Maho Shojo Madoka Magica 

A creature named Kyubey offers Madoka and Sayaka a wish if they agree to become 'magical girls' and fight abstract beings called 'witches'. However, a magical girl named Homura is, for uncertain reasons, determined to stop this agreement.

Stars:

Aoi Yûki, Chiwa Saitô, Emiri Kato

3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Aoi Yûki	...	Madoka Kaname 12 episodes, 2011
Chiwa Saitô	...	Homura Akemi 12 episodes, 2011
Emiri Kato	...	Kyubey 12 episodes, 2011
Christine Marie Cabanos	...	Madoka Kaname 12 episodes, 2011
Cassandra Lee Morris	...	Kyubey 12 episodes, 2011
Cristina Valenzuela	...	Homura Akemi 12 episodes, 2011
Eri Kitamura	...	Sayaka Miki 11 episodes, 2011
Sarah Anne Williams	...	Sayaka Miki 11 episodes, 2011
Shelby Lindley	...	Hitomi Shizuki 9 episodes, 2011
Ai Nonaka	...	Kyouko Sakura 8 episodes, 2011
Lauren Landa	...	Kyoko Sakura / ... 8 episodes, 2011
Kaori Mizuhashi	...	Mami Tomoe / ... 7 episodes, 2011
Yûko Gotô	...	Junko Kaname 7 episodes, 2011
Ryôko Shintani	...	Hitomi Shizuki 7 episodes, 2011
Rumi Okubo	...	Joshi / ... 7 episodes, 2011
Carrie Savage	...	Junko Kaname 7 episodes, 2011
Seiko Yoshida	...	Kyosuke Kamijo 6 episodes, 2011
Junko Iwao	...	Kazuko Saotome 6 episodes, 2011
Kyle Hebert	...	Tomohisa Kaname / ... 6 episodes, 2011
Marianne Miller	...	Kyosuke Kamijo 6 episodes, 2011
Karen Strassman	...	Kazuko Satome / ... 6 episodes, 2011
Tetsuya Iwanaga	...	Tomohisa Kaname 5 episodes, 2011
Carrie Keranen	...	Mami Tomoe 5 episodes, 2011

Storyline

One night, 14-year-old Madoka Kaname has a terrible nightmare - against the backdrop of a devastated city, she witnesses a girl fight a losing battle against a dreadful being lingering above, while a cat-like magical creature tells Madoka the only way to change that tragic outcome is for her to make a contract with him and become a magical girl. The next day, the teen's dream seemingly becomes reality as the girl she saw in her dream - Homura - arrives at Mitakihara Middle School as a transfer student, mysteriously warning Madoka to stay just the way she is. But when later on she and her best friend Sayaka encounter the same cat-like magical creature from her dream - who introduces himself as Kyubey - the pair discovers that magical girls are real, and what's more, they can choose to become one. All they must do is sign a contract with Kyubey and agree to take on the duty to fight abstract beings called 'witches' that spread despair to the human world, and in return, each one of them ...

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Plot Keywords:

magical girl | latin title | wish | dark fantasy | adapted into a manga | 

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Taglines:

She will not know yet if this encounter is a mere coincidence or a necessity. Which would be, an encounter that would change her destiny.

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Genres:

Animation | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

6 January 2011 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aniplex,Hakuhodo DY Media Partners,Hobunsha

Technical Specs

Runtime:

24 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (English version) Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Aoi Yûki (Madoka), Chiwa Saitô (Homura), and Kaori Mizuhashi (Mami) all tried out for the role Kyubey.

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Goofs

When Kyubey explains entropy, he says it involves the net loss of energy, which is not possible in physics. What the term actually describes is the decay of energy to its base form - which is heat - and its subsequent scattering through space, until the system reaches equilibrium, at which point all energy conversion ceases until further external energy input.

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Quotes

[repeated line]
Mami Tomoe: Tiro Finale!

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Connections

Referenced in Atop the Fourth Wall: Tandy Computer Whiz Kids: A Deadly Choice (2013)

User Reviews

Quite Disturbing

I started watching this knowing nothing except that it was a 'dark' magical girl series. I've never seen any of the magical girl stuff (unless Claymore counts?) so I had no idea of how it was using/subverting the usual tropes. Still, it was pretty amazing... and very dark. By the time I got to the 9th episode I was feeling pretty distraught over the fates of all the characters and how awful the whole system was.

One thing that particularly stood out for me was the animation and the various styles to represent the bizarre Witches and the Labyrinths they create. While the main characters usually remain in regular anime mode everything else becomes a wild collage of symbols and strange creatures that symbolize the Witch and her obsessions. Each one seems to be a mysterious story unto itself.

Don't let the cutesy character designs fool you though... this isn't for kids, both because it's so disturbing and also because I don't think they'd really understand it once the true nature of the magical girls starts to come out.