Puella Magi Madoka Magica

## Puella Magi Madoka Magica **Puella Magi Madoka Magica** (魔法少女まどか☆マギカ, *Mahō Shōjo Madoka Magika*) is a 2011 anime television series produced by Shaft, directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, and written by Gen Urobuchi. It is one of the most significant anime of the 21st century — a methodical, devastating deconstruction of the magical girl genre that uses the vocabulary of cute character designs and schoolgirl charm to smuggle in one of the bleakest and most philosophically rich stories the medium has produced. The series shocked audiences worldwide and continues to be one of the most analyzed and discussed anime ever made. Madoka Kaname is a cheerful, ordinary middle school girl with a happy home life and good friends. One day a strange creature named Kyubey appears with an irresistible offer: make any wish — any wish at all — and in exchange become a magical girl, fighting witches who spread despair throughout the world. Madoka and her new friend Sayaka are tempted, but a mysterious transfer student named Homura Akemi seems to be trying desperately to warn them away. Why is Homura so insistent? What is Kyubey not telling them about the true cost of a magical girl's contract? As the curtain is slowly pulled back, the story reveals itself to be something far darker, far more tragic, and ultimately far more ambitious than any of its genre predecessors. An essential work of modern anime.