[kaigan]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

Her desire to help others even at the cost of her life has always been there, even before knowing about Magical girls, as explained in the drama cd.

Madoka displays a strong desire to help others, yes, always. but, it's not always helping others at the cost of her life. just i like i said before, i remember only one instance of this and she did do this willingly with a smile on her face. the wish cost her life and existence.

the other instances of helping others, don't involve the cost of madoka's (normal human) life at all. then, when she did become a pm (and in the capacity of being a pm helping others) in all timelines except the last one, those just involve taking risks.

taking risks is different from doing things at the cost of one's life. there are high and low risks. and at worst, high risks involve the possibility of death too. in any case, by risking alone, one can still go unscatched, if you do better and be careful. safe. but at "the cost of one's life" it is terminal. you are exchanging something wholly and completely for something else in a single proceeding. and there is only one end here, and that is death, no more exit.

i'm saying this because the situation when madoka became a pm in ep 12 is entirely different from the rest when she became a pm or at least, she attempted to. in ep 12, madoka knew the 'full rewards/consequences' of her action. and she bet her life on it. she exchanged her life for a single wish.

her other attempts of becoming a pm, don't involve at the cost of her life, at least she's not aware of it. there are risks. true. it will be dangerous, not going to be easy, and no time for parties and boyfriends.

now, you might ask then, why is she willing to take some risks to help others (by becoming a magical girl).

look closely at madoka's face before she's about to make the contracts saving saya twice. look at her facial expressions. true, she is being helpful, but look also at the situation she/they is/are in. saya is fighting for her dear life in a losing battle with kyouko. during this time they are still unaware that body damages are repairable as long as the sg is intact. qb offers a chance to save her closest friend. no other explanation. only a fellow pm can intervene.

how about the second one. saya is emotionally breaking apart. saya considers herself a zombie. saya is saying mean things to her best friend. saya tells madoka to become a pm since she wants to help. saya is fighting without regard to her (sg) health. qb offers a solution - through a contract, magic.

now with these two instances, we could see clearly that madoka is deeply in trouble or troubled. maybe not really personally. but chaos and hardship/suffering before her can be stopped. no other available means are presented to solve the problems but only through a contract. through magical means. something beyond normal human intervention.

look again at her face. is she that all too willingly? with all the 'unrealistic strong desire' to help others? is that the resolute and smiling face she made in ep 12? uhmmm, one wonders. but it is more like there is no other way. it is more like she's compelled to force a decision and you could see she's in the verge of tears. she's helpful true, but that can be easily superseded by the fact of fear that her best friend is about to be impaled with a spear before her very eyes or whatever gruesome thing might happen.

how about the drama cd. the situation here is much weaker than saving saya. madoka did become a pm. but we are only told of this through her narrative. when she saved the cat, was she aware that becoming a pm and fighting witches involve death and you will turn into one yourself in time? knowing qb, probably he did not explain. so we can only speculate that she's even willing to take risks here.

how about her ominous warning to homu-chan that something might happen to her? we don't know when she learned the fact that a pm could die in battle. before or after saving amy? before or after meeting mami? we could only speculate. i doubt she even saw a dead or dying pm before.

by knowing tidbits of truth, madoka reconsiders making a contract, hence the delay. they greatly affect her. she will only make one if there is nothing else left to do. this is not only about being kind but the situation she's engage in.

What she gained in the last episode of the series is the know-how to make the right wish, but her will to make the sacrifice has always been there.

ep 12 showed us that she made a wish, the best possible wish with someone carrying a potential like hers. and it somehow 'cheated' qb in a way. but that's not all. this also showed us how this situation in entirely unique from the rest of her contracting. she's happy. she's willing. with conviction.

you mentioned sacrifice. she sacrificed her life here by becoming a pm. her will to make a sacrifice is exclusively for this instant, not always. the others just involve risks. she did not trade anything anywhere as much as her own life just like in ep 12.

Madoka had been a magical girl for just a week, a WEEK, and she was already talking like that, already willing to make any sacrifice to help others.

this is entirely different. madoka here is already a pm. it's a brand new profession of hers, and this certainly involves some duties. here, it's now her responsibility to help others. regardless of her being kind-hearted or not, she has to fight. she has to. and at worst, she might lose her life in those fights.

