AnimeSuki Forum - View Single Post - Madoka Magica

Sol Falling · 2012-03-18, 04:47

lol, indeed. I dunno where some people are coming from thinking that Madoka hasn't had mainstream appeal. It's precisely Madoka's mainstream appeal which made it the subject of all those awards, magazine articles, and critical accolades it recieved during/after its airing last year.

However, despite that, it is still true that Madoka might not be as mainstream as a franchise as, for example, K-on. And certainly neither compare with works by Studio Ghibli.

As a matter of otaku appeal versus mainstream, I think we can set up a sort of scale where we've got:

- K-on: massive mainstream success, strong otaku appeal
- Madoka: very strong mainstream success, very strong otaku appeal
- Bakemonogatari: decent mainstream success, incredible otaku appeal

And this is reflected in the sales numbers. Out of the three franchises, Bakemonogatari has the most otaku appeal and that is why it stands on top as a matter of sales numbers. However, all three represent some widespread combination of both strong mainstream and otaku appeal, which explains why SHAFT and Kyoani were named as the two top candidates who might succeed Ghibli as leaders of the anime industry (in the unfortunate scenario where Ghibli's succession issues force it to step down).

However, I think what the sales/otaku appeal correlation I showed with Bakemonogatari above is that Madoka's impressive critical awards and strong sales performance don't necessarily equate just yet to dominating presence in the mainstream. Although I don't want to focus on a direct comparison, with regards to K-on (which itself is a very popular otaku franchise) key landmarks of its mainstream popularity (like the fact that it's fanbase/audience is actually ~60% female (compared to I think ~30% for Madoka), or the fact that K-on is aired on the Disney Channel during daytime television) reinforce that Madoka is not really so mainstream a property as it could potentially be.

I think that one factor which reflects interestingly on this situation is that despite being an Urobochi Gen work, Madoka famously overthrows some of the characteristics that Urobochi Gen is most famous for--the "bad ending" whereby a protagonist sinks into personal/subjective happiness at the expense of the greater good of the universe/community, for example. Urobochi Gen, as a writer coming from a background of ero/Visual Novel works in collaboration with Nitroplus or the Fate franchise, obviously, has/had a very firm background in otaku-oriented works and I think was certainly an enormous contributor to attracting the type of audience for Madoka which would propel it to such a success in terms of its BD sales ranking. However, what actually makes Madoka notable from a critical and mainstream perspective is precisely that Urobochi subverted and threw off that otaku-oriented stigma/expectation, and created story appropriate for non-otaku. Urobochi said from the beginning of Madoka "I am writing a heartwarming story", and although this was in part meant to camouflage the expectation that, true to his reputation, he would throw his characters into a grinder of despair and suffering, in the end he lived up to his word through an ending which celebrated hope, empathy, and self-sacrifice (as well as the foundations of the mahou shoujo genre itself).

So that is to say, what Urobochi Gen has actually written is a mainstream story, but because what he is/was famous for was otaku appeal, the response to Madoka has been unusually characterized by a strong otaku (BD and merchandise sales) and critical (awards, etc. from anime industry watchers) reception, but untapped mainstream potential. Well, in the first place Madoka only airing during late night (i.e. after 12:00 am) timeslots and via NicoNico streaming is one of the contributors to this situation.

This is why, Madoka being released as a box office production is one of the major things which can be done to expand Madoka's audience. Madoka is a mainstream show, but it has not been given a chance yet to reach a mainstream audience. Shinbo talking about pushing Madoka to expand the mainstream anime audience reflects exactly, I think, this untapped potential. I'm really excited that Shinbo/Gen recognize this and are developing the franchise in that direction.

2012-03-18, 04:47	Link #224
Sol Falling Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Age: 35	lol, indeed. I dunno where some people are coming from thinking that Madoka hasn't had mainstream appeal. It's precisely Madoka's mainstream appeal which made it the subject of all those awards, magazine articles, and critical accolades it recieved during/after its airing last year. However, despite that, it is still true that Madoka might not be as mainstream as a franchise as, for example, K-on. And certainly neither compare with works by Studio Ghibli. As a matter of otaku appeal versus mainstream, I think we can set up a sort of scale where we've got: - K-on: massive mainstream success, strong otaku appeal - Madoka: very strong mainstream success, very strong otaku appeal - Bakemonogatari: decent mainstream success, incredible otaku appeal And this is reflected in the sales numbers. Out of the three franchises, Bakemonogatari has the most otaku appeal and that is why it stands on top as a matter of sales numbers. However, all three represent some widespread combination of both strong mainstream and otaku appeal, which explains why SHAFT and Kyoani were named as the two top candidates who might succeed Ghibli as leaders of the anime industry (in the unfortunate scenario where Ghibli's succession issues force it to step down). However, I think what the sales/otaku appeal correlation I showed with Bakemonogatari above is that Madoka's impressive critical awards and strong sales performance don't necessarily equate just yet to dominating presence in the mainstream. Although I don't want to focus on a direct comparison, with regards to K-on (which itself is a very popular otaku franchise) key landmarks of its mainstream popularity (like the fact that it's fanbase/audience is actually ~60% female (compared to I think ~30% for Madoka), or the fact that K-on is aired on the Disney Channel during daytime television) reinforce that Madoka is not really so mainstream a property as it could potentially be. I think that one factor which reflects interestingly on this situation is that despite being an Urobochi Gen work, Madoka famously overthrows some of the characteristics that Urobochi Gen is most famous for--the "bad ending" whereby a protagonist sinks into personal/subjective happiness at the expense of the greater good of the universe/community, for example. Urobochi Gen, as a writer coming from a background of ero/Visual Novel works in collaboration with Nitroplus or the Fate franchise, obviously, has/had a very firm background in otaku-oriented works and I think was certainly an enormous contributor to attracting the type of audience for Madoka which would propel it to such a success in terms of its BD sales ranking. However, what actually makes Madoka notable from a critical and mainstream perspective is precisely that Urobochi subverted and threw off that otaku-oriented stigma/expectation, and created story appropriate for non-otaku. Urobochi said from the beginning of Madoka "I am writing a heartwarming story", and although this was in part meant to camouflage the expectation that, true to his reputation, he would throw his characters into a grinder of despair and suffering, in the end he lived up to his word through an ending which celebrated hope, empathy, and self-sacrifice (as well as the foundations of the mahou shoujo genre itself). So that is to say, what Urobochi Gen has actually written is a mainstream story, but because what he is/was famous for was otaku appeal, the response to Madoka has been unusually characterized by a strong otaku (BD and merchandise sales) and critical (awards, etc. from anime industry watchers) reception, but untapped mainstream potential. Well, in the first place Madoka only airing during late night (i.e. after 12:00 am) timeslots and via NicoNico streaming is one of the contributors to this situation. This is why, Madoka being released as a box office production is one of the major things which can be done to expand Madoka's audience. Madoka is a mainstream show, but it has not been given a chance yet to reach a mainstream audience. Shinbo talking about pushing Madoka to expand the mainstream anime audience reflects exactly, I think, this untapped potential. I'm really excited that Shinbo/Gen recognize this and are developing the franchise in that direction.