Number two of my wonderful reviews. How'd you like the first one? Well, I think you'll all enjoy this one, because it's one of the series I've been enjoying the most this season. If you're not watching it, I strongly recommend you start.

Spoilers ho! Read at your own risk. Don't say I didn't warn you. More text heavy than the previous because I went off on a tangent and did more of a review than I wanted to.

Also, it looks like the next review is going to take a little bit longer than I expected because I've run out of space on my Picasa account. Currently linking images from my Photobucket account, but it's a pain in the arse, so I'm going to have to find an alternative.




An episode or two past the middle of the season...I think, and the series is going full throttle. Given the title of the ultimate in trolling anime for reasons I'll explain later, the series is a blast to watch.With the original manga series penned by the same man who brought us Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter X Hunter, the series is in no way subpar.

Story wise, the series is based on a series of stand alone arcs, as the original manga was, in essence, a series of short stories. The Prince (blonde haired male, pictured above on the right), along with his merry band of 'servants' are the unifying string in all of the stories.

The first arc was a blast to watch. The build up to the climax of the story was great, and the Prince's antics were nothing short of hilarious. Watching how similarily Yukitaka and Craft were with their pummeling of the Prince and arguing with each other was another hilarious treat. Of course, we can't forget the cute eye candy this arc brought, Miho. While there isn't any fanservice, just having Miho around is a blessing, seeing as the rest of the cast is either a hotblooded male, or a not-so-hot-blooded-male.
The build up of the events and story in the first arc really makes you feel that it really isn't that much of a comedy. The third episode is really tense compared to the first two, and gives the impression that the series is heading onto different territory...

Until you get to the end. While I won't spoil the punchline of the series, I will say that it was one of the greatest things I've watched in an anime in a very long time. It's streamed on Crunchyroll, so head on over there to catch the first three episodes if you don't have access to TV Tokyo.



The second arc brings a new cast of characters, a new art style, and a completely new atmosphere. Compared to the first arc, with it's bright colours and lively characters, the second arc brings a shaded art style, with dull colours and a very creepy atmosphere. A short, one episode arc that serves to show that the Prince is still up to his antics on Earth.

The third and current arc brings back the bright colours, along with a new and even livelier cast of elementary school students. The story is wacky, like it's cast of characters, and the Prince flexes his trouble-making muscles like never before.

Haven't finished watching this arc yet, but I can say that it's not quite as great as the first arc was, but it's nothing short of entertaining. The Prince's antics, combined with the main cast's interactions with each other provide a constant wave of entertainment.


Eye candy this time around is the cast's school teacher, Tachibana-sensei, who also happens to be an assassin from space (middle picture) You know, she's pretty hot in either form. *runs away*

Art wise, the series sports nice character designs and vibrant colours when needed. Odd life forms are typically animated in CGI, but they're nicely integrated into the 2D animation. The third arc's RPG format story sports some interesting designs too.

The music always suits the scenes and is well placed. BGM isn't in places unneeded, and it seems that there's a new set of tracks for every arc. The RPG-esque third arc sports chip-tune, as well as the Prince's wonderful Sentai theme singing.

This is one of the series I really urge people to watch. It's away from all the dense-harem-leads, fanservice and long drawn on battle scenes that people seem to love (looking at you Bleach and Naruto). It's a great comedy series, and each arc brings with it something completely new. Characters are great, and are often designed to connect with the viewer (second arc is a great example). It's simulcasted on Mondays at 10PM (PST) over at Crunchyroll, so you've got no excuse to miss out on it!

It finally begins! I've been putting this off until my reading break starts, and now it's finally here! I've got a butt tonne of work to do during the week, so these will generally show up later in the day.

HI HO SILVER AWAY!!

Text heavy post. Spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk. Don't say I didn't warn you.





Over half way through the series (yes, it's only 12 episodes long) and the story has made itself quite clear that Urobochi has no intention of giving us diabetes with cutesy magical girl action. With death, deceit and despair looming around almost every corner, each week adds another weight to the cast.


Urobochi commented on the story, saying that the focal point is Madoka's struggle between becoming one of the Puella Magis, or heeding Homura's warning and keeping herself out of it. Every episode seems to draw her towards Homura's side, but if the character art is anything to say, she will eventually take up the fight.

Shinbo's decision to use a different animation style for the Witches bugged a lot of people. Heck, even the character design was a turn off for some people (I'm looking at you Andrew). It didn't particularly bug me too much, but I can see why he did it. It really sets the atmosphere. Whenever a Witch materializes, they're in a different plane. Using a different animation style easily depicts that while also setting a rather creepy tone. There was a bit of a problem of integrating the regularly animated characters into this, but I don't think it was too much of a problem.

The music by Kajiura Yuki is wonderful. Kajiura has always impressed me with her works and this one isn't any different. The music is well placed (I don't think Kajiura has much of a say in that) but the music really does set the tone of the scenes. The outro theme (Magia) surprised a lot of people when the preview first came out. It was vastly different from the opening by ClariS; it was dark and heavy. Not something you expect from a Magical Girl show. It does, however, certainly suit this series, as it's hardly your average magical girl show.

One of the best series this season, hands down. I'm not being biased either. The story is absurdly intriguing, inspiring throngs of theories about how the story will play out, who Homura is, what the very first sequence of the series meant, what Kyuubey is, and the list goes on and on. A lot of them are valid, while some are pushing it a wee bit.

Speaking of Kyuubei, he and Homura currently hold the title of 'most mysterious character' in the series. Kyuubei has been holding back information from the cast, information they would most definitely want to know. Information like what the contract really does to you, how the wishes and miracles work, etc. Homura seems to know a lot about the magica, and Kyuubei doesn't seem to have made a contract with her, leaving viewers to wonder where she comes from and who she really is.

What I love about Madoka Magica is the small, tight knit cast it sports. With Madoka as the main character, Sayaka as her best friend, Homura as the aloof 'friend' and more recently Kyouko, who joins as the sort-of-enemy-turned-probably-friend, the minor characters don't often make appearances. Even the minor characters are few in number; I can count maybe 4-5?

All in all, this is one of the series you don't want to miss this season. It's got a great story, excellent music, great characters and best of all, it doesn't have a male lead character who happens to have a skull denser than lead, but is still loved by all the girls.

When she stands, she is a peony; when she sits, she is a lotus; when she walks, she is a lily. Oozing pheromones in full throttle, is the perfectly flawless princess, Hanada Ran. And now that she's transferring from her high-class all girls school to a co-ed school, she's decided to search for her prince! First she meets Kashiwagi Eiji, a pervert who insults her--he's the last man she'd ever want. Then she meets the student body president, Watabe Shizuru, a perfect prince, and sets her sights on him! But then her parents announce that she has an arranged marriage with the son of the people who saved their lives... the Kashiwagi family!?