Madoka Magica - Movie 3 Spoilers and Speculations

[woxx]

Originally Posted by FierceAlchemist

I would assume so since we haven't been given a reason to believe that's not the case. The Homuverse seems similar to the Madoverse in most respects except Nagisa, Sayaka, and Madoka are alive, Homura controls the Incubators, and there are familiars everywhere. What has changed about the Law of Cycles is left unclear but it seems to be working.

Homu's universe looks more like fake Mitakihara - Homura's witch barrier in the rest of the movie (Clara dolls are playing around and everyone thinks it's normal, Madoka lost her memories like it was there too). But Homura is all powerful and it's entire world not just one town.

Law of cycles can't work as it was before, becase Madoka personally was coming to every magical girl.
It maybe doesn't need to work, because as I said the world is some kind of vague dream.

[Monoriu]

Originally Posted by woxx

Homu's universe looks more like fake Mitakihara - Homura's witch barrier in the rest of the movie (Clara dolls are playing around and everyone thinks it's normal, Madoka lost her memories like it was there too). But Homura is all powerful and it's entire world not just one town.

Law of cycles can't work as it was before, becase Madoka personally was coming to every magical girl.
It maybe doesn't need to work, because as I said the world is some kind of vague dream.

But Homura isn't a witch. So her "devil's barrier" probably function differently than a witch barrier. At this moment we know practically nothing about how a devil's barrier function. Maybe it is all a dream. Maybe it affects reality.

[AuraTwilight]

Originally Posted by Kazu-kun

True. Although Homura could be using the energy from the Maju to pay for that. That's the energy that QB was using to fight back entropy in previews universes, but Homura probably doesn't give a damn about that. In her world, entropy is probably left alone. That could be the only real problem of Homu's world.

But who cares about entropy?

With the way Kyubey talks about the Wraiths, I highly doubt they an pay for removing death from the universe as a concept. Holy hell, that would LITERALLY solve the entropy problem because it basically means perfecting energy-consumption at a universal level or just...undoing a need to spend energy to perform work.

The logistics of this are so astronomical that it would've certainly come up in some form because it'd make the world very unrecognizeable. I can't really entertain this as a serious possibility.

Let's not forget that even in the Madoverse a good number of magical girls just died and didn't go to heaven with Madoka. She only took the ones who fell into despair, not the ones who were outright killed in battle

Citation needed.

I mean it's a logical conclusion but it's not exactly a solidly confirmed thing and isn't really in line with Madoka's MO.

And "it's outside of the bounds of her wish/duty/whatever" isn't a valid argument because the same applies to her providing an afterlife at all.

Re:Sayaka and Nagisa are happier with Homura's world over Madoka's:

Uh...YEA, after rewriting their memories and thus their emotions because emotions are basically our responses to experiences. Their demonstrating happiness or satisfaction with the Homuverse is completely and utterly meaningless because it was decided for them. The same applies to Madoka's speech in Homura's Dream World. It doesn't mean anything because it wasn't the thoughts or feelings of an informed Madoka with a clear perspective on the issue Homura was alluding to.

It's the same as going back in time to before you married your soulmate, and describing them second-hand to your past self. Now imagine the time-traveler doesn't really get along with your future spouse, and it comes through in the conversation and gives you a bad impression of that person.

"Well, don't worry. I really can't see myself with someone like that. I mean, those faults sound pretty damning."

Homura's conversation with Madoka emphasized all the bad parts of Madoka's sacrifice without describing a single good thing that came as a result of it and Sayaka's and Nagisa's content with her universe only comes when she ERASES THEIR MEMORIES OF THE PREVIOUS ONE.

All of this is complete bull.

It's also worth noting that in Homura's soul gem, Sayaka was the one who said that the witch who made the barrier wasn't so bad and suggest staying in this place.

Sayaka also had an agenda of dissuading Homura from murdering witches purely on principle of their being witches, and that desiring to see Madoka again even if it means giving up the fight against the Wraith isn't a sinful emotion.

