For my contribution to this stupid holiday that's more memorable to me as Sakura Kinomoto's birthday, I have decided to do the reverse of what I usually do, and list things that I don't find completely terrible in my least favorite anime. This will only be about the main anime series, not spinoff manga or movies.
10 ) Tatsuya Kaname.
Madoka's little brother is cute as frickin' sin. The only character that made me go "d'aww" in the main series. While I would have liked to see more of him, I'm glad he didn't get wrapped up in the show's miserable plot.
9 ) The old timey film projector thing.
The first and last thing we see in this anime is an effect reminiscent of old film reels. I don't really get the point, especially since this anime takes place in a pretty modern era, but I can give Shaft some style points.
8 ) The ending is NOT a deus ex machina.
I really don't get why people claim this. The ending didn't really come out of nowhere. More the opposite. It was said quite a while back that Madoka had amazing potential as a meguca, to the point of reality warping abilities. And considering how hopeless the situation looked as of episode 10, the show seemed like it would only go two ways, total misery grimdark everyone dies ending, or Madoka's wish solving the crisis.
7 ) Yuki Kajiura does what she does best.
While I think her music is repetitive and sounds the same in various shows, if you ever need someone to do ominous Gothic music with chanting in a fictitious language, she's
#1. While I did get really tired of hearing Sis Puella Magica a thousand times, there are some tracks on the OST that I actually kind of liked. The one played in ep. 4 when Madoka's crying into her eggs and again in ep. 7 when Sayaka is crying on Madoka's shoulder is probably my favorite.
6 ) The Kyouko vs Sayaka fight.
Episode 5 in general is probably my favorite. It gives us a bit of relief from the previous two episodes, helps flesh out Sayaka a little more, and gives us one of the few fights that doesn't come off as just style over substance. Though I think Kyouko's antagonism is overbearing and poorly done, I can appreciate that there's a genuine clash of ideology that gives this fight some actual weight.
5 ) Madoka's costume and weapon.
Even though she doesn't really get to do much with it, I actually kinda like Madoka's frilly pink magical girl costume and rose bow. They're the only things that look and feel like they're actually from a magical girl show. I always disliked how the others use completely mundane, non-magic guns and blades, so Madoka's bow firing glowy energy arrows was actually kind of neat.
4 ) Kyubey's voice.
If you're going to have a character who does almost nothing but info dump, it's best to give them a voice that's really pleasing to the ears. In a show where I can't stand the majority of the protagonist's voices, I was surprised to hear Emiri Katou do so well with Kyubey's voice, more than I can say about her role as the snotty snail loli from Bakemonogatari. And best of all, because Kyubey's face never moves, lip syncing is no issue!
3 ) The Blu Ray enhancements.
Studio Shaft has pretty much coined the term for updating their half-finished animation in the BD release. "Shafting" it's called. And boy did this show need to be Shafted. While some would argue that Mami's room being barren helps drive home how lonely and miserable she is, I could see her gathering lots of material possessions to fill the void, and making her house look so presentable that she'd hope guests would never want to leave.
2 ) The ending TRIED to do something positive.
I can respect that they wanted to convey some kind of message about hope, and that this was their intention from the beginning. Whether it works for me is irrelevant, the point is they get some points for effort. The finale was also the most visually remarkable thing in the show, and by that I mean the only part where the visuals remotely impressed me.
1 ) Genre awareness.
It's always great to hear that someone became a fan of magical girl shows because they watched this show. Even if they didn't become a fan, I can appreciate when they at least give them a fair chance and not write them off as mindless sunshine and rainbows. I've made quite a few friends because of this anime.
I feel like I cheated a little, particularly with 5 and 4, but I honestly couldn't think of ten things I genuinely like about this show.
Honorable mentions include the fan games, The Different Story, Nagisa Momoe, and the fact that this show is NOT Cross Ange!
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