August 26th, 2014
y i liek Meguca
Anime Relations: Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica
When the limitations of a review can't let me express all my thoughts, maybe iShould blog. This is also totally original and totally not a rip from my qd post
Let's get the disposable stuff out of the way first.
The moment you start thinking about why certain events happen is the moment you might start to squirm. Sayaka broods over losing her soul and love, gradually shutting everyone out, but not once does she mention her parents. Kyouko, Mami, and Homura's parents are a non-factor for where they are in the story, but as Sayaka and especially Madoka aren't too far in the business of being a Puella Magi, it's easy to wonder just where Sayaka's parents are in all of this.
That Mami or Kyouko didn't know about Puella Magi becoming Witches or the consequences of throwing away a Soul Gem is hard to believe. Homura's time travel is (un)conveniently limited to certain moments and could have saved Mami's life, while Madoka is stopped from becoming a Puella Magi at every moment until she's informed enough to know what she wants to do. Not to mention, with all of the story events happening in a little under a month, you wonder just how fast some characters change. Humans are creatures of habit VS we can change a lot in a drastic situation? Did Mami really not meet any friends before Madoka? Was Sayaka really a special case of idealism winning over Kyouko when she's been around the block?
By themselves each convenience is unnoticeable, but stack it all together and you've got a world for the Puella Magi to suffer in, instead of the Puella Magi suffering in the world.
Thinking outside the show not withstanding, it's even better than I remember. Madoka indeed starts out helpless as early scenes with Junko and Mami can attest, and it's difficult to distinguish the narrative's push to make her learn before she makes wish VS her actually being a female Shinji IE she actually doesn't want to do anything. The turning point in her will before becoming Madokami with Junko makes things go full-circle; she very much confided in her mother when the going got tough with Sayaka.
The reasoning for Sayaka's feelings for Kyousuke is never explained, or rather, there's little in the way of backstory so it comes across as shallow. Then again, that seems intentional. She thought she knew him well enough that he'd go to her after her wish, but beaten to the punch by Hitomi combined with the reveal of her essentially being a zombie. More than puppy love gone wrong, Sayaka's gradual spiral to despair is one where she refuses to face her inner demons before they eventually consume her. In the broader sense, she illustrates the typical cycle of the Puella Magia--Hope, regret, despair--and boom, you realize that the Incubators' methods, however impartial, cost dearly to these girls.
Keep in mind: It's only Mami who truly Credens Justitiam (I mean, believed in justice). After the Incubators' motives were revealed, I couldn't blame any of the characters for acting the way they did. Even on my first watch, I really didn't believe Sayaka was genuinely acting out of justice and not just hiding her denial. And Homura certainly ain't getting points for selflessness ('cause saving one girl =/=saving the world). And Kyouko's just looking out for herself. IE, most of them aren't high-and-mighty above it all concerned with the demise of the universe 2308940392 years from now; they're concerned with the present, with the now, with immediacy.
Back on track, I personally like Kyouko's strength of personality. A hothead who can keep her cool when shit gets real. She doesn't delude herself about what she is, and really has no qualms about doing whatever she needs to do to clean her Soul Gem. She got over her mistakes a long time ago, and the presentation on her backstory reflects it perfectly. No actual animation, but a collage of abstracts to highlight her disconnect from her past. It's like going yeah, I'm over that. I can't believe that really happened though. The move from willing to sacrifice people to clean her Soul Gem to reaching out to Sayaka is smooth, with a fight over Sayaka's naivety, followed by trying to draw out what she really wants, to the big reveal being the final point. She's somehow the most ruthless of the cast while also being very compassionate.
I was never the biggest fan of Homura, and that didn't change now. That said, my previous problem with her as a character was how the 'first' timeline could've actually been fleshed out to better strengthen her friendship with Madoka ('cause unlike Kyousuke, Madoka's kind of a major character instead of just existing as a motivation). However, moving to the 'second' timeline it's like Homura barely changed. My take from this is that Homura changes after each timeline instead of within the timeline, so it makes sense for her backstory to be explained the way it is. I also like the detail where her loss of innocence is reflected by who we see. At first, it's only Madoka and Mami, but later on they add Sayaka, and then Kyouko. And I was like cool, using fully developed characters to characterize another character. I DO wonder if Homura's intensity to save Madoka is too strong to just be friendship, but that's my old yuri goggles at work. Maybe.
What can I say? I <3 this show despite how convenient a lot of story events are.
