It’s been 6 years since I first watched the breathtaking magical girl deconstruction show Puella Magi Madoka Magica. In the years since, this show has gained acclaim and notoriety for its immense departure from the traditional formula, but on top of that I’ve had to rewatch this show a couple times over to snoop for content towards three St. Pius V Corner posts. First of which was to explore the message of self-detachment and meaning of what pursuit of sainthood is through its characters; next, to compare and contrast the person of Madoka Kaname with Jesus Christ, and ultimately debunk the idea that they are direct expys of one another; the year after, I reflected on the final moments between her and her best friend Homura Akemi, whose provision of a red ribbon likens to the institution of the Most Holy Eucharist in its parallel circumstances and spiritual effects. When I first reviewed it in June 2019, that was one thing I praised about the show: its rich decorum of symbolism which we can use to contemplate upon. However, as was the unfortunate case with most of my blog posts then, it was very weak in detail and I could have explored it better.
Such a show does not deserve a meager treatment like what I did then. Therefore, I shall now expand on everything that was great about this show and demonstrate why, even after all these years, Puella Magi Madoka Magica is still worthy of the high ranking I gave it. But first – the background!
Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Revisited
Original post date: 15 June 2019
Link: https://traditionalcatholicweeb.wordpress.com/2019/06/15/anime-review-xiv-puella-magi-madoka-magica/
In the beginning, Puella Magi Madoka Magica‘s conception came about when two co-workers at Shaft, working on the projects Hidamari Sketch and Bakemonogatari – one of which was a slice-of-life comedy akin to Lucky Star and another which had to do with ghosts, zombies and magic stuff (or so I understood it as) – formulated the idea of making a magical girl show that was accessible to the general audience, but also portrayed a different story than the typical ones of that time; this was the era when Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and Pretty Cure were leading the way. In fact, the man behind this production, Akiyuki Shinbo, was behind the Nanoha story, and together with Gen Urobuchi, worked on making a show that would be dark, edgy, and out-of-scope for the magical girl theme. The result was the show you have before you now.
Madoka Magica became a sensation from the moment of its airing from January-April 2011. There were a lot of things praised about it: narrative, world-building, character development, visuals, emotional delivery of dialogue, action sequences, the dark theme; and the vision of Shinbo and Urobuchi making this show unrestricted in audience wound up being fulfilled! And due to its exceedingly wild direction, it has been likened to the Evangelion of the magical girl genre, far surpassing the traditional expectations set by Sailor Moon or Cardcaptor Sakura to name a few. It was highly successful as well from an accolades standpoint – Shinbo and Urobuchi for their part won at least one award for their respective parts, and it took home a whopping amount of accolades. Some of these include:
- Grand Prize at the 15th Japan Media Festival Awards
- Awards for sound editing, music, art and cinematography at that year’s Newtype Awards
- Anime Of The Year by the editors at the 34th Anime Grand Prix
- Best Picture at the 16th Animation Kobe and 11th Tokyo Anime ceremonies
Seriously, the list of awards is massive – more than any other anime I’ve reviewed on this blog so far, and I just named a few snippets of them. Go here if you want to take a look at the full scope. And since then, anyone who was majorly involved with it would go on to have great careers: Urobuchi continued his success with Psycho-Pass, Fate/Zero and several Godzilla animated features, while Shinbo’s directorial journey with Shaft is still ongoing. A sequel movie, Madoka Magica: Rebellion was released in 2013 which provided an alternate rendering of the conclusion, and in September of 2023, it was revealed that there will be a follow-up to it released sometime this year! So I’m eagerly looking forward to that, it’s been a long while waiting.
Story: Revisited
In the town of Mitakihara lies a squadron of magical girls who have given their lives to fighting evil in the form of witches – dark, twisted beings who feed on the sadness of others; each battle they win against them proffers a Grief Seed, which will then be used to encourage the heroic assailants in their motivation. It is here that Madoka Kaname, a shy, insecure girl attending the local high school, along with her outspoken opposite Sayaka Miki, are roped into a magical girl discipleship with Mami Tomoe and her familiar Kyubey, who the former two rescued from an underground bout. There, they learn the ways of this lifestyle, as well as Mami’s background and what inspired her to become a magical girl – but what appears to be the start of a joyful friendship and a life of camaraderie is stopped when Mami dies during one such witch raid. All the while, Kyubey tries to prop Madoka and Sayaka to become magical girls themselves by form of a contractual relationship in exchange for any wish, unbounded by any restrictions or seemingly any effects.
