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Just finished watching your reaction to Doki Doki Literature Club! Please crosspost it here, I'm sure a lot of other people would love watching it with you.
'Fun' fact: The Grief Seed Madoka uses to clean Homura's Soul Gem is the one that Sayaka's witch dropped. She had been holding onto the last part of her friend all this time.
27:22 I think you've misunderstood it, magical girls transforms into witches when their soul gems became too tainted, not after dying. So, in this case, Madoka's used all of her magical power to one-shot Walpurgisnacht, and after that, she depleted all her soul gem, and it became too tainted that she transformed into a Witch.
The analogy I always think of for the scene at 19:00 is that making the contract is like being bitten in a zombie apocalypse. Your only options after that are to die before you become a zombie as well or to become a zombie (while possibly infecting others along the way). Once you are bitten there is no going back and you will only destroy more of those close to you.
Actually, the most common theory for the reason Madoka becomes a witch is that, if you look in the background, the city is utterly devastated, as if a large hydrogen bomb was exploded. Basically, she didn't know her own power and she destroyed the shelter her parents and brother were in. When she found out they were dead, THEN she becomes a witch. This actually makes more sense than 'depleting all her power' in "one shot" : if you will notice NONE of the other magical girls have any powers that instantly drain their soul gems like that. Nor in any of the handheld games. Nor in the spin off anime, Magia Record, and, as far as I know, not in any Manga either. Chances are that Madoka, who was a new magical girl, simply didn't know how powerful she was.
@@emmarywarner16 But that argument goes both ways. If she's 'way more powerful' that means a NORMAL ATTACK from her is going to be way more powerful and potentially dangerous to those she cares about. Also to be fair, it takes much more power obviously to defeat a 'conglomeration witch' like Walpurgis.
@@remo27 I went to edit my previous comment, but accidentally deleted it like a dummy, but to continue off of what I said previously, Madoka "accidentally" killing her family would for sure cause her to despair. I just don't think that's what's happening in this situation though. Edit * There is also other pieces of Madoka media that prove that wasn't the case. For example in the PSP game their are many routes where Madoka's makes her wish and defeats Walpurgis where it then cuts to Homura freaking out and Madoka stating that she feels weird then she transforms into a witch. There is absolutely no mention of her family dying nor does Madoka even mention them being dead before she transforms. This further proves my point that it was probably was just her using all her magic in that single shot and inturn tainted her soul gem instantly.
Homura's goal isn't "stopping" Madoka or saving the world. She just wants to save Madoka, her first friend. She explicitly made her wish about Madoka. Homura doesn't particularly care about the world; she cares a bit about the other Girls, but mostly she just cares about Madoka. I think the writer said in an interview that Homura did those ~6 weeks around 100 times... so she tried lots of things, there are some variations (for example I think Sayaka doesn't always become a Magical Girl, sometimes Kyoko doesn't join them etc.). We've only been shown like 4 or 5 of these timelines in this episode. Also, never underestimate Madoka... In that unfortunate scene, Mami first immobilized Homura the time mage (and therefore neutralized her, since Homura needs to be able to turn her shield to activate the time stop) , and killed Kyoko instantly by shooting her Soul Gem because she thought she was the biggest threat. Mami ignored Madoka thinking she wouldn't do anything... I just love this episode. Crazy how they could fit so, so much into a single episode. This episode recontextualizes the whole show, it's crazy how much you see differently on a rewatch. Some of my stand-out moments: in episode 2(?), Madoka asks Homura what her wish was. Homura doesn't answer verbally, but just looks intently at Madoka, as if saying "You. I made my wish for you". And in episode 4, after Mami's death, Madoka and Homura have that conversation on that bridge, where Madoka says something like "I'll never forget you Homura, how you saved us!". But, from Homura's perspective, Madoka always forgets her after each reset...
So so true. Rewatching Madoka Magica after completing the series is like watching another whole show, now that you have Homura's perspective, you realise a lot of things because of that. And the one thing that always amazes me, is in no less than chapter 1, when Madoka tells Sayaka and Hitomi that she "met" Homura in a dream. And then Sayaka jokes saying "haha, is like you two have met in another life, and now you both are reuniting through space and time" AND THAT'S HOW YOU SPOIL THE ENTIRE SERIES WITHOUT ANYONE NOTICING. Sooooooo genius!
This is good analysis, but I think Homura cares more about the other girls and the world than you seem to suggest. I think it's harder to see on Homura since she's hardened over time and become so emotionally repressed, both out of secrecy and probably to stop her soul gem draining (certain emotions can drain the gem faster). Homura seemed noticeably bothered by Kyouko's death in episode 9 and visibly frustrated and disturbed when Mami declared Homura an enemy in episode 3. She was also unable to kill Mami when it would have been really convenient. Now Sayaka, though... yeah, I don't think Homura cares as much about her. Also, if she didn't care about the fate of the city, she wouldn't risk her life fighting Walpurgisnacht. She could have just taken Madoka and escaped the devastation or tricked her into leaving the city beforehand if that was all she cared about.
@@noodleydoo2862 Then why didn't she stop Madoka's witch from destroying the world multiple times? Those time lines would most likely continue without her so she consciously let the world end.
If you look at the previous episodes Homura's actions towards the other magical girls makes a lot more sense. She doesn't trust Sayaka or Mami since she knows they're both unstable. Sayaka also tends to always distrust her and self-destruct. Mami will break down if she learns the truth. Kyoko is always, oddly enough, the most stable since she's mentally tough, but she'll always put herself in danger to save Sayaka which is why Homura didn't want her to deal with Sayaka directly. And Madoka, the person she's trying to save, likes to sacrifice herself for others. Somehow Homura has to manage everything including dealing with Walpurgisnacht to keep Madoka from making a wish. And this is with her power being not that strong. Her ability is utility, so she doesn't have raw power like Madoka or Mami.
Homura and Madoka are the two sides of love. Selfish and selfless love respectively. Homura will let the universe burn if it means Madoka lives. While Madoka would sacrifice herself every time if it meant everyone else was saved.
We finally made it to THE episode, which has given us a lot to unpack and discuss. It has been stated by the creators that Homura has been repeating the same month and a half almost 100 times. It was never shown in the show what Madoka’s original wish was, but it was revealed in the first Madoka CD drama. Madoka's original wish was to save a black cat that got run over and is the same black cat she is holding in the OP. The creators have said that in any timeline Sayaka contracts to become a magical girl she would always despair and become a witch. The grief seed Madoka still has after her and Homura’s fight with Walpurgisnacht is Sayaka's grief seed, which is why she didn't want to use it at first. The opening was played at the end of this episode because only now do we get the context to understand the lyrics and the song essentially being from Homura’s perspective. Also at the end where Madoka turns into a witch, it’s not that completing her goal turned her into a witch its because Madoka is using up all of her magic in that single shot causing her soul gem to instantly get corrupted which caused her to become a witch immediately.
3:13 This is my favorite part of the episode. Where Madoka spins around and faces Homura. Homura does this same spin in the first episode where Madoka meets Homura for the first time. There Homura is warning Madoka of the dangers of trying to change her life. Here it's Madoka showing the first act of kindness that eventually blooms into Homura's love for her. It's such a small, little detail, but I love it so much
"To the world you are only one person, but to one person you might mean the world" "A hero would sacrifice themselves to save the world, a villain would sacrifice the world to save the hero" 2 quotes that come to my head when i think about madoka magica and you will understand why when you finish the anime and movie
But of course… When has Aoi Yuki ever not been “absolutely incredible” with her voice acting? And Saito Chiwa is not slouch herself, but Yuki definitely makes her star shine even brighter.
@@irtehsukIf I remember correctly, Madoka is actually one of the first lead role that Yuki Aoi got early in her career. She definitely made her break with and shown her talent to the world.
This episode made me respect madoka soo much more as a main character. That scene were she kills mami without hesitation is something a lot of protagonist would never do. If this were a Shonen she would try and convince mami with the power of friendship or some bs but here she just straight up kills her friend, no words needed
@@jorgemurilo6456 don't get me wrong I never said the Shonen mcs are bad. I just see a lot of people that down play madoka as an Mc when she's literally ones of the most real and human Mc I've seen. And in that scene most Mc would have tried to talk it out and would have been unrealistic but she had the most human reaction to that situation. Which was amazing writing
AND HERE IT IS. The episode we’ve all been waiting for! A lot of people already explained a few points that I wanted to get into (the 100+ loops, the interactions of Homura/Madoka from earlier episodes, etc) BUT there are some I’ve yet to see so here I go! When Homura goes back in time, it is ALWAYS at the same starting position: in the hospital room ONE week before her first day of school. This is also, coincidentally, the SAME DAY Madoka would make her initial wish if she isn’t stopped. Her wish in all the other timelines before Homura intervenes is to save a dying cat that got hit by a car (the SAME cat you see Madoka holding in the OP). In every timeline after Madoka asks Homura to stop her wish, Homura has to get up and save the cat before Madoka ever sees it that same day. And because when Homura goes back in time she is always starting from the same spot with the same body, nobody is aware of any prior timelines she’s traveled to INCLUDING Kyubey. Kyubey may be the wish granter, but he is not immune to the magic he gives to the girls. Half the time, he doesn’t even know the kind of magic he’a giving out when all these girls make their wishes. Now, I asked you to read the full lyrics of the OP for ep10 and you probably forgot (it’s okay! i know you got dozens of reactions so things slip your mind) BUT the reason we requestef this is because the lyrics, with the context now given, are actually coming from Homura’s perspective. The OP was ALWAYS about Homura’s story but only NOW do we understand how that is the case. SPEAKING of Homura: you asked if Homura is the actual main character. You are half right. She is the deuteragonist (it means shes the SECOND most important character, right after the primary protagonist). Her role is simply to save her best friend. No matter the circumstances, no matter the choices, she WILL try to save Madoka from death. That is Homura’s entire wish, and how she achieves it, even she doesn’t know.
Homura is the Plot Protagonist. She’s the one whose conflict and character development drive the plot’s events. Madoka is the Viewpoint Protagonist. She is the one through whose eyes the audience sees the plot unfold.
The episode Homura became my favorite and for a lot of others too. She's also been trapped in this endless maze for about 12 years, she's been suffering and watching her friends die over and over x100 again, it's no wonder she became cold and only focused on saving madoka instead of the others involved. Madoka’s fate was to die fighting walpurgis. When Homura went back in time it created another timeline and the dead Madoka’s destiny got added onto the new one, increasing her power. Now multiply that power x 100 since it's about the times she went back in time and you have super mega charge up Madoka. That's also the reson she becomes a witch after defeating walpurgis, it was her destiny from the start after all. Now to answer some of your questions The P.E uniforms is something that Japan did have long ago but i don't think it's used now a day (you will see them a lot in other anime) 14:30 yes, mami always looked like that 😅, Lets say she was quite mature 14:38 not really the witch of "school uniforms" but its the "Class representative" witch and her name is "Patricia". There's a theory that she was a victim of bullying and be came a witch at school. 24:13 that is "Roberta" the "Birdcage" witch. And i think you're right in it being a pair of legs in stoking 😂 You skipped the ed... again.... 😢, the opening was played as the ending song this episode as its all about Homura. You are right, the opening song is not from Madoka’s perspective but Homura's!! You can say this anime has 2 main Characters! Since you seem to forget some things i will remind you once more, don't forget to react to the opening of the 1st movie before Rebellion. Right it down lol! 😂
One thing I'm still confused about is how the other girls don't get stronger from adding fate. How does it only affect Madoka? Is it like a Steins Gate thing where there's an attractor field that makes Gretchen an absolute?
