Fanime 2015 Review: Puella Magi Madoka Magica movies 1 & 2

With two compilation movies, Aniplex turns the magical girl genre very disturbingly on its head.

Here’s something we rarely see in a review. These movies are what we call “compilation movies,” where an entire series is condensed to one or several movies, trimming out the unnecessary bits and keeping the essential story to a reasonable length. And these may be the best examples I’ve seen, especially as the two films (part 1 known as The Beginning and part 2 The Eternal) tell one massively epic and overarching story based on the 12 episode TV series.

Madoka is a typical Japanese teenage girl, if a little unexceptional. All that changes when a new transfer student, named Homura, appears in her class. Homura is a strange mystery, who seems oddly interested in Madoka. When Madoka and her friend Sayuri catch Homura attempting to kill a strange creature called Kyubei, which then results in the appearance of both a strange monstrosity called a Witch and an actual magical girl named Mami, it comes as a shock. Kyubei offers the two girls the chance to be magical girls in exchange for whatever they wish for. But there’s more to the situation than what it appears, and the truth will take what initially seems like a cute little cartoon about magic and friendship and reveal a dark, disturbing and somewhat horrifying deconstruction of a genre.

The animation is dark and gorgeous, and the writing is deftly handled in condensing the entire series’ plot to two films, making it easy for people new to the story to enter into it. As for the subject matter, it is potentially one of the most mature and dark looks at what is traditionally a very cute and safe genre. So, as a result this may be one of the few compilation films that I recommend over the original series. However, I must stress this point: this is not for young children or the squeamish. This is serious, do not view this if you’re young or can’t handle the dark story matter. If you get a chance, Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movies: The Beginning and The Eternal are definitely worth checking out.