Madoka is initially hesitant, and spends a huge chunk of the story thinking about it while Sayaka decides to join the fray, but when her wish to have her crush Kamijou’s health restored backfires by means of losing his affections to another classmate, it results in the horrifying truth about magical girls: they must not fall into despair, otherwise they will become a witch – the very persons the troupe are taught to destroy. Along the way, we are introduced to several other characters: Kyouko Sakura, the daughter of an Unglican cleric who lost his life and family to violent alcoholism, and the aforementioned Homura Akemi, who we learn is actually Madoka’s best friend from another timeline. Through a series of unfortunate time loops it is revealed she dead set on making sure Madoka never, for any reason whatsoever, accepts Kyubey’s contract to become a magical girl, owing to her knowing of the consequences of the contract is a trap, only meant for him to collect souls and keep the Earth’s entropy going – the eventual reveal of which horrifies Madoka and the other magical girls.
The final stage is set during Walpurgisnacht, when Homura, having failed to upkeep the trust, integrity and unity of her magical girl peers, decides to fight the mystical Walpurgisnacht witch herself, only to be overpowered despite all her preparations. In an act of supreme self-humility for the salvation of souls, Madoka realizes that the only way to end this cycle of suffering is to surrender her life, and become a magical girl: this she does, with her wish being the erasure of all witches, past, present and future; the effect which causes a massive ripple throughout the fabric of space and time. Madoka and Homura have one more heartfelt conversation over the consequences of this wish, and while the former settles to eternity ready to continue her divine work, the latter returns to Earth, which has been written anew thanks to Madoka’s sacrifice, and fight the witches (now reduced to generic evil beings) to protect the world that was freed from the stain of despair.
What I Liked: Revisited
- An overarching component of Madoka‘s characters lies in the depiction of their wishes, which are initially seen from good-willed desires that, stained by their announcer’s own flaws, become a corrupted version of what they expected. From Sayaka’s hasty wanting to see Kamijou healed and play the violin to outright envy of him when he turns her down for someone else, or the demise of Kyouko’s Unglican family brought upon by pride and greed, to name a few; this theme is brilliantly expounded upon and manifests food for thought regarding the futility of sensual pleasure (a topic covered in much detail in St. John of the Cross’ Ascent of Mount Carmel and Dark Night of the Soul) and its role in our physical and moral demise; while Madoka, in contrast, defies this connotation.
- Homura and Madoka’s interactions provide much of the drama in the show, with the ever-timid Madoka, seeking compromise with Kyubey and believing he’s not all bad, conflicting with Homura’s cold intentions and no-nonsense attempt to shut his anti-ministry down; all the while the former is unaware that in another world, the two were the best of friends – and that timeline perfectly parallels Madoka’s with Homura’s current personalities. Their dialogue fluctuates between one of a foe to understanding that’s slowly unravels, the many tense conversations the two have (such as Homura’s infamous assurance of Sayaka’s damnation to a horrified Madoka, or the one where she shoots Kyubey down); these sequences are enhanced by a veneer of eeriness and a sense of dire straits.
- I like how each character’s sections are evenly and proportionately divided through the plot, which builds the dynamic between characters and the world. This includes the battles that showcases their individual abilities – yes, even Madoka in the alternate timelines, which helps pack her true role in the film not as a protagonist, but more like its hidden weapon. Homura’s time-warp ability, displayed ever-so fervently in episode 10 and her fight with Walpurgisnacht, or Mami’s guns-blazing display of artillery, and how at least once characters talk with one another to get a grip on their mindset, which also helps to progress the story and makes things character-driven.
- Kyouko’s backstory is the most in-depth of the characters, and the way she recounts it to Sayaka, signaling the beginning of the end of her animosity towards the latter, was very chilling, and not just because of how thorough she went with her family life, her initial hopes for her newfound act, and how she faced its backfiring. It was also tragic, terrifying and not to mention something I’m familiar with being familiar about other proto-Christian movements. In fact, the first thing I thought about when she mentioned how her father was excommunicated for teaching doctrines contrary to Scripture and his hopes for a new religion was the Palmarian cult of Spain, whose “pope” made false apocalyptic messages masquerading as “infallible statements” from the mouth of the Blessed Virgin Mary herself.
- Anytime Homura flips her hair as if to say “I am better than you”, it comes off both as character-defining and endearing, which is a lot considering how cold her character is. Her plight and transformation in episode 10 was also one of the series’ top moments.
- Laudably, there are no hints of fanservice that Madoka or friends took part in! So you can rest assured that you’ll be watching not only a captivating story, but also one you can watch and conclude to the end with a clean conscience. Not that it needed it anyways, the serious scenarios and at-times wacky, at-times mesmerizing art were really all that was needed to drive its must-watch factor.
What I Didn’t Like: Revisited
- Ok, here’s another thing I didn’t understand: in some places, like prior to the witch battles, you get sights of words written in a runic language of sorts, that appear sort of like the flashing-words that appear during the infamous episode 22 sequence of Evangelion. It would have been nice to have some kind of subtitle so I know what the context is, but they don’t provide it meaning that more than half the time, I’m confused what their purpose is nor what am I even seeing.
