My thoughts on Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Movie limited edition Blu-Ray
4th December 2014 at 9:35 pm
Dear Chibi,
Yesterday I had some time to kill so I decided to check out the newly released Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Movie limited edition Blu-Ray :D It is apparently very similar to the anime’s 12 episode series (around 95% of the content is the same, including the actual animation) compiled as two movies (Part 1: Beginnings and Part 2: Eternal).
The packaging
Box featuring exclusive illustration for the limited edition Blu-Ray
Back and side view of the box
Two movies in two separate cases. Part 1: Beginnings has a white theme and Part 2 has a dark one.
Back covers
16 page “Illustration Gallery” booklet , showcasing background art and key visual images
Overall, I think it looks quite fancy and polished. Chibi approves!
So is it any good..?
I’ve never seen the anime series prior to this (so I can’t really compare them.. if there’s something to compare) so this is pretty fresh to me. I have watched a handful of ‘magical girl’ (maho shojo) series myself, so the idea that the movie deconstructs the ‘magical girl’ theme intrigued me.
Madoka Kaname, the lead character is your average junior high school girl, not particularly smart or super talented but kind and sweet. We can assume from the title, that she becomes a magical girl. While at first glance, it feels very much like your typical magical girl show, it isn’t all butterflies and rainbows. In fact, it quickly becomes quite eerie, dark and confronting. “What does it really mean to be a magical girl?” Oh..that line haunts me. Just take the show’s ‘cute’ mascot character Kyubey for example, he looks innocent enough but is possibly one of the scariest characters in the show (to me, anyway XD). You’ll know what I mean when you see it. It is quite something.
I particularly like the pacing of the movie. It never feels too rushed, and never too slow. What amazed me the most was the direction in which Part 2: Eternal takes, compared to Part 1: Beginnings. And it works, brilliantly.
I don’t want to delve too much into the plot to avoid spoiling it, but I definitely think it’s worth watching. I sat through both discs in one sitting (which is 4 hours long) so that must say something. It has plenty of entertainment value, is thought-provoking, engaging, and rather clever with its twists.
Visually, everything looks stunning. Great use of colour and lighting. There’s also some abstract artsy stuff going on that sort of reminds me of Revolutionary Girl Utena, but on a crazier level. I must say, the animation is also pretty good (especially the fight scenes).
The blu-ray contains the original Japanese audio as well as an English dub. I tend to prefer watching anime in Japanese so I did just that, though I switched to the English dub a few times and it wasn’t too bad either. I don’t really have much to complain :D
What did you think of the show? If you’ve seen both the series and movie, which do you think is superior? Share your thoughts with me :D
Special thanks to the kind folks at Madman for providing a copy for review.
I like it! It’s smartly written and the grim storyline is superb!
I would like to check out the third movie some time.. Have you seen it? :D
I am not a fan at all. I believe in strong, well established characters just a bit over interesting story. Aside from Homura, I really couldn’t have cared less for anyone. I could write a lot about this so I will keep it short. Not enough individuality for characters, art was good. I’m not a big fan of things that try too hard to be dark (like Deathnote). I prefer a good story that just turns out to have dark elements. I was pretty bored with this so don’t really feel like watching anything else of it. I’m sorry can’t compare it with you. But that’s my overall take.
I actually really enjoyed Death Note, and didn’t find it tried too hard to be dark or anything. Guess we just have different tastes :) Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
I really enjoyed this anime series, and it is among my favorites. I saw the 12 episodes prior to the 1st and 2nd movies, so I was like “What?” when I watched them because I did not know anything about the movies beforehand. Haha :) As for the series, it is basically the two movies except the movies cut out a few specific things that happened.
I have also watched the third movie too. However, I recommend if you are a high supporter of the original series or a few specific people, you might not like the third movie. I myself am not a supporter of one character in general for any anime, and I found the third movie really interesting.
Just a warning if you watch it, but all in all, I really liked the third movie.
Hi Hrhamc! Thanks for sharing your thoughts :D I also appreciate how you didn’t include any spoilers!
I would be interested to see the third movie. (Curious about the ‘one’ character you mentioned XD)
WHo is your fav character by the way? :)
Thanks for replying to my comment! If you do watch the third movie, the beginning is really misleading to how the it actually is as well, because your first impression would be “it’s pretty normal” then BAM you’re hit with “reality” and like “WHYYY?!” haha I loved it though!
Mmm.. in terms of favorite character, I realy admire Homura’s determination, Madoka’s personality, and Sakura’s attitude. I just don’t like Sayaka or Mami, but there really can be a debate on characters and their personalities. I’m not one to have favorites that often, I just like to watch it for the sake of it and judge. muahahahaha
Also, I was in the manga section of the bookstore the other day and you know there is a 3 book series of PMMM right? Well there are two other 3 book series I found. The first is a spinoff in an alternate reality focusing on Mami and Sakura, and the second book is Puella Maji ____ Magica. (the lines stand for some other girl’s name but I can’t remember it) That one focuses on that girl (i think?) I read the first book of the spinoff one, but then I had to leave the bookstore to go home. Ah well, hopefully it’ll still be there when I go back! :D
[…] seeing the first two Madoka movies late last year, I was curious to see what would happen in it’s third and final movie: […]
[…] While the box looks aesthetically pleasing, the material is a bit of a let down. The cardboard box is thin and flimsy which makes it feel less “premium”. Seeing how this is a limited edition collector’s box, it deserves the same hard-cover treatment as other LE releases like Madoka Magica. […]