#homura telling madoka that she has given up is so devastating

[pinkberrypocky]

pmmm rewatch live notes: ep 5

this is the ep w the convo/fight between kyoko and sayaka and wough is there a lot to unpack from that. kyoko talks abt the food chain of magical girls and witches here which makes me fucking feral bc she's so right there is a food chain but she doesn't realize that she's not at the top. she doesn't realize that the entire being of magical girls and witches is cannibalism all for the sake and benefit of kyubey. just. ugh. kyoko thinks she's figured it out and sayaka is naive and in the dark but in reality neither of them understand what's going on. anyways also i think they should kiss. or at least hold hands.

When sayaka makes her contract with kyubey the lighting is red

Kyubey is entirely backlit and a black silhouette

Kyubey pulls a ball of light out of sayaka’s chest and she collapses in pain

Foreshadowing how the soul gems contain the literal souls of the girls and the bodies are just empty shells

Hence sayaka collapsed bc her being left her body

Sayaka is laughing and in a good mood the day after making her contract 

Not thinking at all about the weight of her decisions

Madoka is concerned and voices this but sayaka is determined to stay in her idealistic naive world 

Madoka, dispute being the most naive seeming, is actually the one out of the two of them who is maturely able to grasp the severity and reality of the choice to become a magical girl

Red lighting on the hospital building as sayaka approaches to visit kyosuke when he first knows his hand is healed

Why are there so many chairs around kyosuke’s hospital bed?

Maybe he used to have a lot of people cheering him on for recovery since he was a genius but they slowly left until only sayaka remains

Kyosuke apologizes for lashing out at sayaka and we see a yellow flower petal

Lots of yellow lighting and yellow flowers on the roof scene when kyosuke plays again for the first time

Kyosuke is a backlit black silhouette when he first takes the violin in his hands again

And all the people are like this when he plays again (him, his family, sayaka)

Sayaka says that kyosuke playing again is the happiest moment of her life 

And like yeah it sure it bc making the wish that allowed that is what made your life go downhill so fast afterward and led to your death

Kyubey reveals that he doesn't know who homura is and he can’t predict her actions

Kyoko is unbothered by things in an overconfident snooty way that is distinctly different from how mami tried to protect and how sayaka tries to stay blind to the truth 

Homura says “No matter how hard you try there is no thanks” ouch yeah no matter how hard homura tries to save madoka no one ever thanks her 

In fact they all curse her and say she’s the villain 

This is the reason that sayaka is a bad magical girl, because her whole reason for being a magical girl is to get kyosuke’s wish fulfilled which she is in denial about wanting thanks for 

Sayaka is a bad magical girl bc she doesn’t understand something which is so integral to homura’s experience 

Madoka is told by homura to give up on sayaka but we know that is not at all what she does

Because madoka is unable to ever give up on her friends or the people she loves her strength lies in the lengths she will go for her loved ones

Madoka asks homura if she’s given up and homura says yes

OUCH

Homura had to give up on the life with madoka that she yearns for and is now fighting for madoka’s life with no regard for where it will leave her

Yellowish orangish lighting as madoka meets sayaka on her way to begin her first witch patrol

Madoka asks sayaka to let her come with her even though she knows she won't be of any help and might even get in the way 

As long as it’s not a bother let me stay with you

Literally me fr

 Kyubey says he doesn't mind madoka coming on patrol w sayaka bc sayaka thought it through but his real reasoning is bc he knows sayaka is likely to get in an emergency and if madoka is there when that happens he can get her to make a contract

As they go into the labyrinth sayaka has kyubey on her shoulder and his tail in the shadow of her silhouette makes it look like she has long pigtails like mami did

Kyoko is jaded from the reality of the world while sayaka is still living in her delusion of an ideal world

Kyoko equates using grief seeds to eating witches

Calls it a food chain 

Kyoko instigates sayaka by asking her incredulously if she really believes in things like justice

She knows just what to say bc she used to be sayaka

And that’s why sayaka ticks her off so much

There is yellow lighting during kyoko and sayaka’s fight that barely filters into the alleyway 

It glints off of sayaka’s sword

When kyoko and sayka’s weapons come head to head in a stalemate the energy formed is yellow

Madoka can’t understand why they are fighting since they’re both magical girls on the same side and begs kyubey to stop them

He just uses this as another excuse to push her to make a contract

Shows her genuine concern for all living beings

Cries as she is about to make the decision bc she knows how much she is sealing herself in a miserable fate

When homura interferes with the fight there are water droplets frozen in time around her that go in slo mo which foreshadows her power being time manipulation

[mistbornthefinal]

Madoka Magica Aniversery Analysis: Part1

 Prologue In Heaven

(just in case this is a retrospective of a 10 years old anime, there gonna be spoilers. If you’re for some reason interested in this post and haven’t see Madoka watch it first than come back)

Puella Magi Madoka Magica begins with our titular character running through a surrealist checkerboard hallway until she finds an exit. That exit opens onto a balcony which overlooks a destroyed Mitakihara.

