Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Wraith Arc, Vol. 1 (Volume 1)

If you love the original anime this is a great set of books to grab. It builds upon the story you already know and gives information that's helpful to understand the plot in the movies. Having read them after I watched Rebellion, I wish I had read them *before* watching. It has the same grit and charm as the original series and is a great little triad of manga.

I watched the anime and loved it and after watching rebellion, I found out that the wraith arc books were between the series and movie. After reading this, I instantly loved it and would recommend buying.

Book came in good condition in the mail and arrived very swiftly. Also the plot is very engaging and the wraiths are horrifying. Excited for volume 2 and 3.

I've been seeing things about both the anime and manga for quite some time, and for at least a year, I had been passing it up, thinking, 'Whatever. It's just another one of those Magical Girl series'. I haven't liked anything out of that genre since Sailor Moon, Card Captors, and Pretty Girl Sammy. A few days ago, I saw that it was on sale via Amazon, so I thought, 'Why not.' I had been buying random manga for a while to see if I liked them or not. When I got this one, I immediately read it. The first book is short, only being 144 pages. But ohmuhgosh. Within those few pages, I was on the edge of my seat. I'm stunned with it, and quite frankly, I'm hooked on it. Soon I'll find myself diving into the anime. I highly recommend this series to anyone. Whether you're into the Magical Girl series or not. Even if it's just picking up the first book and reading it. It's not as pretty as one would think. This series has some dark elements to it, and I think that's partly why I like it so much. It's not as happy as the images seem. There is so much more than meets the eye from the cute pictures and cutesy name.

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First let me say that I'm a huge fan of the anime, it's in my top 5 anime of all time. So this is my perspective in comparison to the show. If you haven't checked it out you definitely need to do yourself a favor and do so. Now on to the review. Story This volume is split into 4 chapters, each one covering an episode from the anime. I feel that they shouldn't have done so as it feels rushed. If they would have split each volume into 2 episodes it would have been more appropriatly paced. If you haven't seen the anime you may find yourself flipping back to pages to see if you missed something. It does stay true to the anime very faithfully it's just that everything is not as fleshed out. I'm mostly disapointed that they spent such little time on the witches and their "lairs" or "wards" as they are called in the manga. They are some of my favorite parts in the anime so a little bit of a letdown there. Overall i'm pleased but they could have done a better job with this in my opinion. Art This took a little bit to get used to as it's done by a different artist, and it shows. This is not necessarily a bad thing it's just that the unique animation in the show is one of the major draws for me. The eyes in the show are one of my favorite part of the character designs so I did want to see that in the manga, but I was dissapointed. The characters have less wide and squared jaws, Madoka in particular. Mami's hair is more realistic, and I kinda like it this way a bit better. Homura looks pretty much the same as well a Sayaka. The artist made some changes in the characters weapons, Mami's "Tiro Finale" gun is just her regular rifle, which was pretty dissapointing and Homura's shield is a diamond shape. Their magical girl outfits are pretty much the same, no notable difference as far as I could tell. Kyubey is even more adorable and cute than in the anime which I did like. The witches "wards" are barely seen in the manga, maybe 8 pages total...really disappointing if you ask me. They also seemed to lack alot of detail. This is a different artist rendition of them but I personally didn't like what they did with Charolotte in particular. Charlotte's first form is pretty much the same but her latter is quite different, it looks much less cute and much more evil. I think the stark contrast of the cutesy design with the events that happen to be a big part of what the show is trying to convey so again I was dissapaointed. When not in comparison to the show the art is definitely good, it's just liberties that were taken that I am not too fond of. Overall If you haven't watched the series and want this to be your first Madoka Magica experience, I would say watch the anime first as it does a much better job of telling the story. If you have seen it and not really into collecting manga then I would give this a pass as well. I would really only get this if you have seen the anime and just want more ways to experience it. It's good but not as good as it could of been, namely with the pacing of the story.

The manga follows the anime of Puella Magi Madoka Magica almost exactly. Considering how insanely overpriced the anime is (good as it is) this manga tells the same story for far less money. The story here is just as great as it is in the anime. If you loved the anime, you'll love this. If you haven't watched Madoka, then all I can do is recommend it. In the spirit of Revolutionary Girl Utena, Madoka seeks to deconstruct the magical girl sub-genre of shoujo manga. A must read for any shoujo fan.

After watching the anime, I wanted to get the manga. It’s really good, but save your money for the omnibus version.

