The reason why 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' is the Agency for Cultural Affairs Anime Grand Prize

'Puella Magi Madoka Magica ' won the 2011 [15th] Japan Media Arts Festival Animation Division Grand Prize for 'a great movement and influence on the Japanese culture scene'. It is written that the reason is quite amazing.

Animation category | 15th 2011 | Japan Media Arts Festival Award-winning works
http://archive.j-mediaarts.jp/festival/2011/animation/

(PDF file) List of award-winning works of '2011 [15th] Japan Media Arts Festival'

First, the outline of the work is as follows.

[Outline of work]
Madoka Kaname, an ordinary junior high school student, has a mysterious dream one day. When I go to school the next morning, the girl I dreamed of, Homura, transfers to another school. Homura, who is confused, speaks meaningful words. After school, Madoka got lost in the 'Witch's Barrier' and was saved by the magical girl Mami in a pinch of desperation. The truth of the existence of a 'magical girl' that will soon be known. What is the choice that Madoka, who has come into contact with the truth, makes in a stage where time and human patterns are intricately intermingled?

And the reason for the animation category grand prize is as follows.

[Reason for award]
This is the grand prize of the TV series following last year. This time, it was highly evaluated that it was an original work for animation, not the original work of manga and novels. In the anime, the setting of the classic 'Magical Girl' is reversed, and it is an ambitious work that cleverly sets up a critical trap that shakes even the basis of the genre that the audience believes. Kyubey, a creature that looks cute, offers a 'contract' to fight a witch as a magical girl in exchange for the fulfillment of her wishes. The horror hidden in 'desire' and the impression of 'miracle' beyond that ... Both are created by the human heart and are two sides of the same coin. By making full use of the 'media characteristics' of television broadcasting, which cannot be understood until a week has passed, the escalation of the heart-to-heart conflict was extremely achieved with beautiful images. This work is full of transformational energy that wants to change something. With the expectation that it will be a catalyst that will change the times, we will present the grand prize.

The official website of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' has also been updated, and the award is displayed at the top of the website.

Magical Girl Madoka ☆ Magica
http://www.madoka-magica.com/