Madoka’s Multiverse – an attempt to put every manga series in order

[leahandillyana]

Magical Girl Madoka Magica is a franchise that defined and popularised the dark, mature and somewhat cynical deconstruction of the magical girl genre. Unlike most manga series but like Western comics, the franchise consists of several shorter stories set in shared universe – or rather multiverse, as the series features a lot of time travel and universe-restructuring events. In general, you don’t have to be familiar with any other series when you pick up a story (with the exception of three main trilogies that directly follow each other), and each story tends to have an unique art style as well as differ somewhat in storytelling. I’ll try to provide a general overview of each series without many spoilers. I will not include Magia Record special stories, as that would be too many of them and they are game specific. Let’s jump in!

 

Meta I

 

This is the main universe of the series, set before any world-restructuring event occurs. This is where most of the original anime happens.

 

Ia – Pre-canon

 

These are the stories that predate the start of the original trilogy and are unaffected by the time travel sheanigans.

 

Tart: The Legend of Jeanne d’Arc by Masugitsune and Kawazuku (Golden Pe Done)

 

This five volumes long series portrays Jeanne d’Arc as well as several important historical figures of the era as magical girls. In spite of the fantastic angle, it’s surprisingly historically correct, incorporating historical trivia seen through the lenses of fantastic approach.

 

Suzune by GAN

 

This three volumes long series is set slightly before the core series of Madoka and tells a story of a magical girl who is a serial killer of magical girls. I do not recommend this series, as the concept is better portrayed in Oriko sub-franchise and the character designs are extremely sexualized.

 

Ib – Main canon

 

These are stories sharing main casts and general setting. It’s often difficult to place them exactly in chronological context.

 

Magia Record by Fujino Fuji / Magica Record: Another Story by U35

 

Magia Record is adaptation of the cellphone game, currently seven volumes long and counting, and definitely the oldest one from the main canon setting (though it eventually diverges into an alternate universe of its own). It tell the story of a magical girl searching for her sister, whose existence was supposedly erased from the world. Note: The climax of the series references the end from the main trilogy, so I suggest reading it after Madoka, even though it technically comes earlier. Another Story tells the same tale from the perspective of Mami and Kyouko.

 

Madoka: Another Story by Hanokage

 

This is a prequel trilogy centering on Mami and Kyouko, providing their respective backstories and following them in their inevitable tragic ends. I recommend it as your starting point into the franchise.

 

Homura’s Revenge by Masugitsune and Kawazuku (Golden Pe Done)

 

This two volumes long series starts somewhat light in nature, this story centers on Homura and is diverging from the plot of Another Story right before it ends. Seemingly humorous with a cracky premise, it eventually plays its plot to a bittersweet end. I recommend reading it after Another Story, as it gives early insight into Homura’s powers and motivations.

 

Oriko by Kuroe Mura / Sadness Prayer by Kuroe Mura

 

Those two series tell the same story from the different perspectives. In Oriko, Mami investigates a case of serial killings of magical girls while Kyouko rescues and befriends an abused little girl. It is two volumes long and has rather poor art. Sadness Prayer tells the same story from the perspective of the mastermind of the murders, is four volumes long and has improved but still often wonky artwork. This is my favourite part of the franchise.

 

Oriko: Extra Story by Kuroe Mura

 

This is a one volume collection of short stories featuring Oriko and Kirika in different timelines, though it ties into the general Sadness Prayer arc, so I recommend reading them together.

 

Madoka by Hanokage

 

This is the main trilogy of the franchise. When you hear people talking about Madoka, they are usually talking about this series. Despite being the titular character, Madoka herself is more of a spectator of various terrible things happening to her friends. Definitely recommended.

 

Meta II

 

This is the story taking place after the first universe-restructuring event of the franchise.

 

Wraith Arc by Hanokage

 

This trilogy is a direct sequel to main Madoka series, focusing on Homura, Kyouko and Mami in a very different setting. It has somewhat of a downer ending leading directly into…

 

Meta III

 

Stories set after the second universe-restructuring event.

 

Rebellion Story by Hanokage

 

Third trilogy and thus far the final story of the franchise. It focuses on Homura as the girl finds herself once again in a world drastically different from the one she knew. The ending is very controversial among the fans of the series, but in my opinion it’s the logical conclusion for certain character’s arc.

 

Non-canonical stories

 

These are stories whose events contradict the rules of any of the canonical metas.

 

Kazumi: Innocent Malice by Masaki Hiramatsu and Takashi Tensugi

 

This five volumes long series is weird as hell. It doesn’t make sense by the main story’s logic, and it doesn’t make sense by its own logic either. Furthermore, most of the character designs are extremely sexualized.

 

Homura Tamura by afro

 

This three volumes long series is pure crack. It centers on Homura as she keeps visiting bizzarre timelines.

 

Mami Tomoe’s Daily Life by Mai Arata

 

This nine volumes long series portrays a timeline in which Mami is a thirty years old office lady and follows her everyday life, just as the title says.

Comments

[lizard_of_aus]

God, it's been so long since I watched the original anime. At least this gives me a fleshed-out guide if ever I'd like to revisit

[blueprintstyles]

I only watched the first few episodes, I gotta finish the original run at least.

[deh_tommy]

Someone should show off Tart Magica here sometime, Jeanne’s eternal optimism and Kyubi’s growing frustration with her refusal to break were a delight.

Apart from that I’m only really familiar with the first series. Did they retcon the ending or something? What do you mean second universe-restructuring? And when you say trilogy were there two more seasons or was the whole run considered a trilogy in and of itself?

[leahandillyana]

I meant trilogy as manga adaptations (3 volumes of Madoka, 3 volumes of Wraith Arc, 3 volumes of Rebellion Story). The events you are asking about happened in Rebellion Story, which is also a movie.