[Mentar]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

You know, people are making a big deal out of things that are commonplace in magical girl animes.

Look. This is the spoilers&speculation thread. If you try to forcefully sew your eyes shut to those things that are explicitly NOT commonplace in magical girl animes and take the "all this is perfectly normal in mahou shoujo land", more power to you. Just please don't come back complaining afterwards that all of a sudden the show took a turn to the much darker without proper explanation/motivation. Because the hints are plentiful and in open unobstructed sight.

Examples:

And a magical girl contractor/"mascot" typically follows the magical girl around everywhere.

Is having a non-antagonist lead character fighting the mascot bloody with the explicitly stated intent to KILL him commonplace in your mahou shoujo worlds?

So Kyubey watching Madoka's mom isn't exactly that big of a deal either.

I think you missed the point. Kyubey is obviously the facilitator of the miracles. And when both "mom" and him use the same slightly unusual proverb, it's making me pause. And I mentioned that Kyubey was around when mom outlined her ambitions because I expect her to suddenly SUCCEED with what she planned. I suspect that Kyubey will make her.

Nanoha's made "clear threats" like this before, and thoroughly kicked Fate's butt once. It was every bit as serious as what we've seen in this anime so far.

Not in Nanoha S1 (haven't seen any more than that), no. I don't recall them fighting to the death or threatening it, it was about collecting jewels and befriending people if my memory doesn't fail me. Donning "Raging Heart" was not explicitly introduced as a job that required her to accept the risk of _dying_, it was merely about "courage".

Why? What makes Madoka any less capable than Nanoha, or Sakura?

When will you realize that this show is not Nanoha, I wonder? Maybe when the first character bites the dust.

It's not a matter of being "capable". This show - unless I'm totally mistaken - isn't about "fighting" against each other with magical spells and furry mascots, and eventually befriending/purifying them. This show will force the girls into a meat grinder. It's much closer To Mai HiME than Nanoha, wanna bet?

Sorry man - I can't disprove you yet, but I think you're watching this with completely wrong expectations. This is Urobuchi Gen, for crying out loud.

Let's wait and see.