@@LckD008 Well, for two of them they had already made their wishes before the start of the time loop so their fate was sealed. As for Sayaka, I’m gonna guess it’s because she didn’t make a wish in the Original timeline so her power fully resets, unlike Madoka’s.
@@rabbidcreature9681 Mami and Kyoko would have already made their wishes too before the loop. I guess the only way I can convince myself on how it works is actually because Homura's wish concerned only Madoka. Homura returning with memories of multiple timelines of Madoka compounded and somehow messed with causality, resulting in the insane power that rests in her.
i really love the fact that op starts to play at the end and WHEN you understand that all this time it was from Homura s perspective. Best moment everytime It's worth watching it full to read the lyrics, becouse they fit story so well
That scene of madoka amd homura walking through the school halls is iconic. 1st time in episode 1, 2nd time in this episode, and 3rd time in the movie 👀
Madoka’s witch name is "Kriemhild Gretchen" and she is the Witch of Misfortune. Here is her description straight from the wiki "The Witch of Misfortune. Her nature is mercy. She absorbs any life on the planet into her newly created heaven in Misfortune--her barrier. The only way to defeat this witch is to make the world free of misfortune. If there's no grief in this world, she will believe this world is already a heaven" When you're done with the anime you should look up what the witches from the magical girls look like. They have sick and awsome designs that you don't get to see in the anime. My favorite is Madoka’s witch, it looks soo damn creepy i love it!
Homura's shield is also an hourglass, with enough Stop time to equal 1.5 months. When she resets it that red sand/blue tunnel visual happens and she'll go all the way back to the hospital again.
The scene of madoka and homura walking through the school halls are parallels from episode 1 and then the movie has a scene that parallels this one. There's also 3 chair scenes that parallels or are a direct sequence but are split between the opening of the 1st movie and 2 scenes in Rebellion, the 3rd movie. It's pretty awesome
Madoka got stronger each timeline, and Homura had been though almost 100 timelines (about 12 years, meaning her mind is about 26). In the last timeline, Madoka had way too much power to control, so she turned into a witch faster. When Kyubey said, "you're-," he was just figuring out Homura is a time traveler. Kyubey forgets her since they never met before she got out of the hospital.
@herohomg6630 I didn't consider it a spoiler since we see her go from dying to kill Walpurgisnacht to 1-shotting it. It's clear even just from episode 10 that she got stronger. What he's not supposed to know is why, and I left that out.
Madoka getting stronger with each reset also brings up an interesting point. The world was not under threat, originally. Only Madoka’s life was at stake. Madoka’s fate was to fight Walpurgisnacht and either lose and die, or win and become a witch. But Walpurgisnacht was only a city buster level threat, not a word wrecker, and for the first few time loops, Madoka wasn’t strong enough for her witch to be a threat to the whole world. It was only after Homura began time looping and increasing Madoka’s potential that Madoka’s witch BECAME a threat to the world. Basically, every time Homura looped, she increased the cost of failure, until eventually the whole universe was now at risk and Homura had no choice but to keep looping forever.
Episode 9 made Kyouko my favorite, then this episode made Homura my favorite. It makes you appreciate how much Homura has gone through to protect Madoka and defeat Walpurgisnacht. I agree that Homura was the secret main character.
If you rewatched the entire anime from the beginning, starting from episode 1, you would see every scene with Homura in a different light after watching this episode. Every thing she has said or thing she has done. There have been a few times when her facade has been breaking a little but like she said in this episode, no one really believes her even if she were to tell the truth about Kyubey, and her only goal is to save Madoka. No, not the world. She made her wish about Madoka, and she also made a promise to Madoka. She feels like she is in a maze trying to find a way out, and she is willing to retry as many times as needed. With this mindset you can try to understand Homura's behavior in the past episodes a little bit better. This episode alone turns this anime around and finally reveals a completely new perspective that it has been hiding from the beginning despite of slowly teasing us from the very beginning. What's even more impressive is how they kept this hidden from us for 9 episodes. Imagine if this had been the first episode. Nope, it wouldn't really had the same impact as seeing it now. What I probably love the most about Madoka Magica is its peak execution. The way how it is deliberately giving out little reveals just at the right time, when it is hiding things from the viewers until the right moment, when it is doing everything just right in story telling, music, character development, and other areas. Madoka Magica is packed full of content with the right kind of cliffhangers, it has just the right amount of content in each episode without making it feel like rushed or content spread too far and wide. It's a surprisingly clean and concise package but still full of surprises. It's the overall high quality of the anime what makes Madoka Magica one of my top 4 favorite anime.
Note: the heavy weaponry she used later are likely stolen from American military base. Those don't look like stuff Japanese would have access normally, yakuza or not.
Apparently Homura going back in time remembering everything that happened previously is not the only side effect for the timeline. For some special reason, Madoka somehow also ends up remembering the final events of each time loop in the form of "strange dreams", as she herself reported to her friends in the first episodes. Parallel to this, with each return in time, Homura, despite not wanting to, has also apparently boosted Madoka's power, to the point that Kyuubey is surprised by it and can almost no longer calculate.
This is such a big episode for the series in so many ways. We find out that Homura is stuck in a Groundhog Day loop, we get to see some What-if scenarios, and get so many answers. On top of that, it's here that it becomes clear that the opening song is from Homura's point of view. The Madokas we see in the opening are Madokas from across the timelines that Homura has been through. Which is why the opening played at the end this episode. It's a really nice touch.
A few episodes ago you made a comment about the opening credit sequence lying to the viewer showing Madoka as a magical girl with the other girls. But it never lied, what it hid was the show starts near the end of the story rather than at the beginning of it, and this is the clip show of the beginning episodes of the story that are "missing".
Its PE uniforms were commonly worn in Japan until the 1990s. It is now obsolete. I am from Japan🇯🇵, sorry if my English is not correct! I always enjoy your videos!!!
So fun lesson on how Homura's shield works Inside the shield is a sand timer that trickles down as the timeline goes on, running out after the fight with Walpurgisnacht To stop time she stops the flow of the sand timer To rewind time she turns the sand timer over and has it refill to send her back It is implied that after the fight with Walpurgisnacht she will lose access to her time stop magic as the sand has run out Her stopped time works by halting everything that isnt connected to her, so she can bring others into frozen time by touching them as she activates it She fights by firing weapons in frozen time, they travel a bit, then freeze in place as they get caught in stopped time Once she resumes time all the bullets fired will fly forward at once and all the bombs have been cooked so they will go off in a few seconds
So, here's a question. In the next episode, during the fight between Homura and Walp, it sometimes looks like Walp is actually moving while Homura has stopped time (for example, when Homura is riding the gas truck off the bridge to hit Walp's face). Is this true, or merely me misinterpreting the animation (and/or an animation mistake)? If it is true, what does that mean about Walp and her connection to Homura's magic?
@@stephenpriest Walpy wasnt moving in stopped time since Homura hadn't frozen time at that point so she could time her attacks right It can be hard to tell with how grey the scene is and Homuras time stop appears as things going grey
Homura is such a tragic, but such a beautiful character. I can't stop but admire her dedication. I don't even want to imagine relieving the death of a sear person for 100+ times. Homura is still human. She has this facade of a stoic, calm and collected person, but it's easy to imagine the psychological toll she very likely experiences with every new failure! It really really hurts me to imagine how despair would slowly creep in. Yeah, you can say "I'll do it forever if I have to", but in reality NO ONE can. Everyone has a limit. Love this show!
The voice actors really deserve more praise then they get 🙌 absolutely brilliant performance from them this episode. The ed was actually thr opening, they didn't use the ending song this time but instead switched the op at the end since the lyrics are all about Homura
The number of parallels from episode 1 is insane and i doubt you caught them all. There's also going to be lots more in the movie, so try and remember, lol You forgot to read the lyrics of the opening 😅
30:48 Kyube is being rewound along with everyone else whenever Homura resets time, and so Kyube has no recollection of forming a contract with Homura. Its comment there is it realizing that Homura is a time traveler - just before Homura resets time again, wiping that knowledge from its memory in the process.
One thing you should keep in mind for the future episodes is that Homura doesnt give a damn about the world. She was ready to destroy it for all the unjustice it gave to her. If it means saving Madoka she would gladly put an end to this world herself if she must. Thats how important Madoka is to her, justice or saving the world was never her goal which makes her a stark contrast to Madoka
If you are interested, this show has a spin off manga about a magical girl with the ability of foresight who sees what Madoka will become (the witch Kriemhild Gretchen) and tries to off her, becoming Homura's enemy in the process. In Spider-Verse terms, failing to save Madoka is Homura's canon event. This video is my first time noticing that Dalek behind you, has that always been there?
In case it wasn't clear: Homura always jumps back to the same day, when she does a jump. A day on which Madoka hasn't yet made a contract with Kyubey. In the first couple of loops, Homura obediently waited until she was released from hospital and while she waited, Madoka always made the contract with Kyubey. But after mercy killing Madoka, she immediately jumped into action, the moment she woke up and thus was able to prevent Madoka from making a contract from that point onwards. I really like Homura's OST progression. She has three songs associated with her, being named Numquam Vincar (I will never be defeated), Sugram Identitem (I will get up again and again) and Nux Walpurgis (Walpurgis Wallnut). The one where she shoots with the LMG is the first one of the trio. Oh and I just looked the translations from latin up, I don't know any latin myself. In interviews the staff said that Homura went through more than 100 loops, each one roughly one month long, meaning that on top of seeing Madoka and the other girls die or turn to witches for more than 100 times, she's been at this for more than 8 years. A magical girl turns into a witch, not when she dies. When they die, they die. They turn into a witch if either they fall into despair (like Sayaka) or they use so much magic, that their soul gem turns entirely black. With Madoka in this final loop of this episode, the latter was probably the case. She likely put so much power into that one-shot kill that it instantly surpassed the "capacity" of her soul gem or somesuch. Ah, the OP is such a happy song isn't it? :) Until you come to this episode and understand the context of the lyrics. :'( The irony is, that the very first timeline, before Homura made her first timejump, was the best for the world. Madoka and Walpurgis Nacht killed each other, meaning everything could go back to status quo. After that Madoka always turned into a witch of immense power and in the later loops even a witch dwarving Walpurgis in power, leaving the world pretty screwed. Had Homura either just accepted her loss, or wished for Madoka to be resurrected, everything would have gone... more or less well. But because she worded it such that she wanted to be the one to save Madoka, rather than just having Madoka saved, she caught herself in a endless suffering.
I know you don't want to give out spoilers but doesn't this idea pretty much screw over the entire ending? And overall, if Homura doesn't try things end well for Kyubey but as we've seen not necessarily well for anyone else...
@@remo27 If Homura had worded her wish differently the entirety of the series, save for the first couple of minutes of episode 10, would never even have happened, so there wouldn't really be an ending to screw over in the first place. Homura would have become just a regular magic girl, that eventually died in battle, or became a witch to be killed by another magical girl and the everything would have continued the same way it has for the last 3000 years or however long ago the incubators found Earth. And Madoka would either have remained dead, if Homura's karmic weight was insufficient to revive her with the wish, would have returned to being a regular Human or became another regular magic girl alongside Homura. Either way she never would have become a super magical girl and subsequent super witch in such a scenario.
@@Norbert_Sattler Yes, and you know what that means and so since I can't spoiler I will simply say that if you think that outcome is better than what Madoka does in episode 12 (and Homura's efforts give her the knowledge and ability to do so) than you are a monster and quite foolish on top of that as episode 10 shows that the Incubators have no loyalty to either the Magic Girls or the Human Race in general. They'll drop us at a dime. As for the Incubators: they are utilitarian assholes and always do what is best for themselves and their energy collection, other species and any promises they made or implied be damned.
