Around 12:30, after the first episode of Puella Magi Madoka Magica concluded, Okino Reiko stood with her arms crossed, silently pondering.
Overall, the episode wasn't particularly groundbreaking. In fact, it felt somewhat formulaic.
The core premise—a magical girl's familiar is injured, is found by the protagonist, and then guides her to become a magical girl herself—is practically a standard trope. Akiyuki Shinbo, who also supervised Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, followed a similar pattern.
The only difference is that in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, the protagonist first becomes a magical girl. The entire first season is dedicated to the conflict and eventual reconciliation between the protagonist and Fate, a magical girl who initially acts as an antagonist. It's only in the second season that the now-redeemed Fate transfers to the protagonist's school as a supporting character.
In this Puella Magi Madoka Magica, however, Homura Akemi, the antagonist magical girl, transfers to the protagonist's school from the very beginning. Moreover, she doesn't seem to have any particular animosity toward the protagonist.
The only point of conflict is that Homura Akemi wants to kill Kyubey, the familiar, while the protagonist wants to save him.
Without this conflict, the two might have become friends from the start.
In other magical girl anime, the protagonist becomes a magical girl, and her best friend, who often appears early on, might or might not know about it, but usually doesn't become a magical girl herself.
In Puella Magi Madoka Magica, however, the contract pet Kyubey simultaneously offers a contract to both the protagonist and Sayaka. This situation is quite rare; at least, Okino Reiko had never seen such a development before.
It does follow some tropes, but considering the magical girl genre, certain necessary elements are expected. It wouldn't feel like a magical girl anime without them. Moreover, the inclusion of some unconventional developments prevents it from feeling too cliché, so it's not a major issue.
The story's pacing and the overall rhythm of the first episode are excellent. There wasn't a single moment that felt dragged out or could have been cut.
Although there are some puzzling aspects, such as why the protagonist dreamt of Homura Akemi before meeting her in person, and why Homura Akemi is hunting Kyubey...
Overall, the story wasn't confusing; it didn't leave you scratching your head, wondering what was going on.
On the contrary, the narrative was remarkably clear and the storytelling concise and straightforward.
In this regard, it was only to be expected from the Supervising Director who had previously helmed such successful animations as Death Note, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, and Gurren Lagann.
The animation quality was even more impressive, easily outshining all other animations from the same period.
The only issue was the bizarre art style of the "monsters" in the animation. Whether it was the scene in the protagonist's dream or the grotesque creatures they encountered after escaping Homura Akemi while rescuing Kyubey, the art style was just too strange.
After watching the first episode, Okino Reiko still had a vivid impression of those disturbing "monsters."
She couldn't help but wonder: "Is this really a healing-genre Magical Girl Anime? Or is it something darker, even horror-themed?"
She genuinely couldn't understand why the "monsters" had been designed in such a style.
In fact, she wasn't the only one harboring such doubts.
As the top-ranked new series on the anticipation list, it had already attracted a large audience even after just the first episode.
Naturally, after the first episode aired, a flood of viewers took to the discussion forums:
"They said it's a healing genre anime, but I didn't feel anything healing about it, except for the OP and ED."
"Maybe the characters' round faces are supposed to be healing? Or Kyubey's smile at the end?"
"'The Witch has already escaped'—what exactly are these 'Witches'? They're so creepy."
"Right? That part almost confused me. I've never seen such bizarre monster designs before."
"This doesn't look like a healing genre anime at all; it's more like something dark and gruesome."
"I checked the staff list, and it seems Lin Zhiyan himself designed the monsters. Did he just go wild with it?"
"If you want to make a healing anime, just make it healing! Putting such grotesque monsters in a healing show is just too jarring."
The first episode of Puella Magi Madoka Magica left most viewers with a sense of unease, feeling that it didn't quite fit the mold of a healing anime.
Some even began to write the show off, arguing that while the animation quality was high, its overall quality was clearly lacking. After Gurren Lagann failed to become Lin Zhiyan's downfall, they feared this time would be different.
The grotesque monster designs alone were enough to make anyone conclude that a healing anime with such visuals was doomed to fail.
Of course, Lin Zhiyan had already directed three highly successful animations, and his previous work, Gurren Lagann, had achieved massive success against all odds, turning the tide after a rocky start.
Perhaps he could pull off another turnaround this time?
Consequently, many fans defended Lin Zhiyan:
"It's only the first episode! Don't rush to judgment! Maybe there's a special meaning behind these monster designs?"
"The healing animation style and the grotesque, dark-style monsters definitely clash a bit, but it's not too bad. I'm looking forward to Lord Hayashi turning the rotten into the miraculous and perfectly fusing these two styles."
"I've seen too many cute monsters in normal Magical Girl Anime. Trying something different is fine. Besides, they're monsters, so they don't need to be designed to be cute, right? If they were as cute as Kyubey, how could the heroine bring herself to fight them after becoming a magical girl?"
"For the healing aspect, the girls and Kyubey are enough. There's no need to make the monsters healing-style too. And didn't Mami say they were 'Witches'? Maybe defeating the Witches will restore the healing style and allow us to experience a touching story?"
"Anyway, I don't see any major problems."
After all, it was only the first episode. With no glaring flaws, most people chose to wait and see or trust Lin Zhiyan.
As for the possibility that it wasn't a healing genre but a healing-gone-wrong genre... no one even considered that.
After all, this was a Magical Girl Anime. The very concept of a "magical girl" is a beautiful fantasy, inherently incompatible with the dark themes of a healing-gone-wrong genre. How could anyone even associate that with the idea of "healing-gone-wrong"?
Lin Zhiyan's reputation was also spotless.
Death Note had never engaged in misleading advertising. Code Geass had, but that was an official act by the animation studio, with no connection to Lin Zhiyan, and it had happened so long ago that it had long been forgotten.
Regarding Gurren Lagann, Lin Zhiyan had only said it would be completely different from Death Note and Code Geass. He had kept his word on that point without any issues.
Having never lied, he naturally didn't arouse any suspicion.
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