You know, that plan of hers to get Homura to accept going with Madoka so that her soul could be saved, a possibility which is completely antithetical to how Homura behaves in the final act of the film? Yea.

It's not the ideal situation because they're dead. They fell into despair in life and exist now as part of the Law of Cycles. Better than just dying and much better than being a witch, but certainly not ideal. Why wouldn't they want to be alive again, especially since Sayaka was never able to be friends/lovers with Kyoko the way she wanted to be. Not saying they're both happy with Homura's actions, but she has given them a happiness in life that they could never have had before.

I know they're fictional scenarios and all but it's not really your place to decide the ideal scenario for other people. That's why things like what Homura did is generally regarded as extremely invasive in Lotus Eater Machine scenarios.

Also, what's so bad about being dead when you're in heaven? Kyoko would've been coming up to be with her eventually. Time isn't even an issue because Madoka is atemporal. She could be with Dead!Kyoko literally seconds after they get Homura, it doesn't matter.

Also, Sayaka literally has been characterized as content with throwing her normal life away for the sake of being a protector of justice and the innocent. She literally felt constantly guilty about being blessed and priviledged above other people who have it worse than her. She is seriously the last person besides Madoka herself who would turn away from the Law of Cycles even if you offered her a perfect life. The very idea that she might prefer it over what she had with Madoka strikes me as utterly preposterous.

[Monoriu]

Originally Posted by AuraTwilight

Re:Sayaka and Nagisa are happier with Homura's world over Madoka's:

Uh...YEA, after rewriting their memories and thus their emotions because emotions are basically our responses to experiences.

We don't know if Homura rewrote Nagisa's memory. It is possible that she didn't, because she didn't need to. Homura only rewrote Sayaka's memories when Sayaka protested and attempted to summon Oktavia. If Nagisa is perfectly happy with coming back to life, there is no need for Homura to do anything. Nagisa is a kid. It is unlikely that anybody will believe a kid making a claim that the universe is covered in a devil's barrier. Especially if reality doesn't seem like hell.

I think the primary problem with the Madokami world isn't that magical girls die and go to heaven. The main problem is that the incubators are left alone to plan their next scheme, as the first half of the movie demonstrated. If left alone, the incubators will try to return the world to the old witch system, and they may succeed in their next attempt. Homura's biggest achievement is that she now has the incubators under control. So that there is no chance of going back to the witch system.

[woxx]

Originally Posted by Monoriu

But Homura isn't a witch. So her "devil's barrier" probably function differently than a witch barrier. At this moment we know practically nothing about how a devil's barrier function. Maybe it is all a dream. Maybe it affects reality.

Homura was actually a witch who became godlike. Well, new world and Mitakihara barrier look very similar anyway.
It's definitely not all dream. It's like reality was changed to a dream (Homura's barrier). There are a lot references to Nutcracker ballet, and something similar happened there too.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

That's possible, yeah. It's all speculation until/unless we get a continuation, of course.

I really don't expect we will ever get continuation of it.

[ultimate_noob]

^ Expect a prequel with entirely different characters that ties together with Rebellion.

[Kazu-kun]

Originally Posted by AuraTwilight

With the way Kyubey talks about the Wraiths, I highly doubt they an pay for removing death from the universe as a concept.

The Maju were a good source of energy. QB's methods to get that energy were inefficient.

Originally Posted by AuraTwilight

Holy hell, that would LITERALLY solve the entropy problem because it basically means perfecting energy-consumption at a universal level or just...undoing a need to spend energy to perform work.

I don't think so. Cells degrade and die because they're programed to do so, not because they have to. It's not the same as totally removing entropy, which is a logical consequence of any closed system.

Originally Posted by AuraTwilight

I can't really entertain this as a serious possibility.

I don't know if she's using that energy to stop death, but I think it's pretty obvious she's using it to fuel her world somehow.

[FierceAlchemist]

Originally Posted by AuraTwilight

Citation needed.

I mean it's a logical conclusion but it's not exactly a solidly confirmed thing and isn't really in line with Madoka's MO.

And "it's outside of the bounds of her wish/duty/whatever" isn't a valid argument because the same applies to her providing an afterlife at all.

