Magia Record's biggest problem is that it assumes people watching it were invested in the game. It did nothing to pull in people completely new to the story and was ultimately buried by the fact it tried to split the difference between too many characters instead of being brutal with who they chose to centre and ignoring the rest, ending up with even one good story arc nowhere to be found. None of the Big Damn Character Moments (as signposted by the music and animation) landed at all, because there was no investment to be had. Heck, the game had much better endings they could've turned into full animation and they completely swerved them all. Why? For the Edgy Deconstruction of it all? Who knows. Uuuuugh. The soundtrack's a banger though, so there are silver linings. :')
Here is a thing; the fact that this series wasn't very consequential for overall mythos was never a problem and the fact that it was a small story focused on cast of new characters wasn't a problem either. If you have interesting tale to tell and you have well developed characters then events described in your story don't have to be grandiose - you don't have to go bigger than original tale, scale of consequences were never a problem. In fact I wanted exactly this; spinoff story focusing on new cast of Puella Magi - since I learned what was origin of Witches I wanted to know more about girls who "give birth" to them and this could be story about this; we could learn what made them to fall in despair, we could learn their tragic fate... Sadly this isn't that story. I have to admit that I lost patience and stop watching this series in the middle of season 1 because it was very disjointed and it lack any stakes. There were things that I enjoyed about it for sure; as you said in your video mystery about Iroha's wish was docent plot hook and I would add that overall creepy and unsettling tone of first few episodes - brilliant melody; "Creeping darkness" illustrate that mood perfectly - was great. But the writting just wasn't very good. You see, on youtube there is this short interview with "South Park" writers, in which they say you should NEVER write your story in a way in which individual story beats are unconnected and things happen just because; and THEN this happen, and THEN this happen... Instead they said that you should write your story as if every single event arise as result of previous events - THEREFORE this happen...Original series was written in accord with this rule; there was foreshadowing, character arcs and clear cause and effect, on the other hand "Magia Record" is one of the most and "THEN this happen" series I ever seen. And THEN Iroha meet this group of girls, and THEN she run into other group of girls, and THEN she fought this "rumour" and THEN she fought other "rumour" , and THEN Mami and Kyoko showed up...There is very little connective tissue between those events and even if there is connection, it's flimsy at best...In result "Magia record" have crap-ton of characters but very little CONSEQUENCES and therefore I'm not having much interest in future events. When you compare and contrast this with original series in which every single event was a consequence of choices previously made by the characters, you see that writing in "Magia Record" is not terribly strong... The main thing I would disagree with you on is the mechanic of making wishes; how strong Puealla Magi is not just tied to caliber of her wish - is tied to her karmic destiny. The only reason why Madoka had so powerful is because Homura was turning back time and unknowingly made all the fates for all different Madoka's from alternate timeline to converge on Madoka from timeline seen in original show.
Just found your video! Thank you for putting your thoughts out! Here are my takes as someone who played the game (which the anime is based on). The game's story and characters are more fleshed out due to its multi-story VN format. The anime was forced to cram and cut down content due to having a certain amount of episodes to do things. This results in some characters just being there for the sake of it, and having their individual arcs cut out or changed to fit the anime story. There was even another main character in the game who brought content that would have been relevent to the motivations of the Wings of Magius, and was even set up in S1, but ended up becoming a glorified cameo who just gets a few lines, with only game players knowing who she really is. This was Izumi Kanagi, and you probably know her as the woman Yachiyo speaks to on the phone in S1, and the white-dressed lady who saves her ass in S3. The Magia Record anime was also very constrained by the popularity parent series. Studio SHAFT didn't allow the Magia Record anime to become its own thing, unlike the game which is in its own continuity and still ongoing. This results in the anime ending in a way that makes it act more like a tie-in or prequel to Madoka Magica, like Rogue One to A New Hope. At this point they just got Magia Record out of the way, so they could focus on the new Madoka Magica movie and build hype for it.
Yeah I have heard of the game but I don't have any knowledge of it, there is definitely a split in takes from people who've played the game. You brought up interesting thing, I had to look up Izumi but I do remember seeing her in places, I could kinda tell some characters really got it bad as there were many background characters with very rich character designs, pointing to some relevance that they initially had. I do think it was very sad that the identity of this show was attached so much to the original madoka magica, that why I had made the video prior trying to defend the series and to tell people to be more open to it being something different. I couldn't agree more to the comparison of it being like Rogue one, I really never though but it fits perfectly. At least at the end of the day we are left with something still pretty fun and watchable, but I totally believed it could be more.
@@NoobertonAnime Okay, sending this again since it looked like it didn't stick. If you'd like to experience the game, you're welcome to check out the Magia Record subreddit, and you'll find a link to the Discord server there. We can help you get settled into the JP game, and we have loads of translated story content for you to read! We even have a TLed app on another server if you'd like to experience the story in-game in English. With the 5th Anniversary coming up, you'll be able to get a load of good freebies too!
