Funny thing about Hitomi, apparently Urobuchi stated in a panel when asked what Hitomi would wish for if she became a Magical Girl,bstated she’d wish for Kyubey to disappear immediately. So I think you’re rather spot on with that analysis of what Hitomi’s deal is.
I'm still at the "introduction to Madoka's house" bit, so I may edit this later to add more stuff, but I wanted to point that Madoka's skirt adds more to her character than the regular shots of her allow: First, Ume Aoki pointed that she designed the magical girls withouy knowing the nature of the show, and that she gave Madoka a "frilly, very girly skirt, that probably would not be practical for combat". I love the fact that Madoka and thr Magical Girl _is_ that very exact thing: girly, bouncy, and not the first thing that you would think of when "we need to save the day" is mentioned... But it still does. The "impractical attire" has succeded time and time again, by our sheer wish to see it succed, that it has become a staple: Magical Girls _reject_ combat for combat's sake, and a lot of the bad guys are defeated when understandment is reached. It is useless to win battles because in the end they don't need to battle. Their determination to embrace softness and sensitivity is exactly what makes them win all the time. But that's just the way I wanted to see it. This is an intentional choice, a fact: Madoka's skirt has pink fabric on top. If you see it from above, they form a cherry blossom flower. A sakura, Japan's flower of life, death, and the fleeting beauty of both that manages to touch one's heart. From ribbons, to red shoes, and from teardrops to skirts, Madoka has her character arc brightly woven in her character design.
I think it says something about how kind Sayaka is that her spiral towards witchdom is her trying to be a perfect magical girl and falling to her own ideals of what goodness is. While on the surface it's "kyosuke doesnt like me" its because she knows she shouldn't feel entitled, desperately wants to save Mami's memory, feels weak as a magical girl, and wants to protect Madoka from predators like Kyoko and Homura, and is failing all the while to her dream. When Mami snaps, she hurts everyone and goes homocidal. When Homura snaps, she hurts Madoka possessively as devilmura. When Kyoko snapped, she says humans are the food chain and Sayaka brings her out of it. Yes, Sayaka became a witch, but never in her faculties did she hurt anyone. Even mildly yelling at Madoka she immediately cried. Shes not a selfish person, not a possessive person. Shes a 14 year old girl who tried to be an ideal hero and failed because that hero, Mami's ideal, never existed.
@@clearandsweet i think you would enjoy episode 13 of magia record. It shows her at PEAK performance, utilizing her regeneration in ways that would make Deadpool jealous!
@@anonymousyoutuber1405 Should we ever get all the way to Rebellion, you will all bear witness to the full weight of the fanservice rant. I certainly include the new series and Sayaka post ep 12 of PMMM in that sphere.
I think chains are not tied to one character, but to magical girls in general. Madoka is chained to the wheel of time. Homura is chained to Mami. Sayaka is chained to Kyosuke. All of them are chained, because they're magical girls.
@@damesayo4656 I guess you could argue that the moment Homura decides to cut bonds with Mami (for very valid reasons) she is chained to be her adversary. Mami is everything she believes about Magical Girls. Someone like that would only endanger Madoka (and Sayaka, but she doesn't really care).
PMMM was heavily layered because it was a composition work of some of the anime industry's most interesting talents and veterans. If you check the Guidebook or the Beginning Story script on the puella wiki, you can see that Faust was not written into the initial drafts by Urobuchi. Faust was instead read into by the other primary creative collaborators of the show, in particular, Gekidan Inu Curry. The duo gained greater and greater role in the franchise as it developed, and that reflects in greater presence in European literary theme in subsequent works, corresponding to "Witch's labyrinth" merging ever greater with the in-universe reality.
Homura rewrites her name because in the first timeline it was written that way, and from what I've come to understand those characters make her name mean "Flame"/is a more interesting way to write the name. And Madoka at some point, think it's that same timeline, tells her she needs to act cooler to go with her cool name. So it's just this further detail into Homura's mindset/values and focuses even on her 100th run of the same loop
Love your analysis but want to throw in a fun fact about the cat from the opening I learned when I was bored and researching. The black cat was put in the opening as a red haring and it was only later decided to run with it and make it Madoka's first wish. It being confirmed in the drama CD that came out with volume 1
it makes me happy to see an in-depth analysis that acknowledges the reference and celebration of magical girls in madoka, rather than some sort of mean-spirited deconstruction, love listening to this !!!
I do love how Junko basically gets her own transformation sequence complete with sparkles. Imagining Junko as a magical girl alongside her partner Kazuko (how dare you insult Saotome-sensei!) is definitely something I enjoy doing. Can't wait for the later episodes!
Before I ever watched this show I saw the design of Madoka and thought “Tokyo mew mew” because of the hair and magical girl design. Great video. You have a lot of care.
11:40 I agree with everything said here about how mami transforming first is a cardinal sin in magical girl shows, and how usually the lead is the one to gather a team of friends and is the one who introduces them to the world of magical girls. that is absolutely the intention here. however i also think it could be a parallel to sailor moon and sailor venus specifically! venus and mami have a lot of superficial similarities and its a nice little nod. great video :D! thanks for making it, can't wait to watch the rest!
"If you want a abridge version, Madoka Magica is a good show" How dare you called Madoka Magica a good show, it is a great show at the very least, even a masterpiece :p
I think the teacher rambling is a sort of trope of the crazy person saying weird stuff that turns out to be premonitions or prophecy that turns out to be true. For example it may be interpreted as a warning about meeting peoples expectations the way boiled egg needs to be made, like its telling madoka to believe in herself and not let an outsider tell her how to live or telling homura that the way she does things may not necessarily what madoka would want
@@clearandsweet i love these long ass madoka analysis since I am 100% madoka trash. I think its the best show that happened to me. I used to watch and repeat this 4 part 1 hour each analysis videos about why homura was justified but i cant find it anywhere, where it discussed the symbollism of chrisitanity, buddism and nitchze and stuff.
@@clearandsweet also the teacher is a friend of madoka's mom, since she is like a grown up magical girl it might hint at something about what wisdom she conveys, as they also drink otgether after a magical girl dies
Sorry if this is a bit blunt, but I think you've badly misunderstood Mata Ashita, the ending song for episodes 1 and 2. It's a very cheerful song on the surface, but the lyrics are about being sad, lonely, and putting on a facade of happiness. It's not simply a cheerful ending song, but another instance of feeling very dissonant and giving the impression that something's going very wrong.
