So someone said that May was Magic Girl Month (not sure where I saw it). Since I like my magic girls, I thought it'd be nice to do something for it. But I wasn't sure what to post about. Princess Tutu? Card Captor Sakura? Something else?
Then I remember that I'd seen
the_firefly watching Puella Magi Madoka Magica. And it seemed to be the latest anime to rave about. Keeping in mind all the buzz about how dark it could get, I popped in the first episode to watch before bed last night.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica is like... blackforest cake. It's dark, rich, and probably not something that you should eat before bed.
Just the opening scene alone gave me the heebe jeebes. The lace curtain rising reminded me of Drosselmeyer from Princess Tutu. And then it got worse. Running in a barren black-checkered world? Seeing someone fight something in an apocalyptic environment? And then maybe dying? Brrrr.
(Also I love+want the song that was playing during the fight, but it ADDED TO the creepy atmosphere.)
It doesn't help that the rest of the cartoon is designed to strain the limits of credulity. Madoka lives in a very lavish house. The classrooms in her school are glass boxes reinforced with bars (!!!) Everything seems futuristic but within the range of current tech.
In a way this show was closer to Serial Experiments Lain rather than the magic girl shows I'm used to. It's got this tragic air around it that hovers like a shadow to highlight the happy bits. Also any shows that starts with the magic mascot being BEATEN UP is creepy. (and those cuts looked painful.)
But! I didn't have any nightmares so I guess it's fine. Not quite sure I should push my luck by watching the rest of the episodes before bed though. ^^ I'm only through episode 1!
Also - I am an Akemi Homura fangirl! *eeeeeeeeeeee*