Puella Magi Madoka Magica (魔法少女まどか☆マギカ, Mahō Shōjo Madoka Magika?, "Magical Girl Madoka of the Magus") is a Japanese anime television series produced by Shaft and Aniplex. The series is directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and written by Gen Urobuchi with original character designs by Ume Aoki, character design adaptation by Takahiro Kishida and music by Yuki Kajiura.[1] The first ten episodes aired in Japan on TBS and MBS between January 6, 2011 and March 10, 2011, while the final two episodes were delayed until April 21, 2011 due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. A manga adaptation of the series and two spin-off manga series, Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice and Puella Magi Oriko Magica, are currently being published by Houbunsha. A novelisation by Nitroplus is also being produced.
Plot
There exist strange creatures who have the power to grant one wish to each chosen girl. However, in exchange, that girl must then become a Puella Magi, a girl with magical powers, and fight against witches, evil creatures born from darkness that are responsible for murders and suicides.
In the city of Mitakihara, a schoolgirl named Madoka Kaname and her friend Sayaka Miki are approached by a familiar named Kyubey, who offers to grant each of them one wish in return for making each of them a Puella Magi. Another Puella Magi named Homura Akemi tries to prevent Madoka from making such a deal, while Kyubey urges Madoka by telling her she will become the most powerful Puella Magi. However, contrary to glamorous notions of being a magical girl, a Puella Magi finds herself dealing with death, isolation, agony over the value of her wish, and existential crises. Madoka, following her friends, soon sees the darker side of being a Puella Magi, and because of knowing the truth about being a Puella Magi, she questions if she should become one as well.
The spin-off manga, Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice, takes place in Asunaru City and follows a amnesiac Puella Magi named Kazumi who, along with a Puella Magi band known as the Pleiades Saints, battles against an evil Puella Magi named Yuri.
Puella Magi Oriko Magica takes place in an alternate timeline to the main series, in which Homura, Mami Tomoe and Kyōko Sakura, along with a young orphaned girl named Yuma Chitose, find themselves up against a Puella Magi pair, Oriko Mikuni and Kirika Kure, who are hunting other Puella Magi.
Terminology
Puella Magi (魔法少女, Mahō Shōjo?)
A Puella Magi, or magical girl, is an adolescent girl gifted with powers granted from making a contract with an Incubator. This contract lets the Incubator grant the girl any single wish she desires, but in exchange, she must become a Puella Magi and live a life of fighting against witches. The powers she receives are often related to the kind of wish she asked for; for example, a wish to cure someone will grant enhanced regenerative abilities. They can also use their magic to enhance real world objects. A Puella Magi's magical power originates from a special gem she carries called a Soul Gem, which is created when she makes the contract to become a magical girl. When a Puella Magi dies in a barrier fighting against a witch, her body remains within the barrier and, since no body can be found, they are forever considered missing by normal people. When a Puella Magi falls into despair or corruption and fails to replenish her Soul Gem, she eventually "matures" and becomes a witch herself. The Puella Magi will also die if her Soul Gem is destroyed by other means.
Soul Gem (ソウルジェム, Sōru Jemu?)
A Soul Gem is an egg-shaped gem that holds a Puella Magi's power, which its user can use to transform. The size is relative to the amount of magical power residing in the girl, and the gem glows whenever a witch or one of its familiars is nearby. When not in gem form, it takes the form of a ring on the user's finger, accompanied by a small symbol on her fingernail. When a Puella Magi transforms, her Soul Gem is located somewhere on her outfit. The Soul Gem contains a Puella Magi's soul, leaving her body as a shell that they control remotely to fight and can take any amount of damage without threat to life. If her body is more than 100 meters away from her respective Soul Gem, her body will become limp and lifeless. Returning her Soul Gem to within 100 meters of her respective body will revive her. If the Soul Gem breaks or is destroyed, the Puella Magi will die.
The brightness of the gem is also relevant to how much a Puella Magi can use magic. The brighter it is, the stronger the Puella Magi becomes and the more that magic could be used. Inversely, the darker it is, the weaker the Puella Magi becomes and the less that magic could be used, up to the point when she can no longer use magic because she has exhausted her powers. The gem becomes darker and more tainted with each use of magic and needs to be purified by transferring the taint into Grief Seeds, otherwise it will become dull and corrupted. Magical power is replenished when the Soul Gem is cleansed. If a darkened Soul Gem becomes too corrupted, it will become a Grief Seed, transforming the Puella Magi into a witch herself.