That went on longer than it should've
Let's get the disposable stuff out of the way first.
The moment you start thinking about why certain events happen is the moment you might start to squirm. Sayaka broods over losing her soul and love, gradually shutting everyone out, but not once does she mention her parents. Kyouko, Mami, and Homura's parents are a non-factor for where they are in the story, but as Sayaka and especially Madoka aren't too far in the business of being a Puella Magi, it's easy to wonder just where Sayaka's parents are in all of this.
That Mami or Kyouko didn't know about Puella Magi becoming Witches or the consequences of throwing away a Soul Gem is hard to believe. Homura's time travel is (un)conveniently limited to certain moments and could have saved Mami's life, while Madoka is stopped from becoming a Puella Magi at every moment until she's informed enough to know what she wants to do. Not to mention, with all of the story events happening in a little under a month, you wonder just how fast some characters change. Humans are creatures of habit VS we can change a lot in a drastic situation? Did Mami really not meet any friends before Madoka? Was Sayaka really a special case of idealism winning over Kyouko when she's been around the block?
By themselves each convenience is unnoticeable, but stack it all together and you've got a world for the Puella Magi to suffer in, instead of the Puella Magi suffering in the world.
Thinking outside the show not withstanding, it's even better than I remember. Madoka indeed starts out helpless as early scenes with Junko and Mami can attest, and it's difficult to distinguish the narrative's push to make her learn before she makes wish VS her actually being a female Shinji IE she actually doesn't want to do anything. The turning point in her will before becoming Madokami with Junko makes things go full-circle; she very much confided in her mother when the going got tough with Sayaka.
The reasoning for Sayaka's feelings for Kyousuke is never explained, or rather, there's little in the way of backstory so it comes across as shallow. Then again, that seems intentional. She thought she knew him well enough that he'd go to her after her wish, but beaten to the punch by Hitomi combined with the reveal of her essentially being a zombie. More than puppy love gone wrong, Sayaka's gradual spiral to despair is one where she refuses to face her inner demons before they eventually consume her. In the broader sense, she illustrates the typical cycle of the Puella Magia--Hope, regret, despair--and boom, you realize that the Incubators' methods, however impartial, cost dearly to these girls.
Keep in mind: It's only Mami who truly Credens Justitiam (I mean, believed in justice). After the Incubators' motives were revealed, I couldn't blame any of the characters for acting the way they did. Even on my first watch, I really didn't believe Sayaka was genuinely acting out of justice and not just hiding her denial. And Homura certainly ain't getting points for selflessness ('cause saving one girl =/=saving the world). And Kyouko's just looking out for herself. IE, most of them aren't high-and-mighty above it all concerned with the demise of the universe 2308940392 years from now; they're concerned with the present, with the now, with immediacy.
Back on track, I personally like Kyouko's strength of personality. A hothead who can keep her cool when shit gets real. She doesn't delude herself about what she is, and really has no qualms about doing whatever she needs to do to clean her Soul Gem. She got over her mistakes a long time ago, and the presentation on her backstory reflects it perfectly. No actual animation, but a collage of abstracts to highlight her disconnect from her past. It's like going yeah, I'm over that. I can't believe that really happened though. The move from willing to sacrifice people to clean her Soul Gem to reaching out to Sayaka is smooth, with a fight over Sayaka's naivety, followed by trying to draw out what she really wants, to the big reveal being the final point. She's somehow the most ruthless of the cast while also being very compassionate.
I was never the biggest fan of Homura, and that didn't change now. That said, my previous problem with her as a character was how the 'first' timeline could've actually been fleshed out to better strengthen her friendship with Madoka ('cause unlike Kyousuke, Madoka's kind of a major character instead of just existing as a motivation). However, moving to the 'second' timeline it's like Homura barely changed. My take from this is that Homura changes after each timeline instead of within the timeline, so it makes sense for her backstory to be explained the way it is. I also like the detail where her loss of innocence is reflected by who we see. At first, it's only Madoka and Mami, but later on they add Sayaka, and then Kyouko. And I was like cool, using fully developed characters to characterize another character. I DO wonder if Homura's intensity to save Madoka is too strong to just be friendship, but that's my old yuri goggles at work. Maybe.
What can I say? I <3 this show despite how convenient a lot of story events are.
That went on longer than it should've
Posted by iSuckAtWriting | Aug 26, 2014 7:34 AM | 0 comments