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Puella Maji Madoka Majica
This is the best show I have seen in years. They gave the guy who made Bakemonogatari free reign. I literally can't say much else without ruining it. If you aren't watching this, you need to.
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Everything ramps up after that. I think we might be seeing one of those times when a director and writer go from being names you recognise in the credits to *shakes fist* "DAMN YOU [insert names]!"
Madoka on the other hand has gotten me excited for a currently airing show in a way only Gurren Lagann and Kaiji have done in the past. Mostly due to the situations in which the characters are put in and how they react to them even if the outcome is rather predictable. Which is why you shouldn't judge a show on the first episode unless you know full well what the show is gonna be. The first episode does play out like a typical magical girl show but once those trippy visuals Shinbo is known for kick in, its pretty clear it isn't gonna be a normal MG show. By the third episode its clear things are headed in a different direction then usual.
I was tempted to ask if anyone else on these forums was watching Madoka, now that I know other people are it's going to lure me out of lurking.
I seriously went in just expecting another magical girl show. I initially had no reason to believe otherwise and I was kind of okay with that, being a fan of magical girl shows. But this one really blows everything else out the water. It's taken it's place in my top 3 right alongside Card Captor Sakura and Princess Tutu. I think the best part is how I (and a few of my other friends as well) learned to understand and like characters that gave an initially bad impression (Homura, Kyoko). It also raises several interesting psychological questions (for people who already understand what's going on).
The show will now have a spin off that will be Well it certainly will be harder to sell the show to people if they get the wrong impression through this.
Didn't care for Ideon but having more of it isn't bad either.
Damn, the show is fucking dark. When I first heard about it, particularly because the character designs are from the person that made Hidamari Sketch, I expected a happy go lucky magical girl show. Hell, the absolutely misleading opening animation just reinforced that idea. And then: people dying, absolutely deranged (but great) animation, souls getting ripped out of people, and a dose of cannibalism to top it off.
derpdarkness comes mostly from the scriptwriter. Who also wrote the script for Saya no Uta (aka Song of Saya, aka My Girlfriend the Shoggoth). The LOLGOD ending is just that. LOLGOD, nicely incorporated.Bakamonogatari is probably the better show. But Madoka gets a lot of points for taking Magical Girl and doing something new and interesting with the genre. I'm not saying everything Madoka did was original, or that Madoka was a perfect anime. It was a predictable dark fantasy/scifi. But the characters were well written, the story was interesting, and the visuals really put it over the top especially in the final two episodes. The Homura versus Walpurgis Night fight alone is everything I want from anime and more.
Speaking of which: What the hell, man?! Spoilers!
Also, I'm sorry you didn't get any sense of character from the others. There's not much time for it, in a 12 episode series, but at least recognize that other people had a different viewing experience. I was amazed at how strong a sense of Mami I got, for instance, after her starting off as a just another half-lidded-makes-this-look-easy senpai. And certainly Sayaka had her time in the sun, and Kyouko went through a complete arc! Hell, even Kyubey gets to have a range of postures and interactions, and he only has one expression!
Honestly, I think the show is the equal of any that I've ever seen, marred only by callouts to the same-old same-old moeblob nonsense, but that's not unlike complaining that Evangelion has really really ridiculously large robots in it.
Also, don't know why we're arguing details. xD Lets agree, watch Madoka!
Homerun-chan's proper introduction only came in episode 10. In that time Kyouko strangled a Kyubei. Before that she had zero motivators. Forced mystery surrounding a character does not make future reveals character development. She was also in tears before, maybe twice. But the characters are still mostly bland. The only interesting thing is the pattern they leave after colliding with the brick wall of the world.
Mostly agree with everything Nine said in this thread, though. Some of the characters are paper-thin, and the briefness of the series is not really an excuse when you consider series like FLCL, Jyu Oh Sei, Baccano, Kemonozume, and plenty of others that are similarly short and still manage to develop their characters plenty. Also, a lot of the moments that felt like they should have been "oh snap" moments kind of fell flat for me because I saw them coming.
The execution is what makes this show great. Definitely some strong Eva and Paranoia Agent elements got thrown into the mix rather well. The themes are strong throughout and there's a lot of material to consider. The structure is logical and the ending doesn't seem too rushed, drawn out, sudden, or out of place. The quality is consistent and the animation is trippy. Despite its faults, everyone should watch it. It's probably one of the best shows of recent years.