Büyücü Kız Madoka Magica, Cilt 1

Puella Magi Madoka Magica #1

by Magica Quartet, Hanokage (Illustrator), Tolga Kıray (Translator)

Madoka Kaname arkadaşı Sayaka Miki gibi ortaokula giden sıradan bir kızdır. Bir gün karşılarına kediye benzeyen Kyubey adında bir hayvan çıkar. Kyubey onlara bir dileklerini gerçekleştirebileceğini söyler. Ancak bunun karşılığında ise büyücü kız olup cadı denen varlıklara karşı savaşmaları gerekmektedir. Bu tekliften bir gün sonra Homura Akemi adında başka bir kız gelip Madoka’ya bu teklifi ne olursa olsun kabul etmemesini tembihler. Bölümler ilerledikçe çelişkiler büyüyecek ve ortaya çok daha korkunç ve karanlık gerçekler çıkacaktır.

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Horror, Seinen

146 pages, Paperback

First published February 12, 2011

About the author

A group collaboration consisting of director Akiyuki Shinbou, writer Gen Urobuchi, the original character designer Ume Aoki, and the producer Atsuhiro Iwakami.

Reviews

[Xwirus · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Hermosamente cruel"

Maho Shojo psicológico. (chicas magicas)

Hablare de este manga sin hacer spoilers, aunque es complicado ya que desde el principio hay multitud de giros argumentales.

Por las preguntas sobre la edad recomendada es 14 años, y para los que no queráis leeros el manga porque se lo queráis recalar a un/a chic@/hij@, probablemente chica o hija, aquí viene el porque, aviso que esta plagado de spoilers graves No todas las chicas mágicas conseguirán acabar este manga/anime con vida, aparte de la complejidad de los contratos, no se ofrece un deseo/milagro por nada, al principio del manga nos parecerá que la pega es que deberán luchar contra las brujas hasta la muerte, pero mas tarde veremos que el coste del deseo que pidieron es mucho mas alto y también puede ser algo traumático cuando descubráis como se crean las brujas y el por que de su existencia

Básicamente para que os hagáis una idea, cualquier shojo que yo lea es mas que probable que sea muy cruel (cosa de esperar de un manga de Urabochi), así que si esperáis un manga estilo sailor moon que viven en el mundo de yupi, probablemente no queráis leer este manga.

Ser una chica mágica no es tan kawaii y divertido como parece XD.
Manga/anime que es muy recomendable ver si estas cansad@ de ver las tipicas series de chicas, que tienen poderes mágicos del amor y la amistad, y acaban haciendo unos pasos de baile para hacer una magia que acaba matando al malo de turno, y todos los episodios repiten este mismo patrón, si buscas algo con mas profundidad, y a la vez sea corto este es tu manga (12 capítulos manga, 12 capítulos anime y 2 películas que lo resumen todo si te parece demasiado largo).

Trama:
El manga empieza con un sueño, el cual es mucho mas corto que en su versión anime y no nos permitirá adivinar partes importantes de la trama.

Madoka y su amiga Sakuya son unas chicas normales, entonces Madoka oye una voz pidiendo ayuda.

Rápidamente van a auxiliar esta voz y descubren que la nueva estudiante de intercambio Homura Akemi esta intentando matar a un lindo gatito que puede hablar,

gracias a la intervención de Sakuya consiguen salvar al gato, pero al huir acaban cayendo dentro de una bruja,

En ese preciso momento aparece tu mami (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDAlb...), digo Tomoe Mami, una chica extranjera la cual va un curso superior que nuestras amigas.

La cual las salvara de la bruja y le pedirá a Homura que se retire si no quiere que la mate hoy, después nos enteraremos que el gato se llama Kyubey y es el encargado de reclutar a chicas magicas para que luchen contra las brujas.

Comenta si te estas sorprendiendo con algo visto hasta ahora
Entonces este les explica que si se deciden convertir en chicas mágicas ella les concederá un deseo o milagro a cambio de que luchen contra estas, firmando así un contrato, entonces decidirán acompañar a Mami antes de decidirse, pero Mami les dirá que se lo piensen bien antes de unirse, dado que se cumpla un deseo o milagro tiene un coste..., y creo que hasta aquí puedo leer.

