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I am very much in like with Sword Art Online. I don't love it, because it's not a good show, but I do deeply like it, for a lot of very uncritical-- possibly even silly-- reasons. Sword Art Online is not good in the traditional sense of the word. The characters are weak and one-note, the plots are contrived and sometimes just so full of holes I feel like I have to play hopscotch if I think about it for two seconds, and the game worlds are broken. But I still like this show w for purely aesthetic reasons. At the end of the day, ... watching Kirito swing around a sword still looks cool, Yui is still adorable, and Asuna is still the kind of person I want to be when I grow up.

When my sisters enter high school, there are things I'll want them to know, and there are anime I'll want them to watch. One of those is Madoka, because it's about giving yourself the power of happy endings. One of those is this show.

The girls on this show talk about their bodies. They talk about it lewdly, naming specific parts, but also honestly and realistically, in a way I would expect from highschoolers. They don't have big sit-down speeches with older family members about periods; they talk about breast size and water physics. They don't make fun of the size of those breasts, either-- the ... girls only mention it in good fun, and the boys point out their differing body types without putting them down about it; the worst they say about any of them is that they simply aren't their type.

These girls also break their archetypes. The "party girl" can be an utter otaku, the nerd can have fun teasing her friends, and the percieved airhead can have lots of hobbies. And, all of these girls can be friends without a clear explanation-- they're just in close proximity and get along, and that's how so many friendships start.

This review contains MASSIVE SPOILERS. Turn back now.

Holy crow.

This show...

This show...

This show.

... I love this show.

I love this show for the same reasons you do. But I want to talk about the ending, because it is one of my favorite things in animation, right up with the Avatar finale, which is my standard for animated excellence, full stop.

The ending of Madoka made me cry, but not because it was sad. Parts of it were, sure, but that wasn't why I cried.

I had spent the previous ten-ish episodes following Sayaka down her path of tragedy and grief and rage, right there with her the entire time. I had begun the series with just as much hope and confidence and goodwill as she'd had, only to find death and despair and a world where magical girls never got happy endings to their wishes. Watching her become a witch, and be slowly destroyed from the inside out, was one of the most heartbreaking, soul-breaking things I will ever witness. I had been steeped in Homura's backstory, which felt like the same cycle, only so much worse since Homura witnessed every version of the same ending. She can go back and try to save Madoka and again and again and again and again, but all it will lead to is the same time loop of destruction and heartbreak, until she loses hope, her wish becomes a curse, and she turns into the very thing she was trying to save her best friend from.

Everything is bleak, and there is no end in sight for either cycle, until Madoka makes her wish.

She becomes a magical girl, the very fate Homura was actively preventing her from realizing, but instead of joining the cycle of magical girls and witches-- wishes and curses, hope and despair, birth and destruction-- Madoka breaks it. By rewriting the laws of the universe, Madoka can make sure that all magical girls who ever were or are or will be do not become the very thing they set out to defeat; instead, they die in peace, having given their lives to kill wraiths, never having to fear that the next witch will be the one that corrupts their soul gem for good. Madoka, in short, is given the power of happy endings, and the ability to ensure that they come to fruition.

The most powerful scene comes when Madoka looks out at her own grief seed, at labyrinth she is destined to create, according to Kyubey, and declares that she "Wished for the power to erase all witches. And if what I wished for really did come true, then even I don't have a thing to worry about. Ever!" I'm tearing up just writing this; because Madoka was not only able to give happy endings to others, but to herself as well, with the power to destroy any possibility that even she will become a witch. Her power-- her hope-- was so great that even she did not have to sacrifice her soul, that even she could be spared from the cycle.

I love this show, and I love this episode, and I love this scene, with all my heart.

That's what it did to me, at least. And for that, Madoka, I will always be grateful.

Thank you.

xoxo,
Amazing Grace

Here's the thing: This was the first anime I ever saw and loved, the first anime that made me want to watch more. Even if, years down the line, I revisit this series and hate every last minute of it, it will always be important to me because of that fact alone.

However, I don't think that's likely, because this is a comedy that may as well have been constructed after consulting my brain.

All of the characters are snarky and witty, but utterly sincere when it counts. The boys of the Host Club proper all begin as teen angst dramedy stereotypes who are slowly fleshed out ... into three-dimensional characters, and the chemistry they share with each other and Haruhi is priceless.

I love all the little ways this show satirizes modern teen pop media and their fanbases. Like, how all the patronesses of the club go nuts for Hikaru and Kaoru's homo-incestuous act, or for that scene between Ritsu and Haruhi; it's the most perfect mirror of slash fandom I think I will ever see. Tamaki steals the show time and time again with his over-the-top fantasies of how he will capture Haruhi's heart, only to be constantly stifled by her levelheaded common sense. And the little blonde girl who knows tons of manga/anime tropes because all she reads are shoujo manga. Or the thousand other moments of pure comedic genius, satire and not, that I'm currently forgetting. There's even an "Alice in Wonderland" episode, a tribute to one of my favorite stories-- and animated Disney movies-- ever.

I don't think there's much left I can say. I adore this show, and I think I always will, on some level, no matter how much anime I watch, no matter what shows I love, this will always rise a little above the rest, if only because it's my first.

My journey as an anime watcher is just beginning, but I see no end in sight. Thank you, Ouran.

xoxo,
Amazing_Grace