Madoka Magica: New Shaft Cover for anan Ahead of the Film's Release

"Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie -Walpurgisnacht Rising-" opened in Japan on August 28, 2026, and a few days later the magazine anan is publishing a dedicated special issue. For the cover, Shaft had Madoka Kaname and Homura Akemi redrawn; the issue comes out on September 2.

As Anime!Anime! reports, the cover illustration comes from Kazuki Kawata, who worked as main animator on "Walpurgisnacht Rising." The design picks up the clouds from the film's key visual, but shows Madoka in her magical girl form and Homura in her demon form smiling under a bright sky.

Eight Pages with Cast and Staff

The special issue runs to eight pages on the film. It includes a joint interview with Aoi Yuki, the voice of Madoka, and Chiwa Saito as Homura. In addition, there are individual interviews with Shion Wakayama and Tomoyo Kurosawa, who voice the characters Murasaki Choko and Selma Therese in the new film, respectively.

Several key creatives also have their say: chief director Akiyuki Shinbo speaks together with character designer Ume Aoki about the production. The issue also contains individual interviews with screenwriter Gen Urobuchi and with Gekidan Inu Curry (Doroinu), which is responsible for the design of the alternate spaces. Doroinu also contributed an additional illustration of Madoka and Homura.

The issue further contains explanations of terms and characters, as well as pieces on animation, story, visual design and music. The release follows directly after the Japanese theatrical opening of the first new Madoka Magica film since "Rebellion" in 2013.

aninew.de recently already published a new Madoka Magica collection for the film. Shaft is also working in parallel on Just Like Mona Lisa, for which the studio is likewise handling the animation. A German theatrical release for "Walpurgisnacht Rising" is not mentioned in the present announcement.