Madoka Magica - General Discussion

[Random Wanderer]

Originally Posted by Decagon

Anyone think the intro sets up the possibility for the story to be cyclical? Like at the end someone's wish resets a lot of things and the story ends as it begins.

Some folks seem to have theorized that so much that they're already taking that as written.

Yeah, and what we got was that Unlimited Musket Works!

Why do people almost always call Gates of Babylon images "Unlimted (whatever) Works"? UBW may be more famous, but the two don't look anything alike.

Yes, I was immediately reminded of Natsuki too... but I feel that there's a significant difference: Natsuki was angry and getting ready for a fight. Homura _has_ fought and lost. She's clearly a victim, and her current efforts seem to make most sense to me under the assumption that she and Madoka were _very very_ close in the past, made an important promise, and at the moment Homura is trying to prevent Madoka from becoming a magical girl. But not as a solution to her situation, but to protect Madoka from becoming involved.

True, the comparison isn't perfect, but I feel it's a much closer comparison than anything from Nanoha is. I think people keep bringing up Nanoha just because it's a more recent well-known magical girl series.

I like your view on Homura's motivations, although it seems to depend on there already having been some manner of time travel involved. I do agree that her warning to Madoka was truly meant AS a warning to Madoka: "Stay out of this. Live your life. Just be who you are, or you will lose everything that you treasure."

[Dralha]

Nice kickoff to the Winter season.

Strong Nanoha vibes, with an animation style that puts me in mind of Saikano. Great OP and BGM. Interesting architecture/setting. Lots of good weird stuff going on to hook me in.

[Proto]

Originally Posted by Malkuth

That's also what I thought. Plus she has that creepy look, especially her eyes ... even when drawn for promotional art.

From my perspective I thought that by the end there'd be something like 3 conflicting groups, with our protagonists belonging to the well intentioned extremist group or something.

[Endscape]

Just caught the first episode, and I'm quite liking it. The animation's pretty good and the trippy images were fun. I detected a Nanoha vibe in it as well which I liked. All in all, I have high hopes for this anime.

Also, 2 things. That school of theirs is quite fancy isn't it? Again, when the blond girl came in with the muskets I thought 'Gate of Babylon' and then the image just before it fired made me think 'danmaku' and Touhou for some reason. Is it just me?

[Random Wanderer]

Originally Posted by Endscape

and then the image just before it fired made me think 'danmaku' and Touhou for some reason. Is it just me?

I can see it. Heck, I could see ZUN making a character that used a summoned swarm of muskets to attack.

[tsunade666]

I just finished episode 1. And its really nice and it's really nice that I know who's the staff behind it or it may end up a pretty twisted mahou shoujo for me. Pretty creepy and pretty heavy atmosphere for your typical mahou shoujo and they even said they would make it a happy theme..... nice I don't see that one when the creepy cotton bud butterfly monster with scissor shows up. Then hell bullet by musket! Kyube graze dodge the bullet attack too.

I'm liking this series. A LOT

[NaweG]

Originally Posted by Wilfriback

Too cute to be good?
Yeah, I have the same feeling, scary/creepy, isn't?

But I want her to be bad... very bad... maybe even waifu type bad

I know, I should know better than to marry the crazy, but given I don't do well with boredom...

[Starks]

Sayaka's role in the episode is very confusing and pretty much extraneous.

Madoka could've been by herself and then the SZS OP interrupts and prevents Homura from finishing off Kyube.

[Master_Yoma]

Not to bad of a show but it did kick off slow

The mom is not a morning person

[Himeji]

Originally Posted by RedWing

square faces should go back to the 90's where they belong.

Quoted for truth! Those faces are awful and a very bad design decision
The pencil marks in the eyes also look totally out of place
Somehow doesn't fit in with the generally beautiful backgrounds.

Other than that, Madoka's desing is well done, with those white kneesocks which make for a dangerous zettai ryouiki and the cute twintail. If only this wasn't marred by that awful chunky face

Spoiler for ep. 1 (with screenshots):

Well, this was certainly interesting. That trippy dreamworld she was in towards the end somehow looked like a Japanese version of Monthy Python's Flying Circus

About Madoka's school, it surprised me how *huge* that thing is
It didn't look any scary or threatening to me, just built in a very modern style which uses lots of glass.

Yuri transformation scene at the beginning. Some uttered the unfounded claim that it's her later self, but that doesn't make any sense to me.


