[Kogetsu Shirogane]

Seems it's my turn to reply to multiple updates. On the plus side, the lack of any Hopelessly Horrible Hurricanes should make things a little easier on me.

Spoiler for Ship's Log M-9, April 13:

... What? It's nautical!

Spoiler for Mostly Mirthful Maritime:

This one's going to be separated into two parts again. Though I'll give each a hint of a candy-theme to appease my sweet tooth.

First up is the "MamixMadoka 4Ever!" side of things, or as I'm going to call it...

Spoiler for Good Ship Lollipop:

Well things are looking up here, as Mami is willing to make amends with Homura. After which is an invitation to watch a television special.

Er... sorry about the shortness of this section. There's not exactly all that much to talk about here, as most of the Mami Romance side of this update is on a different seafaring vessel.

... and then the "Homura tries to steal Mami's girlfriend" side, which I think will most appropriately be named...

Spoiler for Nice Boat Sucker:

I've been wanting to do that for weeks... Unfortunately, as my timing was quite bad, everyone's already made their School Days remarks. Oh well, better late than never, I guess.

Anyway... first up is the result of Madoka actually accepting Homura's confession and leaving the Mami for whatever insane reason...

Spoiler for Three Hits:

Silly Madoka, you shouldn't feel anxious. After all, you're only breaking up with one of the most wonderful girlfriends anyone could ask for, all to be with some girl who "randomly" decided to flirt with you... Yeah, "Homura took it well," all right. I mean, it's not like you turned her down or anything.

Poor Mami... I don't think anyone could've taken that sort of thing well. Also unfortunate is the fact Sayaka couldn't exactly do much to comfort her... I really hope this was all worth it for Madoka. I mean, breaking Mami's heart, keeping secrets from her parents, rather blatantly losing a close friend in Sayaka... was it really worth all that? And Homura, you aren't helping matters... you really aren't.

Anyway, the scene with Madoka confronting Sayaka over her silence is kinda painful to read... though I'd imagine Mami's far worse off than I am...

Anyway, we've come to a split... however, I'm going to handle these backwards, as the names I picked out simply work better that way. So up first is M3B...

Spoiler for Not My Destroyer!:

And the pain just continues... you'd think Madoka would've taken a hint from that conversation instead of wanting to run to the girl whose meddling caused the problem in the first place.

Of course, Sayaka and Kamijo's words aren't the only pain Madoka feels in this ending, as she drew the attention... no, the ire, of a very familiar witch. Yes, Madoka! Yes, you're being punished! It took THIS for you to realize what you did was wrong?!

I have to say, the pink familiar was an utterly appropriate representation of how this Madoka really is at this point, right down to having a harem. Meanwhile, a silvery knight arrived to deliver Madoka's final punishment... but Homura arrived in time to save her little pink trophy from certain doom. Silly girls... there's no escape...

However, they did manage to make it to the witch in charge. Of course, they didn't make it close enough to actually do anything, as a certain armored argentine assailant had caught up to them while Homura was distracted with Madoka's arrow-induced injury...

Er... um... sorry about that... I think I got a little carried away for a moment there...

Anyway... I guess the only thing left is...

Spoiler for The Only Thing Left:

A trip on a

... followed by M3A

Spoiler for You Sunk My Battleship!:

Okay, I feel I have to say this... I find it rather deliciously ironic that Sayaka ended up calling Homura by the same nickname a certain Emperor used for her.

After which was the grim reveal of exactly what happened during the battle against Walpurgis Night... eesh... three major casualties and one serious, albeit recoverable, injury... all because Madoka just had to be with Homura...

Of course, what couldn't be healed was the friendship between Sayaka and Madoka. Or basically anything else regarding Madoka's emotional state.

Thus ends this romantic tragedy...

... And then Madoka staying faithful to Mami(or pretending to be)...

Spoiler for Two Misses:

This part... is relatively the same as Good Ship Lollipop, with the key differences being Mami trying to play footsie and the possibility of the player turning Madoka into a dirty stinking liar who couldn't be faithful to anyone if her life depended on it... I mean "the possibility of Madoka refusing the offer to watch the TV special." Yeah, that's what I meant.

That being said, the footsie thing was cute(certainly a lot better than it was in Three Hits), and the lie that Madoka-who-cheats came up with for not watching the television special is a rather typical problem for students, so it's believable... I don't quite think she realizes what she's doing, though. That Madoka's behavior is just asking for trouble.

