Puella Magi Madoka Magica
I can't recall exactly how I first started watching anime which is rather sad but what I can recall is Sailor Moon being one of my very first anime loves. Certainly it influenced my inate love of the magical girl genre and it remains one of my favorite types of anime to watch.
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and Mai Hime/Otome thrilled me with their new intepretations of this genre but honestly? As much as I love both of those shows I find myself totally swept up by Puella Magi Madoka Magica to the point where I'm strongly leaning towards the belief that this is quite possibly the best magical girl anime I've ever seen.
First off, the implications raised by their system of magic is more disturbing than any other magical girl anime I've seen and the animation for their fight sequences is entirely surreal. Click on the link I provided before, it helps to explain the magical system of fighting but basically the magical creature who endows powers is called Kyubey and from the first moment we meet him there's something off. He's not your prototypical magical girl cute animal who is harmless. Frankly, he's fucking creepy with his dead red eyes and his glib reactions to death and people having their souls trapped in vessels.
Oh right. THAT. In order to get powers Kyubey pulls your soul from your body and traps it inside a vessel and that way you can fight and fight and fight and your body never really gets hurt because your soul is safe. And if your vessel that contains your soul is away from your body? Well, it's like a marionette with your strings cut. Lets not forget if you die fighting a witch in their realm your body stays there so it's like you never existed. No one ever knows you died except Kyubey and he doesn't seem to care all that much when Puella Magi kick the bucket beyond the fact he has to go find another one.
Why would someone agree to have their soul trapped in a vessel by a creepy creature like that? Besides to fight witches who are the big bads in this series, really freaky monsters who show up in abstract artistic and sometimes clown like exteriors which hide how fucking dangerous they are? I mean, they are responsible for cursing people and causing a huge amount of suicides/murders.
The big draw of being a Puella Magi is that becoming one guarantees you a wish from Kyubey. A wish for anything in the world you could possibly want. Except all the magi who've had this wish don't seem that happy. Especially those who wish for something for someone other than themselves.
Honestly? This series is dark times one thousand. It's epic and grim and the fighting is just beautiful and the style of the witch environments they battle in is breathtaking. Not to mention the score that goes along with it all. It's a bit ridiculous but I love how every episode ends on a cliffhanger or a new revelation that just blows your mind and deepens the plot and intrigue that much more. Then, of course, it goes into the bad ass musical end sequence Magia by Kalafina which must be heard and loved by all.
Since this is me we're talking about, there is some yuri romance in here. Nothing obvious so far but with the latest episode we've found out that dark and mysterious and kick ass Homura clearly has feelings for Madoka that are strong enough she fucked with the laws of time and space to save Madoka from some mysterious horrible fate. I swear, just... I love it so much that I can't explain fully how much I love it.
Also? Eight episodes in and the series is fucking named after Madoka and she STILL hasn't gotten her Puella Magi powers yet and do I care? No! That's how good the series is. Plus I love watching Homura continually show up to stop Madoka from accepting Kyubey's creepy ass and obviously evil deal.
I highly recommend this series for anyone who likes Nanoha and Mai Hime, loves yuri, and doesn't mind a super dark storyline pervading every inch of the anime. You can download the fansubs here.
End fangirl rambling!
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and Mai Hime/Otome thrilled me with their new intepretations of this genre but honestly? As much as I love both of those shows I find myself totally swept up by Puella Magi Madoka Magica to the point where I'm strongly leaning towards the belief that this is quite possibly the best magical girl anime I've ever seen.
First off, the implications raised by their system of magic is more disturbing than any other magical girl anime I've seen and the animation for their fight sequences is entirely surreal. Click on the link I provided before, it helps to explain the magical system of fighting but basically the magical creature who endows powers is called Kyubey and from the first moment we meet him there's something off. He's not your prototypical magical girl cute animal who is harmless. Frankly, he's fucking creepy with his dead red eyes and his glib reactions to death and people having their souls trapped in vessels.
Oh right. THAT. In order to get powers Kyubey pulls your soul from your body and traps it inside a vessel and that way you can fight and fight and fight and your body never really gets hurt because your soul is safe. And if your vessel that contains your soul is away from your body? Well, it's like a marionette with your strings cut. Lets not forget if you die fighting a witch in their realm your body stays there so it's like you never existed. No one ever knows you died except Kyubey and he doesn't seem to care all that much when Puella Magi kick the bucket beyond the fact he has to go find another one.
Why would someone agree to have their soul trapped in a vessel by a creepy creature like that? Besides to fight witches who are the big bads in this series, really freaky monsters who show up in abstract artistic and sometimes clown like exteriors which hide how fucking dangerous they are? I mean, they are responsible for cursing people and causing a huge amount of suicides/murders.
The big draw of being a Puella Magi is that becoming one guarantees you a wish from Kyubey. A wish for anything in the world you could possibly want. Except all the magi who've had this wish don't seem that happy. Especially those who wish for something for someone other than themselves.
Honestly? This series is dark times one thousand. It's epic and grim and the fighting is just beautiful and the style of the witch environments they battle in is breathtaking. Not to mention the score that goes along with it all. It's a bit ridiculous but I love how every episode ends on a cliffhanger or a new revelation that just blows your mind and deepens the plot and intrigue that much more. Then, of course, it goes into the bad ass musical end sequence Magia by Kalafina which must be heard and loved by all.
Since this is me we're talking about, there is some yuri romance in here. Nothing obvious so far but with the latest episode we've found out that dark and mysterious and kick ass Homura clearly has feelings for Madoka that are strong enough she fucked with the laws of time and space to save Madoka from some mysterious horrible fate. I swear, just... I love it so much that I can't explain fully how much I love it.
Also? Eight episodes in and the series is fucking named after Madoka and she STILL hasn't gotten her Puella Magi powers yet and do I care? No! That's how good the series is. Plus I love watching Homura continually show up to stop Madoka from accepting Kyubey's creepy ass and obviously evil deal.
I highly recommend this series for anyone who likes Nanoha and Mai Hime, loves yuri, and doesn't mind a super dark storyline pervading every inch of the anime. You can download the fansubs here.
End fangirl rambling!