Episode Rankings: Magia Record

Magia Record... isn't that great. It pains me to say this because I love the Madoka franchise so much, and I actually really enjoyed the first two seasons of this spinoff, especially the second. However, Magia Record didn't just not stick the landing, it pulled an ending so bad that it pretty much ruined the whole show, while also being a complete misunderstanding of everything that makes the franchise so special. Unfortunately, I won't be able to recommend this one, but I'm still going to rank its episodes:

1. A Faint Hope (S1.13)
2. I Had A Feeling We Could All Become Magical Girls Together (S2.01)
3. Can't You Accept This? (S2.04)
4. You're Not Strong At All (S2.08)
5. There's No Place For You Here (S1.05)
6. You're Nothing Like Her (S2.02)
7. I Want To Go Home With You (S1.07)
8. My Name (S1.10)
9. Why Is This So Unbearable? (S1.12)
10. Isn't There Too Much To Bear (S2.03)
11. This Is Something Only I Can Do (S2.06)
12. Sorry For Making You My Friend (S1.03)
13. I'll Do Anything (S1.06)
14. A World With Just Me (S1.09)
15. Have You Heard? That Rumor About The Magical Girls (S1.01)
16. We Won't Forgive Anyone Anymore (S2.05)
17. We Failed (S3.01)
18. You Don't Know Anything (S2.07)
19. Memory Museum At 3PM (S1.11)
20. How Long Do We Continue Being Magical Girls? (S3.03)
21. You Definitely Shouldn't Respond (S1.08)
22. It's Proof Of The End Of A Friendship (S1.02)
23. All The Girls Disappearing (S3.02)
24. This Isn't The Past (S1.04)
25. No One Knows Our Record (S3.04)

Magia Record (Season 3)

I've been a bit of a Magia Record defender in my reviews of the first two seasons. I very much enjoyed the flawed first season, and I'd actually say Season 2 is genuinely great, perfectly worthy of the Madoka franchise, with its only major issue being the fact that it was cut short. However, now that Season 3 is out... I'm sorry, I can't defend this show anymore. Season 3 of Magia Record isn't just a bad ending to the anime, it's an extreme overcorrection on the part of Shaft. After all those criticisms about Magia Record not being dark enough, we get the most grimdark piece of Madoka media ever with its final season, completely misunderstanding the franchise's main appeal. With only four episodes, I want to go over every single one and outline the things this season did well, as well as the many things it screwed up on:

We Failed: This was a decent first episode. It took me some time to register that it was entirely a flashback, but I think finally revealing the backstory of Ui and the Doppel system was a good way to clarify things going into the final few episodes. Seeing Ui, Nemu, and Touka try to figure out their own solution to the Witch system is actually a really cool idea, perfectly in line with one of the franchise's biggest constants. However, the fact that this was pretty much entirely a backstory episode meant We Failed was also pretty exposition-heavy, which does drag down the episode quite a bit for me. Something that will remain a positive throughout this final season, however, will always be the visuals and music, which are as great as always. Magia Record is still an absolutely stunning anime from start to finish, and I hope asserting that here means I won't have to re-state this for every episode. But overall, We Failed honestly wasn't all that bad. A bit confusing and exposition-heavy, but it does a decent job at clearing everything up. It's a solid start.

All The Girls Disappearing: While I thought We Failed was alright, this episode was where this final season's flaws start to show a bit. The first half of the episode where Iroha and Touka regain their memories is actually pretty good, if a bit redundant due to all the re-explaining of what we learned last episode. However, the episode ends with Mifuyu and Momoko sacrificing themselves, the first of many character deaths in these last three episodes. Momoko, I'm not too broken up about, she was always one of the side characters and wasn't too important to the plot. Mifuyu, on the other hand, Yachiyo was trying to reunite with her for the whole show! Her relationship with Yachiyo was one of the most interesting parts of Magia Record, what did they kill her off for? Still, it's one character death, it's not like things could get worse, right? Right?

How Long Do We Continue Being Magical Girls?: Well, it took long enough, but we finally learned more about Kuroe... in the penultimate episode of the anime. Honestly, though, I think this was a minor improvement over the previous episode, since it lacked the expository first half and Kuroe's death was probably the most well-executed one of the season. With her doppel taking over in the Season 2 finale, it wasn't too unlikely that she wouldn't end up making it to the end of this series, and Iroha's desperate attempts to save her does a good job of evoking the original series. In addition, I liked Iroha and Ui finally reuniting, even if in odd circumstances. The whole episode was narrated by Kyubey, as he basically rips the Doppel system a new one, and I thought that was pretty cool. However, this also was the episode where I realized we barely saw any of the major characters like Felicia, Tsuruno, and Sana.

No One Knows Our Record: Before I talk about the finale, I just want to preface this by saying I had just finished watching The Shield, a show which ended so well nothing could reasonably follow it up. However, while I think most of this season was still at best decent, No One Knows Our Record is one of the worst series finales I think I've ever seen, especially since it started off so promising. The whole finale is the final battle with Alina, as Iroha struggles to regain her hope after Kuroe's death. The action is solid, the whole episode has a feeling of finality, and it's the perfect chance for Iroha to earn her happy ending... but that's not what happens. Sure, Alina is defeated and she gives her whole power of hope speech, but how is that supposed to be happy? Madoka's hope speech is affecting because she actively does something to improve the world, but Iroha simply stops things from getting even worse than they already are. Nemu and Touka still end up dying, the Doppel system is destroyed and useless, Walpurgisnacht seemingly killed most of the Madoka cast, Iroha is unable to save Ui (getting serious Hunger Games vibes here in the worst way possible), and worst of all, we learn that the entire world of Magia Record is just one of Homura's alternate timelines, and that none of it mattered in the slightest. I get why Shaft did this, they wanted to canonize Magia Record as a part of the main series. But then why tell this story? Why does this, out of all the different timelines, matter? Pretty much everyone's dead, no one's happy, Homura leaves this timeline because it's a lost cause. And that's just... not Madoka to me. 

