Call Up The Girls In Madoka Magica: The Battle Pentagram With Your Phone (Really!)

Namco Bandai is developing Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Battle Pentagram for PlayStation Vita and the limited edition bundle has some unique items. On top of the game, you get an art book, Dessert Witch screen cleaner (I think that’s Charlotte’s second form), soundtrack CD, a code for five extra costumes, and a Voice World with Homura’s Time Travel.

What’s Voice World? It’s an interactive phone call with an anime character. You actually call the character’s phone number and then punch in a code to access the story. Namco Bandai developed this service and launched it with a bunch of Idolm@ster characters that players help during the call. The story changes depending on your responses so it’s kind of like a visual novel, sans the visuals.

The Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Battle Pentagram limited edition retails for 8,980 yen ($90) and a standalone game is 5,980 yen ($60). The game comes out on December 19 and first print copies also include a Voice World code for Mami Tomoe’s Hotline.

Madoka Magica Concept Movie Will Be Core of New Project

The January 2016 issue of Kadokawa's Newtype magazine is publishing an interview with SHAFT representative director and president Mitsutoshi Kubota on Thursday and it reveals more details on the Puella Magi Madoka Magica concept movie shown in SHAFT's "~Commemorating 40 Years of Shaft~ Madogatari" event last month. Kubota is credited as the producer for the project. He confirms that the project will not end with just the concept movie, but will launch a brand new Puella Magi Madoka Magica project.

Kubota comments that the concept movie will act as an "extravagant" movie-based image board (preliminary images drawn by staff to capture the intended atmosphere and mood of an anime). It will be the core of the new project, and will act as a trailer for the project. The staff is working to integrate everything shown in the concept movie to be a part of the new work, including the image of Madoka performing ballet. Mami, Sayaka, Kyoko, and Homura all appear in the concept movie, and Kubota also mentions that Hitomi and Nagisa will have a role in the new work as well. Kubota also singled out Mami, stating that the new project will strengthen the image of Mami as a "God of Battle," and compared her to Guan Yu from The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Kubota also mentioned that character designer Ume Aoki designed the clothes for the characters, and designed something "a little different" from normal magical girls.

Magica Quartet—the team behind the Puella Magi Madoka Magica anime, consisting of director Akiyuki Simbo, character designer Ume Aoki, scriptwriter Gen Urobuchi (Nitroplus), and animation studio Shaft—have continued plans for a new work since the Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie Part 3: Rebellion film opened in October 2013. The concept movie was born from their meetings.
Simbo created the storyboards and served as chief director for the short, while series director Yukihiro Miyamoto returned to direct. Composer Yuki Kajiura contributed a new musical piece. Other returning staff members include:

• Alternate Space Design: Gekidan Inu Curry
• Animation director: Junichiro Taniguchi
• Sound Director: Yota Tsuruoka
• Sound Production: Rakuonsha
• Animation Production: SHAFT

The following cast members from previous anime recorded new lines for the concept movie:

• Aoi Yūki as Madoka Kaname
• Chiwa Saito as Homura Akemi
• Kaori Mizuhashi as Mami Tomoe
• Eri Kitamura as Sayaka Miki
• Ai Nonaka as Kyōko Sakura
• Emiri Katō as Kyubey
• Kana Asumi as Nagisa Momoe

The original television anime premiered in January 2011, and Crunchyroll later streamed the series. Aniplex of America released the television series, two compilation films, and the Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie Part 3: Rebellion sequel film in North America.