I understand that angle and yeah there is certainly a tragedy implied by the song. But I think it's only implied because of what we already know about the show. It still feels crass and extraneous, even if the context surrounding it on a re-watch makes it have a morose subtext.
Bro I'm very jealous of you watching this when it first aired when no one knew about it. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have been able to watch it in 2019 without being spoiled on it but I was vaguely aware that it was known to be not what it seemed. Still, super grateful for somehow not having been spoiled on the ending.
Aside from you analyzing one of my favorite anime of all time you have such a soothing voice it’s taken me three tries to fully get through this video because I’ve fallen asleep the other times 😂😅
I would absolutely love an in-depth analysis like this for Serial Experiments Lain. I find your breakdowns really helpful in processing anime and it really helps me understand the depth of them. I recently just started watching SEL and not only would I love to watch your analysis on the show but I also think you might enjoy it!
Oh ya there's certainly that level of intentionality with everything in Lain. I'm afraid you'd have to find another UA-camr though. Well I certainly respect it, I don't enjoy Serial Experiments Lain enough to make content about it, sorry.
I am loving this documentary/analysis of this wonderful show. I am taking notes while listening to it because I'm very invested lol. I want to say that I think (about 50:00 in the video) that the possessivness of Sayaka towards Madoka and the "physical" aspect of affection is a PERFECT reflection of her concerns of when she will become a magical girl. Let me explain myself a little better: while she falls into despair she is sad about her "no more human" body, she doesn't want to confess her feelings because she doesn't want to have a relationship with that type of body, this is her main concern. Love, being loved, touched and she can't because she expressed her wish. A seemingly altruistic wish that was like that because of her interest for Kamijo, but that made her a magical girl, with a no more human body who can't be "touched" for real.
When you said part one I didn't expect to barely get through episode one----- Everytime I think I know how in depth this show is I'm always shocked at how many more layers there are to unpack, and that's exactly why it's easily my favorite anime
PMMM is one of my ultimate favorite animes ...it has so much good things going on it but what i like most is the visuals ..the labyrinths are just pure art ...the collage style adds so much to it ...and it's so original i don't remember seeing it anywhere else
Been a while since I’ve come back to this, and I wanted to say I love your note of the shadows on Kyubey and Homura. I feel like Homura began to imitate Kyubey after all her failed attempts, because he always “won”, and she could only deny his victory by going back in time. I think it’s best illustrated in episode 7 with how they tell Madoka it’s not her fault for what happened to Sayaka with similar logic.
On my 2/3rd rewatch of this video and I always always always laugh when you call Kyosuke violin boy. When the trailer for Walpurgisnacht Rising dropped you were the first channel I thought of
About 15 minutes in, and loving it. Wanted to add though that the references to Faust were actually done on the directorial side. Urobuchi actually confirmed this, saying his main influences were classic literature and eroge.
@@clearandsweet yeah, I feel like a lot of people oversell Urobuchi as what made Madoka a masterpiece, but there were lots of people contributing 110% to it, and I think that's why it's stuck with everyone so hard.
I think the makeup isn't rly labeled just like there aren't multiple mirrors. It's just a shorthand for all the steps she used to "transform". If you look at makeup videos, people can be very particular about when to use what.
I do recant on that comment in future videos, you are totally right. I also very much like the idea of the makeup equating to a transformation sequence!
Very good video, can't wait for more madoka analyses. However I have to disagree on "Mata Ashita", since I think it fits the "everything seems quite right, but doesn't seem to match up" perfectly. While the music is happy like you said, if you take a look at the lyrics they are indeed quite melancholic and sad. They seem to be (like the OP connect) from homura's perspective, while on a first watch you'd think of them from madoka's perspective. In the lyrics you can see that homura really desires to be friends and spend more time with madoka again, having experienced it so many times. But madoka doesn't remember those times and homura realizes that, so she forces herself to say nothing but "see you tomorrow", even though she is so lonely while fighting to keep madoka safe. I wave, saying "Well, see you later" Smiling uselessly, getting lonely... On the pedestrian bridge, a person goes up on a bicycle Somebody gossiping at the convenience store At the light at the intersection, a distant car horn The laughing voices of somebody I don't know I walk alone today on the road home But for some reason, more than usual I feel that I'm a bit small I wave, saying "Well, see you later" Making myself smile, getting lonely I really still want to talk to you But seeing you again means lying I'll say with a smile as usual "See you tomorrow" I pretend I'm used to being alone But I'm really not that strong The same old scenery, the same old town Even though nothing is supposed to change I feel that only I've gotten smaller No, not "Well, see you later" It'd be nice if I could say "Just a bit longer" I recognize that I want to, and look forward to it But when I hear "Well, see you later" I lie to myself again Hiding my feelings behind a smile as usual I wave, saying "Well, see you later" Making myself smile, getting lonely I really still want to talk to you But even my voice saying "Well, see you later" It's so close, but too far away to reach you Let me say one more time as usual "See you tomorrow..."
I feel like the chairs inside of Junko's room could be moreso a foreshadowing to Madoka's fate? Maybe the chairs could be a representation of the looming threat of the Incubators changing Madoka's life and or Madoka's family being endangered by witches (Since you mentioned the chairs representing the previous magical girls that became witches.)?
54:00 top part is her last name in kanji, the first one (暁) on its own meaning dawn, the other (美) on its own meaning beauty, together its Akemi, her family name... Her first name is written in hiragana so it just provides the symbols to pronounce her name, not the kanji that provide a meaning to her name... ほ-ho む-mu ら-ra
Also let me add another layer on the curtain introduction- Goethe's Faust is also a play and before the Prologue to Heaven there's Prelude At The Theatre with mostly meta-discussion about the writing and staging of the plays and the condition of theatre in Goethe's time- something he was concerned with. Prologue in Heaven is where Mephisto (Kyubey) and God (Madoka-in-future-to be) discuss the condition of mankind and talk about Faust (Homura). Here too Kyubey and Madoka are in a seperate place overlooking and observing Homura's struggle, except the inversion. It's not the Heaven but instead "the hellish apocalypsis" of Madoka Magica universe/Mitakihara city. Great video with a lot of insights/extra info. Guess I'll be watching them along with my re-watching of Madoka. I was also there watching weekly back in 2011, the nostalgia... Anyways, thanks for the video :)
@@clearandsweet Great! I'll definitely reach 10th ep these days- I'm watching your whole analysis chronologically after rewatching each episode of Madoka itself. I'm in ep 3 so far and I LOVE your reading of the show. It puts some stuff in place, gives new food for thought and a lot of extra information/Easter eggs. Totally deserves more views!
