Tags
Best Anime 2011, Homura, Homura Akemi, Kyouko, Kyouko Sakura, Kyuubey, Madoka, Madoka Kaname, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, Mami, Mami Tomoe, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Sayaka, Sayaka Miki
To be the best means to surpass all and to contain the finest possible attribute. Indeed, it’s a bold statement to articulate that Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica is the best of 2011. But given all the merits that are there to consider, I have no doubt that this show is the most worthy to be placed on this year’s pinnacle of excellence.
As a huge psychological, yuri, and fantasy fan, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica effortlessly fell under the category of my preference. But on the contrary, that didn’t give this anime an easy-pass to my watch list despite the fact that it clearly satisfied my genre of interest. With all honesty, those wide-faced and neon coloured hairs failed to impress me. Not that I have anything against with cute-moés, but I would prefer to watch characters with pointy faces, slimmer figures, and somewhat mature looking wardrobes—kind of like Ikuhara’s artwork.
On the other hand, staying true to Shaft’s tradition, I highly commend how this show beautifully presented its architectures and aesthetics. The buildings, roads and houses were well-structured and constructed. Plus, the minimalistic interior designs were truly impeccable and refreshing to look at. What’s more praiseworthy was how within all of these vibrant structural and flashy character designs, this anime artistically managed to breed something dark and baleful. It creatively turned tame-natured objects into something threatening and captivatingly mysterious. For instance, those strange checkers, malevolent candy land, evil doll houses, and shady hospital wards sinisterly yet pleasingly aired-out this show’s dark atmosphere—a perfect setting of a fairytale gone wrong plot device.
Plot-wise, MSMM might neither be a total ground-breaker nor one of a kind show. However, in such a small package—12 episodes—it innovatively rendered its dark twist without having unnecessary tease-and-chase components. The mystery was kept neatly and revealed cleverly. And from the get-go, this show gave its viewers a premonition which hinted and revealed vaguely the Walpurgist Night and the main conflict of the story—allowing us to wonder and guess what’s stored on the next episode.
Apart from that, what I truly loved the most about the plot was how it didn’t need any twofold deceptions in order for the antagonist to mind-blown its viewers. All those times Kyuubey was sneaking right under our noses by using its charm. Come to think of it, Kyuubey didn’t really deceive the viewers but rather shocked and caught us off guard. That being said, the execution of the events such as Mami’s death and Kyuubey’s revelation were smartly placed and carried out within the series.
As for characters, clearly we have seen character development especially on Madoka’s part. Her character wonderfully illustrated fear, hesitation, naivety, and triumph. Aside from that, it’s worthy to point out how she didn’t transform overnight, but instead took her time to metamorphosis and used effectively the roles of the other characters before completing her sole and ultimate task—which successfully made its viewers hang on their seats and anticipate the next episode.
For instance, Mami’s death deeply surprised us and seriously set the tone for some dark premise. Secondly, Sayaka’s insanity brilliantly setup and revealed Kyuubey’s misleading character and reminded how humans are so prone to deception. And lastly, despite leading to hopelessness and damnation, Kyouko and Homura’s characters showed hope and goodness in humanity that is worth saving—likewise Madoka’s family. Hence, it’s pretty apparent that every character has its own significance and strongly backed up the other.
Finally, indeed, the ending wasn’t as overwhelming and memorable. However, overall, it delivered a heart-warming and satisfying finale fitting enough to preserve the emblem-filled nature of this series and allowing the viewers to discuss and assume more. If we’re going to measure the level of success of this anime, it’s quite obvious that this show created the most buzz, profoundly impacted the start of the season, and elevated its characters into pop culture icons—Madoka was even said to have her own cult.
Some might say that viewers of this show only jumped into the bandwagon. But based on my experience, I would deny that. I was an aniblogosphere outsider when this show started to air. I don’t browse reviews and summaries because I dislike spoilers, and I don’t read posts that I don’t know anything about. Hence, this show allured me with its own magic. But of course, I’m aware that not everyone likes this series, however, for me, it’s beautiful and special on its own way.
Just before I end my final post of the year, I’d like to thank all of the readers and visitors of this blog, and online friends whom I interacted with on twitter. I really appreciate the encouragement and support which makes blogging really fun.
Happy 2012 to everyone and I wish for a prosperous and wonderful year ahead of us.
