[Let's Watch!] Puella Magi Madoka★Magica: magical girls with Faustian themes

[blkmage]

oh man THIS EPISODE

we're done here, show of the year, 2011

[Nate]

[Cadence]

Somehow, episode 10 made me like Homura a lot less and Kyubey a lot more. I don't think this was what the creators had in mind.

...what is wrong with me?

[goldenspines]

oh man THIS EPISODE

we're done here, show of the year, 2011

We still have 9 months left of 2011.


BUT WOW


Yeah, this show will be hard to live up to.


How many more episodes do we have left? I'd hate to see Homura suffer for much longer. :< Plus, I get the feeling the climax/grand finale may be approaching soon.

[Nate]

So anyway, now to actually contribute discussion instead of my MS Paint work.

One: Poor Mami and Kyouko. They seems fated to die no matter what.

Two: Lots of suspicions confirmed about Homura's backstory. I'm also wondering how much Kyubey knows about what Homura has done in other timelines.

Three: This seems the most important. It's already been shown that Homura can't beat Walpurgis by herself. Even a combined effort of Homura and Madoka just barely took it down in one timeline. Madoka CAN take it down by herself, but Homura doesn't want this obviously. So what's the solution? Guess we'll have to find out.

Oh yeah, Homura raiding Yakuza hideouts and stealing all their stuff was awesome.

[MightiMidget]

Somehow, episode 10 made me like Homura a lot less and Kyubey a lot more. I don't think this was what the creators had in mind.

...what is wrong with me?

LOL. I actually liked Homura a bit less as well...you're not alone at least! xD

I'm not sure about Kyuubey, though his "She'll destroy your world soon. Oh, well, not my problem! *boing*" Amused me greatly.

EDIT: @goldenspines -- According to MAL it is a 12 episode series.

[LadyRushia]

This episode explains everything. I wonder what the way out will be?

[blkmage]

It sounded like from episode 9 that Kyubey finally caught on to what Homura was up to.

I think it's fantastic that Homura's power has so little offensive use that she needs to raid an armory and learn how to make bombs from the internet.

I can't wait to rewatch the first part of the series again. A lot of people have been bringing up some interesting details from Homura's reactions or things she's said (What was your wish, Homura-chan?).

What's great about this show is that so many things people have theorized have come true, but the execution still manages to make the reveals incredibly effective.

[Kung_Fu_Master]

MORNING RESCUE!!*cough*uh, I mean,

"Wow. Sad episode."

[Cadence]

LOL. I actually liked Homura a bit less as well...you're not alone at least! xD

Let's be best friends. =)

I'm not sure about Kyuubey, though his "She'll destroy your world soon. Oh, well, not my problem! *boing*" Amused me greatly.

Kyubey has all the best moments in this series.

On another note, moving back to episode nine...is anyone else getting major Bokurano vibes from this series? I haven't been surprised by anything that has happened thus far because it just feels like Bokurano all over again.

This scene, especially, (sorry for the terrible quality of the screen caps) absolutely screamed Bokurano:

If those chairs aren’t a shout out to Bokurano, I don’t know what to think. =)

Anyway, this is an awesome show. It is put together amazingly well. I am going to remember Kyubey for a long, long time...and I doubt I will look at thermodynamics in quite the same way ever again.

[Nate]

How could anyone hate Homura for going through hell to save the love of her life? D:

[blkmage]

Shinbo likes his references, so the Bokurano reference is almost a guarantee.

But I don't think it's a Bokurano vibe in particular. I mean, yeah, there's the brutality and subversion of the genre going on, but I associated the disturbing parts with Urobuchi and the subversion more in line with Evangelion or Utena more than Bokurano or Narutaru, but again, that's just my own personal association.

Like I mentioned before, I don't think any development was particularly surprising, other than episode 3, and even then, it was like, 'oh right, it's Urobuchi writing it'. I mean, a substantial amount of the theories were pretty spot on. Rather, because of those two things, the shock and impact came from how those scenes unfolded instead of any unexpected events.

And Kyubey is definitely one of the more notably iconic characters in recent memory.

／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼

[MightiMidget]

I just stumbled across a creepy wallpaper I must share.

(Episode 3 spoilers)
Now, I am not alone

[Nate]

[quote="blkmage"]And Kyubey is definitely one of the more notably iconic characters in recent memory.

/人]

[blkmage]

Speaking of art, there is so much awesome Madoka fanart on pixiv, it's almost the only thing I've been bookmarking the last few months. The tag you'll want to be searching is [color="Lime"]まどか☆マギカ1000users入り[/color].

[Kung_Fu_Master]

A sound of Hope for sore ears.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89p1WTs_8jw

[blkmage]

No Meduka Meguca this week.

[Cadence]

How could anyone hate Homura for going through hell to save the love of her life? D:

That's not why I don't like her, silly. =) It is her personality that bugs me.

[SIZE="1"](They should just kiss already...)[/SIZE]

Shinbo likes his references, so the Bokurano reference is almost a guarantee.

But I don't think it's a Bokurano vibe in particular. I mean, yeah, there's the brutality and subversion of the genre going on, but I associated the disturbing parts with Urobuchi and the subversion more in line with Evangelion or Utena more than Bokurano or Narutaru, but again, that's just my own personal association.

It isn't necessarily the subversion or brutality that reminds me of Bokurano. It is more plot element associations I've been making...though, yeah, I guess the dark atmosphere contributes a lot. But whatever.