Cue Magia as we are shown half-glimpses of Walpurgisnact. Against this devastated backdrop stands a single girl who we will later in the episode will learn is Akemi Homura. Unfortunately she is clearly outmatched by the forces arrayed against her.

Needless to say Madoka is distressed by the carnage. A strangely calm voice cut’s in which is quickly revealed to be everyone’s least favorite bunnycat Kyubey. Kyubey states that not only is this situation too much for Homura but that she knew that before coming here. After being slammed into the giant eldritch tree by one of Walpurgisnact’s attacks Homura notices Madoka and attempts to call out to her but whatever she has to say is lost in the distance.

Kubey then tells Madoka that she has the power to change all this, the power to change fate, to banish all this unavoidable carnage and sorrow. All she needs to do is make a contract with him... 

Madoka finds it hard to believe that such power exists within her but she seems to be earnestly considering his offer. Before we get a solid answer we cut to Madoka awakening in her bed, turns out it was all a dream. (Or was it? cue Connect!)

The common narrative about Madoka is that the first two episodes are basically bait. That they present a happy façade meant to lure in the unsuspecting only for them to be slapped upside the head by Episode 3′s big twist. If I have any big thesis for this particular essay it’s that this is not the case at all, and this opening sequence is exhibit A.

This whole sequence is basically is basically the core of PMMM boiled to it’s bare essentials. Madoka beholds the horror’s of Kyubey’s system. Kyubey’s tempts her to become part of that system with the possibility of changing things while Homura struggles to avert Madoka’s contract and thus her tragic fate by solving things without her. Right here in EP1 scene 1 Madoka lays it’s cards on the table and tells us what it’s all about. Indeed in EP12 Kyubey’s offer here will prove to be far more valid than he likely intended. 

The rest of the show is about brining us back to the point where the “dream” left off and explaining how exactly we got there. (which makes sense since we will later find out the dream is the end of Timeline 4, and our series opens at the start of Timeline 5) Given that our secondary protagonist is a time looper it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that our narrative is a little circular. 

In our next scene we meet Madoka’s family. Madoka checks in with her dad(Kaname Tomohisa) and then helps her adorable baby brother(Kaname Tatsuya) wake up her rad as heck mom (Kaname Junko).  As Madoka and her mom get ready for the day together Ms. Kaname press her daughter for the latest gossip. 

(the only acceptable Madoka Magica waifu, seriously everyone else is like 14)

We get two other characters namedropped here both Hitomi and Kazuko, Madoka’s teacher who viewers familar with Japanese social conventions will instantly assume Junko knows since she refers to her by first name. We learn that Hitomi got another love letter and that Kazuko and her boyfriend are nearing what Junko believes is a critical point in their relationship.

Madoka is then faced with a choice between 2 types of hair ribbons. Junko urges her to go with the red ones telling her that her secret admirers will love them. Madoka protests that she doesn’t have secret admirers (Homura would disagree) to which Junko replies that they secret to being attractive is believing so regardless We then get a brief scene at the breakfast table but Madoka realizes she’s late and bursts out the door with her obligatory anime toast.

(obligatory)

On the way to school she meets up with her friends the aforementioned Shizuki Hitomi and Miki Sayaka. They discuss Hitomi’s love letter situation and Sayaka notices the new ribbons and then teases Madoka about getting dating  advice from her mom.

At homeroom we learn that Junko was eerily prescient re:Sensei love life. Madoka’s teacher (Saotome Kazuko) just broke up with her boyfriend due to a dispute over breakfast preparation, and she decided share her feels about the matter with the class to hilarious effect. After exhorting the Girls not associate with Men who demand the  Kazuko announces they have a new transfer student.

Before we tackle Homura’s introduction let’s quickly go over what’s being done in this last sequence, because this isn’t just mindless fluff. First and most obvious we’re getting introduced to almost all our secondary characters, but we’re also introduced in a subtle way to some of the themes we’re going to be dealing with. Take note in the first scene we get with Sayaka the conversation revolves around unrequited love, and then the very next scene is about a relationship that failed because the parties involved didn’t communicate their expectations of each other.  This sequence also flows very well because the first conversation between Madoka and her mom sets up both her later conversation with her friends and Kazuko’s rant.

