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Seihai · 2011-02-11, 09:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by ninryu

HOLLY SHIT! Best mahou shoujo since Nanoha ever!

Spoiler for ep 6:

Homura mentioned Walpurgisnacht, as in Walpurgis Night. This: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walpurgis_Night It's pretty self-explanatory I think.

The MGs aren't the soul gems, they're a part of it. Soul gem (soul) + person (body) = Magical Girl.

The voice in the preview was from Kyubei and Hitomi, Madoka's and Sayaka's friend. And I really doubt Mami is still alive. Even if she was, she's trapped in the witch dimension forever, as was indicated by Homura before. And if she will return, it will probably be as a witch in case the MG -> witch theory applies.

gammon029 · 2011-02-11, 09:37

Just watched ep 6. Wow. Just wow.

From all the little hints that we've been given is it safe to assume Homura is a time traveler and her ability is to stop time in short bursts? Hence the the teleporting we are seeing? Episode 5 had the frozen water and Homura reflected in the frozen drop still moving.

If time travel is possible in this show via a wish...wow so many story possibilities.

Here's a theory. If Homura is a time traveler and the reason for her coming back was to prevent Madoka from making a contract, is future Madoka dead? If a MG loses her body can you recover their soul gem and run like hell to preserve them? Could Homura possibly possess future Madkoa's Soul gem? What happens if she gives present Madoka the soul gem of future Madoka? OMG this episode answers so few questions and creates many more.

Also a lot of people are saying Mami cannot be revived because she kept her gem on her head. I'm looking through past episodes and I cannot find the gem in any of the shots. I know Kyouko and Sayaka have their gems extremely visible but I can't find Mami's

felix · 2011-02-11, 09:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by ninryu

Kyuubey said the even if Mahou Shoujo's body is destroyed she would still survive in the Soul Gem. Does that mean Mami is still alive? We heard her in the preview after all.

Wasn't her hole body eaten? meaning the soul gem too. *memory is fuzzy*

Azuma Denton · 2011-02-11, 09:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by felix

Wasn't her hole body eaten? meaning the soul gem too. *memory is fuzzy*

No we dont know yet...
Maybe it still exist or maybe it really is eaten...
Anyway next episode will gives more hint about this since eps 6 ends in a cliffhanger...

felix · 2011-02-11, 09:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by gammon029

Could Homura possibly possess future Madkoa's Soul gem? What happens if she gives present Madoka the soul gem of future Madoka?

That would explain the opening sequence…

Dark Wing · 2011-02-11, 09:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by gammon029

Also a lot of people are saying Mami cannot be revived because she kept her gem on her head. I'm looking through past episodes and I cannot find the gem in any of the shots. I know Kyouko and Sayaka have their gems extremely visible but I can't find Mami's

Remember the Soul Gems change shape after the Magical Girl transforms. Kyouko's is around her neck while Sayaka's in on her bellybutton. If you go back to episode one when first transforms and look at the ornament in her hair that she Soul Gem taking on a new form.

HitoriTomoyo · 2011-02-11, 09:50

I love how there's still clamorings of "Kyuubey's EVIL!!!1!" when there has been over ten pages of quality debate over where Kyuubey stands on the moral scale.

Personally it's pretty hard to color him purely evil (maybe relatively evil but not wholly) when his morals are simply different from the rest of the Puella Magi; his logic overwhelms his emotions and he's doing what he believes is best to help out the Puella Magi serve their function more effectively.

I really hope they explain the reason as to why Kyuubey consumes/stores the collected Grief Seeds; call it biased, but what use is a collection of stored curses to a Magical Contractor other than the potential to use it for malicious purposes?

I still think Sayaka's a dead character; it's only a matter of time. I'm wondering how Kyoko and Walpurgisnacht will play out, especially if Madoka somehow manages to tag along.

Also, I love how everyone broke down Homura's character after this episode; I've seen instances of people claiming the quality of the writing is inconsistent given that Homura failed to capitalize on one of her largest advantages by sharing all of the negative consequences attached to being a Puella Magi with Madoka, but keep in mind that this is Urobuchi writing here; I'm sure there's a reason for everything that's occured so far.

tl;dr: The last ten pages or so in my own words. Totally looking forward to Walpurgisnacht now.

