A creature named Kyubey offers Madoka and Sayaka a wish if they agree to become 'magical girls' and fight abstract beings called 'witches'. However, a magical girl named Homura is, for uncer... Read allA creature named Kyubey offers Madoka and Sayaka a wish if they agree to become 'magical girls' and fight abstract beings called 'witches'. However, a magical girl named Homura is, for uncertain reasons, determined to stop this agreement.A creature named Kyubey offers Madoka and Sayaka a wish if they agree to become 'magical girls' and fight abstract beings called 'witches'. However, a magical girl named Homura is, for uncertain reasons, determined to stop this agreement. Show
Episodes12Videos1 More like thisReview Close to perfection I immediately became hooked. Madoka Magica then struck me with unimaginable feelings. This is such a well executed piece of drama, with characters very close to real. The author did an amazing job fitting the story inside only 12 episodes. Maybe this is why, the experience is so dense. I also need to compliment the soundtrack. It is so well done, after finishing the series I am still listening to them, constantly. Madoka Magica uses the magical girl genre as a surface shield, just like NGE uses mecha genre for the purpose. I recommend you give it a chance even if you don't care much about the magical girl thing. Chances that you will like this even if you are distant to the genre are big, given that you appreciate anime ;) I thought about giving this 10 instead of 9, but maybe in another world.
FAQ19Contribute to this pageSuggest an edit or add missing content By what name was Mahô shôjo Madoka magika: Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011) officially released in Canada in English? ‘Puella Magi Madoka Magica’, also commonly known simply as ‘Madoka Magica’, is a Japanese 12-episode anime series released in 2011. The general story revolves around a group of girls, with Madoka Kaname as the main protagonist, as they discover a supernatural world of magical girls battling witches and the despair and perils associated with their new reality. The show was created by Magica Quartet, a collective name for the group consisting of director Akiyuki Shinbou, writer Gen Urobuchi, the original character designer Ume Aoki and the producer Atsuhiro Iwakami. The rough idea of ‘Madoka Magica’ was conceived by Shinbou whilst he was working on the anime ‘Bakemonogatari’ and ‘Hidamari Sketch’. Shinbou expressed his desire to create a new magical girl series (Manry) thus beginning the development of ‘Madoka Magica’. When ‘Sailor Moon’ arrived on the magical girl scene in 1992, it introduced many of the tropes and conventions that other magical girl anime would soon follow suit with. Such as elaborate transformation scenes, wands, scepters, cute animal companions, and the advocation of love and justice. Sailor Moon breathed new life into the stagnating magical girl genre in 1992 with its introduction of the tropes and conventions that other magical girl anime soon started to use and it caused a paradigm shift in how the magical girl genre is presented in anime with them laying out the groundwork for contemporary magical girl shows. However, with familiarity comes predictability and this all changed when ‘Madoka Magica’ entered the scene of the magical girl genre in 2011. However, any notions of despair or hints of the change in the target audience of the show before its broadcasting were not revealed in the marketing campaign of the show. The show was purposely scripted to have a stark contrast between its marketing period and its airing period. Shinbou pushed to have the show marketed as innocently and purely as possible and this can be seen in the carefree and innocent promotional poster for the show before airing. (Puella Magi Madoka Magica) Even the logo for Madoka Magica is non-imposing and puts viewers at ease when they see it. (File:Mahō Shōjo Madoka Magika (Logo).svg) More than just the promotional art and the logo, Urobuchi purposely mislead fans on Twitter by giving false answers during the early part of the broadcasting period to hide the true intent of the show. As a result, the series was a roaring success in Japan. ‘Madoka Magica’ won the 16th Animation Kobe Award for best television series in 2011 and the sequel movie ‘Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion’ won the 19th Animation Kobe Award for the theatrical film award (Animation Kobe), They won the best TV anime in the Newtype Anime Awards in 2011 (Newtype) and the grand prize for the 15th Japan Media Arts Festival animation award (Japan Media Arts Festival Archive). Zac Bertschy of Anime News Network lauded ‘Madoka Magica’ as “one of the most ambitious and beautiful anime series in the series of recent memory.” despite its emotionally dark themes. Yoichi Ito from Tokyo FM has also cited that ‘Madoka Magica’ was becoming a “social phenomenon” in Japan. Apart from overwhelming critical acclaim, the series has also found commercial success with the original 12-episode series remade into 2 films before the third movie, ‘Rebellion’, the sequel to the 12-episode series was produced to temporarily conclude the story of Madoka. ‘Rebellion’ has earned almost 2 billion yen or 18 million USD from box office sales according to Box Office Mojo (Loo). The series also saw games based on the franchise such as ‘Puella Magi Madoka Magica Portable’ made for Sony’s PlayStation Portable, ‘Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Battle Pentagram’ for Sony’s PlayStation Vita, and a Pachinko (Japanese gambling slot machine) game titled ‘Slot Puella Magi Madoka Magica’ amongst others. The franchise has also collaborated with many different commercial partners to bring ‘Madoka Magica’ themed products to the viewers. The most recent one is a turntable or record player (MADOMAGI TURNTABLE) among many other product collaborations like clothing (魔法少女まどか☆マギカ), and even a credit card (Loo). The franchise has reached a point of popularity that it managed to create multiple spinoff stories based on the ‘Madoka Magica’ universe. Such spinoff titles include ‘Puella Magi Kazumi Magica’, ‘Puella Magi Oriko Magica’, ‘Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Different Story’ amongst many others. The newest highest-profile spinoff of the ‘Madoka Magica franchise was ‘Magia Record’ which was initially released as a video game for mobile devices until it was adapted into an anime in January 2020. All of these are the results of the success of the contents of the series and the dark twist that Magica Quartet decided to incorporate. ‘Madoka Magica’ was magnificent in the way that it managed to walk the fine line between a reasonable illustration of despair and a satirical level of despair. For comparison, the anime ‘Magical Girl Site’ from 2018 had an attempted rape of the main character just 13 minutes into the first episode. There were other instances of suffering such as bullying, domestic violence, and attempted mutilation among other grotesque depictions of suffering that almost becomes a parody. Interestingly, the suffering depicted in ‘Magical Girl Site’ should be more relatable to viewers because they were real-world despair-causing events, unlike turning into a witch but the reason why their depiction of suffering is less effective than that of ‘Madoka Magica’ is “because of their delivery” (Explanation Point). Sayaka’s despair was brought about as a result of her inability to accept herself in her current state and as a result, had to suffer the emotional burden of unrequited love. Sayaka commits a mistake of self-hatred that cost her life. In Kyoko’s case, her mistake was that she made an altruistic wish for the benefit of her father and family but it backfired and cost Kyoko her entire family along with her altruistic worldview. Sayaka fell into despair as a result of her own choices, however, in contrast to ‘Magical Girl Site’, the suffering endured was completely out of Asagiri’s hands. Even if you did experience the realistic depictions of suffering in ‘Magical Girl Site’, the over-saturation of bullying, rape, and abuse to win audience sympathy for the show is enough to alienate all audiences who might have shared similar experiences. Compared to Sayaka, even Sayaka admits that the culmination of all that she has suffered was her fault. Sayaka’s overwhelming sense of justice means that she fights all familiars regardless of whether they produce grief seeds or not. She also refuses the grief seeds that Homura and Kyoko offer her due to her stubbornness thus accelerating her descent into despair by refusing to cleanse her soul gem. Right before Sayaka turns into a witch in episode 8, she says that “I was so stupid, so stupid” (Madoka Magica Episode 8). Even in her last moments, she does not blame Kyubey, Homura, or even Kyousuke for being oblivious to her feelings, she ultimately blames herself. None of Sayaka’s suffering occurs for the sake of suffering and this makes it immediately more interesting than ‘Magical Girl Site’ because “we can’t dismiss that the characters in Madoka were simply unfortunate in ways that we are not” and ‘Madoka Magica’ leaves us with a sobering reminder that “We make choices every second of our lives and they can have disastrous consequences that we can’t predict.” (Explanation Point) Another reason why ‘Madoka Magica’ is more successful than ‘Magical Girl Site’ despite both shows depicting suffering is because of the value of the world they live in. Madoka watches her senior Mami die before her very eyes. She loses her best childhood friend Sayaka and despite all that, she still decides to save the world by turning into a magical girl. This is because it has been established in episode 1 of ‘Madoka Magica’ that the world is worth