History Tearjerker / PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion

** Kyubey is flat out immune to physical and mental abuse. However, in this scene, his appearance might suggest he's ''scared out of his wits''. It would be very much in Homura's character to KickTheSonOfABitch by making him go through what she and other magical girls experienced - and so, the worst punishment for him would be ''making him able to feel emotions''. Raw animalistic fear would be a fitting reaction once he realizes just how badly he's screwed. Who knows, he might very well feeling remorse and thinking "MyGodWhatHaveIDone".

** [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/window.JPG The image]] at the very end of the movie shows a window, [[RuleOfSymbolism tightly shut by Madoka's ribbons]]. A perfect representation of Homura shutting off herself from anyone else willing to help.

** [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/window.JPG The image]] at the very end of the movie of a window that has been [[RuleOfSymbolism tightly shut by Madoka's ribbons]]. A perfect representation of Homura denying anyone's help, which is one factor of her FaceHeelTurn.

** The runes in Homura's transformation sequence aren't much better. They translate to "I kill myself" and "They glorify death."

* A subtle one right at the start: After the first Nightmare is defeated, the movie essentially replays the opening of the very first episode, with Madoka rousing her mother, getting ready for the day, and enjoying breakfast with her family. It's all cute and heartwarming, but then you remember that this is the exact sort of life Madoka ''gave 'up'' when she made her cosmic wish. Not only that, but the entire thing is a facade (granted, Madoka's family is very much real as they are among those who are rescued from Homura's barrier). One has to wonder what would have gone through Madoka's mind had she not been hit with LaserGuidedAmnesia.

[[caption-width-right:343:[[SanitySlippage The beginning of the end.]]]]

* Homura's and Sayaka's last meeting after Homura steals Madoka's god powers leading to the universe resetting once again, with the latter confronting the former on why she stole the hopes of all Magical Girls. Due to becoming a part of the Law of Cycles and gaining memories of all the previous timelines, Sayaka had gained a deeper understanding of what Homura went through and even sympathizing with her, which could be seen in her interactions with her throughout the movie. She's friendly and amicable toward Homura, and as noted in the Heartwarming page, tried to reassure her that the events of the barrier were not her fault and only proved that she was a good person. During the final battle, Sayaka even mentions that Homura had been working hard and deserved a reward, in stark contrast to her hostile interactions with Homura in the original series where she believed the latter was a cold-hearted bitch who only cared about herself, only for Homura to prove her initial assumptions right by removing the Law of Cycles, which had granted hope to Magical Girls. The confrontation ends with Homura erasing Sayaka's memories but not before she calls Homura a demon. If Sayaka ever gains her memories back, their relationship is bound to be even ''worse'' than it was in canon.

Many ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' fans have stated that this traumatic and emotionally scarring movie has created a very long recuperation process for themselves, ''and for good reasons''.

Many ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' fans have stated that this traumatic and emotionally scarring movie has created a very long recuperation process for viewers and themselves, '''and for good reasons'''.

* Homura transforming into a witch is a cross between this and NightmareFuel. You can see her drowning in despair and slowly losing her humanity. In the end, she becomes [[AndIMustScream unable to do anything but suffer]], while everything about her Witch shows [[DeathSeeker how much she yearns for death]].
** Tying into that, Homura slowly realising she is a witch. Her voice when she says it out loud is so full of grief and despair.
*** The line "Madoka! I just want to say thank you for coming here to this god-awful place. I can't even say "goodbye" to you in the end." is truly heartbreaking.
* Spider lilies, the flowers heavily associated with Homura's witch form can mean: never to meet again, lost memory, or abandonment. All of these meanings are equally valid for Homura's mental state and equally tragic.

*** Depends on if the audience buys the idea that the two misunderstood each other in this scene; given that Ultimate Madoka is around everyone, all the time, she technically wasn't far away from her friends at all. Which means that she was okay with her decision, but Homura misreads her and comes to the conclusion that Madoka wasn't happy with her fate. Double oops.

* After the events of the movie, watching the "Colorful" opening is heartbreaking.