Spoiler:

Seihai · 2011-02-11, 09:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by garbage

for me it's bad writing and will only lessen my liking for this show, i don't want that to happen, since i think this is one of the better shows currently showing.

Fair enough. And it depends on what is questioned >for me<. In the case of why only minors or why only girls, the show doesn't need to answer that. As you say, it's one of the better shows so far and >not< solving those questions doesn't make me feel like something's missing. I'd consider it extra service if it was explained though.

Quote:

Sorry, I'm apologizing in advance. I don't want to diss or insult you in any way. but i really can't get what your trying to say here. it's kinda ambiguous. might be due to how the sentences were formed. I hold though that it is significant because it will highlight or further illustrate QB's intent and motivations. And also the workings of the Mahou Shoujo in their universe. And yes I would consider it a plothole if it's not tackled in the following episodes.

It's fine, I know my English (third language) isn't the best either.

Let's just say in my opinion not everything needs to have an explanation. That is, as long as the events and outcomes wouldn't be severely affected >if< said questions were to be explained.

Quote:

well for all intents and purposes Homura seems to be mature enough. definitely the most mature in how she handles situations among the girls. But it's irrelevant. as i've said it's mature enough during the contract "signing." how do you know that she was like this from the beginning? she might have matured along the way. The impression she gives is that she has been doing this for a long time already, she has seen a lot of other MS. could be she has matured along the way. As for kyoko, well her actions speak for themselves.
still by their looks they were young when they got the contract, it's just that as one poster said it just might be they don't age anymore being zombies and all.

You got a point. However I personally believe in the time travel theory which would mean Homura already experienced a lot even before she turned into an MG herself.

Dark Wing · 2011-02-11, 09:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by HitoriTomoyo

Spoiler:

Amnesia? Nah, I'd Sayaka would think it was more of a black out and she just came too.

Genten · 2011-02-11, 10:00

Here we go again.

Spoiler for Episode 6:

I have to face plam at Madoka here. I mean, what did you think 'Soul Gem' meant? It's pretty much all there in the manual that you're not supposed to throw it and smash it on the highway. It was pure luck that it bounced on a truck and great luck that Homura has the power of a jumper. Despite not knowing what the specifics of the Soul Gem might be, with a name like that you'd think to take good care of it.

Another episode where not much happened. The show seems to be focusing more on world building than advancing the plot forward. I suppose that's okay since we still have six episodes left.

One nitpick I have it, why did the translators decide to go with Walpurgisnachst instead of Walpurgis Night? The latter is much easier to read and understand than the former, which just looks incredibly awkward.

But on to the actual episode. So we get more background on how Soul Gems and Grief Seeds work. Kyubey can cleanse Soul Gems, I believe, by eating the Grief Seeds. However, I can only assume this ability is limited or has a serious catch or Puella Magi would have no reason to hunt witches. It's not too surprising, in hind sight, that Kyubey can do this: there was probably a safety net for magical girls that couldn't collect Grief Seeds. It's interesting that Witches are attracted to very dirty Soul Gems: is it a process in the eventual downfall in the magical girl? Do the Witches become stronger by feeding off the dirtiness of a Soul Gem?

And what dirties a Soul Gem, anyway? Is it the energy the magical girl uses fighting or is does it collect dirtiness by being out in the world of the Puella Magi in the first place? I'm inclined towards the latter, actually, more than the former. Kyubey states that, when someone makes a contract with him, he rips out the soul and crystalizes it in a Soul Gem. A soul itself is usually considered very pure. Ripped out of the host, it is exposed to the dirtiness of the world. This would mean that, by default, Soul Gems become dirty. This would force a magical girl to continously fight witches to cleanse it least she suffer some horrible fate.

The most interesting part of the episode was when Kyoko found out about the truth of a Soul Gem. Obviously, this is one of the many things that contractors do not tell Puella Magi right off the bat. They wait until the girls are literally cornered and cannot escape from this fate before telling them. It isn't something contractors are so willy nilly to give out, it seems, so I wondered if it were possible that magical girls themselves, when battling with each other, could target these gems? I don't know if that would be possible or not as Kyoko, who seemed very eager to get rid of Sayaka, was horrified at the very thought of someone dying by losing their Soul Gem. It is terrfying, in a sense. Maybe I should make a post on what makes Magical Madoka so scary. . .

