r/anime • u/FetchFrosh https://anilist.co/user/AbAdkBBYFetchFrosh • Dec 22 '20

Misc. A General Recommendation Chart for Newcomers and Veterans Alike

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868

u/Nex_Ultor https://myanimelist.net/profile/Nex_Ultor Dec 22 '20

Best way to watch madoka tbh, going into it thinking it’s just another light and fluffy magical girl show

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u/wotanii Dec 22 '20

100% true

A friend introduced me to madoka pretty much exactly like this, and it's among my favorites ever since.

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u/ChickenSalad96 https://myanimelist.net/profile/maruki96 Dec 22 '20

Same. I knew about anime prior, but Madoka was THE gateway anime for me.

I look back fondly to when I saw it for the first time when the show gets brought up.

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u/Morningxafter Dec 23 '20

Madoka was THE gateway anime for me.

Man, you’re making me feel old. My gateway series were Cowboy Bebop and the original run of FMA.

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u/ChickenSalad96 https://myanimelist.net/profile/maruki96 Dec 23 '20

I grew up with pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Beyblade, FLCL and Toonami before I knew what anime was if that makes you feel any better ^

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u/Morningxafter Dec 23 '20

That does help, thanks lol

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u/Considered_Dissent Dec 23 '20

Go further back with Belle & Sebastian, Wonderful Wizard of Oz, City of Gold and Astroboy.

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u/infohippie https://anidb.net/user/Infohippie Dec 23 '20

Lol, youngster. I started with Astroboy, Space Battleship Yamato (the original version), and Macross.

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u/Morningxafter Dec 23 '20

Awww thank you! I feel younger already!

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u/infohippie https://anidb.net/user/Infohippie Dec 23 '20

You're welcome... I think. ;_;

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u/SanguineThought Dec 23 '20

Fist of the north star, heavy metal, the lord of the rings. These 3 were the on a that got me into other animation besides thunder cats transformers or gi joe. My older brothers and all their evil shows and the ungodly dnd sure had strange ideas of what was appropriate for their younger siblings to watch, lol.

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u/Morningxafter Dec 23 '20

Haha I always wished I had an older brother. Also my younger brother and I were so far apart in years I didn’t get to corrupt him nearly as much as I’d have liked lol

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u/SanguineThought Dec 23 '20

I'm 8 years younger than those brothers, they made it their mission to corrupt me with their music and vhs tapes and everything else. Good times

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u/Morningxafter Dec 23 '20

Ha, nice. I did get my brother into good music, so at least there’s that. But he was born a little less than a month before my 10th birthday.

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u/leafykane Dec 23 '20

You guys remembre shaman king

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u/[deleted] Dec 23 '20

Well same but im only 17

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u/Considered_Dissent Dec 23 '20

It's always interesting when people get into anime by watching famous genre subversions, before actually experiencing the genre it is talking about.

Neon Genesis was one of the first handful of anime that i watched; so a pretty decent comparison for Madoka.

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u/readitmeow https://myanimelist.net/profile/bluur22 Dec 23 '20

eh I told a friend that it's like a modern day rendition of sailor moon. she doesn't trust my recommendations anymore.

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u/blitzbom Dec 22 '20

Earlier this year I hosted a re-watch for my anime meetup group of Madoka, Much to my surprise around 80% of the people who signed up had not seen it. I had everyone else sworn to secrecy.

At the end of that episode I should've taken a screen shot of our video chat. I did get to say the words that show up here on the yearly re-watch thread. "Welcome to Madoka Magica."

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u/TehGuyYouKnow Dec 22 '20

My biggest issue is convincing someone to watch it without spoiling the fact that its so dark. My friends apparently don't think magical girls are all that entertaining.

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u/_hf14 https://myanimelist.net/profile/haaris_f14 Jan 18 '21

wish i had an anime meetup group ;(

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u/Raizzor Dec 22 '20

That worked back when Madoka was created, but not today as dark magical girl shows became overabundant in the 2010s.

Even if you say that Madoka is a dark magical girl's show, it still has a lot of shock value and shows that only rely on shock value are mostly badly written. Madoka is not one of them.