* Homura's suicide bluff. The look on her face as she pulls the trigger, and Mami's reaction. And finally, Homura raising the gun to Mami's head. Obviously, things weren't quite as they seemed, since fans already knew that Homura wouldn't die from a headshot, and Mami turned out to be a double. And yet, for a couple of seconds, it is an absolutely heart-wrenching scene.
** Another one immediately afterwards, as Homura levels her gun at the now-frozen Mami's leg. She first aims at Mami's Soul Gem, she cannot do it. Even when she instead aims at the place that she knew Mami will recover from, it takes her a few moments to steel herself, and then even after she fires, she can't even watch the bullet hit, looking away and closing her eyes before undoing her time stop. Again, this is Mami she's clearly reluctant to hurt, and right after the two had been emptying clip after clip at each other to boot.
* When Homura gives Madoka her ribbons back and tells her that the two will someday become enemies. The [[http://i.imgur.com/HIms7vm.jpg manga]] [[http://i.imgur.com/ERGNSMP.jpg version]] of the scene is particularly heartbreaking.
* Of the heartwarmingly sad variety, Madoka finally reaching Homura on top of Homulilly's head. When she tells Homura she doesn't have to be alone and she'll always be with her, we have a shot of Madoka caressing Homura's face while the later cries and asks for forgiveness.
* Homura's and Sayaka's last meeting after Homura steals Madoka's god powers leading to the universe resetting once again, with the latter confronting the former on why she stole the hopes of all Magical Girls. Due to becoming a part of the Law of Cycles and gaining memories of all the previous timelines, Sayaka had gained a deeper understanding of what Homura went through and even sympathizing with her, which could be seen in her interactions with her throughout the movie. She's friendly and amicable toward Homura, and as noted in the Heartwarming page, tried to reassure her that the events of the barrier were not her fault and only proved that she was a good person. During the final battle, Sayaka even mentions that Homura had been working hard and deserved a reward, in stark contrast to her hostile interactions with Homura in the original series where she believed the latter was a cold-hearted bitch who only cared about herself, only for Homura to prove her initial assumptions right by removing the Law of Cycles, which had granted hope to Magical Girls. The confrontation ends with Homura erasing Sayaka's memories but not before she calls Homura a demon. If Sayaka ever gains her memories back, their relationship is bound to be even ''worse'' than it was in canon.
* Arguably the last shot we see of Kyubey: He's collapsed in a field of flowers on the edge of a cliff, ''[[NothingIsScarier something]]'' Homura did to him having reduced him to a battered, frayed, quivering '''''wreck''''', up to and including [[BodyHorror his pupils and irises turned broken and ragged]], as Homura smugly bandies around the Dark Orb and dances a mock ballet around him. If not tragic for him, it's tragic for the fact that Homura has sunk so low that she turns to what can only be an incomprehensibly excruciating form of torture just to break Kyubey for her own satisfaction when her attempts to keep Madoka placid and at her side become too thankless to stand.

* All the talk about whether Homura [[MemeticMutation did nothing or everything wrong]], or even [[BrokenBase whether you thought this was a worthy sequel]] aside, what we still have here is a horribly lonely, mentally destroyed, suicidally self-hating and depressed train wreck of a girl who declared herself the devil because that's how she sees herself, and even worse, unlike Sayaka, couldn't find peace after death. By the movie's end, she's completely and utterly alone in a self-inflicted purgatory of self-loathing and fathomless, crushing guilt, and as far as she's concerned, ''she deserves it''.
** And even more so, she did it all for the sake of someone who had simply showed her a little kindness. This how broken she must have already been when it all started if she did it not even for a friend or a family member, but simply for the one person who was kind to her. And in the end, she is still doing it all for the same reason she made her wish, to stop that one person from sacrificing herself, because ''she'' doesn't want to lose that person, that bit of kindness she got, and now it's kindness she doesn't even think she's worthy of, making everything she did in the end pretty much completely pointless. The friendship she sold her very soul for the sake of is now, as far as she's concerned, ''completely and irrevocably ruined.''
** Remember, this all came from a person who was already in an ugly position: [[ProneToTears fragile confidence]], medical issues including heart problems, no known friends ''or even family'', as well as inconsistent education. Even without the magical girl truama, she's already more than qualified for a therapy.
** [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/window.JPG The image]] at the very end of the movie of a window that has been [[RuleOfSymbolism tightly shut by Madoka's ribbons]]. A perfect representation of Homura denying anyone's help, which is one factor of her FaceHeelTurn.
* The image of Kyoko with a Homura with a severed head after Homura has transformed into a witch. Throughout the film Kyoko has grown to really care for Homura and the image just symbolism there is nothing she can do to stop all the pain and tragedy her friend is going through.
* Madoka's transformation in the Holy Quintet sequence. Sure, it's cutesy and bubbly and sparkly and whatnot, but one of the most heartbreaking aspects of the anime is the fact that the cute, brightly-colored, beautiful and powerful aspects of being a magical girl are only a cheap varnish on an ugly, ugly reality, and one of the most uplifting aspects is that Madoka gives up not just her life, but her very existence, to give them all some of that hope and light back. Where Mami breaks out of a delicate-looking shell, and Sayaka runs full-force into herself, and Kyoko tears through her own burning, enraged reflection, and Homura leaps after something out of reach, a chorus line of infinite, yet distant, Madokas dances and cheers them on. She always said being a magical girl would be enough for her, and that scene does a beautiful job of showing how right she was. Her character theme was already a fast-track to messy crying, the bubbly, happy version is even moreso.
* ''Noi'', the creepy little song the Clara Dolls sing as Homura's becoming a witch. Despite sounding rather chipper, it's pretty much the Clara Dolls singing about how [[ShootTheShaggyDog everything Homura did was utterly pointless]], that Madoka's gone for good and they'd never be reunited, and they [[DrivenToSuicide might as well end it all.]] In other words, Homura's DespairEventHorizon in musical form.