In the final episode of the original anime, Madoka says "If someone ever tells me not to have hope, well, then, I'll just tell them they're wrong. And I'll keep telling them 'til they believe! No matter how many times it takes", and then she becomes the concept of hope itself. I think this quote sums up the Madoka Magica franchise as a whole for me. People tend to think Madoka is just hollow misery for the sake of it, probably because of its influence on the "dark magical girl" genre, but honestly that just screams to me that you haven't actually watched it. Even with its dark tone and elements, Madoka is still a story about hope, and holding onto that hope in the face of impossible odds, even if it makes no sense to do so. It's the critical element of why I love this franchise as much as I do, all of the hardships the characters face would've just been torture porn if the characters didn't put in the effort to overcome them, even if in a bittersweet fashion. Even more, the Incubator conflict wouldn't be as deep and interesting as it is if the characters weren't actively trying to find solutions to it rather than just succumbing to their fates. But in Magia Record's case, there is no hope, its world is a lost cause and all of its problems can't be solved. Magia Record is hopeless, and it's that difference that causes the anime to resemble the many grimdark Madoka clones that completely missed what made the Madoka franchise so special.

Overall, this was a frustrating ending to Magia Record. It still has the same fantastic presentation you know and love from Madoka, and the first three episodes weren't awful, but the grimdark ending that left many characters dead and rendered much of the series' conflict feeling like a waste of time ended up pretty much ruining this show for me. It's the first Madoka thing that left me actively disappointed. 

1/5 Stars

Magia Record (Season 2)

Magia Record's first season wasn't amazing, but I enjoyed it, and wrote that it shows a lot of potential. Thankfully, Season 2 shows that faith in the show was founded, as this was a big improvement on the first season even if it feels like just half of a larger season.

Season 2 continues right where the first left off, with most of the cast having joined the increasingly evil Magius, and Iroha seemingly dead. Yachiyo saves Iroha early on in the season with the help of her friend-turned-Magius-member Kuroe, so the plot shifts to them trying to break into Hotel Faint Hope, the Magius HQ, to figure out what the Magius are, and who Iroha's sister is. Meanwhile, there's a fantastic subplot about Madoka and Homura trying to save Mami from the clutches of the Magius. Both storylines are entertaining and focused, and I actually really found myself liking Kuroe as an addition to the main cast. Compared to Season 1, the tone has become much darker in the best way possible. The Magius's plan is unveiled in a series of genuinely grim twists that wouldn't feel out of place in the original Madoka series, and with characters beginning to die, the stakes are higher than ever. The pacing is also much stronger, reigning back the first season's massive cast to the main triples of Iroha/Yachiyo/Kuroe and Madoka/Homura/Sayaka. All of the minor characters do get at least one episode to shine, but the plot never comes to a halt to fixate on any of them. (Side note: Iroha actually wins fights this season, making her a much more effective protagonist). As a whole, this season has been a fantastic improvement, and while still not on par with the original series, I feel like I can genuinely call it great.

My biggest issue with Season 2 of Magia Record isn't really the show's fault. It's pretty obvious that this was originally supposed to be part of a much larger season that got cut in half due to the pandemic, resulting in a finale that, while not bad, does feel like it ended just as things were really getting started. Similarly, Episode 6 suffers from some pretty weak and unfinished animation compared to the others, probably for the same reason. Outside of that episode, though, the animation looks incredibly good. The Uwasa and Witches still look striking and inventive, and the fight scenes are on another level compared to pretty much the entire franchise. There's a big emphasis on cool showcases of teamwork and sick combo attacks, leading to setpieces that can rival the action in Rebellion in sheer spectacle. Similarly to last season, the music is good, even if it's not Yuki Kajiura level. However, we did get an episode entirely composed of music from the original series, which was absolutely fantastic.

I found myself enjoying most of the episodes this season, but there were a few highlights that particularly stuck out:

I Had A Feeling We Could All Become Magical Girls Together: This felt exactly like an episode from the original series in so many ways. Seeing Madoka and Homura again, the returning music, the emotional hook of the characters dealing with the Soul Gem reveal, it's like nothing changed. It also showed just how much of an improvement this season would be. Homura, Sayaka, and Madoka actually had a lot of character depth, the fight scenes were great, and the pacing was fantastic. It left me very optimistic for the rest of the season.

Can You Accept This?: This felt like the "Madoka Episode 3" of the series in the best way possible, essentially killing off the show's first character: Kaede. The reveal that your Doppel form can take you over, that the Magius contains those with Doppel Syndrome in an isolation ward, and that it all happened to Kaede is a twist on par with the original series. There was also another fantastic teamwork-heavy fight sequence.

You're Not Strong At All: As mentioned above, this finale definitely wasn't as good as Season 1's. A large portion of it is focused on Tsuruno's backstory, the Kaede hook from last episode isn't addressed at all, and some of the conflicts are resolved a bit too quickly. However, I did still like the ending a lot. The action scenes were great and utilized the whole cast, the triple cliffhanger is a super exciting hook for Season 3, the theatre visuals were beautiful, and Tsuruno's backstory was not only affecting but solidified her as one of my favorite Magia characters.

Overall, while the impact of the pandemic definitely shows, this season of Magia Record was a massive improvement over the first, fixing a lot of my issues with the show. The action is great, the twists are dark, Madoka and Homura get some great screentime, and the show finally feels like it stacks up against the other entries in the franchise.

4/5 Stars

Magia Record (Season 1)

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