AnimeSuki Forum - View Single Post - Madoka Magica - Character Discussion

Clarste · 2011-01-21, 02:20

Well, that was an interesting character arc. Acting all suspiciously friendly for the first two episodes, getting lots of character development in the third, and then dying without dignity. While on one hand you could say her death cuts her character discussion short, on the other hand it makes it even easier because she's no longer quite so mysterious. Well, unless she gets revived, in which case all bets are off. Love live zombie-Mami!

Anyway, I just felt like reconciling her opposing images. On one hand she clearly has the role of tempting Madoka and Sayaka into a fate which is surely horrible. She comes to them as a friend, and she's certainly friendly. She treats them to cake in her house, acts as the responsible senpai, and shows off for them in battle. It's clear that she wants them to eventually become magical girls. And well, that's a bad thing, as clearly indicated by what happened to her in the end. Is she the snake offering the poisoned fruit?

However, before she dies we see her backstory. She almost died in a car crash, only surviving because of her wish. However, her parents died and now she's trapped in a life where she has no time for friends or love because she's forced to constantly risk her life in battle. Is this a life worth living? Or is she just living out of stubbornness? Furthermore, when Madoka promises to join her as a magical girl, her facade appears to break and she cries with joy at the thought of finally having someone else in her life. While this could be good acting, it could also easily be her true self. And therein lies the answer.

Mami was trying to trick the girls into accepting a terrible contract with a terrible price. She was sneaky and suspicious. But why? Not because wanted to kill them or turn them into witches to get more grief seed or anything horrific like that, but simply because she wanted friends. It was the only way she could ever possibly get friends in her current, aimless living-for-the-sake-of-living life. While she did truly want them to join her, she also knew it was a bad thing to do and so encouraged them to truly think about what they wanted. She was drawn in two directions: on one she wanted to protect her new friends, and on the other hand she wanted to keep them. If they chose to abandon the whole thing, surely they'd abandon her too? And then she'd be alone with the witches again. For the rest of her life, her life that was worth everything to her.

And then, once she finally realizes and receives her true wish, the wish she would have wished for if she'd realized it back then, she loses the very thing she had ironically wasted her contractual wish on.

2011-01-21, 02:20	Link #20
Clarste Human Join Date: Aug 2004 Age: 37	Well, that was an interesting character arc. Acting all suspiciously friendly for the first two episodes, getting lots of character development in the third, and then dying without dignity. While on one hand you could say her death cuts her character discussion short, on the other hand it makes it even easier because she's no longer quite so mysterious. Well, unless she gets revived, in which case all bets are off. Love live zombie-Mami! Anyway, I just felt like reconciling her opposing images. On one hand she clearly has the role of tempting Madoka and Sayaka into a fate which is surely horrible. She comes to them as a friend, and she's certainly friendly. She treats them to cake in her house, acts as the responsible senpai, and shows off for them in battle. It's clear that she wants them to eventually become magical girls. And well, that's a bad thing, as clearly indicated by what happened to her in the end. Is she the snake offering the poisoned fruit? However, before she dies we see her backstory. She almost died in a car crash, only surviving because of her wish. However, her parents died and now she's trapped in a life where she has no time for friends or love because she's forced to constantly risk her life in battle. Is this a life worth living? Or is she just living out of stubbornness? Furthermore, when Madoka promises to join her as a magical girl, her facade appears to break and she cries with joy at the thought of finally having someone else in her life. While this could be good acting, it could also easily be her true self. And therein lies the answer. Mami was trying to trick the girls into accepting a terrible contract with a terrible price. She was sneaky and suspicious. But why? Not because wanted to kill them or turn them into witches to get more grief seed or anything horrific like that, but simply because she wanted friends. It was the only way she could ever possibly get friends in her current, aimless living-for-the-sake-of-living life. While she did truly want them to join her, she also knew it was a bad thing to do and so encouraged them to truly think about what they wanted. She was drawn in two directions: on one she wanted to protect her new friends, and on the other hand she wanted to keep them. If they chose to abandon the whole thing, surely they'd abandon her too? And then she'd be alone with the witches again. For the rest of her life, her life that was worth everything to her. And then, once she finally realizes and receives her true wish, the wish she would have wished for if she'd realized it back then, she loses the very thing she had ironically wasted her contractual wish on.