Let's remember that her wish was about destroying witches before they were born, not saving all magical girls no matter the circumstances. Saying it's outside the bounds of her wish does make sense because she hasn't really made an afterlife. I agree with this post from the Madoka wiki that talks about how Madoka absorbs magical girls into herself when she takes their despair. During the fight with Homulilly, Kyubey even asks Sayaka "So then you guys are also The Law of Cycles?" http://wiki.puella-magi.net/The_Rebe....27s_Afterlife

"Rebellion actually clarifies the nature of Madoka's afterlife. It's not some separate dimension, it's Madoka herself.

Consider what Madoka does to a Soul Gem in episode 12. She places her hands over a Soul Gem, the corruption inside of it is drained away, and finally the Soul Gem vanishes. Rebellion makes it clear that the corruption and the Soul Gem does not disappear. Rather, Madoka absorbs them both into herself.

As seen in Rebellion, witches are born from inside the Soul Gem. When Madoka absorbs a Soul Gem's corruption, she is absorbing the unborn witch. Similarly, by absorbing the Soul Gem, she absorbs the magical girl's soul. One might say that the magical girls and witches are now in Madoka's own soul, similar to how Homura's pulled people into her own Soul Gem in Rebellion.

Thus when Madoka entered Homura's barrier, she basically split Sayaka and Nagisa from herself. She also split Oktavia, Charlotte and the familiars from herself too. Technically, Oktavia and Charlotte are now part of Sayaka and Nagisa, the same way that all of them were part of Madoka.

Interestingly, at the end of the movie, Madoka is split from the Law of Cycles. Homura claims that this Madoka is a piece of the Law of Cycles - the part that was Madoka before she became a concept. One could say that in order to escape Homura, the Law of Cycles separated Madoka from itself the same way it split Sayaka and Nagisa from itself. (This would make Madoka an "angel", similar to Sayaka and Nagisa.)"

[Monoriu]

Originally Posted by ultimate_noob

^ Expect a prequel with entirely different characters that ties together with Rebellion.

The following is pure speculation, but I think we'll get another continuation. It is obvious from the movie ending that they want to continue the story. But whatever we get will be the finale in the Madoka/Homura story. Madoka "won" and got her way in the TV series. Likewise, Homura "won" in Rebellion. So far their story is about them entering into a seemingly endless loop of "A sacrifices herself for B, B doesn't accept A's decision and sacrifices herself to save A, A then does the same for B, repeat". The third story will (hopefully) finally reach some sort of balance where both of them are somewhat satisfied. So far the story is a huge success, and I think they don't want to risk tarnishing that legacy by endlessly dragging the story on. So next time will be the real end.

That said, the world is probably big enough now for other characters to take over the centre stage at some point. My guess is that the 4th (!) installment will feature a new cast.

[woxx]

Originally Posted by Monoriu

The following is pure speculation, but I think we'll get another continuation. It is obvious from the movie ending that they want to continue the story. But whatever we get will be the finale in the Madoka/Homura story. Madoka "won" and got her way in the TV series. Likewise, Homura "won" in Rebellion. So far their story is about them entering into a seemingly endless loop of "A sacrifices herself for B, B doesn't accept A's decision and sacrifices herself to save A, A then does the same for B, repeat". The third story will (hopefully) finally reach some sort of balance where both of them are somewhat satisfied. So far the story is a huge success, and I think they don't want to risk tarnishing that legacy by endlessly dragging the story on. So next time will be the real end.

That said, the world is probably big enough now for other characters to take over the centre stage at some point. My guess is that the 4th (!) installment will feature a new cast.

They announced Rebellion as the end of movie trilogy. Otherwise they would put some new trailer in the end(same as Rebellion trailer after Eternal) or atleast announce something right after premier. I don't think they will say something like "sorry it's not the end and we need one more movie to finish it".
Next installment should be new.
Or (no joking) they can really end it with slice of life comedy.