Witches (魔女, Majo?)
Witches are evil entities that are born from Puella Magi who have fallen into despair, and failed to purify her Soul Gem. Witches reside in special areas called barriers that only Puella Magi and those with magical potential can enter. Left alone, witches can affect humans in the real world by giving them marks known as "Witch's Kisses" (魔女の口づけ, Majo no Kuchizuke?), which either cause accidents, give them diseases or force them into committing suicide. Witches often spawn lesser versions of themselves called familiars that can mature into new witches if left alone. The most powerful witches are called Walpurgisnacht (ワルプルギスの夜, Waruparugisu no Yoru?). The worlds in which the witches reside are a stark departure from the everyday world. Each is rooted in surrealism, and demonstrate themes and animation style reminiscent of the work of Jan Lenica.
Grief Seed (グリーフシード, Gurīfu Shīdo?)
Grief Seeds are black egg-shaped thorns from which witches are born. Once planted, they soon form barriers, which are special areas hidden from normal sight while the witches mature. When a witch is defeated, the remaining Grief Seed may be used to cleanse and restore magical power to a Soul Gem, which becomes tainted as magic is used up; hence, it is considered a valuable item by rival magical girls. Kyubey is shown to consume used Grief Seeds. Soul Gems may themselves become Grief Seeds if they become too tainted and the Puella Magi falls into despair. In Kazumi Magica, the evil Puella Magi Yūri uses imitation Grief Seeds known as "Evil Nuts" (イーブルナッツ, Īburu Nattsu?) which transform humans into pseudo-witches, carrying out their dark desires.
Anime
Puella Magi Madoka Magica began development after Akiyuki Shinbo expressed his desire to work on a new magical girl series to producer Atsuhiro Iwakami while they were working on Hidamari Sketch and Bakemonogatari.[3] During early planning stage, Iwakami decided to not adapt an existing work in order to give Shinbo more freedom in his direction style.[3] He then contacted Gen Urobuchi to work on the project as a scriptwriter and Ume Aoki as a character designer.[3] The series was announced in a commercial slot during the anime series Togainu no Chi.[4] Since then, more commercials have been shown in the same slot revealing the characters and cast.[3] The first ten episodes aired on MBS, TBS and CBC between January 7, 2011 and March 11, 2011.[5] Episodes were then made available for streaming on Nico Nico Douga and BIGLOBE's Anime One service a week after broadcast. Due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the broadcast of episodes 11 and 12 were delayed and were later aired as a double bill on April 21, 2011.[6][7][8]
The series will be released on Blu-ray Disc (BD) and DVD between April 27 and September 21, 2011, having been delayed from the original release date of March 30, 2011 due to the earthquake.[9][7][10] The opening theme is "Connect" (コネクト, Konekuto?) by ClariS while the ending theme is "Magia" by Kalafina, both of which were released on February 16, 2011.[11] In the BD/DVD version, the ending theme for the first two episodes is "Mata Ashita" (また あした, Another Day?) by Aoi Yūki, which is included with the first volume. Kajiura Yuki is responsible for the soundtrack, the first volume of which was released on May 25, 2011 alongside the second BD/DVD volume. Shinbo has expressed interest in doing a follow-up series that would focus more on a slice of life story.[12] Drama CDs have been included with the first and third BD/DVD volumes. Aniplex of America will release the series in North America.
Manga
Houbunsha will be publishing three manga series based on the series. A direct adaptation of the anime series, illustrated by Hanokage, was published in three tankōbon volumes, each containing four chapters, released on February 12, 2011, March 12, 2011 and May 30, 2011 respectively.[14][15] A side story manga, Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice (魔法少女かずみ☆マギカ〜The innocent malice〜, Mahō Shōjo Kazumi Magika: The Innocent Malice?), written by Masaki Hiramatsu and illustrated by Takashi Tensugi, began serialization in Manga Time Kirara Forward magazine from January 24, 2011, focusing on a different set of characters.[14] A third manga, Puella Magi Oriko Magica (魔法少女おりこ☆マギカ, Mahō Shōjo Oriko Magika?), written by Kuroe Mura, was released in two tankōbon volumes released on May 12, 2011 and June 12, 2011 respectively
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