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Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part I: Beginnings

Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part I: Beginnings

Thriller · Animation · Fantasy · 2012

Madoka Kaname, an ordinary middle-schooler, along with her best friend Sayaka Miki, are offered the chance to have any wish they want granted by the mysterious Kyubey, and become magical girls and fight witches. However, fellow magical girl Homura Akemi seems intent on stopping Madoka from becoming a magical girl at any cost. Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part I: Beginnings is a retelling of the first half of the TV anime series.

Movie details

Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part I: Beginnings

2012 Thriller · Animation · Fantasy 2h 11m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.5 / 10

Community rating

Madoka Kaname, an ordinary middle-schooler, along with her best friend Sayaka Miki, are offered the chance to have any wish they want granted by the mysterious Kyubey, and become magical girls and fight witches. However, fellow magical girl Homura Akemi seems intent on stopping Madoka from becoming a magical girl at any cost. Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part I: Beginnings is a retelling of the first half of the TV anime series.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part I: Beginnings?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Yukihiro Miyamoto · Akiyuki Shinbo

Written by

Gen Urobuchi

Aoi Yuuki

Aoi Yuuki

Madoka Kaname (voice)

Chiwa Saito

Chiwa Saito

Homura Akemi (voice)

Eri Kitamura

Eri Kitamura

Sayaka Miki (voice)

Kaori Mizuhashi

Kaori Mizuhashi

Mami Tomoe / Tatsuya Kaname (voice)

Ai Nonaka

Ai Nonaka

Kyoko Sakura (voice)

Emiri Kato

Emiri Kato

Kyubey (voice)

Ryoko Shintani

Ryoko Shintani

Hitomi Shizuki (voice)

Court is in session

Put Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part I: Beginnings on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.