¿Si pudieseis pedir un deseo que pediríais?

Lo que menos me a gustado del manga, dado que es una adaptación de un anime, son los cambios innecesarios, como por ejemplo que Tomoe Nami antes de pedir su deseo estuviese a punto de morir por un accidente de coche, en lugar de por las consecuencias de la guerra como en el anime.

Por otro lado lo mejor es el acortar la introducción ya que en el anime era facil adivinar muchas cosas (spoiler gigante) por lo que dice Kyube la primera escena del anime y con la cara que tiene el anime no me digáis que no se ve a la legua...

Nota 9,5 (4,75 stars)


Más reviews en https://www.goodreads.com/review/list... dar a like si te a sido útil esta información, también puedes seguirme si tienes interés en ver más reseñas como esta y si tenéis cualquier duda, queréis debatir algo, avisarme de algún error o cualquier otra cosa lo podéis hacer en los comentarios. ^^

Se que es salirse del tema, pero me encanta la canción del pastel de la película :3
Original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLvaP...
Y también hice salir una imagen de cada uno de pos personajes principales. :P

[Victoria ✮⋆˙ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I decided to re-read this because I've been wanting to get to all the side stories and I'm finally gonna do it! So I'm starting with the base series of course.

This volume is just as amazing as I remember it to be! The world is so magical (obviously!!) yet so creepy at times and it's a great first volume. I really love Homura, she's probably my favourite girl and I just want her to be happy :')

I really recommend you try this series, just because it's so different than your conventional magical girl series and it's so unpredictable!

[Alice-Elizabeth (Prolific Reader Alice) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange creatures, a world where nothing is as it seems and a young girl who ends up having dreams about other people that suddenly come into her real-life. Most of the chapters were good until the final one. Lots of events were happening at once and got confused over which character was who. Liked most of the illustrations throughout!

[Ilias · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't be fooled by the cover

[Dork · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anime did a much better job conveying the subtle creepy tone and atmosphere.

[The Scarecrow · Rating 1 out of 5]

Before I get on with reviewing this, I have to admit that I had a little trouble finding this series by volume since it goes by a plethora of different names. Wikipedia told me it was chapters 1 through to 4 that make up the first volume, so I went with that. Apologies if I made a mistake.

On with the show!

Now this one was recommended to me by Vanessa, who has recommended two other tiles to me so far. The first was Black Butler, which was so frivolous and disappointing that I actually fell asleep reading it. The second was Monster, which is already one of my favourite manga of all time. So far, then, the score is 1:1. Let's make that 2:1 in favour of the involuntary 'headdesk'.

No, really, self-inflicted cranial trauma was the only way I could honour my commitment and finish this volume.

I have a couple of major issues, and the rest are just a ton of screencaps where I found problems. I hope that's ok but I don't really care about the approval - my last few posts were highly verbose and it's about time I tried a different way of expressing my frustration and/or disappointment. Since in this case I feel both those things, be prepared for a barrage of screencaps and snide comments. I apologize for nothing.

The cover was my first indication that something was about to go spectacularly, kill-the-spare-ingly wrong. This art is distinctly reminiscent of things (yes I'm looking at YOU, Cardcaptor Sakura) that I adored deeply as a child but even then felt bad about watching because it seemed too childish. Even as a ten-to-twelve year old, I felt like I was too old to be watching something that ridiculously girlish and immature. While Cardcaptors, and mostly Touya, hold a very firm place in my heart, PMMM is way out of my comprehension level. I repeat, sirs and madam, that I just cannot goddamn compute.

This kind of artwork was cute when I was in grade school. Now it just makes me roll my eyes, because I don't feel like I'm young enough to be able to appreciate it. For a manga that's trying to be 'gory' (there's one pathetically executed beheading that's less scary than the Scary Movie series) this isn't the artwork it needs. It cheapens the content and any attempt to be serious is blinkered by all the frills and ribbons.

Oh, and speaking of Cardcaptors, what's with the rodent? So it goes around making deals with random people it deems acceptable to stop witches making people commit suicide? Two things here. First:

He calls himself Kyubey but he's just ringing across as a Keroberos ripoff. Secondly, suicide is an epidemic in Japan, or it was for quite some time at the very least. Where the hell do these people get off eliminating the concepts of circumstance and choice in these scenarios? No, you must physically reinforce the concept of life onto people, because the only reason they want to commit suicide is because they're demonically possessed! Suicidal people are all possessed by the devil and therefore they're all going to hell! Man, Christians must love this series.