[AuraTwilight]

We don't know if Homura rewrote Nagisa's memory. It is possible that she didn't, because she didn't need to. Homura only rewrote Sayaka's memories when Sayaka protested and attempted to summon Oktavia. If Nagisa is perfectly happy with coming back to life, there is no need for Homura to do anything. Nagisa is a kid. It is unlikely that anybody will believe a kid making a claim that the universe is covered in a devil's barrier. Especially if reality doesn't seem like hell.

I got the opposite impression; that everyone's memories were written by default and Sayaka showed a significantly impressive attempt at holding onto them.

Regardless, Nagisa is so empty of characterization that she's not useful to either side of the argument for exactly this sort of problem. That's why I basically focused on Sayaka and Madoka.

I think the primary problem with the Madokami world isn't that magical girls die and go to heaven. The main problem is that the incubators are left alone to plan their next scheme, as the first half of the movie demonstrated. If left alone, the incubators will try to return the world to the old witch system, and they may succeed in their next attempt. Homura's biggest achievement is that she now has the incubators under control. So that there is no chance of going back to the witch system.

That's not entirely true; they never so much as contemplated it until Homura opened her big dumb mouth. I don't know what the hell she was thinking but it's basically her fault they had any ability to formulate any sort of reasonable plan to do anything to Madokami's set-up. It worked for the entirety of human history up until that point.

Basically Puella Magi is the story of Homura cocking up everything mirite.

Homura was actually a witch who became godlike. Well, new world and Mitakihara barrier look very similar anyway.
It's definitely not all dream. It's like reality was changed to a dream (Homura's barrier). There are a lot references to Nutcracker ballet, and something similar happened there too.

Kyubey and Homura both proclaim that she is neither a Witch nor a Magical Girl. She's a new entity.

The Maju were a good source of energy. QB's methods to get that energy were inefficient.

Even if Kyubey's methods were 100% efficient, like....enough death to remove death from everything ever?

And if death doesn't exist in this world then how come Madoka's family doesn't include her ump-teen generation grandparents or whatever? Does everyone ship their old people to a super-commune or did the death-not-applying thing only apply recently and how did this not blow the shit out of everyone's minds?

It raises more questions and problems than it can ever hope to solve, and it doesn't seem thematically appropriate for Homura to attempt such a change.

I don't think so. Cells degrade and die because they're programed to do so, not because they have to. It's not the same as totally removing entropy, which is a logical consequence of any closed system.

Okay except even if cells are never programmed to degrade and die, they can still be destroyed by external factors, such as lack of energy, or solar radiation, or telomeres degrading because they can only divide so many times before data starts being lost, etc.

And where the hell is all the energy coming from? Do people only eat for fun in Homuverse? Does the same go for sleep? Is everyone performing constant photosynthesis or what?

This idea is preposterous. It makes the setting entirely unrecognizable for little pay-off.

I don't know if she's using that energy to stop death, but I think it's pretty obvious she's using it to fuel her world somehow.

Right, but that could mean anything because, as I've complained, her world has so little development we don't know what is required to maintain it. We don't know what the differences are beyond memory-swaps and Madoka not being a god, we don't know how it stands on a moral or ethical level beyond violating Madoka's freedom of choice, and we don't know what Homura and her familiars need to do in order to keep these changes extant.

I mean, the imagery and characterizations of everything in that scene seems to imply that this world is very fragile and precarious in its stability but what is actually required beyond cooldown hugging Madoka? The setting has, in my mind, become much more hollow and empty as it becomes even more of an excuse-plot backdrop for the HomuMado drama.

Which may entirely be the point. But it's still bothersome because then it's not fundamentally different from Homura's Witch Barrier. The movie had no resolution.

Let's remember that her wish was about destroying witches before they were born, not saving all magical girls no matter the circumstances. Saying it's outside the bounds of her wish does make sense because she hasn't really made an afterlife. I agree with this post from the Madoka wiki that talks about how Madoka absorbs magical girls into herself when she takes their despair. During the fight with Homulilly, Kyubey even asks Sayaka "So then you guys are also The Law of Cycles?" http://wiki.puella-magi.net/The_Rebe....27s_Afterlife

"Rebellion actually clarifies the nature of Madoka's afterlife. It's not some separate dimension, it's Madoka herself.

