#it's like being back in the 2011 PMMM fandom

[queen-of-meows]

They're the same picture, your honor :,(.

[mistbornthefinal]

Madoka Magica Aniversery Analysis: Part1

 Prologue In Heaven

(just in case this is a retrospective of a 10 years old anime, there gonna be spoilers. If you’re for some reason interested in this post and haven’t see Madoka watch it first than come back)

Puella Magi Madoka Magica begins with our titular character running through a surrealist checkerboard hallway until she finds an exit. That exit opens onto a balcony which overlooks a destroyed Mitakihara.

Cue Magia as we are shown half-glimpses of Walpurgisnact. Against this devastated backdrop stands a single girl who we will later in the episode will learn is Akemi Homura. Unfortunately she is clearly outmatched by the forces arrayed against her.

Needless to say Madoka is distressed by the carnage. A strangely calm voice cut’s in which is quickly revealed to be everyone’s least favorite bunnycat Kyubey. Kyubey states that not only is this situation too much for Homura but that she knew that before coming here. After being slammed into the giant eldritch tree by one of Walpurgisnact’s attacks Homura notices Madoka and attempts to call out to her but whatever she has to say is lost in the distance.

Kubey then tells Madoka that she has the power to change all this, the power to change fate, to banish all this unavoidable carnage and sorrow. All she needs to do is make a contract with him... 

Madoka finds it hard to believe that such power exists within her but she seems to be earnestly considering his offer. Before we get a solid answer we cut to Madoka awakening in her bed, turns out it was all a dream. (Or was it? cue Connect!)

The common narrative about Madoka is that the first two episodes are basically bait. That they present a happy façade meant to lure in the unsuspecting only for them to be slapped upside the head by Episode 3′s big twist. If I have any big thesis for this particular essay it’s that this is not the case at all, and this opening sequence is exhibit A.

This whole sequence is basically is basically the core of PMMM boiled to it’s bare essentials. Madoka beholds the horror’s of Kyubey’s system. Kyubey’s tempts her to become part of that system with the possibility of changing things while Homura struggles to avert Madoka’s contract and thus her tragic fate by solving things without her. Right here in EP1 scene 1 Madoka lays it’s cards on the table and tells us what it’s all about. Indeed in EP12 Kyubey’s offer here will prove to be far more valid than he likely intended. 

The rest of the show is about brining us back to the point where the “dream” left off and explaining how exactly we got there. (which makes sense since we will later find out the dream is the end of Timeline 4, and our series opens at the start of Timeline 5) Given that our secondary protagonist is a time looper it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that our narrative is a little circular. 

In our next scene we meet Madoka’s family. Madoka checks in with her dad(Kaname Tomohisa) and then helps her adorable baby brother(Kaname Tatsuya) wake up her rad as heck mom (Kaname Junko).  As Madoka and her mom get ready for the day together Ms. Kaname press her daughter for the latest gossip. 

(the only acceptable Madoka Magica waifu, seriously everyone else is like 14)

We get two other characters namedropped here both Hitomi and Kazuko, Madoka’s teacher who viewers familar with Japanese social conventions will instantly assume Junko knows since she refers to her by first name. We learn that Hitomi got another love letter and that Kazuko and her boyfriend are nearing what Junko believes is a critical point in their relationship.

Madoka is then faced with a choice between 2 types of hair ribbons. Junko urges her to go with the red ones telling her that her secret admirers will love them. Madoka protests that she doesn’t have secret admirers (Homura would disagree) to which Junko replies that they secret to being attractive is believing so regardless We then get a brief scene at the breakfast table but Madoka realizes she’s late and bursts out the door with her obligatory anime toast.

(obligatory)

On the way to school she meets up with her friends the aforementioned Shizuki Hitomi and Miki Sayaka. They discuss Hitomi’s love letter situation and Sayaka notices the new ribbons and then teases Madoka about getting dating  advice from her mom.

