Title: Puella Magi Homura Magica
Author: Lestaki
Rating: T
Genre: Action/Drama
Status: Abandoned
Fandom: Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Pairings: Homura/Kyoko (but is a very minor part of the story)
Summary: Living in the world Madoka's sacrifice created, Homura, Mami and Kyouko uneasily coexist while fighting the demons of Mitakihara Town. But as the miasma thickens and the demons multiply, the fragile peace of their lives threatens to shatter once more.
Length: 317,297 words
Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7018804/1/Puella-Magi-Homura-Magica

Credit to Nemrut for recommending this to me first. The PMMM fandom is generally swamped with nothing more than yuri smut which barely even qualify as guilty pleasures. Had pretty much given up on the fandom until I came across this. Puella Magi Homura Magica isn't just good PMMM fan fiction, it's a fantastic piece of fiction outright.

Ignoring the third movie, Rebellion, and Puella Magi Homura Magica starts where we were left off at the conclusion of the series. Homura is living in the world Madoka created fighting the 'demons' with Mami and Kyouko. What quickly becomes obvious is that despite the lack of Witches, Magical Girls seem no more happier. With extremely high death rates and the need for demon hunting grounds to provide Remnants for them to keep their Soul Gems pure, magical girl society has evolved into something highly feudal and territorial in nature. Everyone prioritizes their friends and crew, and ruthlessly put down any who threaten that and there's this mindset of "conquer or be conquered". Occasional alliances are formed to take down the bigger threats, but with everyone watching their back the whole time.

But don't expect a dry, SB-style fic with more focus on exploring the world, society, powers and battle tactics like To the Stars. This fic takes full advantage of its setting through its characters. There are a wealth of characters from these various groups that the fic explores in depth through lots and lots of interactions. Each character is three dimensional, unique and interesting. Most manage to be likable and despicable at the same time, full of both qualities and flaws to the point you really don't know who you're rooting for.

What really started to stand out to me in this fic was how much it reminded me of Worm. The setting, many of the characters, many of the situations and plot devices are just so similar.

At over 300,000 words, it is a lengthy fic, but gives you the feeling that it was well planned out. There are a lot of clues and little things you're introduced to early on that don't really get explained until later. The bulk of the fic is character interaction and dialogue. Despite the fact it may seem slow just based on a words to events basis, pacing really feels perfect and I can't really say I ever felt bored. All the dialogue does a fantastic job of building up to a fight, or giving you more insights into the various characters. The fights were pretty decent too, though again were very much focused on interaction.

I'll note that despite the fact the fic categorizes itself as a "romance" with a Homura/Kyoko pairing, I'd say it barely plays a major part at all. You get a handful of scenes throughout the fic which really pale in impact and depth in comparison to their relationships with other friends and enemies. There are a few other bits of romance you see between other characters, but again, are just used to add to character building more than anything else.

Spoiler

I'm amazed at how well the scene in Madoka's heaven came together. I kind of expected something like that would happen, and was really worried it'd just be cheesy and wreck everything. But it worked perfectly. After watching these people all slaughter each other, you have this complete contrast in atmosphere, before getting back to the slaughter. Madoka herself was characterized perfectly too down to how sympathetic she seemed to be with Koharu, the girl who's entire plan revolves around ruining Homura's life by killing everyone she cares about.

Speaking of Kahoru, what a character. An amazing antagonist, and one who really makes the fic. Everything from seeing how her elaborate plans and manipulations come together, her debates with the various other characters on her ideals, her likable and fun demeanor she keeps even with her enemies and all the way to her awkward romance with Akio absolutely stand out in this fic.

The only thing that really sucks about this fic is when you get to Chapter 56, realize there's no more and given it hasn't been updated in 2 years, probably won't be. To be fair, while the story was still interesting at that point, I'm not really sure how it could end in a way that was suitably climatic and epic for the build up it was receiving. Still, I'm still in that horrible state of mind where all you feel is regret and frustration over the story's abandonment.

5/5. Highly recommend this. Not just as the only decent PMMM fic, but as one of the better fics I've read. And that's despite the fact it'll probably never be completed - it's lengthy enough for you to still enjoy.

 

Will read it one day, probably - Madoka is one of the two animes I think deserve the title of masterpiece; which of course means that any fanfic will almost certainly fall short of canon's impossibly high standards.

 

I've read it (since Madoka is my favorite anime and I highly agree with the above poster that it's a masterpiece and therefore searched out all of the fanfic for it I could) and I liked it well enough. Hitomi is used very well and it's nice to see her not bashed

 

It took a while, but I finally finished reading this.

The fic's strongest point is definitely the characters. Even though I have the desire to strangle some of them, every single character is well developed and realistic.

When you add that to an extremely well developed plot, it's easy for me to give this fanfiction a score of 5/5.

 

The only fanfic I've read in the last year is Traveller, but I think i might just read this. PMMM is very close to the definition of the 'perfect' anime for me.