Review of Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story

I want to stress that this adaptation is NOT a continuation in any way, shape, or form to either the original Madoka Magica or the Rebellion movies. This is its own, separate entity in its own timeline completely separate to what was in those pieces of media and most this series does not converge with anything to do with the original at all. Story: ♪ Uwasa, Uwasa. Share your secrets, Uwasa. Only meant for one, but who? Shall I tell them just to you? How about taking someone's hand and passing through? Uwasa, Uwasa. A single secret I bring... ♪ Have you heard of the rumor of the cityof Kamihama? The place filled to the brim with witches? It's said that if magical girls go there, they can be saved. Upon hearing this rumor, Tamaki Iroha ventures into the strange town following the rumor in hopes of finding clues about her missing sister who exists only in her memory. After an encounter with some of the girls in the city, she comes to learn of the mysterious witch-like Uwasa and how truth can be stranger than fiction.

Based on a mobile game of the same name, MagiReco (yes, I'll be using the game's shorthand for this) takes the game's first six chapters where every few episodes introduces another girl to add to the new 'holy quintet' and a new rumor of 'Uwasa' for the girls to fight and attempts to adapt it into a thirteen episode anime. Now that doesn't sound too bad, until you realize that each major chapter of the game has on average five to seven episodes within said chapter, and each episode has about five to seven battles inside them, each of which sporting their own cutscene that contributes to the overall story of the game. And it can take a good half hour to an hour depending on the episode length to get through one of the seven episodes within one of the game's major chapters. So calling this adaptation 'rushed' is such a major understatement that putting into perspective just how many little details and conversations were lost moving the story from game to anime was warranted.

Content-wise though, Magireco creates an interesting addition to the lore of the Madoka Magica franchise, though the original is kind of a prerequisite to understanding this series since a lot of the series's rules still apply here (plus any retelling of said rules aren't well explained here). Much of Magireco's boon is adding to the overall lore by having so much of the show's latter half devoted to trying to break the curse of the Magical Girls with the series's antagonistic group, as well as the mysterious witch-like beings, the Uwasa. Each Uwasa works like a school rumor spread by hearsay, and are just something I like conceptually because they're functionally similar to the Witches of the series, but exist as a completely different entity that functions off of different rules. There's also the strange Doppels, an occurrence only achievable by the girls in Kamihama, which only add more to the mystery of this strange city overrun by witches and rumors.

However as much as I like the concepts presented in Magireco, the execution is iffy, not just because of the horrendous pacing issue in the adaptation. The Wings of the Magius, the show's antagonistic group set to 'save all Magical Girls' is a group that never reveals their plan. That happens in chapter seven, which is a part of the story that this adaptation never covers. As a result, much of Magireco is setup rather than payoff since the story follows a pattern of one girl plus one Uwasa per major chapter. It feels lackluster in the end, and because of the pacing issue, becomes really hard to believe that these girls are as friendly as they are with each other because so little time is dedicated on letting their relationships unfold. (Also the story ends at a really awkward moment that doesn't really mean anything in the end.)

I still ended up liking the story in the end mostly because for me, it was like rewatching the events of what I've played over again with nicer visuals. Since the 'player character' in Magireco is actually the tiny Kyubey that makes its rounds in each Uwasa the girls encounter, the story is allowed to be about the girls and how much Magireco conceptually expands on the Madoka Magica universe are things that can't really be taken away from it. However, if this show was allowed to be twenty four to six episodes instead of just thirteen, I think this would've ended up far better because there is such a staggering amount of detail that was cut off for the sake of squeezing it all into this little timeframe. I can't even imagine what it's like going into this blind without knowing anything.

Characters:

I want to squeeze the 'new' Holy Quintet together because there's really not that much to talk about with these bastardized versions of the girls. Iroha, Yachiyo, Tsuruno, Felicia, and Sana all feel like they're going through the rounds with cliff notes on what their stories are without ever BEING their story. For Iroha especially, it feels like she's being pulled around by the story and asking the question of whether or not people know anything about her sister, Ui, instead of taking an active part and driving her own plot. Yachiyo's attitude fluctuates so much that it never feels like she's indecisive on whether or not she wants to be prickly or comfortably stern, and neither Sana and Felicia get enough time to let their stories pan out, getting at best one episode each. Tsuruno's the only one of the five that feels like the made the position alright only because her story doesn't actually happen until a little later, and until then, she's kind of just the spunky genki girl. And it's kinda hard to mess that up.

