[Sackett]

Originally Posted by omimon

Wait...the novel, game and movie were already all announced.....

I honestly can't think of any other medium....Oh god....don't tell me it's a Madoka stage show.....

Ballet.

There must be a Madoka Magica Ballet!

Honestly, I think ballet is one of the mediums best suited for the story of Madoka Magica.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Unless they're announcing that Madoka Magica is going to get a live-action movie/TV show/stage show adaptation, but nah, it's too early for that... I would think...

I used to think that Madoka just couldn't work as a live action movie. At least not Hollywood live action, and I think it would have to be Hollywood to get the level of special effects you'd need.

But then I did some more thinking. Magical Girls aren't really that outside the American experience. There are actually only three changes that I think would have to be made to make it more palatable to American audiences.

1: Instead of making QB an alien without emotions trying to fight entropy, leave him as a more mysterious demonish figure. I don't think there is the need to explicitly make him the devil, but a devil type character in this type of story would fit Western sensibilities better. You don't need to change his personality at all, and could probably even leave him as an alien, but he couldn't be trying to fight entropy. Just leave it as his race feeding off of the girls despair somehow. (You already have him eating the grief seeds.)

2: At the ending, instead of Kyubee just granting Madoka's wish have him refuse. Have Kyubee point out all the costs and try to dissuade Madoka from making the wish. Have Madoka insist that this is her wish and that she will pay the price. Have a disembodied voice say "Granted" and then Madoka's wish is granted. Kyubee is thus never reconciled in the epilogue and is banished instead.

Essentially you would be heightening the Christian archetypes (which don't really damage the story since it's rooted in Faust and those very Christian archetypes). It also makes Kyubee a more explicit dark power that must be banished instead of subverted (which in this type of story is what Western audiences will expect and require).

3: This is the one I expect people to object to, but it's just the way things are. There would need to be a race lift on at least some of the characters.

American media tastes aren't nearly as racially driven as other cultures, but a movie with all Japanese characters when the plot makes no such requirement would be rather strange, particularly for the character of Madoka. Part of Madoka's symbolism is that of the typical normal white bread girl next door. And the truth of the matter, no matter how much we may object to it, is that in America white bread means white. To fully use the same symbolism in America, Madoka would have to be the generic blonde haired blue eyed white girl. (All visual characteristics associated with purity and innocence in American media). Might as well change her name to Mary while we are at it.

Homura however, in both of her persona, actually goes very well with the American image of a Japanese/Asian girl. Thus I expect Homura would be left unchanged.

Mami of course being blonde and upper class would work very well with being white.

Hitomi is also upper class, but being a less important character it really doesn't matter that much what her race is.

Kyōko would be fun to keep as a redhead, but I think it might fit best to make her Black. It's obvious Kyoko comes from a family with a lower economic status, but in a very faithful and religious community that takes religious doctrine seriously. It fits with her background I think. Plus I think it would be more powerful for Kyoko to come from a different race than Sayaka. I think Madeline (with Maggie for short) would be the most fitting name for her.

That would leave Sayaka open to take the redhead slot- fitting with her personality and joining a long tradition of tomboy heroines. I think Deborah (Debbie) would be a good name for her.

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At first I thought it would be nice to organize it into four short movies. Subtitled Mami, Sayaka, Kyoko, and Homura.

But after thinking about it I just can't see a way to effectively complete Sayaka's story without flowing into Kyoko's. So I think three movies would be best: Mami, Sayaka, and Homura.

1: Mami's movie I'm thinking would be around 100 minutes long, covering the events from episode 1 to the late-middle of episode 4 (ending about where Sayaka is tempted by Kyubee while at the hospital). With an expansion around the following areas:

A: Add more to the background of Mami and let us know more about her.
B: As part of this add some further confrontations between Mami and Homura, more fully developing this aspect of the series. Make sure to add some scenes that will take on new meaning (preferably tragic) once it is revealed about Homura's nature and her past dealings with Mami.
C: Add in the fact that Mami knows Kyoko and that they are on semi-friendly terms (if possibly in disagreement about some matters). A possible way to bring this about would be to have Homura warn Mami about Walpurgis Night during one of their confrontations, and for Mami to write Kyoko about it asking for her help. (Which of course would be the main reason Homura warns Mami, is because Homura wants Kyoko around to help out in fighting it- although we won't realize this until later). This would also make it more poignant that Sayaka (who idolizes Mami) is fighting Kyoko who only showed up because Mami wrote her.
D: A minor note, but add a little scene to hint that Hitomi has feelings for Kyōsuke, but is restraining herself because of Sayaka's affections. It's be better if that didn't come out of nowhere.

2: Sayaka's movie would tell both her story and Kyoko's and be around 120 to 130 minutes long. Covering events from the end of episode 4 through the end of episode 9. Expansion would be about:

A: Kyoko and Mami's backstory together.
B: Spend a little bit more time developing Sayaka's despair
C: A few more details about Homura and Kyoko's conversations, perhaps connected to Mami as well. I could see a scene where Kyoko wants to know who trained Homura (refusing to believe she didn't have a mentor) and Homura finally fingering Mami. If Mami in the previous movie had told Madoka and Sayaka that she didn't know Homura it would leave the audience in a state of speculation about why Homura claims to have been trained by Mami.
D: Just a small expansion on why Kyoko's father went mad and committed suicide. (Everyone always did what he said, every time he spoke people were deprived of their free will, he came to think that the devil was inside him and the only way to escape was death.)

3: Homura's movie would be around 100 minutes long, covering episodes 10 to 12, with a major expansion of Homura's Backstory (doubling at least), and showing more of the alternate timelines.