The Future of Madoka Magica

The Future of Madoka Magica

Introduction

Let’s start today’s post off with a little, fun fact: this is my 250th post! Fun, right? I was going to write some sort of 250th post extravaganza, like how I wrote about my Top 10 Anime for my 100th post, but I couldn’t think of a good topic, so here we are instead with some more Madoka Magica content.

As you may have noticed, I’ve really tried my hardest to push certain anime on this site such as the Monogatari series, in fact out of my 250 posts, 14 of them are dedicated to that one series, and I mention it in many more. However, shounen anime content is by far the most popular content on my site.

What this means is that I’m put in the position of choosing between what I want to write about and what I know will perform well. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy writing about shounen, or that other content doesn’t perform well, but I have interest outside of shounen that I like to share and that content generally isn’t as popular.

I’m bringing this up today because I recognize the fact that this is two days of Madoka Magica content in a row, which likely isn’t what the vast majority of my readers are interested in.

If my non-shounen posts inspire you to watch a series outside of your usual genre, that’s great! However, if shounen is your lifeblood, don’t worry, there will be plenty more, weekly shounen content in the future. You can also always suggest topics or ask questions which may turn into future posts through the comment section, Twitter, or Tumblr.

But enough about that, let’s get into today’s topic.

Magia Record Anime

Puella Magi Madoka Magica Gaiden: Magia Record anime announcement
Madoka Magica Gaiden: Magia Record

The next anime entry into the Madoka Magica series was recently revealed to be an adaptation of the mobile game Magia Record. The original series aired in 2011 and the sequel movie, Rebellion, aired in 2013. In 2015 we were teased with a short video which was supposedly the next Madoka installment, but it never came to pass.

But now, in 2019 we’re officially getting the a full anime series based off the story from Magia Record. To be clear, this is not the same as the movie which was hinted back in 2015. That movie was either scrapped completely, or has been postponed indefinitely.

It’s also been confirmed that Shaft is going to be the studio behind the new anime adaptation, but other than that I haven’t seen who else is going to be returning from the original series and movie. I’m hoping Yuki Kajiura returns to create another masterpiece of an OST.

So what do we know about the Magia Record anime as far as the plot and characters are concerned? Well, for one, there are a lot of new characters who were introduced in the mobile game considering it is a gacha game designed to get players to spend money to collect cute girls.

That said, the main character is Iroha Tamaki, a magical girl from a different town than the one the events of the main series took place in. Besides her, the original cast of Madoka, Homura, Kyouko, Sayaka, and Mami are all returning, so it’s not like this series is completely separate.

Unfortunately, I only know a basic amount of the plot since I was never able to actually install Magia Record on my phone. Why can’t iTunes let me download an app from the Japanese store?

But, what I do know is that this side story takes place in one of the many timelines Homura traveled through while she was trying to prevent Madoka from making a pact with Kyubey. Iroha appears before Homura and tells her to travel to Kamihama city in order to save the magical girls who live there.

From this we can assume that Homura will once again be playing a central role in the story, this time alongside Iroha. Other than that, I have no idea what the plot is about, but I’m sure it’ll be great because it’s still Madoka after all.

But as exciting as it is that we’re getting this new anime adaptation from the Madoka Magica series, I’m even more interested in what this means for the more distant future of the series.

Beyond the Horizon

In case you weren’t aware, there’s actually a lot of Madoka Magica content outside of the anime. Sure, the series started out as an anime-original series, but by this point there’s even more content outside of the anime than there is within it.

For example, so far we only have anime versions of the original series and the movie Rebellion, but these are all of the other manga which have yet to be adapted into anime form:

  • Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice
  • Puella Magi Oriko Magica
  • Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Different Story
  • Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Homura’s Revenge!
  • Puella Magi Oriko Magica: Extra Story
  • Puella Magi Homura Tamura
  • Puella Magi Suzune Magica
  • Puella Magi Tart Magica: The Legend of Jeanne d’Arc
  • Puella Magi Oriko Magica: Sadness Prayer
  • Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Wraith Arc

As you can see, there’s a lot of potential for future anime seasons or movies to be made in the Madoka Magica series. I don’t know what half of these manga are even about since I haven’t read any of them, unfortunately, but those I do know, I’m very interested in seeing adapted.

The Wraith Arc, for example, takes place between the original series and the Rebellion movie. This would be a great arc to adapt next if the Magia Record anime is a success, which it likely will be. The reason for this is because it’s already something which is canon in the original series, as we get a glimpse of it at the very end.

I’m pretty sure The Different Story is another timeline which focuses more on Mami, Sayaka, and Sakura, but I could be wrong. Oriko Magica focuses on an entirely different cast of characters than the original, and Tart Magica focuses on Jeanne d’Arc, as it says.

These, and even the other manga I know even less about could all potentially be adapted to anime if the Magia Record anime does well and proves that fans are willing to buy into more Madoka Magica. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for Madoka to get all the anime adaptations it deserves just like the Monogatari series does.

We could even get all new anime-original content that focuses on our main girls after the events of Rebellion.

Conclusion

So what are your thoughts? Are you excited for the new Madoka Magica anime? Have you played Magia Record? And finally, which of the other Madoka Magica stories would you most want to see adapted? The Wraith Arc is definitely number one for me.

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