Consider what Madoka does to a Soul Gem in episode 12. She places her hands over a Soul Gem, the corruption inside of it is drained away, and finally the Soul Gem vanishes. Rebellion makes it clear that the corruption and the Soul Gem does not disappear. Rather, Madoka absorbs them both into herself.

As seen in Rebellion, witches are born from inside the Soul Gem. When Madoka absorbs a Soul Gem's corruption, she is absorbing the unborn witch. Similarly, by absorbing the Soul Gem, she absorbs the magical girl's soul. One might say that the magical girls and witches are now in Madoka's own soul, similar to how Homura's pulled people into her own Soul Gem in Rebellion.

Thus when Madoka entered Homura's barrier, she basically split Sayaka and Nagisa from herself. She also split Oktavia, Charlotte and the familiars from herself too. Technically, Oktavia and Charlotte are now part of Sayaka and Nagisa, the same way that all of them were part of Madoka.

I'm aware. The point I was making is that none of this is necessary. She could just 'poot' them away into nothingness. She doesn't even seem to need to harvest them SPECIFICALLY, because Sayaka and co. can access memories of worlds Madokami didn't exist in, and Madoka herself spoke to Mami and Kyouko before her Ascension, and that scene can really mean a lot of things but that, plus the way Madokami is described, seems to imply that being collected by her is an inevitability.

It just seems to be a matter of whether you leave a corpse behind or not, to me. It just doesn't seem thematically appropriate for Madoka not to collect girls who die of other means because otherwise she's not becoming their Hope like she vowed to. Their situations and destinies were not changed by her wish.

That is fundamentally unacceptable given the narrative important of her wishing on behalf of all Magical Girls in all times and universes. To me, anyway.

Interestingly, at the end of the movie, Madoka is split from the Law of Cycles. Homura claims that this Madoka is a piece of the Law of Cycles - the part that was Madoka before she became a concept. One could say that in order to escape Homura, the Law of Cycles separated Madoka from itself the same way it split Sayaka and Nagisa from itself. (This would make Madoka an "angel", similar to Sayaka and Nagisa.)"

Indeed. I've kicked around the idea of all the other 'angels' aside from Mado/Saya/Nagisa are trying to run things without their Goddess, but if it's otherwise working fine then why does Madoka 'need' to go back?

If the Law of Cycles functions perfectly well without the Madoka component, then what will morally compel her to reintegrate with it? If there's no noticeable depreciation in her absence, then there is no appreciable gain, making it a truly worthless sacrifice. The kind that Madoka vowed to Homura she would never make. The kind the anime taught her never to consider.

The following is pure speculation, but I think we'll get another continuation. It is obvious from the movie ending that they want to continue the story. But whatever we get will be the finale in the Madoka/Homura story. Madoka "won" and got her way in the TV series. Likewise, Homura "won" in Rebellion. So far their story is about them entering into a seemingly endless loop of "A sacrifices herself for B, B doesn't accept A's decision and sacrifices herself to save A, A then does the same for B, repeat". The third story will (hopefully) finally reach some sort of balance where both of them are somewhat satisfied. So far the story is a huge success, and I think they don't want to risk tarnishing that legacy by endlessly dragging the story on. So next time will be the real end.

That said, the world is probably big enough now for other characters to take over the centre stage at some point. My guess is that the 4th (!) installment will feature a new cast.

Agreed. The narrative would be best satisfied by the two coming to some sort of compromise, and then the franchise needs to move the hell on.

Seriously, I am not interested in watching an escalating cosmic reality-warping arms race between emotionally unstable lesbians who keep retconning the memories and characters of everyone in the universe for their own personal benefit.

[Sol Falling]

Originally Posted by AuraTwilight

I mean, the imagery and characterizations of everything in that scene seems to imply that this world is very fragile and precarious in its stability but what is actually required beyond cooldown hugging Madoka? The setting has, in my mind, become much more hollow and empty as it becomes even more of an excuse-plot backdrop for the HomuMado drama.

