To be 100% clear, my issue with Puella Magi Madoka Magica isn’t that I think magical girls going grim is intrinsically bad. Heck, the first season of Sailor Moon kills off 80% of the core cast in the final episode, albeit temporarily, and that was way back in 1992 – magical girl media has done grim.
It’s that, well, here’s a dude with seriously reactionary gender politics and an established history of writing media that displays an uncomfortable focus on teenage girls getting emotionally tortured for the entertainment of an adult male audience, waltzing into a genre that’s historically been targeted primarily at young girls, pulling his usual shit, promptly being lauded by critics for Revolutionising The Genre With His Bold Vision™ in spite of the fact that his material just isn’t terribly original (and much of that critical adulation carries a barely disguised subtext that he’s somehow elevated or dignified magical girl media by ridding it of its more conspicuously “girly” elements, to boot), and ultimately inspiring a wave of tedious imitators that threaten to crowd more traditional magical girl media out of the spotlight.
The fact that much of the show’s run isn’t particularly well written is about fourth or fifth on the list of what’s wrong with it.
(Also, this particular angle probably isn’t going to be super relatable to anybody under the age of 30, but the parallels between the grimmification of post-Madoka magical girl media and the grimmification of American superhero comics during the 1990s are pretty stark. I can’t argue in good faith that Gen Urobuchi is basically the Frank Miller of magical girl media, but their influence upon their respective genres is not wholly dissimilar!)
also, tl;dr bc my arm is hurt, but:
magical girl genre is about girls having power. its frequently grim and horrible and torturous but ultimately plot is driven by young girls and their decisions decide what happens. even when they are manipulated by malicious adults these adults are vulnerable to them just deciding to Not. the whole ‘dark magical girl’ trope is abt how even the antagonists need to have a young girl doing their bidding and her betrayal is a crucial piece in their defeat. sometimes its the power of friendship sometimes its the power of the moon but the point is always that ultimately what they do is what shapes the consequences. their love can kill the universe and creat it anew
madoka is all about how their decisions dont actually do anything. their wishes backfire, fighting witches is an endless cycle, Homura’s loop accomplished the exact opposite of what she was trying to do, and Madoka had to sacrifice her entire existence to make a retcon - the one (1) decision that managed to impact anything at all, and oh how grand it was (and completely opposite of Homura’s agency, too)
disempowerment of young girls is, how do i put this. not new