Puella Magi Madoka Magica

They're probably going to tell us that that isn't actually an evil smile per se... but what the hell are we supposed to think, that he made the :3 face too much and got stuck?? Is his mouth just built like that? That last bit I could understand, actually — considering that it's a deconstruction and that most other magical girls' weasel mascots have similar grins frequently glued to their faces, of course they would want to make the mascot look sinister.

Now that I think about it, Kyubey's inability to express emotion is more pitiable than sinister. If he mourns Mami, no one has any way of knowing — and with that frozen bug-eyed smile stuck on his face they wouldn't believe him if he said so.

I Have No Tear Ducts, And I Must Cry.

edited 20th Jan '11 10:45:32 PM by JakesBrain

I kind of suspect that Kyubey has some level of control over the witches. In the first episode the witch's appearance was very convenient for him. In this one Sayaka said she'd only become a magical girl if there was an emergency...

In other news, is anyone else surprised that Mami's death scene got past the censors? While they didn't really show anything, technically, it was pretty gruesome. And then after the witch blows up there are what appear to be her chewed up remains splatting onto a table. I suppose it doesn't actually show them as remains, but its certainly implied to the audience. And then there's the broken teacup spilling what's probably tea but definitely looks like blood.

Basically they created a horrifically violent scene without showing anything, which just makes it worse.

edited 21st Jan '11 12:10:46 AM by Clarste

After Bakemonogatari's explicit violent disembowelment, nothing SHAFT gets past the censors will surprise me

It's kind of different when it's Good Thing You Can Heal.

No kidding. There's no easy resurrections here, no free Plot Armor just because you're a hero(ine), no Dragonball or Sailor Moon consequence-free wish-your-friends-back-to-life bullcrap... because it is bullcrap, because the whole idea of the Mahou Shoujo is quite simply insane.

Really, look at it seriously and it becomes nightmarish. Sending teenage girls to fight world-destroying eldritch abominations is complete and utter madness, no matter what kind of heroic powers they have. I am sure SHAFT meant me to feel exactly this way, but upon reflection I am indeed horrified by the concept of a world whose safety and sanity depend entirely on a tiny clique of thirteen-year-olds.

edited 21st Jan '11 12:33:30 AM by JakesBrain

But they DO still have 1 free wish left...1 per girl.

If they wanted to, they could wish her back...or wish for cake.

On one hand... they can bring back their precious senpai who has protected and guided them... on the other delicious moist cake.

I think we got a dilemma in our hands.

Am I the only one who is hoping for a Came Back Wrong? :p

Heck, maybe that's where witches come from...

...I totally had this vibe that Mami was the The Obi-Wan.

edited 21st Jan '11 7:44:47 AM by MiyaKousaka

Oh I would like that.

Though after seeing the last episode I'm past hoping for certain stuff. Just let them do whatever they want, I know it'll be awesome.

Considering what this show's like, I don't think there's any way you can possibly do a resurrection in this story without a Came Back Wrong element.

Someone on /a/ suggested that Mami returns to them, perfectly healthy, but tormented by the memory of what should have been her last moments on earth — she remembers everything, the darkness and the stench of moldy cake, the teeth slicing into her neck, the warmth of the blood flowing, the sudden feeling of weightlessness as the rest of her body drops away... And it's at that point that she wakes up screaming. Every night.

It gets to be too much for her, and she kills herself, thus defeating the point of the wish.

edited 21st Jan '11 4:26:05 PM by JakesBrain

So...are the backgrounds supposed to be random or are there supposed to be a theme in them?

Last time it was butteflies. This time, it was a cake hospital?

Theme varies by the idiosyncrasies of each Witch, I think. Gertrud's lair was a psycho garden from hell (hence the roses, puffballs, and butterflies).

The imagery in Charlotte's lair, I think, comes of her being holed up in a hospital — imagine a little kid stuck in the hospital, having to take pills and eat hospital food while dreaming of the desserts she can't eat. Charlotte may have sucked the life force out of a lot of such kids in the time she's been there, and chosen to design her barrier around it. Or, again, it may be entirely a matter of personal preference.

I might be reading into it a little too much; but I saw medication- ie, drugs- and candy together in there. Two things that have a good deal in common, once you think about it.

But yeah, probably it's different for each specific witch, with no obvious unifying trait between them.

edited 21st Jan '11 10:52:12 PM by Gilphon

That explains why Gertrude has butterflies and cottonballs with scissors...what do those two things even have in common?

/watching 3rd episode now

@ approximately 3:04 of the 3rd episode: OH GOD KYUBEY

Also, is it just me, or did Shaft change that sequence of the opening where Madoka does her transformation with her twin? They put in a glowy background.

Or idk, maybe I didn't notice it before.

EDIT: Kind of lame, but did anyone else get THE CAKE IS A LIE vibe from Mami and Madoka's conversation? XD

Also, love the new ending and its animation. I love how Homura's silhouette (the final one) seems to be the only one reacting to Madoka, how she turns around as if to try to make her stop. I also love how Madoka keeps running towards the dark.

Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but damn if that ending song is not creepy awesome. It contrasts really well with the Cardcaptor Sakura-esque opening song.

edited 22nd Jan '11 7:03:34 AM by dellyskoll

An observation: Kyubey wouldn't be anywhere near as suspicious if he didn't have those damn red eyes.

He'd be suspicious anyway, if you spotted the quotes from Faust in previous eps.

The way the shots were framed in the third episode definitely work to make him look creepy. They very much want us to be suspicious of him

Which is precisely the difficulty: They WANT us to be suspicious of him. And to what end? They could be trolling just as easily as they could be serious — what if it turns out he's not unalloyed evil? It's entirely possible that they're doing the same thing here they did with Mami — playing on our mistrust, only to make us feel guilty about it later when the character suffers.

We're going to hate him, and then they're going to Drop A Bridge On Him, and we're going to wince and say, "Geez, he didn't deserve to go out like that."

edited 22nd Jan '11 8:11:38 PM by JakesBrain

Alas Poor Kyubey?

I'm thinking that Witches are to Mahou Shoujo as Blackguards are to Paladins. Fallen ones or something.

Consider this as well: Kyubey doesn't have any facial expressions because he's an animal. It seems to me they're using him to point out the ridiculousness of animal mascots with expressive faces (think of Kero-chan, for one). Most animals don't behave like that; they don't have the same malleability or "range" of faces that humans do, and they convey more emotion through body language than they do through facial expression.

edited 22nd Jan '11 9:32:42 PM by JakesBrain

I'm thinking that Witches are to Mahou Shoujo as Blackguards are to Paladins. Fallen ones or something.

Pretty common theory. The main problem is that the witch in episode 3 appeared to be a manifestation of the Grief Seed, not having anything to do with a human

Might be that a Grief Seed is a corrupted Soul Gem, though