What to do while waiting for Madoka Magica 11

Will you kill someone you love, because of love?

At first, it was hard for me to relate these words — these theme words — to Madoka Magica. However, as feelings of desperation (not really despair yet, IMO) seem to be running rampant through all of the important characters of the show (even Kyubey shows a whiff of it or three sometimes), and as more and more bad events happen to the characters, this concept becomes increasingly possible. Especially as we’re seeing Homura trying to pull out all the stops (at least, all she can see with her middle school life experiences) to keep Madoka from becoming a magical girl while Kyubey’s pulling out all of the stops to get her to take that wish of faith. That being said, at this point in the show there’s no foregone conclusion, and given Madoka’s potential according to Kyubey, everything remains on the table in regards to where the show can go. That couldn’t be said about Ga-Rei –Zero-, the source of the top phrase.

Happier times for Yomi and Kagura.

What to do while waiting for Madoka Magica 7

by dm00

The original Magical Girl trapped on the boundaries of a dark world

Mami and Homura have both told Madoka that the life of a mahou shoujo is a lonely one.  If Madoka had known about Vampire Princess Miyu she wouldn’t have needed to be told.

And if Kyuubei were to ever laugh, it would probably sound like the last moments of the final Vampire Princess Miyu OVA.

What to do while waiting for Madoka Magica 6

by dm00

Mami...ina

Puella Magi Madoka Magica is shaping into a story about young women who embark on a magical career only to find that things can go terribly wrong. Magical girl costumes are no armor against violence and death.

These themes are shared by Simoun, which examined them in surprising depth for what, at first, looks like a series full of the worst sort of pandering exploitation.

Simoun is about young priestesses who spend a few years associated with a temple, where they learn to dance in the sky, in mother-of-pearl craft called “Simoun” before they graduate into adulthood. But their aerial ballet — a form of prayer — can also be used as a weapon that can call great power down from the heavens.

So the priestesses must go to war, using their art to bring destruction to the enemy.

What to do while waiting for Madoka Magica episode 5

by dm00

Mahou shoujo has been subverted before

If you like what Puella Magi Madoka Magica is doing to the mahou shoujo genre, you should take a look at 2002’s Princess Tutu, which remembered the grim in Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

Kyube could learn a thing or two from Drosselmeyer

The sweet appearance, the goofy cartoon duck, the pratfalls, Neko-sensei, and the ballet poses are a deceptive gloss on the dark forces, tragedy, and suffering that lies buried underneath. A bittersweet tale that doesn’t cop out — it obeys its internal logic to the end, when Ahiru makes the choice presented her by Drosselmeyer and is fully aware of what her choice means.

The series is also memorable for the surprising development that its major characters go through. The attitude you have three episodes in will not be the attitude you have at the end.

Oh, and director Juunichi Sato grew up to do Aria, so of course we’re fans.