I wish I could say I cried, but I found it hard to sympathize with these characters. They spent most of the series acting More Hero Than Thou and refusing to listen to each other. Plus the show going so far out of it's way to make them miserable didn't give me enough reason to feel emotionally attached to them. Made me wonder why I should care if they're all doomed anyway.
Kyouko was the most understandable. She has a very good reason to be alone, unlike Homura. The crap that is her life has jaded her, but deep inside she does want friends. Her shaky, suddenness of her development is just an issue of cramming the story into twelve episodes.
Indeed. That being said, it's really hard to sympathize with these characters when you know that they're doomed...and the character development was sped up too much thanks to the fact that six weeks' worth of time was jammed into twelve episode.
I still love the series. It's intelligent, dark, and it made me care for the characters.
And I wasn't expecting too much happy-happy joy-joy out of the thing anyways; it was penned by Urobuchi. It's guaranteed to be dark in some way, shape, or form.
"And I wasn't expecting too much happy-happy joy-joy out of the thing anyways; it was penned by Urobuchi. It's guaranteed to be dark in some way, shape, or form."
True, but I'm a big fan of Higurashi, which does a good job of balancing dark and dreary with heartwarming moments. The characters start to grow on you after a while, and you wait for (If you don't already know it's coming)that they'll get a happy ending.
Madoka meanwhile completely subverts all teamwork/nakama related tropes. The pic of battle damaged Madoka and Homura wielding the former's bow together is another example of the series' trolling. Instead of an epic final battle we get Madoka saving the world herself, just by standing there and wishing for it. She has the power already, she knows it, so the only question is how she can use it without screwing the universe over.
I love the series, but I can't say I cried at any point during it. It's not that I never cry - I shed more than a few tears at the ending of Angel Beats! - but I reckon, thinking about it, I tend to cry more at bittersweet stuff than at outright tragedy, which is what most of Madoka was. The ending was bittersweet, of course, but... I dunno. I guess I felt more moved to take it like Homura herself, for whom the ending was the most bittersweet - with unflinching stoicity. That doesn't change the fact that I adore the series, however.
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Aw...what a cute slice of OH GOD HOLD ME
I am not gonna lie; this is a favorite series of mine. Hell, I have watched it repeatedly, and not just because I'm writing MMVP.
First thing's first is the plot. It's brilliantly crafted, and it surprises with every episode. It keeps some of its secrets under wraps, revealing them slowly. There are a whole bunch of hints dropped along the way, but they're so well-hidden that you don't notice them until you rewatch the series. You see those little hints of Homura's past self in her every movement. You can tell that she's crying inside with each expression. You can see Mami's fear of loneliness, and there are numerous hints as to the fate of a magical girl.
That is not to say that Fridge Brilliance is all that there is to this series. Studio SHAFT has granted a deranged touch to this series that most studios cannot give; insanity. The witches seemed to clash with the sterile environments. The stark, futuristic streets, when compared to the chaotic clutter of a witch's barrier, seem to enforce an additional misery, an additional amount of stark despair onto the premise. It was a brilliant move on Shinbo's part, and it enhances Urobuchi's storytelling.
Finally, there are the characters. Now, a series that has a good plot yet unlikeable characters is not worth watching. Thankfully, that's not the case. This series will make you cry. I don't give a shit who you are. It will make you cry. You will care about this group of well-thought-out, three-dimensional characters. Even my least favorite, Madoka, is an interesting character in her own right, and she's only my least favorite because everyone else is so damn good. Especially Homura.
Poor, poor Sayaka...and poor, poor Kyouko...
That isn't to say that the series is perfect. Kyouko's characterization seemed to be a little off by the end; she suddenly wanted to save Sayaka. Granted, there was a reason for it, and she was given several weeks to change, but it seemed rather odd. Not to mention the fact that Kyubey would very quickly fail physics, and that Mami lost her head a little oddly in T3, though the former may have been QB dumbing things down for Madoka, and Mami being a lot less stable than we realize, but I digress.
It's still damn good. Watch it.