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magicalgirlagency · 2 years

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Honestly I don't know if it was Madoka that's made recent kids' shows darker (well, maybe it did for SU? idk). At first I thought it was more due to Gravity Falls and/or Adventure Time because I know those shows get really dark later on. Oddly enough even though there are shows I've seen that are much darker than Steven Universe for some reason it's only Steven that feels like Madoka again. Like sure with some other shows I'm like "oh holy crap thats fucked up" but with Steven?Straightup Madoka.

It's complicated, but I think I can give my 2 cents on the matter...

While MadoMagi did certainly contribuited to the popularization of Tragical Girls (Raising Project, Yuki Yuna, Magical Girl Site, Daybreak Illusion and SpecOps Asuka), it didn't got people thinking about how fucked up it is to rely on minors to do the dirty work and clean up the adults' messes.

I mean, nothing has changed; I still keep seeing children/teenagers getting into the most traumatic experiences ever. BNHA, JJK, and KnY, for example, are high-grossing shounen series with teenaged MCs witnessing the most horrendous shit ever, and actively have their joy and energy sucked right out of their bodies in the process.

As for Steven Universe, well, I wouldn't say it's "straight up Madoka", despite the similarities that they may share. At first, it was marketed as some spiritual successor to famous series such as Sailor Moon and DragonBall, having the strong potential of going down as one of the most memorable cartoons in TV history with its heroines with diverse body types and actual queer relationships...

...but the truth is way more complicated than that.

You see, Steven Universe is one of those series that didn't knew which demographic to be aimed at. It wanted to be child-friendly with SatAm-esque scenarios and a Monster-of-the-Day/Week routine, but it wanted to be serious and appeal to older audiences with the Gem War, the Diamond Authority, the Cluster, etc...

The staff was amateurish and black-and-white in their approach of nuanced themes, not to mention the irresponsibility and laziness with the amount of fillers and hiatuses. They have bitten more than they could chew, and all became one big neo-liberalistic mess in the end. Steven Universe was more worried about looking visually good than actually telling a good story.

Meanwhile Madoka just straight up lied to its audience. They have used the Magical Girl genre as bait to get a public to watch their anime. I mean, the title is written in a curvy and cutesy font...

And its main heroines are constantly marketed as a team and are always looking as if they were besties (emulating the likes of the Inner Senshi)...

...except that Homura was indifferent to anyone who wasn't Madoka, Mami was devoured right after her debut (and became the target of a 10 year joke that's no longer funny), Kyouko was territorial and aggressive to Sayaka on their first meeting (and both girls became shipping fodder despite having the worst first impression ever), Sayaka was treated like a guinea pig to show the audience how Witches were born, Madoka ascends to Nirvana and stops existing, and Homura becomes a test subject and attempts suicide and becomes a yandere when her plan fails.

Oh, and let's not forget the alternative timeline where Mami loses her composure and kills Kyouko after witnessing Sayaka become Oktavia, and is then killed by Madoka before she could do the same to Homura.

And when these girls are FINALLY seen working together, it's later revealed to be all a fabricated lie.

So much for friendship.

Anyways, so long story short: Steven Universe was highly ambitious in theory, but utterly incompetent in practice. Madoka Magica actively lied to the public with their façade of cuteness and frills. Even though they have their places in pop culture, we must also acknowledge that their executions were made in really bad taste.

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