History Analysis / PuellaMagiMadokaMagica

* Mami represents the idealized haafu who is othered by society and feels she is forced to deny her heart as a Japanese girl, Kyoko is the impoverished daughter of a Christian convert, Sakura's a working woman employed by an international company, and Homura is a NEET turned military otaku who laments the loss of the authentic Japanese spirit, who is represented by Madoka, who refuses to make a contract that only leads to the creation of a "witch" that drives modern-day people to commit suicides and join cults like Aum Shinrikyo.

** [[spoiler: Except Madoka does escape because she uses her wish to help humanity and her fellow magical girls by using a wish base on her love for others, thereby escaping her fate of hell and making magical girl heaven. So yes, she's Faust. Homura actually also escapes in Rebellion, and she also made a wish genuinely based on love, just a selfish and possessive kind. She remakes reality into her own, personal form of heaven. To sum up: they are both Fausts who have diametrically opposed motivations.]]

* Mami represents the idealized haafu who is othered by society and feels she is forced to deny her heart as a Japanese girl, Kyoko is the impoverished daughter of a Christian convert, Sakura's a working woman employed by an international company, and and Homura is a NEET turned military otaku who laments the loss of the authentic Japanese spirit, who is represented by Madoka, who refuses to make a contract that only leads to the creation of a "witch" that drives modern-day people to commit suicides and join cults like Aum Shinrikyo.

* WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility and ForGreatJustice: In this series being a MagicalGirl isn't a synonym for being a heroine. As Kyoko shows, some people would actually [[ComesGreatPerks use that power simply for the perks]].

** [[spoiler: Did you miss '''the whole ending'''? ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'''s plot is all about PowerOfLove and PowerOfFriendship. Madoka's complete selflessness and Homura's incredible devotion were the keys to breaking the ViciousCycle. But this overwhelming importance of PowerOfLove and PowerOfFriendship is exactly the reason why the series judge those who use love and friendship to mask their selfish desires for gratitude and approval so harshly. Mami dies because she placed having friends over the safety of said friends and because [[MyGreatestFailure she didn't saved her parents with her wish]] Sayaka tries to cast herself as a LoveMartyr, but fails horribly because she actually isn't. Homura had to go through hell to prove the purity of her intent to protect Madoka and is saved only when she stops caring how Madoka views her in the process.]]

* The Faustian bargain is a very powerful part of pop culture that underpins the entire series, but the direct comparisons are a little more difficult to make. The series is very heavily influenced by imagery from Faust but comparing any characters directly is like comparing [[LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero Saito]] and [[Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz Dorothy]] simply because neither of them are in Kansas anymore.

* '''Izabel''': Briefly seen in episode 10; [[spoiler:in an alternate timeline, she attacked Homura, who had to be rescued by Madoka and Mami.]] Her barrier is heavily art-influenced, with surfaces inspired by Creator/PabloPicasso's "Art/{{Guernica}}" and Creator/VicentVanGogh's "Art/TheStarryNight." [[spoiler:Odds are good that she wished to be a great artist.]]

* '''Izabel''': Briefly seen in episode 10; [[spoiler:in an alternate timeline, she attacked Homura, who had to be rescued by Madoka and Mami.]] Her barrier is heavily art-influenced, with surfaces inspired by Picasso's "Guernica" and Van Gogh's "Starry Night." [[spoiler:Odds are good that she wished to be a great artist.]]

