Yuta turned away from the ED sequence of Madoka Magica playing on his screen. This was already the third time he'd rewatched Episode 7.
And each time, it hit him differently.
Before getting into Madoka, Yuta had already been a longtime fan of magical girl anime.
Don't ask why a 26-year-old man loved this kind of show. It was simple: because he loved it.
If not for love, would he have spent half his paycheck every month on figures and merch? Would he cosplay magical girl characters at every Comiket, even the genderbent ones? His friends in the otaku circle teased him often, saying under his sharp, serious look was a heart stuffed with pink frills and sparkles.
Originally, when Madoka Magica first began airing, Yuta was excited. The name "Muzishrio" had been floating around a lot lately, and people kept saying this new guy was going to flip the genre on its head. Yuta hadn't followed him closely before, but curiosity got the better of him. He checked out 5 Centimeters per Second and Anohana.
Big mistake.
He thought they'd be romance shows. He wasn't ready for heartbreak. He preferred warm, heartfelt romances because in real life there was already enough pain. But both times, he got crushed.
First 5 cm/s. People told him it was beautiful. Yeah, beautiful right up until the end that tore his chest apart. Then Anohana. He hesitated since everyone online warned it was sad. But the early episodes felt wholesome, lighthearted, almost tricking him into thinking maybe this one wouldn't break him. Then Episode 9 hit and again heartbreak.
Still, he couldn't deny it: both were beautiful works. Painful, but beautiful. So when Muzishrio announced he was making a magical girl show, Yuta braced himself. He told himself, I'm ready this time. If it's sad, so be it.
But he wasn't ready for this.
Madoka was darker. Not just darker than he expected. It was darker compared to the entire magical girl tradition. And yet he couldn't stop watching.
He had to admit it. Madoka's later episodes went far beyond what he, or frankly anyone in the anime scene, had expected.
The sweet, sugary tone people thought they'd get never arrived. Instead, the show kept tightening the screws: quiet dread, psychological weight, and sudden, gut-punching twists that built up like a pressure cooker.
And then Episode 7.
The moment Sayaka broke during her descent into darkness, those last five minutes, it was like every bit of heaviness that had been building suddenly crashed down at once.
That was the moment fans realized the truth.
In Madoka Magica, "magical girl" didn't mean hope. It meant tragedy.
Every girl who made a contract did so with a pure, selfless wish. None of them were bad people. None deserved their fate. But each one was doomed to walk a road straight into despair.
Where was the "magic" in that?
No. This wasn't really a story about magical girls. It was a story about the curse of becoming one.
And at the center of it all, that cute little devil: Kyubey.
Yuta's thoughts snapped back to the mascot's soulless eyes. That smug, manipulative creature who lured girls into contracts without ever explaining the price. Kyubey wasn't a mentor. He was a cosmic scam artist.
Without hesitation, Yuta queued up Episode 1 again. itching to flood the chat with warnings for first-time viewers: "Don't trust that thing. Don't believe him for even a second."
By now, Madoka had so many watchers the comment section never stopped scrolling. As Homura chased down Kyubey, the chat went wild:
"Homura, don't hesitate. End it!"
"Kyubey looks tasty grilled!"
"That's not heatstroke. He's fermenting!"
"101 ways to cook Kyubey!"
Yuta burst out laughing.
He closed the website, his mind still buzzing.
As brutal as the story was, Madoka was addictive. He couldn't stop thinking about it.
Would Sayaka be saved? Would Madoka finally make her contract? What was Homura really after? The mystery was a hook, and the anime had its hooks deep in every fan.
Forums were on fire. Theories everywhere. People dragging friends into the fandom just to have someone to scream with. Even video sites were full of analysis breakdowns trying to explain why Madoka had blown up so much.
After all, it had been nearly a decade since a magical girl series had been the center of attention. And yet Madoka's ratings were climbing like crazy. Now ranked in the top 5 magical girl shows of all time.
Critics who once dismissed it as "just another kid's show" were now changing their tune, praising it nonstop.
In the anime industry, creators missed the mark all the time. Many hot debuts burned out fast. But Haruki Yuuki. This guy was different.
His earlier works always started small, but then bam, word of mouth exploded, and suddenly he was overtaking everyone. Two years in, he already had a massive fanbase that followed him no matter what he made. Madoka proved it. Even before the big plot twists, his magical girl series was already sitting in the season's top 5. And after Episode 7, straight to the very top.
But not everyone was surprised.
Saya, lead producer of Into the Abyss, had been watching Haruki for a while. She knew the kind of pull he had from works like 5 cm/s and Voices of a Distant Star. Fans who skipped Madoka at first were coming back because of the hype. And with these shocking twists, even old fans were re-joining the conversation.
Last week, when Madoka Magica overtook Into the Abyss in the rankings, Saya wasn't shocked. If anything, she felt a spark of excitement.
"This is the guy I've had my eye on," she thought, seeing Madoka climb to first place.
"…Though, uh, that phrasing probably sounded weird."
Even so, she wasn't afraid. Haruki wasn't bland competition. He was the real deal.
A creator worth clashing against.
And that made things interesting.
Very interesting.
[Note: I had started writing this, but I haven't watched Madoka Magica, so I kept the chapter as it was in the original. At first, when I was editing, I didn't notice much of a drag in the story. Now, after proofreading it again before posting, it feels like the story has slowed down. I just wanted to let you all know why.]
(TL:- if you want even more content, check out p-atreon.com/Alioth23 for 60+ advanced chapters)