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Today, I will be reviewing Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I watched this one with subtitles, as I wasn't able to find an English dub. It's a very short series, just 12 episodes and perfect for one of those days where you have 6 hours and just want to binge-watch. Maybe I'm the only one with days, like that?
Puella Maji Madoka Magica is not what you're expecting. When I walked into it, I knew it wasn't 'what I was expecting' and it still wasn't what I was expecting.
Madoka Magica is a deconstruction of the 'Magical Girl' genre. What does that mean? Well, they're taking apart the premise of Magical Girls and ask the questions that aren't asked in, say, Sailor Moon. What *is* a magical girl? Who are these adorable creatures that grant them their abilities and what is their game? Where are the bad guys coming from and what are they really doing?
Madoka is a junior high student living a fairly typical life, she isn't exceptional in any way she can think of, she tries to help her parents with her younger brother, hang out with her friends, Hitomi and Sayaka, and her biggest decision on a typical day is if the pink ribbons are going to be too flashy to put in her hair.
This all changes when she has a dream of an apocalyptic event she watches from afar while a girl she's never seen but, somehow, still seems familiar to her suffers defeat at the hands of an opponent so monstrous in scale that it's difficult to separate the creature itself from the havoc it is wreaking on the world. And it's here that a mysterious creature tells her she has the power to change it all.
The next day, the girl from her dream transfers into her class and she learns her name is Homura. Homura is hardly friendly, but seems keenly interested in Madoka and Madoka's future.
Later that day, she will see this new girl hunting the adorable creature from her dream, Kyuubey, and makes no pretenses about her desire to kill it. Madoka puts herself between Homura and Kyuubey and, despite Homura's deadly intent, hesitates to put Madoka in harms way. Kyuubey's caretaker, Mami, shows up and after a brief stand of, Homura yeilds.
Mami and Homura are Magical Girls who have made a contract with Kyuubey, granting them any wish their heart desires and, in exchange, binding them to hunt the creatures known as Witches, enter their labyrinths and destroy them.
The first time you are shown the inside of the labyrinths, you know something is very wrong with all of this. As dark and twisted as these places are, they are filled with the familiar and the common re-imagined as horrors and this is the first real clue as to the dark turns the series will take.
This is not a series for the faint of heart. You will see little girls die horrible deaths. You will feel the shackles of fate weigh on you as you struggle to where the key they intend to release you with is and when it's given to you, you will wonder if the cost was too great. You will find all the sweetness and innocence you've taken for granted revisited upon you in pain and corruption in equal measure. And you may never be able to look at magical girls the same, afterwards.
I really enjoyed this series a lot, but that is partly because I enjoy both the very sweet and charming and the very dark and disturbing. Madoka Magica is both and it is unflinching in it's willingness to use those against you and does not hesitate to build your hopes up that everything will be okay, only to knock your hopes out from under you.
It is Neon Genesis Sailor Moon and I very much recommend it for anyone who is always looking to see the truth behind all truths.
While it never shows blood or gore and most of the violence remains pretty stylized, they manage to be pretty graphic anyway and I wouldn't suggest this for people under the age of about 15 or 16. There is also some use of realistic weapons, such as guns and bombs and grenades, so if you're expecting everything to be light arrows and energy attacks, think again.
Madoka Magica is, despite it's vapid and immature appearances, is a very mature series that is only for an audience that is willing to let the creators abuse the viewers illusions.
The artistic style and sense is fantastic and is used to great effect to set the tone and to illustrate the stark dichotomy of the world, with picturesque and ideal looking settings and backgrounds underscoring the unnatural and eerie worlds inside the labyrinths and the disturbing, clockwork motion of its inhabitants. It's pretty rare that you see artistic style used to so effectively yet subtly convey narrative. Really, I can't say it enough. Spectacular.
I recommend watching this one alone and letting it have it's full impact on an entirely personal level without the distraction of having others interject. Just let it wash over you and seep in.
Some Anime is a sunny day. Some Anime is a hurricane.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica the eye of the hurricane, a world that is eerily still and peaceful with total ruin in all directions.
Madoka Magica is licensed in the US by Aniplex and there is a dub available. There are also a Manga adaptation and three spin-off Mangas, Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice, Puella Magi Oriko Magica and Puella Magi Madoka Magica: A Different Story. A series of movies have also been released, two of them that recap the series and a third one (RELEASED TODAY!) with an entirely original story.
You can also watch the series here: in either subs or dubs
Although the name is wrong, which is why I didn't watch it dubbed. (I watched it on YouTube, lol)
Love,
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About the game:
USA as a world power? In E-Sim it is possible!
In E-Sim we have a huge, living world, which is a mirror copy of the Earth. Well, maybe not completely mirrored, because the balance of power in this virtual world looks a bit different than in real life. In E-Sim, USA does not have to be a world superpower, It can be efficiently managed as a much smaller country that has entrepreneurial citizens that support it's foundation. Everything depends on the players themselves and how they decide to shape the political map of the game.
Work for the good of your country and see it rise to an empire.
Activities in this game are divided into several modules. First is the economy as a citizen in a country of your choice you must work to earn money, which you will get to spend for example, on food or purchase of weapons which are critical for your progress as a fighter. You will work in either private companies which are owned by players or government companies which are owned by the state. After progressing in the game you will finally get the opportunity to set up your own business and hire other players. If it prospers, we can even change it into a joint-stock company and enter the stock market and get even more money in this way.
In E-Sim, international wars are nothing out of the ordinary.
Become an influential politician.
The second module is a politics. Just like in real life politics in E-Sim are an extremely powerful tool that can be used for your own purposes. From time to time there are elections in the game in which you will not only vote, but also have the ability to run for the head of the party you're in. You can also apply for congress, where once elected you will be given the right to vote on laws proposed by your fellow congress members or your president and propose laws yourself. Voting on laws is important for your country as it can shape the lives of those around you. You can also try to become the head of a given party, and even take part in presidential elections and decide on the shape of the foreign policy of a given state (for example, who to declare war on). Career in politics is obviously not easy and in order to succeed in it, you have to have a good plan and compete for the votes of voters.
You can go bankrupt or become a rich man while playing the stock market.
The international war.
The last and probably the most important module is military. In E-Sim, countries are constantly fighting each other for control over territories which in return grant them access to more valuable raw materials. For this purpose, they form alliances, they fight international wars, but they also have to deal with, for example, uprisings in conquered countries or civil wars, which may explode on their territory. You can also take part in these clashes, although you are also given the opportunity to lead a life as a pacifist who focuses on other activities in the game (for example, running a successful newspaper or selling products).
At the auction you can sell or buy your dream inventory.
E-Sim is a unique browser game. It's creators ensured realistic representation of the mechanisms present in the real world and gave all power to the players who shape the image of the virtual Earth according to their own. So come and join them and help your country achieve its full potential.
Invest, produce and sell - be an entrepreneur in E-Sim.
Take part in numerous events for the E-Sim community.