So, as you see, her desire to save others is so strong and so deeply rooted into her already (even before knowing about magical girls), that there's no way just having a wonderful family and a good environment would be enough to make her that way.

here, you use the word save. so i'll assume it's the same in the context of 'helping others'. you must also not forget on what particular situation she's in because a particular situation is not exactly the clone of another. the people/living things involved. the magnitude of danger she/they is/are in. the degree of internal dilemma or stress she's in. the degree of damage caused by indecision or inaction. her available options. her alternatives if there are some present. are these not considered when she made a decision to save/help others? are these simply glossed over? so what is exactly there is to be considered 'enough'?

Look, if you feel it's enough for you, that's ok, but this sort of characterization would get you kicked out of any script writing course. That much I'm pretty sure of.

so, what is 'enough' again? i see no problem in her characterization considering madoka magica is a 12-ep tv series. i welcome additions of course though, since the franchise is still on-going. the story is not yet closed. who knows, how many drama cds will be released.

Spoiler for slightly OT:

i acknowledge that there are people much superior that i do, especially in writing. but this has nothing to do with my ability, really. not my work. and not i'm going to defend who wrote this. but who cares if the writer of madoka got kicked out in any script writing course? even wonder what type of student bill gates was? how was novelist john grisham's first work treated? or moving close to japan, how was musashi kishimoto before?

what one learns in the four corners of the classroom are tools, techniques, and trades of the craft. you might not get the approval of your professor or high marks, but you learn nonetheless. and what have been taught to you as rules outlined in the syllabus/curriculum should not be considered gospel truth. learn the rules in order to break them properly. properly, so it will turn into something that will leave no jarring and rough edges and that you could find it useful. so why are there terms such as 'creativity', 'originality', 'poetic license', 'free style', 'free verse' and 'artistic liberties'? do all these limited by rules set in a writing course?

That's an inferiority complex right there that was also never given a proper explanation/reason.

i guess this is the problem: madoka is suffering from inferiority complex but the show gives no reason. thus she has a poor characterization. right?

inferiority complex is a strong, specific, and technical term. there are books in psychology and in behavioral sciences about it. * a quick check @ wikipedia * since you use it, i guess you know more than i do or what a brief online definition could offer.

so how exactly is inferiority complex different from normal feeling of inferiority?

when one whines a lot about being unhelpful, compares oneself to the ability of others, being troublesome to others, when one questions oneself, when one desires to do more than one is originally capable of doing, when one attends classes and yet still having difficulties, does that make one automatically suffer inferiority complex?

madoka is a teenage girl. she is in the process of discovering herself, her strengths, her weaknesses. there are also bodily/physical/hormonal changes that make this 'awakening' possible. it's normal to see someone greater than you or compare yourself with others at this stage. so a feeling of simple guilt or insecurity translates to inferiority complex?

you might say that madoka said 'i felt that way too for the longest time' - referring to homu-chan's line of being useless and just there to exist. but how much madoka really know about homu at that time? they just met. it's more like madoka's trying to sympathize and cheer up homu. of course, madoka may also not be lying, but is the degree/extent of homu's difficulties equal to that of madoka's? madoka might be acting in good will and faith, but they are not exactly in the same footing.

so as far as jumping to conclusion is concerned, madoka suffering/displaying signs of inferiority complex is a mere speculation. of course, i might be wrong. but as long as using the 12-ep tv series and the 30-min drama cd as evidence, nothing of them supports that madoka is suffering/displaying signs of inferiority complex indeed.

i refuse to believe madoka has inferiority complex (for the lack of evidence) just like how some in this forum strongly refuses to acknowledge madoka attained/achieved goddesshood. however, the latter one is for another discussion.

Homura, who also had an inferiority complex but was explained by her illness and lack of friends

homu-chan has signs and seems to satisfy some of the causes listed in the wiki. she has higher chances of having one. but mado and homu are different cases. they are not exactly the same.