saving. After the dream about Walpurgisnacht, the episode proceeds to show her daily life, her family, her friends, and everything that she wants to protect and the audience can establish that these are the elements of her life that are worth saving. Compared to ‘Magical Girl Site’, there is no good that can come from her world. The ideal scenario to end Asagiri’s suffering is actually to have her world end. However, viewers have argued that the relationships and interpersonal connections that Asagiri makes in the show render her world worth living in. But it can be countered that Asagiri will gain nothing from these friends because she has fundamentally not changed before and after meeting these friends. Her friends did not serve a developmental purpose like what Sayaka was to Kyoko. Kyoko changed after meeting Sayaka because Sayaka’s excessive sense of altruism and justice ultimately reminded Kyoko of herself when she was younger and made her want to protect Sayaka from the despair that she had to endure because of those values, this desire to protect Sayaka gave Kyoko meaning in this world of suffering again. However, the friends in ‘Magical Girl Site’ do not serve such a purpose. They are arguably obstacles to Asagiri’s development because they obstruct her ability to make decisions. Before meeting their friends, she backs down to bullies. After meeting friends, she backs down due to the values of friendship and teamwork which ultimately defeats the purpose of friends. As a result, it can be argued that one of the stark differentiating factors that separate ‘Madoka Magica’ and ‘Magical Girl Site’ is the ability to allow the characters to “suffer well” (Explanation Point). ‘Madoka Magica’ is also lauded for its lessons in hope. In contrast to ‘Magical Girl Site’, there is no hope for the characters. Assuming they manage to defeat the administrators, prevent the tempest, and resurrect her cat and her best friend never died, what would they be able to enjoy at the end of the conflict? They both have used up half their magical stamina by the end of the first season and maybe they have at most 2 years to form a relationship before their body breaks down, and this is the best-case scenario. In ‘Madoka Magica’, each character has something they can hope to achieve. Sayaka hopes to win Kyousuke, Homura wants Madoka’s safety, Madoka wants everybody to get along, Kyubey hopes to extend the life of the universe, and Kyoko wants to help Sayaka overcome her naivety. To make the viewers care about the hardships of the characters, the creators must deliver a sense that the characters have something to fight for or they have something to lose. Madoka is known for its darkness but there is no darkness without light. By showing the viewers the little things in life that Madoka enjoys in episode 1 such as her family, her friends, and other slice of life qualities, the creators quickly establish that this is a world that Madoka is happy in and a world that is worth saving. Kyubey explains that magical girls bring hope to the world and because of the value of the world, Madoka was willing to become hope itself at the end of the series. This is what’s missing from ‘Magical Girl Site’, a reason for the characters to care and hope for the world to get better because nothing awaits them apart from suffering. As Madoka says in episode 12, “If someone says that it is wrong to have hope, I will tell them they’re wrong every single time” (Madoka Magica Episode 12). ‘Madoka Magica’ has also expertly managed to contrast the values of selfishness and selflessness throughout the series. For example, Mami’s wish was that of self-preservation. She mentioned that she did not get much time to think about her wish and regretted not wishing to save her family so she urged Madoka and Sayaka to spend as much time as they need to think of a wish worth sacrificing their lives for. As a result of this regret, Mami aimed to live her life as selflessly as possible, saving as many people as possible. However, in ‘Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Different Story’, Kyoko accused Mami of saving people for her selfish desire to fill the loneliness in her life by having people become indebted to her. This is also evident in the 12 episode series as Mami allowed 2 civilians to accompany her into a dangerous witch warzone just because of the prospect of having future comrades stay by her side. Kyoko wished for her father’s success but instead of doing it through legitimate means, she instead asked “to have the world handed to him” (WaTheWut). Despite the selfless nature of Kyoko’s wish, Kyoko’s selfish disregard for her father’s wishes for followers to join of their own accord ultimately brought about her demise. The feelings of excitement and joy she expected quickly turned into contempt and despair. What kept her hanging on was a change in her attitude from