14 year-old Madoka Kaname has a dream in which a dark haired girl is struggling against an evil force. As Madoka wakes up and goes to school that morning, the very same girl, Homura Akemi, enrolls in her class. Even stranger, Homura seems to know Madoka and later confronts her in the hallway about whether she cares for her friends or not, saying she should stay how she is or else she risks losing everything.
The story itself proved quite interesting, with good overall character development and plot line. The animation gets pretty strange at times when witches appear, but it adds to the overall effect of the series. Madoka does have some pretty good action scenes, but will be focused more on the way the characters react to the situations put in front of them. Above all though, the entire anime was one long line of depressing events that shaped the overwhelming changes in the characters and forced the reader to relate to them. This in turn makes the things they go through all the more depressing when you get to them. This anime definitely ranks on the top 3 most depressing and should only be watched if you think you can handle it.