 If you liked
Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica
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 ...then you might like
Made in Abyss
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Both have a unique, cute artstyle that covers a dark, deep lore.
Both have beautiful animation that make them stand out from the rest.
I wouldn't call "Madoka Magica" a shoujo for the same reason I wouldn't call "Made in Abyss" a shounen. Both turn their respective genre on its head, and there's something of a "shock factor" that comes with it.
Do you enjoy anime with an adorable art style that are actually pretty messed up? Trust me, either one of these series will not let you down! Both series feature a young adolescent girl as the protagonist and have similar art styles. The total number of episodes (currently on 5/22/18) for both is low, so they are both a short and sweet watch. The pacing of both series is fast and will keep you guessing.
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Recommended by Tessaiga20
Artstyles are both cute and adorable but both covering dark and gritty themes and storylines with many turns and twists.
Both anime are morally grey
Made in Abyss has more world-building story-based traits while Madoka★Magica focuses on characterisation and their motivations.
Both have incredible and unique artstyles.
(you may or may not shed a tear in a few episodes)
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Recommended by MagicPotato98
Both have a very seemly innocent premise...but later on both perform a drastic heel turn at some point in their running time. Also both of them have very unique art styles along with stunning animation.
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Recommended by DarkStarHarry
• Both have deceptively moe character design/art styles and an innocuous premise (magical girl, fantasy/adventure), but traverse down much darker paths than initially expected.
• Both have a young, innocent female main character who perseveres through whatever trials are thrown at her without losing her faith or resolve.
• Both have tragic characters who are disfigured or transformed in some way.
• Both have aspects of magic or fantasy that reveal themselves as much darker than initially expected throughout the course of the narrative (Madoka and the Soul Gems, Abyss and the Curse of the Abyss).
A cutesy artstyle masks a grim reality and a story that steadily grows darker in tone, all of this while going through truly unique backgrounds, surreal in one case and fantastic in the other, but astoundingly beautiful in both cases.
If you liked it, you have to watch this anime for sure. Both have artstyle different from the one we are used to. And the plots are both... interesting and different. The immature kind-hearted female protagonist is confronted with a "cruel" world in both animes.
Note: it's difficult to recommend it without spoiling too much, so just take my advise and go watch it!
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Recommended by randomanimeseen
The plot may seem different, but if you enjoyed Made in Abyss or Madoka Magica you should try the other one as they both share a dark plot mixed with really great, cute and "childish" art. If you like stories that are not as shiny they look, I really recommend you both of them!
both have cute styles with innocent enough premises that get very dark
they also both have amazing soundtracks and beautiful animation
Both are at first glance happy stories about friendship and stuff... but with the passage of time, however, both started be more and more dark and kinda scary. Definitely, both are very touching.
Same vibe.
Cute characters that make you feel like you watching anime for kids, but every next episode gets darker and darker.
Cute children in a mysterious world that only gets darker and harder to live in.
This is the thing that anime does best. A kawaii veneer over a tragic world.
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Recommended by ClaireTheBear
In the way that both start, at least a bit cute... and then Destroy any hope of Joy that u can have in the rest of Anime, i absolutely loved it.
Both are huge in terms of their scopes.
Both feature sudden dark twists and turns.
Both shows are good at making the audience want to learn more about the world/setting.
Both feature very young, but extremely well written characters who have to face large dangers and interesting situations.
Both are heavy in terms of carrying tons of emotion and meaning.
Both are beautiful but also frightening.
You like things that mess with you mind? That make you think about things? Well if you do, Made in Abyss is exactly for you! Watch the first 4 episodes and decide if you give it a 9/10 or not.
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Recommended by StoicSamurai
Whether it is moe style for the characters (Madoka Magica) or chibi-like (Made in Abyss), both series are more than meets the eye.
The colorful art conceals surprisingly deep lore for the settings, with enough touching, tearjerking and even downright hopeless moments springled in. They are not for the light of heart and can really reach one's feelings, as soon as they are not bothered by their artstyles.
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Recommended by Krankastel
Epic and slow burn, because the series are getting darker and darker each episode !!
the atmosphere is nearly same because the great adventure with big consequences are waiting them and also there's no going back once it's started.
Dang, show like this are very rare yo !!
Both shows feature young protagonists set on a path that contains an underlying darkness. They push the limits on typical cute anime.
Beautiful, thinly veiled horror anime, although more character-centric.
Both have pretty "moe" art style, they both involve some kids suffering and both get darker as it goes on.
Made in abyss is more on the fantasy-adventure side and is more lighthearted at times but also very gory at other times which is why I love it, and has a great story to go along with it
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Recommended by spoopypineapple
If you like darkness, and hopeless and cute girls or children suffering horrible fates and dying in vein, fighting lovecraftian monsters in dark souls like setting, then both these anime are for you.
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Recommended by KuroNekoAlchemy
This series show some serious stuff and little bit messed up stuff, the main characters being underage made great contrast with the hard truths they have to deal with.
I can assure you both series are going to leave a lasting impact in you as viewer.
•Both are mistaken as a Light-hearted and Wholesome show with it's cliched tropes (MM being Magical Girl and MA being Fantasy Adventure) that has kids where in fact, It quite actually destroys those expectations.
• Both shows present an adorable and innocent premise at first but then goes through a dark and tragic turning point of events.
•Both features children as it's main characters that goes through a tragic fate to achieve their desires.
•Have the same atmospheric factors with their great deceiving artstyle and fantastic soundtracks.
•Both reveals it's much darker side of the story and events on it's last few episodes.
Both series involve children going on dark and violent adventures and "battles" (I guess that's how you could call it) and realizing that their world is not as it seems to be. They both start out pretty lighthearted then gradually turn darker and darker, and they share a similar art style where the characters are drawn as chibis'.
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Recommended by imnicolaa_
Both Made in Adyss and Madoka Magica are both shows about kids willing enter world that are far more danger than they ever expected it to be.
Made in Abyss successfully captures the essence of human desire and its infatuation with the impossible, of stringing this infatuation with the dark realities of our world, creating a frightful god-like embodiment of the abyss, one that steers from the "cutesy" appeal of the younger character cast. Similarly, Madoka Magica nails this stringing of "dark" elements in an intriguing as well as meaningful way that dives beyond superficial lengths to really focus our attention on what it truly means to have hope, of what it means to despair. Both shows are awesome so don't let the "cutesy" little "magical girl" aspect steer you from witnessing
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wholesome and precious beings full of dreams and hopes collide & confront the crushing cruelty of the world, experience full consequence tied to their chosen pursuits, having no holdbacks in their intensity ｡･:*˚:✧｡
Kids suffering in pursuit of a misleading premise. Fascinating, rapid worldbuilding that can stimulate obsession.
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Recommended by hrp34r3ioj3qqlw1
You were expecting it to be a light, even aimed for kids, show where you could just turn off your brain and relax with cuteness until you were brutally betrayed at episode 3, right? In a similar fashion, Made in Abyss darkly twists every expectation you could have from its cheerful and animation and design, showing that no one is really safe in the Abyss. If you liked the darker tone Madoka Magica assumed throughout the series, then you'll enjoy how Riko's casts will fare in their epic and transforming journey to the darkness below.
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Recommended by FallingstarBeast