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REVIEW: Puella Magi Madoka Magica GN 2




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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 1:11 am Reply with quote
Good to hear that the Manga keeps at least a bit of the impact that the Anime had. Sounds like a solid - though not spectacular - adaptation.
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Polycell



Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Posts: 4623
PostPosted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 1:21 am Reply with quote
Biggest complaint I have is Kyubey spoiler[going crazy-eyed]. I just love all the doodles of Kyubey's anime design on the back inside cover.

I still can't help but find the choice to transliterate the sound effects odd, though.
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st_owly



Joined: 20 May 2008
Posts: 5234
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
PostPosted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 1:44 am Reply with quote
spoiler[Kyubey's face on the last page of this volume is one of the creepiest things I have ever seen]
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Princess_Irene
ANN Associate Editor


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2657
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:06 am Reply with quote
dtm42 wrote:
Good to hear that the Manga keeps at least a bit of the impact that the Anime had. Sounds like a solid - though not spectacular - adaptation.


Yes, that's probably the most succinct way to put it. Good, thought-provoking, and not quite as strong as the anime.

st_owly wrote:
spoiler[Kyubey's face on the last page of this volume is one of the creepiest things I have ever seen]


Holy crap, yes. Also the part spoiler[where he was munching on his own blown-up face.]
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Ashen Phoenix



Joined: 21 Jun 2006
Posts: 2952
PostPosted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 5:07 pm Reply with quote
Princess_Irene wrote:
dtm42 wrote:
Good to hear that the Manga keeps at least a bit of the impact that the Anime had. Sounds like a solid - though not spectacular - adaptation.


Yes, that's probably the most succinct way to put it. Good, thought-provoking, and not quite as strong as the anime.


Agreed with all of the above, even as I'm a fan of Hanokage's artwork.

Quote:
st_owly wrote:
spoiler[Kyubey's face on the last page of this volume is one of the creepiest things I have ever seen]


Holy crap, yes. Also the part spoiler[where he was munching on his own blown-up face.]

The stealthily casual way it's referred to in this review brought a smile to my face even as a shiver slid down my spine.

The discussions I've had with other Madoka fans comparing which interpretation of Kyubey they liked more and for what reasons are always fascinating. I think both bring something enjoyable and thought-provoking to the table.

Nice review overall, definitely.
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Animerican14



Joined: 19 Aug 2006
Posts: 963
Location: Saint Louis, MO
PostPosted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 7:32 pm Reply with quote
Read the manga scans as the volumes original came out, being as obsessive as I was about Madoka at the time. It was good, not really great-- the art really didn't come close to matching the aesthetics of the original anime (especially those "backgrounds"...), and being very closely based off Urobuchi's (excellent) script, it really felt like I was just retreading the show in a lesser, much abridged way. Thankfully things get more interesting as it goes along and the author is given more room for her own interpretation of Urobuchi's scenario, as you'll see with the final volume, when there are even further little alterations compared to the anime.

@Princess_Irene: Just thought I'd like to point out a fun fact about the scene of Sayaka at the train station in this volume, which differs somewhat from what was seen in the anime... to quote a Netwype issue from 2011 (http://wiki.puella-magi.net/NewType_2011-05#Sayaka_Train_Interpretation):
Quote:
spoiler[
Shinbo - Wanna add: Sayaka in the anime did not kill those hosts.
Urobuchi - In the screenplay it could be taken either way, so in the manga version by Hanokage-san the interpretation was taken as killed.]
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Shippoyasha



Joined: 28 Aug 2007
Posts: 459
PostPosted: Tue Sep 11, 2012 12:54 am Reply with quote
I actually think the manga's art style suits the story a bit more in some ways, as much as I love the original style's.

Speaking 'really thinking about the magical girl genre', well, most magical girl fandom has been doing precisely that since the beginnings of the genre. The thing with Madoka is that it finally brings it solely to the forefront to the point where non magical girl fans can see the appeal of the darker sides of magical girls.

But that said, magical girls always did have a dark side. Ever since its origins, which was more like tragic superhero tales than something entirely cutesy nowadays. Heck, even with the most fluffy of magical girls, many of the genre has a darker, more sober, cynical core. But that is nothing new to magical girl fans.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Associate Editor


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2657
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Wed Sep 12, 2012 7:23 am Reply with quote
Shippoyasha wrote:

Speaking 'really thinking about the magical girl genre', well, most magical girl fandom has been doing precisely that since the beginnings of the genre. The thing with Madoka is that it finally brings it solely to the forefront to the point where non magical girl fans can see the appeal of the darker sides of magical girls.

But that said, magical girls always did have a dark side. Ever since its origins, which was more like tragic superhero tales than something entirely cutesy nowadays. Heck, even with the most fluffy of magical girls, many of the genre has a darker, more sober, cynical core. But that is nothing new to magical girl fans.


I wrote my undergrad thesis and my first dissertation on the genre, and I wish Madoka had been out then. I think you're right - it makes the genre's dark side visible to those who didn't know it was there before. Sailor Moon Stars (and moreso in the manga) deals with a lot of really dark stuff, with spoiler[suicide] being a fairly recurrent theme, and Arina Tanemura's Full Moon is incredibly sad. And that's not even thinking about the last episode of Nurse Angel Ririka! I think that Hanokage's interpretation (as Animerican14 pointed out) makes it a bit less subtle, but her interpretation of Kyubey does a great job of making the point that beneath the cute lurks something sinister.
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