Speaking of chosen, are these kids picked off the street at random or something? Kyubey mentions that Madoka has a lot of talent, but at NO POINT in this volume is her talent made explicit, except for when Kyubey conveniently points it out. She never sticks up for herself, she never asserts herself, never has any opinions and just sits around whining and letting people clean up after her. Way to be, you imbecile.

If I weren't so against being casual about suicide, I'd tell you about how this stupid waste of space whining endlessly made me want to kill myself too. Maybe that's why people around her keep dying. It's not witches, they're just trying to get the hell away from her.

Okay, okay, that's too far. Not because she doesn't deserve it, but because people who are losing the will to live don't deserve to be associated with something so meaningless as PMMM.

I also adore the cheesy dialogue, a lot of which occurs when a battle is about to occur. My favourite is when Madoka leaves her friend to watch over a Grief Seed (which would hatch into a witch that could kill her) and goes to Mami for help. Instead of rushing to Miki's aid, however, Madoka and Mami just decide that they just want to have an emotional bonding session with heartfelt chit-chats, because hey, it's not like their friend's life is on the line, right? Oh wait, yes it is!

The least annoying character, Homura, isn't an exception to this cheesy-speech rule either. It's sad that a majority of this manga follows on in this vein. It just comes off as rehearsed and preachy, which just makes the characters sound two-dimensional and unrealistic, making it even harder to get attached to them or give a goddamn when they get beheaded.

I also love how so much of it isn't explained. How the girls are chosen are not explained, they're just speshul snoflakes with supah kawaii magikal powahs desu yo.

It's great how the characters always know where to be and what to do. Our main characters sacrifice nothing and are perpetually kept safe by other people. Nobody has to work for anything here, you just get GIVEN huge amounts of power so you can perpetuate the concept that there is no free will when it comes to despair. Expletive you.

I had a couple other allergic reactions to this volume too but those are better expressed via pictures. I copied 95% of the review onto here from my blog though so even if you don't follow the link you won't miss much, maybe just a Crash Bandicoot joke.

Yehey!

[Mizuki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basically the manga follows the story of the anime series, but I think the anime's artwork is far more impressive, especially when it comes to the witches and their different realms.

Still, it is still a cute (the magical girls are cute!!!) and....surprising series, me think.

[usagi ☆ミ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yen Press/Orbit/Hachette did an absolutely fabulous job with this translation. I'm really happy with it - and hopefully now they'll pick up the rest of the Madoka manga (and its spinoffs) for US publication, too!

[maiaaaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

for those of u who also watched the series/movie beforehand, this one ends right when kyouko first appears :P

[rita al · Rating 5 out of 5]

having such cute art with such a cruel story is brilliant honestly

[usagi ☆ミ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note to self: Don't make a contract to become a magical girl with a fluffy cute creature unless I want to keep my soul.

This series, when the first information hit the web in December, really fired up both fans and critics of Studio Shaft (the studio responsible for the TV anime). People were pretty evenly divided, since Shaft now has their own individual signature animation style, and everyone was wondering if this was just going to turn into another typical Shaft-style show. I myself was wondering the same.

I love Shaft, though they aren’t my favourite studio out there. Of course I had to give the show a try, and I loved it from the first episode onward. And then out came the manga, and my love for it only grew.

This isn’t your typical Shaft project. It’s nice the directors mixed up their usual style on backgrounds and character design, and it’s even better that that translated into the manga project as headed by Magica Quartet. This series makes no apologies about its content, which is pretty contraversial within the anime/manga world. The “magical girl” genre has been around since the late 1960s, and has only grown in popularity since then. If you’ve heard of “Sailor Moon”, then you know what a “magical girl” is – usually a girl with magic powers as the protagonist, going through rough battles in order to come out a better person in the end. Usually those that grant her magic powers (if she isn’t born with them in the first place) are usually benevolent non-human creatures that only want to improve the world and save it from evil.

Magica Quartet turns this on its head and asks us the question – “well, what if those benevolent magic power granting creatures didn’t really give a shit about saving the world from evil?”

