Puella Magi Madoka Magica

One day, Madoka Kaname, an ordinary junior high school student, has a strange dream. When she goes to school the following day, the girl she saw in her dream, Homura, has transferred to her school. Homura speaks some profoundly meaningful words to Madoka, who is perplexed. After school that day, Madoka strays into a “witch’s barrier,” and is rescued from a terrible predicament by a magical girl called Mami. She eventually learns the truth about the beings called “magical girls.” What choice will Madoka make, now that she has discovered the truth amidst the complex tapestry of time and human relationships?

An outstanding animation with an ingenious magical scenario
The winner of the Grand Prize for a television series for the second year in a row. This year the work drew particular praise as an original work for animation, rather than being based on an existing manga or novel. The series continued to be an ambitious one, skillfully setting critical traps that shook the very foundations of the genre, leaving viewers unsure about the premises upon which this otherwise common theme of the “magical girl” is based. The seemingly adorable familiar Kyubey offers to grant a girl a wish if she will enter into a “contract” to become a magical girl and fight witches. Both the terror that lurks within “desire” and the emotional reaction to “miracles” that overcomes that fear……these are two sides of one coin, both born of the human heart. Putting the particular “media characteristics” of a television series — in which one must wait a full week to learn what happens next……to their best use, the series maximized the tension within the viewers’ minds even as they enjoyed the show’s beautiful images. The script is overflowing with the revolutionary energy that always strives to change things. With the hope that this series will become the necessary catalyst to change the world we live in, we award it the Grand Prize.