I'm not a huge fan of the magical girl genre, but I really like all the anime you've mentioned above and I watch something like this from time to time. So I've seen this anime some time ago.
I did like it, but I didn't enjoy it too much. It was because there was one character that I really didn't like and actually it was... A main heroine
She was way too passive for my liking for the most of the show.
I also liked how brutal it was, but it didn't put too much of an impact, since Madoka was first. And I think the whole brutality was set up more nicely in Madoka. I've really, really liked it.
Still, I enjoyed this anime. And I think anyone who likes magical girls and enjoyed Madokaw would like this too.