Like I mentioned before, I don't think any development was particularly surprising, other than episode 3, and even then, it was like, 'oh right, it's Urobuchi writing it'. I mean, a substantial amount of the theories were pretty spot on. Rather, because of those two things, the shock and impact came from how those scenes unfolded instead of any unexpected events.

Well, I'm not familiar with anything else Urobochi has written, so...yeah. I’ve actually been avoiding any sort of discussions about this particular show like the plague until I looked at this thread (and even then, I've only read a few of the posts here), so I wasn't aware what kind of theories have been flying around about the show...not surprising to hear that many were correct, though.

[quote]／]socute <3

[blkmage]

[color="Yellow"]ξ[/color]([color="Orange"]✿[/color] ❛‿❛)[color="Yellow"]ξ[/color]　▄︻┻┳═一

It seems that MBS is not airing episode 11 until next week, but Nico Nico Douga will be streaming it this week.

[Rocketshipper]

Had a random question, although I'm not sure if it would be allowed for you to answer in the forum itself, so PM me if you can answer.

I'm thinking about checking this series out, but I wanted to know...which fansub group seems to be the best one or the one everyone is using? I saw several different ones when I was searching around.

[blkmage]

Oh never mind, all broadcasts and streaming are postponed indefinitely.

[blkmage]

So apparently, cdjapan has a tracklisting for the first volume of the OST (which is bundled with the LE second volume of the BD/DVD).

1. Sis puella magica!
2. Salve, terrae magicae
3. Gradus prohibitus
4. Credens justitiam
5. Clementia
6. Desiderium
7. Conturbatio
8. Postmeridie
9. Puella in somnio
10. Umbra nigra
11. Terror adhaerens
12. Scaena felix
13. Pugna cum maga

If you were wondering what LE 1 had, it was a drama CD.

[blkmage]

So Madoka is on hold indefinitely, but you need something to watch? How about watching one of a number of interesting shows that are tangentially related to Madoka?

Genre
Madoka is a dark take on the magical girl show, which implies that there is a genre for there to be a dark take on. There are almost no other shows that are thematically similar in the genre, but in terms of action, I'd say the closest you'd get is Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. If you want something more traditional, Card Captor Sakura is commonly held up as the epitome of non-action magical girl.

Direction
You may have noticed that Akiyuki Shinbo has a very distinct directing style as well as a willingness to use some unorthodox techniques. While every single one of his shows has some degree of his unique bent, the one with a style (note: this is not the same as genre, so don't go expecting magical girls all up ins) most similar to that of Madoka is the ridiculously popular adaptation of a Nisio Isin light novel, Bakemonogatari.

Writing
Urobuchi Gen is not really an anime writer, so there aren't really any other anime of his to watch (yet); his works are more in the visual novel and light novel realm. Unfortunately, his visual novel works are definitely not appropriate for this audience, but his light novel works are. One of his light novels that's held in high esteem is Fate/Zero, which serves as a prequel to Fate/stay night.

Character design
Perhaps you are looking for kinder fare involving these character designs. Fear not, as Ume Aoki is the mangaka for Hidamari Sketch, which is a slice of life comedy about high school students living away from home to attend an art school. It also has the bonus of being directed by Akiyuki Shinbo.

Music
Usually, soundtracks on their own do not really make an anime worth watching. However, Yuki Kajiura has done some soundtracks for at least one good anime, the best of which is the ufotable adaptation of a Type-Moon novel, Kara no Kyoukai.

[mechana2015]

Methinks the Kyubei(s) are actually increasing the entropy, not decreasing it.

[Sapphire225]

Methinks the Kyubei(s) are actually increasing the entropy, not decreasing it.

Actually, I was thinking the same thing. Unless his race is harnessing the energy into some type of mechanism to change the laws of the universe and needed the energy of magical girl to witch transformations to do it...

Either way, it looks like the cute little rabbit-cat of evil (I think, they say they don't have emotions but I can't help but be a little skeptical), has some way to hinder Homura now that he knows her secret ability. Although this time, I thought she had just teleported away or moved at supersonic speeds, hence her escaping Charlotte's...clowny worm thing. BTW, Charlotte is the most adorable witch ever!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_x4zeoNACI&feature=related

[blkmage]

I believe he explained it as emotional energy is special because it reverses entropy rather than increases it and it's too bad, because QBs don't have emotions. That said, thus far, he hasn't outright lied about anything yet and has just been generally dishonest and deceitful.

And that video, I see you and raise.

[mechana2015]

I heard that part, I just think that there is a large underlying deceit somewhere in there. [spoiler]I guess I'm mostly basing it on the fact that Kyubei >>> magical girls and Magical girls >>> Witches and Witches >>> huge amounts of destruction and chaos in real space if not defeated. Witches seem to be caused by an excess of an emotion, and if the Witch queen is what he SAYS it is, it wrecks the whole city, and in the one timeline where Madoka goes witch, he notes that she'll destroy the entire world. Unless they've found other races for the anti-entropy project to be employed, I'd think losing the entire planet to a chaotic emotional disaster would cause more of a reaction than 'oops, oh well at least I exceeded the quota, even if he didn't have emotions', unless their goal was something different than stated.[/spoiler]

[blkmage]

Episodes 11 and 12 will be airing back-to-back on MBS on April 22 at 0240 JST.

[Falx]

Freakin' finally.

I wonder what exactly was the problem since for once SHAFT was actually on schedule.

[mechana2015]

Most likely the imagery in the last 2 episodes was inappropriate to broadcast so soon after a natural disaster of that magnitude. They did a similar thing with school days (but with different content for different reasons).