Good product

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Wraith Arc è un sequel alla serie originale Puella Magi Madoka Magica (manga/anime) e prequel al film numero 3, Rebellion. Io amo i disegni di Hanokage e sono stato visibilmente felicissimo dell’acquisto. In fatto di trama pure, mi è piaciuto, ma con qualche dubbio nell’ ultimo capitolo e sulla canonicità. Ma comunque per me è un must per i fan dell’opera delle Puella Magi

In 2011, I started watching the anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica as it was airing in Japan. I don't normally watch anime this way (but when I do - *shot*) but Madoka was incredible from all technical standpoints. The writing, the art, the animation, the music, the character and background designs, everything about it was so wonderfully neat and polished. (Yes, like all anime it had its quality and off-model moments, but man. I'm currently saving up for the series on Blu-Ray, because it's simply too gorgeous to only behold in standard definition.) So naturally, I picked up the manga when it came out over here. I just couldn't get enough of this delightfully dark and subversive magical girl story, which made me bawl my eyes out during the last episode, so hard that I actually needed to be comforted by a family member. The anime is that good. Hanokage and Magica Quartet's manga adaptation follows the anime to the letter, and while this is usually a complaint, I have no qualms with it whatsoever. It still feels fresh. It's nice to look at the slight differences in art, character expressions, dialogue, and compare and contrast them. I mean, I had no idea that the manga would actually go as far as showing Mami having her head ripped off by Charlotte the witch, and all the blood and gore that went with it. The anime cuts away to Homura breaking free of the binding spell Mami cast on her earlier, and Madoka and Sayaka's shocked reactions as Charlotte throws Mami down to the ground and starts devouring her off-screen. Charlotte also looks a hell of a lot scarier than I remember her in the anime. Okay, in the anime she's kind of cute and goofy, until she unhinges her jaw like a snake and unveils her rows of razor sharp teeth, but uh... the manga forgoes any attempt of that. I also really love Madoka Magica for just how grounded in reality it really feels, despite dealing with... you know, magical fantasy. There's serious gravity and emotional consequences to the girls' choices, and there's one particular scene with Sayaka asking Mami if she should use this one wish (that Kyubey grants in exchange for them becoming Puella Magi) for somebody else's sake. Mami replies: "Do you actually want them to have their dream come true? Or do you just want them to be indebted to you for making it come true?" Having seen the anime, there's also a great scene where Kyoko confronts Sayaka about it - because surprise surprise, when Sayaka makes the wish for her injured friend Kamijou's sake in the hopes he might reciprocate her affections and return to his one passion in life, he starts dating her best friend instead. Ouch. (Also, the writer of the anime himself commented that even if Sayaka and Kamijou had this 'happy ending' where they started going out with each other, it wouldn't necessarily work out for them in the least.) Okay, now, back to the manga. I love the artwork and character designs. All the inking is so light and airy, and everyone just looks so adorable. Kyubey reminds me more so of one of those super cute Normal-type Pokémon, like Minccino, Eevee, or Buneary. Maybe it's because Kyubey doesn't have those soul-sucking red eyes in the manga, and they have more expression to them in this medium than in the anime. Still, it's not like Kyubey isn't scary in the manga, right? ...Right? (Christ, it's like the artist looked up an image of the Jeff the Killer meme and thought of the best way to translate it to the face of a Pretty Cure mascot.) Nope, Kyubey's still his manipulative, conniving and ever so adorable self. Granted, the former descriptors don't really happen in this volume, but you still get the hackles on the back of your neck raising when he's prancing around Madoka halfway through and telling her she's so naturally talented, her magical powers would be on par with a goddess. Right at a moment when Madoka is pondering about her insecurities and how weak she feels. Oh, and he's perched not a few feet away when Sayaka visits Kamijou in hospital for the second time, when he's feeling absolutely terrible and Sayaka just wants so badly for him to stop being in such pain. Damn you, you little cat-weasel-fox-alien thing! The supporting characters are all great too. Mami's her usual playful self, and her horribly sad backstory strikes a more poignant chord for me in the manga than it does in the anime. You see, Mami was dying when Kyubey pounced in front of her and offered her the choice to become a Puella Magi. Thus, she wants Madoka and Sayaka to think very carefully about their wishes, since she never had the choice herself. And it's ultimately tragic, because Sayaka rushes into her decision not one chapter after Mami is killed. I also can't wait to see more of Kyoko in this manga. She was one of my favourite characters in the anime, but I'm going to have to read the second volume, of course. To conclude, Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a very well done manga, a darker version of your typical magical girl series, accomplished by mixing it in with some pretty nightmarish images contrasting some feel-good fluffy shoujo art, and a Faustian contract with a bucketload of angst. 5/5.

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