• Well, if you are here, then you have either finished Puella Magi Madoka Magica or really don't care about spoilers. In either instance, congratulations! As these thoughts come to mind I'll write them down, so expect this to be a tad disjointed.

    First of all, let me say that I genuinely believe everything that I said on the first page. However, in my opinion, the series isn't perfect. One thing that I didn't say the series had was “originality”. This is because, as good as the series is, a lot of the events in the series have been done before and ,taken INDIVIDUALLY, have been done better. For instance, the overall format of the show is very Neon Genesis Evangelion-esque, and, parody or not, blatantly steals elements of Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha with the Grief Seed collecting. Homura's time loop adventure is almost exactly like Rika's time loop adventure in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, and the whole cute animal-turned-demon idea is straight from shows like Shadow Star Narutaru. The plot elements of Madoka even crib from Faust (although this is more of a homage), and even Madoka's ascendance to a higher plane of existence is eerily similar to the endings of Revolutionary Girl Utena, Serial Experiments Lain, and Akira. However, the way that the series blends all these reused elements is indeed original and fresh, and of course, this reusing isn't a bad thing at all. On the contrary, I'm a big fan of 90's mind-screw anime, so it was nice to have kind of a throwback to that time, where psychological deconstructions were king. I have often said that it is not individual elements which make up an original story, it is the execution of said elements. In Puella Magi Madoka Magica, that could not hold more true—the execution is absolutely genius.

    Pun absolutely intended.

    Pun absolutely intended.

    The first thing that grabs a lot of people about the show is Mami's abrupt death in episode 3, and that is pretty much what gets people into watching (on a side note, it totally sucks to be a fan of Mami as she never quite gets her desired screen time and, oh yeah, DIES THREE TIMES). Perhaps the case was the same for you. The fact is, that death sets the tone for the entire series, and all the deaths to come in the future. If that didn't quite get you, maybe the next episode did, with the suicide pact. If that one didn't, maybe the next episode, where Madoka throws her friend's soul off a bridge and you learn that they're all essentially zombies. And if that one didn't...well, there were many more to come.

    umm...yeah...no comment.

    Yeah...no comment needed on this one. XD

    The point is, there were so many memorable moments in Puella Magi Madoka Magica that it can only be considered an instant classic. Each episode had some new, gripping thing that the girls had to either conquer or suffer through, and it was all remarkable. Hopefully this series will set the standard for other series to come, and we will have more largely plot-driven endeavors that toy with the mind. Now let's head to the next page for some analysis.
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