At homeroom we learn that Junko was eerily prescient re:Sensei love life. Madoka’s teacher (Saotome Kazuko) just broke up with her boyfriend due to a dispute over breakfast preparation, and she decided share her feels about the matter with the class to hilarious effect. After exhorting the Girls not associate with Men who demand the  Kazuko announces they have a new transfer student.

Before we tackle Homura’s introduction let’s quickly go over what’s being done in this last sequence, because this isn’t just mindless fluff. First and most obvious we’re getting introduced to almost all our secondary characters, but we’re also introduced in a subtle way to some of the themes we’re going to be dealing with. Take note in the first scene we get with Sayaka the conversation revolves around unrequited love, and then the very next scene is about a relationship that failed because the parties involved didn’t communicate their expectations of each other.  This sequence also flows very well because the first conversation between Madoka and her mom sets up both her later conversation with her friends and Kazuko’s rant.

Now that we’re done with that, enter Akemi Homura. To Madoka’s shock and our lack of shock it’s the girl from Madoka’s dream. While to whole class is fascinated by the cool and beautiful transfer student Homura only has eyes for Madoka, asking her show her to the nurses office. On the way Madoka attempts to make conversation but is thrown off by how Homura seems to already know the route. When Madoka calls Homura by her family name she visibly reacts and then tells Madoka to just use her first name.

(Madoka’s school is all glass all the time, the architecture in this show is cursed)

Homura then spins around and gives her out of nowhere cryptic ultimatum. “Don’t change who you are or else you will lose everything and everyone dear to you.” While a first time viewer is likely to be as baffled by this as Madoka it still sort of works to establish stakes. It sort of works because we just got those fluffy slice of life which establish how blissful Madoka’s daily life is and thus how much she has to lose. 

Then we get a montage of Homura being the best at everything before we cut to afterschool as Madoka is sharing her strange conversation with Homura with Sayaka and Hitomi. Neither are sure what to make of her words or Madoka’s claim to have met her in a dream. After Hitomi begs off due prior engagements Madoka and Sayaka head over to the CD store, with Madoka namedropping Kamijou as the person Sayaka is shopping with. 

We then get a intercut of Kyubey running from Homura who is shooting purple bolts of magic at him. At the CD store Madoka hear voice begging for help she follows it into an area that’s under construction. A heavily damaged Kyube than fall out of the ceiling in front of Madoka. Suddenly Homura is there demanding she get away from “that thing” but unfortunately it’s not in Madoka’s nature to abandon injured fluffy things. The two of them are at an impasse before Sayaka interrupts things with a fire extinguisher. 

The two of them book it with Kyubey in tow while Homura is distracted but she quickly dispels the cloud of fire extinguisher gas. She moves to give chase but before she can things get weird. The world is overwritten by a surrealist mosaic something that upsets but does not seem to surprise Homura.

What we will later learn is a witches barrier engulfs Sayaka and Madoka as well. Which means this as now a good time as any to discuss the aesthetic of witches and their labyrinths in a bit more detail. While the strange mixed media collage used to represent witches and their workings was and is a trip for a lot of new viewers of the series, this wasn’t a new thing for Studio Shaft who produced the series. 

(If you we’re familiar with the studio when this show was airing this sort of thing would be par for the course)

Even in 2011 Studio Shaft had built a reputation on having a weird house style that the brought to their productions. Indeed the blending of photographs of real objects into the animation is something they did before in Hidamari Sketch. Sill it cannot be denied that Inu Curry took Shaft’s house style to a new height of weird. 

Back at the plot Madoka and Sayaka are being menaced with scissors by cotton balls with butterfly wings. We also get a more prominent appearance of the witch runes (they were in the opening title card as well) these are a cypher that was surprisingly quickly decoded by the fandom. In this case the Anthonies (that’s what the cotton ball monsters are called) are talking about how Madoka and Sayaka are “unknown flowers” and thus shall go to the guillotine.

