Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Got Tsuruno (Green) and one new Memo with two 10 roll tickets. Saving the pity counter for Kanae because I love Takarazuka and Cure Chocolat.

By the way, new site for the second arc of the game. There's no spoiler (except some vague screenshots), and it looks like it's up to give a short bio for the faction leaders - just like the first arc's site only gives bio for the Holy Quintet, Iroha team, and Momoko team.

I remember there was a talk about magical girl culture, and it looks like we're going to get it. The interludes between arcs feel like a nation-building story.

Haven't done anything in the current event yet, but if we're doing draw-brags, I did a single 10-card one on the last day of the new year's one to try for another costume ticket, ended up getting that plus the special Mitama. Which is nice, because I didn't have the regular one, and apparently she's more powerful when wearing a kimono (haregi?) for some reason.

Still wish the anime adaptation wasn't a week behind on CR. Better than it being Funi-exclusive, I guess, but pretty lame. I may end up resorting to alternative methods at some point...

I usually watch the raw stream first then, after stop from fangirling from each detail I notice at the time (which usually takes two days), watch the subbed version. So I don't really mind the delay. What I notice is that the English subs isn't that good. I personally think the font is too large and there's no variation between the sub for dialogues and the sub for the signs and billboards. Most prominent is when there're a bunch of wishes in Episode 1; I got confused by which sub is Kyubey talking.

I see some screenshots from Korean and Chinese subs and they actually align the sub with which text they're translating while also translating the runes.

Next uncap in JP is Emiri. Maybe we'll finally learn what the hell her wish was.

Magia Record 3. Honestly I can't tell if the writing is any good or not. But the interesting directing really elevates this to a must watch. Always something interesting going on onscreen. That sure was a witch, or whatever it was. Not a familiar I guess. Looks like they'll be used to help with character development. Coordinator seems to be power-up central in Kamihama. Pretty obvious how Iroha was irrelevant here and just a guest to someone else''s story. But it's episode 3, and if there's one character defined by episode 3, well they had to bring her in. Hype as long as she and her friends don't take over the story, which I'm sure they won't.

Personally, I think Chapter 2 (what Episode 2 and 3 are adapting) is one of the weakest, one of the reasons is because there's little of Iroha's relevancy and the chapter's contribution to the Myth Arc because they focus on Momoko's team. And the anime somewhat reduces it even further by making the direct comparison made by Iroha between Rena-Kaede and Touka-Nemu into a just-so flashback.

However, the anime actually make Rena somewhat more likable by showing what's in her head, and the somewhat mindscrewy sequence with Rena quickly changes her forms as the visual presentation of her issues is a pretty good.

I'm more conflicted with the reduced hostility between Momoko and Yachiyo. On one hand, I think the game's Momoko insisting on antagonizing Yachiyo even when Kaede and Rena are in danger is a really stupid Skewed Priorities. On the other hand, I understand why Momoko does so, even when she's ultimately wrong in both her action and the very reason why she does that.

Heh, Mami's brief appearance trended #1 in Japan. The fandom hasn't disappeared in all these years.

That just like Mami to push the series just a little bit ahead.

Edited by Zeromaeus on Jan 18th 2020 at 2:40:26 PM

@Ala Alba: I remembered your name reminded me you must be a Negima fan. Well, in answer to your question about how I see Kyouko, I see her as essentially the same as Tsukiyomi. (In this situation, Sayaka is Setsuna, Kyousuke is Konoka and ... I guess Madoka is Negi?)

