So uh... with September 23′s “Aniplex Online Fest 2022″ event having come and gone without any mention of the Magia Record anime getting additional another Blu-Ray volume to complete the series in North America, I’m starting to think that it’s... just not coming? Hmph.
Are they really going to just skip out on the rest of the series over here? Given the size of the fandom, that’s pretty bizarre to me. But if so, I know it’s not like they’d be doing it because of the fan backlash to the way the show went. Retailers never care about that stuff anywhere near as much as previous release sales.
In other words, if the first volume sold like crap? That’d explain it. And since Aniplex’s prices for their physical releases in North America are FUCKING ABSURD, if Volume 1 sold like shit, they should really look themselves in the mirror.
PFFFFT see what I mean?! What the hell is that price?! The “Your Price” amounts to $10 for every 22-minute episode! Holy shit, you guys.
I believe I should use one of my newly acquired reaction images for this occasion.
ETA: Edited to remove my erroneous assumption that the English dub never got completed. I guess it did, and I simply didn’t notice.
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Mini-Review: Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story*
*Seasons 2-3 (series finale); I reviewed season 1 when that’s all I knew existed, HERE.
As the rumor that “magical girls can be saved if they come to Kamihama City” continues to spread, Iroha and Madoka join forces with their friends to save the magical girls from their fates.
Right, so, last time I watched Magia Record (about a year and a half ago), I wasn’t terribly impressed. I picked up the show based on its description, which didn’t mention how this show relates to the original Madoka Magica, and I was even more unimpressed when that season ended without resolving anything; then shortly after I watched they announced another season. So this time around, I watched seasons 2-3 (13 episodes total between them), knowing that the story was supposed to be complete.
Let’s start with the good: this is an interesting show. While confusing at times during the first season since it starts becoming clear that the events of Madoka Magica can’t have happened (alternate timeline? alternate universe?), once you figure that out and accept it, it’s easier to go alone with because you’re not waiting for specific events from that original series.
We get more characters here, and the “doppel” system that seems to prevent magical girls from flat-out dying is a fantastic way to keep a viewer hooked. The antagonists, too, instead of being witches and the dead-eyed Kyubey, are other magical girls: a cult-like group that promises to help “save” magical girls, but who are oblique about how, and run their group with an intimidating precision.
Despite the problems I had with the show, it kept me interested enough to watch all the way to the end, so that’s saying something.
The problems, though. First is that, as mentioned, I started season two 1.5 years after watching season one, and while I remembered the major plot points and Iroha’s goals, I didn’t remember many of the Magia Record-specific characters besides Iroha and mature fighter Yachiyo. And the other problem was...I didn’t care enough to look them up. I pulled up detailed descriptions of the last third of the first season’s episodes so I could reorient myself, but it only helped a little. There were just so many other girls, and none of them were interesting or important enough to stick out.
I mean, then one girl showed up and I had absolutely zero recollection of, and it turns out she was in, like, the first episode and headed to Kamihama City with Iroha, then promptly disappeared for the rest of the first season? No wonder I didn’t remember her! And there wasn’t anything in the show itself to clue me in!
Besides an overabundance of named characters we’re supposed to care about, the explanation for how and why things are happening seemed to me skimpy at best. We finally get a backstory episode explaining how and why things are like this (eventually featuring another character from the first season who I couldn’t remember what she did or what her place in the current story was), but the eventual rationale for the Big Spoilery Event was...just okay. I watched it and was like, “huh, they really just had to come up with something to make these big events happen, didn’t they?” As it goes on, I had a hard time keeping straight what actions and events were supposed to lead to which outcomes. The tension gets lost when my best reaction to episodes is “cool, more fighting, hope [whatever character] is okay.”
Verdict
English Dub? No (even though the first season had one)
Visuals: This is a good-looking show, which helped save my interest. Fight scenes are well-choreographed; a big reason I kept actively watching instead of just putting it on in the background was because the show is very good at making things look interesting and exciting, even when I wasn’t sure (or didn’t care) why things were happening.
Worth Watching? Did you like the first season, or want to see where it goes? Or do you like the mobile game this is apparently based on? Or are you interested in the wider realm of Madoka Magica spinoffs and/or alternate timelines? It’s not a bad show necessarily, I just found it to be lacking in the story department. Like I mentioned, I did actively watch it to the end and I wasn’t hate-watching.
Where to watch (USA, as of May 2022): Funimation; Crunchyroll; HIDIVE
Click my “reviews” tag below or search “mini review” on my blog to find more!
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