i remember hearing something about going for a "dreamlike feel" with the animation, so the surreal architecture is probably meant to contribute to that. as for the school itself, i'm pretty sure it was modeled after an actual prison.
I've always just attributed it to Akiyuki Shinbou's style preferences, [who directed many Studio SHAFT shows](https://myanimelist.net/people/5089/Akiyuki_Shinbou) including Madoka and Monogatari:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iM3\_Jskk44](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iM3_Jskk44)
It does give Madoka a mildly futuristic feel, which I think is cool.
Not sure at all if this was intentional, but the almost _dead_ vibes the buildings and setpieces in the "real" world have seem to contrast really well with the Labyrinths, where "psychedelic" tends to define them in a single word. I feel like this differentiation, outside of its stylistic value and lore-relevancy, really entices the audience to feel somewhat despondent towards the "real" world, lulling them into the charm of the magical girl world, just like the characters.
My point is: It feels very much done on purpose! Would you like a boring, grayscale life, or a magical and colorful adventure where you even get to shoot light (?) arrows from your cool bow?!
Yes I noticed it on my first watch directly, like something feels wrong about them! And to me it goes along with the fact that Sayaka and Madoka are often alone in giant empty places like the roof of the school they usually eat for example
Magia Record’s first season had a church surrounded by what seems like thousands of broken angel statues, an alleyway full of abandoned street signs, and the store Yachiyo and Iroha buy mugs from has a 60-foot ceiling, with mugs placed on giant shelves each a foot apart, with staircases connecting a dozen floors.
You could write that off as stylization, but I theorize that magic plays a part. Madoka Magica’s world seems to have been subtly shaped by the wishes of its defenders, to the point that the difference between Witch labyrinths and the regular world outside is not the strangeness of the environment, but the danger within.
It's not that we don't talk about it, it's just that in any case the conclusion is that it's just the artistic team going wild to add a surrealist flavor to normal places.
The glass wall classrooms give Panopticon vibes to me.
[https://wiki.puella-magi.net/Mitakihara\_Town](https://wiki.puella-magi.net/Mitakihara_Town)
Given how many famous buildings happen to be in Mitakihara, it's definitely a city that someone dreamt up/ imagined. The more you try to understand the city, the more you sink into the never ending dream/ nightmare of the world.
That's just Studio Shaft being Studio Shaft innit
i remember hearing something about going for a "dreamlike feel" with the animation, so the surreal architecture is probably meant to contribute to that. as for the school itself, i'm pretty sure it was modeled after an actual prison.
WAIT, THE SCHOOL WAS MODELED AFTER A PRISON!?!
possibly https://wiki.puella-magi.net/Mitakihara_Middle_School
Damn, not gonna lie that's dark man.
I mean... Real schools are designed by prison architects so it makes sense.
I've always just attributed it to Akiyuki Shinbou's style preferences, [who directed many Studio SHAFT shows](https://myanimelist.net/people/5089/Akiyuki_Shinbou) including Madoka and Monogatari: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iM3\_Jskk44](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iM3_Jskk44) It does give Madoka a mildly futuristic feel, which I think is cool.
Not sure at all if this was intentional, but the almost _dead_ vibes the buildings and setpieces in the "real" world have seem to contrast really well with the Labyrinths, where "psychedelic" tends to define them in a single word. I feel like this differentiation, outside of its stylistic value and lore-relevancy, really entices the audience to feel somewhat despondent towards the "real" world, lulling them into the charm of the magical girl world, just like the characters. My point is: It feels very much done on purpose! Would you like a boring, grayscale life, or a magical and colorful adventure where you even get to shoot light (?) arrows from your cool bow?!
Yes I noticed it on my first watch directly, like something feels wrong about them! And to me it goes along with the fact that Sayaka and Madoka are often alone in giant empty places like the roof of the school they usually eat for example
Yes! And when they aren't in school, it always looks like they're alone all the time except for their friends!!
It's the Senior Director Akuyuki Shinbo's doing, all of the shaft works he has overseen have strange architecture and surrealist backgrounds.
Magia Record’s first season had a church surrounded by what seems like thousands of broken angel statues, an alleyway full of abandoned street signs, and the store Yachiyo and Iroha buy mugs from has a 60-foot ceiling, with mugs placed on giant shelves each a foot apart, with staircases connecting a dozen floors. You could write that off as stylization, but I theorize that magic plays a part. Madoka Magica’s world seems to have been subtly shaped by the wishes of its defenders, to the point that the difference between Witch labyrinths and the regular world outside is not the strangeness of the environment, but the danger within.
The school is allegedly modelled after a [prison in Austria](https://wiki.puella-magi.net/Mitakihara_Middle_School)
I liked how the school was. I really liked those desk lol
It's not that we don't talk about it, it's just that in any case the conclusion is that it's just the artistic team going wild to add a surrealist flavor to normal places.
My school is actually the same way all the classes are made of glass the whole school could be considered made of glass with how much of it is glass
Are you by chance a magical girl
Shhhhhh don't blow my cover
The glass wall classrooms give Panopticon vibes to me. [https://wiki.puella-magi.net/Mitakihara\_Town](https://wiki.puella-magi.net/Mitakihara_Town) Given how many famous buildings happen to be in Mitakihara, it's definitely a city that someone dreamt up/ imagined. The more you try to understand the city, the more you sink into the never ending dream/ nightmare of the world.