Would You Like to Make a Contract?

This review contains some spoilers, you has been warned.

I have been a fan of Magical Girl anime for a number of years. My first, like many others, was Sailor Moon. My favourite part had to be the transformation sequences. After that was Cardcaptor Sakura which I used to watch religiously after school, her adorable costumes had me doodling my own for hours. Other than that, I've never really seen another Magical Girl anime that caught my fancy (not including Kill La Kill, as that one is more of a comedy).

I'd seen so many references and gifs floating around the internet for a while, I was convinced for a long time that it was a new anime for little girls. One day whilst browsing amazon, I decided to look it up and see what the reviews said. I was confused, as the reviews did not mention anyone purchasing this for their kids, and then I noticed the age certificate.

I never usually let appearances fool me, so I stopped reading any more about the anime and ordered the DVD from Amazon.

The anime begins with a strange dream sequence involving Madoka Kaname and Homura Akemi, Madoka is still a regular 14 year old, and Homura is a magical girl battling a giant Witch that is attacking the city. A cat like creature named Kyubey tells Madoka that if this girl gives up then then it's all over for the human race, and that the only way she can help is to make a contract with Kyubey to become a magical girl so that she can help to fight witches.

All sounds pretty normal for a Magical Girl anime so far? It turns dark pretty fast with more magical girls popping out of the woodwork trying to convince Madoka to make a contract that will inevitably lead to her death, and only Homura trying to warn her not to change who she is for the sake of the world.

Fortunately it takes a long time for Madoka and Sayaka to decide whether the life of a magical girl is for them. Kyubey offers each girl he makes a contract with one wish in exchange for their soul, being sure to brush over some of the nastier details until later on, including the fact that their wish influences their powers and that he extracts their soul from their bodies to their fragile nature.



I really liked the change in art styles whenever the girls entered a labyrinth to hunt witches, it was a little bit like John Lennon's drawings and Monty Python's opening animation had a baby that made you trip balls whenever you looked at it.

Witches themselves are said to be created by curses, and are known to cause random suicides and murders to happen. Once they have been defeated by a magical girl, they return to their former state of a grief seed which can then be used to cleanse the girls soul gem after she has used magic, helping her to avoid becoming a witch herself.

There were a fair few times where I forgot that this was a much darker take on the Magical Girl genre, with the beautiful transformations and the adorable furry sidekick. Then reality kicked in when the girls started to die horrifically one by one. The worst being my favourite character, Mami Tomoe who was the mother figure in the group and a veteran witch slayer. There's a whole array of animated .gif images and artwork dedicated to the moment she is decapitated by a witch.



It has that awful feeling of dread and hopelessness as each girl succumbs to their own curse or a witch destroying their soul gem. Soon it is known that the most powerful witch, Walpurgis Night, is coming soon and Madoka Kaname is the only magical girl powerful enough to defeat it at the cost of becoming the most powerful witch in the universe.

It did leave me with a lot of unanswered questions, and a craving to watch the film that I'm currently trying to hunt down. I will most likely start reading the manga when I get back from America, as I love the story so much that I need every detail. Especially concerning a series so full of paradoxes.



I highly recommend this anime to those who loved the Magical Girl genre growing up, who want something with more substance and horror. Overall this is a fantastic series to watch in the run up to halloween, and I highly recommend checking out some of the adorable cosplays if you're planning a magical girl themed costume.

Just be careful what you wish for.