Hidamari Sketch
While collaborating on "Hidamari Sketch" and "Bakemonogatari", Akiyuki Shinbo told Aniplex producer Atsuhiro Iwakami he wanted to create a new magical girl series, beginning the development of "Puella Magi Madoka Magica". During the early planning stage, Iwakami decided not to adapt an existing work to give Shinbo more freedom in his direction style. Another goal of the project was to develop an anime that would appeal to a wider audience than the usual demographic for media within the magical girl subgenre. Iwakami and Shinbo intended their series to be accessible to "the general anime fan". Shinbo then asked Gen Urobuchi to work on the project as a scriptwriter and Ume Aoki as original character designer. Takahiro Kishida was engaged to adapt Aoki's character designs for the television series.