The concept of Eternal Punishment in FireAndBrimstoneHell originated from Tartarus in Myth/ClassicalMythology, but was originally reserved for the most vile Complete Monsters. The original Jews believed in Conditional Immortality where the Fruit of Life is reserved only for believers, while sinners are "returned to dust". The Jews used the metaphor of the real-life garbage incinerator "Gehenna" to signify a place where sinners are annihilated forever. However, the concept of Gehenna gave an excuse for Tartarus to be adopted by the [[CorruptChurch then-exceedingly-corrupt]] Catholic Church who modified the concept to include all non-Christians and {{thought crim|e}}inals, in order to strike totalitarian fear into its subjects and to give an excuse to make suicide the illegal "unforgivable sin" forcing the suicidally depressed to turn to lifetime Catholic obedience instead. This obviously suffered GodIsEvil accusations, and other theologians such as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origen Origen]] proposed an alternative theory: ''Universal Reconciliation''. If God is merciful and all forgiving, then God will have mercy on and forgive everybody. Of course, some souls that did a lot of sins and regrets in life would be delayed and "purified" for their sins before being allowed to Heaven, but eventually, in the end, [[AssimilationPlot all shall become one with God]]. They offered [[WordOfGod Word of Jesus]], such as the "Love your enemies" commandment and the "Prodigal Son" parable, as proof of concept. They also took the "Prodigal Son" parable as a metaphor for Lucifer himself; he left God thinking that it is "[[Literature/ParadiseLost Better to Reign in Hell than serve in Heaven]]," but eventually realized the futility of his ways, and God is more than happy to accept him back and forgive him. Universal Reconciliation was suppressed as {{Heresy}} by the Catholic Church, who detested the idea that Lucifer, thought-crime and victims of suicide can be forgiven. It only became popular once again during the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, where the influence of Humanism coupled with the fall of Catholic hegemony allowed widespread criticism of the "FireAndBrimstoneHell" concept to the point that it became parody, as modern-day {{satire}}s can attest. In Christian apologetics, two alternative theories to FireAndBrimstoneHell emerged: first, the aforementioned Universal Reconciliation. Second, the idea of ''Eternal Separation'', where Hell isn't a literal place of fire and brimstone, but rather a depressing state of mind [[SelfInflictedHell where your own thoughts, memories, guilt, remorse and pessimism separate yourself from]] [[GodisGood the hope and light of God for all eternity]].

** I do agree on Madoka having both Christian and Buddhist elements, especially how Madoka was a rich high-bourgeois girl who rejected her perfect life in order to learn suffering (like how Siddharta Gautama the Buddha was a prince before his self-imposed exile), and how the eternal recurrence of Homura led to Madoka's power. However, the difference between Madokamism and Buddhism is that the Buddha never actually saved all other sinners, but only taught those sinners how to achieve Nirvana by themselves. On the other hand, Jesus, despite the personal agony on himself, insisted for the wish to save others, even forgiving the very sinners who committed atrocity against him. Madoka acknowledged that the Incubators have committed atrocities against mankind but she chose to accept all the punishments for herself instead of wishing the Incubators out of existence.

* '''Charlotte''': The dessert witch in Episode 3, and [[spoiler:an accomplished KnightOfCerebus]]. Her barrier is pretty much made entirely of food, especially cake, but according to her profile, her favorite food is cheese... which she can't make, since it's not a dessert. There's also a bit of a medical motif (pills, syringes, minions wearing nurse hats), and her Grief Seed was found stuck in a wall by a hospital. Her profile says that she wants everything and never gives up; this latter comes across in her second form, which just produces a new copy of itself when injured. Her real body resembles a doll, and even appears to be sitting and having a tea party. "Charlotte" is also the name of a kind of dessert.

*** The episode 10 version is, as mentioned, a little different; some of her minions, instead of all being members of the orchestra, are dancers that look a lot like [[spoiler:Hitomi.]] Presumably this is either [[spoiler:a manifestation of jealousy (basically, a wish to control her rival) or due to differences in the timeline that affected their relationship.]]

* [[spoiler: Except Madoka does escape because she uses her wish to help humanity and her fellow magical girls by using a wish base on her love for others, thereby escaping her fate of hell and making magical girl heaven. So yes, she's Faust. Homura actually also escapes in Rebellion, and she also made a wish genuinely based on love, just a selfish and possessive kind. She remakes reality into her own, personal form of heaven. To sum up: they are both Fausts who have diametrically opposed motivations.]]