Which may entirely be the point. But it's still bothersome because then it's not fundamentally different from Homura's Witch Barrier. The movie had no resolution.

But that may itself be entirely the point as well. Leaving the setting open and conflict unresolved opens the door for some other author to come in and continue the Madoka Magica story. I don't see any problem with that. The function of the movie is basically to set a compelling stage of possibility for further expansion of the world and characters.

Agreed. The narrative would be best satisfied by the two coming to some sort of compromise, and then the franchise needs to move the hell on.

Seriously, I am not interested in watching an escalating cosmic reality-warping arms race between emotionally unstable lesbians who keep retconning the memories and characters of everyone in the universe for their own personal benefit.

Personally, with both Madoka and Homura now ascended to godhood, I can't help but see the opportunity of beginning a whole new story where they have faded into the background and become part of the series lore. In my mind, rather than having Homura and Madoka become direct actors in the resolution of their conflict any longer, this would be the best way to capitalize on the affection for their characters which has been established.

Imagine something like this: Homura's world is never (externally) challenged, and she manages to keep Madoka in a world of blissful ordinariness for the full span of a normal life. Her purpose fulfilled, lost and without meaning, Homura locks both Madoka and herself up somewhere to sleep in nothingness while the world ticks on with all its idiosyncracies/instabilities.

The sequel then involves a wholly new cast (with some connection to the old; perhaps having known and met Sayaka, Mami, or Kyouko) realizing that something is wrong and investigating the nature of the new world they live in. Eventually, they manage to reach the locations of Homura and Madoka, and come to understand their past. The new cast/heroine then manages to provide a resolution/snap Homura out of her helplessness with a solution which stabilizes the world, restores Madoka's will, and helps fulfill Homura's feelings. A particular development which helps make this resolution possible might be the (perhaps by this point faded) understanding/dominion Homura obtained over the Incubators, one of the more significant developments of the resolution of this movie.

[AuraTwilight]

But that may itself be entirely the point as well. Leaving the setting open and conflict unresolved opens the door for some other author to come in and continue the Madoka Magica story. I don't see any problem with that. The function of the movie is basically to set a compelling stage of possibility for further expansion of the world and characters.

There's a difference between "No resolution" and "Leaving a cliffhanger." The movie raised a problem, apparently solved it, then went back to the same problem. That makes the entire movie filler.

Homura starts the movie off upset about Madoka's sacrifice to the point that she creates an entire world in her head where Madoka doesn't sacrifice.

By the end of the movie, we're still on that square, despite loop-de-looping around.

It kind of figures that Homura Akemi, of all people, just revolves constantly without advancing in any way. It'd be brilliant if it didn't piss me off to no end.

Personally, with both Madoka and Homura now ascended to godhood, I can't help but see the opportunity of beginning a whole new story where they have faded into the background and become part of the series lore. In my mind, rather than having Homura and Madoka become direct actors in the resolution of their conflict any longer, this would be the best way to capitalize on the affection for their characters which has been established.

Imagine something like this: Homura's world is never (externally) challenged, and she manages to keep Madoka in a world of blissful ordinariness for the full span of a normal life. Her purpose fulfilled, lost and without meaning, Homura locks both Madoka and herself up somewhere to sleep in nothingness while the world ticks on with all its idiosyncracies/instabilities.

The sequel then involves a wholly new cast (with some connection to the old; perhaps having known and met Sayaka, Mami, or Kyouko) realizing that something is wrong and investigating the nature of the new world they live in. Eventually, they manage to reach the locations of Homura and Madoka, and come to understand their past. The new cast/heroine then manages to provide a resolution/snap Homura out of her helplessness with a solution which stabilizes the world, restores Madoka's will, and helps fulfill Homura's feelings. A particular development which helps make this resolution possible might be the (perhaps by this point faded) understanding/dominion Homura obtained over the Incubators, one of the more significant developments of the resolution of this movie.

