A magical girl story unlike any other

A kind, ordinary girl is offered a wish, any wish, in exchange for becoming a magical girl and fighting witches. It sounds like a classic sparkly fantasy, until the story reveals the terrible price behind the contract. Puella Magi Madoka Magica turned the magical girl genre upside down and became one of the most acclaimed anime of its decade. A Madoka Magica-inspired rug captures its beautiful, bittersweet style: glowing egg-shaped jewels, flowing pink ribbons, an ornate clock of gears, a surreal cut-paper collage or an elegant tea party. Every design is printed into soft velvet and goes in the washing machine.

Madoka Magica-inspired designs

Design	The look	Best in
Soul gems	Glowing egg-shaped jewels in five colors	Round rugs, teen rooms
Pink ribbons	Flowing ribbons and bows on white	Girls' rooms, dorms
Clockwork	An ornate clock face of gears and hands	Studies, gothic rooms
Cut-paper collage	Surreal, layered paper shapes and symbols	Studios, creative spaces
Tea party	Teacups, cakes and a lace tablecloth	Kitchens, vanities
Pink and black	A sweet-meets-dark color palette	Bedrooms, dorms

Soul gems suit a round rug in a teen room, while the cut-paper collage style is the most artistic choice for a creative space.

The series

Puella Magi Madoka Magica is an original anime that aired in 2011, made by the studio Shaft, directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and written by Gen Urobuchi, with cute character designs by the manga artist Ume Aoki and a soaring score by Yuki Kajiura. Madoka, a gentle middle school girl, and her friends are approached by a mysterious creature who offers to grant a wish in exchange for a contract. A cool, secretive transfer student seems determined to stop Madoka from accepting. The contrast between the soft, pastel designs and the dark, intricate story made it a landmark, followed by several films.

Soul gems

Each magical girl carries a glowing, egg-shaped jewel, and each girl's gem has its own color: pink, purple, blue, yellow and red. A rug of five glowing egg-shaped jewels on a dark background, or a single great pink gem on a round rug, is a striking, jewel-like design for a teen's room. Our round rugs come from 2.6 to 5.9 ft (80 to 180 cm) across. Ours are original gem designs.

Pink ribbons

The heroine wears red ribbons in her hair, and ribbons and bows flutter through the series. A rug of flowing pink ribbons and bows on white is a sweet, pretty design for a girl's room or a dorm, and it looks simply charming to anyone who sees it. For more bows, see our bow rugs.

Clockwork

Time is at the heart of the story's biggest twist, and clocks, gears and turning hands appear again and again. An ornate clock face of brass gears and hands on deep purple or black is an elegant, slightly gothic design for a study or a bedroom. For more, see our gothic rugs.

Surreal collage

The witches' labyrinths were created by an art group called Gekidan Inu Curry in a style like nothing else in anime: surreal cut-paper collages, strange creatures, scissors, butterflies, roses and old-fashioned script. A rug of layered, surreal paper shapes and symbols in muted colors is a bold, artistic design for a creative studio or an art student's room. Ours is our own collage, inspired by that handmade style. For more, see our psychedelic rugs.

A tea party

One of the magical girls welcomes the others to her apartment for tea and cake, a sweet, elegant moment before the story darkens. A rug of a tea party with delicate cups, cakes and a lace tablecloth is a charming design for a kitchen, a vanity or a breakfast nook. In a kitchen, choose Standard, 5 mm crushed velvet on a non-slip faux leather back, about 500 g/m², for its grip.

Pink and black

The series' palette moves from sweet pinks to deep blacks and purples as the story unfolds. A rug that blends soft pink into black, or a pattern of pink and black, captures that sweet-meets-dark mood for a bedroom or a dorm.

Five friends, five colors

Each of the five magical girls has her own color, personality and wish. For a group of friends or sisters who each have a favorite, a set of small round rugs, one in each jewel color, is a fun, colorful way to share the series.

Butterflies, roses and scissors

The labyrinths are full of strange recurring motifs, butterflies made of paper, rose gardens, scissors, cotton-ball creatures and old sweets. A soft pattern of paper butterflies and roses is a pretty, slightly eerie design that works beautifully in a bedroom. For more, see our butterfly rugs.

Reading and rewatching

Fans often rewatch the series to catch clues they missed the first time, especially after its big twist. A clockwork rug in a cozy corner with a beanbag and a TV is perfect for those rewatches.

Turning a genre upside down

Before Madoka Magica, magical girl stories were mostly bright adventures for young viewers. This series kept the costumes and transformations but asked what a wish really costs, and its influence on later anime is huge. For the classics it responded to, see our Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura rugs.

The music

Yuki Kajiura's score, with its haunting choral pieces sung in an invented language, is one of the series' most admired elements. A clockwork or collage rug in a music corner is a fitting nod for fans of the soundtrack.