And thus begins Sayaka's trials as a character in this show. I'm inclined to believe that Homura's VA was right and that we'll see some serious obstacles come Sayaka's way although there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm wondering if fanart of her will explode after this XD

daimonth · 2011-02-11, 10:16

Homura's lack of information might stem from the fact that if she revealed too much information of mahou shoujos plight, Madoka might choose to become one to save them (or herself). If you look back to the dream sequence in episode 1, Kyubey was trying to lure Madoka into contract by saying things along the line of "Isn't it too cruel to let her bear it all by herself?" and that Madoka can change the future of destruction.

The best bet for Homura was to kill Kyubey before she met the girls.
After Kyubey meet up with Mami, Madoka and Sayaka, having them learning about mahou shoujo's world is inevitable unless she were to prevent things with force, though that might cause a contract anyways. Add to the fact that Homura seem to want to avoid confrontation directly at that point, the only thing left to do is to tag along and capitalize on things that Madoka already knew.

Seihai · 2011-02-11, 10:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Genten

Here we go again.

Spoiler for Episode 6:

I think Madoka acted according to her mom's advice. What she did is facepalm worthy but the outcome matters. No, not that Sayaka died; that she lived and that she >hopefully< understands how important it is to Madoka that they shouldn't resort to killing each other off.

I thought the overall story developed pretty well, actually.

The subs I watched translated it as "Walpurgis Night" but Walpurgisnacht is just as correct. It's the German term for it and it's one of the countries that celebrated it in past history. (not sure about today lol)

Hmm.... · 2011-02-11, 10:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vanish

I think Madoka acted according to her mom's advice. What she did is facepalm worthy but the outcome matters. No, not that Sayaka died; that she lived and that she >hopefully< understands how important it is to Madoka that they shouldn't resort to killing each other off.

IMO it is more likely that Sayaka will think Madoka was trying to fuck with her, creating more rift between them.

Qikz · 2011-02-11, 10:33

Oh my god when Sayaka fell down I almost lost all the will to watch this show. Oh god was that a roller coaster ride. I can't believe what Kyuubei has done and I wanted Kyouko to just stab him right there and then. This further stregnthens my Madoka being a Mahou Shoujou inside herself and not needing to contract with Kyuubei to show her true power. Damn, what an amazing anime.

garbage · 2011-02-11, 10:33

yes really weird way of interpreting her mom's advice ^^
the silver lining though is that QB was forced to cough up some information s/he/it would not have volunteered. so good outcome (hopefully no lasting damage like amnesia to sayaka, tho for me it looks more like just a simple "huh? why am i on the ground and everyone's all around looking at me?" thing at the end)

Seihai · 2011-02-11, 10:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hmm....

IMO it is more likely that Sayaka will think Madoka was trying to fuck with her, creating more rift between them.

It is, yeah. That's why I was emphasizing on the hopefully.

So for all we know, Madoka's mom's advice might just stretch further in the sense that Madoka will keep making 'mistakes' and Sayaka might take note of the good intent too late.

~Yami~ · 2011-02-11, 11:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by felix

Wasn't her hole body eaten? meaning the soul gem too. *memory is fuzzy*

just check in ep 3.... there is a scene shows that Mami's soul gem has broken to pieces with blood.....

DragoZERO · 2011-02-11, 11:32

Holy shit!! That was awesome! Everything was just.... awesome.

Could you imagine if that gem ended up getting run over. For a while there I thought something was going to happen to it and she'd end up dying. That would have crushed Madoka.

Now then.... why did Mami die!? Where was her gem when she transformed... hmmm... have to look into this.

J the Drafter · 2011-02-11, 11:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by ~Yami~

just check in ep 3.... there is a scene shows that Mami's soul gem has broken to pieces with blood.....

That was a teacup. It was a callback to Mami's habit of summoning tea from nowhere after winning her fights.

bigdeath · 2011-02-11, 11:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by J the Drafter

That was a teacup. It was a callback to Mami's habit of summoning tea from nowhere after winning her fights.

