Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story: Magia Record is set to premiere in January 2020 and attendees at Anime NYC 2019 (November 15-17) got a chance to see the anime’s first two episodes. Coincidentally, it was the first time the second episode was being shown. 

Magia Record is a spinoff story from the critically acclaimed Puella Magi Madoka Magica franchise. The anime is an adaptation of Aniplex’s massively popular mobile RPG of the same name and follows a new heroine named Iroha Tamaki. She’s in search of her missing sister Ui and is drawn to the city of Kamihama to look for clues regarding her disappearance. 

Before they showed the first episode, the panel started out with a special video message from voice actresses Momo Asakura, Shiina Natsukawa, and Sora Amamiya – who respectively play Iroha, Yui, and Yachiyo. They talked about their excitement for the anime, their expectations for the characters and story, and their gratitude for the fans who’ll be seeing it.

Episode one begins with the main character Iroha and her friend, Kuroe, aboard an empty train fighting a witch creature. As she’s doing this, the initial premise of the Madoka Magica universe is narrated by off-stage school girls to set how the magical girls operate. The episode shows Iroha fighting back and running alongside a train in the dusk cityscape. 

Iroha is haunted by the disappearance of her sick sister Ui and is searching for her. The episode highlights Iroha’s everyday life with a busy mother and lack of home supervision. She fights witches every chance she gets until she hears of Kamihama City – a place where magical girls are “saved.” Hoping to find answers to her sister’s disappearance there, Iroha bumps into Yachiyo Nanami who warns her that the rumors are false and that the witches in this area are much stronger. The episode ends with Iroha’s determination to not give up her search.  

The second episode shifts focus to Iroha meeting a team of magical girls in charge of Shinsei Ward. Here, we’re introduced to the first major conflict of the series, in which the episode expands the universe of Madoka Magica by showing the other magical girls working with Kyubeys. While fighting a Witch, Iroha is saved from a pinch by a mysterious younger Kyubey, who disappears afterwards.

Things get more dark and disturbing as the episode progresses. The characters talk about a Chain Monster Witch: a terrifying creature who hears requests to break up friendships written on a staircase. The witch then kidnaps those who change their minds and mend those relationships. 

Iroha meets two magical girls with a testy friendship who are involved in a high stakes fall out. The Chain Monster Witch takes advantage of one of their mistakes and uses their regrets and frustrations towards her friend against her. This results in her losing that friend and the episode ending on a cliffhanger. Overall, the second episode weighs the decision of one magical girl and her complicated relationship with her friend. It does a great job of highlighting the dynamic drama of its close characters with dark imagery. Iroha is caught in the middle of the conflict and the third episode involves her and the characters trying to fix this whole situation somehow. 

The surreal, visual flair and imagery of the first Madoka Magica is still present in Magia Record, along with the excellent musical score and the impending sense of tragedy. The second episode, in particular, introduces an amazing opening sequence. While Madoka and Homura aren’t the focal characters, you could say that their spirits live on in this spinoff and fans of the franchise should be satisfied. 

Shortly after the screenings ended, the panel had a few special guests arrive. Voice actress Aoi Yuki (who plays Madoka) came in to the arousing applause of fans in the room. She was followed by Mitsutoshi Kubota – the president and producer of animation studio Shaft. Tatsuya Ishikawa represented Aniplex and was the last person to show up. 

On her role as Madoka Kaname, Aoi Yuki said that she was a student the first time she voiced her and tried her best, at the time, to build and develop the character. She recognized that it was a defining role for her and was happy to know that the audience loved and sympathized with her character. She was also glad that she returned to voice Madoka in the Magia Record game, so there’s a good chance we’ll be seeing her at some point in the anime. 

Before the panel ended, Tatsuya Ishikawa delivered several announcements on behalf of the Magia Record team. The first is that Magia Record and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha will host a crossover game event in the near future. The character Fate Testarossa Harlaown will be involved with the crossover as well. 

Ishikawa also announced that an exclusive American Thanksgiving Cooking Battle event will take place in the game. Moreover, he added that an exclusive English magical girl will debut in Magia Record in 2020, with her name and voice actress to be announced. 

As the panel concluded, attendees were all given posters of Magia Record and saw an exclusive preview of the third episode. Aoi Yuki, Mitsutoshi Kubota, and Tatsuya Ishikawa all thanked the guests for stopping by and taking the time to catch the premiere.

Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story will debut on January 5, 2020. 

Official Website: https://magiarecord-en.com/

Magia Record Twitter: https://twitter.com/magiarecorden?lang=en