WARNING THIS REVIEW CONTAINS UNMARKED SPOILERS FOR MAHOU SHOUJO MADOKA MAGICA. DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE SERIES OR THE TWO MOVIES THAT SUMMARIZE IT. In this irredeemable world forever repeating its tragedies and hatred I dreamt that I encountered that familiar smile once again... Homura Akemi The sequel to the acclaimed TV anime Mahou Shoujo MadokaMagicahttps://anilist.co/anime/9756 English title: Puella Magi MadokaMagica Mahou Shoujo MadokaMagica Movie 3: Hangyaku no Monogatari lets just call it by its shortened English title of Rebellion for simplicity takes place an unidentified amount of time after the end of the TV anime. Rebellion takes more or less the same characters premise and zany SHAFT animation and tells a new story from the perspective of one of my favorite characters Homura. Art and Animation Its SHAFT. Weird as hell animation and set design but very high quality. This movie had a big budget and it shows particularly in a fight scene see images below or the linked video if you dont mind spoilers. There are a couple points where things were a bit odd that were probably not intended to be so such as the soul gem in the opening sequence stands out a little too well. It also uses the same cardboard cutout style that its predecessor used on a few scenes which I dont care for but feel is a personal preference. Art is more or less consistent for a SHAFT production anyway detailed and animation is smooth. Art and Animation grade: 97 https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/237294722433941506/414248520908931072/unknown.png https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/237294722433941506/414251033988956171/unknown.png Sound Its not every day a soundtrack makes me stop and go now this is what a film soundtrack is supposed to be. The fact that Rebellions OST managed to make me do that means you can probably make a decent guess at how I am going to score it. Notable tracks include: Aboslute Configuration Flame of Despair I was Waiting for This Moment You are Here and This is my Despair. Here is a video containing the entire OST. Be warned however its about an hour and 15 minutes long. https://www..com/watch?v=mCtN3ra5ALY SFX could be better on a couple thing like gunfire but at least theres nothing like CLANG going on here. Sound grade: perfect 100 Major Characters In no particular order 240http://images.puellamagi.net/e/ee/Imghomura.png?20130903054848 Homura Akemi The Protagonist of Rebellion. What does leaping through time watching your friends die over and over again for twelve years do to your mental state? Wish Type: Timemanipulation Weapon: Shield https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/237294722433941506/414265910556360704/unknown.png 240http://images.puellamagi.net/4/47/Imgmadoka.png?20130903051919 Madoka Kaname Homuras best friend Ill leave the interpretation of potential yuri moments up to the viewers. Should have become a physical god / living concept at the end of the series but seems normal? Wish Type: Unknown Weapon: Bow https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/237294722433941506/414261301255340032/unknown.png 240http://images.puellamagi.net/8/8b/Imgkyoko.png?20130903055015 Kyoko Sakura Another one of the five magical girls that work together to fight Nightmares. A rebellious girl with a big appetite especially for apples. Seems to be attending school and crashing at Sayakas place for some reason? WishType: Strengthening / Enhancement Weapon: Spear https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/237294722433941506/414237819989524481/unknown.png 240http://images.puellamagi.net/1/13/Imgsayaka.png?20130903054914 Sayaka Miki Also part of the magical girl quintet. A girl that wished for the healing of a boys irrecoverable injury. Should have been taken by the Law of Cycles but exists here... Wish Type: Healing Weapon: Sword 240http://images.puellamagi.net/3/39/Imgmami.png?20130903054937 Mami Tomoe The oldest at least physically of the quintet. A veteran with a big heart who tends to cover up her sadness and stress by acting motherly. Without that stress just how strong will she become? Magic Type: Binding Weapon: Musket Overall Comments on Characters The TV anime suffered from an overly heavy cast of characters for how much the plot focused on inner thoughts and emotions. I was kind of hoping that the movie would fix this but I guess its too much to expect a sequel to axe a character. Due primarily to this but also due to focusing even more on a single character pretty much every character aside from Homura feels very flat with some Kyuubey Madoka Sayaka being reduced to mere plot devices. Although I still wish they had cut some of the characters the decision to focus on a single character was probably the thing that saved the movie. At the expense of everyone else becoming flat the true depth of Homuras character was revealed. Despite being one of my favorite characters in the series she had virtually no development aside from the sob story that was episode 10. If you didnt like that way that was handled or if you thought she seemed a little too strong considering some statements about her from the creators she apparently watched her friends die in front of her or turn to witches almost 100 times leaping through time for about 12 years Rebellion patches that right up. I still think things could have been handled much better but the fact the creators cared enough to make an entire movie to fix certain flaws of the previous season earns points for me. Character grade: 52 Plot https://i.ur.com/o7b1RT4.jpg People in communities tend to divide the movie into two parts when discussing it. However I didnt notice a sudden change as much as a sliding gradient more akin to the 5 stages of grief. Although some may disagree with me Id say the plot quality starts off poor and gets gradually better as the movie progresses. It also proceeds in a more or less logical fashion not requiring characters to be suddenly smarter or dumber for the plot with a single possible exception which can be forgiven due to lack of knowledge. It kept me riveted with its twists and turns without having me get lost or stunned by obvious deus ex machina / diablos ex machina. Even the most shocking twist of the film is very well foreshadowed just like the shocking events in the original series. https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/237294722433941506/414269468961669120/unknown.png I wont go into detail about why to keep the review more or less spoiler free but Rebellion s plot was rather basebreaking for the Madoka community dividing the community into those who thought the movie was a logical continuation to the series and those who thought the movie was to set the franchise up to be a cash cow. I personally am in the former camp but at least for a while the split was very real. I wonder if the lack of a sequel has stilled those fears somewhat but I think the true reason for the fans dismay is due to 1 the fantrolling that happens in the earlier 45 minutes or so of the movie and 2 an image of a character or characters was irrevocably changed by the movie. When you change a characters image especially in the case of a popular character you invite backlash. If you make a major change to a characters image even if its arguably logical you almost guarantee backlash from that characters fans. Plot grade: 85 Closing Thoughts https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/237294722433941506/414239210262757377/unknown.png All in all I would say Rebellion is a worthy addition to the MSMM franchise similar to the TV anime as the tail of a coin is to its head. If you ever wanted more of the Madoka world but were disappointed by the subpar manga spinoffs consider giving this film a watch. Overall quality grade four star scale: Overall quality grade Percentage scale: 84