14 year-old Madoka Kanome has a dream in which a dark haired girl is battling against a monster in a weird imaginary world. As Madoka class welcomes a new girl, she sees the very same girl, Homura Akemi introduced by her teacher. Even stranger, Homura seems to know Madoka and confronts her in the hallway about whether she loves for her friends and family or not. After school, whilst hanging out with her friend Sayaka Miki, Madoka hears a voice calling for help. Following it to an closed floor, she finds a small creature named Kyubey being attacked by Homura. As Homura insists that she hand Kyubey over, Sayaka helps Madoka and Kyubey escape. They are then caught in a strange illusion and approached by more strange creatures, but are rescued by another girl named Mami Tomoe, who transforms into a magical girl and fights them off, dispelling the illusion. After confronting Homura, Mami heals Kyubey, who offers Madoka and Sayaka the contract to become magical girls.
As of viewing episode 8 I find myself compelled to write a kinder review of this show than the earlier guys have done. What happens when the comical villains in Sailor Moon get serious and cause death and mayhem? Something like Magical Girl Madoka Magica. We get all the cute trappings of a magical girl anime but very harsh realities (sur-realities) where choosing to become a super soldier of love and justice may be the worst mistake you ever made. I'm very much anticipating/dreading episode 9. If you found Evangelion to be a thought-provoking series then this may be the show for you.