Eh...that's not exactly "putting Homura and Madoka into the backround and focusing on a new cast", but it would still be a good follow-up. I'd prefer for the Madoka/Homura thing to be totally tied up satisfactorily, then have completely unrelated characters do stuff that never connects back to the original five, because we have this whole huge setting and focusing on Madoka's pentragram of social links is starting to get kind of tedious.

[Monoriu]

Originally Posted by AuraTwilight

Agreed. The narrative would be best satisfied by the two coming to some sort of compromise, and then the franchise needs to move the hell on.

Seriously, I am not interested in watching an escalating cosmic reality-warping arms race between emotionally unstable lesbians who keep retconning the memories and characters of everyone in the universe for their own personal benefit.

Oooo, but I am very interested in seeing more of this couple. Any moment they are together is heartwarming. They are absolutely adorable, of the diabetes-inducing variety [insert sweet picture here]. Despite engaging in a pseudo-war of cosmic proportions over opposite ideologies, they never actually lift a finger against the other, and always have the other's best interest at heart. They take good care of their friends, and are remarkably reasonable, well-intentioned and self-restrained in exercising/abusing their god-powers.

I love it that, on the surface, Homura takes the initiative and tries to be the protector. But upon closer examination, any moment they are alone together, it is Madoka who glomps, hugs and grabs Homura; while Homura is the shy one, blushing by herself and waiting for Madoka to make a move. Their relationship isn’t one-sided or just Homura trying to gain Madoka for herself. To say that Madoka is a willing partner is an understatement. They have restarted their relationship from scratch under different scenarios countless times. They always accept each other no matter what. In other words, they are fated to be soulmates.

I’ve seen some poll in Japan that they are voted the best yuri couple in anime history, and they got like 3 times as many votes as the couple in second place. I can’t wait to see more of them [insert more pictures of sweetness here.]

[Vegard Aune]

Originally Posted by woxx

They announced Rebellion as the end of movie trilogy. Otherwise they would put some new trailer in the end(same as Rebellion trailer after Eternal) or atleast announce something right after premier. I don't think they will say something like "sorry it's not the end and we need one more movie to finish it".
Next installment should be new.
Or (no joking) they can really end it with slice of life comedy.

Well here's the thing though: The movie ended the way it did so as to leave the door open for more sequels. This is not speculation, Word of God confirmed it pretty much immediately after the movie came out. Plus there is again that thing about how the movie provides frustratingly little clear information about what the deal is with Homura's world... which could be excusable in that maybe they just want to leave it open to interpretation, (The movie certainly has spurred quite a lot of different theories) but then there's again all the very unsubtle signs that there's still more story to be told still left in the movie. While I struggle to see how they can keep the momentum of the story going for another movie or series now that both of the main characters are essentially omnipotent (though Madoka isn't consciously aware of this), I doubt that this is the last we'll ever see of Madoka and Homura.

[AuraTwilight]

Originally Posted by Monoriu

Oooo, but I am very interested in seeing more of this couple. Any moment they are together is heartwarming. They are absolutely adorable, of the diabetes-inducing variety [insert sweet picture here]. Despite engaging in a pseudo-war of cosmic proportions over opposite ideologies, they never actually lift a finger against the other, and always have the other's best interest at heart. They take good care of their friends, and are remarkably reasonable, well-intentioned and self-restrained in exercising/abusing their god-powers.

I love it that, on the surface, Homura takes the initiative and tries to be the protector. But upon closer examination, any moment they are alone together, it is Madoka who glomps, hugs and grabs Homura; while Homura is the shy one, blushing by herself and waiting for Madoka to make a move. Their relationship isn’t one-sided or just Homura trying to gain Madoka for herself. To say that Madoka is a willing partner is an understatement. They have restarted their relationship from scratch under different scenarios countless times. They always accept each other no matter what. In other words, they are fated to be soulmates.

I’ve seen some poll in Japan that they are voted the best yuri couple in anime history, and they got like 3 times as many votes as the couple in second place. I can’t wait to see more of them [insert more pictures of sweetness here.]

Don't care. You can have all of that without the two of them constantly rewriting the universe, IE furthering their own characterization by constantly stunting everyone else's.