Characters: Revisited
It’s no secret that compared to your average magical girl protagonist Madoka Magica‘s are more refined than other counterparts, growing gradually in levels of apathy and distress as opposed to the typical spreading peace, love and smiles. Making a protagonist that challenges the standard and is not afraid to put them in tough, life-threatening even situations is always a task, but here everyone – Madoka, Sayaka, Mami, Kyouko and Homura – there’s not much the creators left out that are worth mentioning. Sure, some characters got considerably more pruning than others, like Madoka, Homura, or Kyouko; but all things considered, there’s very little that I could nitpick from them in their personalities. I like how they’re distinct in their identities but slowly this changes over time the more they understand the plight of being a magical girl, and engage in smart discussions from time to time as opposed to the usual “You can do this” speech or engaging in the odd hilarious tidbit. It provides an aspect of maturity and a touch of rationale especially when they lay out their various, even contrasting, life philosophies which range from Kyouko’s selfish “I do things for myself”, Mami’s justice-filled “I want to save others because it’s right”, Sayaka’s prideful “I regret nothing” outlook, Homura’s persistent “I won’t stop until all is right in the world, even at the cost of others’ lives”; and the series displays the folly of each until Madoka reconciles everything by rooting out the true cause of the plights they brought upon themselves: self-egotism.
That, compiled into a world framework that is bleak, and seeing how they interact with it, I found that the characters’ responses relied much on past experiences to make their moves instead of reason, and the grit in this is that these, flawed as they be, in the end reflect the pitiable state that they find themselves in. They make their expressions so clear yet at the same time, there’s a pervading air of mystery surrounding each of them – I think of Kyouko, Mami and Homura for example, whose appearances are right out of the blue, and makes you wonder if they’re really who they claim to be. Even Kyubey, the series’ overarching villain, fits this category as well with his cunning, arrogant, can-do-no-wrong mentality shaping the path by which Madoka sees out the way to victory. Elsewhere with Madoka, Sayaka and even I’ll add the witches or minor characters Hitomi and Kyousuke, whose enigma lies in being introduced to a novel idea whose influence on them gradually prevails and unfolds in their lives be it to triumph or ruin. This switch-up in treatment of characters then, provides a greater depth to the drama that unfolds, and in turn pushes the story’s value to something more elevated and captivating.
Favourites: Revisited
Favourite episode: Episode 10 is the series’ highlight. Homura’s character is explored so thoroughly here, and the emotional delivery is so compelling, tragic and exhilarating at the same time, and propelled her as my favourite character.
Favourite track: Sagitta Luminis, from the last episode as we witness Madoka’s transfiguration into etherality. The blissful, soothing, yet slow piece manages to evoke so much joy and splendour, and accompanies well the end of Madoka’s journey and her struggles, as she becomes the magical girl that no one ever imagined she could be – not even her – but for a higher purpose. (No, that still doesn’t justify her as a parallel archetype of Jesus Christ) The song perfectly describes not just that moment but also the hope of many a Christian: where man, leaving this valley of tears, comes face-to-face with Christ, and is welcomed home, free and at peace from everything, to serve Him and Him alone.
Honorary mention for Credens Justitiam, Mata Ashita (the deceptively wondrous ED song of episode 1), and the two tracks from the Walpurgisnacht sequence.
Favourite quote: Homura’s statement of faith, from the final episode:
This irredeemable world may be a cycle of sadness and hatred. But nevertheless, this was the world Madoka wanted to protect. I remember that, and promise never forget it as long as I live.
Homura, vowing to never stop fighting for what Madoka stood for
If the Catholic parallels could not get any more plain here, let us compare with St. Paul’s spiritual testimony: “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. For all you are the children of light, and children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep, as others do; but let us watch, and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that are drunk, are drunk in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, having on the breastplate of faith and charity, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us unto wrath, but unto the purchasing of salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us; that, whether we watch or sleep, we may live together with him… hold fast that which is good. From all appearance of evil refrain yourselves. And may the God of peace himself sanctify you in all things; that your whole spirit, and soul, and body, may be preserved blameless in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is faithful who hath called you, who also will do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:5-10, 21-24)
Conclusion
Many have hailed Puella Magi Madoka Magica as one of the defining series of the last decade. Given how much I’ve used it for my Catholic-themed reflections along with the profound effect its plot components and accompanying visuals and music provide, I can’t find fault in that distinction. Laden with an interesting cast, a battle not against physical, but rather metaphysical entities as well as a war within the soul, a dank villain in Kyubey and a bewitching atmosphere all-around, it’s something that I find holds up even after all these years. I struggled to find any evident shortcomings in it in 2019; and I still cannot, even when I took of my rose-coloured view of it and tried to pinpoint it objectively. No wonder that Magia Record, its 2020 spinoff, could not find the fuel to takeoff like this one did! That being said, let’s hope this next movie will come soon, and bring peace to the chaos that Rebellion left off.
The Traditional Catholic Weeb 