This story isn’t one of the usual magical girl tropes, it’s an exception to the genre and, even when it’s at its most unbearable/painful in content, it’s still one of the best new stories to come out of Japan within the last year. It’s not all sunlight and awesome transformation sequences. It’s not all about justice and selflessness – if anything, it’s the opposite. You’re sacrificing yourself, fighting Witches and Familiars for the power to make the wish YOU made come true. No one else can do that but you.

I applaud Magica Quartet for making us think on this one. What would you do if you were offered a wish and the powers to make it come true? Would you question the price? Would you question your future should you choose to take Kyuubei’s deal and get your wish and powers at once? Magica Quartet makes us question our deepest desires and animal instincts and these days, in any kind of fiction, that’s pretty rare.

(crossposted to librarything and witchoftheatregoing.wordpress.com)

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This starts off as a fairly standard magical girl manga, with some really nice art. But by the last chapter, it becomes clear that this isn't going to be a typical series. It starts in a pretty standard way, with schoolgirls Madoka Kaname and Sayaka Miki getting the call to become magical girls and fight witches. They're guided by Mami, a more experienced magical girl, and Kyubey, an adorable, talking, magical critter. So far, quite normal, and it's only the art style that would make the series stand out. When the girls fight the witches, they enter into surreal, beautiful, creepy landscapes that are unlike anything I can remember seeing in the genre.

The last chapter throws quite a curveball, though it still leaves a ton of unanswered questions. This is the part where I really started to take notice. I don't know where this is going, but this is clearly not an average magical girl series, and I'm hooked.

[Ecmel Soylu]

animesi daha güzel

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whole series review (SPOILERS)

Very good manga adaptation of the anime! Madoka Magica was an anime original, so this manga was written based on the anime rather than the anime being based off the manga, the latter being the case for the majority of anime. While the manga follows the anime almost exactly, there are a few interesting differences, some for better and some for worse.

Character Designs
Kyubey's design from chapters 1-8 is very cute, but transitions to a creepy look after he is revealed to be "incubator" at the end of chapter 8. This is a change from the anime where his appearance never changes.



I think this change detracts from Kyubey's character a bit. The significance of his character isn't that he reveals himself as evil and was tricking the main cast in the first 8 episodes, but that he was unchanging from the start, the only change is that the main cast perceives him as more "evil" as the story progresses due to their own understanding of good and evil, which Kyubey himself doesn't understand. It could be argued that his appearance change after chapter 8 is how the main cast now views him, but I think the anime's rendition is better in showing him as how he claims to be, unchanging and devoid of any emotion.

Overall the character designs in the manga are more shojou-esque, rather than the extremely chibi Ume Aoki designs of the anime. The manga character designs are great and work well, giving the manga a slightly different feel which is more emotionally driven than the anime.

Gekidan Inu Curry Designs
The manga also does lose the unique Gekidan Inu Curry designs, especially in the witch fights, where the witches look more like normal monsters rather than give a feeling that they are truly in another world or dimension, which the art style in the anime succeeds at. This was the most apparent in Kyouko's backstory in chapter 7, which is told in a more traditional flashback style rather than the puppet style from the anime. I think this does cause the scene to lose some of its original meaning, as I interpreted the puppet storytelling from the anime was because of Kyouko's emotional difficulty when recalling her past, causing her to have to tell the story using puppets as a child would.



However, the manga version does give the scene more emotional resonance, as we see the face of Kyouko's sister who is killed a few panels later.

Pacing
Unfortunately, due to the faster pacing of the manga a lot of small things were lost. I was sad to see that my favorite bit of foreshadowing was cut out, when in episode 2 when Madoka asks Homura what she wished for, the anime has a closeup of Madoka's face to show it was her, while Homura just gets nervous and runs away in the manga. With the anime already being so detailed and already so fast paced, it is understandable that some details and small scenes were left out.

Manga Additions
There were some nice manga additions that added to its more emotional/character-focused style. For instance in chapter 4 when Madoka tells Homura she will never forget her. In the anime Homura remains pretty stoic in this scene, but in the manga she lets her guard down slightly, which I thought was a great change considering how many times Madoka has forgotten her in different timelines.

