Something about cheese 🧀
I love the designs of witches in Madoka Magica. Gekidan Inu Curry, the designer for the witches, is a GOAT. Witches all have that paper vibe going on with them. So, let's list all the witches that appeared in the anime so that you can see what I mean by, "Paper Vibe™"
(Also note I'm going by the wiki)
+ Gertrud
+ H.N Elly (Kirsten)
(Side note for Elly is that we actually see her 2 different forms [Should I call it forms? Idk]. The picture above is when Sayaka killed her and the other one is when she's inside the television. Also, the picture above only shows up for about a second.)
+ Gisela
+ Elsa Maria (Poor her, got murdered by Sayaka)
+ Oktavia von Seckendorff (Seyiku.....)
+ Izabel
+ And of course, Walpurgis!
But wait a minute.... I feel like I'm forgetting someone.... OH RIGHT!
+ Charlotte!!
[Steppy steppy Homu]
See those images? Now those are the #PaperVibes™ I'm looking for! Well except for Walpurgis who has 3D cog wheels instead of a paper vibe™. All witches look like this paper vibe™ but for the one I almost forgot; Charlotte, why is she the only exception to this rule? She's entirely animated like everyone else in the series. No other witch is drawn like this. She's the only exception when it comes to this rule. Well, the only NORMAL witch that is exempt from this rule. Ultimate Madoka's "witch" also doesn't follow the paper vibe™.
It's more drawn than paper bashed. And that's ok since Madoka is the most powerful magical girl thus making this one, the most powerful witch. So of course, it's gonna break the rules, same with Walpurgis. It's also drawn with its difference having 3D rendered cog wheels.
So why does a normal witch get the animated treatment? By Goddess Madoka, EVEN HOMURA has the paper bashed witch.
(Thank God Homura got the paper bashed witch treatment, I am gonna throw hands if she didn't. Look how beautiful that is...)
So why in Goddess Madoka's name does Bebe get the animated treatment, when we consider her, a normal witch?
We can chalk this up to the animation team just wanting Bebe to stand out from the rest (Because she's the witch for the #IconicSceneAlert) and nothing more. Buuuuut... That's boring. So let me try to reason out why Bebe looks different from every other witch.
[Let me yoink this witch]
Ok, so about Bebe.... Well, what about her? We have nothing to go on if we're only talking about the main series. We don't know anything about her apart from her personality and design. Her wish? Nothing. Her past? Nothing. So how do we talk about someone who doesn't have anything? Well, we go to another universe silly!
Magia!~ Record!~
(Cue the SONG)
Not that universe but another another one!
There we go.
MAGIA~! RECORD~!
(NOW cue the SONG)
The game one.
In Magia Record they expanded much more on Nagisa, giving her an event titled:
Nagisa's Wish! (If you want to watch it)
(Me and Nagisa have the same reaction after finding out the event is literally named Nagisa's Wish)
So, let's go back to her witch appearance for a moment. In Magia Record you fight her and EVEN in this game, they decide to make Charlotte look "normal".
Most, if not all, witches still look papery even in the game. I say most and not all because of the NA shutdown and I have no idea of anything past Arc 1 Magia Record (I'm still finding free time to catch up to Arc 2). Doppels and Rumours ALSO follow the papery rule.
There is one exception to Bebe's appearance and that is Nagisa's doppel.
[Now that's the papery vibe™ I'm looking for!]
So why does Bebe have a different art style than ALL of the other witches?
Let's go to her MGS in Magia Record (Metal Gear Solid!? No, Magical Girl Story)
So, in her MGS we see that she's being followed by a Pink Kyubey which we can safely assume is Goddess Madoka. Why can we assume that?
First, her transformation (when you get her in the gacha). It starts with the symbol of the law of cycles.
Second, it's literally Goddess Madoka pulling for her in her transformation.
[Go get that 5-star girl]
She's also putting make-up on Nagisa and making her look human.
Well not literally making her look human. You can read this as Goddess Madoka, preparing her to blend in because you know. She's half magical girl half witch already at this point. So of course, you gotta blend her in.