Amazing video! It's really interesting to see this show put into the context of other magical girl shows. Luckily my first watch was actually with basically zero expectations, or the wrong ones at least, as I was expecting more of a slice of life kinda thing. I'm always so amazed at how this show manages to tell two completely different stories at once, depending of whether the viewer knows Homura's story or not. I really hope you keep this series up, I'd be very interested in watching the complete breakdown and the many things "teased"/left for future videos.
Madoka Magica is my most favourite thing in existence...and this? is suuuch a treat. Especially cause the magical girl inversion reading is something i haven't been invested in. It's so fantastic learning new stuff about scenes i already love!
When you said "Greek Tragedy," the first idea I had was that it was more Shakespearan than Greek -- more like Hamlet, as you later put it, than, say, like Medea, or like Oedipus.
Fantastic breakdown. I thought I'd like to share what little information I could where I could as well as a few things that popped into my head while I was watching. 23:23 Interestingly enough, the person who storyboarded this episode, Yoshiharu Ashino, also worked as an animator on CCS, specifically the first episode, which would explain the cinematic parallel. Yukihiro Miyamoto, the series director on Madoka under Shinbo was doing contracted episode directing at Madhouse on Monster for a good year before he joined Shaft (he also worked at Ashi Pro and on Doraemon but that's less relevant to what I have to say). Anyways, it would appear that he was a driving force in scouting outside talent to work on Madoka because quite a few people from Madhouse did storyboards for the show. 39:32 I'd never actually heard the Bokurano theory before watching this video but there is an interesting link between that show and Madoka in that they're both sort of Sekaikei derived (a subgenre in which the fate of the world is determined by the emotions of the characters). I won't comment on it further, though, since I have no idea whether the theory has any credence beyond basic observation. Still really cool. 47:23 48:21 Not a very qualitative contribution but I am absolutely in love with these background layouts. The flatness and minimalist composition is incredibly striking and feels like a permutation of what Tatsuya Oishi and Hisaharu Iijima were doing with Bakemonogatari. I couldn't find any common denominators between the the two shows in terms of background staff so it's likely a symptom of Shaft's imitation culture wherein younger directors are encouraged to take after more established and successful ones at the studio. 48:34 This is one of the unfortunate effects of Shaft's frankly terrible scheduling and production management. Back during their peak Shaft frequently bit off way more than they could chew with constant concurrent productions and short deadlines that were often poorly communicated to the animators (based off of what I've heard from someone who's done freelance animation on a couple of their shows). Aside from animators often having to rush through their cuts to meet demanding deadlines, poor scheduling has the compounding effect of giving animation directors less time to check and correct keyframes as well. All things considered, though, Madoka's production is pretty consistent and the animation shines where it needs to so there's little for me to actually complain about. 51:53 You're both right and wrong here. Generally speaking, Shinbo isn't very involved with most of Shaft's series beyond an executive/pre-production level (there's a lot of evidence to support this, even outside of series' credits that can be found in interviews with various Shaft personnel, including Shinbo himself). Ultimately, the role Shinbo serves at Shaft is closer to that of a Walt Disney figure than that of an actual director but he can get really into the thick of it when he wants to as well. As far as I can tell, the Shaft series where Shinbo's influence shines through the most are Moon Phase, Hidamari Sketch, and none other than Madoka. In the case of Moon Phase, it was the first project he was hired to direct for the studio, though I think some of the Shinbo-isms found within can be attributed to the fact that a lot of his proteges were still living in his shadow and had yet to develop much of their own styles at that point in their careers (Oishi's episodes have shades of Nobuhiko Obayashi in them, for example). It's also worth noting that the first episode lacks a credited storyboarder, potentially indicating that Shinbo might have handled the boards himself, since many of his OVAs similarly lack storyboard/enshutsu credits for episodes he boarded/directed (his Cossette interviews with AniStyle basically confirm this). Considering his directing proclivities, and the fact that he was primarily brought on to teach his style to a new generation of directors, it's also highly likely that Shinbo did a lot of storyboard revisions for Moon Phase as well, much as Dezaki did for many series he was involved with before him. In the case of Hidamari Sketch, the first two seasons have actual, confirmed Shinbo boards done under pseudonyms and there's an obvious pseudonym credited for boards on one episode of both Hoshimittsu and SP respectively. Besides that, I've read a good number of interviews pertaining to the show's production and it seems like Shinbo did contribute a lot of his own creative vision to the series. Some quotes I distinctly remember are an anecdote where he spoke about supervising the animators in charge of the show's daily bath scenes to make sure they didn't draw Yuno's bust too big and that her hands and feet had a proper amount of shininess which seems pretty in-character for him. Other quotes I remember are Shinbo saying that he "wanted to adapt Hidamari no matter what" and that he sought to make it "the antithesis of Azumanga", though I don't remember where I read that last one so please take it with a grain of salt. In the case of Madoka, I'm sure you've done your research but I'll reiterate what you've no doubt already heard anyway. Not only was Shinbo the main driving force behind Madoka's being made at all, having been the one who wanted to do a magical girl series in the first place, he also brought on most of the core staff, in Ume, Urobuchi, and even Kajiura through connections at the butcher's request and (probably) storyboarded episode 9 under a pseudonym. Generally speaking, though, if you're familiar enough with Shinbo's pre-Shaft output it becomes pretty easy to tell what he is, or maybe I should say isn't responsible for at Shaft. As a quick side note, although I did list Hidamari as a show that he was rather involved on, another thing that is apparent if you watch every season is that the same person definitely did not direct all of it. Each season has its own series director each of whom exerts his own particular style very thoroughly. So in a way, even though Shinbo was fairly involved with it, it's also paradoxically a great example of how he's far from the only relevant creative voice at Shaft. Those are just my thoughts, sorry if I got anything wrong and please do keep up the good work. This analysis was super thorough and a ton of fun to watch. I'm glad you were able to keep things engaging even with the minimal visuals/editing and I can't wait for your breakdown of the second episode. Cheers.
Thanks so much for the long write up! The details behind the scenes are the ones that I often lack the most insight into so this is very helpful. I'd actually started recording more and even addressed some of these things in the next episode! I'll keep all of this in mind for the future too.
