Review of Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story

If this was adapted from another material, I'm not aware of it and have not seen/played/read it. I have, however, seen the original series. Art: 6 It follows the same art style as the original Madoka Magica, which is excellent for the themes and ideals that the original Madoka Magica is deconstructing. However, in this series, it sorely grinds against the lack of such a deconstruction and thus feels overly pretentious and falls flat. Sound: 6 There's nothing bad about the sound, but it is at best slightly above mediocre. The absence of Kajiura Yuuki, one of the most prominent and excellent composers of Japan, is sorely missed inthis department. Some of the battle tracks feel flat, lacking the catchy and melodic patterns of Kajiura's composition style. One could even call the OST bland unless the specific track in question was pulled from the original Madoka Magica.

Character: 5
Unlike the original series, this Gaiden does not really explore the same aspects (depth) of a character. Whereas the original might take apart a person's sacrifices for romantic love or explore a character's indecisiveness and growth, or the psyche of someone who sacrificed everything for another's wellbeing, this one explores no such great character depth. Instead, we get shallow issues and what almost feels like a monster-of-the-episode problem to tackle. While it is clear the series staff wants to go deeper, they are continuously failing to dig any deeper at all.

Story: 4
This is the part that would carry the series if the characterization is mediocre, but sadly, this part cannot do such a feat. This Gaiden rehashes the major reveal of its original series and sadly, since most people have already seen the original series, this no longer packs any shock value. Its episode composition is almost a monster-of-the-episode format which, is fine for achieving a cheap to mediocre tier of excellence as a narrative, but cannot ever reach realms god tiers. Most importantly, the deconstruction of themes that made the original so compelling to the audience is entirely absent. Instead, most of the issues that the monster-of-the-episode explores are cheap problems of the everyday human, the kind you could chitchat about on the train with a friend and not really anything to be deconstructed.

Enjoyment: 5
The overall lack of depth to the series, given the expectations set by the original Magica Madoka marks this one for mediocrity. Even without such expectations, the mechanics of the story's universe not really being properly introduced, the plot effectively devolving to simplicity, and the lack of depth to the cast dooms this piece. Lastly, the absence of notable staff from the original heavily affects this work.

Overall: 5