23:14 to make one thing abundantly clear, because it's not on initial viewing, this timeline restart we're seeing right here is probably skipping a fuckton of loops, and is not happening immediately after the previous scene where Homura makes her promise. Assuming that the first three timelines we see all happen one immediately following the other (the OG timeline where Homura makes her wish, the second one that starts at 11:20 in which Madoka becomes a witch, then the one that starts 15:55, where Homura tries and fails to warn them and eventually makes her promise to keep Madoka from contracting), then all the remaining loops happen between that third timeline and the one that starts at my first time stamp - and there are a LOT of remaining loops. The creators have confirmed Homura went back like 100 times, we just don't see all of them. Every time you've ever wondered "why doesn't Homura just do _____" it's because she's already tried that, and failed. Also, note the sequence of events RE: Madoka's power. In the OG timeline, she died outright fighting Walpurgisnacht. I don't think it's confirmed whether she even defeated it in that timeline, but if she did, it was like when Kyoko took down Sayaka's witch, a reckless and explosive move that shattered her soul gem. Timeline two, she is able to survive to the end of the fight - barely. She was strong enough to win, but doing so overextended her, and she became a witch. Timeline three, similar result; she is powerful enough to get herself and Homura through the fight, and still keep a spare grief seed in reserve, but still succumbs in the end. Her power is growing, but slowly. Compare it to the second to last timeline, when she takes Walpurgisnacht down with one shot. It seems like an abrupt increase in power compared to the one we as the audience see right before it, but in truth, her power has been slowly increasing with each reset
Oh don't worry, they explain why madoka gets that strong But yeah the main reason why they turn into witches is because their soul gems, their souls, become too tainted. One way to get it that way is to use too much MP basically, if you wanna think of it in game terms. To stop that, you'd need to keep getting grief seeds that are able to take away that darkness in your soul and replenish your MP. The other way is emotionally, like what happened with sayaka. Being in despair will also taint your soul, and lead it to becoming a witch.
24:52 The best part about this whole scene is that it matches the animation from the first chapter (adding music and dialogue), which makes all the pieces fall in place. Madoka's dream was not a dream. It was THIS timeline ending and Homura resetting it back to before she became a magical girl. Remember, Homura's wish is precisely "return to before when Madoka becomes a magical girl". So every time she resets time, she has just enough time to escape the hospital, travel all the way to Madoka's house, and capture/murder Kyubei before he can offer a contract. I love how well executed is this part. Pure art.
4:29 They used to be normal P.E. uniforms in Japan a fair while back, but were changed at some point in recent decades (I don't actually know when) to not be so... well, that. A lot of anime, however, tend to still use them, likely because of uhhhh... sexual appeal. Don't quote me on that, but I'm decently sure that's why. Sometimes it could also just be because it has become almost a sort of established trope of sorts.
Yeah, Homura *is* kinda the Main Character. But the fun Thing about Madoka Magica is that you only realize that after already watching it. Thus on Re-Watch it becomes a pretty different Plot and is worth seeing again. I love how you can watch this twice and get different Stories out of it :D But you can only watch it blindly once, that's why everyone wants you to do so before you get spoiled. Homura can reset multiple Times because of her specific Wish. She said "I want to go back and protect Madoka", and since Madoka died or became a Witch, she failed at protecting her, thus sending her back to try again. Also ofc Kyubey cannot ever remember making a Contract with Homura, as once she jumped back for the first Time, she never made her Contract in any of the other Timelines. Kyubey couldn't know about it. It's also interesting to look back on Episode 1 where Homura was pretty upset when Madoka talked about her unusual Name. This Episode shows why that Comment gets to her. I also want to note, since it's important to realize (to fully get a Picture of how meticulous Homura is, and to put certain Actions into Proportion): Her Powers are Time Manipulation, as you know. However, as you learned in this Episode, whatever she uses to fight, she gathers herself. She makes her own Bombs, she steals Ammo for her Weapons. Time Manipulation may be beyond broken in Human Terms, but considering she is fighting supernatural Beings, she technically isn't much stronger than a Human Being with Human Weapons. It's how she uses her Powers that makes her strong, but just keep this in Mind...
This is one of my top 10 all time favourite anime episodes. The later half always gits me teary eyed, and you should totally read through the rest of the lyrics for the OP with this context now. This anime was already sooo good, and then this episode blows it away. I LOVE timetravel and timeloops stuff, And then the big reveal that Homura was the true protagonist all along X)
You caught on, yes the plot revolves around Madoka but Homura is pretty much the actual MC, and you also saw that the opening played at the end which at that point you'll realize that the opening lyrics is from Homura's perspective. "I won't forget our promise we made"
Yeah i agree with u, Homura is the main character. I havent watched most of it but it's kinda like in Fairy Tail how Lucy and Natsu are both main characters but in different flavors. Lucy's the "point of view protagonist" and Natsu's the hero
Walpurgisnacht (its real name is actually unknown, it's just how Magical Girls call it by) is indeed the strongest Witch known to Magical Girls across history. It's basically the equivalent of the worst natural disasters humanity has ever experienced. While everyone sees something like a mega earthquake or massive hurricane, it's actually Walpurgisnacht causing a ruckus just because it felt like it on that particular day. The writers named the Witch after a real life European feast day called "Saint Walpurgis Night" celebrated on May 1st, which is in fact the same date it strikes Mitakihara in the series.
The thing is as it is implied previously they need greed seeds to cleanse there soul gems because they deplete magic power when they fight (also so they don't become witches which they dont know that yet) and if it goes dark either from magic depletion or they curse the world they become witches so im guessing one shoting Walpurgisnacht depletes alot of magic xd
This episode is a really great one. It cemented Homura as my favorite character, although Madoka is a close second. If you think Homura is great now, I am so excited to see you react to Rebellion. I personally think she gets even better, but interpretation can definitely lead you to a different opinion. I would love to see how it shapes yours. ^.^ I hope you enjoy this journey to its conclusion; your reactions have been a joy to watch. Keep up the wonderful work! 🎉🎉🎉
- Leaving aside that individual teachers would have little to no input into school uniforms, the short-shorts (buruma) *were* part of female phys-ed kit in Japan maybe 30 years ago, but were phased out pretty much as soon as the first generation who actually had to wear the things were old enough to have daughters of their own... - People aren't aware of Walpurgisnacht because normal humans can't perceive witches so instead they see the destruction wrought as some sort of natural disaster. - Apparently in the Shinto worldview, Magical Girls in this show die the instant Kyuubey takes their souls with its grubby little ear-things. The destruction of the soul-gem or turning into a witch is something different and probably worse...
Ahhh, this episode! The episode that explains so much about Homura. :D A few things to clear up that you seemed a bit confused about: One, magical girls become witches when their soul gems get too corrupted; this can happen due to stress/depression/etc. (Sayaka lost all optimism), but it can also happen via expending magical energy, which is why early on Mami showed that it's important to cleanse one's soul gem regularly, even though she'd just done a short fight and seemed totally positive throughout it. Madoka expended *so* much energy in that one shot against Walpurgisnacht that her soul gem immediately became corrupted! Two, Homura's time looping was, at least at first, totally out of her control because of the nature of the wish she'd made. Remember that her wish was specifically to be able to re-do her meeting with Madoka but this time to be strong enough to protect her instead of the other way around. Madoka being doomed by Kyuubey actually, without Kyuubey realizing it, ensures that Homura will be able to keep trying again and again, because if she can't protect Madoka then her wish hasn't been fulfilled. Later on she seems to be able to get a bit more control over the looping, being able to go back to before Madoka ever contracted, choosing when to go back (she does so on purpose after that conversation with Kyuubey after Madoka one-shot Walpurgisnacht), etc. :3 And yes, Madoka is the main plot point, she is everything that the story circles around. I think Homura *is* the secret protagonist, it's just... also all around Madoka. She's the stealth protagonist even from the very beginning: As you noted, the OP's lyrics are definitely from Homura's POV! It's tragic because you can see, too, how Homura wanted to warn *everyone*, but she's experienced over and over the tragedy that befalls all of them. (This isn't a spoiler, but it's been revealed by Word of God that in any timeline Sayaka makes a contract in, she's doomed to become a witch; in every timeline Mami dies; etc.) Homura does try to save the others when she can but is shutting down more and more in order to try to prioritize protecting Madoka first and foremost; it explains why she tried to get Madoka to accept that Sayaka was already dead right after she contracted, and why she went from trying to get Sayaka to purify her soul gem to being willing to outright kill her if the alternative was her bringing more grief (and more chance that she'd contract herself) to Madoka. While you can still see that she cares (her sadness when she knew Kyoko was going to sacrifice herself), she's sort of been making herself accept that her sole purpose in life anymore is to keep Madoka from contracting so she doesn't die or become a witch. (This also explains some of your former questions, like why Homura doesn't just kill Madoka and why she doesn't try to explain anything to the other girls! Madoka is her priority, and she's seen that the other girls either won't believe her or can't handle the truth if they find out.) I look forward to your reactions to the final two episodes... The next one will explain a little detail you may or may not have noticed about Madoka's power level and witch forms. :D And I do hope you end up reacting to the Rebellion movie on this channel! I think you could get away with cutting it up into different parts; I've even seen a few reactions up on UA-cam that have the entire movie in one video, even one that didn't cut out the audio, but I'm not sure what the odds are on getting away with that... However you end up needing to do it, though, I'd love to see it!
Discovering Homura backstory is alreay heartbreaking enough.But when you realize it was actually at Madoka's request, it makes it even sadder. Homura is fighting so stro,gly to save Madoka from becoming a magical girl because she asked her to do it. If not, I feel like Homura would have given up way earlier. It's one thing to act upon selfish desires. It's another to act for your loved ones. I think that's why Rebellion happened, why we're trap in the post movie timeline. I can't say more here but...time travel is always a powerful tool when used correctly. As far as I can think of, it has always make wonderful stories. Re Zero. Steins Gate. Higurashi. Madoka. All those characters are tragic and not all end up in the best of space after their done with their time loop thingy.
It was a mistake for Madoka to ask Homura that. One of the few mistakes Madoka makes in any of her iterations. A moment of weakness, really. Though considering her circumstance at time, pretty understandable. It was simply too great a burden to put on Homura (or really anyone) and, given Madoka’s nature, a nigh impossible request.
To address the question about Walpurgis Nacht, to the best of my understanding it's something like a borg witch. It goes around absorbing other witches and has, over the centuries, become less one witch and more an amalgam of hundreds of witches centered around one ultra-powerful witch.
Remember that scene in episode 1 where madoka and homura are walking down the same school halls as this episode? But in episode 1 Homura has different expressions every time madoka speaks to her. You said she looked "angry" and she kinda was but not at madoka. She was simply trying her best to not break down and sob onto Madoka.
10:50 And thus, the story now becomes a time-traveling one. I love how the anime changes with every new reveal. This chapter also serves as a recap of all the reveals that have happened up to this point. And you can followup this chapter directly with 1, and it all makes sense!
What I find is often overlooked is that this episode also shows us that Homura has absolutely no offensive magical power at all. All her offensive power comes from her homemade bombs and stolen military equipment.
I always figured that those were just stylized bullets since EP1 would have been too early to reveal her weapon. But I guess I can't deny that it might be a form of offensive magic either.
@@iGourry Very late, but what we see in the first episode is also the "current" timeline after all the others, so it's possible she learned new tricks during her 100ish cycles. TL;DR you might both be right.
That's one of the unique point of the series, the Protagonist has her role/position taken by another character (and in a non-joking way). I dunno if other anime had done it (now or back when it came out) but it was the first for me. Since i honestly don't remember if there was anything specific with madoka turning after one-shotting walpurgisnacht. It could be: - that she used up all her power in that one shot and so transformed. - she wished to defeat it so once she did, that hope became despair to maintain the balance. - her attack did a lot more collateral damage and she fell into despair that way. 2 more episodes left, looking forward to the reactions. (and then a movie... and then another movie whenever that comes out).
