In 2011, Puella Magi Madoka Magica deconstructed the Magical Girl genre, burned the deconstruction to the ground, salted the earth, then took off and nuked the site from orbit - before rebuilding the world, more beautiful than it had ever been before. It's kind of a hard act to follow, but Yuki Yuna borrows a little of its power to do so, and does so well. Declining to challenge the juggernaut in a head-on contest of blows, it opts for economy of purpose and goes straight for the heart.
So let's talk about homages. In this timeline, the pink-haired title character with more potential than anyone, participates in the school's Hero Club, ostensibly a service organization helping find homes for kittens, along with her best friend, a raven-haired transfer student with surprisingly powerful combat abilities and a mysterious past. So in addition to Madoka and Homura we have Mami, the older girl who's running the show and knows just a little too much about the tragedy they will face, and Bebe, the younger character who helps her fend off loneliness. A few episodes in, Sayaka shows up and starts acting like she owns the town, but she slowly warms up to the others in time for the shocking reveal of Episode 6 in which we learn the terrible truth about what being a magical girl does to their bodies. Later on we're treated to an episode-10 flashback to Homura's backstory before Madoka finally saves the day, and saves all the magical girls, at great cost to herself. Or something like that; the names all run together.
Madoka spent much of the first three episodes pretending to be Happy and Fun, while preparing Chekov's Gun to launch a barrage of plot twists. Yuki Yuna spends five episodes, eschews all plot twists but one, and delivers it gently - seamlessly transitioning to dramatic irony. (The work on the Beach Episode in particular is genius.) Instead of leaving you on the edge of your seat in anticipation, it will leave you curled up in a ball crying.
Yuki Yuna is very strong at the center of its storyline, but frays a little at the edges. This is reflected also in the sometimes-awkward pacing. Its secondary weakness is related: while certainly foreshadowed, the ending is poorly explained.
Overall: 9/10 You Seriously Need To See This Sometime.
"I wish the flower-pressing club would give me an invitation."
In 2011, Puella Magi Madoka Magica deconstructed the Magical Girl genre, burned the deconstruction to the ground, salted the earth, then took off and nuked the site from orbit - before rebuilding the world, more beautiful than it had ever been before. It's kind of a hard act to follow, but Yuki Yuna borrows a little of its power to do so, and does so well. Declining to challenge the juggernaut in a head-on contest of blows, it opts for economy of purpose and goes straight for the heart.
So let's talk about homages. In this timeline, the pink-haired title character with more potential than anyone, participates in the school's Hero Club, ostensibly a service organization helping find homes for kittens, along with her best friend, a raven-haired transfer student with surprisingly powerful combat abilities and a mysterious past. So in addition to Madoka and Homura we have Mami, the older girl who's running the show and knows just a little too much about the tragedy they will face, and Bebe, the younger character who helps her fend off loneliness. A few episodes in, Sayaka shows up and starts acting like she owns the town, but she slowly warms up to the others in time for the shocking reveal of Episode 6 in which we learn the terrible truth about what being a magical girl does to their bodies. Later on we're treated to an episode-10 flashback to Homura's backstory before Madoka finally saves the day, and saves all the magical girls, at great cost to herself. Or something like that; the names all run together.
Madoka spent much of the first three episodes pretending to be Happy and Fun, while preparing Chekov's Gun to launch a barrage of plot twists. Yuki Yuna spends five episodes, eschews all plot twists but one, and delivers it gently - seamlessly transitioning to dramatic irony. (The work on the Beach Episode in particular is genius.) Instead of leaving you on the edge of your seat in anticipation, it will leave you curled up in a ball crying.
Yuki Yuna is very strong at the center of its storyline, but frays a little at the edges. This is reflected also in the sometimes-awkward pacing. Its secondary weakness is related: while certainly foreshadowed, the ending is poorly explained.
Overall: 9/10 You Seriously Need To See This Sometime.