Madoka Magica - General Discussion

[Triple_R]

Up through the first 9 episodes of this anime, Sayaka was my favorite character in it.

After Episodes 10 through 12, that's a tougher call for me (largely due to how my take on both Madoka and Homura improved considerably after these episodes).

Still, I like Sayaka a lot, and I really dislike all the hate that she receives.

[Suzuku]

Looks like Evangelion's animation director has some harsh words for Madoka's staff.

http://yaraon.blog109.fc2.com/blog-entry-1649.html

They really want Eva to keep it's spot at the top lol. That arrogance makes me want Madoka to out-sale Eva.

[ThereminVox]

In a way, Sayaka's story is the secondary plot line; the one which compliments Madoka's.

In the beginning, they're both the Normals who act as the audience's stand-ins so to receive the early series exposition. From there, their paths diverge, with Sayaka's greatly influencing Madoka's decisions both at the time and in the finale. At the end, both of their arcs are definitively concluded, while the other characters' stories may or may not continue on.

Sayaka, like Madoka has her full story told by the end of the anime, and gets the closure she deserves. Her story also feels more like a classical fairy tale, albeit a bittersweet one.

[Dr. Casey]

Yeah, in the end Sayaka probably receives more hate than any other character. Madoka herself was probably the most often bashed for most of the series' run (There was even an online hate letter at some blog directed at her, lol), but after the finale she's finally getting the credit she deserved all along. The Church of Madoka is the best religion ever.

Though I guess it's kind of fitting that someone like Sayaka gets a hard time in real life, also, given how good she is at attracting tragedy. Poor girl just can't catch a break.

Looks like Evangelion's animation director has some harsh words for Madoka's staff.

http://yaraon.blog109.fc2.com/blog-entry-1649.html

They really want Eva to keep it's spot at the top lol. That arrogance makes me want Madoka to out-sale Eva.

nie;dr (Not in English; didn't read)

I'm pretty sure that whatever the Eva animation director said was dumb, though, whatever it was.

[Akashin]

Originally Posted by Dr. Casey

nie;dr (Not in English; didn't read)

I'm pretty sure that whatever the Eva animation director said was dumb, though, whatever it was.

Meh, I ran it through a crappy Google translate and winged it. Didn't get much from such a bad translation, but got the general impression of self-importance that I expected. Anything I might have gathered from a proper translation probably doesn't have anything intellectual to say anyway, so whatever.

[applejuice]

Originally Posted by Suzuku

Looks like Evangelion's animation director has some harsh words for Madoka's staff.

http://yaraon.blog109.fc2.com/blog-entry-1649.html

They really want Eva to keep it's spot at the top lol. That arrogance makes me want Madoka to out-sale Eva.

I think he is just annoyed by the fact that 'MAI GODLY EVAEVA' is being compared with magical girl animu. Of course, this is only helping Madoka for advertisement.

[Key Board]

This is what he says

Has Madoka surpassed Evangelion? Well that's not too bad.
It would be troublesome if a relic of the past remains at the top forever (refering to Evangelion)

I do have one thing to say to the staff, however

Do no confuse the quality of the show and the quality of your actual merits

So keep on focusing on what you do next, okay? (

so what he's probably saying is the show itself was good, but it was not because of the staff. Since he is the photography director I am sure he is referring to the technical aspects of the show )

It's not as hostile and you make it to be. This is why you should NEVER react to sensationalist headings right away

[sa547]

^
Thanks for clarifying. I thought they're repeating history in which Tomino was said to have organized a "Death to Eva" party after he thought it was a threat to his Gundam franchise (I think this was in the Notenki Chronicles).

Ah, well... I'm planning a crossover fic.

[Key Board]

I think it's more likely for a Type Moon crossover to happen

Gen and Nasu are rivals / friends

[Akashin]

Originally Posted by Key Board

I think it's more likely for a Type Moon crossover to happen

Gen and Nasu are rivals / friends

...Huh.

While I don't see Witches and Puella Magi fitting into the Nasuverse easily, it definitely sound possible. And amazingly appealing.

[Archon_Wing]

Maybe they'd feel compelled to try for Eva Rebuild 3.0 now, rather than just banking on the name.

It's gonna take a lot more to upstage Evangelion, regardless.

[applejuice]

Oh wow. This is from the person who went to Fukushima for the recovery of 1st reactor, aka Kami-kaze.