-Opening suggestions: 1. Ergo Proxy, "Kiri" by Monoral 2. The Big O, "The Big O! The Show Must Go On!" 3. World's Finest Assassin, "Dark Seeks Light" by Yui Ninimiya 4. Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, "Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress" by Egoist 5. Mobile Suit Gundam, all openings 6. Schwarzesmarken, "White Forces" by Fripside 7. Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex & 2nd Gig, "Inner Universe" & "Rise" by Origa
Looking back at the series, especially the first episode and when Homura and Madoka meet for the "first" time, is a completely new experience after this episode.
30:31 YES YES!! I’ve been saying this since I first watched it! Homura feels like the true protagonist from the episode forward even when you rewatch you still feel like after you see that episode she’s the main focus of the show, there was so much built around her being mysterious and no one knew what she wanted or who she was but when you watch it all again the show has an entirely new meaning and feeling once you know this and you see how she was the true hero in madokas life. The story is homura trying to save her best friend, in the first scene you see there are 3 focal points, madoka, homura and kyubey. Madoka is the plot, homura is the protagonist and kyubey is the villain, but you don’t understand that till this episode so you think it’s more like the witch is the villain, madoka is the protagonist and kyubey is the plot. It’s so interesting to see the realization hit people, I remember I sat in my dark room with my mouth wide open, I remember then getting up and pacing around my room and I kept thinking “why isn’t this anime everywhere!? Why haven’t I heard of it till now!?” It’s truly a masterpiece and it will forever and always be my favorite anime ever created.
30:20 I think all of the Quintet have had time devoted to them. Remember that Homura was a mysterious background character for most of the show. I like to divide the show into 4 arcs, each with different central characters: Episodes 1-3: Madoka is introduced to this world with Mami as her mentor. Mami moves on from her trauma and insecurities as she makes new friends for the first time in a long while. Episodes 4-6: Sayaka becomes a shounen protagonist and fights for what she believes is right, even though it goes against the conventions of the world. Episodes 7-9: Kyoko sees herself in Sayaka, and through their shared struggle, regains faith in doing good things for the sake of others. Episodes 10-12: ???
This is how you put it simple it's not about Madoka being the main protagonist is like in one piece you are looking for the one piece not about the one piece itself.
The PE uniforms are canon, i'm no expert of course and guess it might be possible that "regular" shorts for girls have become more common in Japan. But they're wearing shorter, more skin tight shorts revealing most of the thighs and refer to them as bloomers.
as i see it madoka is obviously the main character of the show but homura is like the main character of the story if that makes sense... also really like how the op was there the entire time but only now you can actually connect the dots that the lyrics are talking more about homura.
welcome to the long awaided back story of Homura and the reason why homura is both stronger and weaker then mami because mami was her mentor but now Homura surpasses Mami because of she has gained so much experience as a magical girl by looping over and over and over again, walpurgisnacht its barrier is the size of the city now madoka's witch on the other hand can engulf the entire world like kyubey says she would destroy the world within 10 days
Homura's ability works like this: she can temporarily stop time with her shield at will. That is all she can do. However her wish was to go back in time to save Madoka. So every time Madoka dies or becomes a witch, Homura's wish resets the timeline. Also, if you want to watch a much more light hearted witch-themed series after this, I can recommend two: Soul Eater and Little Witch Academia.
Yay! This episode! Okay, so before this episode came out, viewers have been making theories about who Homura might be. A lot of them already figured she might be a time traveler but didn't know her connection to Madoka with some even thinking she may be Madoka's daughter in the future or something. Anyways, a lot of people also thought the opening song was totally misleading with it's lyrics until it played at the end of this episode and they all realized the song is about Homura. I think you said some time loop stuff in your Re:Zero reaction which reminded me of Homura but I remembered you hadn't gotten to this episode of Madoka Magica so it'd be a spoiler so I couldn't comment it. XD
Episode 10 of madoka magica is one of the best episode. It made Homura the most fan favorite. If you don't know how many times homura timeloop it's 100+, I don't know if I should include magia record but since it's not the same as in the game it probably in one of the timeloops also. There's other media that explore other timeloop such as what if Mami survive from madoka magica different story which explore Kyouko and Mami's backstory. Btw The Opening is literally about Homura.
What I'm about to say doesn't lend itself well to a reaction video format, but Madoka is definitely a show that rewards you for re-watching. A lot of the questions you've asked "do we get an answer?" were actually answered earlier, but you probably didn't realize it because the detail didn't have meaning to you yet. Every answer in the show is hidden in plain sight. When you rewatch, you think "wait, that CAN'T have been there before right? I would have remembered."
Homura's shield contains an hourglass, which can stop time by flipping it sideways. And when the sand runs out, the magic that stops time can no longer be used, and the only thing that can be done is reverse it and turn back time.
20:47 very minor spoiler: this series isn't going to tell you what Walpirgisnacht is, and neither will the sequel movie, Rebellion. But the upcoming movie that's going to be released next year? It's called _Walpirgisnacht Rising._ If it _doesn't_ give us more about Walpirgisnacht, I will be very surprised.
It´s not about losing the will to life. The Soul Gems get darker and more corrupt the more magic the girls use. and they need to pass that darkness to the Grief Seeds of beaten witches to cleanse them and go back to normal. That is why Sayaka always turns: desperation and sadness speed up the process of darkening Soul Gem. Madoka used all her power and turned in that timeline by beating the Walpurgis Night. Also, no comment about how Madoka gets stronger and stronger with each new timeline? It seems obvious.
The question of who the main character really is is actually a huge part of the point and philosophy of the show (especially once you watch the movie, Rebellion). Homura is the one who tries to take on all the agency ("I won't rely on anyone anymore," etc.), and it seems like she is the main actor in the show, now. And yet, she fails. She cannot make things work out the way she wants. And in trying to do so, she takes away agency from Madoka. Of course, the effect is that Madoka is actually able to live longer, to learn, and to refine the way she lives so that she can make a better wish, so perhaps Madoka is the main character after all? 23:12: this part of the episode is, for me, the most emotional three seconds in the show. The scream is so well done by Homura's voice actor (in both sub and dub), and the silent gunshot followed by a cut to black is so powerful
I think Madoka turns into witch because every battle makes soul gem dirty and you need those grief seed to clean it - maybe stopping the night of Valpurgia (Walpurgisnacht) makes gem too dirty to clean... poor Homura is in the time loop trying to save Madoka 😢 (ps I wrote Walpurga with V on purpose for Luke to know how the W should sound in this word = more like english V)
The madoka in this timeline is supposed to be very strong for specific reasons that will be explained later. The madoka in other time lines was normal or even the weakest of all the girls
*Day 173* of recommending the *Beyblade openings* . There are the Japanese ones and the English ones. The English version has one opening for a generation, and that for the 1st and 2nd generation. The 3rd gen has one op for one season. But the Japanese version has multiple ops for a season in any gen. You should definitely check both versions out. I made playlists on my channel, so you don't need to search, cause in those compilations are a few off and not in the correct order. Thanks for checking out!
Also, did anyone else see the blink-and-you miss it moment where Kyubey materializes next to a heartbroken Homura right before she makes her wish? Like something straight out of star trek but damned spooky in this universe.
Just so you know, getting rid of the incubators (kyubee's race) wouldn't help them at all, i. Fact it would fuck the whole world up. They are needed even if they like it or not. Keep that in mind
The legendary episode 10! It's such an amazing reveal to see how Homura originally was and how her determination and despair at losing Madoka countless times made her into the character we see in episode 1. I remember going back and rewatching some earlier episodes after this one aired to look at them from a different perspective. So good!
I don't remember how I feel when I watch this episode when it first aired, after so many years I completely forgot the story. But now the 2nd time watching...holy shit Gen Urobuchi writting.... Homura is definitely my favorite girl
We are near the end. Im really gonna miss these reactions. It was so much fun watching Luke lose his mind and became more and more paranoid with each episode lol
Oh, for Homura it's definitely not about saving the world. She has one priority that goes before everything else. And that priority is Madoka. (I suppose that makes this a sekai-kei story.) Speaking of Madoka... you saw that she couldn't defeat Walpurgisnacht in one of the early timelines, but she was able to do so easily in the one where she destroys the world. What caused the difference between the two timelines? I'll leave you with that question to think about...
I think that Timeline 3, when Madoka asks Homura to go back and stop her from being tricked by Kyubey, is the turning point in the plot. Homura’s original wish was to go back and redo her meeting with Madoka, and this time be strong enough to protect Madoka. This was achievable, especially since the exact meaning of “protect” is open to some interpretation. But after Madoka’s request, Homura’s mission morphed, in her mind, into “stop Madoka from ever becoming a Magical Girl”. And this was impossible.
WHAT AN EPISODE!!
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Just finished watching your reaction to Doki Doki Literature Club! Please crosspost it here, I'm sure a lot of other people would love watching it with you.
Homura has been stuck in the same month for around 12 years, she went through around 100 different time lines trying to save madoka
And that's not even taking into consideration the amount of time she spends during her time stop.
It's no wonder she has become so cold and single minded really.
If it's one month exactly for 12 years that's 144 :) If it's a bit less than a month it's getting close to 200.
Just... Wow
@@Jordan-Ramses the loop isn't exactly 1 month, i beleive it's something around one and a half ish if memory serves.
'Fun' fact: The Grief Seed Madoka uses to clean Homura's Soul Gem is the one that Sayaka's witch dropped. She had been holding onto the last part of her friend all this time.
Fun? Xd
@@hibarikyoya854yes fun! because its very ‘fun’ to see OTHER people learn about these horribly tragic facts.
another ‘fun’ fact: in that timeline no one was killed by a witch
@@minecraftreports trueeeee, everyone was killed by another magical girl! i love these fun facts!!! so fun!!!
@@minecraftreports Thank you for that one...
Fun Fact: Madokas wish in the first timeline, was to save a cat that was run over. That's why you see her holding the cat in the opening.
What?!? 🤯
27:22 I think you've misunderstood it, magical girls transforms into witches when their soul gems became too tainted, not after dying. So, in this case, Madoka's used all of her magical power to one-shot Walpurgisnacht, and after that, she depleted all her soul gem, and it became too tainted that she transformed into a Witch.
The analogy I always think of for the scene at 19:00 is that making the contract is like being bitten in a zombie apocalypse. Your only options after that are to die before you become a zombie as well or to become a zombie (while possibly infecting others along the way). Once you are bitten there is no going back and you will only destroy more of those close to you.
Actually, the most common theory for the reason Madoka becomes a witch is that, if you look in the background, the city is utterly devastated, as if a large hydrogen bomb was exploded. Basically, she didn't know her own power and she destroyed the shelter her parents and brother were in. When she found out they were dead, THEN she becomes a witch. This actually makes more sense than 'depleting all her power' in "one shot" : if you will notice NONE of the other magical girls have any powers that instantly drain their soul gems like that. Nor in any of the handheld games. Nor in the spin off anime, Magia Record, and, as far as I know, not in any Manga either. Chances are that Madoka, who was a new magical girl, simply didn't know how powerful she was.
@@emmarywarner16 But that argument goes both ways. If she's 'way more powerful' that means a NORMAL ATTACK from her is going to be way more powerful and potentially dangerous to those she cares about. Also to be fair, it takes much more power obviously to defeat a 'conglomeration witch' like Walpurgis.