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Past Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica Posts:
Top Five Honourable Mention:
- Ikoku Meiro No croisee
- Mawaru Penguindrum
- Usagi Drop
- Un-Go
- Hanasaku Iroha
- *Chihayafuru – still airing
ayame said:
You forgot Hourou Musuko :(
Yes, Madoka was spectacular and surprising. The dark backgrounds were the thing I liked the most in the series. Then perhaps come the sketchy eyes of the heroines. I agree with you for the moeness, but you get used to it. I was fond of some dialogues and of course the unofficial yuri couples (I have a ton of tasty SayakaxMiki stored in a file, if you want to share, I’m here :P ). Oh! you also didn’t mention the marvellous music by Yuki Kajiura! That Magia runs through my skin every time I listen to it!
I’d say though that in my humble opinion 1-3 episodes more wouldn’t harm. It would help smoother character development of Kyouko for example.
Happy New Year!
ayame said:
KyoukoxMiki sorry (my mind travels elsewhere :P )
SnippetTee said:
Oh yes Hourou Musuko. It’s actually on my top 10 list. But I just felt that in terms of entertainment factor such as the visuals and character designs, the other ones gave me more. But in terms of having food for thought, Hourou Musoku is certainly on the top three.
And yes, the Madoka’s music is really awesome. The moment I remembered that, I already finished writing this post and just hoping that somebody will bring that up, so thanks for that. ^^ Also the yuri factor for me is certainly there I loved it! I preferred Madoka and Homura because. personally, I find their conflict more romantic and tragic wherein Madoka couldn’t remember Homura, and Homura decided to become a magical girl for Madoka, compared to Kyouko-Sayaka-Kyosuke’s love triangle–which is nothing but tragic in most part for Kyouko.
I’m already fine with the series as a whole, but I agreed that perhaps having 1-3 episodes more is also a good idea… so that at least we can also have more relationship development and character exploration.
Btw, happy new year too and thanks so much for your insightful comments.
jreding said:
While Madoka isn’t the #1 in my personal list (that would be Hourou Musuko) it certainly is one of the top 5.
I’m very much into dark and tragic stories, the more intense the better. Madoka fully delivered in this respect, and I wouldn’t have dared to think before that someone would turn Mahou Shoujo into such a story of darkness and despair.
Furthermore, the show had strong and charismatic characters, in particular QB, whom I really need to buy as a plushy. Personally I could relate best to Sayaka. This – http://bit.ly/rJfIUB – might have been the picture of the year for me.
However, I found that the second half had some drawbacks. The “aliens use innocent girls’ raw emotions to generate energy” was hard to believe for me. I’m surprised that you seem to be happy with it, SnippetTee! Personally, I had hoped Kyuubei’s schemings would not be explained at all.
Also, the ending was a bit disappointing for me . Here I had hoped that Makoda wouldn’t become a Mahou Shoujo at all, instead of pulling this ace of her wish out of nowhere.
SnippetTee, I wish you a happy new year and thanks for all your interesting posts in the past one!
jreding said:
Edit: Sorry, I meant Kyouko, not Sayaka Miki I can most relate to. After HM’s Saorin, Kyouko may be the character which touched me most in the past year.
SnippetTee said:
“I’m very much into dark and tragic stories, the more intense the better.”
You just said something that I’m itching to say, but I couldn’t, when I was writing this post.
“However, I found that the second half had some drawbacks. The “aliens use innocent girls’ raw emotions to generate energy” was hard to believe for me. I’m surprised that you seem to be happy with it, SnippetTee!”
Haha… I’m just a fangirl who loves cute stuff whenever I’m watching anime. It’s only when I’m writing a post that the inner philosopher in me surfaces.
But actually, I really have no problem with the (pseudo) physics in Madoka, even though it’s somewhat off with the real theory. In fact, I find how Kyuubey collected the girls’ emotions to save the world really interesting. It’s like Pandora’s box that humans are so afraid to open, or simply a reality slap. For instance, it showed us how unfair we feel whenever we are the underdogs–which is so true. The human-cattle relationship explained very well how we unjustly treat other creatures and how we feel so superior to nature. Plus, the issue of signing on the contract, I think it’s very cleverly presented. It happens for real that we don’t bother to read the details just to get right away what we want. So, those simple things that we ignore turned into profound thoughts are the ones that always leave the most impact in me. We don’t need to decipher anything, we just only need to spot what’s already obvious–because the most noticeable ones are the hardest to see–and that’s what Madoka presented that no other anime that I’d seen this year did.
I’m quite disappointed, with the ending as well because Madoka didn’t really solve the problem. It’s still there but with a different opponent. Plus, Homura is still stuck in the time loop.
By the way, thanks for your interesting comments and for your kind words. Happy 2012!
Leap250 said:
I agree. Madoka really stands out compared to the other shows of 2011. Easily one of my top 5.