So, we've made it clear that the Pink Kyubey is Goddess Madoka, watching Nagisa from afar. How important is Nagisa that THE Goddess Madoka, THE concept would get you to do work for her instead of another magical girl. Well firstly, she can't choose any of the 5, because Goddess Madoka is essentially killing the Magia Record version of them by putting another version in their body. Nagisa is the closest choice for Goddess Madoka because....
Because.....
[LMAOOOOO I HAVE NO IDEA WHY. SAME MAMI, SAME. Look I get that Bebe is the closest to them because she killed Mami?? I mean you could say that to Gertrud, Esla Maria, Gisella. Every other witch could have fit the Bebe position. But I'm not complaining that they used Nagisa btw.]
But this does bring up the fact that Nagisa is special in one way or another.
Ehemm... Back to the topic at hand.
So why does Bebe have a different art style than all the other witches. One theory I have is that Charlotte, the witch, has more control over their witch body compared to other magical girls. Like she's more accepting of what happened to her compared to other magical girls. She succumbed to despair, just like any other magical girl. But unlike the others, she chose to bathe in despair. Enjoy it.
[From Magia Record - Nagisa's Wish]
Other magical girls wallowed and grieved in despair. Not Nagisa no. She accepted this despair because there was nothing more she can do, there was nowhere for her to go anymore. She lost everything. So, when she became a witch, she was more in tune with it. She was more welcoming of her faith than other magical girls. (Ehem Homura, ehem...)
Can you blame her though?
If everything in your life went wrong and then suddenly for a moment. Everything went your way. Would you not want to stay in that moment forever?
In her witch labyrinth she could eat all the cheese she wants.
For her, cheese was equivalent to her mother's love.
I mean, her mother loved cheese.
She on the other hand, didn't.
After becoming a witch, she began to see cheese as a symbol of her mother. She loved chasing cheese; she loved eating cheese.
For her, chasing cheese began to symbolize her wanting to get her mother's love. That is why she's so obsessed with it. All she wanted was to go home with her mother.
Her life was a tragedy and she saved herself from it. By ending her tragedy of a life, she began a new and better life.
She could eat all the cheese she wants.
She could have all the snacks she wants.
She could choose from the varieties of cheese in the room!
This is the HapPiEst she has ever been!
Why would she deny herself this happiness?
The princess has finally found a place where she can happy!
The End
Bonus!!
So, while I was looking for a screenshot for the end of my post. I saw this happy Nagisa. And I thought to myself... "Wait a minutos, why is she happy? Shouldn't she have memories of everything that happened?" Well, for a fact she does. I mean, Sayaka remembers everything, she just forgot because Homura made her forget. Homura didn't do it to Nagisa. So, it's safe to assume she does remember.
So, she's happy because Homura won? Not exactly. In rebellion the scene with Sayaka and Kyoko where she interrupted them, she said.
So, if we go by what she said. We can assume she doesn't care about the Rebellion event. She's just happy that she gets to exist again. Back in 2015, the Madoka concept trailer.
The happiness Nagisa wants is not in Heaven. It doesn't exist there. So, when Homura to dragged Madoka down, she destroyed Madoka's "Heaven" where Nagisa lives. She now lives in reality again. Where she can eat cheese again and experience all the things she never got to experience. So, for her, what Homura did is something that actually goes for her favor.
We love a selfish cheese loving character.
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Kyoko and Homura
I was reading some fan work (It's about Kyoko and Sayaka baiting Homura to help them with their summer homework) online and the author pointed something out. (Read from right to left)
And it really is true, Homura never calls Sayaka by just her first name. Homura only calls two people by their first name. The first one is, of course, Madoka. The second one is...
Kyoko Sakura
I immediately thought of the relationship between these two in the series.
^ This one where Kyoko respects Homura and their deal. She lets Homura deal with Sayaka instead of interfering. There was a vibe of friendly banter with the two of them. Something Homura hasn't shown the other girls in the series. It's because everyone was automatically hostile towards Homura (I mean... can you blame them?). Surprisingly, even when Homura threatened Kyoko (their first meeting where Homura saved Sayaka), Kyoko never took it to heart. She still had the heart to banter with Homura even after that exchange.
