Puella Magi Madoka Magica

I finally got around to watching the show that I’ve heard so much about, a classic that every anime fan should know. I didn’t manage to escape a few minor spoilers, so I had certain expectations. I suspected that Madoka would be exactly the kind of series that would mentally destroy me like Made in Abyss, and I would be bawling my eyes out like I was when watching Clannad. I thought it would be one of those unforgettable experiences that I wouldn’t want to repeat for at least a decade. It’s true that Madoka is an incredible rollercoaster of emotions, alternating wonderful feelings and sweet moments with incredibly depressing ones, escalating to a point where I felt uncomfortable. It works very well emotionally, including the finale, which is quite over-the-top, reaching almost biblical proportions. However, it does bring everything to a decent close, even though it feels bittersweet just like the whole series. Everyone on the creative team that made Madoka knew exactly what they were doing.  You can tell by the show’s premise, the carefully thought-out twists, as well as the score. The high production values and the overall execution of the series, combined with an incredible amount of imagination on the part of the writers, is what keeps you interested, hooked, and enjoying this wild, intense, and surreal ride which sometimes makes you feel as if you were under the influence of drugs. It’s obvious from the first episode that this is the work of Shaft Animation Studio. The cinematography is excellent. They know how to create an atmosphere through the use of color, light, shadow, and depth of space. The backgrounds have elaborate details, and the camera captures the movement in such a way that the action looks great right from the first few frames. Most importantly, the editing work, although not as striking as in the Monogatari series, is so distinctive that you recognize it right away. And then there are the psychedelic fights with the witches. First, they make you wonder what the hell you’re looking at, but when you focus on the detail, you start noticing a lot of subtlety and hidden meaning. On top of it all, there's Yuki Kajiura's brilliant score, which is a bit subdued this time (compared to Noir or .hack//SIGN), but still amazing and distinct enough to make you fall in love with it the first time you see Mami transform. Even though the series has only twelve episodes, the first three (or rather two and a half) don’t go all out, but slowly bring you to the top of this imaginary roller coaster to gain enough height for a proper ride. To anyone who isn’t familiar with Madoka I recommend hanging in there until the end of the third (ideally fourth) episode, even if you don't like the character animation (which is deliberately cute to create a powerful contrast) and you think it’s just another cute anime about girls saving the world – which might not be your thing. The deconstruction of the genre, the change from a cute mahou shoujo to a depressing, intense drama full of powerful themes and symbolism that diehard fans rave about doesn’t start until the fourth episode (though an attentive viewer will surely notice the signs much earlier). Madoka is an unforgettable series where everything works as it should. The series knows exactly what it wants to say and where it wants to take you. Apart from the slower opening, the pace is fast, and there is always something going on, yet there is enough space to flesh out the important characters, also thanks to there not being that many of them. I don’t really have much to criticize about this show. It was a powerful experience, absolutely perfect in many ways, which I truly appreciate. 9.5/10 (29/04/2023) (moins) (plus)