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Sol Falling · 2011-04-20, 10:18

...yeah. So, with regards to the whole Mami snapping scene, I guess I never read any sort of 'love' or altruistic intention in trying to kill everybody at all. It didn't really shock or depress me or anything, but principally, I just felt really bad for Kyouko. I mean, those were your friends and teammates there. Particularly with Kyouko, you can sort of see how much it means and what it symbolizes that she is there, and is part of the team, given her original self-interested personality/philosophy. And yet, Kyouko is still the first one to be shot and simply erased out of the blue when the team crumbles. She's the first one to be thrown away and eliminated. You can really see some sort of betrayal of trust and loss of innocence there.

I do think there is something really interesting in the fact that Kyouko was the first one Mami killed, and that it was Madoka whom she was caught off-guard and killed by. To be honest, it basically reveals/suggests to me something cold and calculating in the innermost depths of Mami's personality, that she has measured her friends by their naivete and trust put into her and that she started off with the one perceived as most dangerous. Mami's death, which is something I read as the result of an unstable attempt to protect her own self-image as a 'cool sempai who fights evil' which had somehow let her have friends again, speaks to me of two tragic misperceptions on the part of Mami. The first was in Mami deciding Kyouko could not be trusted, that she was too world-wise, assured, independent--i.e., Mami deciding that Kyouko was a threat to her 'righteous Puella Magi' image which let her look cool and have 'friends' who admired her. This is tragic because, deep down really, what Kyouko wanted to have was also friends too. The second tragic misperception is in of course Mami's underestimation of Madoka. Mami must have seen Madoka as someone naive, who couldn't handle reality, and could always be led by the pretty words of an admirable 'sempai'. If Mami believed Madoka had been 'tricked' into being a Mahou Shoujo by the impression that it was a wonderful and admirable reality, then she might also fear that if Madoka saw the 'truth' then Mami would be blamed and have no friends anymore. This is of course tragic first of all because Madoka did rise up and have the balls to stop Mami from making things even worse for everybody, so first of all in looking at Madoka as naive and harmless Mami wasn't being fair to her; but again moreover echoing my point about Kyouko is the fact that if Mami had realized that Madoka wasn't a naive sheep who had become a Mahou Shoujo to follow her, then again there would have been room for real friendship there, and in that sort of scenario Mami wouldn't have needed to snap and start killing everybody in the first place.

2011-04-20, 10:18	Link #1118
Sol Falling Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Age: 35	...yeah. So, with regards to the whole Mami snapping scene, I guess I never read any sort of 'love' or altruistic intention in trying to kill everybody at all. It didn't really shock or depress me or anything, but principally, I just felt really bad for Kyouko. I mean, those were your friends and teammates there. Particularly with Kyouko, you can sort of see how much it means and what it symbolizes that she is there, and is part of the team, given her original self-interested personality/philosophy. And yet, Kyouko is still the first one to be shot and simply erased out of the blue when the team crumbles. She's the first one to be thrown away and eliminated. You can really see some sort of betrayal of trust and loss of innocence there. I do think there is something really interesting in the fact that Kyouko was the first one Mami killed, and that it was Madoka whom she was caught off-guard and killed by. To be honest, it basically reveals/suggests to me something cold and calculating in the innermost depths of Mami's personality, that she has measured her friends by their naivete and trust put into her and that she started off with the one perceived as most dangerous. Mami's death, which is something I read as the result of an unstable attempt to protect her own self-image as a 'cool sempai who fights evil' which had somehow let her have friends again, speaks to me of two tragic misperceptions on the part of Mami. The first was in Mami deciding Kyouko could not be trusted, that she was too world-wise, assured, independent--i.e., Mami deciding that Kyouko was a threat to her 'righteous Puella Magi' image which let her look cool and have 'friends' who admired her. This is tragic because, deep down really, what Kyouko wanted to have was also friends too. The second tragic misperception is in of course Mami's underestimation of Madoka. Mami must have seen Madoka as someone naive, who couldn't handle reality, and could always be led by the pretty words of an admirable 'sempai'. If Mami believed Madoka had been 'tricked' into being a Mahou Shoujo by the impression that it was a wonderful and admirable reality, then she might also fear that if Madoka saw the 'truth' then Mami would be blamed and have no friends anymore. This is of course tragic first of all because Madoka did rise up and have the balls to stop Mami from making things even worse for everybody, so first of all in looking at Madoka as naive and harmless Mami wasn't being fair to her; but again moreover echoing my point about Kyouko is the fact that if Mami had realized that Madoka wasn't a naive sheep who had become a Mahou Shoujo to follow her, then again there would have been room for real friendship there, and in that sort of scenario Mami wouldn't have needed to snap and start killing everybody in the first place. Last edited by Sol Falling; 2011-04-20 at 11:11.