selflessness to self-preservation until she met Sayaka and decided to give her life to Sayaka who made the same mistake. Sayaka had an unrequited love for Kyousuke and instead of confronting and expressing those feelings head-on, she decided to make a wish for his happiness. Kyousuke is happy he can play the violin again but Sayaka was not fulfilled because this was not what she truly wanted. She had the selfish wish of wanting her love to be recognized. But it was Hitomi who had her feelings for Kyousuke reciprocated because she managed to confront her feelings despite the possible despair and pain of rejection. These wishes and actions of the characters all demonstrate a degree of selflessness but it was wholly for selfish reasons in the end. As WatTheWut puts it, the selfish wish with selfish intent will only end in despair with nothing of benefit to the one who made that wish. However, Madoka was different. She wished for the salvation of the world and of every single magical girl in the world who fell into despair. She was willing to carry the despair of the universe on her shoulders even though nobody would be able to remember her except for Homura. Her existence as Madoka Kaname would be wiped and she would ascend to become merely a parameter of this new universe that has been established. Madoka was willing to save the universe except herself. As this was true selflessness, why would Homura object to it? Because as Madoka makes the ultimate selfless wish, she also makes the ultimate selfish wish, to disregard Homura’s wish of saving Madoka. All Homura wanted was to be by Madoka’s side either in life or death. Homura saw Madoka as the only person who truly saw her as a person. Madoka was Homura’s light. However, by ascending to godhood, Homura would be the only one who could remember Madoka and her sacrifice for the sake of all magical girls. And ironically, Madoka’s wish would save all magical girls except for herself and Homura. Homura once again would have nothing left, her light has vanished and she is once again in despair. ‘Madoka Magica’ depicts love as a central theme that is crucial to the decision-making of the characters. Homura’s wish was a result of a love for Madoka that developed after Madoka acknowledged her in the first timeline. All the wishes that the other characters made were also driven by love. Sayaka’s wish to fix Kyousuke’s hands was in the hope that her love for him would be reciprocated. Kyoko wished for the success of her father and Madoka made her wish for the love of all the magical girls in the world, not out of hatred of the witches. However, love can also corrupt. As Homura puts it, it was love that corrupted her soul gem. An emotion that is so intense, passionate, and potent that it can completely subvert the feelings of despair. Homura’s decision to undermine Madoka’s wish was the ultimate act of a selfish single-minded obsessive love. While Madoka’s wish created a universe of hope for all magical girls, her wish also created a universe of despair for Homura. The wishes of Madoka were rejected by Homura and the world Homura dreams of was rejected by Madoka, as shown in ‘Rebellion’, that world was the labyrinth of Homura’s witch, it represented Homura’s dream world, an ideal world where Madoka is right by her side. But Homura’s love for Madoka cannot exist in a world where Madoka was no longer there, and Madoka’s love for everyone could not exist in a world that was tailor-made for her. Both Madoka and Homura made wishes out of love for others but how could they understand and acknowledge love if they did not love themselves? The wishes of all the characters in the show were made of love but none of them truly loved themselves. Sayaka loved Kyousuke and wished to bring him happiness but fell into despair after growing to hate what she had become after the revelation of the truth of the soul gem, cursing herself for not even being a human anymore, she didn’t love herself. Kyoko loved her father and wished to make his dream a reality but the result was self-guilt and despair, she did not love herself. Mami had nobody left to love and worked hard to be a perfect role model to find someone to share her love with but it was all meaningless because she did not love herself. Madoka made a wish for everyone in the world, Madoka was finally able to be useful to somebody and she didn’t care that she would be wiped from the memories of everyone because she devalued her self-worth, she would never forget anyone but it’s okay if everyone forgets her because she didn’t love herself. Homura made her wish for the love of Madoka and Homura had nothing but contempt for who she was. Time and time again she was willing to destroy herself if it mean the only person she ever loved could be safe, at all costs even if Madoka hated her and become her enemy at the end of ‘Rebellion’, it all didn’t matter to Homura as long as