I am so glad I watched Madoka Magica without knowing anything about it. It was new on Netflix and I just watched it and was HOOKED as soon as I saw the first witch. I love that scrapbooky art style they have and the whole story was so interesting even more so on the second watch
26:44 Knowing that the same person worked both on Nanoha and on Madoka now, it makes so much sense to me. Lyrical Nanoha became my fav magical girl series of all times (for it's take on ethical themes and sci-fi blinding into the genre in early 2000s), and Madoka is on my top three fav majokko series (for the most "darker" surreal take into magical girl genre), so... this details makes me like both even more. And of course I'm also a Sailor Moon and Card Captor Sakura, the first series of Pretty Cure fan... the more referecences there are, the better!
hey uh i know this is just a small detail, but on the door that Madoka exits in the dream sequence. it has the sort of circle and line pattern that Homura's time travel is associated with.
Don't tell anyone, but sometimes I pull up a random episode from this and re-listen for 15 min. I don't think it's perfect, but honestly I'm still quite proud of the quality of this endeavor.
@@clearandsweet haha I totally get it, we all are our own harshest critic after all. Still an amazing job on this series and I personally really love how much time and effort you’ve put into it and I know I’ll definitely be back every now and then for another rewatch 😂
Finally finished this video. Great stuff, can't wait to watch the rest. I'll mention that detail about Mami's transformation being first in the series is something I noticed, but never thought too deeply about. Also, I was curious how you interpreted the ending character theme, even if you didn't like it.
I went into the show pretty blind I had seen it mentioned on a WatchMojo video and when they said it was a dark and depressing anime I immediately clicked off and went to Crunchyroll to watch it. I had no idea what to expect and my expectations were definitely flipped upside down by episode 3
I feel as if you didn't actually have a look at the lyrics to the ending song in the Bluray of episodes 1 and 2, Mata Ashita (See You Tomorrow). To the main audience of Madoka Magica, those being mostly anime fans in Japan, they would understand the lyrics just from hearing the song itself, as, unlike other people who have to watch the show with translated subtitles it's less clear. The song is about Madoka saying goodbye to someone even though she "still has more to talk about" to that person, she laments about feeling lonely, and walking alone in the city. "Saying, "See you later," I wave my hand Cracking a smile, yet I'm feeling lonely The truth is, I still have more to talk about But with the words "See you later" I say we'll meet again, but it's a lie and with my usual smile, I say "See you tomorrow"" To me personally, I think this song could be about Madoka's final wish with the "I say we'll meet again, but it's a lie" or at least it sort of reads, at least to me, as someone who is going to die, or at the very least going somewhere else and not wanting to. Madoka has very low self-worth and thinks she can't do anything worthwhile, and in Rebellion, there is a scene where Madoka is represented by 2 long arms reaching out to Homura, with the arms covered in cuts, used to represent her self sacrificing nature. The song is quite melancholic and not so happy but in the end, it sounds somewhat cheerful so I understand where your perspective came from.
There was a cognizant dissonance when I watched the show a second time. Like did I not notice the runes, some scenenes were so ever so slightly different.
I actually had a really unique and odd experience where I knew next to nothing about the show, but started watching halfway through because my niece dragged me into it XD
That was a great analysis. I just kinda disagree with your point on the ending. Yes at first it doesn't really fit with the tone of the show, but when you look at translate lyrics, there's a very melancholic tone in this song. And personally, maybe I'm reading to munch into it, i always considered that this song was foreshadowing the end of the anime, Madoka is saying goodbye to her happy life with her family and friends before sacrificing herself.
Mirrors in the bathroom with her mom make it look like there are multiple timelines running parallel…or maybe that her and her mom have a good relationship in all the timelines.
Even the curtains color have meaning. It's blue. It could be seen as Walpurgis herself is the producer of this play. And it's not a tragedy to her but how the girl who saved her. The magical girls who make her up are saved by her God Madoka. Also at 31:32 those are the pink precures. There are precures who are truly red.
I noticed, when you mentioned Madoka choosing the lives many over the few; Kyubey had a similar mindset. It's interesting to me considering how she reacts to him saying it; different circumstances were the reason but, I want to know if it was some other psychological thing I'm not capable of answering.
So just thought of this, what if the dad harvesting the ripened fruit is foreshadowing to qube harvesting the energy from the magical girls it makes contracts with.
While true, Pretty Sammy is far into parody territory already, being a comedy spin-off of Tenchi Muyo. I don't think it's really establishing the genre in the way that I was speaking of, more aping it. I fucking love Pretty Sammy and Tenchi Muyo though, great shows.
I felt like the poor animation was actually included in specific scenes to make them feel vague and dreamlike. most dramatically used in the scene in mami's apartment when theyre talking about becoming magical girls
Funny thing about Hitomi, apparently Urobuchi stated in a panel when asked what Hitomi would wish for if she became a Magical Girl,bstated she’d wish for Kyubey to disappear immediately. So I think you’re rather spot on with that analysis of what Hitomi’s deal is.
I'm still at the "introduction to Madoka's house" bit, so I may edit this later to add more stuff, but I wanted to point that Madoka's skirt adds more to her character than the regular shots of her allow:
First, Ume Aoki pointed that she designed the magical girls withouy knowing the nature of the show, and that she gave Madoka a "frilly, very girly skirt, that probably would not be practical for combat". I love the fact that Madoka and thr Magical Girl _is_ that very exact thing: girly, bouncy, and not the first thing that you would think of when "we need to save the day" is mentioned... But it still does. The "impractical attire" has succeded time and time again, by our sheer wish to see it succed, that it has become a staple: Magical Girls _reject_ combat for combat's sake, and a lot of the bad guys are defeated when understandment is reached. It is useless to win battles because in the end they don't need to battle. Their determination to embrace softness and sensitivity is exactly what makes them win all the time.
But that's just the way I wanted to see it. This is an intentional choice, a fact:
Madoka's skirt has pink fabric on top. If you see it from above, they form a cherry blossom flower. A sakura, Japan's flower of life, death, and the fleeting beauty of both that manages to touch one's heart.
From ribbons, to red shoes, and from teardrops to skirts, Madoka has her character arc brightly woven in her character design.
