Madoka Magica rewatch 7-10

[branchandroot]

As the series goes on, it's increasingly clear that each character follows her basic nature, both in magical girl-ness and in witch-ness. For example, Kyouko, the daughter of a preacher, does her best to give Sayaka a philosophy of life she can actually live with. Complete with apples for temptation and, I think, to represent the potential benefit of an "alternate" or non-canonical view such as Kyouko and her father both seem to have had. The apples, you note, are reflective, carrying on the theme of mirrors, this time perhaps with the connotation of "reflecting on" oneself.

And how alarming and heart-tugging is it that her Soul Gem shape is so clearly the same as that of her father's pendant? (Kind of like Sayaka's is, I'm guessing, based on the CDs or the player that she brings Kyousuke.) Though it is very interesting that the magicked congregation all appear with that same pendant, which really does give the whole thing cult-like overtones; one has to wonder whether Kyouko's father was rightly expelled from the church. Certainly his statement that his daughter was a witch signally does not come true; Kyouko is one of the few who escapes that fate, choosing death to save herself from it and Sayaka from as much as can be.

Similarly, Sayaka's essential philosophy does not change, and she explicitly rejects and devalues Kyouko's. It sounds noble at the time, but it ends as badly as can be, and this is foreshadowed, I think, when Hitomi talks about their mutual crush on Kyousuke and says she won't lie any more (implying that Sayaka is not being emotionally honest). Certainly Sayaka's expectation of herself and, by implication, others, are increasingly presented as impossible and unreasonable to meet. She wants to save people, and for people to be worth saving. She wants to be a hero with no shadows to her, though this is suggested to be opposite of the truth when she fights Elsa Maria and is shown only as a black outline. She wants to see the world as the typical magical girl story in which good triumphs, and true feelings are the greatest and most justified power of all, and when the world does not conform to that she breaks, retreating into denial and complete dissociation to handle her life and work. Sayaka, more than any other, shows the trajectory of the usual kind of magical girl.

This time though, I think Kyubei's, erm, auto-cannibalism as he eats his last body/self gruesomely foreshadows the revelation of the demi-cannibalism the magical girls practice unawares by killing witches for their Grief Seeds.

I have to wonder what will become of the 'entropy' countering energy that Kyubei's people have collected, too, given the repeated emphasis on what certainly seems like the law of conservation of matter and energy--that for each miracle/hope equal despair must occur. This certainly seems borne out so far: Sayaka becoming a witch herself; Kyouko's family massacre despite her escape from witch-hood; the suffering Homura undergoes and possible causes, balancing the hope of each new round. Frankly, this round being the one with the greatest apparent chance of Madoka's survival I expect Homura to die or go insane to balance it. So are Kyubei et al really going to succeed in their energy harvesting, or will something else have to counter it?

I do note that, despite Kyubei alleging that his kind don't know the meaning of tricking or lying, he very capably and deliberately misleads Kyouko about the possibility of her getting Sayaka's Soul Gem back with technical truths; and then admits to Homura later that he truly believes such a thing is flatly impossible.

The progression of the timelines, and of the show by extension, is definitely toward truth--the later the timeline gets the more truth is shown to more girls. But this process is a slow stripping away or inversion of every magical girl convention (hero for justice, the power of emotions, being called back by the voice of a true friend, the cool beauty). Based on the progression it seems that one can have happiness, but only with the factors of both ignorance and death. Life and knowledge both increase suffering. And, while Homura is clearly more focused on Madoka than on the fate of anything else in the world right from the start, it's Madoka herself, in full knowledge, who asks Homura to go back and keep her from becoming a magical girl, seeking truth over her first happy ignorance. I do note that we have no idea what made Madoka of the first timeline choose to be a magical girl; I have to wonder what significance there is to her weapon being a bow made of a live branch.

There's definitely a suggestion, in 10, that what brings about the wishes is the power of the girls, not Kyubei. Which would make the whole thing a lot closer to a cheat on his part.

AND OMG, THE ENDING, THE ENDING OF 10, THE OPENING AS THE ENDING AND NOW WE KNOW WHOSE POV IT IS (at least potentially)! And why our dear author said once that Homura was the heroine of the show.

I still have no clue what's up with the stuffed animals, except that they often do seem associated with Kyubei and watching, and also seem calculated to give little kids nightmares and depress the plushy industry.


*fans self* So much fun stuff tucked in there.

Comments

[mllelaurel]

This series is so, so good! There's so much to it. I've blazed through it a couple of weeks ago, and now may follow your lead in a more careful rewatch. Any idea where I could learn when the final two episodes are likely to come out?

[branchandroot]

Isn't it great? I'm having so much fun.

I usually look on this wiki for news; people keep it up very well. http://wiki.puella-magi.net/ And it also has translations of runes and stuff like that, which makes for lovely easter eggs.

[mllelaurel]

Thanks! I'll bookmark that site.

[bell]

*hearts this post*

[branchandroot]

I'm especially loving what they do with reflections. The moment when Homura finally lost her cool over Madoka, we see her reflection in the water drops... reversed. They made this show so /rich/.