she can continue to be close to Madoka because she only loved Madoka. “Love grants power but always destroys because, without love directed inward, the power of love only has the potential to corrupt” (WatTheWut). It must be taken into consideration that the girls in ‘Madoka Magica’ are in grade 9 and they still have a very shallow understanding of the world. Their worldview is still essentially in black and white. It’s either good or evil, it’s either do it for yourself or do it for others. All of these girls had made wishes born out of love and selflessness but their inherent selfish and self-deprecating nature only resulted in actions that trampled on the feelings of others that they could never think to consider and they were justified using the black and white viewpoint of justice and duty. These values were simply rationalizations for their desires. The answer that the girls were looking for in the show was not love, selflessness, or selfishness but rather compromise. And the greatest representation of this was Madoka’s mother’s words to Madoka at the beginning of the series. The boy who does not confess his feelings is worthless. Unless feelings are expressed wholeheartedly and confronted honestly, they are worthless. The wishes that the girls made were a roundabout rationalization in a black and white worldview that tried to grant their deepest desires. They avoided expressing their true feelings to avoid possible pain and despair but this means they also deprive themselves of the chance of self-fulfillment. Homura wanted to save Madoka but didn’t want to be honest with her to keep her safe. Madoka didn’t value herself but thought she could make up for it by being useful to someone. If this love was meant to be acknowledged and realized then why would they hold them back? Without honesty and self-worth, without love directed inward, “how is anyone else meant to understand another’s feelings of love?” (WatTheWut). How could you have the capacity to love another if you cannot love yourself? The cycle of magical girls and their mistakes of altruism, love, and selfishness can only end if they can reach a compromise and learn to love not just one another but also themselves and express their feelings without relying on the power of a wish to do that for them. However, despite all that Madoka represents, there is still criticism of the series. The ending of the original ‘Madoka Magica’ 12 episode season has drawn criticism that Madoka’s final sacrifice did not manage to “challenge either the socioeconomic system or the gender stereotype of female caregivers.” (Chu) The lives of magical girls remain largely unchanged even after Madoka’s sacrifice as they still have to combat wraiths instead of witches and the fate that waits for all magical is the same, death. Except that they would be guided away into a higher plane by the “Law of Cycles” instead of transforming into a witch and the energy gathering process by Kyubey would be achieved through defeating the wraiths instead of the transformation of a magical girl into a witch. Kyubey’s role remains largely unaffected as he was still searching to exploit young girls to assist his goal of preventing the heat death of the universe. “Madoka’s wish seemed to merely reform, not revolutionize, the system.” (Chu) However, it can be argued that Madoka never sought to establish a utopian world for magical girls as that was not her wish. She wished to destroy all witches before they were born and this resulted in Madoka having to concentrate on the current reality that she must negotiate with “so that a different world can be actualized, even though she had never known or thought of that world before. It was through an openness to flexibility, hybridity, and futures that remained to be made and remade that something new could emerge” (Chu). ‘Madoka Magica’ has also been criticized for starting a new wave of copycat anime that tries and replicate the darkness and despair that ‘Madoka Magica’ managed to illustrate effectively but their storytelling techniques are not as influential so they rely purely on gore and shock value to impact the viewers. This has then led to what Morales describes as a “torture porn Olympics” which purely caters to the sadistic desire to watch characters suffer for the sake of it, especially in an anime genre traditionally aimed at young girls as the primary target audience. But Urobuchi has defended the mature themes that the ‘Madoka Magica’ portrays by saying “the story of Madoka is serious but it’s not entirely inappropriate for children. For example, there’s nothing sexually explicit in it. There’s some death, but it’s not gratuitous; it can be explained within the context of the story.” (Manry) Urobuchi has also defended the show from criticism of the moral ambiguity that Kyubey represents by stating that “Al-Qaeda brought down the Twin Towers due to their