Before Gertrude’s familiars can make good on that, a new character appears. She wears the same uniform as Madoka so it’s quickly established that she a senpai at their school but before introducing herself she transforms into her magical girl form and blows away the Anthonies. All while her theme Credens Justitiam plays of course. 

The destruction of the familiars causes the labyrinth to recede and Homura quickly catches up to everyone. Homura and Mami have a tense exchange where Mami offers to let her hunt the witch and then no-so-subtly threatens her. Homura elects to back down for now.

With Homura gone Mami heals Kyubey’s injuries and the bunnycat get’s right back to his business. “Hey kids wanna become meguca?” Cue Mata Ashita (if you’re watching the blueray version).

Now that we’ve gone over the first episode in detail let’s talk a bit more in terms of how it fits into the overall structure. Like I said before the first two episodes are not just a false front to lure people into watching the “real” show. Were that true the show would have sucked and I wouldn’t be talking about it 10 years later. 

Not only is the visual tone of the series present from the word go, but the first two episodes set a baseline without which the twists and revelations of the later episodes wouldn’t be meaningful.  This episode in particular gives us a surface level introduction to all but two of our named characters. It also leaves us with a lot of questions, some of which prime us for the big exposition dump in the next episode while others will run for most of the series. 

[awilliamswrites]

11/11/11 Tag 2

Tagged by @corisanna​. Sorry it took me longer than I thought to get around to this! ㅠㅠ  Also some my answers are super long as I can’t seem to confine myself.

1. What is your favorite relationship type to write/read? Romantic, platonic, familial, and any subtypes.

Favorite to read is either family or friends, or a family that are actually friends with each other. I love warm and fuzzy relationships where people are loyal to each other and love each other and care for one another. 

I’m not actually certain what my favorite relationship to write is though. I’d say I haven’t written enough types of relationships enough times to choose a favorite yet. So far I both like writing friendships and antagonistic relationships. 

2. How much or what kind of research do you do for your fiction? If you don’t write, has a fic ever made you curious enough to research something?

The amount of research I do all depends on a combination of how much energy I have, how difficult it is to find information on the topic, and how interested I am. For some things I settle with what Wikipedia has to say about it, and for other things if I am feeling energetic/determined/interested enough I try to find original or primary sources.

I do tend to rely solely on the internet. Not counting going to my college library, I think it’s been about seven years since I’ve been to a public library. Man, I knew it had been awhile but I hadn’t realized just how long until I did the math in order to type that out. I have been wanting to go to the library for a while and that makes me want to go again even more. I know that some of the best research you can do is through books, and that’s an avenue I want to re-use soon.

3. What was the first work of fiction you remember becoming completely engrossed in?

The Redwall books. I loved those books so much.

4. What work(s) had a lasting influence on you or your writing style?

Hmmm, on my style? I’m not sure. I don’t consciously emulate anybody even though there are some authors who I would love to write like. Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn and The Way of Kings), Terry Pratchett (Discworld), and Megan Whalen Turner (The Queen’s Thief)

On me? See the three just-now mentioned authors, and add in Brian Jacques (Redwall). All of those have influenced my worldview and how I think about myself and others. They’ve also influenced the stories I want to read and what type of stories and characters I want to write.

I’d also be remiss in not adding in The Book of Mormon and The Bible. I could say a lot about them both but I don’t like talking about my religion much and how it’s influenced my life because I know how obnoxious/pushy it can sound. 

I’ll just say: there are some really encouraging, hope-giving verses in the scriptures and they have had a lasting influence on me and how I think.

5. What kind of sound environment do you prefer for writing/reading? Silent, white noise, music with/without words, sitting in a public place with the ambient noise of humanity, etc.

Silence. I like to picture the events in my head and write out what I’m “seeing” and music or people talking distracts me from that. Some noises like the A/C or cars in the distance is fine though. 

6. Are you or do you like authors who are teases, in story or out? 

Like who do cliffhangers and stuff? I love authors who do that even though it’s also agony. I don’t do a ton of cliffhangers myself.

