An animation discussion group.
"[ Puella Magi Madoka Magica ] has ended."
"Yeah, it has."
"I don't know if it's just me, but after watching this anime, other shows just feel so bland."
"It's mainly because [ Madoka Magica ] was so outstanding. Other shows either have terrible animation, are too formulaic and lack any originality, or are too shallow and have no depth. They just can't compare."
"Exactly. If other shows were even a tenth as good as [ Madoka Magica ], I wouldn't have such a hard time watching them."
"There are still good anime out there, of course, but [ Madoka Magica ] is truly top-tier. There's no denying that."
"Sigh, all we can do is wait for Lord Hayashi's next work. Though I'm not sure if it can reach the same level of quality."
It's only natural to find older animations bland and uninteresting after watching Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
This isn't just a feeling experienced by a few; many share this sentiment.
Of course, this doesn't mean they'll never be able to watch other animations again. After a while, new, excellent works will emerge, and they'll watch and praise them as usual.
This is essentially a manifestation of "God-tier work syndrome," similar to how some readers can't enjoy other novels for a while after reading a master author's magnum opus.
Unable to get into other animations, these fans show even greater support for Puella Magi Madoka Magica. They pre-order DVDs, buy the manga, purchase merchandise, and even buy quite a few of the roughly 30,000 yen Madoka God figures.
Then, on the Wednesday of the second week after the anime's broadcast, the first volume of the Puella Magi Madoka Magica DVD was released.
It included two episodes, a commentary track by Kitamura Eri (voice actor for Sayaka) and Aoki Ume (original character designer), an original drama CD, character songs, and other bonus features, making it a valuable collector's item.
On the day of its release, many music and video stores across Japan sold out of the Puella Magi Madoka Magica DVDs within an hour. Only those who had pre-ordered or visited large stores with substantial stock were able to secure a copy.
Over 40,000, nearly 50,000, people had already pre-ordered the series. Combined with the post-release sales, the data was staggering: 91,278 copies sold in the first week.
In another timeline, the original Puella Magi Madoka Magica DVD also released on a Wednesday. Its first volume only sold 62,000 copies in its first week, a figure that still broke the record for highest first-week sales for a TV animation, previously held by Bakemonogatari.
Now, in 2006, Bakemonogatari hadn't even been released yet. Yet Puella Magi Madoka Magica's first volume DVD sold over 90,000 copies in its first week—nearly 30,000 more than the original's first-week sales. Breaking the record was natural, and it raised the benchmark so high that other anime would be left in the dust for years to come.
Even most phenomenal anime never reach such cumulative average sales, especially in 2006. At that time, only EVA and Mobile Suit Gundam surpassed this figure; no other animation, including Gundam SEED Destiny, could match it.
91,000—and that was just the first-week sales for the first volume. Sales growth would drop significantly after the second week. After all, the animation's immense popularity meant most fans would buy it in the first week. Still, some stragglers would inevitably remain, and as long as the product didn't completely sell out, steady sales would continue.
The result was that by the time the second volume's DVD was released, the first volume's cumulative sales had surpassed 100,000 and were rapidly approaching 110,000, showing signs of challenging the 120,000 mark for first-week sales.
Even more impressive, after the second volume's DVD release, the TV animation's first-week sales record was shattered again, rising from 91,287 to 92,356.
While 91,000 was already far beyond the reach of other anime, 92,000 was simply terrifying.
Unfortunately, 92,000 was the limit. By the time the Sixth Volume DVD was released, the first-week sales never broke the record again.
While it was a disappointment, the record was already exceptionally high.
The final cumulative average sales for the initial release successfully surpassed 110,000, exceeding EVA's 111,559 initial release cumulative average sales by nearly 13,000.
If later releases were included, surpassing EVA's total cumulative average sales would be impossible. After all, EVA was a 1995 animation that had been released for a long time, with multiple versions of its discs, and its IP's vitality remained remarkably resilient.
Nevertheless, with initial sales approaching 13,000, Puella Magi Madoka Magica had no rivals beneath EVA.
While it couldn't be said to surpass EVA, with the later releases still to come, it was safe to say that Puella Magi Madoka Magica's average per-volume DVD sales were closing in on EVA's.
When the animation was still airing, the overwhelming number of DVD pre-orders led many to predict that its sales would easily exceed 100,000.
However, when the actual sales figures were released, they still shocked countless industry insiders, who exclaimed in horror.
In contrast, while animation fans were somewhat surprised that the anime's initial sales surpassed EVA, they were mostly filled with pride:
"As expected of an anime that crushed everything else in its era—a groundbreaking masterpiece. These sales are well-deserved."
"My favorite anime keeps breaking records. It feels even more satisfying than if I had broken a record myself."
"Madoka became a god in the anime, the anime itself became a god, and now even the DVD sales are setting a legend. Absolutely incredible."
"Highest first-week sales ever, highest initial DVD sales ever, plus the previous record for late-night anime viewership, the first high-definition TV animation, the record for the latest a main character becomes a magical girl in a magical girl anime, the record for the most discussed TV animation in history... How many records does this anime plan to break before it's done?"
"Now, no one can deny that Puella Magi Madoka Magica is the phenomenon of the century, right?"
"If it wins a few more awards, it'll be truly invincible."
"Winning awards is a given. The real question is how many it will win and whether it will take the Grand Prize in the animation division at the Japan Media Arts Festival."
The DVD sales were surprisingly high, not just because the animation itself crushed the quality of its contemporaries, but also because of Lin Zhiyan's terrifyingly high popularity. It was also a 2011 mention of a 2006 anime, and the first TV animation to be broadcast in high definition.
In short, this was the result of various factors converging.
Regardless, the animation's explosive commercial success was undeniable. Now, all eyes were on its performance at award ceremonies.
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