Puella Magi Madoka Magica

A yandere kind of love?

I don't think Homura's evil.

The lyrics to Noi make absolutely no sense at all. But then, this is what I'd expect from the Clara dolls.

I was thinking that myself actually. Also some of the production notes apparently imply Homucifer is basically another form of Homulilly, the serpent earpiece (which apparently is sentient) has Homulilly written in Witch Runes on it.

Who said Yandere = Evil? She's still Chaotic Neutral in my book. But I think it's fair to say her love for Madoka is uh, far from wholesome. She isn't a traditional Yandere in that she doesn't (consciously) care if Madoka reciprocates it and even believes she doesn't deserve it anyways; even though I think she's lying to herself about what would truly satisfy her.

I do think her despair over her perceived lack of inherent Goodness though could eventually lead her to Capital E Evil, but I don't think she's crossed that line yet. Her actions in Rebellion strike me as Evil means (in a sense) to an ambiguous end.

Also the Clara Dolls as actors thing reminds me of Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead. "We're actors! We're the opposite of people!"

edited 18th Apr '14 11:47:27 AM by Scherzo09

Man, this series has sparked a level of discussion and analysis in the anime community not seen since Evangelion. Even Attack On Titan and Kill La Kill, as popular as those two shows are, have garnered the same level of debate that Madoka Magica has.

That said, when objectively viewing the show like some reviewers (like the ones I keep linking to) have, do you see any faults with the series?

Why would the random people you link to be any more objective about it than this thread?

I dunno. Goat Jesus's review is considered to be quite objective, at least according to his commentators on Youtube.

Youtube comments are basically Satan's inbred cousins that he doesn't talk about. Pay them no heed.

Humans cannot be truly objective. We all have our biases, colored by culture and upbringing. If someone says they're being objective, they are probably lying to themselves.

I think it is possible to compare pieces of media work against schools of aesthetic thought, because clearly certain pieces of work seem to resonate with people more than others and its worthwhile to try to understand what those works 'do' as opposed to the ones that don't. That doesn't mean the works have an intrinsic qualia of Goodness to them, only that they 'succeed' in areas we value.

But in this case, it sounds more like the dude's being contrarian rather than being objective. jfc, would you knock off bringing him up?

To me, in so far as the execution conveys the author's intent, I'd say PMMM is nearly flawless. There are few minor quibbles here and there (I would've preferred them to just handwave the whole "why only girls?" aspect like Bio Shock does instead of saying "obviously girls are more emotional than boys), but for the most part it's extremely superlative.

edited 19th Apr '14 9:26:32 AM by Scherzo09

This didn't really bother me, but one flaw I see brought up a lot is that the main 12 episodes don't flesh out all the characters as much as people think they should be fleshed out. I think it was a fine amount of characterization for what the plot needed, though.

Madoka is Out of Focus, but she actually does have a pretty discernible arc. Homura's characterization is somewhat compressed to episode 10 onward but you get hints of it earlier on, and as I've said before Rebellion is basically all about who Homura is.

Also a friend and I went back through this thread to see reactions to the series as it happened. Some of them were amusing but this one in particular, in light of Rebellion, is pretty heart-rending:

edited 19th Apr '14 11:43:56 AM by Scherzo09

I think in the series proper Sayaka gets the best character arc.

1-3 is Madoka and Mami, 4-9 is Sayaka and Kyouko, 10-12 is Homura.

edited 19th Apr '14 12:01:24 PM by asterism

Yeah, Gen was only partially lying about Sayaka being the main character, since she is the pivot for 4 through 9.

1-3 is really just introducing the Magical Girl World though.

That was in reaction to Episode 12, right?

edited 19th Apr '14 1:49:51 PM by universalperson

(at least according to his commentators on Youtube.)

Watch this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5FWC8FiKZo) and think again about ever taking Youtube comment seriously.

Here's an interesting Urobuchi interview from about a year ago. Translation's a bit rough, but the point gets across.

Yeah, after episode 12.

Anyone else seen the Australian dub of Madoka? I think it's fantastic, kudos to the voice actors for getting all the character nuances down. Much better than the American dub.

For those who are interested in this, Japan is getting some more Madoka manga in June.

Hoping Yen Press picks up Suzune and Tart someday.

On another note, I am amused that Suzune's artist is doing a series with the same name as the swimming anime.

edited 20th Apr '14 3:26:26 PM by universalperson

Well, I walked right into that one. It was hilarious in a twisted way, though.

edited 20th Apr '14 7:32:23 PM by Diamite

Scary Homura is scary.

Holy crap, I just realized that Nagisa went through a lot of abuse before turning into her human form.

I still hold that Rebellion's ending was poorly executed because that fact that it was even possible was never really foreshadowed. In the show, every time some new mechanic was introduced, it was only after hours and hours of foreshadowing that it was possible. Soul gems are made of souls? Foreshadowed. Witches are magical girls? Heavily foreshadowed. Homura can time travel? Foreshadowed every time she used her powers. Madoka can become a god? Twelve episodes of foreshadowing. But, Homura can become Satan if she just loves hard enough? When the Hell was that ever hinted at??

Holy shit... I haven't thought about that...

I assume "Ai yo" doesn't cut it?