Puella Magi Madoka Magica Manga Review
PRODUCTION INFO
Puella Magi Madoka Magica, known as Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika in Japanese, originally started off as an anime written by Gen Urobuchi and directed by Akiyuki Shinbo. It was animated by studios Shaft and Aniplex. The anime consisted of 12 episodes and later became a manga; the one in this review. Many spin-offs were created in manga form following the story after the ending of the anime and the first three volumes of manga. A novel was also written by Hajime Ninomae and two games were released for the PSP and PSVita. The manga in this review was licensed and translated into English by Yen Press.
SUMMARY
Madoka Kaname is experiencing all kind of strange things. First, a girl she dreamt about appeared in her class as a transfer student named Homura Akemi. Then, she found a strange creature called Kyubey who wants to turn her into a magical girl. Consequentally, she meets Mami Tomoe, who has already made a contract with Kyubey and become a magical girl. But she soon begins to discover that being a magical girl is not a glamorous duty, starts to wonder whether or not she should accept Kyubey's invitation.
WHAT TO EXPECT
A lot of people like to say that Puella Magi Madoka Magica is horror. I personally did not find it to be remotely scary, albiet slightly creepy at times. Yes, newbies, this is the correct review you are reading. A manga about magical girls is creepy. At least, it was intended to be. It starts off slow and typical for a magical girl genre title, but quickly descends into a darker story. It's not very disturbing, if you're wondering about that, though.
MAIN CHARACTERS
Madoka Kaname
Madoka Kaname is an average school girl. She wears red ribbons to be popular, and devotes her free time to her friends, for whom she dearly cares. In fact, Madoka's character would be extremely boring if it weren't for the fast-paced story constantly distracting you from that fact. Madoka IS boring. She's indecisive. She's inquisitive. She's passive... When Mami ties up Homura in ribbons, Madoka just walks right on past her without trying to help anyone. She has almost no personality whatsoever. It's only the plot that keeps people from realizing this.
Kyubey
Kyubey is a mysterious creature Madoka finds shortly after Homura transfers into her school. He is very insistant on Madoka becoming a magical girl. He is under the impression that Madoka will be the most powerful magical girl of all, but nobody knows why. Beneath his cute appearance, Kyubey is holding a dark secret.
Miki Sayaka
Miki is Madoka's friend and classmate. She has her own viewpoints and relies on her gut most of the time. When Homura is acting in a way that Miki doesn't agree with, Miki will let her know easily. She's very close to Madoka, but even more protective of a childhood friend who was injured. Miki makes frequent visits to the hospital he stays at. Though things don't look up for him, she refuses to acknowledge any logic passed down from the doctors and insists that he can get better someday.
Homura Akemi
Homura is a new transfer student in Madoka's class. It is quickly revealed that she is also a magical girl, yet Mami doesn't recognize her. Even Kyubey is puzzled about Homura's existence as a magical girl, and the quiet girl doesn't reveal much about herself. For these reasons, Homura gives off a mysterious aura for most of the manga.
ANIME COMPARISON
Although the Puella Magi Madoka Magica anime was incredibly popular and highly rated, I was not a huge fan of it. I didn't think it was bad, but I didn't think it was the masterpiece everyone else seemed to think it was. When I read the manga, however, I found it was much better than the anime in numerous ways. For example, the art style was much more suited to manga than animation. It also had creepier images in the manga, and Kyubey suited his personality better. The story seemed more fast-paced in the manga as well, and captured my attention moreso than the anime did. Although there are minor differences from the anime and the manga, such as the characters' weapons and attacks, the change in form of media itself is what seems to make Puella Magi Madoka Magica more enjoyable as manga. Really, it's a short story. But there was lots of empty space in the anime, which took up time that was unneeded to tell the story. That made the anime appear more slow-paced, to me at least. The manga, however, does not need to fulfill the necessary amount of time required for a half-season of typical half hour anime episodes. Three volumes serves up the plot in its entirity, without ever needing to slow down.
OPINIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
I initially started off having neutral feelings about this franchise, due to my opinions of the anime. Once I had read the manga, I became a little bit more of a fan. It's good! It's cute, creepy, and touching, all in one. It even made my eyes get a little watery near the end. However, the three volumes in the Puella Magi Madoka Magica are not the end. There are several spin-offs in the form of manga, and I intend to read those and continue my Puella Magi journey.
RATING