Big stitch of Madoka:


Nice Yuri scene where Miki is fondling Madoka and stating her intentions to marry her


Evil witch Homura, the main villain of the show. She's a villain because:
- she is fought by Mami. Anyone who is fought by Mami is a villain by default
- she summoned those freaky creatures in that dreamworld who ganged up on Madoka and friends, before they're shot to pieces by Mami's Unlimited Musketworks attack.
- she tried to scare Madoka away from becoming a magical girl, so she would have less magical girls fighting her.
- good girls/guys don't try to kill cute, fluffy animals.


Mami's Unlimited Musketworks attack:


More lovely twintail Mami

[Nina.Wolken]

Originally Posted by Himeji

Evil witch Homura　[...]
- she summoned those freaky creatures in that dreamworld who ganged up on Madoka and friends[...]

No she didn't. The "witch" she is after and whom Mami mentioned did.
There is also a possibility that Mami set everything herself to distract Homura and appear to save Madoka and Sayaka to gain them to her cause.

Spoiler for A bit more of it:

->Those chains are everywhere when Madoka barge in to "save" Kyubey, which lead to think that Mami was waiting for her here and everything was planed beforehand. Also, she could have stop the "attack" at any time, but did it only once Homura had been separated from them and at the most critical moment. Trying to appear as their saviour? Put them in confiance? Probably...

[Random Wanderer]

Originally Posted by Himeji

Evil witch Homura, the main villain of the show. She's a villain because:...

- she summoned those freaky creatures in that dreamworld who ganged up on Madoka and friends, before they're shot to pieces by Mami's Unlimited Musketworks attack.

She did not! It's rather clear when you watch the scene that she wasn't expecting that to happen then any more than Madoka and Sayaka. She knew what it was (even though we viewers don't yet), but she didn't cause it.

EDIT: Ninja'd, but I stand by my indignant response.

[Himeji]

Originally Posted by Nina.Wolken

No she didn't. The "witch" she is after and whom Mami mentioned did.

I got the impression that Mami meant her when she spoke of a witch... anyway, at least she works for the witch then and got the task from her to kill Kyuubee, to prevent any further magical girls from meddling with the witch's plans.

[tsunade666]

I think she just want to stop Kyuube from meeting up with Madoka so her fate wouldn't change. Homura isn't bad.

[Random Wanderer]

Her reaction to the shift into the bizarro world was one of surprise. She was not expecting it. Something else caused it. I don't know how her comment was translated in the version you saw, but I have heard that exact phrase many times in anime, and it often translates as "at a time like this." That freakishness is part what magical girls like her and Mami are supposed to be fighting. Her comment is because it interrupted her at the time when she's trying to chase down Kyubey.

She's an antagonist, that's not in question, but she did not unleash those things on the girls.

[tsunade666]

The enemy as of right now isn't clear yet. And I can't say that she's an antagonist yet just from that. She had her reasons. In the beginning with the bizarre dream world. She is fighting alone. And Maybe she just doesn't want someone close to her get involved.

If you read mentar's post. I agree with him. He pointed out all the points that will lead that Homura isn't all that bad. She is only acting like that because of a reason. Now mami here. What is she doing their? only a coincidence? but I don't saw her as an enemy but what is she doing their to begin with?

[Random Wanderer]

An antagonist is anyone who sets themselves against a protagonist. In the first season of Nanoha, Fate was an antagonist, even though we know she was a mostly-innocent victim. In the first episode of Mai-HiME, Natsuki was an antagonist, although she got over that fairly quickly in the episodes that followed. Having reasons for what you're doing doesn't prevent you from being an antagonist. Nor does being an antagonist prevent you from becoming one of the heroes.

Homura has set herself against the protagonist(s?), and so she is at the moment an antagonist. That doesn't make her an enemy, nor does it make her evil. It is simply a term for the way things are.

[Himeji]

Originally Posted by Random Wanderer

She's an antagonist, that's not in question, but she did not unleash those things on the girls.

We can't say for sure, as we didn't see who summoned those freaky creatures. She would have a good reason to do it: she was hunting down Kyuubee and trying to kill her. Then the other girls appear and save Kyuubee. Homura is annoyed by that and either summons those creatures herself, or asks the witch for support which comes in the form of the creatures, so they deal with the girls and she can continue with her task to kill Kyuubee.

[Proto]

What she said when those creatures appeared would seem to tell us that she was more annoyed than anything when they appeared.

[Random Wanderer]

Originally Posted by Himeji

We can't say for sure, as we didn't see who summoned those freaky creatures. She would have a good reason to do it: she was hunting down Kyuubee and trying to kill her. Then the other girls appear and save Kyuubee. Homura is annoyed by that and either summons those creatures herself, or asks the witch for support which comes in the form of the creatures, so they deal with the girls and she can continue with her task to kill Kyuubee.

...You kind of ignored the rest of my post, where I explained how her reaction is not one of someone who was expecting that event.