* Homura [[spoiler:transforming into a witch]] is a cross between this and NightmareFuel. You can see her drowning in despair and [[spoiler: slowly losing her humanity]]. In the end, she becomes [[AndIMustScream unable to do anything but suffer]], [[spoiler:while everything about her Witch shows [[DeathSeeker how much she yearns for death]]]].
** Tying into that, Homura [[spoiler:slowly realising she is a witch. Her voice when she says it out loud is so full of grief and despair.]]
*** The line [[spoiler:"Madoka! I just want to say thank you for coming here to this god-awful place. I can't even say "goodbye" to you in the end."]] is truly heartbreaking.
* Spider lilies, the flowers heavily associated with Homura[[spoiler:'s witch form]] can mean: never to meet again, lost memory, or abandonment. All of these meanings are equally valid for Homura's mental state and equally tragic.

*** Depends on if the audience buys the idea that the two misunderstood each other in this scene; given that Ultimate Madoka is around everyone, all the time, she technically wasn't far away from her friends at all. Which means that she was okay with her decision, but Homura [[spoiler:misreads her and comes to the conclusion that Madoka wasn't happy with her fate.]] Double oops.
* The witch's familiars are reflecting the soul of the Magical Girl. [[spoiler:Homura's familiars are seen committing suicide.]] How much must a girl hate herself to imagine something like this?
** It gets worse as you think more about it: [[spoiler:Homulilly is the witch with the most familiars, counting 18 with Clara Dolls as a whole, and ''[[http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Rebellion_Material_Book#Witches_Artwork each one of them]] [[http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Homulilly#Lotte represents something Homura thought or felt about herself.]]'' All of this was in Homura's heart, she hates herself this much.]]

* The ending credits sequence. Kalafina's "Kimi no Gin no Niwa" sounds Gothically poignant (in spite of its {{Yandere}}-ish lyrics), and the video features outline figures of Madoka and Homura facing each other across a gap. They eventually reach out for each other, and the song ends with them running together into the distance. [[spoiler:Of course, this comes just after hearing Homura say she and Madoka will someday become enemies.]]
** On the other hand, there IS a [[RayOfHopeEnding more optimistic]] interpretation: [[spoiler:that after spending so much time with a gap between them, Homura and Madoka may very well reconcile and truly be together. Only time will tell.]]
* Homura's suicide bluff. The look on her face as she pulls the trigger, and Mami's reaction. And finally, Homura raising the gun to Mami's head. [[spoiler: Obviously, things weren't quite as they seemed, since fans already knew that Homura wouldn't die from a headshot, and Mami turned out to be a double. And yet, for a couple of seconds, it is an absolutely heart-wrenching scene.]]