@@sg4456 If you replied first time with the actual link, then UA-cam probably got rid of it on it's own. UA-cam really hates links and they don't even bother putting them in the likely spam folder and they just outright delete them (It leaves the spam folder contents to be just hateful, mean comments lol) Also thanks for informing me and others scrolling down how to find the game. I'm probably to busy to really get into it. Farthest I've gone down rabbit holes for series is finding translated light novels, and that was for one of my favorites, I often just stick to anime/manga as it's a pretty direct and quick experience which fits well when your occupied with life obligations and the hobby of making UA-cam content. But honestly I really appreciate your comments, I often am very uninformed on topics I end up talking about so I'm happy knowledgeable people like you drop in and leave more information for anyone passively reading the comment section to find. It's really appreciated!
@@NoobertonAnime No problem! It's really important for anyone to be informed on the source material, so I'm glad if others see this and can find their way to it. If playing the game is too much of a hassle, you can also find the translated stories on the Magia Union Translations UA-cam channel.
In my opinion, the game was much better at handling this because the anime just wanted an edgy ending while the game wanted to tell a new story even though it contradicted Madoka Magica.
Uh the problem was that they were cut a season a had to rewrite season 2 minus 4 episodes to try and fit in all the plot beats they began. It's not really their fault, they had the same shit that happened to them like what happened to korra
Look at this anime fan with his waifu dolls in the background! Thought the show was boring after three episodes, glad I jumped off the train before it got worse
With the Homura figure in the background people going to think I'm a extremely biased Madoka fan lol. I'm probably one of the most charitable fan around.
The anime isn't canon anyway, i just accept the existence of the game history cuz is better than the anime, unfurtunate everyone who wanna see the history of Magia record will prefer to see the anime instead of the game history cuz the VN model that they use on the game to show the history make most of the people skip it : (
I don't like Magia record also, I can't get pass ep.3 the motives here are so shallow (it feels they made it for kids) 😂 compare to madoka that has real complex conflicts...
Well, first if you haven't watched the original Madoka Magica, watch that. If you liked it and want more, then watch this but be prepared to be disappointed lol.
Boycott SHAFT and Magia Record for the anime sequel to Puella Magi Madoka Magica Movie Rebellion be remade into a TV series instead of a movie, so the other magical girls from the spin off manga can be in it! And Mami Tomoe has a boyfriend who would play an important role in the story!
Magia Record was never a sequel, it was a spinnoff cash grab gacha game that got a terribly rushed anime adaptation. The game will never be up to the madoka standard of quality, but the Magia Record anime never lived up to what the game was like.
Magia Record's biggest problem is that it assumes people watching it were invested in the game. It did nothing to pull in people completely new to the story and was ultimately buried by the fact it tried to split the difference between too many characters instead of being brutal with who they chose to centre and ignoring the rest, ending up with even one good story arc nowhere to be found. None of the Big Damn Character Moments (as signposted by the music and animation) landed at all, because there was no investment to be had. Heck, the game had much better endings they could've turned into full animation and they completely swerved them all. Why? For the Edgy Deconstruction of it all? Who knows. Uuuuugh. The soundtrack's a banger though, so there are silver linings. :')
Here is a thing; the fact that this series wasn't very consequential for overall mythos was never a problem and the fact that it was a small story focused on cast of new characters wasn't a problem either. If you have interesting tale to tell and you have well developed characters then events described in your story don't have to be grandiose - you don't have to go bigger than original tale, scale of consequences were never a problem. In fact I wanted exactly this; spinoff story focusing on new cast of Puella Magi - since I learned what was origin of Witches I wanted to know more about girls who "give birth" to them and this could be story about this; we could learn what made them to fall in despair, we could learn their tragic fate... Sadly this isn't that story. I have to admit that I lost patience and stop watching this series in the middle of season 1 because it was very disjointed and it lack any stakes. There were things that I enjoyed about it for sure; as you said in your video mystery about Iroha's wish was docent plot hook and I would add that overall creepy and unsettling tone of first few episodes - brilliant melody; "Creeping darkness" illustrate that mood perfectly - was great. But the writting just wasn't very good. You see, on youtube there is this short interview with "South Park" writers, in which they say you should NEVER write your story in a way in which individual story beats are unconnected and things happen just because; and THEN this happen, and THEN this happen... Instead they said that you should write your story as if every single event arise as result of previous events - THEREFORE this happen...Original series was written in accord with this rule; there was foreshadowing, character arcs and clear cause and effect, on the other hand "Magia Record" is one of the most and "THEN this happen" series I ever seen. And THEN Iroha meet this group of girls, and THEN she run into other group of girls, and THEN she fought this "rumour" and THEN she fought other "rumour" , and THEN Mami and Kyoko showed up...There is very little connective tissue between those events and even if there is connection, it's flimsy at best...In result "Magia record" have crap-ton of characters but very little CONSEQUENCES and therefore I'm not having much interest in future events. When you compare and contrast this with original series in which every single event was a consequence of choices previously made by the characters, you see that writing in "Magia Record" is not terribly strong...
The main thing I would disagree with you on is the mechanic of making wishes; how strong Puealla Magi is not just tied to caliber of her wish - is tied to her karmic destiny. The only reason why Madoka had so powerful is because Homura was turning back time and unknowingly made all the fates for all different Madoka's from alternate timeline to converge on Madoka from timeline seen in original show.