^ In this scene where Homura introduces the Walpurgis to Kyoko, she tries to connect to Homura by telling her that the two of them are exactly the same. As the saying goes, birds of the same feather flock together. But I see this as an attempt of Kyoko to get Homura to open up to her instead of having such a professional relationship.
^ This, where Kyoko doesn't angrily lash out at Homura for trying to kill Sayaka, but she tries to get an answer to Homura's actions. Kyoko understands that Homura is a person that acts on reason not on emotion. (But we know she acts more on emotion when it comes to Madoka) So Homura suddenly wanting to kill Sayaka was mysterious to her. (But not for us because we know what prompted her to want to kill Sayaka was for Madoka's sake)
^ In the series' timeline, Kyoko was the only one who knew what Homura can do because Homura told her, AND ONLY HER because Homura knows that she's substantially A LOT weaker if people knew what she can do, see Mami vs Homura in Rebellion. Homura's whole game plan hinges on the enemy not knowing what she can do. So, her telling Kyoko what kind of magic she has, shows that she trusts Kyoko with this knowledge. (Also, side note, Homura really is just the number 1 Sayaka hater, telling Kyoko to "toss that useless hunk of meat aside" lol).
^ In this part Kyoko repeats what Homura told her before and you can see that Homura feels some regret talking to her like that. I would like to think that Kyoko was referring to herself when she said "burden" because Walpurgis IS THE FIGHT and Kyoko will be a burden if she were to survive. But I think what's really happening is that she's just returning what Homura told her. (Like the friendly banter I mentioned earlier). Calling Homura a burden as a one last "GOTCHA!" to her friend.
Now let's go to Rebellion.
^ Homura called out to Kyoko first because she was "acting differently from what I know". This just implies that Homura knows Kyoko more than the other 2 (Mami and Sayaka). Homura knows Kyoko as the aggressive and 'in your face' type of person. I also like to think that Homura is closer to Kyoko than them. If Homura were to rank them, it would be.
1. Madoka
2. Kyoko
3. Mami
4. Sayaka (Sayaka hater inbound)
When it came to Kyoko too, she also saw Homura as someone who was acting out of character. Thus her comment..
(Bonus: Kyoko's act of friendship is sharing her food because how important it is to her.)
When Homura found out who was the witch, she called Kyoko immediately and updated her.
^ We get this scene where she hurriedly wants to help Homura. Dropping everything that is going on, wanting to help her friend with the problem she's facing.
^ Homura also apologizing to Kyouko as a last farewell to her. In Homura's POV this is her last call before she dies, before she becomes a witch. Homura chose to call Kyoko for 4 possible reasons.
1. It's to update Kyoko on what happened to her.
2. Bid farewell to a dear friend (I like this one the most)
3. Apologize to Kyoko for putting the Quintet in risk, so that she can ease some of the pain in her heart.
She wouldn't call Madoka because she already had a heartfelt moment with her in the flower field.
This scene, this wonderful scene of these two.
^ This scene alone shows so much about the relationship of this two. Kyouko mourning the loss of her friend and that face touch. It shows how emotionally intimate Kyouko is as a person (We already saw that in the series with Sayaka). And maybe she blames herself for not being able to help Homura with whatever happened. These 2 really trust each other and care for each other. I am inclined to believe that in one of Homura's timelines, Kyouko told her all about her past and Homura in return told her of hers. That would explain the connection these two have. I can see these two as very, VEry ,VERY close friends.
In the end of Rebellion. Homura made Kyoko their classmate and put her beside Sayaka because she knows that these two are close to each other and care for each other. Homura knows that this is what will make Kyoko happy.
(Oh Homura, how nice of you)
^ In the final scene we can see Kyoko and Sayaka having fun in their new life thanks to the new world Homura sewed up for them.
^ I don't know what Homura and Kyoko's relationship is in this new world. But I hope it's a good one because the friendship in this two is something that I've always held in high regard in the series.
BONUS
This is from a memoria from the gacha game (RIP NA) Magia Record titled, "My School Life". The descriptions reads:
Perhaps another world could have existed where Witches weren't a part of my day-to-day life. Maybe I would have gone to school like normal, chatted with friends like normal, and gone home after school like normal.
And it's cute that the picture they used is Homura and Kyoko.
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