Madoka Magica - Movie Discussion (& Speculation) Thread

[Kimidori]

Urobuchi Q&A in Otakon 2012 about the movie

The Movies

Anything about the forthcoming Madoka Magica movie you can share? "I'm not sure if I should be saying this, but there are other secondary Madoka works, such as manga, and since Madoka is about parallel worlds, there's plenty of room for spin-offs. The movie will be a direct continuation of the TV series, and mainly about Homura Akemi, and how she works. That's about as much as I can say right now."


"The obvious need for industry secrecy aside, is there anything you can tell us about the upcoming Madoka films that we don't know, or Madoka in general in the future?"

Urobuchi Gen: "Well, I shouldn't say anything, but there have been a number of spinoff manga covering different universes and aspects of the Madoka story, and Madoka is, in the end, about multiple universes...(I don't remember how he phrased it, but he HEAVILY implied to look forward to some Oriko/Kazumi/etc.-related works in the future).

"As for the Madoka movies, the most interesting one is probably the 3rd which is all new and not a part of the series' retelling, so I'll tell you that it's primarily Homura's story and centers entirely around her and her story from the end of the TV series (post just after Madokami) until where we see her in the very epilogue (witch wings and post apocalypse), but I'll get in trouble if I say any more."


A question about Madoka Magica was about the potential of exploring the story of some of the witches who were once magical girls. "When I wrote the script, I didn't have any of the witches' back stories. It was actually the designer who designed how they look and came up with their back stories. For the upcoming movie, it was actually that designer (Gekidan Inu Curry) that brought me up to speed with their back stories."


Working on the Series

There have been rumors that Shinbo asked you to change the ending to make it happier. What was that like? "This was something that director Shinbo proposed at one of the dubbing sessions, that Sayaka Miki could've been kept alive in the story. But my conviction was that in order for the audience to really understand why Madoka became a God at the end, it was important that she die. After all was said and done, Shinbo said to me that the amount of responsibility placed on a middle school girl may have been too much. We explore that more in the movie."


Do you have any relationship with the series composer Yuki Kajiura? "I've been a fan of her works as an anime composer for a long time, and there was this one particular title called The Portrait of Petit Cosette, which she wrote the music for, and was directed by Shinbo. So when when we were discussing Madoka, I told Shinbo that my imagery for the wishes came directly from that soundtrack. He told that to Iwakami-san, who gave his blessing to work with her. I've met with her a few times, she's very well-acquainted with the stories, and reads every script."


Madoka Magica has lots of elements of other Magical Girl series. Which ones influenced you? "Our intention was not to make reference to any show in particular, but since Shinbo directed, the obvious influence was Lyrical Nanoha. But Iwakami hired me after seeing Fate/stay night, so instead I watched Portrait of Petite Cosette for my inspiration."

[Kazu-kun]

^ Is this legit? Can anyone confirm that Urobuchi really said all that?

Anyway, if it's true, the third movie will be exactly what I hoped for:

Originally Posted by Kimidori

The movie will be a direct continuation of the TV series, and mainly about Homura Akemi, and how she works."

This is exactly what I wanted!!! Homura's demon ass kicking adventures: the movie.

I'm so looking forward to this!

[Jimmy C]

Given that the third movie was known to be post-finale, we know that Madoka cannot play a direct role in it, that leaves Homura as the main character. He's just confirming what fans should have guessed already.

[ninryu]

I still hope Madoka will have some part in the sequel.

[Animexcel]

Yeah, they may have to change the title of the 3rd movie if she isn't part of it.

[maximilianjenus]

yeah, people said the same thing about the tv series back then.

[ninryu]

Oh yeah, the "Sayaka Magica" days.

[GDB]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

^ Is this legit? Can anyone confirm that Urobuchi really said all that?

Based on what I remember hearing, that quote is expanded beyond what he said. He did, however, state that the third movie is based on the post-Madokami world and Homura is the main character. I don't recall him specifying it goes to the epilogue, though.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by ninryu

I still hope Madoka will have some part in the sequel.

Well, Urobuchi seems to take the matter of Madoka being apart from the mortal world as seriously as he does Sayaka's death. Madoka might make a cameo appearance if some magical girl kicks the bucket, but I wouldn't expect more than that.

[Cloudy]

Well the fact that the movie is about Homura's adventure in a declining world would be interesting.

I bet that there would references to current affairs issues such as the Ocuupy movement, the rise of China and global warming and I won't be surprised if there is a scene in which HomuHomu is fighting against Assad's troops and Demons in Syria.

[maximilianjenus]

Originally Posted by Cloudy

Well the fact that the movie is about Homura's adventure in a declining world would be interesting.

