"I wish all the people who fixate on the deaths of young magical girls in Madoka Magica would remember that mahou shoujo series have already featured struggle and sacrifice, power and pain, fighting and dying, for decades now. It’s not new or original. It’s not inherently fetishistic. It’s PART OF THE GENRE."

I can understand why people fixate on the deaths in Madoka. Shock Value. Only a few people expected such a thing from this anime that was promoted so vaguely with it's cutesy opening.

Another thing is, until episode 12, it seemed like death was permanent in this series.

I think it's the manner in which the Puella Magi died that makes their deaths stand out more. You can see how all the Sailor Senshi in the confession image merely look like they're sleeping. Their clothes are more damaged than their bodies. A shoujo series begets a shoujo death. Madoka is not a shoujo series, so the character deaths can be as gory and violent as the author would like. I think that was jarring for a lot of people.

But no, they're hardly the first magical girls to make sacrifices and/or die, I agree with that much.

To take a quote from Sailor Moon's Tropes Page... Some Nightmare Fuel.

Quote:

The manga is full of this in the form of gruesome and horrifying deaths, including children. One notable example is when Kooan burns a little girl to death in Chapter 15.

Aaaaaand suddenly episode 3 of Madoka Magica seems.... so tame.