OK, here’s two for one. I will not only give a brief on Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Beginnings, but also the second movie PMMM The Movie: Eternal.

By the way, I am guessing it is a movie rather than an OVA. I can’t find any confirmation on-line that it is an OVA and was not released in theaters – and I really don’t have the time to keep looking. But if it calls itself a movie, I will take it at its word.

I will not get into the story-line here. It is basically the same as the anime series it is based on, only maybe with a slight tweak at the end to clarify a minor point. The entire series is split between the two movies, and the story is complete despite the fact that half of the series’ material had to be deleted. More on that later. If you want the story-line, I refer you to my recent review of the series.

Much of the movies’ footage seems to be the same as the series. The main difference is the witches’ labyrinths. I described the labyrinths in the series as acid trips. In the movie they seem more like either a Disney nightmare, or a Peter Max painting on crack. Both versions have their plus side.

One would expect the quality of the movie animation to be better than the series. They are roughly the same, although there are some improvements with the original movie artwork, where rare differences do occur. But since the animation of the original series was very good, the lack of improvement does not bother me in the least.

So what was cut, if it was not the story? Despite the cuts the story-line remains well developed. To me, it seems what was cut were the scenes which set the mood. Both movies are indeed dark, but the series is much darker. Which is why I would recommend the series over the movies.

Or better yet, watch the series and then the movies. If you liked the series, you will not be disappointed.

There is a third movie, which picks up the story after the series’ ending. I will watch that some other time and review it then.