7. Have you ever experienced a “the characters write themselves” or “character rebellion” mental state?

Sadly no, I have not gotten to that point of knowing my characters well enough yet.

8. Do you have a favorite franchise crossover? Like Bleach/Harry Potter, Madoka Magica/Card Captor Sakura, etc.

Nope! I am fond of different “magic” (I’m including the Force from Star Wars under that umbrella) systems interacting and characters being weirded out or in awe of what characters from the other universe can do.

My two favorite franchises by themselves are probably Star Wars and Naruto, but funnily enough I haven’t read any crossovers of the two universes that I’ve cared for. Maybe I should write one. Hmmm.

9. Do you remember anything about the first fanfic you ever read?

I sure do! The first fanfic I ever read and continue to read was Dreaming of Sunshine by Silver Queen. Probably the best intro to fanfic anyone could ever ask for. If you’ve never heard of it, it’s a Naruto fanfic that at this point can probably be safely considered the Naruto fanfic.

I started reading it in 2011 I think. I found it because I was on TV Tropes and I was clicking the “Random Media” button. 

10. Is there a work of fiction that you are annoyed doesn’t have much if any fic? 

I mostly read on fanfiction dot net, so I don’t know about other platforms but at least on there there are not nearly enough Mistborn Trilogy fanfic. 

11. What fictional character do you strongly identify with?

Instead of choosing one I’ll talk about the type of character. I tend to identify with stoic and angsty characters, even though those characters are generally also great fighters and/or have supremely tragic backstories and I am not and do not.

Part of it is that these characters are really cool, and I like them because of that. I know that liking is different from identifying with, but I think there’s some overlap in that liking can include elements of recognizing, aspiring to, and resonating with. There are a few stoic and angsty characters who I do not like, and given that I am just now recognizing that overlap I’m now wondering and wanting to rethink about those characters and see what it is about them that makes me not like/identify with them as opposed to others.

Back to stoic and angsty characters I do like: I have clinical depression, so the constant quiet suffering those characters exude (bonus points if they point on a cheerful façade some of the time) is both relatable and makes me want to hug them. Relating this to the first question, I especially love it when these characters either have or are taken in to a family relationship where people worry about them and love them and help them heal. 

And, on top of that, as I said they are generally awesome and competent fighters, meaning that part of the core of those characters is that they are good at protecting and serving others. This is something I don’t identify so much with as very much aspire to/wish I was better at. (I think it would be awesome to have superpowers or be great at fighting, but at the heart of those desires is the desire to help others.) 

@corisanna​ as a side note, your fanfic is one of my favorites right now because it is pushing all the right buttons for me to LOVE all the characters and character interactions. I’m so glad I found it. I’ve watched PMMM but not Bleach, and As N Approaches Infinity has made me curious enough to start. I’ve watched five episodes and am liking it so far. Can’t wait to meet Toshiro Hitsugaya in the show.

Those were really awesome questions, here are mine! p.s. I’m totally reusing the ones I came up with last time. :P

1 What is your favorite book or series and why?

2 What piece of writing are you most proud of and why? This could be anything, not just fiction writing; if you wrote a paper for school that thinking about still makes you feel good, I’d be curious to learn what it was!

3 Are you a planner or a pantser?

4 If you could live in the world any book series, which would it be? If your choice is different than your favorite from question 1, why is that?

5 Do you have a book that you love that most people you talk to tend not to have heard of? What is it?

6 Do you read/write fanfiction? What’s your favorite fandom to read/write in?

7 What time of day do you write best during? Morning? Midnight? Any time?

8 Have you ever done Nanowrimo? What was your project?

9 What is your opinion on poetry? Do you like it? Do you like modern poetry?

10 Choose your favorite question out of the 11 questions I answered and answer that one! (Indicate which one you’re answering too).

11 What was the last book you read?

I don’t know 11 more new writers to tag, but here are as many as I can. Tagging @pens-swords-stuff @theswordofpens @thenessiej @mdotldotwang @hewwoanna​ @byrdwriter​