There was also a beautiful addition near the end of chapter 9, where after Kyouko's death Sayaka takes her hand, which fits the style of the manga well and closes out Kyouko and Sayaka's tragic arc.



The manga also had a great original ending of Homura and Madoka speaking to each other in a flashback to Homura's first timeline. This is similar to the addition in chapter 9, and while these may not have worked in the anime due to it being more plot-driven, I think they fit the style of the manga well. A nice way to end Homura's arc :)

Overall: 5/5
The manga has great art, and while some parts are missing from the anime, being able to experience the story again in a new style with additions definitely makes it worth reading and a great adaptation!

[MaLak · Rating 5 out of 5]

okay so I honestly don't know why I read this ,I used to see snipets of the anime and it looked traumatising okay this isn't as cutesy as it seems.
But I really enjoyed it, its really unique has a quite intricate plot but it's good.

[⋆ asya˚｡⋆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

read this at school today, i have bought it since i loved the anime. it was good to spend time between breaks when i was too tired to get out of class! oh and i love homura

[Elril Moonweaver · Rating 3 out of 5]

As my sister is ever so insistent on making a Homura Akemi doll out of paper modeling clay (and I think it's going to turn out awesome!) I was thinking that rewatching the Puella Magi Madoka Magica anime would take too long so I remembered stumbling across the manga on Goodreads and thought to give it a try.

Now taking note that I have seen the anime in its full in March 2013 I will note the differences between the anime and the manga adaptaion so I will be very thorough. Oh and if you did not guess it already:

Spoilers! Dead Ahead!

Firstly I really like the art style it's a refreshing take of the Madoka Magica universe and it has some really great character renderings. I personally like Homura and Mami-san's designs very much, I find them to be gorgeous.

Taking a step back though from the praise I will note some things that the anime had and the manga does not convey:
1. Time. The anime had time to develop the characters, make the viewer feel sorry for them, cry when they die and cheer when they manage to survive (which was rare for Gen Urobuchi). In the manga we have little time to actually know the characters and when Mami-san's death occurred it took only 2-3 pages and I was left wondering "What the hell just happened?" In the anime, while it does not take all that much time to display her death it does show signs, though eerie music, the indication that Mami is too confident in her powers - that something is going to go horribly wrong.
2. Colour. The manga is all black and white, naturally, yet it takes away from the experience of the very diverse and otherwise really pretty Witch labyrinths. Ok, I am going to be harsh here and say that the mangaka butchered them.
3. Music. The track for the anime done by Yuki Kajiura is so gorgeous I have it since March 2013 when I first watched the anime and I am still listening it to this day. When I read manga and/or comicbooks I have no background music in my mind so it's complete silence in my thoughts with the added reading of the lines written there. The music gave the Madoka Magica anime atmosphere, a thing that is not properly conveyed in the manga.

There are also some additions that I found rather irking, like Homura's more passionate/aggressive behavior is not in character. Until her breakthrough in episode 9 was it, when she breaks down into tears, she was calm and calculated, unaffected, which properly shows her as a potential antagonist. Here it already gives hints that she is part of a bigger picture.
Kyuubey has facial expressions. I do not buy that one bit. Being an alien and not understanding human emotion, Kyuubey, in his own words, cannot feel fear, regret, enthusiasm, worry and other some such emotions displayed in the manga.
The addition of the comedy is not to my taste, because it makes the characters look rather shallow.

All and all for the first volume I shall award a 3 stars with the above commentary as the proof as to why I opted for such a neutral rating.

My other reviews :D

[Gus · Rating 3 out of 5]

--- Puella Magi Madoka Magica 1-3 ---
Plot: ...gamblang dan tidak setengah-setengah.
Gambar: Ok
Penokohan: Setiap tokoh memiliki karakterisasi yang baik-meski-umum. Desainnya juga manis-manis^^

Ibu:
Semakin ia keras kepala kalau dirinyalah yang paling benar, kebahagiaan akan semakin menjauh darinya. Menyedihkan, ya.

Madoka:
Apa ada yang bisa kulakukan?

Ibu:
Untuk yang macam itu, hasilnya tak akan bagus meski orang lain ikut campur.
Tapi kamu masih tetap mau menyelesaikannya?
...
Kalau begitu, lakukan saja hal yang salah.
Termasuk untuk dia yang terlalu benar.
Biar seseorang melakukan kesalahan untuk dia.