For teens and adults

Despite its cute designs, the series is dark and emotionally intense. These rugs suit teens and adults; the ribbons, tea party and pink-and-black palette are the gentlest choices.

Bedrooms and dorms

A soul-gem or ribbon rug brings color and meaning to a bedroom or a dorm. Choose Standard on hard floors. For a softer bedroom rug, choose Premium, 7 mm plush velvet on a bamboo and cotton back, about 700 g/m². Our bedroom rugs page has more layouts.

Gaming setups

A pink-and-black or soul-gem rug under a gaming desk pairs beautifully with pink and purple lighting. Under a gaming chair, choose Standard in 3.3×5 or 4×6 ft. For more, see our gaming rugs.

Art studios

For artists, illustrators and collage makers, a surreal cut-paper rug under the worktable is an inspiring, playful choice, a reminder that handmade art can be just as striking as digital. Under a rolling chair, choose Standard, which stays put. Our office and studio rugs page has more setups.

Shaped rugs

A rug cut to the egg shape of a single glowing gem, or to a big pink bow, is a pretty alternative to a rectangle beside a bed or in front of a vanity.

Hallways and entryways

Down a hallway, a custom runner up to 10 ft long with a winding pink ribbon or a line of turning gears is an elegant passage. Just inside the front door, a small tea-party rug is a sweet welcome; keep it indoors, out of the weather. Choose Standard for both.

Pairing with furniture

These rugs suit pretty, slightly gothic rooms: a white or black bed frame, lace and velvet, a vanity mirror, a vintage clock and a few framed prints of your own.

Colors

Madoka Magica-inspired designs look best in soft pink and white, deep purple and black, and the five jewel tones of the soul gems: pink, purple, blue, yellow and red.

Other anime

For more acclaimed anime, see our Steins;Gate and Evangelion rugs, and all our anime and manga rugs.

Gifts

A Madoka Magica-inspired rug makes a meaningful gift for an anime fan. The soul gems are the most recognizable; the ribbons are the sweetest and most versatile.

Your own design

Want a soul gem in your favorite color, ribbons with your name or a clock showing a special time? Our custom rugs can print it in any size up to 5′11″ × 10′, or cut it to shape with our shaped rugs. Please only send artwork you're allowed to use; official character art and stills belong to their owners. Custom rugs are made just for you and can't be returned.

Sizes, shipping and returns

Rectangles come in 2×3, 2.6×3.9, 3.3×5, 4×6 and 5×7 ft. Round rugs come from 2.6 to 5.9 ft (80 to 180 cm) across, and shaped rugs from 2.6×2.6 up to 5.2×5.9 ft (80×80 to 160×180 cm). Custom sizes go up to 5′11″ × 10′. Every rug is printed to order in 1–3 business days and ships from Turkey; US delivery usually takes 2–5 business days after that. Unused rugs can be returned within 30 days on US orders; custom rugs can't be returned.

Care

Machine wash on a gentle, cold cycle and let it air dry flat. Vacuum on a low setting between washes, and blot spills with cold water right away. The design is printed into the fibers, so the jewel colors stay bright, wash after wash.

Kyubey, the contract and Walpurgisnacht

Every magical girl in the series begins with a deal. Kyubey, a small white creature with red eyes and long ear tendrils, offers to grant one wish in exchange for becoming a magical girl, a contract that seems wonderful at first and grows darker as the story reveals what it really costs. The girls' soul gems slowly cloud with despair, and grief seeds, small black ornaments dropped by defeated witches, are the only way to clear them.

The story builds toward Walpurgisnacht, a colossal witch that appears as a giant gear-laden figure hanging upside down in a storm, so powerful that no single magical girl can stop it. Its imagery of gears, clockwork and swirling ribbons echoes Homura's time-based powers.

Those elements create rugs with a striking symbolic edge. A single black grief seed on a pale pink ground is a minimalist design that only fans will fully understand. A field of gears and clock faces spiraling outward suits a study or an art room, and a sky of floating ribbons with a distant upside-down silhouette captures the final battle without showing a single scene from it.

The 2013 film Rebellion continued the story in unexpected ways, adding new layers of meaning to Homura's devotion. For fans who love the series' mix of beauty and dread, pairing pink with black, gold with gray, and soft florals with sharp clockwork lines gives a room the same uneasy charm.

For art students and illustrators, these designs echo the series' famous witch labyrinths, created by the art team Gekidan Inu Curry with cut-paper collage, photographs and surreal shapes. A rug inspired by that collage style, with layered paper butterflies, scissors and roses, brings the same unsettling creativity to a studio. It suits a room where sketchbooks, paints and half-finished projects are always spread across the floor, and it reminds anyone who works there that strange ideas often make the best art. Pair it with pink lighting and a single black accent wall.

Padrift is an independent studio. Madoka Magica is named to describe what our designs are inspired by; we are not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by Magica Quartet, Aniplex or Shaft, and our rugs do not use the characters' likenesses.