Quick Review of Puella Magi Madoka Magica Movies 1 and 2

Since the end of the Puella Magi Madoka Magica TV series in Japan, it has been brought to many parts of the world that has created a continuously growing fan base. Furthermore, a trilogy of movies was green-lit, the first two that would recap the series and a third supposedly as a sequel to the story of the TV series. Moreover, screenwriter Gen Urobuchi has planned an official 2 cour (22-26 episode series) Madoka Magica series to follow the third film as well as more films to follow. 

With the first two movies premiering in many countries over the last couple months and continuing to do so, I had the very fortunate opportunity to catch a screening while attending Anime Festival Asia in Singapore despite missing the showing while in San Francisco. As a result, here is my quick impressions of the first two movies: Beginnings (Hajimari no Monogatari) and Eternal (Eien no Monogatari).

Warning: The review may potentially spoil those who have seen neither the TV series or the movies. The review primary highlights some of the differences between the TV series and the first two movies.

Between January 2011 and April 2011, Puella Magi Madoka Magica brought to the anime community what many fans arguably consider one of the best anime titles in the past decade. Some of which even consider it a revolutionary title. It's easy why many say this: it's not a shounen title like Fullmetal Alchemist, Bleach, One Piece, Naruto, etc...; it's an atypical magical girl show; and it was presented in a time when the anime world really needed some original works to revitalize it.

Starting with Beginnings, the movie compresses the first eight episodes of the TV series. Barring the beginning scenes, it drops a lot of the useless "Hidamari Sketch" lifestyle that occur as the series progresses. However, most of the dialogue remains intact from the original series. In fact, the movie is basically the TV episodes slapped back to back with very poor transitions. Plot wise, the movie dropped a significant number of hints early on that Homura was a magical girl with time magic, which we didn't really learn until around episode 8 of the TV series with official confirmation in episodes 9 and 10. However, it does remove "Madoka's dream" of Homura fighting Walpurgisnacht from episode 1 despite mentioning it as a "weird dream" not too long after the movie starts. Hints were also being dropped of Mami's death well before it actually happened. Lastly, shoujo-ai hints were being dropped very heavily starting from the opening video clearly catering to the already large fanbase for a Madoka x Homura yuri pairing. In terms of additional confirmation, the movie did confirm the location of Mami's soul gem when she transforms as well as the destruction of it upon her death by Charlotte. It also confirmed that Madoka does leave her note/sketchbook in Mami's apartment after Mami's death, which is later returned in the second movie. I should also note that the series now has BLOOD!

The animation seems rather poor for a movie production when comparing to the blu-ray of the TV series. Nevertheless, there were a number of aesthetic changes, most notably the transformation scenes of each of the magical girls. The witch's curse designs were all upgraded with sparkly effects as were the soul gems. Speaking of "special effects," Credens Justitiam, also widely known as Mami's Battle Theme, received official lyrics in the movie, which is quite rare for a Yuki Kajiura composed work.

--end of Beginnings

Moving on to Eternal, it received a number of new scenes with SHAFT abusing its artistic edge in the animation industry to provide greater metaphors in its setting appearances. This is most noticeable after Kyouko sacrifices herself fighting Sayaka. Outside of that though, there wasn't much really changed aside from minor dialogue edits. Like the first movie, Eternal slapped the remaining four episodes back to back, though the flow was definitely much better due to better transitions between "episodes."

In terms of aesthetics, the insert of Connect, the opening theme to the TV series, felt completely random but well received by the audience mostly due to the various changes in the OP video from the original TV series, particularly with a large emphasis on Homura's and Madoka's relationship. The new demons also have clearer images though it's still not saying much as we don't really know anything about them. Lastly, Homura's and Madoka's little time together in the time and space continuum as the universe adjusts itself with Madoka's wish also received a few aesthetic changes. It's hard to say whether they're naked and beams of light are just covering them or they just have glittery white dresses as shown in the OP videos of the movie (Everyone had an "awww" moment when the two were snuggling against each other in the OP video). Either way, it's an extension of the heavy shoujo-ai/yuri emphasis of the two that had been prevalent throughout the movies.

--end of Eternal

So what's the verdict? The two movies do a good job of "summarizing" the TV series in solid four hours compared to the 6 hour TV series. However, to be honest, I certainly prefer the lengthier TV series over the movies mostly because of better transitions and the stopping points. The cliffhangers are one of the Madoka Magica franchise's strong points and not much really feels surprising when you remove those. Also, it's only 2 additional hours anyways so might as well watch that. Like I said earlier, there isn't much new content and it mostly covers up some plot holes.

That said, the question that comes to mind is whether it is necessary for the Madoka Magica movies to exist. To me, it seems like a judgment call. If you need just a refresh, watching the movies will suffice and save you 2 hours. However, if you're new to the franchise, watching the full series might be better to get the the full excitement factors that made the franchise such a big hit.

SPOILER FOR THIRD MOVIE BELOW:....kinda  Trailer now included thanks to the internet.

And the moment you've all been waiting for, the sequel to the TV series. At the end of the second movie, a preview for the third movie, Rebellion (Hangyaku no Monogatari) was shown. While it's still very vague as to what the main story is much of the audience are causing an uproar particularly over Kyouko appearing in a Mitakihara Junior High uniform. Furthermore, it seemed like there was hints of Homura fighting Mami head to head as well as Madoka no longer physically existing (hence sequel). The multiple red eyes of Kyubey clones also gave many Evangelion vibes. However, there are a few other things to note that contradict the "idea" of being a "sequel." Most importantly, Sayaka does show up in the preview, albeit brief, and Homura was not shown with her red ribbons. You can find the trailer uploaded by someone here for your viewing pleasure. I still recommend you watch the movies for yourself though to get the full enjoyment factor from this moment.

Gen Urobuchi did hint that the third movie would be related to the lyrics of Magia (ED theme for TV series), but at the moment it seems no one has really come up with a clear or plausible conclusion. The movie title obviously provides a small hint but not really anything beyond that. Seems like Ultimate Madoka may be cracking under some pressure in her new role though.

With those thoughts in mind, what do all of you think?