Madoka:
Melakukan kesalahan...

Ibu:
Benar.
Berbohong atau melarikan diri dari hal yang menakutkan.
Awalnya mungkin memang sulit dipahami, tapi akhirnya dia juga sadar bahwa itu benar.
Kalau memang tak tahu harus berbuat apa, berbuat salah juga salah satu pilihan.
-Puella Magi Madoka Magica #2 - Magica Quartet

Saya membeli komik ini karena banyak yang memberikan rating tinggi //uhuk.
Saya belum pernah menonton adaptasi animenya, tetapi telah banyak melihat fanart dari judul ini yang bertebaran. Hasilnya? Saya merasa komik ini memang bagus seperti yang dibilang, tapi mungkin tidak sebagus jika saya menontonnya duluan.
Ya. Ya. Saya serius.

Menjadi seperti seorang gadis penyihir yang menyelamatkan banyak orang-orang tak bersalah dari ancaman penyihir terdengar sangat hebat. Paling tidak itulah yang dipikirkan oleh protagonis utama kita.
Tapi apakah memang demikian adanya...?

Selama membaca... gelombang otak saya agak kontras luminosity dibandingkan orang lain yang sudah menonton animenya //luminositykarena... //kontrassudahterlalumainstream XD.
Pertama, adegan bertarungnya menurut saya... hmmm.... agak... kaku-kaku gimana gitu. Tidak fleksibel dan semacam langsung-langsung saja. Saya tidak mendapatkan aksi yang bisa membuat saya ikutan "Jeger-jegerr!!"



Konsep pertarungannya yang terlalu magis ini pasti akan lebih menggetarkan jika dinonton. Begitulah pendapatku. Tapi tetap saja, saya suka susunan ceritanya yang langsung seperti itu. Diangkat dan dijatuhkan, kesannya tidak setengah-setengah. Intinya sih seperti itu^^
[7.6/10]

[Lottie Eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know, those magical girl manga that are super cute? You know, those magical girl manga that make you happy? You know, those magical girl manga that make you laugh. Well, this isn’t one of those magical girl manga. Puella Magi Madoka Magica starts out very light-hearted but as the reader turns the pages the story gets more and more mysterious. And then is starts to become absolutely heartbreaking. I really can’t write a better synopsis than the one shown above so please read that.

I really liked the characters in this manga. Madoka is very easy to like as she is kind hearted and sweet. Sayaka is energetic and happy. Homura is very mysterious but you get the feeling that she is truly trying to help the girls. And Mami has a good head on her shoulders.* I felt sorry for them and the situation they are in.

The art is magnificent. The illustrator put a lot of details in the girl’s clothing when they transform into their magical girl form. Here is Mami’s uniform:

Her uniform is my favorite

The worlds in which the girl’s fight witches in a drawn in a really unique way. They feel very surreal and creepy, in a way. It makes reading the manga even more enjoyable.


And Kyubey is very adorable! I have the feeling that he is up to something.

This manga is very different from most magical girl manga. It is serious, sad, and sometimes creepy. I would definitely recommend it.

[xenia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disaster capitalist grants the wishes of adolescent girls by pitting them against their former proletarians in a debt economy. As with all debt economies the future is denied by a promise made in the past. The girls labour indefinitely towards the reproduction of their reified desires which becomes increasingly alien to them. At the peak of alienation hope transforms to despair, joy to resentment. Political consciousness arises as the knowledge of inescapable servitude — the death of becoming. The girls are thrown out of homeostasis. They become abject, abnormal, grotesque — biopolitical excess. The disaster capitalist pockets the profits from the affective spectacle then sends in other labourers to clean up the mess.

Crises are built into the system — economic, social, existential, physical. It's for the greater good to profit off of misery.

Great anime — awful manga adaptation. Confusing panel transitions and fight scenes, a straight up copy of the original script, no Shaft/InuCurry postmodern gothic craft-a-noon visuals, nor Kajiura Yuki's somber and poignant soundtrack. It misses everything that gave the original anime its aura and adds nothing to make itself stand apart as a manga. I don't need no Kyubey playing cutesy impression management on me.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somehow manages to be incredibly cute and incredibly evil.