* '''Kriemhild Gretchen''': Very little is known, but what ''is'' known is probably worth commenting on, given than Gretchen is [[spoiler:the witch form of Madoka seen in one timeline in episode 10, who, according to Kyubey, is powerful enough that she will destroy the world within ten days]]. Gretchen is the name of {{Faust}}'s lover; Kriemhild is derived from German words meaning "mask" and "battle," leading some to speculate that the mask at the end of the ED is her face. It is also worth noting, however, that Kriemhild is the central character of the German poetic epic Nibelungenlied. The Nibelungenlied is the story of Siegfried the Dragonslayer, his murder, and his wife Kriemhild's revenge upon his murderers. Although her exact form is unknown, we do know that she is ''massive''. Like, mountain-sized. Her Grief Seed, incidentally, [[spoiler:has Madoka's pink ribbon on it.]]

!Energy markets, innocence, and exploitation of foreign entities

Facts we observe:
-Kyubey needs ‘energy’ / ‘entropy’

-The only thing he’s observed ‘taking’ are the dark seeds / whatever the wraiths leave behind

-The remains are tangible, have value, and are traded

-He’s utterly indifferent to the pain and hardships of the magical girls

-At the end of the series, once he meets his ‘quota’ he effectively becomes a PunchClockVillain

During the WhamMoment, he talks about the ‘heat death’ of the universe, but there’s a darker way to interpret this: Manifest Destiny. This was a colonial concept used by developed nations to spin overseas exploitation as ‘doing their duty to civilize the rest of the world.’

So... we know Kyubey has a history of playing with the truth without ‘lying.’ When he mentions the ‘heat death’ of the universe, is he talking about ‘everyone’s’ or his universe (civilization).

* According to Prof. Akiko Sugawa-Shimada, in the original cultural context of mahou shojo anime, the shojo use symbols of American femininity lifted from shows like Bewitched to "transform" into new empowered forms as a negotiation with their daily roles as Japanese women. However, Madoka is distinguished by traditional mahou shojo by using classical European motifs, and the puella magi are distinguished by fighting with actual weapons to claim territories.

* Mami represents the idealized haafu who is othered by society and feels she is forced to deny her heart as a Japanese girl, Kyoko is the impoverished daughter of a Christian convert, Sakura's a working woman employed by an international company, and and Homura is a NEET turned military otaku who laments the loss of the authentic Japanese spirit, who is represented by Madoka, who refuses to make a contract that only leads to the creation of a "witch" that influences humans to commit suicides and join cults like Aum Shinrikyo.

* According to Prof. Akiko Sugawa-Shimada, in the original cultural context of mahou shojo anime, the shojo use symbols of American femininity lifted from shows like Bewitched to "transform" into new roles as a negotiation with their daily lives as Japanese women. However, Madoka is distinguished by traditional mahou shojo by using classical European motifs, and fight with actual weapons to claim territories.

* Mami represents the idealized haafu who is othered by society and feels she is forced to deny her heart as a Japanese girl, Kyoko is the impoverished daughter of a Christian convert, Sakura's a working woman employed by an international company, and and Homura is a NEET turned military otaku who laments the loss of the authentic Japanese spirit, who is represented by Madoka, who refuses to make a contract that only leads to the creation of a "witch" that influences humans to commit suicides and join cults like Aum Shinrikyo.

** [[spoiler: Did you miss '''the whole ending'''? ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'''s plot is all about PowerOfLove and PowerOfFriendship. Madoka's complete selflessness and Homura's incredible devotion were the keys to breaking the ViciousCycle. But this overwhelming importance of PowerOfLove and PowerOfFriendship is exactly the reason why the series judge those who use love and friendship to mask their selfish desires for gratitude and approval so harshly. Mami dies because she placed having friends over the safety of said friends and because [[MyGreatestFailure she didn't saved her parents with her wish]]{ Sayaka tries to cast herself as a LoveMartyr, but fails horribly because she actually isn't. Homura had to go through hell to prove the purity of her intent to protect Madoka and is saved only when she stops caring how Madoka views her in the process.]]

* '''Opening lyrics''': The [[http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Connect lyrics]] of the opening theme "Connect" are about a {{Determinator}} who refuses to give up hope or stop trying to fulfill a promise they made. There's also a lot of references to time. [[spoiler:After Episode 10, it became clear the song is written from Homura's perspective: She's in a GroundhogDayLoop, going through it as many times as she has to in order to protect Madoka and stop her from contracting with Kyubei.]]