Madoka Magica side story just like its the original Madoka Magica is about magical girls and how they come to realize the cruel reality of becoming one after being deceived by an inhumane entity (Kyubey) to become one. We follow these magical girls relying and supporting each other to make most out of their grim situation.
Magia Record primarily follows Iroha, a magical girl is introduced at the very beginning of the story has this feeling that she is missing something in her life until she comes in contact with an unusual Kyubey that is tiny and could not speak. After touching it she realize that what was missing from her life was her beloved little sister. In her efforts to find her missing sister she stumbles across a conspiracy that draws out magical girls by a mysterious entity. This mysterious voice promises to end the cruel fate of being a magical girl once and for all.
Akiyuki Shinbo the director of both the original and this spinoff really shines in his artistic and surreal approach to presenting exposition. The usual tropes of character flashbacks in the middle of tense moments never felt jarring and always felt like they are a built up in harmonic synergy with the action. The animation feels like a step up compared with the original and there is a lot of quality and detail that is consistent even in slower parts of the story. The surrealist chaos and horror of the evil creatures and the world where these girls face is unique, beautiful and terrifying which makes for an amazing viewing experience.
The cast of Magia Record is large and this really feels like a detriment to the series because it is impossible to really give proper depth and development for everybody. Most of the main protagonists and antagonists in the story do get quality development but that cannot be said to a significant number of the side characters which do play important parts in the story but fail to be memorable because of the lack of attention that was given on their motivations and goals. This is because Magia Record in reality is an adaptation of a video game story that is much more bigger than this anime adaptation. So in a way there seems to be quite a lot of cut content in order to fit this epic story into virtually 2 seasons. Nonetheless the few character that matters does have solid development and seeing them interact and caring for these side characters with less development still makes me want to root for them in a way I would be more inclined to like a friend of my best friend.
Due to reasons stated before as an adaptation of a much larger story, the plot seems very convoluted and many things seems to happen with really rushed and hard to follow explanations. This problem pretty mild in season 1 but is really prevalent in a huge portion in the middle of season 2 which really sets a quite a poor stage for the last season to shine. (I must note that season 2 is 8 episodes and season 3 is 4 episodes which is pretty dumb to separate as such? I know its released on separate times but come on it's 12 episodes).
Despite the really convoluted plot I can follow the main goal and motivations of Iroha which is clear: To reunite with her sister and save her friends. The side characters goals and motivations are clear and simple too: to support and protect one another. The mystery of the huge conspiracy and the promise of saving all magical girls all tie up and is explained clearly in the final episodes. There will be heartbreak and things do not always go the way of the good guy. Magia Record just like the original is not afraid to play with our emotions by depicting a grim story about conflict and how sometimes realistically in situations of high stakes and dangers there will be sacrifices, there will be compromises and despite the desire of the individual to 'do the right thing' the outcomes will not be what they expected or wanted.
Magia Record spinoff definitely captures the magic and emotional highs that make the original so well loved and remembered but suffers due to the ambitious task of adapting such an epic story into virtually 2 seasons. One could only speculate if given more time and budget could Magia Record surpass the already critically acclaimed masterpiece if lets say there are 4 seasons? Nonetheless, a great spinoff that really captures the positive qualities of the original despite suffering some major writing issues. Definitely recommend to fans that regards the original as a masterpiece.
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