I think it says something about how kind Sayaka is that her spiral towards witchdom is her trying to be a perfect magical girl and falling to her own ideals of what goodness is. While on the surface it's "kyosuke doesnt like me" its because she knows she shouldn't feel entitled, desperately wants to save Mami's memory, feels weak as a magical girl, and wants to protect Madoka from predators like Kyoko and Homura, and is failing all the while to her dream. When Mami snaps, she hurts everyone and goes homocidal. When Homura snaps, she hurts Madoka possessively as devilmura. When Kyoko snapped, she says humans are the food chain and Sayaka brings her out of it. Yes, Sayaka became a witch, but never in her faculties did she hurt anyone. Even mildly yelling at Madoka she immediately cried. Shes not a selfish person, not a possessive person. Shes a 14 year old girl who tried to be an ideal hero and failed because that hero, Mami's ideal, never existed.
Oh definitely and we will absolutely get there: most of the plot of the show is about her, tbh.
Also it's very Princess Tutu, just like you say.
@@clearandsweet i think you would enjoy episode 13 of magia record. It shows her at PEAK performance, utilizing her regeneration in ways that would make Deadpool jealous!
@@anonymousyoutuber1405 Should we ever get all the way to Rebellion, you will all bear witness to the full weight of the fanservice rant. I certainly include the new series and Sayaka post ep 12 of PMMM in that sphere.
@@clearandsweet i very much look forward to it. PMMM is my favorite franchise of all time.
I think chains are not tied to one character, but to magical girls in general. Madoka is chained to the wheel of time. Homura is chained to Mami. Sayaka is chained to Kyosuke. All of them are chained, because they're magical girls.
Why Homura is chained to Mami ?
@@damesayo4656 i meant madoka
mann
@@anonymousyoutuber1405 mami bound homura that one time, in ep 3
@@damesayo4656 I guess you could argue that the moment Homura decides to cut bonds with Mami (for very valid reasons) she is chained to be her adversary. Mami is everything she believes about Magical Girls. Someone like that would only endanger Madoka (and Sayaka, but she doesn't really care).
PMMM was heavily layered because it was a composition work of some of the anime industry's most interesting talents and veterans. If you check the Guidebook or the Beginning Story script on the puella wiki, you can see that Faust was not written into the initial drafts by Urobuchi. Faust was instead read into by the other primary creative collaborators of the show, in particular, Gekidan Inu Curry. The duo gained greater and greater role in the franchise as it developed, and that reflects in greater presence in European literary theme in subsequent works, corresponding to "Witch's labyrinth" merging ever greater with the in-universe reality.
Homura rewrites her name because in the first timeline it was written that way, and from what I've come to understand those characters make her name mean "Flame"/is a more interesting way to write the name. And Madoka at some point, think it's that same timeline, tells her she needs to act cooler to go with her cool name. So it's just this further detail into Homura's mindset/values and focuses even on her 100th run of the same loop
Love your analysis but want to throw in a fun fact about the cat from the opening I learned when I was bored and researching. The black cat was put in the opening as a red haring and it was only later decided to run with it and make it Madoka's first wish. It being confirmed in the drama CD that came out with volume 1
it makes me happy to see an in-depth analysis that acknowledges the reference and celebration of magical girls in madoka, rather than some sort of mean-spirited deconstruction, love listening to this !!!
I do love how Junko basically gets her own transformation sequence complete with sparkles. Imagining Junko as a magical girl alongside her partner Kazuko (how dare you insult Saotome-sensei!) is definitely something I enjoy doing. Can't wait for the later episodes!
Before I ever watched this show I saw the design of Madoka and thought “Tokyo mew mew” because of the hair and magical girl design.
Great video. You have a lot of care.
11:40 I agree with everything said here about how mami transforming first is a cardinal sin in magical girl shows, and how usually the lead is the one to gather a team of friends and is the one who introduces them to the world of magical girls. that is absolutely the intention here. however i also think it could be a parallel to sailor moon and sailor venus specifically! venus and mami have a lot of superficial similarities and its a nice little nod. great video :D! thanks for making it, can't wait to watch the rest!
That is a wonderful take that I hadn't even considered until you brought it up!
"If you want a abridge version, Madoka Magica is a good show"
How dare you called Madoka Magica a good show, it is a great show at the very least, even a masterpiece :p
W monogatari pfp
I think the teacher rambling is a sort of trope of the crazy person saying weird stuff that turns out to be premonitions or prophecy that turns out to be true. For example it may be interpreted as a warning about meeting peoples expectations the way boiled egg needs to be made, like its telling madoka to believe in herself and not let an outsider tell her how to live or telling homura that the way she does things may not necessarily what madoka would want
I like this. I should revisit it. Thanks.
@@clearandsweet i love these long ass madoka analysis since I am 100% madoka trash. I think its the best show that happened to me. I used to watch and repeat this 4 part 1 hour each analysis videos about why homura was justified but i cant find it anywhere, where it discussed the symbollism of chrisitanity, buddism and nitchze and stuff.
@@clearandsweet also the teacher is a friend of madoka's mom, since she is like a grown up magical girl it might hint at something about what wisdom she conveys, as they also drink otgether after a magical girl dies
@@Kimmichan36 bruh I remember too the dude removed his video it sucks so much I want to reattach it so bad
@@bloamaiaz the thing is that i downloaded it but my old phone lossed all the memories it was the most comprehensive defense of rebellion i knew
Sorry if this is a bit blunt, but I think you've badly misunderstood Mata Ashita, the ending song for episodes 1 and 2. It's a very cheerful song on the surface, but the lyrics are about being sad, lonely, and putting on a facade of happiness. It's not simply a cheerful ending song, but another instance of feeling very dissonant and giving the impression that something's going very wrong.
I understand that angle and yeah there is certainly a tragedy implied by the song. But I think it's only implied because of what we already know about the show. It still feels crass and extraneous, even if the context surrounding it on a re-watch makes it have a morose subtext.
Bro I'm very jealous of you watching this when it first aired when no one knew about it. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have been able to watch it in 2019 without being spoiled on it but I was vaguely aware that it was known to be not what it seemed. Still, super grateful for somehow not having been spoiled on the ending.
Aside from you analyzing one of my favorite anime of all time you have such a soothing voice it’s taken me three tries to fully get through this video because I’ve fallen asleep the other times 😂😅
Regarding Junko's name - ko is used interchangeably for girl AND child. It's a feminine name, not a childish one
I would absolutely love an in-depth analysis like this for Serial Experiments Lain. I find your breakdowns really helpful in processing anime and it really helps me understand the depth of them. I recently just started watching SEL and not only would I love to watch your analysis on the show but I also think you might enjoy it!
Oh ya there's certainly that level of intentionality with everything in Lain.