I first heard of Madoka from MAL’s news forum, where I saw that Urobuchi Gen was going to write the scenario for a SHAFT anime. Being a fan of both, Madoka quickly made its way to my list. ClariS doing the OP and Kalafina doing the ED was just a bonus. Little did I know it was going to be a “mahou shoujo” but that only piqued my interest a bit more. I only know Gen’s work from the Fate/Zero novels, but I think those are enough to say that the guy knows how to set a mood. Good thing it didn’t really turn out as a textbook magical girl series.
As cruel as it may sound, Mami’s death made me glad that I picked up this show. Especially when you think about how epic Mami’s last stand was, I was like “Awesome, Mami owns with unlimited rifles” then “that” happens. Very nicely done.
I guess the Yuri factor made me subconsciously rate Madoka a teeny bit lower. Not that I dislike Yuri, rather, I thought it suited the show, I dunno, maybe I’m not used to it is all. The dark, psychological theme balances it out for me though. The ending really one me over.
So yeah, Madoka, totally belongs to 2011’s Hall of Fame.
Happy 2012 SnippetTee ^^
SnippetTee said:
Same here, I heard this show on MAL. People were talking about Shaft and Gen Urobuchi but I had no idea about those names because I was just an occasional anime viewer before. I didn’t even know what’s currently airing and what’s not. And just like you, I thought this is just going to be another mahou shoujo series. But since I was looking for a new yuri series, I decided to give this series a shot, and really from the get-go I was blown away by the visuals and music.
As cruel as it may sound, Mami’s death made me glad that I picked up this show.
Ditto, I really feel like it’s one of the most significant thing that happened on this show. It gave that serious and dark vibe. It’s like it was telling its viewers that this series is up for something totally different from its predecessors–almost dying changes nothing, but death changes everything. And, I really liked how Mami’s death was executed. Shaft charmed us first with Mami’s cool riffles and adorable personality, then all of a sudden collapsed that and shocked us. I so love it!
I guess the Yuri factor made me subconsciously rate Madoka a teeny bit lower.
I completely understand this, we have our own preferences. It’s pretty much just like how I preferred non-moé than moé but at the end I’m glad that you enjoyed the show as a whole.
Btw thank you for exchanging ideas with me over the past year (over here and at your site). I also do wish you a Happy New Year, Leap250. ^^
Leap250 said:
Likewise, and as, I believe, the first ani-blog that I started following, it was truly a pleasure exchanging ideas with you ^^
SnippetTee said:
Aww, thank you so much for your kind words. ^^
Cave Story said:
oh my, I haven’t started on the Mahou Shoujo series yet….I think there will be a lot of catching up for me.
SnippetTee said:
I highly recommend this series. I really do hope that you’ll enjoy it.
Nopy said:
Despite what some people might say, you’re certainly right that Madoka created the most buzz in 2011, a sign of its success and popularity. I was hooked the instant I saw the ads for it, I thought it was going to be a cute magical girl anime like Card Captor Sakura. Little did I know I was going to be in for a big surprise. The way it did a complete 180 was executed perfectly.
SnippetTee said:
I was exactly just like you. My hesitation was due to thinking that this is going to be another Card Captor Sakura. And indeed it’s a complete 180… I couldn’t argue more.
Yi said:
Agreed. Madoka is certainly among the bests of 2011, if not the best. Personally, I enjoyed Usagi Drop just a bit more. Still, in terms of influence, creativity, and “must-watch-ness,” Madoka is without doubt the front runner. Even without the yuri or even the borderline gimmicky Shaft animation, the story itself puts Madoka above most other anime. The emotions are also just so powerful.
p.s. I wish you an amazing new year as well. ^ ^
SnippetTee said:
I also enjoyed Usagi Drop, it’s actually on my top five of 2011. But for the same reasons that you mentioned, Madoka totally won me over.
Anyway, thanks to your Madoka posts especially the one about physics. That’s really engaging and got me into reading other blogs as well. And of course, thanks for the interaction that we had last 2011. I’m wishing you too a wonderful new year, Yi. ^^
Bonnie said:
you know cardcaptor sakura is good magical girl show why because it’s a subversion of the maho shojo genre; there are things in it not common with most magical girl shows, for one sakura doesn’t transform only her wand does also her best friend makes her costumes and knows about her secret as a cardcaptor which I find pretty original and also there is character developement and plot progression within the story enough to tie loose ends.
SnippetTee said:
Sadly, I only have vague recollection of Cardcaptor Sakura. It’s one of my gateways to anime. If there are something that I can remember is I like the use of cards and its symbolism, plus the use of mythological figures such as Cerebrus.
Thanks for the insights, I might re-watch this series some time in the future to refresh my memory,
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