Puella Magi Madoka Magica LE Box Set Vol. 1 Blu-ray Review
Be careful what you wish for.
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, May 1, 2012
How do you feel about swag? One of the supposed big selling points of DVD, and later Blu-ray, was the ability to
include supplementary material, be it a commentary track, or making of featurettes and the like. Niche labels like
Criterion built a lot of their branding on this very supplementary material. But what about "extras" that aren't
necessarily standard supplements? More and more deluxe sets are being released, often at relatively exorbitant price
points, which include all manner of this so-called swag. The recent deluxe release of
Ben-Hur had a
reproduction of Charlton Heston's on set diary, to give just one salient example, and more and more even serious
collectors have started questioning what the real value of some of these items really is. (Others, including—and I'm not
that ashamed to admit it—me, actually love a lot of this "extracurricular" swag.) NIS America is a smaller label
that has been releasing some very handsomely packaged anime titles like
Arakawa Under the Bridge and
Kimi Ni Todoke - From
Me To You that have sometimes (not always) been kind of slight on actual supplements adorning the Blu-ray discs,
but which have included hardback books and sturdy slipcases. Now Aniplex joins the fray with two volumes of
Puella Magi Madoka Magica, a series that not only is redolent of some of the NIS releases (which were Aniplex
productions in some cases), but also mimic NIS' deluxe packaging formats.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a
sweet natured story about "magical girls" (more about that later), but what might actually be a major selling point for
some consumers (while frankly being an ultimate turn off for others) is the swag included with this release, which
includes a soundtrack CD and various paper items that have "cult fan appeal" written all over them.
Though
Puella Magi Madoka Magica's title may be a bit cumbersome, the show itself is fairly straightforward and
simple. Madoka Kaname, a sweet if slightly odd young girl, awakens from a bizarre dream (rendered with an extremely
effective surreal use of CGI in the series' opening sequence). Later that day, a girl from that dream, Homura Akemi,
shows
up in real life and enrolls in Madoka's school, sending Madoka into a bit of confused tailspin. Things only get weirder
when
Homura seems to know Madoka, though, aside from the dream, Madoka has never seen Homura before. Soon Madoka
and her friend Sayaka are whisked into a strange new world when they discover that Homura is a so-called "magical
girl",
a gifted individual who has forsaken a normal mortal life in order to fight evil spirits, known as witches, and other
hobgoblins, including an odd creature named Kyubey. Madoka and Sayaka are soon offered the chance to become
magical
girls themselves, setting the series off on its main plot arc.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica is often a very sweet natured show that attempts to delve into supposedly weighty
issues like whether or not magical girls can "spend" wishes on helping those in need rather than simply fighting the
forces of evil. This particular aspect plays an important part in a major plot arc in the first four episodes (this set
only includes the first four episodes), when Sayaka develops a bit of a crush on a boy named Kyosuke Kamijo,
once a young violin prodigy who is recovering from a debilitating injury. That leads to some philosophical soul searching
by Sayaka as she wonders whether or not it's okay to offer a secret helping hand to Kyosuke.
There's nothing especially earth shattering about
Puella Magi Madoka Magica's characters or even its basic
plotline, but where the series
does excel is in at least some of its design aesthetic. This is made apparent right
off the bat with the wild and wonderful dream sequence that opens that show. Bizarre kaleidoscoping geometric
patterns in black and white weave and fold over each other as Madoka makes her way through her nightmare, and it's
an extremely cool representation of a confused dream state. Later in the opening set of four episodes, the girls are
transported into a sort of magical, but demonic, alternate universe that is positively surreal, with large objects with
names on them roller coasting through the environment, which is a mysterious black, highlighted with big puffs of bright
reds and purples. This, too, is an extremely evocative use of animation and helps to set up both the excitement as well
as the fear Madoka and Sayaka experience as they begin to forge new lives as magical girls.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica LE Box Set Vol. 1 Blu-ray, Video Quality
Puella Magi Madoka Magica Limited Edition Box Set No. 1 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Aniplex with an AVC
encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1 (each episode also includes bumpers typically in 2.34:1). This is a bright and vivid high
definition presentation which features incredibly sharp line detail, robust and extremely well saturated colors and consistent
stability. The best part of this series is undoubtedly the weirder, more "magical", moments, which include everything from
the opening dream sequence mentioned above in the main body of the review, to several brief sequences where the
various girls are either in a sort of demonic lair or fighting witches and other nemeses. While the bulk of the
shonen
aspect of
Puella Magi Madoka Magica is pretty standard fare (which is not to say it's not enjoyable), the series really
kicks it up a considerable notch in these other, more fanciful, elements, and it's then that this Blu-ray really pops with some
amazing detail and color, not to mention a really cool looking design aesthetic.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica LE Box Set Vol. 1 Blu-ray, Audio Quality
Puella Magi Madoka Magica Limited Edition Box Set No. 1 features two uncompressed LPCM 2.0 audio options, one
in the original Japanese and the other an English dub. Both of these tracks are virtually identical with regard to overall
amplitude and mix, with the only salient difference being of course the language being spoken. Fidelity is strong and voice
work is quite good in both languages, but this is a series that could have benefited from a surround mix for a couple of
important reasons. First of all, the series includes a really effective underscore, one that blends a sort of Japanese version
of the group
Mediaeval Baebes with some nice sounding ethnic
instruments and J-pop. Second of all, some of the weirder surreal elements have some great sonic activity that really could
have been opened up significantly with a surround mix. That said, the stereo mixes here are artful and well prioritized and
they get the job done within an obviously narrower soundfield.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica LE Box Set Vol. 1 Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation
So we return to the question that began this review: how do you feel about swag? The price point on this set has already
come down by about a third from where it was when I first started paying attention to it, but it's still at a pretty hefty place
for a set that really only includes four episodes of the series. That of course inherently raises the question of how you feel
about all the extras included in this admittedly very handsomely packaged set. From my perspective, the best supplement
here is undoubtedly the soundtrack CD, as
Puella Magi Madoka Magica contains some extremely effective music, and
a lot of it is on this CD. The paper items I personally could take or leave without a second thought. The series itself is
rather slight, but quite enjoyable, and the very cool moments of surreality up the ante in terms of visual enjoyment. Both
video and audio are solidly presented on this Blu-ray. The question comes down to whether or not you want to plunk down
this much money for a set that offers relatively little on the actual Blu-ray disc, but which does indeed come with a pile of
other "goodies". Price point aside, I'm enjoying
Puella Magi Madoka Magica quite a lot, and so with a certain
caveat emptor warning (especially for those of you on a tight budget), this release comes
Recommended.
