of the shows I've made videos for so more people see this post.

Horror magical girl with mind blowing twist plot ! （⊙ｏ⊙）

PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA (Magical girl/Drama/Psychology/Dark fantasy) 2011 - 12 episodes

Rating: 10/10

Completely different but still well anchored in the rules of magical girl, Puella Magi Madoka Magica is an anime that will not leave you indifferent. Lovers of stories playing on the contrast of genres, this anime is the pearl you were looking for!

Madoka is a mid-school girl of 13 years old who has had a quiet “normal” life so far, until the day she meets Homura. The appearance of the mysterious girl will completely turn her life upside down. Soon after that, she’ll notice something is wrong with Akemi, and she’ll discover the world of Puella Magi with her best friend. Both endings being one themselves, they will fight against witches at night while going to school during the day. Just an ordinary life for a magical girl. But soon enough, you will find yourself discovering what makes Madoka Magica so different from the other magical girls. The plot twist is just mind-blowing and the darkness lingering in the story will make you feel like you’re watching a horror series when you thought you went for a romantic comedy! And that feeling is just what makes you so amazed when watching this anime: you’ll need to watch it to the end to discover the real story which actually begins with the last episode, develops during all episodes backward until the first episode, and slowly realize that Madoka actually isn’t the real main character… Just a warning, but a rewatch will be needed right after!

Mixing time loops and time travel, friendship, supernatural and slight horror, Madoka Magica is a very unique anime not to be missed. If you are hesitating because you’re scared you’ll get bored by the magical girl aspect, then make it a chance to discover a new kind of the genre and jump into the world of Puella Magi! Go for the trip of 12 episodes to make you question life and the meaning of friendship! the journey is tough but it is completely worth it.