Best of the Season

Written by l_AuG_l on March 11, 2011 at 2:28 AM

Animes of late have fallen into a mould. A loveable mould we've all come to love.

For people who don't know, Japan's anime industry has suffered a serious blow since 2006 and currently only half the amount of new shows are produced today in comparasin.
Because of that, true originality has become somewhat rare. Studios have resorted to making anime which they know will be popular. They shouldn't be blamed for it either. At the end of the day the bottom line is what really matters.

So why did I elaborate on that?
Because Madoka took a popular genre and with careless abandon turned it upside down.
This isn't your typical Mahou Shoujo anime.
Don't expect the light and fluffy fun of Magical Lyrical Girl Nanoha, Precure or Sailor Moon. This anime is mature and dark like no other. By episode 3 the smile was smacked off my face as one of my favourite characters was brutally killed. Each episode onwards from leave you and the characters deeper in despair. Oh such delicious despair! This anime holds nothing sacred, and twists in the plot abound.
To make comparasins, this is what would happen if you combined the themes of Gantz with any typical Magical Girl anime. And just to let you know, they are trying to BAN this anime in Japan for being too mature.

Visually the anime is beautiful. I'm normally used to Shaft making somewhat cheap but in enjoyable animes. But the studio has gone all out on this anime. The style is completely unique; the characters seem like sketchbook drawings but after awhile you agree with the studio's decision.
It just works.
Also the animation changes completely to fit the mood it is presenting. Absouletly stunning at times.
Think what Gainex did with FLCL and kick it up a notch.

Overall this is anime is a new favourite of mine. Waiting a week for each new episode is like some hellish punishment. It's truly original and hopefully it'll be appreciated by a larger audience.