I have a bit of a history with magical girl media. Growing up, whether it was due to gender expectations or just a lack of interest, I wasn’t particularly drawn to shows like Sailor Moon, though I do recall watching occasional episodes of Cardcaptor Sakura when they came on TV. In high school, though, a friend introduced me to Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Madoka Magica for short), and everything changed. Seeing a magical girl story that delved into mature subject matter (along with having stunning animation and music) was like a cosmic shift in how I perceived a genre that I had once written off as “just those silly shows about girls in frilly outfits”. I showed it to my girlfriend at the time. Hell, I showed it to my dad. I got low-key obsessed with it for a while, and even now it stands as one of my favourite anime of all time.