Since magical girl bodies are dead, mami having her head bitten off shouldn't have mattered one bit. On the other hand, her tea cup seems to have represented her soul gem. Broken tea cup = destroyed soul.

Also, since magic comes from a humans soul, once the soul gem is destroyed then theres nothing left to be restored hence why the dead can't be brought back to life but living humans can have their bodies healed by a wish.

View Poll Results: Madoka Magica - Episode 06 Rating
Perfect 10	96	56.47%
9 out of 10 : Excellent	58	34.12%
8 out of 10 : Very Good	10	5.88%
7 out of 10 : Good	6	3.53%
6 out of 10 : Average	0	0%
5 out of 10 : Below Average	0	0%
4 out of 10 : Poor	0	0%
3 out of 10 : Bad	0	0%
2 out of 10 : Very Bad	0	0%
1 out of 10 : Painful	0	0%
Voters: 170. You may not vote on this poll

2011-02-11, 09:50	Link #247
HitoriTomoyo Tomoe Mami Fan Join Date: Sep 2010	I love how there's still clamorings of "Kyuubey's EVIL!!!1!" when there has been over ten pages of quality debate over where Kyuubey stands on the moral scale. Personally it's pretty hard to color him purely evil (maybe relatively evil but not wholly) when his morals are simply different from the rest of the Puella Magi; his logic overwhelms his emotions and he's doing what he believes is best to help out the Puella Magi serve their function more effectively. I really hope they explain the reason as to why Kyuubey consumes/stores the collected Grief Seeds; call it biased, but what use is a collection of stored curses to a Magical Contractor other than the potential to use it for malicious purposes? I still think Sayaka's a dead character; it's only a matter of time. I'm wondering how Kyoko and Walpurgisnacht will play out, especially if Madoka somehow manages to tag along. Also, I love how everyone broke down Homura's character after this episode; I've seen instances of people claiming the quality of the writing is inconsistent given that Homura failed to capitalize on one of her largest advantages by sharing all of the negative consequences attached to being a Puella Magi with Madoka, but keep in mind that this is Urobuchi writing here; I'm sure there's a reason for everything that's occured so far. tl;dr: The last ten pages or so in my own words. Totally looking forward to Walpurgisnacht now. Spoiler: I'm surprised that there was barely any attention paid to Sayaka's last statement in this episode; no hypotheses claiming that the Soul Gem incident has given Sayaka amnesia? Also I know I'm over-thinking matters, but IIRC, Homura's eye color is pretty similar, if not the same as Madoka's Mother (got me speculating like an idiot after that brief close-up). That would be pretty interesting though I'm pretty sure its all an uneducated guess anything. __________________ TOMOE MAMI FOREVER <3

2011-02-11, 10:00	Link #250
Genten has a custom user title Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: In a Mitten Age: 29	Here we go again. Spoiler for Episode 6: I have to face plam at Madoka here. I mean, what did you think 'Soul Gem' meant? It's pretty much all there in the manual that you're not supposed to throw it and smash it on the highway. It was pure luck that it bounced on a truck and great luck that Homura has the power of a jumper. Despite not knowing what the specifics of the Soul Gem might be, with a name like that you'd think to take good care of it. Another episode where not much happened. The show seems to be focusing more on world building than advancing the plot forward. I suppose that's okay since we still have six episodes left. One nitpick I have it, why did the translators decide to go with Walpurgisnachst instead of Walpurgis Night? The latter is much easier to read and understand than the former, which just looks incredibly awkward. But on to the actual episode. So we get more background on how Soul Gems and Grief Seeds work. Kyubey can cleanse Soul Gems, I believe, by eating the Grief Seeds. However, I can only assume this ability is limited or has a serious catch or Puella Magi would have no reason to hunt witches. It's not too surprising, in hind sight, that Kyubey can do this: there was probably a safety net for magical girls that couldn't collect Grief Seeds. It's interesting that Witches are attracted to very dirty Soul Gems: is it a process in the eventual downfall in the magical girl? Do the Witches become stronger by feeding off the dirtiness of a Soul Gem? And what dirties a Soul Gem, anyway? Is it the energy the magical girl uses fighting or is does it collect dirtiness by being out in the world of the Puella Magi in the first place? I'm inclined towards the latter, actually, more than the former. Kyubey states that, when someone makes a contract with him, he rips out the soul and crystalizes it in a Soul Gem. A soul itself is usually considered very pure. Ripped out of the host, it is exposed to the dirtiness of the world. This would mean that, by default, Soul Gems become dirty. This would force a magical girl to continously fight witches to cleanse it least she suffer some horrible fate. The most interesting part of the episode was when Kyoko found out about the truth of a Soul Gem. Obviously, this is one of the many things that contractors do not tell Puella Magi right off the bat. They wait until the girls are literally cornered and cannot escape from this fate before telling them. It isn't something contractors are so willy nilly to give out, it seems, so I wondered if it were possible that magical girls themselves, when battling with each other, could target these gems? I don't know if that would be possible or not as Kyoko, who seemed very eager to get rid of Sayaka, was horrified at the very thought of someone dying by losing their Soul Gem. It is terrfying, in a sense. Maybe I should make a post on what makes Magical Madoka so scary. . . And thus begins Sayaka's trials as a character in this show. I'm inclined to believe that Homura's VA was right and that we'll see some serious obstacles come Sayaka's way although there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm wondering if fanart of her will explode after this XD __________________