I bet that there would references to current affairs issues such as the Ocuupy movement, the rise of China and global warming and I won't be surprised if there is a scene in which HomuHomu is fighting against Assad's troops and Demons in Syria.

I hope not. I prefer the madoka/homura saga to deal with more universal themes and less secific ones, that's what we got the other mahou shoujo for.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Cloudy

Well the fact that the movie is about Homura's adventure in a declining world would be interesting.

I bet that there would references to current affairs issues such as the Ocuupy movement, the rise of China and global warming and I won't be surprised if there is a scene in which HomuHomu is fighting against Assad's troops and Demons in Syria.

My main issue with this is that Madoka Magica has a tech level that strongly suggests "takes place in the future" to me. You see this a lot in Madoka's home and at the school that Madoka attends. I personally think that Madoka Magica's tech level is probably 40 to 50 years beyond where we are now, given its presence in middle-class homes.

I'd be fine with some level of politics and environmental issues playing a role in the third Madoka Magica movie, but I'd rather they have a somewhat futuristic feel to them.

[maximilianjenus]

afaik, all the technology in madoka is current technology, they just overuse it so it feels as if it is futuristic.

[AuraTwilight]

That's demonstratably not the case. Madoka has a holokeyboard built right into her desk at home.

[KoiYuki]

Originally Posted by AuraTwilight

That's demonstratably not the case. Madoka has a holokeyboard built right into her desk at home.

Those are possible now. I think what max means is that it seems to be a step in the future because the stuff we have now is more common/used in households.

[Solace]

It's called "near future", to describe a sci-fi setting that is plausibly within the limits of modern technology and what you might see in say, the next few decades. Sometimes it's a bit of an overreach but that's the idea. Accel World would be an example of near future. Nothing is really all that different except that computers are fancier. Ghost in the Shell pushes it a bit, but it's also a plausible near future work.

In any case, I really hope the third movie isn't just a two hour version of the epilogue. Honestly I think Gen's trolling the audience as usual. Focus on Homura? Well the franchise already did. Not much Madoka? Well yeah, she was wasn't even a Magical Girl for most of the show despite the title being named after her.

Personally I think Gen's going to explore the loophole in Kyubey's explanation of what became of Madoka. She was supposed to be forgotten, but she's not. And Homura just explained the missing piece to why the Incubators can't harvest energy faster, meaning they can figure out a workaround now. And there's also the missing explanation for Homura's new powers mirroring Madoka's. There's lots to work with.

[Triple_R]

I fully expect the third Madoka movie to focus a lot on Homura and cast Homura as the main protagonist. This is for simple character popularity reasons as much as anything else.

That being said, there's no particular reason why Mami and Kyouko shouldn't get significant amounts of screentime. They're both active and alive magical girls at the end of Episode 12.

As popular as Homura is, I think it would be doing a disservice to the main cast as a whole if the other four were treated as little more than chopped liver. I can certainly see in-canon reasons for Madoka and Sayaka not getting much screen-time, but such reasons don't exist for Mami and Kyouko.


One idea I have for the third movie would be for it to open with an epic five to ten minute action sequence that expands upon Sayaka's final fight (which would conveniently also include Mami, Kyouko, and Homura) in post-Madoka world in Episode 12. Imagine a poor man's version of Optimus Prime vs. Megatron from the 80s Transformers animated film. As a big Sayaka fan, I'd be quite content with that and that alone, and it's probably more realistic than Shinbo's dreams coming to fruition.

Then focus on Homura for the middle portion (and bulk) of the movie, and maybe show some trippy psychic/spiritual realm conversations between Homura and Madoka. Then bring Mami and Kyouko back for the climatic moments of the movie to help Homura out in whatever conflict she's facing.

I think that this would probably be the best overall approach.

[Cloudy]

That being said, I bet the Puella Magi form of Charlotte would pop up as Mami's sidekick in the 3rd film. Since she is the most popular Witch and amny fans would like to see what her PM form looks like.

[AuraTwilight]

And there's also the missing explanation for Homura's new powers mirroring Madoka's. There's lots to work with.

You know how Homura saved that one cat in Madoka's honor in every timeline?

I like to think that in the new world, Homura made a wish to save that cat just like Madoka did, THEN was basically fused with her pre-Goddess Madoka self later.

That is the luckiest goddamn cat in the universe.

[Dr. Casey]

Originally Posted by Solace

Sometimes it's a bit of an overreach but that's the idea. Accel World would be an example of near future. Nothing is really all that different except that computers are fancier.

I dunno, isn't full-immersion virtual reality a pretty big difference?