That analogy doesn't work because;

• Tsukuyomi never shows any sign of being something other than a crazy psycho bitch, for literally no reason or Freudian Excuse except for being thirsty for impaling Setsuna with her sword. She's just evil, period.
• On that note, we literally know nothing of her. Her backstory, her motivation (other than 'impaling Setsuna with her sword and jack off on that'), how she can be a Shinmei practitioner without being a student (she claims that Setsuna is her senpai, but Setsuna doesn't know her before they fight in Kyoto), whether she's even human or demon or something in between, we don't even know her surname (until UQ Holder)! We know more of the background of the effing bear waitress that took in Negi's enslaved students than we know Tsukuyomi, and making comparison between her and Kyouko is basically an insult not only to Kyouko, but also to pretty much everyone in both Negima and Madoka Magica.
• Really? Konoka as Kyousuke-analog? You're insulting Konoka while you at it?
• Those comparisons you give is basically the same generalization as calling every Precure show's pinks as the leader, the blues as the smart girl, the purples are the mysterious one, etc. Even then, your analogy still has fallacy; Negi literally has no place in the equation between Setsuna and Tsukuyomi (maybe add Konoka if you stretch it), while Madoka can gets in the between of them.

I don't understand what you're trying to do, really.

As I said before, I consider Kyouko's backstory to not only be completely irrelevant, but for it to actually be evil to THINK it is relevent. Because that's discrimination. As such, Tsukiyomi's lack of backstory is also irrelevant and you are discriminating against her by giving Kyouko a pass you don't give her just because you don't know her backstory. What made them psycho bitches doesn't matter. It doesn't make the people they kill any less dead. All that matters is that they are both psycho bitches NOW.

The rest was just comparing relationships. I have no problem with Kyousuke, so it isn't an insult. It's acknowledging that he's the preexisting crush.

Sigh... Look, we really need to quit stumbling into this "someone/everyone argues with Sereg about the purported perfection of Sayaka and associated evilness of Kyouko" thing. It's abundantly clear that no one on either side is going to be convinced by the other. Can we just talk about literally anything else? Maybe the current anime, in which Sayaka and Kyouko have minor roles and rarely-if-ever interact?

I agree. It's an argument that goes nowhere.

I only made that argument out of principle as a Negima fan, but yeah, never again.

On the other note, there's this about the Connect and the Adjustment. The sub only translates the header, the rest is;

"Adjust you Soul Gem and use the united magic with you friend! *You have to pay for the Soul Gem's adjustment."

This basically confirms that Connect is an Adjustment magic. It's one perk the Puella Care advertises.

Well, episode 2 did give me another character to hate. This time it's the blue-haired one that is horribly evil.

(The thing is, I don't understand how other people's thoughts on Kyouko aren't incredibly hypocritical, unless they really wouldn't want to stop Kyouko from setting a familiar on their families entirely because she has a sad backstory)

Edit: @Ala Alba: I am saying that as a Negima fan, you should understand. Just like shipping Setsuna with Tsukuyomi would disgust you, shipping Kyouko with Sayaka should give you an identical reaction. As Kyouko also just wants to get off on torturing her victim.

Edited by Sereg on Jan 18th 2020 at 5:15:48 PM

Rena kinda suffers from how they changed this from the game. Though the story benefits a bit from how things were changed.

I think they did a good job of showing how internally screwed up poor Rena is, especially with that scene in Rena's room. Kaede certainly has the patience of a saint, but Rena isn't a bad person.

I think what Rena did automatically qualifies her as a bad person.

You know what, this is exactly like what happens when we discuss Kyouko.

You don't consider them bad people. What then, in your mind, makes someone a bad person? Because I honestly don't get it.

Kind of on my end dismissing it because of it being a result of the anime changing things up. Originally just saying you're not friends anymore and someone apologizing afterward caused it to appear. Rena and Kaede were arguing about some minor thing offscreen when Iroha runs into them and Rena declared their friendship over as she does all the time. Rena believed the new rumor going around was true (but denies that she does) and so was actively avoiding them because she was worried rather than the anime's version of needing to actually write down the names and involving her refusing to help Iroha.

Edited by doineedaname on Jan 19th 2020 at 7:57:04 AM

I thought that it was pretty clear that Rena wrote their names on the staircase because she felt that Kaede didn't deserve a crappy friend like her. She likely thought that Kaede would be too scared to apologize to her and activate the Rumor, and thus Kaede would be free of her.

I think that Rena is a sympathetic person; she knows that she's high-strung and difficult and hates herself for it, and doesn't know why Momoko and Kaede put up with her. Kaede's line about Rena transforming into Momoko when she's sad, which is original to the anime as far as I know, says a lot in just one small line.