I like it.

[K.S. Trenten · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first volume of a manga adaptation of one of the most stunning and surrealistically beautiful, yet dark takes on the legend of the magical girl.

Madoka Kaname has been plagued with dreams of another girl fighting a desperate battle, only to have a small, strange creature suggest that she can save this girl by becoming a magical girl herself. She awakens to another day of her father fixing breakfast, her mother rushing off to work, and her baby brother trying to form complete sentences. She heads to school, meets her friends, Hitomi and Sayaka, finds herself teased by Sayaka about her hair ribbons. Just another day, only there’s something different about this one. A new transfer student has shown up in Madoka’s class, the very girl from her dreams. This student, Homura Akemi warns Madoka not to do anything to jeopardize or change the life she has now. Only Madoka finds herself and Sayaka drawn into the life of someone very different than her own, Magical Girl Mami Tomoe. Her familar and friend is Kyuubey, the very creature from Madoka’s dreams, the one that urged her to become a magical girl. Now he’s urging both Madoka and Sayaka to do this in the waking world in exchange for his granting them a wish. Only becoming a magical girl is very dangerous, forcing her to confront Witches, the magical girls’ mad opposites, whom create labyrinth of despair and chaos to counter whatever hope the magical girls bring. Plus Homura Akemi is determined to stop Madoka from becoming a magical girl, even if she has to kill Kyuubey to do so.

This was an exquisite and poignant set up of the intial characters and the premise of their world. Readers meet Madoka, daughter of a successful businesswoman whose married a man willing to stay home and take care of the children, an intriguing reversal of the traditional family roles. We become acquainted with Madoka’s friends, the accomplished Hitomi whose time is taken up with everything from piano to dance lessons. Almost her very opposite is the brash and outspoken Miki Sayaka, whom teases Madoka about marrying her, yet cares deeply about a boy who was a former music prodigy, now hospitalized and unable to use his hands. The mystery of Akemi Homura is presented in all its steamy, shoujo ai potential, emphasized by Homura’s cool, brooding, beauty, formidable prowess, and hints of vulnerability around Madoka. Why is she trying to protect Madoka, yet stop her from being a magical girl? Those questions pop up every time Homura does, intenstifying the suspense. We are introduced to Mami Tomoe, who is beautiful, friendly, an utterly sympathetic magical girl who explains the situation to Madoka and Sayaka, offering them glimpses of her life, and tempering Kyuubey’s request for the two of them to become magical girls with caution, yet at odds with Akemi Homura. We also get a look at Kyousuke, the boy Sayaka and cares for and Kyouko, a much less friendly magical girl who sets herself up in opposition.

The manga couldn’t quite capture the surreal, twisting lace like landscapes of gorgeous danger of a Witch’s labyrinth and a magical girl fighting within it which the anime conveyed, accompanied by Kalafina’s gorgeous song and other pieces of lively, ambient music, yet it conveyed the story and characters’s power on paper as best it could. It also did a beautiful job of communicating the epic tragedy of a magical girl’s existence in this storyline as well as the ominous beauty and tenderness of the moments between Madoka and Homura. Madoka’s spirited and forceful mother, her gentle father, her eccentric teacher, and her baby brother were all brought to life in striking detail in just a few panels. Sayaka’s sprightly temper and kindness were developed at a rapid pace in sharp contrast with Madoka’s hesitant, yet determined sweetness, Homura’s grim bluntness, and Mami’s kindly maturity. Kyuubey seems so cute and very much a typical magical girl’s familar at this point. Homura’s hostility toward him seems so shocking, yet a reader wonders if there isn’t more to this.

For an excellent story with great characters, a riveting plot and setting which promises to blossom into something even more, this gets five stars.

[Mark Bondy · Rating 5 out of 5]

i feel like i walked into a chuck e cheese and in the middle of a banjo song about friendship all the lights dimmed except a spotlight on charles and he perfectly performed wrath's monologue from dr faustus.

My expectation was that magical girl was kind of an aesthetic veneer over what would mostly be a superhero story and the implications of what are effectively child soldiers would just be glossed over for the sake of telling a story about kids learning to believe in themselves. Instead this series is bizarrely unflinching in its portrayal of people being doomed by their good intentions. There's also some incredibly well-considered science fiction and probably the most off the rails ending to anything I've read since like, the Lightbringer series.