The Wings of the Magius is also a group that I want to put together because their overall impact is really equivalent to one character instead of the multiple heads that they are. As mentioned before, the Wings of the Magius have their motivations revealed but have no actual plan revealed, making much of what they're doing just empty words since not much impact aside from their involvement with the Uwasa is actually revealed or mentioned. Their members are admittedly displayed in a fun way given how both the Flute Twins and Alina Gray are shown in the anime, as well as the connections some of them have to the new 'Holy Quintet', but all of them ultimately have minimal impact individually because again, not enough time is devoted to making them actual characters. (Alina got like one scene. And she's by far the most interesting of all of the Magius. Why do her dirty like that?)

Other girls in the series like the secondary team of Momoko, Kaede, and Rena are kind of just there to make their own contributions to the plot (however rushed they are), but really don't have much impact beyond that. There's also the coordinator, Mitama, who is a fun character, but doesn't show up nearly enough times to be as impactful as she could've been. There're a few others that're story relevant, but their presence is minimal beyond the story beat they're meant to show off (however little impact it may have.) Thankfully this is the extent that the show decided to display its wide array of magical girls in Kamihama, because if we got to either the Azaleas or the any of the girls in the mirrors sub-storyline, I would politely ask Shaft to stop what they're doing.

And of course you can't forget the original Holy Quintet. Yes, because this is based on a mobile game, they also found a way to put them in the plot of Magireco, although with a vastly smaller role that still manages to intertwine with the story. I do like how they're integrated into the story, although I kind of wish the anime committed more to actually having them since it feels like they half assed their anime counterparts with most of them not even appearing since I guess they didn't have enough time to establish anything significant.

Aesthetics:

With Shaft taking the reigns back as the only home for the Madoka Magica series, the art direction and visual parts of the series come back in full bloom, and honestly made this so much more tolerable than it had any right to be. The art is basically an upgrade from the original Madoka Magica, with all new labyrinths, witches, and fight scenes that don't last long enough. So much of this anime looks visually appealing, and I adore what Shaft was able to do with the originally VN-style of storytelling that the game had.

Changes from the game to the anime involves adjusting some of the Uwasa designs to better suit them to make them these fantastical, otherwordly figures, as well as adjustments to some character designs like Yachiyo's hair beads to cloth to make it easier for the animating staff. I still have some words for the designs of some the new magical girls (this is also a criticism for the game), but overall I do still like the visual style and flashy animation that Magireco portrays. My only complaint though is how the art quality wavers towards the end of the show. Close up shots look fine, but so many of the medium to far away shots have the characters look kind of...off, which isn't something I expect from Shaft given how their art is typically one of the more artistically appealing in the industry.

"Gomakashi" by Trysail (whose members conveniently voice Iroha, Yachiyo, and Tsuruno) is a generally bright and happy song that could be described as...magical, given how pleasant the song is. It's definitely NOT 'Connect' since Connect has a more bittersweet tone to it, but definitely has a happier tone to it since the new 'Holy Quintet' is supposedly a lot closer as a group to the original five were ever supposed to be. By contrast is ClariS's "Alicia", a song that's conveniently more in the style of 'Connect', being sung by the same group that produced that song and also bears that similar bittersweet tone that 'Connect' has.

I also want to give a mention to the show's OST because while it's in my opinion, just as good as the original, and really should get the attention it deserves.

Final Thoughts:

This anime deserved so much more than it got in the end. While I fully admit the story beats of Magireco in the game aren't always the best given how much they drag the story and the Wings of the Magius as a group are kind of nonsensical (although the idea of 'evil magical girls' is kinda neat), it's loads better than what we got here with Shaft's adaptation.

I loved seeing the girls animated on-screen with Shaft's characteristic visual storytelling with the game's bosses being these genuinely terrifying monsters that towered over the girls instead of being dinky things that took up one spot on the three by three grid. Settings like Mitama's coordinator room filled with random crap, the Minazuki boarding house being blocked with a proper layout to the place, and the numerous labyrinths and doppels that added this otherworldly aspect to the show was such a visual feast for the eyes that you could honestly take any frame of this show and turn it into a background of sorts. Just...so many good frames.

But the art and the music is all this adaptation really has going for it. There're a few cute, cheeky jokes and character moments in there, but I can't in good faith recommend MagiReco's adaptation as something worth watching because the story is so severely rushed that coming out the other end I even felt like I didn't get it. And I'm playing the damn game while I'm writing this! I'm so disappointed because this really shouldn't have ended up as bad as it did, and it makes me sad because the story of Magireco is pretty good, but becomes inaccessible for those interested who don't want to devote hours into a mobile gacha game just to read the story. Which is much longer than what's shown here, mind you. There's a part two to the story, and this adaptation only 'adapts' (using that term loosely) two-thirds of the first part of the main story.