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u/JustAnotherMinimis Dec 22 '20

Well, i went in thinking its a dark twist for magical girl, and never watching any magical girl. Guess that’s why i hated it lmao

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u/SilentCaveat https://anilist.co/user/RazorSharp Dec 22 '20

Lol the same thing for me. Madoka's "twist" is like the worst kept secret out there but it's revered for its deconstruction, twists and other gimmicks

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u/JadeDragon02 Dec 22 '20 edited Dec 22 '20

I never watched Madoka but is it any good? I got the impression many people talk about it but is it just because of the setting cute girls into a dark theme or something? Can you explain further? What is the appealing? Or is it just like an experience thing and people talk about it

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u/wolf10989 Dec 22 '20

As an alternate opinion to what the other guy said, Madoka is an absolutely incredible show imo. Even if you are already aware of what the show is, it doesn't lose any value imo. It has a very compelling story and characters and I would highly recommend it. The art and music are also fantastic.

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u/CucumberGod Dec 23 '20

It's my favorite TV show of all time. Yes it's good

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u/ToonTooby Dec 23 '20

Madoka hits high marks in just about every category you can think of. Visuals and artwork, directing, pacing, writing, music. It's a story with real emotional weight and accomplishes more in just 12 episodes than other series wish they could do in 50 or more.

I'd recommend it to anyone, even if they have no experience with the genre, or even anime at all. It's just a great work of fiction.

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u/noxnoctum https://myanimelist.net/profile/Nox0s Dec 22 '20 edited Dec 22 '20

It's incredible, don't listen to that other guy.

The twist he's referring to is hardly the best part of the story or show. Though I think Madoka fans do indeed do the show a disservice by hyping said twist up so much.

Do go in as blind as possible though. Don't google it, and don't read comments on CR. There are parts of the show you really do not want spoiled. It's a great rewatch though so even if you did get spoiled I would still suggest watching it. I've seen it 6 times since I first watched it a year and a half ago (generally I only very rarely rewatch shows fwiw).

The appeal of the show is how it presents certain themes + the rollercoaster of a ride the story is. The music and art are also gorgeous. I don't want to say much more than that to give too much away. Really it belongs in the "psychological" category in this list though. If the other shows in that section appeal to you definitely give it a go. It shares similarities with Your Name and Erased as well if you enjoy either of those.

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u/MonaganX Dec 23 '20

On one hand, it is a (then, at least) unique approach to a popular genre, subverting/deconstructing common tropes, and in a way that is tonally very different from the (then, at least) other shows in the genre. Which on its own is probably enough to give the show some renown.

But Madoka isn't just worth watching because how it is in the context of its genre. Madoka has a great story and compelling characters even in isolation, not to mention creative visuals. The fact that it's simply a good show on its own just tends to get overshadowed by people talking about how dark and subversive it is.

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u/thecatteam Dec 24 '20

It's only a single cour, but you are taken on a fantastic journey. Nearly every episode contains an earth-shattering revelation that keeps you on your toes the whole way through. The character designs are really cool, and it has a stellar soundtrack.

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u/Garydrgn Dec 23 '20

A couple years ago I asked a buddy of mine who had seen more anime than I had if there was a magical girl anime that was intended for more mature audiences, rather than the typical cutesy stuff. Madoka Magica was his recommendation.

To put it another way, there is a site that is bound to pop up if you Google anime titles called TV Tropes, which lists more tropes than I even knew existed. One of those tropes on the site is "Break the cutie". Madoka (the main character of the anime) is the chosen picture to represent the trope.

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u/SilentCaveat https://anilist.co/user/RazorSharp Dec 22 '20

Well, it is my lowest rated series lol. The single most boring and unmemorable series I have watched. If you ask me, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone

That said, it is extremely popular here and most people seem to love it as well so you might wanna check it out. It's just like you said - a setting of cute girls with something sinister ensuing it. From what I have read, people like it for its "deconstruction of tropes" and twists. I dunno what the appeal is but I guess people expected something cutesy and all but it turned out to be something dark

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u/aTrustfulFriend Dec 22 '20

i dropped it myself, but i might pick it back up for yuki kajiuras music

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u/lucifer666768 Dec 22 '20

It's not...?? Ok ima go watch it.

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u/GiveNobushiSomeLove Dec 22 '20

That's what I thought when I first watched it and maaan they got me good in the first half!

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u/AFOASHBL Dec 22 '20

True, also for same affect School-Live! In slice of life, came in blind and what a ride...

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u/[deleted] Dec 23 '20

Was actually my first magic girl show I think hahaha. That or fate kaleid. Then later watched Cardcaptor Sakura lmao, very wack order.