Probably one of the most influential magical girl anime ever made, as in, almost every magical girl anime today considered 'dark' has taken some inspiration. But in terms of how it actually holds up, I have some thoughts.
Let's go back to when I first started watching PMMM. The first few episodes in, I thought the concept was interesting. Pretty much immediately I understood the notion of Kyubey's manipulation. If you want a basic rundown of how this actually works conceptually - magical girls in this universe are basically Lethal Company employees. They're expendable, a means to an end. Oil just meant to run the grinder longer.
A few episodes later, I started realizing there's basically no way for the series to have a happy ending. I feel I was both right and wrong. There's some scenes throughout that are very unsettling, not necessarily edgy or even 'shocking' as some people liken the series to (it's not Mortal Kombat, lol), to be honest I never quite understood the 'shock factor' critique. I find it to be much more of a deep, unnerving feeling throughout rather than just having characters die in gruesome ways.
All fairness, there are deaths, I don't think I need to tell anyone that based on what anyone's probably heard about the series before going into it. Though, if anyone's going in expecting a specific type of shock value, that's not really what they'll get. Throughout the series, themes of tragedy are a constant, but characters stay uplifting throughout. Madoka never gives up, even if someone else does. That's what makes her the main character.
The visuals are simply gorgeous, especially in the final few episodes (the pinks, wow). Throughout the series, it paints a picture of potentially world-ending cosmic horror that the characters will go to any length to fight against. One thing that's important to remember when analyzing this series is that cosmic horror is actually nothing new at all for shoujo. I've seen similar elements used in Sailor Moon and even Cardcaptor Sakura. The approach is simply different here, and in my opinion, for the better.
Over the last couple years, I've gotten heavily invested in shoujo. One of my favorite reasons to appreciate PMMM is how it takes elements from contemporary shoujo and makes it 'its own'. I wouldn't necessarily call it a deconstruction, but I would call it extremely unique in how it approaches cosmic horror and psychological harm. The episodes with Sayaka and Homura and the concept of Grief Seeds are some of the most profound depictions of trauma I've seen in anime, or even fiction in general.
The ending... Wow. I'd mention it in great detail, but it's beautiful to the point it tears me up thinking about it, so I'd rather people experience that on their own in case any new viewers stumble across this review. I'm a 23 year old man in university, and a show about little girls fighting monsters gets me teary eyed.
I suppose if there was just one solid takeaway I got from it, it's a unique depiction of a struggle of mental health and pushing through tragic events in life. The Witches
So, yeah, go watch it. You really won't regret it. It doesn't have instant gratification, but when that gratification hits, it hits like a truck.
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