Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Aug. 25th, 2014 10:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chuckroMadoka is a normal girl with a normal family who has a strange dream about a magical battle on a giant tree, and a cat-like creature that asks her to make a contract and become a magical girl.
From two episodes in, I suspected that the “offer” wasn’t all that it seemed. I was alerted that the third episode would show me the actual flavor of the series, and that seemed to be an accurate warning. It ain’t all hugs and puppies, certainly. Basically, this seems to be a takedown of the magical girl genre and concept as a whole. Why would magical girls exist, why would they fight, where would their powers come from? And man oh man, how much would it suck for everyone involved?
The art is so beyond “inconsistent,” it’s obviously a stylistic choice. The mishmash of styles (especially when “magic” is happening) actually creates so really amazing visual effects, and emphasizes the “unreal” or “unnatural” nature of the witches.
I actually predicted early on that Madoka’s wish would somehow involve changing the way that the magical girl system worked and/or otherwise let her friends survive their ordeals. It’s a variant on the wish for more wishes merged with the “taking a third option” trope—“I wish no one had to pay this cost for wishing.” And I found the resolution of that wish to be satisfactory. (Especially the bit where Kuybey’s all smug with, “But this will create a witch that can end the universe!” and Madoka just swoops in and is all, “Nope! No witches, not even me!”)
Regarding the very ending: Five will get you twenty that the “wraiths” that magical girls fight in the new timeline are somehow created or influenced by the Incubators. Kuybey is not at any point acting in humanity’s best interest and, for that matter, is not the least bit trustworthy in any of the exposition he provides. (I actually think that “Why do humans react this way?” feigned innocence is a layer of manipulation, too.)
A TVTropes commenter brought up an interesting point: What says that this is the first time a really powerful wish has changed the system? Kuybey seemed very bound that the magical girls MUST enter a contract and that he wasn’t allowed to directly act on certain things. It’s possible there was a previous iteration of the universe where things sucked for magical girls even more.
Overall: It’s a quick watch (…even at the rate I manage to get through things) with a complete arc and well-fleshed out concepts and characters. And it’s DARK. Recommended after you’ve seen more straightforward examples of the magical girl genre.
From two episodes in, I suspected that the “offer” wasn’t all that it seemed. I was alerted that the third episode would show me the actual flavor of the series, and that seemed to be an accurate warning. It ain’t all hugs and puppies, certainly. Basically, this seems to be a takedown of the magical girl genre and concept as a whole. Why would magical girls exist, why would they fight, where would their powers come from? And man oh man, how much would it suck for everyone involved?
The art is so beyond “inconsistent,” it’s obviously a stylistic choice. The mishmash of styles (especially when “magic” is happening) actually creates so really amazing visual effects, and emphasizes the “unreal” or “unnatural” nature of the witches.
I actually predicted early on that Madoka’s wish would somehow involve changing the way that the magical girl system worked and/or otherwise let her friends survive their ordeals. It’s a variant on the wish for more wishes merged with the “taking a third option” trope—“I wish no one had to pay this cost for wishing.” And I found the resolution of that wish to be satisfactory. (Especially the bit where Kuybey’s all smug with, “But this will create a witch that can end the universe!” and Madoka just swoops in and is all, “Nope! No witches, not even me!”)
Regarding the very ending: Five will get you twenty that the “wraiths” that magical girls fight in the new timeline are somehow created or influenced by the Incubators. Kuybey is not at any point acting in humanity’s best interest and, for that matter, is not the least bit trustworthy in any of the exposition he provides. (I actually think that “Why do humans react this way?” feigned innocence is a layer of manipulation, too.)
A TVTropes commenter brought up an interesting point: What says that this is the first time a really powerful wish has changed the system? Kuybey seemed very bound that the magical girls MUST enter a contract and that he wasn’t allowed to directly act on certain things. It’s possible there was a previous iteration of the universe where things sucked for magical girls even more.
Overall: It’s a quick watch (…even at the rate I manage to get through things) with a complete arc and well-fleshed out concepts and characters. And it’s DARK. Recommended after you’ve seen more straightforward examples of the magical girl genre.
