http://www.crunchyroll.com/puella-magi-madoka-magica/reviews/oldest/page10
Puella Magi Madoka Magica is, by all appearances, a typical magical girl anime. Underneath the facade, however, is one of the best subversions of a genre since Alan Moore's changed how everyone thought of superheroes with the 1986 classic, Watchmen.
The story begins predictably enough. The titular Madoka, a bubbly, optimistic middle school girl, encounters a new student by the name of Homura, a melancholy girl of unknown origin and even more mysterious motivation. After saving a small alien creature named Kyubey from a violent conflict with the new student, Madoka is introduced to a magical girl named Mami, who introduces her to a new world wherein Kyubey grants a wish in exchange for a life as a magical superhuman put to the task of defeating witches.
This is where all the things you expect to see out of a magical girl anime are thrown out of the window. Without giving away any spoilers, Madoka and friends soon discover the terrible price of a life spent fighting witches, and the truth of their role in larger picture. Instead of the justice-seeking, righteous defenders of the weak we come to expect, magical girls are largely self-serving, territorial, and borderline psychotic, and death comes as easily from their compatriots as it does the witches they fight, witches whose presence is commonly marked by inexplicable mass suicides, murders, and accidents. Oh, and that wish they were granted? Well, that doesn't always turn out so well.
Revealing any more of the plot would only serve to spoil the surprises along the way. All I will say is many of the plot twists that arise are creative, unexpected, and meaningful. Any character that may initially appear flat quickly develops into a real human being you can understand, though not always agree with.
Something I'd like to touch upon is the art direction and animation. Studio Shaft have been known to create some pretty-looking anime in recent years, and Madoka Magica is no exception. The animation is fluid, the character design is unique and interesting, and the labyrinthine lairs and the witches who inhabit them are all animated in a frightening Monty Python-esque style. The eerie appearance in combination with the frightening, atmospheric soundtrack quickly transform the show from something expected to something truly unique.
This show is not optimistic, but neither is it gratuitous. Much like Watchmen the "gritty realness" is not for its own sake, but for the sake of sending a very clear message: magical girls don't work in the real world. No adolescent girl could possess immense supernatural power without succumbing to selfishness or her own demise, good cannot exist out of balance with evil, and the the power to change fate comes at a terrible price.
I won't spoil the ending, but I will say that it seems to run counter to what the rest of the series was building up to. It's not exactly a bad ending, but if you were expecting it to end in the same way it ran, you might be surprised. I guess you could say that Madoka Magica defies all expectations, even it's own.
Overall, I was very pleased with Madoka Magica. It was a cleverly written, mostly cohesive subversion of a genre that has yet to meet any resistance. The story is well structured, the characters are multi-faceted, and the animation and music are superb. If you're looking for another magical girl anime with lots of fanservice and moe garbage, look elsewhere. If you're looking for something that puts a new perspective on familiar tropes, or just really want to see a grittier version of a classic, Puella Magi Madoka Magica is the anime for you.
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