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Originally Posted by Triple_R
Well, in fairness to you...
1. I did find it a bit disconcerting that not one of these girls even considered trying to get adult human help. Now, Mami and Kyouko no longer have living parents, so that explains them. Sayaka and Homura don't appear to have close relationships with their parents/legal guardians, but it's still a bit disappointing that even in the midst of severe psychological descent Sayaka is never once shown thinking about her parents/legal guardians. Then there's Madoka - Madoka obviously has two loving, caring, open-minded parents.
2. The anime could have used a real plot twist or two. I'll admit that it's major plot-points unfold with a certain predictable logic. It makes the narrative feel nicely cohesive, but it also dulls excitement a bit, imo.
One defense I'll make though is that the ending was achieved with no effort. My view is that Homura's efforts to prevent Madoka from contracting combined with Madoka's efforts to carefully learn more about the Puella Magi world, enabled Madoka to make a well-informed wish. I mean, if Madoka contracts anytime before Episode 9, I doubt she makes the wish that she does, and it probably becomes a "smaller" wish (one benefiting just Sayaka, or just Mami, or even just a cat  ).
I like the idea of the character who gradually learns about the evils and dangers inherent in a system, and then when armed with that knowledge makes a good decision to correct that system (at least to some degree). |
On your points -
1. Beyond the anime trope of "adults don't exist", I felt that it wasn't too unusual in this situation. For one, children do tend to hide big issues from their parents, unfortunately, and I can't see "talking animal gave me magical powers" going over too well in appealing to authorities. For another, we do see an unusual spin on the trope in the sense that the adults do sense that something is up and are at least involved in the manner that adults tend to be. For example the teacher mentions missing children, and references Mami (not by name, but you know who she is talking about). So it's clear that at least on some level, the adults are catching on to what is happening.
I think it would have been interesting to see this aspect explored more, but I also think it could have potentially bogged the story down a bit given the limited episodes. It's a bit like alien invasion movies, and how you don't see many that explore the meta, instead choosing to focus on a few characters who you then see things through their eyes. I suppose this choice is made to help the writer create a tighter narrative instead of juggling multiple narrative angles into one overall story, so for me, it was nice to see things like the conversation after Sayaka's funeral between Madoka's mother and the teacher. It shows the writer was at least aware of the potential of the idea, even if he didn't/couldn't explore it more.
2. I think the anime had plot twists, but they weren't the complete reversal of narrative type of plot twists we usually think of (like Sixth Sense). Part of the problem is that the story, in attempting to break the mold of the genre, doesn't stray too much from the mold of basic storytelling. So while it is a deconstruction of a genre, it's not a deconstruction of narrative. The other issue is that the show was a heavy focus of speculation, and in the internet age where people can collaborate 24/7 around the world, at some point every and any possible theory was thrown out there, and someone was bound to point out the right ones.
This helps create the "oh, so predictable" noise. I'm sure some keen minded people really did find it predictable, but I doubt it was the case for most of the viewership. I for one found aspects of the story unpredictable. I had guessed that Homura was a time traveler, because that was the most obvious explanation for her knowledge. However I could never have guessed what had gotten her to that point, which is why episode 10 remains so powerful to me. I had guessed that Sayaka would fall, but I could never have guessed that so much around her would become the "perfect storm" for it. And of course, I never would have guessed stuff like Kyubey's speeches, or Madoka's wish.
I suppose it does feel a bit empty that Madoka is considered the "heroine" when Homura (and the others) did all the groundwork for her, but I considered that in itself a deconstructing statement about heroic narratives. Usually it's the main character that does most of the work, struggles hard, and saves the day, while the rest of the cast is reduced to cheerleaders or occasional enablers of that. Here it's the exact opposite, where the hero is basically useless for the majority of the story and is only able to be heroic by the efforts of others. The way I view it, is a statement about collectivism versus individualism. In many stories, it's very much all about the hero, but in Madoka, everyone contributes something important, and heroism is less about the person and more about how our choices build upon each other to enable change.
In a way, Madoka is a bit like Neo from the Matrix (if you pretend the sequels never happened). Most of the story is about everyone else helping him to realize his potential destiny, and for the most part he's pretty much useless while they run around sacrificing everything to keep him alive until he understands what needs to be done. When does he get to be the hero? Right at the end. The story is just as much about Morpheus and Trinity as it is about him, even though he gets the honorific of being "the hero".