@@remo27 I went to edit my previous comment, but accidentally deleted it like a dummy, but to continue off of what I said previously, Madoka "accidentally" killing her family would for sure cause her to despair. I just don't think that's what's happening in this situation though. Edit * There is also other pieces of Madoka media that prove that wasn't the case. For example in the PSP game their are many routes where Madoka's makes her wish and defeats Walpurgis where it then cuts to Homura freaking out and Madoka stating that she feels weird then she transforms into a witch. There is absolutely no mention of her family dying nor does Madoka even mention them being dead before she transforms. This further proves my point that it was probably was just her using all her magic in that single shot and inturn tainted her soul gem instantly.
like seriously, EVERY mahou shoujo end up as one, it's only a matter of time.
It's that inevitability that hurts
Homura's goal isn't "stopping" Madoka or saving the world. She just wants to save Madoka, her first friend. She explicitly made her wish about Madoka. Homura doesn't particularly care about the world; she cares a bit about the other Girls, but mostly she just cares about Madoka.
I think the writer said in an interview that Homura did those ~6 weeks around 100 times... so she tried lots of things, there are some variations (for example I think Sayaka doesn't always become a Magical Girl, sometimes Kyoko doesn't join them etc.). We've only been shown like 4 or 5 of these timelines in this episode.
Also, never underestimate Madoka... In that unfortunate scene, Mami first immobilized Homura the time mage (and therefore neutralized her, since Homura needs to be able to turn her shield to activate the time stop) , and killed Kyoko instantly by shooting her Soul Gem because she thought she was the biggest threat. Mami ignored Madoka thinking she wouldn't do anything...
I just love this episode. Crazy how they could fit so, so much into a single episode. This episode recontextualizes the whole show, it's crazy how much you see differently on a rewatch.
Some of my stand-out moments: in episode 2(?), Madoka asks Homura what her wish was. Homura doesn't answer verbally, but just looks intently at Madoka, as if saying "You. I made my wish for you".
And in episode 4, after Mami's death, Madoka and Homura have that conversation on that bridge, where Madoka says something like "I'll never forget you Homura, how you saved us!". But, from Homura's perspective, Madoka always forgets her after each reset...
So so true. Rewatching Madoka Magica after completing the series is like watching another whole show, now that you have Homura's perspective, you realise a lot of things because of that.
And the one thing that always amazes me, is in no less than chapter 1, when Madoka tells Sayaka and Hitomi that she "met" Homura in a dream. And then Sayaka jokes saying "haha, is like you two have met in another life, and now you both are reuniting through space and time" AND THAT'S HOW YOU SPOIL THE ENTIRE SERIES WITHOUT ANYONE NOTICING. Sooooooo genius!
I wouldn't really call what Homura does friendship it's way beyond that It's desire to poses and obsession.
This is good analysis, but I think Homura cares more about the other girls and the world than you seem to suggest. I think it's harder to see on Homura since she's hardened over time and become so emotionally repressed, both out of secrecy and probably to stop her soul gem draining (certain emotions can drain the gem faster).
Homura seemed noticeably bothered by Kyouko's death in episode 9 and visibly frustrated and disturbed when Mami declared Homura an enemy in episode 3. She was also unable to kill Mami when it would have been really convenient. Now Sayaka, though... yeah, I don't think Homura cares as much about her.
Also, if she didn't care about the fate of the city, she wouldn't risk her life fighting Walpurgisnacht. She could have just taken Madoka and escaped the devastation or tricked her into leaving the city beforehand if that was all she cared about.
I think it’s wrong to say homura doesn’t want to save the world- I think she wants to save madoka more, but she wants to save both
@@noodleydoo2862 Then why didn't she stop Madoka's witch from destroying the world multiple times?
Those time lines would most likely continue without her so she consciously let the world end.
If you look at the previous episodes Homura's actions towards the other magical girls makes a lot more sense.
She doesn't trust Sayaka or Mami since she knows they're both unstable. Sayaka also tends to always distrust her and self-destruct. Mami will break down if she learns the truth. Kyoko is always, oddly enough, the most stable since she's mentally tough, but she'll always put herself in danger to save Sayaka which is why Homura didn't want her to deal with Sayaka directly. And Madoka, the person she's trying to save, likes to sacrifice herself for others.
Somehow Homura has to manage everything including dealing with Walpurgisnacht to keep Madoka from making a wish. And this is with her power being not that strong. Her ability is utility, so she doesn't have raw power like Madoka or Mami.
She has been power-leveling like a madman though.
Homura and Madoka are the two sides of love. Selfish and selfless love respectively. Homura will let the universe burn if it means Madoka lives. While Madoka would sacrifice herself every time if it meant everyone else was saved.
@@rabbidcreature9681Which comes to a head eventually, leading to quite the... Rebellion.
@@Bardic_Knowledge oh my god why is this so perfect
That is so true!
She's seen where the roads lead... Explains a lot about her attitude!
We finally made it to THE episode, which has given us a lot to unpack and discuss.
It has been stated by the creators that Homura has been repeating the same month and a half almost 100 times.
It was never shown in the show what Madoka’s original wish was, but it was revealed in the first Madoka CD drama. Madoka's original wish was to save a black cat that got run over and is the same black cat she is holding in the OP.
The creators have said that in any timeline Sayaka contracts to become a magical girl she would always despair and become a witch.
The grief seed Madoka still has after her and Homura’s fight with Walpurgisnacht is Sayaka's grief seed, which is why she didn't want to use it at first.
The opening was played at the end of this episode because only now do we get the context to understand the lyrics and the song essentially being from Homura’s perspective.
Also at the end where Madoka turns into a witch, it’s not that completing her goal turned her into a witch its because Madoka is using up all of her magic in that single shot causing her soul gem to instantly get corrupted which caused her to become a witch immediately.
3:13 This is my favorite part of the episode. Where Madoka spins around and faces Homura. Homura does this same spin in the first episode where Madoka meets Homura for the first time. There Homura is warning Madoka of the dangers of trying to change her life. Here it's Madoka showing the first act of kindness that eventually blooms into Homura's love for her. It's such a small, little detail, but I love it so much
Its also in the movie, at the end
"To the world you are only one person, but to one person you might mean the world"
"A hero would sacrifice themselves to save the world, a villain would sacrifice the world to save the hero"
2 quotes that come to my head when i think about madoka magica and you will understand why when you finish the anime and movie
Let me just highlight that THE VOICE ACTING FROM MADOKA AND HOMURA THIS EPISODE IS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!
But of course…
When has Aoi Yuki ever not been “absolutely incredible” with her voice acting?
And Saito Chiwa is not slouch herself, but Yuki definitely makes her star shine even brighter.
@@irtehsukIf I remember correctly, Madoka is actually one of the first lead role that Yuki Aoi got early in her career. She definitely made her break with and shown her talent to the world.
This episode made me respect madoka soo much more as a main character. That scene were she kills mami without hesitation is something a lot of protagonist would never do.
If this were a Shonen she would try and convince mami with the power of friendship or some bs but here she just straight up kills her friend, no words needed
Agreed!
and nothing worg in convince mami with ´´power of friendship bullshit``
EX: Edward Elric never kills and still is a amazing Main Character, same for Naruto and etc
@@jorgemurilo6456 don't get me wrong I never said the Shonen mcs are bad. I just see a lot of people that down play madoka as an Mc when she's literally ones of the most real and human Mc I've seen. And in that scene most Mc would have tried to talk it out and would have been unrealistic but she had the most human reaction to that situation. Which was amazing writing
@@VanysVictim nope, sorry but not, this reaction depends each person, some will atack othes( remenber Mai is a FRIEND of hers)
PS: Sorry my english)
AND HERE IT IS. The episode we’ve all been waiting for! A lot of people already explained a few points that I wanted to get into (the 100+ loops, the interactions of Homura/Madoka from earlier episodes, etc) BUT there are some I’ve yet to see so here I go!
When Homura goes back in time, it is ALWAYS at the same starting position: in the hospital room ONE week before her first day of school. This is also, coincidentally, the SAME DAY Madoka would make her initial wish if she isn’t stopped. Her wish in all the other timelines before Homura intervenes is to save a dying cat that got hit by a car (the SAME cat you see Madoka holding in the OP). In every timeline after Madoka asks Homura to stop her wish, Homura has to get up and save the cat before Madoka ever sees it that same day. And because when Homura goes back in time she is always starting from the same spot with the same body, nobody is aware of any prior timelines she’s traveled to INCLUDING Kyubey. Kyubey may be the wish granter, but he is not immune to the magic he gives to the girls. Half the time, he doesn’t even know the kind of magic he’a giving out when all these girls make their wishes.
Now, I asked you to read the full lyrics of the OP for ep10 and you probably forgot (it’s okay! i know you got dozens of reactions so things slip your mind) BUT the reason we requestef this is because the lyrics, with the context now given, are actually coming from Homura’s perspective. The OP was ALWAYS about Homura’s story but only NOW do we understand how that is the case.
SPEAKING of Homura: you asked if Homura is the actual main character. You are half right. She is the deuteragonist (it means shes the SECOND most important character, right after the primary protagonist). Her role is simply to save her best friend. No matter the circumstances, no matter the choices, she WILL try to save Madoka from death. That is Homura’s entire wish, and how she achieves it, even she doesn’t know.
Homura is the Plot Protagonist. She’s the one whose conflict and character development drive the plot’s events. Madoka is the Viewpoint Protagonist. She is the one through whose eyes the audience sees the plot unfold.
The episode Homura became my favorite and for a lot of others too.
She's also been trapped in this endless maze for about 12 years, she's been suffering and watching her friends die over and over x100 again, it's no wonder she became cold and only focused on saving madoka instead of the others involved.
Madoka’s fate was to die fighting walpurgis. When Homura went back in time it created another timeline and the dead Madoka’s destiny got added onto the new one, increasing her power. Now multiply that power x 100 since it's about the times she went back in time and you have super mega charge up Madoka. That's also the reson she becomes a witch after defeating walpurgis, it was her destiny from the start after all.
Now to answer some of your questions
The P.E uniforms is something that Japan did have long ago but i don't think it's used now a day (you will see them a lot in other anime)
14:30 yes, mami always looked like that 😅, Lets say she was quite mature
14:38 not really the witch of "school uniforms" but its the "Class representative" witch and her name is "Patricia". There's a theory that she was a victim of bullying and be came a witch at school.
24:13 that is "Roberta" the "Birdcage" witch. And i think you're right in it being a pair of legs in stoking 😂
You skipped the ed... again.... 😢, the opening was played as the ending song this episode as its all about Homura. You are right, the opening song is not from Madoka’s perspective but Homura's!! You can say this anime has 2 main Characters!
Since you seem to forget some things i will remind you once more, don't forget to react to the opening of the 1st movie before Rebellion. Right it down lol! 😂
One thing I'm still confused about is how the other girls don't get stronger from adding fate. How does it only affect Madoka? Is it like a Steins Gate thing where there's an attractor field that makes Gretchen an absolute?
@@LckD008 Well, for two of them they had already made their wishes before the start of the time loop so their fate was sealed. As for Sayaka, I’m gonna guess it’s because she didn’t make a wish in the Original timeline so her power fully resets, unlike Madoka’s.
@@rabbidcreature9681 Mami and Kyoko would have already made their wishes too before the loop. I guess the only way I can convince myself on how it works is actually because Homura's wish concerned only Madoka. Homura returning with memories of multiple timelines of Madoka compounded and somehow messed with causality, resulting in the insane power that rests in her.
@@LckD008 “for two of them [ Mami and Kyoko] had already made their wishes before the loop…”
i really love the fact that op starts to play at the end and WHEN you understand that all this time it was from Homura s perspective. Best moment everytime
It's worth watching it full to read the lyrics, becouse they fit story so well
Sadly he only read the first lines and skipped it 😭
@@magicalcoordi yes🪦😔🥲
@@magicalcoordiand everyone told him not to last episode lmao!