2011-02-11, 11:32	Link #258
DragoZERO Spoilaphobic Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Age: 37	Holy shit!! That was awesome! Everything was just.... awesome. Could you imagine if that gem ended up getting run over. For a while there I thought something was going to happen to it and she'd end up dying. That would have crushed Madoka. Now then.... why did Mami die!? Where was her gem when she transformed... hmmm... have to look into this. __________________ • Anime List \| Manga List \| Manga Thread Template •

2011-02-11, 09:37	Link #242
gammon029 Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2011	Just watched ep 6. Wow. Just wow. From all the little hints that we've been given is it safe to assume Homura is a time traveler and her ability is to stop time in short bursts? Hence the the teleporting we are seeing? Episode 5 had the frozen water and Homura reflected in the frozen drop still moving. If time travel is possible in this show via a wish...wow so many story possibilities. Here's a theory. If Homura is a time traveler and the reason for her coming back was to prevent Madoka from making a contract, is future Madoka dead? If a MG loses her body can you recover their soul gem and run like hell to preserve them? Could Homura possibly possess future Madkoa's Soul gem? What happens if she gives present Madoka the soul gem of future Madoka? OMG this episode answers so few questions and creates many more. Also a lot of people are saying Mami cannot be revived because she kept her gem on her head. I'm looking through past episodes and I cannot find the gem in any of the shots. I know Kyouko and Sayaka have their gems extremely visible but I can't find Mami's

2011-02-11, 10:16	Link #251
daimonth Kohaku Law Firm Join Date: Dec 2003	Homura's lack of information might stem from the fact that if she revealed too much information of mahou shoujos plight, Madoka might choose to become one to save them (or herself). If you look back to the dream sequence in episode 1, Kyubey was trying to lure Madoka into contract by saying things along the line of "Isn't it too cruel to let her bear it all by herself?" and that Madoka can change the future of destruction. The best bet for Homura was to kill Kyubey before she met the girls. After Kyubey meet up with Mami, Madoka and Sayaka, having them learning about mahou shoujo's world is inevitable unless she were to prevent things with force, though that might cause a contract anyways. Add to the fact that Homura seem to want to avoid confrontation directly at that point, the only thing left to do is to tag along and capitalize on things that Madoka already knew.

2011-02-11, 10:33	Link #254
Qikz Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Age: 33	Oh my god when Sayaka fell down I almost lost all the will to watch this show. Oh god was that a roller coaster ride. I can't believe what Kyuubei has done and I wanted Kyouko to just stab him right there and then. This further stregnthens my Madoka being a Mahou Shoujou inside herself and not needing to contract with Kyuubei to show her true power. Damn, what an amazing anime.

2011-02-11, 10:33	Link #255
garbage Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2011	yes really weird way of interpreting her mom's advice ^^ the silver lining though is that QB was forced to cough up some information s/he/it would not have volunteered. so good outcome (hopefully no lasting damage like amnesia to sayaka, tho for me it looks more like just a simple "huh? why am i on the ground and everyone's all around looking at me?" thing at the end)