Description
“Puella Magi Madoka Magica”, or shortened to “Madoka Magica”, is a mahou shoujou anime created by Gen Urobochi. It is about a girl named Madoka Kaname who dreams of becoming a magical girl. Eventually, her and her friend Sayaka find Kyubey, a little creature that prompts them to sign a contract to do exactly that. When someone makes a wish to Kyubey, they become a magical girl in exchange for their soul. The more powerful the wish, the more powerful the girl is. Madoka and Sayaka also meet other magical girls that they make into their allies. Throughout the show the girls fight evil beings called witches whos souls are tainted by darkness. However, soon Madoka learns that the task of being a magical girl is not entirely pleasant…
About the Mangaka
Madoka Magica was created by Gen Urobuchi, however the manga, which came afterwards, was illustrated by Hanokage. Hanokage is an illustrator and a mangaka, and she was known for her adaptation of Madoka Magica into a manga. She has also made spin-off mangas of other series. Not much is known about Hanokage other than her work, but I recommend to check the manga out for its illustrations.
Characters
Madoka Kaname
Madoka is the main character and an 8th grade student who is very sweet and kind. She really cares about her friends and is always surrounded by them because of her gentle personality. Even if she doesn’t understand complex things, she tries her best to solve problems in any way se can. However, Madoka has low self confidence and only feels useful when she’s helping people, which might be why she wants to become a magical girl. Madoka never transforms into a magical girl until the end of the show, though.
Sayaka Miki
Sayaka is Madoka’s best friend and is in the same class as her. She is shown to act slightly tomboyish and heroic and would do anything to protect her friend Madoka. Sayaka is also incredibly in love with a boy named Kyousuke because they both like classical music. When Sayaka makes her contract to become a magical girl, she does it to save Madoka from danger, and she wishes for her crush to get cured from his injury. Sayaka as a magical girl is very careless and gets injured very often in the name of protecting others.
Mami Tomoe
Mami is the girl who teaches Madoka and Sayaka about the existence of magical girls. They learn this when she saved them from a witch and reveals her magical powers. She’s a bit older than the other girls and is in a higher grade than them. Despite being very experienced at being a magical girl, Mami is very lonely and wishes to have teammates. She is cheerful and takes pride in saving people.
Homura Akemi
Homura is a girl who transfers to Madoka and Sayaka’s classroom. She is perceived as very cold but intelligent and excels in multiple subjects. Due to her mysterious aura, she raises a bunch of questions among the girls. Turns out, Homura is a magical girl but she knows all the hardships and loss that come with being one. She keeps telling Madoka over and over again not to become a magical girl. Even if the others view her as cold and distant, she cares deeply about them.
Kyoko Sakura
Kyoko comes off as a fiery and stubborn magical girl. She has a rivalry with Sayaka, because she believes that Sayaka’s wish was a bad choice and pities her for making such a decision. Despite acting like she has strength and control, Kyoko masks her inner feelings of loneliness. When Kyoko was younger, her father had learned about her becoming a magical girl, went insane and killed her family. Because of this, she learned that trying to help others through wishes was no use.
Kyubey
Kyubey is a cat-like alien creature who grants wishes in order to make girls become magical girls. Even if he sounds human, he is nothing but an incubator for girls’ hopes and dreams. He has no real emotions. Kyubey makes becoming makes becoming a magical girl as appealing as possible, so they can become easier to exploit. Homura attempts to kill Kyubey multiple times because of his ulterior motives, which are unknown to the other girls.
