Madoka Magica is good not because it's a grimdark subversion of magical girl shows but because they truly understand magical girl shows and the parts of it that are just magical girl stuff is just really really good magical girl stuff which is both original and pays homage to sailor moon and cardcaptor Sakura in subtle and effective ways, so that even if does go into subversion it's all the more effective because even though you know something is wrong you still want to buy into the magical girl show it isn't
And in the end even with the grim subversions at its core it's still a really good magical girl show where love and kindness and determination overcome even the laws of the universe