@@magicalcoordiI think he watched through on the patreon, early on he said he was cutting the endings from the UA-cam upload due to copyright
That scene of madoka amd homura walking through the school halls is iconic. 1st time in episode 1, 2nd time in this episode, and 3rd time in the movie 👀
Madoka’s witch name is "Kriemhild Gretchen" and she is the Witch of Misfortune. Here is her description straight from the wiki
"The Witch of Misfortune. Her nature is mercy. She absorbs any life on the planet into her newly created heaven in Misfortune--her barrier. The only way to defeat this witch is to make the world free of misfortune. If there's no grief in this world, she will believe this world is already a heaven"
When you're done with the anime you should look up what the witches from the magical girls look like. They have sick and awsome designs that you don't get to see in the anime. My favorite is Madoka’s witch, it looks soo damn creepy i love it!
It is interesting that Gretchen’s motivation and her labyrinth are essentially a twisted version of what Ultimate Madoka/Madokami eventually does.
31:40 Saving the whole planet is collateral, she is devoted to saving Madoka
Everyone has been hyped for this one since ep3
Homura's shield is also an hourglass, with enough Stop time to equal 1.5 months. When she resets it that red sand/blue tunnel visual happens and she'll go all the way back to the hospital again.
The scene of madoka and homura walking through the school halls are parallels from episode 1 and then the movie has a scene that parallels this one.
There's also 3 chair scenes that parallels or are a direct sequence but are split between the opening of the 1st movie and 2 scenes in Rebellion, the 3rd movie. It's pretty awesome
Madoka got stronger each timeline, and Homura had been though almost 100 timelines (about 12 years, meaning her mind is about 26). In the last timeline, Madoka had way too much power to control, so she turned into a witch faster.
When Kyubey said, "you're-," he was just figuring out Homura is a time traveler. Kyubey forgets her since they never met before she got out of the hospital.
Those first 5 words don''t get explained until next episode. At this point, it's meant to be confusing.
@herohomg6630 I didn't consider it a spoiler since we see her go from dying to kill Walpurgisnacht to 1-shotting it. It's clear even just from episode 10 that she got stronger.
What he's not supposed to know is why, and I left that out.
Madoka getting stronger with each reset also brings up an interesting point. The world was not under threat, originally. Only Madoka’s life was at stake. Madoka’s fate was to fight Walpurgisnacht and either lose and die, or win and become a witch. But Walpurgisnacht was only a city buster level threat, not a word wrecker, and for the first few time loops, Madoka wasn’t strong enough for her witch to be a threat to the whole world. It was only after Homura began time looping and increasing Madoka’s potential that Madoka’s witch BECAME a threat to the world. Basically, every time Homura looped, she increased the cost of failure, until eventually the whole universe was now at risk and Homura had no choice but to keep looping forever.
Episode 9 made Kyouko my favorite, then this episode made Homura my favorite. It makes you appreciate how much Homura has gone through to protect Madoka and defeat Walpurgisnacht.
I agree that Homura was the secret main character.
If you rewatched the entire anime from the beginning, starting from episode 1, you would see every scene with Homura in a different light after watching this episode. Every thing she has said or thing she has done. There have been a few times when her facade has been breaking a little but like she said in this episode, no one really believes her even if she were to tell the truth about Kyubey, and her only goal is to save Madoka. No, not the world. She made her wish about Madoka, and she also made a promise to Madoka. She feels like she is in a maze trying to find a way out, and she is willing to retry as many times as needed. With this mindset you can try to understand Homura's behavior in the past episodes a little bit better.
This episode alone turns this anime around and finally reveals a completely new perspective that it has been hiding from the beginning despite of slowly teasing us from the very beginning. What's even more impressive is how they kept this hidden from us for 9 episodes. Imagine if this had been the first episode. Nope, it wouldn't really had the same impact as seeing it now. What I probably love the most about Madoka Magica is its peak execution. The way how it is deliberately giving out little reveals just at the right time, when it is hiding things from the viewers until the right moment, when it is doing everything just right in story telling, music, character development, and other areas. Madoka Magica is packed full of content with the right kind of cliffhangers, it has just the right amount of content in each episode without making it feel like rushed or content spread too far and wide. It's a surprisingly clean and concise package but still full of surprises. It's the overall high quality of the anime what makes Madoka Magica one of my top 4 favorite anime.
Yes, the fact Homura's first idea for fighting in time stop is homemade pipebombs tells you she was never so innocent
And get second thought was to steal from the Yakuza.
@@dataweaverwell in fairness this is Japan. That's one of the only places you can get explosives or firearms.
@@lunarrobot9714 But doesn't Japan have strict anti-gun laws?
@@dataweaver Yes. Hence why she needed to get them from the yakuza.
Note: the heavy weaponry she used later are likely stolen from American military base. Those don't look like stuff Japanese would have access normally, yakuza or not.
Apparently Homura going back in time remembering everything that happened previously is not the only side effect for the timeline. For some special reason, Madoka somehow also ends up remembering the final events of each time loop in the form of "strange dreams", as she herself reported to her friends in the first episodes. Parallel to this, with each return in time, Homura, despite not wanting to, has also apparently boosted Madoka's power, to the point that Kyuubey is surprised by it and can almost no longer calculate.
Finally...you got to this episode.
Read the OP lyrics properly again.
The OP lyrics are about Homura's feelings for Madoka.
This is such a big episode for the series in so many ways. We find out that Homura is stuck in a Groundhog Day loop, we get to see some What-if scenarios, and get so many answers.
On top of that, it's here that it becomes clear that the opening song is from Homura's point of view. The Madokas we see in the opening are Madokas from across the timelines that Homura has been through. Which is why the opening played at the end this episode. It's a really nice touch.
A few episodes ago you made a comment about the opening credit sequence lying to the viewer showing Madoka as a magical girl with the other girls. But it never lied, what it hid was the show starts near the end of the story rather than at the beginning of it, and this is the clip show of the beginning episodes of the story that are "missing".
Its PE uniforms were commonly worn in Japan until the 1990s. It is now obsolete.
I am from Japan🇯🇵, sorry if my English is not correct! I always enjoy your videos!!!
So fun lesson on how Homura's shield works
Inside the shield is a sand timer that trickles down as the timeline goes on, running out after the fight with Walpurgisnacht
To stop time she stops the flow of the sand timer
To rewind time she turns the sand timer over and has it refill to send her back
It is implied that after the fight with Walpurgisnacht she will lose access to her time stop magic as the sand has run out
Her stopped time works by halting everything that isnt connected to her, so she can bring others into frozen time by touching them as she activates it
She fights by firing weapons in frozen time, they travel a bit, then freeze in place as they get caught in stopped time
Once she resumes time all the bullets fired will fly forward at once and all the bombs have been cooked so they will go off in a few seconds
So, here's a question. In the next episode, during the fight between Homura and Walp, it sometimes looks like Walp is actually moving while Homura has stopped time (for example, when Homura is riding the gas truck off the bridge to hit Walp's face). Is this true, or merely me misinterpreting the animation (and/or an animation mistake)? If it is true, what does that mean about Walp and her connection to Homura's magic?
@@stephenpriest Walpy wasnt moving in stopped time since Homura hadn't frozen time at that point so she could time her attacks right
It can be hard to tell with how grey the scene is and Homuras time stop appears as things going grey
Homura is such a tragic, but such a beautiful character. I can't stop but admire her dedication. I don't even want to imagine relieving the death of a sear person for 100+ times. Homura is still human. She has this facade of a stoic, calm and collected person, but it's easy to imagine the psychological toll she very likely experiences with every new failure! It really really hurts me to imagine how despair would slowly creep in. Yeah, you can say "I'll do it forever if I have to", but in reality NO ONE can. Everyone has a limit.
Love this show!
The voice actors really deserve more praise then they get 🙌 absolutely brilliant performance from them this episode. The ed was actually thr opening, they didn't use the ending song this time but instead switched the op at the end since the lyrics are all about Homura
Homura is my favorite character ever. I just adore her and he dedication to save madoka.
So now episode 12 hype, and then the best Madoka has to offer so far, Rebellion! I hope you watch it for us plebs and not just the Patreon crowd.
The number of parallels from episode 1 is insane and i doubt you caught them all. There's also going to be lots more in the movie, so try and remember, lol
You forgot to read the lyrics of the opening 😅
30:48 Kyube is being rewound along with everyone else whenever Homura resets time, and so Kyube has no recollection of forming a contract with Homura. Its comment there is it realizing that Homura is a time traveler - just before Homura resets time again, wiping that knowledge from its memory in the process.
Or, perhaps, not necessarily wiping Kyubey's memory, but transferring Homura to a new timeline where Kyubey doesn't know about Homura.
One thing you should keep in mind for the future episodes is that Homura doesnt give a damn about the world. She was ready to destroy it for all the unjustice it gave to her. If it means saving Madoka she would gladly put an end to this world herself if she must. Thats how important Madoka is to her, justice or saving the world was never her goal which makes her a stark contrast to Madoka
If you are interested, this show has a spin off manga about a magical girl with the ability of foresight who sees what Madoka will become (the witch Kriemhild Gretchen) and tries to off her, becoming Homura's enemy in the process.
In Spider-Verse terms, failing to save Madoka is Homura's canon event.
This video is my first time noticing that Dalek behind you, has that always been there?
In case it wasn't clear: Homura always jumps back to the same day, when she does a jump. A day on which Madoka hasn't yet made a contract with Kyubey. In the first couple of loops, Homura obediently waited until she was released from hospital and while she waited, Madoka always made the contract with Kyubey. But after mercy killing Madoka, she immediately jumped into action, the moment she woke up and thus was able to prevent Madoka from making a contract from that point onwards.
I really like Homura's OST progression. She has three songs associated with her, being named Numquam Vincar (I will never be defeated), Sugram Identitem (I will get up again and again) and Nux Walpurgis (Walpurgis Wallnut). The one where she shoots with the LMG is the first one of the trio. Oh and I just looked the translations from latin up, I don't know any latin myself.
In interviews the staff said that Homura went through more than 100 loops, each one roughly one month long, meaning that on top of seeing Madoka and the other girls die or turn to witches for more than 100 times, she's been at this for more than 8 years.
A magical girl turns into a witch, not when she dies. When they die, they die. They turn into a witch if either they fall into despair (like Sayaka) or they use so much magic, that their soul gem turns entirely black. With Madoka in this final loop of this episode, the latter was probably the case. She likely put so much power into that one-shot kill that it instantly surpassed the "capacity" of her soul gem or somesuch.
Ah, the OP is such a happy song isn't it? :) Until you come to this episode and understand the context of the lyrics. :'(
The irony is, that the very first timeline, before Homura made her first timejump, was the best for the world. Madoka and Walpurgis Nacht killed each other, meaning everything could go back to status quo. After that Madoka always turned into a witch of immense power and in the later loops even a witch dwarving Walpurgis in power, leaving the world pretty screwed. Had Homura either just accepted her loss, or wished for Madoka to be resurrected, everything would have gone... more or less well. But because she worded it such that she wanted to be the one to save Madoka, rather than just having Madoka saved, she caught herself in a endless suffering.
Woah that wish does matter a lot doesn't it, Homura could have worded it differently...I didn't even realize that 😢
I know you don't want to give out spoilers but doesn't this idea pretty much screw over the entire ending? And overall, if Homura doesn't try things end well for Kyubey but as we've seen not necessarily well for anyone else...
@@remo27 If Homura had worded her wish differently the entirety of the series, save for the first couple of minutes of episode 10, would never even have happened, so there wouldn't really be an ending to screw over in the first place.