Now that we’re done with that, enter Akemi Homura. To Madoka’s shock and our lack of shock it’s the girl from Madoka’s dream. While to whole class is fascinated by the cool and beautiful transfer student Homura only has eyes for Madoka, asking her show her to the nurses office. On the way Madoka attempts to make conversation but is thrown off by how Homura seems to already know the route. When Madoka calls Homura by her family name she visibly reacts and then tells Madoka to just use her first name.

(Madoka’s school is all glass all the time, the architecture in this show is cursed)

Homura then spins around and gives her out of nowhere cryptic ultimatum. “Don’t change who you are or else you will lose everything and everyone dear to you.” While a first time viewer is likely to be as baffled by this as Madoka it still sort of works to establish stakes. It sort of works because we just got those fluffy slice of life which establish how blissful Madoka’s daily life is and thus how much she has to lose. 

Then we get a montage of Homura being the best at everything before we cut to afterschool as Madoka is sharing her strange conversation with Homura with Sayaka and Hitomi. Neither are sure what to make of her words or Madoka’s claim to have met her in a dream. After Hitomi begs off due prior engagements Madoka and Sayaka head over to the CD store, with Madoka namedropping Kamijou as the person Sayaka is shopping with. 

We then get a intercut of Kyubey running from Homura who is shooting purple bolts of magic at him. At the CD store Madoka hear voice begging for help she follows it into an area that’s under construction. A heavily damaged Kyube than fall out of the ceiling in front of Madoka. Suddenly Homura is there demanding she get away from “that thing” but unfortunately it’s not in Madoka’s nature to abandon injured fluffy things. The two of them are at an impasse before Sayaka interrupts things with a fire extinguisher. 

The two of them book it with Kyubey in tow while Homura is distracted but she quickly dispels the cloud of fire extinguisher gas. She moves to give chase but before she can things get weird. The world is overwritten by a surrealist mosaic something that upsets but does not seem to surprise Homura.

What we will later learn is a witches barrier engulfs Sayaka and Madoka as well. Which means this as now a good time as any to discuss the aesthetic of witches and their labyrinths in a bit more detail. While the strange mixed media collage used to represent witches and their workings was and is a trip for a lot of new viewers of the series, this wasn’t a new thing for Studio Shaft who produced the series. 

(If you we’re familiar with the studio when this show was airing this sort of thing would be par for the course)

Even in 2011 Studio Shaft had built a reputation on having a weird house style that the brought to their productions. Indeed the blending of photographs of real objects into the animation is something they did before in Hidamari Sketch. Sill it cannot be denied that Inu Curry took Shaft’s house style to a new height of weird. 

Back at the plot Madoka and Sayaka are being menaced with scissors by cotton balls with butterfly wings. We also get a more prominent appearance of the witch runes (they were in the opening title card as well) these are a cypher that was surprisingly quickly decoded by the fandom. In this case the Anthonies (that’s what the cotton ball monsters are called) are talking about how Madoka and Sayaka are “unknown flowers” and thus shall go to the guillotine.

Before Gertrude’s familiars can make good on that, a new character appears. She wears the same uniform as Madoka so it’s quickly established that she a senpai at their school but before introducing herself she transforms into her magical girl form and blows away the Anthonies. All while her theme Credens Justitiam plays of course. 

The destruction of the familiars causes the labyrinth to recede and Homura quickly catches up to everyone. Homura and Mami have a tense exchange where Mami offers to let her hunt the witch and then no-so-subtly threatens her. Homura elects to back down for now.

With Homura gone Mami heals Kyubey’s injuries and the bunnycat get’s right back to his business. “Hey kids wanna become meguca?” Cue Mata Ashita (if you’re watching the blueray version).

Now that we’ve gone over the first episode in detail let’s talk a bit more in terms of how it fits into the overall structure. Like I said before the first two episodes are not just a false front to lure people into watching the “real” show. Were that true the show would have sucked and I wouldn’t be talking about it 10 years later. 

Not only is the visual tone of the series present from the word go, but the first two episodes set a baseline without which the twists and revelations of the later episodes wouldn’t be meaningful.  This episode in particular gives us a surface level introduction to all but two of our named characters. It also leaves us with a lot of questions, some of which prime us for the big exposition dump in the next episode while others will run for most of the series.