Just found your video! Thank you for putting your thoughts out!
Here are my takes as someone who played the game (which the anime is based on).
The game's story and characters are more fleshed out due to its multi-story VN format. The anime was forced to cram and cut down content due to having a certain amount of episodes to do things. This results in some characters just being there for the sake of it, and having their individual arcs cut out or changed to fit the anime story.
There was even another main character in the game who brought content that would have been relevent to the motivations of the Wings of Magius, and was even set up in S1, but ended up becoming a glorified cameo who just gets a few lines, with only game players knowing who she really is. This was Izumi Kanagi, and you probably know her as the woman Yachiyo speaks to on the phone in S1, and the white-dressed lady who saves her ass in S3.
The Magia Record anime was also very constrained by the popularity parent series. Studio SHAFT didn't allow the Magia Record anime to become its own thing, unlike the game which is in its own continuity and still ongoing. This results in the anime ending in a way that makes it act more like a tie-in or prequel to Madoka Magica, like Rogue One to A New Hope. At this point they just got Magia Record out of the way, so they could focus on the new Madoka Magica movie and build hype for it.
Yeah I have heard of the game but I don't have any knowledge of it, there is definitely a split in takes from people who've played the game. You brought up interesting thing, I had to look up Izumi but I do remember seeing her in places, I could kinda tell some characters really got it bad as there were many background characters with very rich character designs, pointing to some relevance that they initially had.
I do think it was very sad that the identity of this show was attached so much to the original madoka magica, that why I had made the video prior trying to defend the series and to tell people to be more open to it being something different. I couldn't agree more to the comparison of it being like Rogue one, I really never though but it fits perfectly.
At least at the end of the day we are left with something still pretty fun and watchable, but I totally believed it could be more.
@@NoobertonAnime Okay, sending this again since it looked like it didn't stick.
If you'd like to experience the game, you're welcome to check out the Magia Record subreddit, and you'll find a link to the Discord server there. We can help you get settled into the JP game, and we have loads of translated story content for you to read! We even have a TLed app on another server if you'd like to experience the story in-game in English.
With the 5th Anniversary coming up, you'll be able to get a load of good freebies too!
@@sg4456 If you replied first time with the actual link, then UA-cam probably got rid of it on it's own. UA-cam really hates links and they don't even bother putting them in the likely spam folder and they just outright delete them (It leaves the spam folder contents to be just hateful, mean comments lol)
Also thanks for informing me and others scrolling down how to find the game. I'm probably to busy to really get into it. Farthest I've gone down rabbit holes for series is finding translated light novels, and that was for one of my favorites, I often just stick to anime/manga as it's a pretty direct and quick experience which fits well when your occupied with life obligations and the hobby of making UA-cam content.
But honestly I really appreciate your comments, I often am very uninformed on topics I end up talking about so I'm happy knowledgeable people like you drop in and leave more information for anyone passively reading the comment section to find.
It's really appreciated!
@@NoobertonAnime
No problem! It's really important for anyone to be informed on the source material, so I'm glad if others see this and can find their way to it.
If playing the game is too much of a hassle, you can also find the translated stories on the Magia Union Translations UA-cam channel.
Magia record was one of the biggest disappointments for me in 2022...
the problem with magia record is that madoka magica exists
The UA-cam shorts version of this video.
lmfao
Ngl never knew Magireco had an anime
I lost track with it few months after NA server shutdown
In my opinion, the game was much better at handling this because the anime just wanted an edgy ending while the game wanted to tell a new story even though it contradicted Madoka Magica.
Uh the problem was that they were cut a season a had to rewrite season 2 minus 4 episodes to try and fit in all the plot beats they began.
It's not really their fault, they had the same shit that happened to them like what happened to korra
Look at this anime fan with his waifu dolls in the background! Thought the show was boring after three episodes, glad I jumped off the train before it got worse
With the Homura figure in the background people going to think I'm a extremely biased Madoka fan lol. I'm probably one of the most charitable fan around.
@@NoobertonAnime Bruh, your arms are really hairy lol
The anime isn't canon anyway, i just accept the existence of the game history cuz is better than the anime, unfurtunate everyone who wanna see the history of Magia record will prefer to see the anime instead of the game history cuz the VN model that they use on the game to show the history make most of the people skip it : (
I don't like Magia record also, I can't get pass ep.3 the motives here are so shallow (it feels they made it for kids) 😂 compare to madoka that has real complex conflicts...
Only season 2 and 3 are better tbh
I never watched this anime.
Well, first if you haven't watched the original Madoka Magica, watch that. If you liked it and want more, then watch this but be prepared to be disappointed lol.
Boycott SHAFT and Magia Record for the anime sequel to Puella Magi Madoka Magica Movie Rebellion be remade into a TV series instead of a movie, so the other magical girls from the spin off manga can be in it! And Mami Tomoe has a boyfriend who would play an important role in the story!
Magia Record was never a sequel, it was a spinnoff cash grab gacha game that got a terribly rushed anime adaptation. The game will never be up to the madoka standard of quality, but the Magia Record anime never lived up to what the game was like.