Disclaimer: This review covers the films "Madoka Magica 1 - Beginnings" and "Madoka Magica 2 - Eternal."Film compilations of anime television shows don't usually fare well. Often made to remind viewers of the story as part of an anniversary promotion, or to promote a brand new series or film continutation, they suffer both from inpure reasons towards their production (to make more money, and nothing more), and from trying to squeeze as much as 50 episodes into two hours."Puella Magi Madoka Magica - The Movie" is a trilogy, with the first two films recapping the events of the original smash-hit television series, and the third being a brand new and divisive conclusion that un-does the ending of the final episode. This review covers those first two movies, subtitled "Beginnings" and "Eternal," respectively. Concerned only with retelling the original story, not even adding any extra content to foreshadow the third movie, they can be watched completely in place of watching the television series, and if desired, without following up with the third. Of course, it would seem silly to watch one-half of the original series, so "Beginnings" and "Eternal" simply must be watched together, without a sensible ending in the first movie to break it up.Primarily, the films succeed as a retelling of the original series, purely based on time. The original series was only 12 episodes long. The studio might have been able to get away with compressing this into a single film, but wisely chose to extend it to two, each a hearty two-hours long. This means about five hours of content is reduced into four, and since the original series already took its time with its pacing, it doesn't feel like a single thing is missing, and the films don't feel rushed in the slightest.... actually, there is one thing missing. In the original series, the first episode opens with a dream sequence of Madoka climbing up a black and white staircase inside a large empty main hall, opening the door at the top to reveal a battle between her friends and a powerful enemy, including Homura, a girl whom she had not yet met. This dream sequence foreshadowed the tone of the series, which otherwise felt like a well-produced but simple show of magical girls (revealing its darker nature a few episodes later). This scene doesn't exist in the movies at all; instead the first movie opens with the following scene, of Madoka waking up and starting her day. In the film, she even makes a reference to this missing scene when first seeing Homura ("I think I've seen her somewhere before... in a dream..."). It's inconceivable as to why this scene was completely left out of the films... surely an extra minute of animation wouldn't have been a problem to keep? This is the only mssing part of the original show, all the more noticable for being the only part, for had it been kept, this would have been an entirely perfect and definitive replacement.
So if you have never seen the original series, the movies offer a mostly-excellent method to view it. But what if you've already seen the television series in its entirety? There aren't any new elements to extend the world of "Madoka Magica." And most of the animation, while already exception for television, is reused without edits. What is new is the opening sequences, edited with entirely new animation tied to the original songs from the show, a treat for long time fans. There are also a handful of newly-animated scenes scattered in the films, if only to experiment with a higher-quality of animation during times of action or drama, but it would take a die-hard fan or a keen artist's eye to recognize.If you haven't yet seen the original show, you might also wonder why the franchise of "Madoka Magica" is so revered to anime fans circa 2011. Shows about regular girls receiving magica powers, and transforming into fluffy dresses and tutus to save the city have been common in anime for decades, a sort of alternative to superheroes in tights. The ever popular "Sailor Moon" is such an example. But "Madoka Magica" is often described as "deconstruction of the genre," a term that has since been reused ad-nausium. It asks WHY innocent girls might be given superpowers, and in this case, suggests that the girls are taken advantage of for ulterior motives to benefit by the cute animal mascot of the show, who is discovered to have absolutely no understanding of human emotion. Being a magical isn't a gift, but is rather a curse, forcing the girls to put their lives in constant danger to save their world, until eventually the power consumes them, in a perpetual cycle that requires even more magical girls. It's hard to watch 14-year old anime girls (drawn with large eyes to look even younger) go through such torture, making the show shocking for its time. And generally, besides such a strong thematic element, the show is impressively well-written, offering characters of varying shades of grey, and a compelling route to a statisfying ending. When told alongside impressive and experimental animation and design from Studio Shaft, and with beautiful music (both background scores, and opening and ending themes), it was deservedly a phenomenon.And the films maintain that brilliance. Despite missing a single key scene, and perhaps not providing a clear breaking point in the story to separate the two films, "Beginnings" and "Eternal" is a fine way to experience the original story of "Madoka Magica." Even the fact that much of the content was simply reused doesn't pose to deter it. Not mentioned so far is the price point if purchasing a copy in North America: when compared on a cost-per-minute basis, Aniplex USA's release of the films is even more compelling against the series.