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20...8-zdn_mkt-soci

そこで各キャリアの通信設備の復旧状況を調べてみると、NTTドコモは福島第一原発と宿舎になっているとい う福島第二原発でサービスが復旧しているようだ（4月22日時点、auとソフトバンクはギリギリ復旧してい ないように見える）。

「これはいける」ということで、求人に応募。復旧に貢献できるだけでなく、守秘義務に反さないレベルで現地 の情報も伝えられるし、政府や東京電力の発表が本当なのかどうかも確かめられるので、メディア的にも意義が あるだろう。

もちろん放射線には気を付けないといけないが、復旧に当たる作業員の死者は出ていないようなの で、
そこまで危ない仕事ではないと“筆者は”判断した。
『魔法少女まどか☆マギカ』の最終回も見たので、後顧の憂いもない。

Can't translate all, but the last bit says;

Since I watched the last episodes of 'Mahou Shoujo Madoka☆Magica', I don't need to worry over the future.

EDITED:

Originally Posted by Key Board

Gen and Nasu are rivals / friends

They are friends, but not rival. Nasu is suppose to be great fan of Urobuchi, and it is more of one-sided. Urobuchi said he like Nasu's concept and fan of nasu-verse, but seemed he doesn't like Nasu's writing style at all.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Up through the first 9 episodes of this anime, Sayaka was my favorite character in it.

After Episodes 10 through 12, that's a tougher call for me (largely due to how my take on both Madoka and Homura improved considerably after these episodes).

Still, I like Sayaka a lot, and I really dislike all the hate that she receives.

However, fans of Sayaka, are the best fans. There are a lot of fan-made products posted in Sayaka thread that is just amazingly good.

[Dawnstorm]

Originally Posted by Key Board

so what he's probably saying is the show itself was good, but it was not because of the staff. Since he is the photography director I am sure he is referring to the technical aspects of the show

Sounds like a well-intentioned warning from someone who either believed himself or saw other people believe the hype around a groundbreaking show and forget that in the industry you're only as good as your last effort. Rather than criticising the staff, I think he's sharing an experience.

[Kagayaki]

Originally Posted by applejuice

Oh wow. This is from the person who went to Fukushima for the recovery of 1st reactor, aka Kami-kaze.

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20...8-zdn_mkt-soci


Can't translate all, but the last bit says;

That guy is my hero.

Originally Posted by applejuice

EDITED:

They are friends, but not rival. Nasu is suppose to be great fan of Urobuchi, and it is more of one-sided. Urobuchi said he like Nasu's concept and fan of nasu-verse, but seemed he doesn't like Nasu's writing style at all.

What, you mean Urobuchi doesn't like mollusk metaphors?

If Gen wrote Fate/Zero, we can have Nasu write some kind of Madoka spinoff, right? It would be amusing.

[sa547]

Just read this off from the PMMM Livejournal comm:
http://madokamagica.livejournal.com/43282.html

Does Gen watches Dr. Who? Calling Homura Dr. WHOMura made sense.

[Guardian Enzo]

LOL, I just blog reviewed the premiere of Season 32 of Doctor Who - and I missed that little homage. I don't tend to believe anything is a coincidence where Gen-san is concerned.

[applejuice]

Originally Posted by Key Board

This is what he says

Has Madoka surpassed Evangelion? Well that's not too bad.
It would be troublesome if a relic of the past remains at the top forever (refering to Evangelion)

I do have one thing to say to the staff, however

Do no confuse the quality of the show and the quality of your actual merits

So keep on focusing on what you do next, okay? (

so what he's probably saying is the show itself was good, but it was not because of the staff. Since he is the photography director I am sure he is referring to the technical aspects of the show )

It's not as hostile and you make it to be. This is why you should NEVER react to sensationalist headings right away

The problem is this is not the only history he said about staffs of Shaft... He once said, 'Since it is impossible to direct consecutive works with Shinbo's credit, he must be only giving the name without actually involving'. That's absolutely biased, since there were proof by other staff's tweet about how Shinbo works extremely fast and efficiently.

Another problem is that nuance of Suzuki Jun is showing sort of 'superiority' and looking down Director Shinbo.

[Shadow5YA]

There is an interesting afterword written by Urobuchi Gen at the end of the first volume his previous work, Fate/Zero. I think it hints at the kind of story he wanted to write for Madoka.

Spoiler for "Fate/Zero vol1 postface, taken from BT:

Urobuchi Gen wants to write stories that can warm people's hearts.

Those who knew about my creative history would probably furrow their brows and think this is a cold joke. Actually, I couldn't completely believe it, either. Because when I start typing out words on the keyboard, the stories my brain comes up with are always full of madness and despair.

