Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story

lullabi Apr 8, 2020

6

Coming into this, I had watched the previous Madoka Magica and expected this to be somewhat of a continuation of this. I was proved wrong.  The show is heavily based off the mobile game and while I knew that, yes, I assumed the side story in question played off elements already in place from the previous iterations. That was largely, not the case. The series itself set it up in a way where it seems to play in complete alternate universe and world builds in a way that contrasts from the last series that leads me to believe this way.  The story itself, is fine. It has multiple plot points that seem to tie into one another but all done completely unravel by the end but it's getting a second season so that's understandable I suppose. The problem I felt was that the series didn't have a hard hitting story, at least not as much as the last one. I can't help but compare it to what I once knew, and going in I was expecting some story that slowly unraveled to create this intricate and complex plot and I found myself quite disappointed when (in my opinion) it did not. It was pretty clear where the story was headed and I felt the series as a whole took to long to get to the season finale. It was interesting, and had good episodes and animation, but I felt as though it could've done what it did it much fewer episodes and reached the climax quite before it did. The story was decent, nothing quite as amazing as I was expecting but fine all the same.  The characters were fine. I liked them but I felt as though most of them weren't expanded upon enough. I needed context, and most characters felt a bit underdeveloped. It could be due to me not having played the game, but it didn't just quite entangle me in the characters as it should've. I found myself wanting to watch more and figure out what was happening with so many moving parts and characters, but some just faded out until the finale or just were left behind. Others just not explained enough.  Overall then show was fine, I look forward to the next season hoping it improves upon what it established here but I don't think I would particularly recommend this. It was fine but, unsatisfying in a way. Not a must watch but decent enough

kelvinchan9786 Aug 14, 2020

6

You might feel doubt on the reason that the overall marks would be below the the average marks. It's because of the story plot. For the original story, i.e. Puella Magi Madoka Magica, it's an incredible anime, which contains many scientific knowledge, truth of humanity, realistic phenemenon of the society, (or even a bit of totalism). It's worth to watch and I never feel regretful to watch such movie. However, this side story is completely different. It seems that the production thought that such methods of production of anime is too effective, that "witch" and "magical girl" would be worked forever. The audience should love such combination and mechanism, which leads to the fatal disadvantage among the movie - There are only a variety of magical girls and doppels/witches. The existence of doppel has destroyed the whole mechanism, as it disobeyed the law of conservation of energy. Also, it leads to a very childish "Pretty Cure". No either deep messages or constructable ideas are told to the audience. While the production team would like to churn out a bunch of magical girls and witches that are definitely pointless, why don't think of some deeper messages or ideas? While I see those magical girls who tend to protect the coaster rather than defeating the witches, why don't think of humanity? Although I've criticized this side story in a long paragraph, I should say that it is still valuable to watch this movie, at least the background music is great. As a person who has at least studied music theory for some years, I'd say that the background music is not only skillful, but better than background music from other animes that only use repeatedly notes. All in all, I'd say that this side story is still great, but not in my expectation. It can be done better.

Noanimenolife21 Jul 31, 2021

7

First of all keep in mind that if u will compare magia record with the original madoka magica u will never enjoy this anime.So just chill out and enjoy this anime. This anime is fine and not excellent. I think this anime will be more appealing to those who don't like very complicated stories with sad ending.I think it will be more appealing  to young teens .Unlike madoka original,magia record is a blend of friendship,flashy magical scenes,cute girly dresses,young girls,fun,cuteness,mystery.They have used the same concepts but there are new additions too.The magical girls have found a way that deal with the curse (truth)of magical girls. In the original series to we get to see the negative aspect of being a magical girl but Magia record not only shows a negative aspect but also positive aspect of being a magical girl .In the original,the story revolves around knowing the truth of magical girls one after the other and  that's all but in magia record ,you can see other plots as well like missing sister,missing memories,baby kyubbey,new types of witches,friendship,mystery,a girl in dream calling all the magical girls to the city of Kamihana ,good animation,awesome soundtrack,girls having fun together.In the original,the story revolves around very few magical girls but in this spin off,there are several magical girls with different types of magical powers  and even more new magical girls will appear in the second season.I loved the plot.It keeps you hooked till the end.