I'm afraid you'd have to find another UA-camr though. Well I certainly respect it, I don't enjoy Serial Experiments Lain enough to make content about it, sorry.
I am loving this documentary/analysis of this wonderful show. I am taking notes while listening to it because I'm very invested lol. I want to say that I think (about 50:00 in the video) that the possessivness of Sayaka towards Madoka and the "physical" aspect of affection is a PERFECT reflection of her concerns of when she will become a magical girl.
Let me explain myself a little better: while she falls into despair she is sad about her "no more human" body, she doesn't want to confess her feelings because she doesn't want to have a relationship with that type of body, this is her main concern. Love, being loved, touched and she can't because she expressed her wish. A seemingly altruistic wish that was like that because of her interest for Kamijo, but that made her a magical girl, with a no more human body who can't be "touched" for real.
When you said part one I didn't expect to barely get through episode one-----
Everytime I think I know how in depth this show is I'm always shocked at how many more layers there are to unpack, and that's exactly why it's easily my favorite anime
PMMM is one of my ultimate favorite animes ...it has so much good things going on it but what i like most is the visuals ..the labyrinths are just pure art ...the collage style adds so much to it ...and it's so original i don't remember seeing it anywhere else
I talk about this and Inu Curry in ep 1.5!
@@clearandsweet yessss totally gonna watch the video
Been a while since I’ve come back to this, and I wanted to say I love your note of the shadows on Kyubey and Homura. I feel like Homura began to imitate Kyubey after all her failed attempts, because he always “won”, and she could only deny his victory by going back in time. I think it’s best illustrated in episode 7 with how they tell Madoka it’s not her fault for what happened to Sayaka with similar logic.
On my 2/3rd rewatch of this video and I always always always laugh when you call Kyosuke violin boy. When the trailer for Walpurgisnacht Rising dropped you were the first channel I thought of
Oh don't worry I'm about to record the breakdown of the trailer right now
I CANT WAIT TO SEE THE REST OF THE ANALYSIS ON THE OTHER EPISODES
Man finally someone talked about the damn chairs and now it makes more sense thank you! Love the video I’m going to enjoy the series
Eyo back here to rewatch this series agaaaainnn let's go
About 15 minutes in, and loving it. Wanted to add though that the references to Faust were actually done on the directorial side. Urobuchi actually confirmed this, saying his main influences were classic literature and eroge.
Interesting! We talk about it a bit more in episode 10's video, but I did not know that!
@@clearandsweet yeah, I feel like a lot of people oversell Urobuchi as what made Madoka a masterpiece, but there were lots of people contributing 110% to it, and I think that's why it's stuck with everyone so hard.
I think the makeup isn't rly labeled just like there aren't multiple mirrors. It's just a shorthand for all the steps she used to "transform". If you look at makeup videos, people can be very particular about when to use what.
I do recant on that comment in future videos, you are totally right.
I also very much like the idea of the makeup equating to a transformation sequence!
The "there is nothing on screen" text at 0:46 had me laugh out loud
Very good video, can't wait for more madoka analyses.
However I have to disagree on "Mata Ashita", since I think it fits the "everything seems quite right, but doesn't seem to match up" perfectly. While the music is happy like you said, if you take a look at the lyrics they are indeed quite melancholic and sad. They seem to be (like the OP connect) from homura's perspective, while on a first watch you'd think of them from madoka's perspective.
In the lyrics you can see that homura really desires to be friends and spend more time with madoka again, having experienced it so many times. But madoka doesn't remember those times and homura realizes that, so she forces herself to say nothing but "see you tomorrow", even though she is so lonely while fighting to keep madoka safe.
I wave, saying "Well, see you later"
Smiling uselessly, getting lonely...
On the pedestrian bridge, a person goes up on a bicycle
Somebody gossiping at the convenience store
At the light at the intersection, a distant car horn
The laughing voices of somebody I don't know
I walk alone today on the road home
But for some reason, more than usual
I feel that I'm a bit small
I wave, saying "Well, see you later"
Making myself smile, getting lonely
I really still want to talk to you
But seeing you again means lying
I'll say with a smile as usual
"See you tomorrow"
I pretend I'm used to being alone
But I'm really not that strong
The same old scenery, the same old town
Even though nothing is supposed to change
I feel that only I've gotten smaller
No, not "Well, see you later"
It'd be nice if I could say "Just a bit longer"
I recognize that I want to, and look forward to it
But when I hear "Well, see you later"
I lie to myself again
Hiding my feelings behind a smile as usual
I wave, saying "Well, see you later"
Making myself smile, getting lonely
I really still want to talk to you
But even my voice saying "Well, see you later"
It's so close, but too far away to reach you
Let me say one more time as usual
"See you tomorrow..."
I feel like the chairs inside of Junko's room could be moreso a foreshadowing to Madoka's fate? Maybe the chairs could be a representation of the looming threat of the Incubators changing Madoka's life and or Madoka's family being endangered by witches (Since you mentioned the chairs representing the previous magical girls that became witches.)?
Hell yeah, love your Visual Storytelling breakdowns, its gonna be a good day today
54:00 top part is her last name in kanji, the first one (暁) on its own meaning dawn, the other (美) on its own meaning beauty, together its Akemi, her family name... Her first name is written in hiragana so it just provides the symbols to pronounce her name, not the kanji that provide a meaning to her name... ほ-ho む-mu ら-ra
I’m barely 5 mins in right now and I am so happy UA-cam recommended this to me. Really looking forward to the whole series
Also let me add another layer on the curtain introduction- Goethe's Faust is also a play and before the Prologue to Heaven there's Prelude At The Theatre with mostly meta-discussion about the writing and staging of the plays and the condition of theatre in Goethe's time- something he was concerned with. Prologue in Heaven is where Mephisto (Kyubey) and God (Madoka-in-future-to be) discuss the condition of mankind and talk about Faust (Homura). Here too Kyubey and Madoka are in a seperate place overlooking and observing Homura's struggle, except the inversion. It's not the Heaven but instead "the hellish apocalypsis" of Madoka Magica universe/Mitakihara city.
Great video with a lot of insights/extra info. Guess I'll be watching them along with my re-watching of Madoka. I was also there watching weekly back in 2011, the nostalgia... Anyways, thanks for the video :)
Much of the Faust talk comes back in the ep 10 video. Check it out
@@clearandsweet Great! I'll definitely reach 10th ep these days- I'm watching your whole analysis chronologically after rewatching each episode of Madoka itself. I'm in ep 3 so far and I LOVE your reading of the show. It puts some stuff in place, gives new food for thought and a lot of extra information/Easter eggs. Totally deserves more views!
