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Ever see something that looks sweet and innocent until you realize it isn't at all? That's what this anime is like. Ladies and gentlemen i give you a review of one of the most insane, dark, confusing, and extremely disturbing and yes awesome anime's i have seen: Puella Magi Madoka Magica (or Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica)

Plot: 10

Madoka Magica is a deconstruction anime. What does that mean to those unfamiliar to the term? it means an anime that takes a cliche, typical genre(in this case the magical girl genre) and turns in it on it's head. What starts off in episode ... one seems like the typical recipe for a magical girl anime for children: a young, hyper girl who comes in contact with a cute fuzzy creature named Kyubey and offers her and her friend Sayaka the chance to become magical girls and fight these bizarre creatures called witches who cause chaos usually resulting in death's. The two follow veteran magical girl Mami Tomoe and kyubey on missions for the first two episodes until episode three which which is where things take a turn for the worse. What's to expect afterwards in the plot: Basically after episode three the happy magical girl facade has been ripped to shreds chewed up and spit back out again. This show turns into a epic witch fighting anime that doesn't stop until the final episode. Honestly i'm happy with the way things went with the plot even though the ending did confuse me a bit. The plot and twists to it are probably the golden part of the show. The plot moves so swiftly you feel like your watching a movie series rather then a tv show. It's amazing they were able to tell a well executed story in 12 episodes.

Characters: 9
The characters in this series are generally very interesting. It's a relatively small cast that has the five main girls (Madoka, Sayaka, Homura, Kyoko and Mami) including the contractor Kyubey. The characters had very little time to develop and feel fleshed out especially since this anime is more plot than character driven but they get the job done. From bubbly Madoka, tomboyish Sayaka, insane/violent Kyoko, cold and cruel Homura and motherly, Mami the girls each have a story and reason for risking there lives fighting witches. Kyoubey the creature that tricks....i mean "convinces" the girls to become magical girls and let's just say while he may seem cute and cuddly at first by the series end you'll be wanting to get his cold stare and unemotional face out of your mind making him one of the most interesting and unexpected antagonists in anime. I just wish we got more character episodes but this series did what it did in 12 episodes and did manage to make us care about these five girls.

Music: 10
The music in this anime was composed and written by Yuki Kajiura, a.k.a. one of the best anime composers of our time. "Magia" the ending theme never fails to send shivers up my spine and haunts me every time i hear it. The music that plays during the witch fights are epic and during emotional scenes the music is gorgeous.

Art:10
Madoka also succeeds animation wise. The art style they were going for was obviously simplistic almost girly but there's something a little dark about each character design . The witches labyrinths are always scary and have an almost real life quality about them ( they remind me of the other mother's world in Coraline if anyone has seen it)

Sub vs. Dub: Subbed but can be watched dubbed
I admit it i'm a huge English dub watcher but i of course love watching anime in it's original form regardless of having to pause to read subtitles. Madoka is one of the anime's that isn't terrible dubbed but it's just......average? Chrsitine Marie Cabanos sounds overly emotional as Madoka even though i did enjoy her performance in the later episodes when Madoka's character takes a shift. Christina Vee does a decent job as Homura with the emotionless, cold voice and taking her to a sobbing mess. Sarah Williams as Sayaka was funny and in my opinion fit the bill (she got really good during Sayaka's character arc). Cassandra Lee as Kyubey was really sweet while sounding creepy at the same time. To me Laura Landa as Kyoko was the highlight of the dub giving her sarcastic almost sadistic nature true flare and gave her a soul later on. Of course there's the Japanese dub which was really good and sounded more professional the the dub and has no flaws really. So while i enjoyed the dub i would recommend the sub for perfectionists.

Viewing age/ parental Warning:
Do not show this anime to children there are many dark themes in it that are not sugar coated: Decapitation, extreme violence, and Kyoko has one of the most disturbing story's i've seen in anime and of course language but there was really only one episode that it was a huge issue. 13/14 is a good age to watch this but not before that. It's honestly not nearly as disturbing as Elfen Lied but it has it's rating for a reason.

Overall:
Madoka Magica was certainly a wild ride i'd love to take again sometime. It had flaws here and there and an ending that confused me just a little but but was overall great and worth while. A 10/10 for me.
Recommendations: There are plenty of other anime recommendations on this page you may enjoy if you enjoyed this so i'll give you non anime