As to Rena being a good or a bad person, while writing her and Kaede's name on the staircase was definitely a bad thing, she also worked hard to rectify her mistake. She recognizes her negative personality traits and dislikes them, showing self-awareness, and its clear to me that she does care deeply about her friends. I think that Rena is a flawed person, but she isn't a bad person. Even her attempt to push away Kaede is born of a misguided attempt to help her.

As for Kyouko, the very idea of her character is someone who starts off appearing as the heel but turns out to be the most moral conscience in the story. For Kyouko, life is about survival; she doesn't do stuff like cultivate Familiars out of malice, but out of necessity. And of course, that's later revealed to be a coping mechanism for someone whose ideals were broken and who is hovering on the edge of despair. She can't help but be drawn to Sayaka, someone who shares her old ideals, and in trying to help Sayaka Kyouko rediscovers herself, becoming less of an animal seeking survival and more of a human seeking happiness. Kyouko is definitely not an evil person, just broken for a while.

She litterally puts a curse on her friend so that her friend will be kidnapped if she apologises. And then doesn't even tell her she did it. And you want to somehow spin this as her trying to do what's best for her friend?

As for Kyouko, it being "necessary" wouldn't stop it from being evil as it is still prioritising one's own life over that of others.

But that doesn't matter anyway, as the show repeatedly demonstrates on screen that Kyouko deliberately acts in ways that lower her own chance of survival entirely to be malicious. And that she's doing so on purpose. As such, any claim that she is acting out of necessity instead of maliciousness has already been demonstrated to be wrong.

She stalks Sayaka after promising Homura (whom she is afraid of) that she'd leave her alone. She tells Sayaka to torture and rape someone she loves before threatening to do so herself. Then she's glad that she emotionally hurt Sayaka by doing so. She grins so much she's practically drooling in anticipation from how excited she is that she has an excuse to murder Sayaka.

These actions are completely impossible from someone with the personality people claim Kyouko has. Yet she did these things. As such, claiming such a personality for Kyouko is actively contradicting the show.

Similarly, a person who is not extremely evil is incapable of doing what Rena did. As is someone who actually had any goodwill for Kaede at all.

In real life, people will, for innumerable reasons, do bad things, or things that ended up having unexpected negative consequences. Generally, people are willing to be forgiving—to a point, obviously—because life is difficult and complicated and no one can dream of getting through their whole life without hurting anyone.

If you really want to cut no one any slack, ever, and write people off as inherently evil for one mistake, that's up to you. Just keep in mind, you'll ultimately end up writing off basically everyone you know, including yourself. That's why most people don't do that.

Anyway, what's really broken around here is this gacha RNG. Felt like I had too many gems laying around, so I tried the Tsuruno fate-weave and got Sayaka (how appropriate) and Mito in the same 10-pack. Tried again and got Mitama. No Rumor Tsuruno, but got a couple of the 3-star memoria of her. Pretty bizarre results, but three 4-star fighters out of 20 cards, can't complain.

I do acknowledge everyone, including myself, as evil. I also forgive everyone. But forgiving someone doesn't stop me from knowing who they are and what they do.

Rena's actions only make sense as someone who decided she wanted her friend kidnapped. To want that is evil. Similarly, basically everything Kyouko wants is inherently evil.

Every "good" explanation for their actions I've heard is utterly nonsensical and tends to remain evil anyway.

Plus, it comes across as hypocritical. Unless people will honestly say something like, "I would not want to stop Kyouko from setting a familiar on my family, because she has a sad backstory." And if they CAN honestly say that, it means that they want to make the world the kind of place where people like Kyouko run havoc, destroying the lives of other people. Naturally, I am going to oppose people who want the lives of everyone I love destroyed.

Is this really so hard to understand?

It's the "Everyone is evil but I am the Arbiter of Forgiveness and can redeem your sins," thing that rubs people the wrong way.

Rena is like 14 and dealing with the stress of fighting monsters on top of the usual teenage drama. She's just a petty asshole who can grow out of this phase depending on circumstances.