Amazing video! It's really interesting to see this show put into the context of other magical girl shows. Luckily my first watch was actually with basically zero expectations, or the wrong ones at least, as I was expecting more of a slice of life kinda thing. I'm always so amazed at how this show manages to tell two completely different stories at once, depending of whether the viewer knows Homura's story or not.
I really hope you keep this series up, I'd be very interested in watching the complete breakdown and the many things "teased"/left for future videos.
Madoka Magica is my most favourite thing in existence...and this? is suuuch a treat. Especially cause the magical girl inversion reading is something i haven't been invested in. It's so fantastic learning new stuff about scenes i already love!
So glad you are doing a breakdown for this series, I really enjoyed your Utena series!
Yes, let's rewatch Madoka Magica once again. And make it longer!
Oh my god,, you are such a expert in the genre!
ok I almost ran out of cool thingies to watch on youtube and then I found this, looking forward to watching it all
When you said "Greek Tragedy," the first idea I had was that it was more Shakespearan than Greek -- more like Hamlet, as you later put it, than, say, like Medea, or like Oedipus.
Fantastic breakdown. I thought I'd like to share what little information I could where I could as well as a few things that popped into my head while I was watching.
23:23
Interestingly enough, the person who storyboarded this episode, Yoshiharu Ashino, also worked as an animator on CCS, specifically the first episode, which would explain the cinematic parallel. Yukihiro Miyamoto, the series director on Madoka under Shinbo was doing contracted episode directing at Madhouse on Monster for a good year before he joined Shaft (he also worked at Ashi Pro and on Doraemon but that's less relevant to what I have to say). Anyways, it would appear that he was a driving force in scouting outside talent to work on Madoka because quite a few people from Madhouse did storyboards for the show.
39:32
I'd never actually heard the Bokurano theory before watching this video but there is an interesting link between that show and Madoka in that they're both sort of Sekaikei derived (a subgenre in which the fate of the world is determined by the emotions of the characters). I won't comment on it further, though, since I have no idea whether the theory has any credence beyond basic observation. Still really cool.
47:23
48:21
Not a very qualitative contribution but I am absolutely in love with these background layouts. The flatness and minimalist composition is incredibly striking and feels like a permutation of what Tatsuya Oishi and Hisaharu Iijima were doing with Bakemonogatari. I couldn't find any common denominators between the the two shows in terms of background staff so it's likely a symptom of Shaft's imitation culture wherein younger directors are encouraged to take after more established and successful ones at the studio.
48:34
This is one of the unfortunate effects of Shaft's frankly terrible scheduling and production management. Back during their peak Shaft frequently bit off way more than they could chew with constant concurrent productions and short deadlines that were often poorly communicated to the animators (based off of what I've heard from someone who's done freelance animation on a couple of their shows). Aside from animators often having to rush through their cuts to meet demanding deadlines, poor scheduling has the compounding effect of giving animation directors less time to check and correct keyframes as well. All things considered, though, Madoka's production is pretty consistent and the animation shines where it needs to so there's little for me to actually complain about.
51:53
You're both right and wrong here. Generally speaking, Shinbo isn't very involved with most of Shaft's series beyond an executive/pre-production level (there's a lot of evidence to support this, even outside of series' credits that can be found in interviews with various Shaft personnel, including Shinbo himself). Ultimately, the role Shinbo serves at Shaft is closer to that of a Walt Disney figure than that of an actual director but he can get really into the thick of it when he wants to as well.
As far as I can tell, the Shaft series where Shinbo's influence shines through the most are Moon Phase, Hidamari Sketch, and none other than Madoka.
In the case of Moon Phase, it was the first project he was hired to direct for the studio, though I think some of the Shinbo-isms found within can be attributed to the fact that a lot of his proteges were still living in his shadow and had yet to develop much of their own styles at that point in their careers (Oishi's episodes have shades of Nobuhiko Obayashi in them, for example). It's also worth noting that the first episode lacks a credited storyboarder, potentially indicating that Shinbo might have handled the boards himself, since many of his OVAs similarly lack storyboard/enshutsu credits for episodes he boarded/directed (his Cossette interviews with AniStyle basically confirm this). Considering his directing proclivities, and the fact that he was primarily brought on to teach his style to a new generation of directors, it's also highly likely that Shinbo did a lot of storyboard revisions for Moon Phase as well, much as Dezaki did for many series he was involved with before him.
In the case of Hidamari Sketch, the first two seasons have actual, confirmed Shinbo boards done under pseudonyms and there's an obvious pseudonym credited for boards on one episode of both Hoshimittsu and SP respectively. Besides that, I've read a good number of interviews pertaining to the show's production and it seems like Shinbo did contribute a lot of his own creative vision to the series. Some quotes I distinctly remember are an anecdote where he spoke about supervising the animators in charge of the show's daily bath scenes to make sure they didn't draw Yuno's bust too big and that her hands and feet had a proper amount of shininess which seems pretty in-character for him. Other quotes I remember are Shinbo saying that he "wanted to adapt Hidamari no matter what" and that he sought to make it "the antithesis of Azumanga", though I don't remember where I read that last one so please take it with a grain of salt.
In the case of Madoka, I'm sure you've done your research but I'll reiterate what you've no doubt already heard anyway. Not only was Shinbo the main driving force behind Madoka's being made at all, having been the one who wanted to do a magical girl series in the first place, he also brought on most of the core staff, in Ume, Urobuchi, and even Kajiura through connections at the butcher's request and (probably) storyboarded episode 9 under a pseudonym.
Generally speaking, though, if you're familiar enough with Shinbo's pre-Shaft output it becomes pretty easy to tell what he is, or maybe I should say isn't responsible for at Shaft. As a quick side note, although I did list Hidamari as a show that he was rather involved on, another thing that is apparent if you watch every season is that the same person definitely did not direct all of it. Each season has its own series director each of whom exerts his own particular style very thoroughly. So in a way, even though Shinbo was fairly involved with it, it's also paradoxically a great example of how he's far from the only relevant creative voice at Shaft.
Those are just my thoughts, sorry if I got anything wrong and please do keep up the good work. This analysis was super thorough and a ton of fun to watch. I'm glad you were able to keep things engaging even with the minimal visuals/editing and I can't wait for your breakdown of the second episode. Cheers.