If I had a gripe it would probably be that the chapters didn't feel like they led into each other that well. Im sure theres just a visual language to this genre that I'm not familiar with though. I was also reading this in a copy of the complete collection rather than as weekly chapters which probably contributed.

This whole series was made in a lab for ramona to be a fan of lol.

[Tesutamento · Rating 1 out of 5]

İki arkadaşın büyüler ve cadılarla dolu gizemli bir dünyaya adım atışını anlatan bu hikaye kızlarımızın bu yeni dünyaya dair her seferinde yeni bir şey öğrenmelerini ve yeni dünyaya alışma sürecinde çektikleri sıkıntıları bizlere aktarıyor.

Keşke aktarmaktansa anlatmayı düşünseymiş. Bir animeden uyarlanıp yazılan bu manga öncesinde anime serisini izlemiş olanlar için anlamlı olabilse de benim gibi izlememiş bir okuyucu için fiyasko. Kurgu çok zayıf. Çok kez hikayeyi takip ederken zorlandım. Neyi niçin gördüğümü anlayamadığım anlar oldu. Sahne geçişleri çok keskin.

Çizimlerini genel olarak vasat bulsam da hikayenin şok edici olması gereken kısmında tek görebildiğim bir takım kargacık burgacık çizgilerdi. Geri dönüp tekrar baktıktan sonra anlayabildiğim sahneler mevcuttu.

[Maggie Hesseling · Rating 2 out of 5]

becoming a magic girl and helping people seems like the greatest thing in the world at first glance, but when things go wrong these young ladies will really realise that magic wishes aren't always in your best interest and being a magic girl isn't what it's all cracked up to be.

honestly I was a little bored with this manga. I found the girls quite irritating. And the fact that they're being pushed and pulled between becoming a magic girl or not soon becomes frustrating. What kept me interested enough to finish was the fact that it's the first book and more introductory than anything else. perhaps it will pick up in the next book.

[Andy Navarro · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 🌟

Buena introducción y la verdad es que lo de las brujas y las grief seeds es algo que me encanta de este manga

Tiene momentos divertidos y la muerte de Mami me deja los pelos de punta en el manga

Sin embargo siento que las cosas pasan muy rápido, aunque lo puedo llegar a entender ya que en verdad el manga no es muy largo, pero que Madoka le haya cogido tanta confianza a Mami en un lapso tan corto de tiempo ajdjisj al menos eso me da a entender, si hay time skips en esta historia pues omiten muchos detalles o profundización de los personajes XD

Aparte Homura me parece super edgy o sea... aunque me sepa la historia no me he percatado de lo edgy que se veía al inicio lolazo, igualmente a seguir leyendolo por si cambio de opinión XD

[Niina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Olen nähnyt Puella Magi Madoka Magican animena useita vuosi sitten ja se melkoisen sekava. Näin mangana tämä tuntui paljon selkeämmältä, vaikka tässä ekassa osassa ei vielä paljoa ehtinyt syventyämään. Juoni on klassinen taikayttösarjoille (esim. Sailor Moon, Magic Knight Rayearth ja Tokyo Mew Mew): tytöt saavat yliluonnollisia voimia ja mättävät pahiksia nekkuun. Tällä kertaa vastuksena ovat noidat, jotka päihitettyään taikatytöt saavat noidan munan eli murheen siemenen, jolla korvata käytetyt taikavoimat.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Marking just the first volume but I've read the entire manga)
I've watched the anime first, so reading the manga felt more like a complement to it.
The story is quite surprising and there are many plot twists, which it's different from most of the mahou shoujos titles.

[Destiny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't decide on 4 or 5 stars so I'll give a 4.5 (may change later). Mostly based on enjoyment I would say. It was nicely written though and great art. Also really cute and entertaining, griped the heart strings for me. Loved it.

[sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

this did confirm that i don’t need to read the manga and could just rewatch the show/movies, some of the gut-punchier stuff is removed from this and i think it really lacks the neat trippy quality of the anime. still good though bc it’s madoka magica. 2024 movie when…. i need to see my girls ….