* [[spoiler: When Homura gives Madoka her ribbons back and tells her that the two will someday become enemies. The [[http://i.imgur.com/HIms7vm.jpg manga]] [[http://i.imgur.com/ERGNSMP.jpg version]] of the scene is particularly heartbreaking.]]
* Of the heartwarmingly sad variety, [[spoiler: Madoka finally reaching Homura on top of Homulilly's head. When she tells Homura she doesn't have to be alone and she'll always be with her, we have a shot of Madoka caressing Homura's face while the later cries and asks for forgiveness.]]
* Homura's and Sayaka's last meeting [[spoiler:after Homura steals Madoka's god powers leading to the universe resetting once again, with the latter confronting the former on why she stole the hopes of all Magical Girls. Due to becoming a part of the Law of Cycles and gaining memories of all the previous timelines, Sayaka had gained a deeper understanding of what Homura went through and even sympathizing with her, which could be seen in her interactions with her throughout the movie. She's friendly and amicable toward Homura, and as noted in the Heartwarming page, tried to reassure her that the events of the barrier were not her fault and only proved that she was a good person. During the final battle, Sayaka even mentions that Homura had been working hard and deserved a reward, in stark contrast to her hostile interactions with Homura in the original series where she believed the latter cold-hearted bitch who only cared about herself, only for Homura to prove her initial assumptions right by removing the Law of Cycles, which had granted hope to Magical Girls. The confrontation ends with Homura erasing Sayaka's memories but not before she calls Homura a demon. If Sayaka ever gains her memories back, their relationship is bound to be even ''worse'' than it was in canon.]]
* Arguably the last shot we see of Kyubey [[spoiler:He's collapsed in a field of flowers on the edge of a cliff, ''[[NothingIsScarier something]]'' Homura did to him having reduced him to a battered, frayed, quivering '''''wreck''''', up to and including [[BodyHorror his pupils and irises turned broken and ragged]], as Homura smugly bandies around the Dark Orb and dances a mock ballet around him]]. If not tragic for him, it's tragic for [[spoiler:the fact that Homura has sunk so low that she turns to what can only be an incomprehensibly excruciating form of torture just to break Kyubey for her own satisfaction when her attempts to keep Madoka placid and at her side become too thankless to stand.]]
** Kyubey is flat out immune to physical and mental abuse. However, in this scene, his appearance might suggest [[spoiler: he's ''scared out of his wits''. It would be very much in Homura's character to KickTheSonOfABitch by making him go through what she and other magical girls experienced - and so, the worst punishment for him would be ''making him able to feel emotions''. Raw animalistic fear would be a fitting reaction once he realizes just how badly is he screwed. Who knows, he might very well feeling remorse and thinking "MyGodWhatHaveIDone"]]
* All the talk about whether Homura [[MemeticMutation did nothing or everything wrong]], or even [[BrokenBase whether you thought this was a worthy sequel]] aside, [[spoiler:what we still have here is a horribly lonely, mentally destroyed, suicidally self-hating and depressed train wreck of a girl who declared herself the devil because that's how she sees herself, and even worse, unlike Sayaka, couldn't find peace after death. By the movie's end, she's completely and utterly alone in a self-inflicted purgatory of self-loathing and fathomless, crushing guilt, and as far as she's concerned, ''she deserves it''. ]]
** And even more so, [[spoiler:she did it all for the sake of someone who had simply showed her a little kindness. This how broken she must have already been when it all started if she did it not even for a friend or a family member, but simply for the one person who was kind to her. And in the end, she is still doing it all for the same reason she made her wish, to stop that one person from sacrificing herself, because ''she'' doesn't want to lose that person, that bit of kindness she got, and now it's kindness she doesn't even think she's worthy of, making everything she did in the end pretty much completely pointless]]. Let that sink in, people: [[spoiler: the friendship she sold her very soul for the sake of is now, as far as she's concerned, ''completely and irrevocably ruined.'']]

