Just watched the first four episodes...
Honestly? I really don't get where everyone is coming from with the whole "OMG SUPER WHIPLASH AND DARKNESS!", the series seems like a normal magical girl series with basic drama elements incorporated. Hope Spot Partner shot down soon after relief, Dying alone, Pressure of Responsibility, Be Careful What You Wish For, and the first few minutes of the first episode don't help with the twists either. Plus dramatic lighting and music is pretty common and throwing random objects onto the screen got old with Bakemonogatari, especially when you know it's by SHAFT.
And yeah Mami dying in Episode 3 was pretty dramatic, but it wasn't the worst nor the most shocking death I've ever seen.
It is by Mahou Shoujo standards.
Of course since I've seen way worse than this, I'm not as shocked as I should be.
edited 30th Jan '11 2:51:54 PM by Signed
"Every opinion that isn't mine is subjected to Your Mileage May Vary."The "shocking" part is simply that a main character from the opening credits died in a pointless and undignified manner in the third episode. In a Mahou Shoujo series.
In terms of actual shockingness it's not particularly high up on the scale, there were plenty of death flags for example, but the context makes it important. It wasn't the Heroic Sacrifice of a mentor character, it was just a girl dying violently in front of her friends for no reason.
edited 30th Jan '11 3:01:01 PM by Clarste
He's a man. Obviously he can't become a Magical Girl. (Yes, correlation equals causation. This is Studio SHAFT, get over it.)
Also: Every time I hear the name 'Kamijou', I think of another Kamijou who spends a lot of time in the hospital.
edited 30th Jan '11 5:16:27 PM by RedSavant
It's been fun.^No, I don't think it is.
On a completely different note, any bets that the ED will go Evolving Credits on us? It's hard to tell, since the first time they were shown, Mami was already dead, but she's the only one sitting in the ED. I have to wonder if it'll serve as a sort of death chart...
It's been fun.RE: Selfless wishes.
I'm probably clinging more to the Faust thing than I should, but remember how Goethe's Faust ends?
I think the idea is not "Don't make selfless wishes" but "make you sure you know the consequences of it, don't make wishes you think are selfless but for selfish reasons" (eg. Cure someone else so that he might like you)
"No, the Singularity will not happen. Computation is hard." -Happy EntIt was Mami.
I just have to say, that I am getting Highlander vibes from this show. Am I the only one who's getting that sense of things?
edited 30th Jan '11 10:57:21 PM by Sackett
How is that worse? I think the idea of them fighting to preserve their wish is a powerful one. Given the kinds of people that Kyubeh targets, losing your wish would mean things like dying or your loved ones suffering. They'd be literally fighting to preserve their lives and happiness. Whether they become witches or not after dying seems hardly relevant.
The 'Witches are failed magical girls' theory doesn't really work, since there's enough witches for them to be a constant menace but around one Magical Girl per city. There'd have to be a lot of magical girls failing their first witch for the numbers to work
Also; liveblog update
edited 31st Jan '11 8:50:11 PM by Hylarn
Mami briefly mentions in episode 3 that familiars could eventually develop into full fledged witches, so we could at least be certain that not all witches were originally magical girls. Of course, we could also pretend the show has borrowed a few elements from Claymore, wherein common witches (youma) occasionally pop out of nowhere while more powerful witches (awakened) such as the one shown in the prologue are the result of corrupted/fallen/failed magical girls (claymores). Or perhaps fallen magical girls become the progenitors of a new type of witch. Or something.
Either way, I find it hard to dismiss the possibility of a direct link between the two given that "majo" (魔女) is only 2 characters away from "mahou shoujo" (魔法少女). They could have been called demons, devils, evil spirits, beasts, etc., but choosing that particular term was probably deliberate. Also, using "witches" for the sake of having parallels would be kinda lame. Add to that the emphasis on the idea of "consequence".
To the song born in this moment, your presence is very precious.
Witches are magical girls who failed to keep their jewels recharged constantly? Hence also why the ones who exist currently are so competetive.
^^It's only two characters away, yes, but that's because the words describe what they are - 魔女 literally means 'evil woman', while 魔法少女 is 'magic-using (or evil-system, more literally) girl'. It's like saying there's a link because they're called Witches and Magical Girls - that is to say, there is a thematic relationship between the terms, but it's most likely coincidental.
It's been fun.![]()
There can be only one.
But seriously, I finally got around to watching the show (I'm literally halfway through episode 3) and I'm really enjoying it. I don't think I've gotten so into anything from the beginning like this since I started watching Leverage like a year ago. I watched the first episode and the aesthetics basically hooked me.
My theory on the witches is that they're somehow related to the wishes going wrong, or people wishing for the wrong thing.
And Kyubey (I know I spelled that wrong but I'm too lazy to check) is creepy as hell.
EDIT: Finally watched all four episodes. Can't wait for the next one.
edited 1st Feb '11 4:38:08 PM by JapaneseTeeth
Reaction Image Repository^^^
The witch seeds draw corruption away from the soul gem into themselves. Which means that over time, soul gems slowly get corrupted (with use? with the magical girl's actions in real life? with how many monsters she kills with the gem?). Perhaps when it's completely corrupted (the magical girl's source of magic), it stops becoming stronger the cleaner it is, but instead becomes stronger the more corruption it holds. Hence why it's able to suck corruption out of other soul gems.
Ah, but that wouldn't explain why a witch seeds has "uses". Dang.

Regarding Kyouko's seiyuu: That's gonna be seriously weird. I only know Nonaka Ai as Kafuka and Konoka, both of which she used the same voice for, so it'll be interesting seeing her in a different archetype.
It's been fun.