In fact, I wasn't like this before. I've often written pieces that didn't have a perfect ending, but by the last chapter the protagonist would still possess a belief that 'Although there will be many hardships to come, I still have to hold on'.

But from I don't know when, I can no longer write works like this.

I am full of hatred towards men's so-called happiness, and had to push the characters I poured my heart out to create into the abyss of tragedy.

For all things in the world, if we just leave them alone and pay them no attention, they are bound to advance in a negative direction.

Just like no matter what we do we can't stop the universe from getting colder. It is only a world that is created through a compilation of 'progresses of common sense'; it can never escape the bondage of its physical laws.

Therefore, in order to write a perfect ending for a story you have to twist the laws of cause and effect, reverse black and white, and even possess a power to move in the opposite direction from the rule of the universe. Only a heavenly and chaste soul that can sing carols of praise towards humanity can save the story. To write a story with a perfect ending is a double challenge to the author's body and soul.
Urobuchi Gen had lost that power. It still hasn't recovered. The 'tragedy syndrome' is still continuing within me. Is this a terminal disease? Should I give up on the pure 'warrior of love' that I've longed for? Ascend a pallid battle steed and reincarnate into a dispenser of this virus... Could it be that I can only create pieces that give men courage and hope in my next life? (When I wrote this, I wrote 'courage' as 'lingering ghosts'. Could this be because of using 'ime' - Ah, I wrote 'ime' as 'hatred' -are there no chances of recovery for me?)

[brocko]

Dunno if this is the right place to post this but,

It seems like they went and bought out a full page newspaper ad for Madoka's final two episodes.
http://zepy.momotato.com/2011/04/20/...nt-on-yomiuri/

The last time i recall something like this happening was back in 07 for Haruhi season 2. But even then Haruhi was still a little more on the funny side of things since they didn't show anything until some years later... =/
http://www.moetron.com/2007/07/07/ha...ement-9pm-jst/

Has there been any other instances like this since then and now? Buying a whole newspaper page isn't exactly trivial business per say.

[Akashin]

Originally Posted by Shadow5YA

There is an interesting afterword written by Urobuchi Gen at the end of the first volume his previous work, Fate/Zero. I think it hints at the kind of story he wanted to write for Madoka.

Spoiler for "Fate/Zero vol1 postface, taken from BT:

Urobuchi Gen wants to write stories that can warm people's hearts.

Those who knew about my creative history would probably furrow their brows and think this is a cold joke. Actually, I couldn't completely believe it, either. Because when I start typing out words on the keyboard, the stories my brain comes up with are always full of madness and despair.

In fact, I wasn't like this before. I've often written pieces that didn't have a perfect ending, but by the last chapter the protagonist would still possess a belief that 'Although there will be many hardships to come, I still have to hold on'.

But from I don't know when, I can no longer write works like this.

I am full of hatred towards men's so-called happiness, and had to push the characters I poured my heart out to create into the abyss of tragedy.

For all things in the world, if we just leave them alone and pay them no attention, they are bound to advance in a negative direction.

Just like no matter what we do we can't stop the universe from getting colder. It is only a world that is created through a compilation of 'progresses of common sense'; it can never escape the bondage of its physical laws.

Therefore, in order to write a perfect ending for a story you have to twist the laws of cause and effect, reverse black and white, and even possess a power to move in the opposite direction from the rule of the universe. Only a heavenly and chaste soul that can sing carols of praise towards humanity can save the story. To write a story with a perfect ending is a double challenge to the author's body and soul.
Urobuchi Gen had lost that power. It still hasn't recovered. The 'tragedy syndrome' is still continuing within me. Is this a terminal disease? Should I give up on the pure 'warrior of love' that I've longed for? Ascend a pallid battle steed and reincarnate into a dispenser of this virus... Could it be that I can only create pieces that give men courage and hope in my next life? (When I wrote this, I wrote 'courage' as 'lingering ghosts'. Could this be because of using 'ime' - Ah, I wrote 'ime' as 'hatred' -are there no chances of recovery for me?)

That was actually really interesting. And his beliefs of how a perfect ending must be achieved (whether they're right or not) sort of translated into Madoka, I noticed; the idea of needing to turn universal laws on their head, that is. Of course Madoka made that a literal concept, but the point remains. And that he was so passionate about trying to write a heartwarming story took me by surprise; I assumed it was just a case of treading new waters, as evidenced by the fact that this series is still knee deep in the tragedy he is known for. That he was that dedicated to writing something different is really cool.