Thanks so much for the long write up! The details behind the scenes are the ones that I often lack the most insight into so this is very helpful. I'd actually started recording more and even addressed some of these things in the next episode!
I'll keep all of this in mind for the future too.
I like the part where he says I don't have to look at the screen cause I specifically picked this video so I wouldn't have to
Ah yes. Back for my obligatory rewatch because of the new madoka trailer 🙏🙏
Recently re-watched the series and Rebellion and started playing Magia Record so this is such a treat 😩❤️ can't wait for more episodes!
I am so glad I watched Madoka Magica without knowing anything about it. It was new on Netflix and I just watched it and was HOOKED as soon as I saw the first witch. I love that scrapbooky art style they have and the whole story was so interesting even more so on the second watch
26:44 Knowing that the same person worked both on Nanoha and on Madoka now, it makes so much sense to me. Lyrical Nanoha became my fav magical girl series of all times (for it's take on ethical themes and sci-fi blinding into the genre in early 2000s), and Madoka is on my top three fav majokko series (for the most "darker" surreal take into magical girl genre), so... this details makes me like both even more. And of course I'm also a Sailor Moon and Card Captor Sakura, the first series of Pretty Cure fan... the more referecences there are, the better!
hey uh i know this is just a small detail, but on the door that Madoka exits in the dream sequence. it has the sort of circle and line pattern that Homura's time travel is associated with.
Coming back for my second listen? watch through? of this series thanks so much for all the hard work I absolutely adore this series
Don't tell anyone, but sometimes I pull up a random episode from this and re-listen for 15 min.
I don't think it's perfect, but honestly I'm still quite proud of the quality of this endeavor.
@@clearandsweet haha I totally get it, we all are our own harshest critic after all. Still an amazing job on this series and I personally really love how much time and effort you’ve put into it and I know I’ll definitely be back every now and then for another rewatch 😂
Finally finished this video. Great stuff, can't wait to watch the rest.
I'll mention that detail about Mami's transformation being first in the series is something I noticed, but never thought too deeply about. Also, I was curious how you interpreted the ending character theme, even if you didn't like it.
I went into the show pretty blind I had seen it mentioned on a WatchMojo video and when they said it was a dark and depressing anime I immediately clicked off and went to Crunchyroll to watch it. I had no idea what to expect and my expectations were definitely flipped upside down by episode 3
Great video series!!! :D
I feel as if you didn't actually have a look at the lyrics to the ending song in the Bluray of episodes 1 and 2, Mata Ashita (See You Tomorrow). To the main audience of Madoka Magica, those being mostly anime fans in Japan, they would understand the lyrics just from hearing the song itself, as, unlike other people who have to watch the show with translated subtitles it's less clear. The song is about Madoka saying goodbye to someone even though she "still has more to talk about" to that person, she laments about feeling lonely, and walking alone in the city.
"Saying, "See you later," I wave my hand
Cracking a smile, yet I'm feeling lonely
The truth is, I still have more to talk about
But with the words "See you later"
I say we'll meet again, but it's a lie
and with my usual smile, I say
"See you tomorrow""
To me personally, I think this song could be about Madoka's final wish with the "I say we'll meet again, but it's a lie" or at least it sort of reads, at least to me, as someone who is going to die, or at the very least going somewhere else and not wanting to. Madoka has very low self-worth and thinks she can't do anything worthwhile, and in Rebellion, there is a scene where Madoka is represented by 2 long arms reaching out to Homura, with the arms covered in cuts, used to represent her self sacrificing nature. The song is quite melancholic and not so happy but in the end, it sounds somewhat cheerful so I understand where your perspective came from.
Hot take,
@40:00
the chairs represent everyone who was at her wake.
Brilliant. Thank you for this so much.
Dude this is incredible! You’re very underrated, I had a blast watching this
I'm glad you enjoyed! There's plenty more where that came from
There was a cognizant dissonance when I watched the show a second time. Like did I not notice the runes, some scenenes were so ever so slightly different.
I actually had a really unique and odd experience where I knew next to nothing about the show, but started watching halfway through because my niece dragged me into it XD
I loved it and I am waiting for more :(
I'm glad! Editing part 6 right now.
That was a great analysis. I just kinda disagree with your point on the ending. Yes at first it doesn't really fit with the tone of the show, but when you look at translate lyrics, there's a very melancholic tone in this song. And personally, maybe I'm reading to munch into it, i always considered that this song was foreshadowing the end of the anime, Madoka is saying goodbye to her happy life with her family and friends before sacrificing herself.
The ending songs of episodes 1 and 2 are actually not so happy if you look at the lyrics
The makeup looks like how stage props are places
Mirrors in the bathroom with her mom make it look like there are multiple timelines running parallel…or maybe that her and her mom have a good relationship in all the timelines.
You kind of said this lol sorry I’m reacting
Great analysis !!!
Even the curtains color have meaning. It's blue. It could be seen as Walpurgis herself is the producer of this play. And it's not a tragedy to her but how the girl who saved her. The magical girls who make her up are saved by her God Madoka. Also at 31:32 those are the pink precures. There are precures who are truly red.
I noticed, when you mentioned Madoka choosing the lives many over the few; Kyubey had a similar mindset. It's interesting to me considering how she reacts to him saying it; different circumstances were the reason but, I want to know if it was some other psychological thing I'm not capable of answering.
Oh we very much talk about utilitarianism and why her wish differs from Kyuubey later in episodes 11 and 12 but that's a great point yes
So just thought of this, what if the dad harvesting the ripened fruit is foreshadowing to qube harvesting the energy from the magical girls it makes contracts with.
You don't need to be rich to grow your own cherry tomatoes
In the 96 TV Anime of Pretty Sammy she doesn't transform in the first episode.
While true, Pretty Sammy is far into parody territory already, being a comedy spin-off of Tenchi Muyo. I don't think it's really establishing the genre in the way that I was speaking of, more aping it.
I fucking love Pretty Sammy and Tenchi Muyo though, great shows.
I felt like the poor animation was actually included in specific scenes to make them feel vague and dreamlike. most dramatically used in the scene in mami's apartment when theyre talking about becoming magical girls
Madoka's dress looks far more similar to Ichigo's than Sakura's
Nice icon
Awesome I"m Penni's first! I mean...first comment yeah.
I'm dissappointed with how knowleadgeable you seem to be and yet mispronounce the CHA in SHUGO CHARA