Homura would have become just a regular magic girl, that eventually died in battle, or became a witch to be killed by another magical girl and the everything would have continued the same way it has for the last 3000 years or however long ago the incubators found Earth.
And Madoka would either have remained dead, if Homura's karmic weight was insufficient to revive her with the wish, would have returned to being a regular Human or became another regular magic girl alongside Homura. Either way she never would have become a super magical girl and subsequent super witch in such a scenario.
@@Norbert_Sattler Yes, and you know what that means and so since I can't spoiler I will simply say that if you think that outcome is better than what Madoka does in episode 12 (and Homura's efforts give her the knowledge and ability to do so) than you are a monster and quite foolish on top of that as episode 10 shows that the Incubators have no loyalty to either the Magic Girls or the Human Race in general. They'll drop us at a dime. As for the Incubators: they are utilitarian assholes and always do what is best for themselves and their energy collection, other species and any promises they made or implied be damned.
@@remo27 I was talking about how things look from this episode, while avoiding what will happen in the end...
Can we just take a second to appreciate Mami's theme song. it's so good.
25:23 One of my favorite moments of the episode, when we get Homura's side of things from back in the beginning of the first episode.
Madoka had the cutest Grief Seed ever.
23:14 to make one thing abundantly clear, because it's not on initial viewing, this timeline restart we're seeing right here is probably skipping a fuckton of loops, and is not happening immediately after the previous scene where Homura makes her promise. Assuming that the first three timelines we see all happen one immediately following the other (the OG timeline where Homura makes her wish, the second one that starts at 11:20 in which Madoka becomes a witch, then the one that starts 15:55, where Homura tries and fails to warn them and eventually makes her promise to keep Madoka from contracting), then all the remaining loops happen between that third timeline and the one that starts at my first time stamp - and there are a LOT of remaining loops. The creators have confirmed Homura went back like 100 times, we just don't see all of them. Every time you've ever wondered "why doesn't Homura just do _____" it's because she's already tried that, and failed.
Also, note the sequence of events RE: Madoka's power. In the OG timeline, she died outright fighting Walpurgisnacht. I don't think it's confirmed whether she even defeated it in that timeline, but if she did, it was like when Kyoko took down Sayaka's witch, a reckless and explosive move that shattered her soul gem. Timeline two, she is able to survive to the end of the fight - barely. She was strong enough to win, but doing so overextended her, and she became a witch. Timeline three, similar result; she is powerful enough to get herself and Homura through the fight, and still keep a spare grief seed in reserve, but still succumbs in the end. Her power is growing, but slowly. Compare it to the second to last timeline, when she takes Walpurgisnacht down with one shot. It seems like an abrupt increase in power compared to the one we as the audience see right before it, but in truth, her power has been slowly increasing with each reset
29:33 Yes.
The opening plays at the end of this chapter.
Because it IS the opening of the first chapter.
Pure. Magic.
This episode never fails to bring me to tears. 😢
agree,its been long time i watch this anime but my tears cant stop falling T.T
Oh don't worry, they explain why madoka gets that strong
But yeah the main reason why they turn into witches is because their soul gems, their souls, become too tainted. One way to get it that way is to use too much MP basically, if you wanna think of it in game terms. To stop that, you'd need to keep getting grief seeds that are able to take away that darkness in your soul and replenish your MP.
The other way is emotionally, like what happened with sayaka. Being in despair will also taint your soul, and lead it to becoming a witch.
24:52 The best part about this whole scene is that it matches the animation from the first chapter (adding music and dialogue), which makes all the pieces fall in place.
Madoka's dream was not a dream.
It was THIS timeline ending and Homura resetting it back to before she became a magical girl.
Remember, Homura's wish is precisely "return to before when Madoka becomes a magical girl". So every time she resets time, she has just enough time to escape the hospital, travel all the way to Madoka's house, and capture/murder Kyubei before he can offer a contract.
I love how well executed is this part.
Pure art.
Have you ever read Goethe's Faust? If you understand the play's central thesis, you understand how PMMM works.
4:29 They used to be normal P.E. uniforms in Japan a fair while back, but were changed at some point in recent decades (I don't actually know when) to not be so... well, that. A lot of anime, however, tend to still use them, likely because of uhhhh... sexual appeal. Don't quote me on that, but I'm decently sure that's why. Sometimes it could also just be because it has become almost a sort of established trope of sorts.
Yeah, Homura *is* kinda the Main Character. But the fun Thing about Madoka Magica is that you only realize that after already watching it. Thus on Re-Watch it becomes a pretty different Plot and is worth seeing again. I love how you can watch this twice and get different Stories out of it :D But you can only watch it blindly once, that's why everyone wants you to do so before you get spoiled.
Homura can reset multiple Times because of her specific Wish. She said "I want to go back and protect Madoka", and since Madoka died or became a Witch, she failed at protecting her, thus sending her back to try again.
Also ofc Kyubey cannot ever remember making a Contract with Homura, as once she jumped back for the first Time, she never made her Contract in any of the other Timelines. Kyubey couldn't know about it.
It's also interesting to look back on Episode 1 where Homura was pretty upset when Madoka talked about her unusual Name. This Episode shows why that Comment gets to her.
I also want to note, since it's important to realize (to fully get a Picture of how meticulous Homura is, and to put certain Actions into Proportion): Her Powers are Time Manipulation, as you know. However, as you learned in this Episode, whatever she uses to fight, she gathers herself. She makes her own Bombs, she steals Ammo for her Weapons. Time Manipulation may be beyond broken in Human Terms, but considering she is fighting supernatural Beings, she technically isn't much stronger than a Human Being with Human Weapons. It's how she uses her Powers that makes her strong, but just keep this in Mind...
This is one of my top 10 all time favourite anime episodes.
The later half always gits me teary eyed, and you should totally read through the rest of the lyrics for the OP with this context now.
This anime was already sooo good, and then this episode blows it away.
I LOVE timetravel and timeloops stuff,
And then the big reveal that Homura was the true protagonist all along X)
You caught on, yes the plot revolves around Madoka but Homura is pretty much the actual MC, and you also saw that the opening played at the end which at that point you'll realize that the opening lyrics is from Homura's perspective. "I won't forget our promise we made"
Yeah i agree with u, Homura is the main character.
I havent watched most of it but it's kinda like in Fairy Tail how Lucy and Natsu are both main characters but in different flavors. Lucy's the "point of view protagonist" and Natsu's the hero
Walpurgisnacht (its real name is actually unknown, it's just how Magical Girls call it by) is indeed the strongest Witch known to Magical Girls across history.
It's basically the equivalent of the worst natural disasters humanity has ever experienced. While everyone sees something like a mega earthquake or massive hurricane, it's actually Walpurgisnacht causing a ruckus just because it felt like it on that particular day.
The writers named the Witch after a real life European feast day called "Saint Walpurgis Night" celebrated on May 1st, which is in fact the same date it strikes Mitakihara in the series.
The thing is as it is implied previously they need greed seeds to cleanse there soul gems because they deplete magic power when they fight (also so they don't become witches which they dont know that yet) and if it goes dark either from magic depletion or they curse the world they become witches so im guessing one shoting Walpurgisnacht depletes alot of magic xd
This episode is a really great one. It cemented Homura as my favorite character, although Madoka is a close second.
If you think Homura is great now, I am so excited to see you react to Rebellion. I personally think she gets even better, but interpretation can definitely lead you to a different opinion. I would love to see how it shapes yours. ^.^
I hope you enjoy this journey to its conclusion; your reactions have been a joy to watch. Keep up the wonderful work! 🎉🎉🎉
- Leaving aside that individual teachers would have little to no input into school uniforms, the short-shorts (buruma) *were* part of female phys-ed kit in Japan maybe 30 years ago, but were phased out pretty much as soon as the first generation who actually had to wear the things were old enough to have daughters of their own...
- People aren't aware of Walpurgisnacht because normal humans can't perceive witches so instead they see the destruction wrought as some sort of natural disaster.
- Apparently in the Shinto worldview, Magical Girls in this show die the instant Kyuubey takes their souls with its grubby little ear-things. The destruction of the soul-gem or turning into a witch is something different and probably worse...
This is the episode where everything finally clicks
Ahhh, this episode! The episode that explains so much about Homura. :D
A few things to clear up that you seemed a bit confused about:
One, magical girls become witches when their soul gems get too corrupted; this can happen due to stress/depression/etc. (Sayaka lost all optimism), but it can also happen via expending magical energy, which is why early on Mami showed that it's important to cleanse one's soul gem regularly, even though she'd just done a short fight and seemed totally positive throughout it. Madoka expended *so* much energy in that one shot against Walpurgisnacht that her soul gem immediately became corrupted!
Two, Homura's time looping was, at least at first, totally out of her control because of the nature of the wish she'd made. Remember that her wish was specifically to be able to re-do her meeting with Madoka but this time to be strong enough to protect her instead of the other way around. Madoka being doomed by Kyuubey actually, without Kyuubey realizing it, ensures that Homura will be able to keep trying again and again, because if she can't protect Madoka then her wish hasn't been fulfilled. Later on she seems to be able to get a bit more control over the looping, being able to go back to before Madoka ever contracted, choosing when to go back (she does so on purpose after that conversation with Kyuubey after Madoka one-shot Walpurgisnacht), etc.
:3 And yes, Madoka is the main plot point, she is everything that the story circles around. I think Homura *is* the secret protagonist, it's just... also all around Madoka. She's the stealth protagonist even from the very beginning: As you noted, the OP's lyrics are definitely from Homura's POV! It's tragic because you can see, too, how Homura wanted to warn *everyone*, but she's experienced over and over the tragedy that befalls all of them. (This isn't a spoiler, but it's been revealed by Word of God that in any timeline Sayaka makes a contract in, she's doomed to become a witch; in every timeline Mami dies; etc.) Homura does try to save the others when she can but is shutting down more and more in order to try to prioritize protecting Madoka first and foremost; it explains why she tried to get Madoka to accept that Sayaka was already dead right after she contracted, and why she went from trying to get Sayaka to purify her soul gem to being willing to outright kill her if the alternative was her bringing more grief (and more chance that she'd contract herself) to Madoka. While you can still see that she cares (her sadness when she knew Kyoko was going to sacrifice herself), she's sort of been making herself accept that her sole purpose in life anymore is to keep Madoka from contracting so she doesn't die or become a witch.
(This also explains some of your former questions, like why Homura doesn't just kill Madoka and why she doesn't try to explain anything to the other girls! Madoka is her priority, and she's seen that the other girls either won't believe her or can't handle the truth if they find out.)
I look forward to your reactions to the final two episodes... The next one will explain a little detail you may or may not have noticed about Madoka's power level and witch forms. :D And I do hope you end up reacting to the Rebellion movie on this channel! I think you could get away with cutting it up into different parts; I've even seen a few reactions up on UA-cam that have the entire movie in one video, even one that didn't cut out the audio, but I'm not sure what the odds are on getting away with that... However you end up needing to do it, though, I'd love to see it!
surprised he didnt get it from the start considering hes seen steins gate honestly also wasnt her magic revealed before this?
Discovering Homura backstory is alreay heartbreaking enough.But when you realize it was actually at Madoka's request, it makes it even sadder. Homura is fighting so stro,gly to save Madoka from becoming a magical girl because she asked her to do it. If not, I feel like Homura would have given up way earlier. It's one thing to act upon selfish desires. It's another to act for your loved ones. I think that's why Rebellion happened, why we're trap in the post movie timeline. I can't say more here but...time travel is always a powerful tool when used correctly. As far as I can think of, it has always make wonderful stories. Re Zero. Steins Gate. Higurashi. Madoka. All those characters are tragic and not all end up in the best of space after their done with their time loop thingy.
yeah, that promise is basically a curse laid upon Homura, which is why the series ending is such a perfect ending for her
It was a mistake for Madoka to ask Homura that. One of the few mistakes Madoka makes in any of her iterations. A moment of weakness, really. Though considering her circumstance at time, pretty understandable.