** [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/window.JPG The image]] at the very end of the movie of a window that has been [[RuleOfSymbolism tightly shut by Madoka's ribbons]]. [[spoiler:A perfect representation of Homura denying anyone's help, which is one factor of her FaceHeelTurn]].
* [[spoiler: The image of Kyoko with a Homura with a severed head after Homura has transformed into a witch. Throughout the film Kyoko has grown to really care for Homura and the image just symbolism there is nothing she can do to stop all the pain and tragedy her friend is going through. ]]

* ''Noi'', the creepy little song [[spoiler: the Clara Dolls sing as Homura's becoming a witch. Despite sounding rather chipper, it's pretty much the Clara Dolls singing about how [[ShootTheShaggyDog everything Homura did was utterly pointless]], that Madoka's gone for good and they'd never be reunited, and they [[DrivenToSuicide might as well end it all.]] In other words, Homura's DespairEventHorizon in musical form.]]

* Homura's suicide bluff. The look on her face as she pulls the trigger, and Mami's reaction. And finally, Homura raising the gun to Mami's head. [[spoiler: Obviously, things weren't quite as they seemed, since fans already knew that Homura wouldn't die from a headshot, and Mami turned out to be a double. And yet, for a couple of seconds, it was an absolutely heart-wrenching scene.]]

* Homura's and Sayaka's last meeting[[spoiler: after Homura stealing Madoka's god powers resetting of the universe, with the latter confronting the former on why she stole the hope of all Magical Girls. Due to becoming a part of the Law of Cycles and gaining memories of all the previous timelines, Sayaka had gained a deeper understanding of what Homura went through and even sympathizing with her, which could be seen in her interactions with her throughout the movie. She's friendly and amicable toward Homura, and as noted in the Heartwarming page, tried to reassure her that the events of the barrier were not her fault and only proved that she was a good person. During the final battle, Sayaka even mentions that Homura had been working hard and deserved a reward, in stark contrast to her hostile interactions with Homura in the original series where she believed the latter cold-hearted bitch who only cared about herself, only for Homura to prove her initial assumptions right by removing the Law of Cycles, which had granted hope to Magical Girls. The confrontation ends with Homura erasing Sayaka's memories but not before she calls Homura a demon. If Sayaka ever gains her memories back, their relationship is bound to be even ''worse'' than it was in canon.]]

** [[RuleOfSymbolism Just the picture below this page will shoot your heart out.]] [[spoiler:A perfect representation of Homura denying anyone's help, which is one factor of her FaceHeelTurn]].

* Your mileage may vary, but Madoka's transformation in the Holy Quintet sequence. Sure, it's cutesy and bubbly and sparkly and whatnot, but one of the most heartbreaking aspects of the anime is the fact that the cute, brightly-colored, beautiful and powerful aspects of being a magical girl are only a cheap varnish on an ugly, ugly reality, and one of the most uplifting aspects is that Madoka gives up not just her life, but her very existence, to give them all some of that hope and light back. Where Mami breaks out of a delicate-looking shell, and Sayaka runs full-force into herself, and Kyoko tears through her own burning, enraged reflection, and Homura leaps after something out of reach, a chorus line of infinite, yet distant, Madokas dances and cheers them on. She always said being a magical girl would be enough for her, and that scene does a beautiful job of showing how right she was. Her character theme was already a fast-track to messy crying, the bubbly, happy version is even moreso.

----
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/window.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:350:*insert '''extremely''' depressing accordion version of [[{{Leitmotif}} "Mada Dame Yo"]] [[note]][[ArcWords "Not yet"]][[/note]] here*]]

** Remember, this all came from a person who was already in an ugly position: [[FragileFlower fragile confidence]], medical issues including heart problems, no known friends ''or even family'', as well as inconsistent education. Even without the magical girl truama, she's already more than qualified for a therapy.

** Then Madoka tells her that she would never have wanted to leave everyone behind, and Homura crumbles entirely. Just look at the picture. Look at her ''EYES''. The look of ''HORROR'' on her face as she realizes the extent of her failure: she may not have saved Madoka's life, but she was content with Madoka's sacrifice so long as Madoka was happy. Now she finds out that Madoka did it out of her sense of duty and was NOT, in fact, happy with her situation. '''OUCH'''.

-->'''Homura:''' I was so lonely and sad... but no one understood how I felt! I started to think all my memories of you were just things I'd made up!

** Another one immediately afterwards, as Homura levels her gun at the now-frozen Mami's leg. It takes her a few moments to steel herself, and then even after she fires, she can't even watch the bullet hit, looking away and closing her eyes before undoing her time stop. Again, this is Mami she's clearly reluctant to hurt, and right after the two had been emptying clip after clip at each other to boot.