At this point, I've seen a solid amount of anime, but Magia Record is definitely my first gacha game adaptation. As a result, it's definitely a bit overstuffed and oddly paced, but as a spinoff of my favorite anime, it's still an incredibly fun exploration of Madoka's world with some amazing visuals and a lot of potential for the future.
Magia Record is a much different type of story than Madoka. While that's a dark and personal story about characters, this feels like more of a Lost-esque mystery box, introducing a ton of mysteries in its first few episodes to resolve throughout the season. At its simplest though, Magia Record is about a magical girl named Iroha who forgets her wish, only to learn it was about saving a supposed sister who doesn't even exist. Meanwhile, there's a mysterious city called Kamihama City with strong witches and an odd aura that attracts magical girls to it, including the cast of Madoka. Throughout the anime, Iroha tries to solve the mysteries in Kamihama City while also forming a magical girl team and fighting powerful witches and other threats. As a whole, I do really like this emphasis on solving mysteries, and it serves as a good format for this larger scale series. Not everything is resolved here, but it doesn't have to be, there's not just one season this time. However, it's not perfect. Madoka Magica has some of the best pacing ever, but here it's a bit off. Some of the mysteries like Iroha's sister get dropped for others like the admittedly really fun Wings Of Magius storyline, there's a bunch of exposition every once in a while, and it takes a long time for the main cast to be established. I can forgive some of the pacing issues since this is just the first season and things do seem to be ramping up a bit by the finale, but it definitely holds these first thirteen episodes back.
The best aspect of Magia Record's story for me is easily the world-building. Madoka was a very personal story with a few major characters and took place in just one city with universe-changing stakes, while Magia Record on the other hand feels broader. Even though it's based on a non-canon gacha game, it's really cool to see a Puella Magi anime that explores the magical girl world as a whole. There are side groups, a bunch of different cities, and even an extremist group that found a system to prevent magical girls from turning into witches. However, with the massive cast and focus on mysteries, the characters are a bit weaker. It definitely doesn't help that it takes so long for the main gang to unite (we even get a bait and switch team in episodes 2 and 3), but even then, the characters are really lacking in depth. Madoka was so great because it was driven by the characters and the mistakes they made, but many of the characters here are a bit more thin, even if they are still fun to watch. Iroha is the biggest example of this, as while her mysterious elements are intriguing, she's a bit more of a blank slate than Madoka. Yachiyo fares a bit better, but even she feels like a Homura clone without the moral and emotional complexity. Still, I don't hate any of these characters even if they aren't as complex, and their group dynamic shows a lot of potential. I found Felicia to be the most fascinating by far, with a cool design, an entertaining yet flawed personality, and a great motivation about getting revenge for her parents' death. But even then, when my most liked characters were still just the cameos from Madoka (Mami, Kyoko, and Sayaka all appeared), that's a bit of an issue.
If there's one thing I can say Magia Record does just as well, if not better than Madoka, it's the presentation. If you liked the way the witch labyrinths looked, you'll definitely be satisfied in this one since SHAFT goes all out with the witches in this one. Every single witch is unique, inventive, and visually stunning. Everything else looks great too, though. The haunting backgrounds, the sketchy characters, the cool designs, the same vibe that makes Madoka along with Rebellion so visually stunning is intact and better than ever. As for the music, even though Yuki Kajiura isn't the composer this time, whoever worked on Magia Record's score did a really solid job of trying to reach her incredibly high bar. The music strikes a good balance between referencing Kajiura's work through similar instrumentations and returning themes while also doing its own thing, and I found myself very much enjoying it.
Magia Record didn't have quite as many highlights as the main series, but there were some episodes that definitely stuck out:
There's No Place For You Here: This was definitely the first really great episode for me. We learn more about Yachiyo, her best friend Mifuyu, and the parallels between her and Iroha. We get the first major twist of the series with the reveal that Iroha can summon her own witch like in Rebellion. And biggest of all, Mami appears and takes a surprise antagonistic role! I enjoyed the first four episodes on their own, but this one was the first to really give me those Madoka vibes.
I Want To Go Home With You: While the previous episode played the groundwork, this episode fully introduces the Wings Of Magius, a cult-like group that's drawing all the witches to Kamihama to slaughter them all. I really like this antagonist, even if it draws the focus away from Ui, and the reveal that Mifuyu joined them was great. We also get to spend a lot of time with Kyoko whose laidback attitude throughout the episode was such a joy to watch.
My Name: While I didn't love the A.I. storyline, Alina is a really cool villain in all of her insanity, and the reveal that Mami joined the Magius was another pretty great and shocking twist. I also liked the hook for the season's final arc where Iroha learns the girls in her dream are in the Magius too.
A Faint Hope: Magia Record is a pretty light-hearted show compared to Madoka, but this season finale packed one hell of a dark ending. By the end of the episode, Iroha is captured, most of the cast joined the Magius, Mami is brainwashed, Yachiyo is the only ones left, and biggest of all, Walpurgisnacht is coming! It wasn't all sad though, Sayaka showed up with some great fighting skills, the battle with Holy Mami was stunning, and the massive cliffhanger left me very excited for Season 2. Also, Sayaka losing her arm, regenerating it, and catching her sword in mid air is one of the coolest goddamn moments in the whole franchise by far.
Overall, Magia Record doesn't compare to the main series, but I never really wanted it to. It's an expansion of the Puella Magi world with some compelling mysteries and world-building along with the stunning visuals and score to give it that Madoka vibe, even if it struggles with its characters and pacing.
3/5 Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment