I really enjoyed this anime recommended to me by my roommate.  It essentially destroys the idea of a magical girl and is very interesting.  It is a bit of a downer, but definitely worth watching.  There are 12 episodes so it doesn’t take very long, and the characters are very interesting.  

The plot focuses around a young girl named Madoka who is thrown into the mysterious world of the magical girl.  She meets a strange creature named Kyuube that makes pacts with young girls and grants them one wish in exchange for them becoming a magical girl and defending the world from witches.  Madoka and her friend Sayaka meet up with a magical girl named Mami and end up straight in the path of all sorts of dangerous witches as they decide whether they will risk their lives for a single great wish.  They meet up with several other girls along the way who try to help them or hinder them, including the brash and selfish Kyoko and the mysterious and cold Homura.  The plot gets dark pretty quickly as the girls realize the much darker purpose and nature of the magical girl pact.

The anime is especially interesting because of the many plot twists.  Several characters die very gruesomely  and certain characters are not at all as they appear.  I constantly struggled with not knowing the truth of the pact, and yet desperately trying to keep Madoka from making it because it gives off a bad feeling.  The anime also shows the horrors and pain such young girls can carry as they try to defend their world and do what they think is best.  I liked all the characters in some way (except the incredibly creepy Kyuube, whose face is set in a perpetual smile and who never blinks).  The story was definitely enjoyable if not a little sad because of the outlook it gives you on everything.  It destroys the nice little story about the magical girl and  shows you the horrors of the situation.

I really enjoyed this anime, although it is not one of my most favorite (it does not rank with Princess Tutu or FMAB).  It was very entertaining but it was just missing something that would push it past a good anime to a great one.  I really did enjoy it a lot though, and would recommend it to anyone who likes an atypical shoujo anime (and really, who doesn’t).  I rate this anime 3.5/5.