self-righteousness. Justice for some people is evil for others. Good intentions, kindness, and hope will not necessarily make people happy.” (Loo) It can also be argued that the success of ‘Madoka Magica’ was a result of extreme luck in the timing of its broadcasting and this timing managed to amplify the effects of the show tenfold. The final 2 episodes of the show were delayed due to the devastating 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that occurred on March 11th. The show suspended broadcasting after episode 10 which was the episode where Homura reveals her endless time loops in the hope of saving Madoka. After the show resumed broadcasting, episodes 11 and 12 aired. The episodes where Madoka decides to save Homura in the fight against Walpurgisnacht, make her wish to become a magical girl and ascend into godhood for the sake of all magical girls. Urobuchi said that after the earthquake, a lot of the staff were shaken, and “even if the TV station had said that they would go ahead with the regular broadcast schedule we probably wouldn’t have been ready.” (Manry). As a result of the last 2 episodes airing after the disaster, the show in a sense became a rallying point for the nation of Japan, demonstrating that through selflessness and love, people can get through difficult situations. Urobuchi himself stated that the “synchronicity with reality wasn’t something that was planned, but I did feel that as a member of the viewership.” (Manry) In conclusion, it is fair to conclude that ‘Madoka Magica’ has revolutionized the magical girl genre through its creative and realistic depictions of suffering, hope, selflessness, selfishness, and ultimately, love. However, it must be noted that ‘Madoka Magica’ was not an antithesis to the traditional magical girl anime but rather “based purely on the idea of what it would be like to do a dark story on a magical girl stage” (Manry). With its overwhelming domestic and international success, it has managed to attract sponsors and collaborations with all types of projects ranging from appearances in other video games to merchandise such as clothing, figures, and pop-up cafes. ‘Madoka Magica’ is truly a marvel of Japanese animation and its longevity is a testament to its success as it celebrated its 10th anniversary on April 25th, 2021. Accompanying the celebrations, the merchandise was released such as pins, stickers, and figures, and a special anniversary edition movie trilogy Blu-ray box set was re-released. The first 2 movies telling the story of the first 12 episodes were produced to accompany the third move ‘Rebellion’. Illustration books for the 10th anniversary were also released. One of the most exciting parts of the anniversary celebrations was the ‘Madoka Magica’ 10th-anniversary exhibition that took place in Tokyo from September 22nd to October 5th, 2021. The exhibition included “key animation frames” (Morrissy) and storyboards. The exhibition also featured Walpurgisnacht as a ceiling light, a display of Sayaka’s witch, costumes of the character’s magical girl costumes, displays of soul gems, and a 5-minute interactive theater video of the highlights from the original 12-episode series, and many more. However, the most important element of the 10th-anniversary festivities was the announcement of the 4th movie, a sequel to the third movie ‘Rebellion’ titled ‘Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Walpurgisnacht: Rising’, however, the release date is still to be decided. With the final season of the ‘Magia Record’ anime spin-off series concluding just last week, the ‘Magia Record’ mobile game is still going strong with new story arcs being added periodically. The new 4th movie is well on its way despite an 8-year gap between ‘Rebellion’ and ‘Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Walpurgisnacht: Rising’. Let’s hope that ‘Madoka Magica’ can continue to inspire the magical girl genre, the anime industry, and the public and continue to break boundaries for many years to come. Works Cited “Animation Kobe.” Wikipedia, 18 Sept. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animation_Kobe. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022. Bertschy, Zac. “Puella Magi Madoka Magica Vol. 3 Blu-Ray.” Anime News Network, 13 June 2012, www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/puella-magi-madoka-magica/vol-3. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022. Chu, Leo. “Desiring Futures.” The Journal of Anime and Manga Studies, vol. 1, 11 Oct. 2020, pp. 113–137, www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/108993/JAMS1_1_Desiring_Chu.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y, 10.21900/j.jams.v1.231. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022. Explanation Point. “How to Suffer Well: Sympathetic Characterization in Madoka and Magical Girl Site.” Www.youtube.com, 22 Sept. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kmaba2TopE. