Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Original Series)

Madoka Magica is an interesting series to me. It functions as this antithesis of an existing genre, something that had succeeded both because it was good and because it existed in more or less of a void. I think that episode 3 shock is what really made it popular, although I wholeheartedly believe the story and plot are enough to give it such a role.

Online, it either gets a reputation of being this all edgy and shocking series or this god-tier exploration of complete parody and being an antithesis that redefined the genre. Neither of them are really true, Madoka just carved its own niche in the history of the magical girl genre and widened the scope just that much more.

My personal opinion of it is that it is a masterpiece of a show from a character and theme perspective. I liked the ending, where Madoka ultimately understood after all that trauma of her friends, no one needed to suffer. Taking on all the weight for once was not some sacrifical and suicidal negative, but the actual incarnation of 'I wish it was me' combined with its forgotten pair, 'so that you don't have to suffer this.''

Another thing you may hear me talk about just idly is also Madoka's view herself. She loves the world, knows that goodness must exist in this world just like a Law. She wants to protect it with a will so powerful that even Homura bends in the end until she can barely stand to (Rebellion). To Homura, Madoka 'died' for this world. What she fails to understand is she died to save this world and was happiest to come to aid in all universes. I think that a lot of protagonists of a story have this all-consuming love for people and want to protect the world, and it is a key magical girl trait. But very few of them reach total godhood out of love alone... and then in Rebellion, Homura calls what she does 'love' as well. This little group of info is what makes this thing so interesting to me.

My personal favorite character as a character and not just a theme is Sayaka Miki. Her coming and going and the ties to the Little Mermaid are fascinating. Her death essentially being a huge suicide metaphor with her cracking under all the pressures and rejecting all her friends, then drowning under all that weight. Kyoko was her true best friend by the end, as in the one who really comforts you in the hard times and can even act as a mirror. I think it's fitting that Kyoko was there when she died, tried to save her, and gave up her life to defeat the witch she became. Sayaka, even in death, was never truly alone, and Kyoko died with a friend instead of withering away.

The themes of love and trust coming through this potently in all their stories is really something else. Mami died most likely because she trusted others, but it was simply the life and death of a magical girl at work. But even with their deaths, the girls remembered her and silently devoted every fight to her. And in another timeline, Mami kills the other girls out of fear of being monsters rather than humans. And most importantly, Homura does everything she does out of her own pure love, up until she becomes the devil.

When you strip down the series and remove the magical girl paint, it's a fairly high quality mini-series about how a group of young human girls turned inhuman who can't fight against their alien captor who uses them for energy to fuel the world. Naturally, they move to save others due to human love and decency, but they have no choice but to break down. And Madoka's wish is the ultimate shot to that, something that respects girls whose lives were ruined over just an inevitable wish.