At this point they are both rapidly escalating to Mary Sue status because the entire setting LITERALLY revolves around them, with less and less meaningful justification or tether to the surrounding world.

They might as well leave the universe entirely at this point and just snuggle in the Ascension-Celebration Party Room Dimension that Homura's seen twice now.

...

Btw can that be the official fandom name for that space? I like it.

[Monoriu]

Originally Posted by AuraTwilight

Don't care. You can have all of that without the two of them constantly rewriting the universe, IE furthering their own characterization by constantly stunting everyone else's.

At this point they are both rapidly escalating to Mary Sue status because the entire setting LITERALLY revolves around them, with less and less meaningful justification or tether to the surrounding world.

They might as well leave the universe entirely at this point and just snuggle in the Ascension-Celebration Party Room Dimension that Homura's seen twice now.

...

Btw can that be the official fandom name for that space? I like it.

My rough and unscientific impression is that Sayaka probably had more lines and screen time than Homura in the TV series. Episodes 4-8 focused on Sayaka. Homura only had episodes 10-12. 5:3 in Sayaka's favour.

Madoka is a short series. 12 episodes and 1 movie, basically. Even so, the other 3 main magical girls and QB are pretty very well developed in the TV series, I think.

Agree that the movie focused on Homura and the others didn't have much to do. But there is probably not enough time to give too much screentime to the other girls in a, what, 100 minute movie. Nagisa's characterisation is perhaps too weak, which is a common (and valid) complaint against the movie.

Who knows what will happen next. The way the movie ended, there seems a distinct possibility that Sayaka will be the main protagonist in the next story. She seems set up to be the one who is equipped to overthrow Homura.

[AuraTwilight]

My rough and unscientific impression is that Sayaka probably had more lines and screen time than Homura in the TV series. Episodes 4-8 focused on Sayaka. Homura only had episodes 10-12. 5:3 in Sayaka's favour.

Doesn't change the fact that Homura pretty much ran the narrative behind the scenes and the true story was all about her and Madoka.

But you're right, the original anime was more balanced on this...which is why the movie really bugs me for not maintaining that. I mean, hell, you could practically write the movie without Kyouko in it and maybe suffer all of...the bus stop scene?

Agree that the movie focused on Homura and the others didn't have much to do. But there is probably not enough time to give too much screentime to the other girls in a, what, 100 minute movie. Nagisa's characterisation is perhaps too weak, which is a common (and valid) complaint against the movie.

I'd really like to step into an alternate universe to see what Rebellion would be like if it had been a second anime season like Urobuchi considered in a very early draft.

By the way, Ascension-Celebration Party Room Dimension.

[Vegard Aune]

Originally Posted by AuraTwilight

...Ascension-Celebration Party Room Dimension...

...

Btw can that be the official fandom name for that space? I like it.

I wholeheartedly support this suggestion.

[Monoriu]

Originally Posted by AuraTwilight

Doesn't change the fact that Homura pretty much ran the narrative behind the scenes and the true story was all about her and Madoka.

I don't have a problem with that. Especially since I am a Homura fan

Originally Posted by AuraTwilight

But you're right, the original anime was more balanced on this...which is why the movie really bugs me for not maintaining that. I mean, hell, you could practically write the movie without Kyouko in it and maybe suffer all of...the bus stop scene?

I am sorta ok with the treatment of Kyoko, Mami and Madoka. They all had reasonable screentime. Obviously the TV series had more space to develop their characters. The movie is more about Homura's one-girl show. What I really have a problem with is Nagisa. She is a new character. She really needs more back story and characterisation than running around proclaiming her love for cheese.

Originally Posted by AuraTwilight

I'd really like to step into an alternate universe to see what Rebellion would be like if it had been a second anime season like Urobuchi considered in a very early draft.

There are pros and cons. The movie already feels a little bit dragged out during the first half. There really isn't enough story for 12 episodes, especially if they want to keep the quality up. We also get much better visuals with the movie format. Having said that, I do hope we get a TV series next time. More time to develop any new characters, more story for all the girls, and worldbuilding. We desperately need more info about the new world under Homura.