It was simply too great a burden to put on Homura (or really anyone) and, given Madoka’s nature, a nigh impossible request.
walpurgisnacht is pretty much the final boss of the magical girls. Nobody knows it's origin, not what or who it is or where it comes from
Madoka magica: 12 episodes + movies
Madoka magica if homura wasn't gay for madoka: 1 episode
To address the question about Walpurgis Nacht, to the best of my understanding it's something like a borg witch. It goes around absorbing other witches and has, over the centuries, become less one witch and more an amalgam of hundreds of witches centered around one ultra-powerful witch.
Remember that scene in episode 1 where madoka and homura are walking down the same school halls as this episode? But in episode 1 Homura has different expressions every time madoka speaks to her. You said she looked "angry" and she kinda was but not at madoka. She was simply trying her best to not break down and sob onto Madoka.
10:50 And thus, the story now becomes a time-traveling one.
I love how the anime changes with every new reveal.
This chapter also serves as a recap of all the reveals that have happened up to this point.
And you can followup this chapter directly with 1, and it all makes sense!
What I find is often overlooked is that this episode also shows us that Homura has absolutely no offensive magical power at all. All her offensive power comes from her homemade bombs and stolen military equipment.
She shoots purple beams at Kyubey in this episode.
I always figured that those were just stylized bullets since EP1 would have been too early to reveal her weapon.
But I guess I can't deny that it might be a form of offensive magic either.
@@iGourry Very late, but what we see in the first episode is also the "current" timeline after all the others, so it's possible she learned new tricks during her 100ish cycles.
TL;DR you might both be right.
That's one of the unique point of the series, the Protagonist has her role/position taken by another character (and in a non-joking way). I dunno if other anime had done it (now or back when it came out) but it was the first for me.
Since i honestly don't remember if there was anything specific with madoka turning after one-shotting walpurgisnacht. It could be:
- that she used up all her power in that one shot and so transformed.
- she wished to defeat it so once she did, that hope became despair to maintain the balance.
- her attack did a lot more collateral damage and she fell into despair that way.
2 more episodes left, looking forward to the reactions. (and then a movie... and then another movie whenever that comes out).
-Opening suggestions:
1. Ergo Proxy, "Kiri" by Monoral
2. The Big O, "The Big O! The Show Must Go On!"
3. World's Finest Assassin, "Dark Seeks Light" by Yui Ninimiya
4. Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, "Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress" by Egoist
5. Mobile Suit Gundam, all openings
6. Schwarzesmarken, "White Forces" by Fripside
7. Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex & 2nd Gig, "Inner Universe" & "Rise" by Origa
Looking back at the series, especially the first episode and when Homura and Madoka meet for the "first" time, is a completely new experience after this episode.
30:31
YES YES!!
I’ve been saying this since I first watched it! Homura feels like the true protagonist from the episode forward even when you rewatch you still feel like after you see that episode she’s the main focus of the show, there was so much built around her being mysterious and no one knew what she wanted or who she was but when you watch it all again the show has an entirely new meaning and feeling once you know this and you see how she was the true hero in madokas life.
The story is homura trying to save her best friend, in the first scene you see there are 3 focal points, madoka, homura and kyubey. Madoka is the plot, homura is the protagonist and kyubey is the villain, but you don’t understand that till this episode so you think it’s more like the witch is the villain, madoka is the protagonist and kyubey is the plot.
It’s so interesting to see the realization hit people, I remember I sat in my dark room with my mouth wide open, I remember then getting up and pacing around my room and I kept thinking “why isn’t this anime everywhere!? Why haven’t I heard of it till now!?” It’s truly a masterpiece and it will forever and always be my favorite anime ever created.
30:20 I think all of the Quintet have had time devoted to them. Remember that Homura was a mysterious background character for most of the show.
I like to divide the show into 4 arcs, each with different central characters:
Episodes 1-3: Madoka is introduced to this world with Mami as her mentor. Mami moves on from her trauma and insecurities as she makes new friends for the first time in a long while.
Episodes 4-6: Sayaka becomes a shounen protagonist and fights for what she believes is right, even though it goes against the conventions of the world.
Episodes 7-9: Kyoko sees herself in Sayaka, and through their shared struggle, regains faith in doing good things for the sake of others.
Episodes 10-12: ???
Literally EVERYONE Last EP: DON'T SKIP THE OP AND READ THE LYRICS
This Clown: Skips the OP and doesn't read the Lyrics
This is how you put it simple it's not about Madoka being the main protagonist is like in one piece you are looking for the one piece not about the one piece itself.
Noooo you need to go back and read the lyrics to the opening! They play the opening at the end of this episode because the lyrics are all about Homura
The PE uniforms are canon, i'm no expert of course and guess it might be possible that "regular" shorts for girls have become more common in Japan. But they're wearing shorter, more skin tight shorts revealing most of the thighs and refer to them as bloomers.
as i see it madoka is obviously the main character of the show but homura is like the main character of the story if that makes sense... also really like how the op was there the entire time but only now you can actually connect the dots that the lyrics are talking more about homura.
welcome to the long awaided back story of Homura and the reason why homura is both stronger and weaker then mami because mami was her mentor but now Homura surpasses Mami because of she has gained so much experience as a magical girl by looping over and over and over again, walpurgisnacht its barrier is the size of the city now madoka's witch on the other hand can engulf the entire world like kyubey says she would destroy the world within 10 days
Homura's ability works like this: she can temporarily stop time with her shield at will. That is all she can do.
However her wish was to go back in time to save Madoka. So every time Madoka dies or becomes a witch, Homura's wish resets the timeline.
Also, if you want to watch a much more light hearted witch-themed series after this, I can recommend two: Soul Eater and Little Witch Academia.
Yay! This episode!
Okay, so before this episode came out, viewers have been making theories about who Homura might be. A lot of them already figured she might be a time traveler but didn't know her connection to Madoka with some even thinking she may be Madoka's daughter in the future or something. Anyways, a lot of people also thought the opening song was totally misleading with it's lyrics until it played at the end of this episode and they all realized the song is about Homura.
I think you said some time loop stuff in your Re:Zero reaction which reminded me of Homura but I remembered you hadn't gotten to this episode of Madoka Magica so it'd be a spoiler so I couldn't comment it. XD
Episode 10 of madoka magica is one of the best episode. It made Homura the most fan favorite. If you don't know how many times homura timeloop it's 100+, I don't know if I should include magia record but since it's not the same as in the game it probably in one of the timeloops also. There's other media that explore other timeloop such as what if Mami survive from madoka magica different story which explore Kyouko and Mami's backstory.
Btw The Opening is literally about Homura.
What I'm about to say doesn't lend itself well to a reaction video format, but Madoka is definitely a show that rewards you for re-watching. A lot of the questions you've asked "do we get an answer?" were actually answered earlier, but you probably didn't realize it because the detail didn't have meaning to you yet. Every answer in the show is hidden in plain sight. When you rewatch, you think "wait, that CAN'T have been there before right? I would have remembered."
Homura's shield contains an hourglass, which can stop time by flipping it sideways. And when the sand runs out, the magic that stops time can no longer be used, and the only thing that can be done is reverse it and turn back time.
20:47 very minor spoiler: this series isn't going to tell you what Walpirgisnacht is, and neither will the sequel movie, Rebellion. But the upcoming movie that's going to be released next year? It's called _Walpirgisnacht Rising._ If it _doesn't_ give us more about Walpirgisnacht, I will be very surprised.
It´s not about losing the will to life. The Soul Gems get darker and more corrupt the more magic the girls use. and they need to pass that darkness to the Grief Seeds of beaten witches to cleanse them and go back to normal. That is why Sayaka always turns: desperation and sadness speed up the process of darkening Soul Gem.
Madoka used all her power and turned in that timeline by beating the Walpurgis Night.
Also, no comment about how Madoka gets stronger and stronger with each new timeline? It seems obvious.
The question of who the main character really is is actually a huge part of the point and philosophy of the show (especially once you watch the movie, Rebellion). Homura is the one who tries to take on all the agency ("I won't rely on anyone anymore," etc.), and it seems like she is the main actor in the show, now. And yet, she fails. She cannot make things work out the way she wants. And in trying to do so, she takes away agency from Madoka. Of course, the effect is that Madoka is actually able to live longer, to learn, and to refine the way she lives so that she can make a better wish, so perhaps Madoka is the main character after all?
23:12: this part of the episode is, for me, the most emotional three seconds in the show. The scream is so well done by Homura's voice actor (in both sub and dub), and the silent gunshot followed by a cut to black is so powerful
29:55 Well, just like Zelda game, the game called The Legend of Zelda but you play as Link
I think Madoka turns into witch because every battle makes soul gem dirty and you need those grief seed to clean it - maybe stopping the night of Valpurgia (Walpurgisnacht) makes gem too dirty to clean... poor Homura is in the time loop trying to save Madoka 😢 (ps I wrote Walpurga with V on purpose for Luke to know how the W should sound in this word = more like english V)
The madoka in this timeline is supposed to be very strong for specific reasons that will be explained later. The madoka in other time lines was normal or even the weakest of all the girls
*Day 173* of recommending the *Beyblade openings* .
There are the Japanese ones and the English ones. The English version has one opening for a generation, and that for the 1st and 2nd generation. The 3rd gen has one op for one season. But the Japanese version has multiple ops for a season in any gen. You should definitely check both versions out. I made playlists on my channel, so you don't need to search, cause in those compilations are a few off and not in the correct order. Thanks for checking out!
Also, did anyone else see the blink-and-you miss it moment where Kyubey materializes next to a heartbroken Homura right before she makes her wish? Like something straight out of star trek but damned spooky in this universe.
Just so you know, getting rid of the incubators (kyubee's race) wouldn't help them at all, i. Fact it would fuck the whole world up. They are needed even if they like it or not. Keep that in mind
The legendary episode 10! It's such an amazing reveal to see how Homura originally was and how her determination and despair at losing Madoka countless times made her into the character we see in episode 1. I remember going back and rewatching some earlier episodes after this one aired to look at them from a different perspective. So good!
I don't remember how I feel when I watch this episode when it first aired, after so many years I completely forgot the story. But now the 2nd time watching...holy shit Gen Urobuchi writting....
Homura is definitely my favorite girl
We are near the end. Im really gonna miss these reactions. It was so much fun watching Luke lose his mind and became more and more paranoid with each episode lol
21:15 The Grief Seed used in this scene is Sayaka, which Madoka kept carefully.
Oh, for Homura it's definitely not about saving the world. She has one priority that goes before everything else. And that priority is Madoka. (I suppose that makes this a sekai-kei story.)
Speaking of Madoka... you saw that she couldn't defeat Walpurgisnacht in one of the early timelines, but she was able to do so easily in the one where she destroys the world. What caused the difference between the two timelines? I'll leave you with that question to think about...
I think that Timeline 3, when Madoka asks Homura to go back and stop her from being tricked by Kyubey, is the turning point in the plot.
Homura’s original wish was to go back and redo her meeting with Madoka, and this time be strong enough to protect Madoka. This was achievable, especially since the exact meaning of “protect” is open to some interpretation. But after Madoka’s request, Homura’s mission morphed, in her mind, into “stop Madoka from ever becoming a Magical Girl”.
And this was impossible.
You REALLY need to watch the Rebellion movie after this