Spoiler for Somewhat Smooth Sailing:

This side of thing starts with a sad reminder of Mami's past, both with her romantic issues, as well as her history with Kyouko. After which is a painful look into a possible future for the three, where Mami would become isolated once again due to Madoka and Sayaka being... hi Kyubey. What excellent timing you have. (As a side note, does Kotetsu have a brother? Because I think Sayaka may have an uncle named Ben. )

And boy, is Kyubey overly pushy here. "Hey girls, you know you want to drink this. I know you told me no several times already, but it's really good. It'll help take away all your problems, so have a drink. You may even be able to not have to rely on your friend here for protection, so just take the whole bottle!" Seriously... I have to applaud the girls for being able to keep their cool in that situation. (May I just point out you've done a far better job at making me totally pissed at Kyubey than the series proper ever did? It's not just here, mind you, but I figured I'd just point that out. Nice job on that. )

Anyway... thankfully Nanami wasn't home, otherwise Sayaka probably wouldn't have even had a chance to convince her father to support her. And she most likely would've gotten the third degree over being late. That's incredibly good luck, honestly.

The conversation between Sayaka and her father provided a rather... interesting look into her past. As if Nanami being rather blatantly against her being with another girl wasn't bad enough, Kotetsu is looking like a borderline neglectful father. Kinda wondering how much of that influenced her apparent interests... which reminds me, I kinda liked the baseball part. Nice little explanation for the bat she used for protection in episode 2.

At any rate, it seems as though Sayaka's persistence just might have paid off, so things may be looking up for her. However, there's one last thing I want to say before finishing...

it should be smooth sailing from here

I find the choice of words here rather amusing.

Spoiler for Ship's Log M-10, April 17:

Spoiler for Mostly Mirthful Maritime:

Now, I know it doesn't exactly match up with the previous chapter, but I'm going to keep the ships' names for this one, as it's easier on me. They'll be in the order that the two sections appear.

Spoiler for Nice Boat Sucker:

At the very least, cheater!Madoka's already showing signs of guilt, though she's doing a very good job of hiding it behind all the excitement over having a "wild evening" with, as Madoka put it, "the sexiest person she's ever met."

A neat description of Homura's home, both the exterior and especially the interior. I'd just like to point out Madoka's interest in the paintings Homura had and a comment she made certainly left me with a rather amusing mental image of her...

Of course, there was a far more interesting sight for Madoka to take in as she turned around to find Homura in an alluring outfit. Of course, this particular interesting sight was more of a hands-on display than the paintings. And lips-on. And "things that can't be mentioned"-on, if the end of this subsection is any indication...

Spoiler for Good Ship Lollipop:

Rather neat to see Mami paying close attention to random comments that pop up in conversations from both Madoka and Sayaka. Quite the attentive partner, she is.

I find it kinda funny that Madoka seems to share my opinion of social networking... and also the fact Twitter is still around decades in the future. I guess I should probably point out the humor with the not-so-subtle reference to the people behind the Fate/whatever series while I'm at it. And obviously the "Hirasawa" name makes me think of a certain other band...

Anyway... Mami getting Madoka to dance with her was cute, and I kinda like the thought of her becoming an idol, as she certainly seems to possess that type of vibe.

Of course, as we're coming to the home stretch, Walpurgis Night is fast approaching, so Madoka may sadly be left alone quite a bit in the forseeable future... and I've come to worry when that happens.

As a bit of a final note, it's rather amusing how the reason Junko lets Madoka off the hook can easily fit either section, despite the... "dancing" involved being different.

Spoiler for Somewhat Smooth Sailing:

An interesting look into things at the start. There's definitely some merit to what's being said about valuing things(or people) if there's a genuine chance of losing them... er... wait, that's not actually the point of this, now is it?

I really liked the date in the park here... though I can't help but find the two guys to be oddly familiar... hm... anyway, this was a very amusing use of ice cream. I wonder, is "Sayaka" Madoka's new favorite flavor?

Also, I couldn't help but laugh at Sayaka wanting to make sure the guys "get good pictures." And at Madoka's insistance at pointing out it was only one cone!

And the end of the Madoka narration takes us from something cold and creamy in the park to something hot and steamy in Mami's apartment. While I'd probably question how soon they reached that point in their relationship under normal circumstances, I think it makes perfect sense here.

Alas, it seems as though the troubles with Sayaka's parents aren't the only issues that will come up, as a certain emperor has arrived with his usual theatrical flair, and has once again taken out the cavalry, so to speak. The last time he showed up, the entire world was changed with a single wish from Madoka.

Will Sayaka allow her girlfriend (and potential future wife) to make the same mistake she did in Alliance? Will Kotetsu be able to talk Nanami into accepting Sayaka and Madoka's relationship? Will Kogetsu be able to reply in a more timely manner? We'll find out the answers to at least one of these questions... Next time, on Madoka Magica: Pure Pink Pretty Lovers! (What? )

Anyway... Nice job on the updates. And I'm sorry it took so long to respond to Chapter 9...