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022. “File:Mahō Shōjo Madoka Magika (Logo).Svg – Wikimedia Commons.” Wikimedia.org, 2018, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mah%C5%8D_Sh%C5%8Djo_Madoka_Magika_(Logo).svg. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022. Ito, Yoichi. “13日（木）3・11後「魔法少女まどか☆マギカ」が提示するもの | TIME LINE-今日のニュースと考えるヒント – TOKYO FM 80.0MHz.” Web.archive.org, 7 Oct. 2011, web.archive.org/web/20130204020337/www.tfm.co.jp/timeline/index.php?itemid=44700%25=1167. Japan Media Arts Festival Archive. “Grand Prize – Puella Magi Madoka Magica | Award | Animation Division | 2011 [15th].” Japan Media Arts Festival Archive, archive.j-mediaarts.jp/en/festival/2011/animation/works/15an_PUELLA_MAGI_MADOKA_MAGICA/. Loo, Egan. “3rd Madoka Magica Film Tops K-ON! Film’s Box Office.” Anime News Network, 22 Dec. 2013, www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-12-22/3rd-madoka-magica-film-tops-k-on-film-box-office. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022. —. “Madoka Magica Gets MasterCard Credit Card.” Anime News Network, 1 Aug. 2021, www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2012-08-01/madoka-magica-gets-mastercard-credit-card. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022. —. “Madoka Magica Writer Urobuchi Compares Plot to Al-Qaeda.” Anime News Network, 30 Aug. 2011, www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2011-08-30/madoka-magica-writer-urobuchi-compares-plot-to-al-qaeda. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022. “MADOMAGI TURNTABLE 魔法少女まどか☆マギカ コラボモデル.” Onkyodirect.jp, onkyodirect.jp/shop/pages/MADOMAGI_TURNTABLE.aspx. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022. Manry, Gia. “Interview: Atsuhiro Iwakami.” Anime News Network, 7 Sept. 2011, www.animenewsnetwork.com/interview/2011-09-07/interview-atsuhiro-iwakami. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022. “魔法少女まどか☆マギカ.” Www.movic.jp, www.movic.jp/shop/r/r103111_hy/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=pr_twi05855. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022. Morales, Nina. “The Metamorphosis of the Magical Girl Genre.” Anime Feminist, 2 Feb. 2022, www.animefeminist.com/the-metamorphosis-of-the-magical-girl-genre/. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022. Morrissy, Kim. “Madoka’s 10th Anniversary Exhibit Was Packed with Nostalgia.” Anime News Network, 7 Oct. 2021, www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2021-10-07/madoka-10th-anniversary-exhibit-was-packed-with-nostalgia/.178150. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022. “Newtype.” Wikipedia, 30 Mar. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newtype. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022. NezumiVA. “Understanding Madoka Magica – PART 1: Purpose behind Pain.” Www.youtube.com, 28 Feb. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1IRtTied9Y. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022. —. “Understanding Madoka Magica – PART 2: Introspection and Obsession.” Www.youtube.com, 21 Mar. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN58rxp0j-M&t=856s. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022. “Puella Magi Madoka Magica – IMDb.” M.imdb.com, m.imdb.com/title/tt1773185/?ref_=ls_mv. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022. WatTheWut. “The Power and Corruption of Love: Puella Magi Madoka★Magica.” Www.youtube.com, 23 July 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jkY6TENARc&t=571s. Accessed 11 Apr. 2022. Is Madoka Magica appropriate for 12 year olds?Parents need to know that Puella Magi Madoka Magica appears to be a cute animated show for little girls (similar to Sailor Moon), but it's full of dark moments and imagery that is more suited for teens and adults. Witch characters are very creepy, and there's lots of violence between girls… Can a 10 year old watch Madoka Magica?The rating says it's 13+ because of the things it discusses: violence, horror, and a lot of psychological ramifications of being a magical girl. Even after what I've said, if you're still interested in seeing it, let your parents watch a few episodes first. Make sure they give you the OK before you watch it. Does Madoka Magica have swearing?The most inappropriate language is “s**t”, “b**ch” and “mother-“ but only people who pay close attention will hear their only uses. “D**n” and “a*s” are used more frequently. There is merchandise available, but only if someone looks for it online will they find it. Madoka's mom drinks sometimes. Does Madoka have a crush on Homura?Halfway through the movie, the two of them shared an intimate moment on a flower field, during which Madoka strongly implied to have feelings for Homura as well. At some point, Homura started to realize how lonely it was for Madoka in Heaven, unable to meet her parents and loved ones. |
