#walpurgis is also a foil for having something Homura struggles with

[cai-magica]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Have a wall of text that summarises my current thoughts on all the breaking news! It’s late here and I’m tired so I’ll probably edit this later for clarity, but here is my initial response. 

Initial reaction 

Honestly I really wasn’t expecting the follow up to Rebellion to be themed around WalpurgisNacht, considering Walpurgis hasn’t been relevant to the storyline since the original series. Once Madoka made her wish to eradicate witches from all timelines, I had kinda just assumed that, whichever timeline the story takes us to next, it wouldn’t involve witches? Especially considering that Homura created the last timeline where we left off, it would be in her best interest to keep Madoka’s original wish intact; after all, this world was created with the intention to keep Madoka safe at all costs, so surely she wouldn’t want any witches lurking about. 

And I can’t imagine any of the other girls would have any particular reason to tamper with Madoka’s wish either, unless I’ve missed something? Whilst there were certain advantages to the witch system (such as the Doppels introduced in the spin off series), they were significantly outweighed by disadvantages. 

If I’m remembering correctly, it was implied that the Incubators at the end of Rebellion had vowed to end their magical girl programme because human emotions were simply too irrational and messy for them to work with. So while I imagine Incubator interference isn’t unlikely considering they’re the primary antagonists, I’m not sure I can see how and why they would want to reinvolve themselves with the girls after everything that happened. 

So my only guess is that when Homura tore apart Goddess Madoka and essentially kidnapped her core personality, something in the fabric of space-time must have gotten a little fucky and somehow altered Madoka’s new world order? But again, it doesn’t answer the question of why witches are even making a comeback this far into the story. I was expecting something that focused more on the fragility of Homura’s new timeline; a goddess with amnesia close to recalling her true form, and a demon doing everything in her power to repress her memories in order to keep her from ascending, thus effectively trapping her and keeping her safe from harm. With all of these developments made, why reintroduce witches?? It makes very little sense to me...please feel free to message me and speculate with me, I would love to get a discussion going! 

Mami and Sayaka

I rewatched the concept movie and I noticed that it had similar themes explored in Magia Record; notably, the concept of Mami as a potential antagonist, and Sayaka confronting her former mentor. If they continue to explore this potential dynamic in the upcoming film, I will be happier than a kid in a sweet shop! 

Mami has never sat right with me as a protagonist; heroic Mami kind of feels a little too perfect to me, sort of Mary-Sue adjacent...orphaned girl with tragic backstory, struggles to make friends, finally integrates into a team to defeat a common enemy and dies a hero’s death...it feels too ‘clean cut’, too predictable...it’s like the film telling you ‘hey, look how tragically beautiful this character arc is! You should like this character! Root for them, relate to them!’ And I don’t like stories telling me what to do and who to like so directly and bluntly, it comes across as lazy writing to me. 

Contrastingly, I feel like a more antagonistic Mami ticks all the right boxes for a series like Madoka Magica. A sweet, well meaning girl with a tragic backstory, intent on doing the right thing, but becomes very gullible and easily manipulated due to her loneliness and longing to connect with others and be a part of something bigger, ultimately succumbing to delusional thinking and impulsivity. We saw this play out in the Magia Record spin off series, where Mami was shown moving to another town and being indoctrinated into a cult who manipulated, exploited and weaponized her. We also see this implied in the concept movie; although the clips are very vague and mostly just based on imagery, we see Mami’s sunshine coloured image being contrasted against fiery backdrops and overbearing, sinister undertones; a far cry from the warm, talented, heroic yet somewhat misguided protagonist we saw in the first three episodes of the main series. 

Speaking of the first three episodes of the main series, I want to mention the development of the dynamic between Mami and Sayaka. Mami started off as a mentor figure to Sayaka, who was quick to praise and idolise her. Sayaka was much more insecure here; full of self doubt, she projects onto her new mentor and places her on a pedestal, aspiring to be as brave, noble and righteous as her. In Magia Record, Sayaka has grown and matured; no longer a student in her mentor’s shadow but a formidable magical girl in her own right, she confronts ‘Holy Mami’ who is now a shell of her former self, pointing out that it’s ‘not like her to bully the weak’ and fighting against her when she attacks Yachiyo and Iroha. There are also echoes of this shifting dynamic in the concept movie; Sayaka’s voice can be heard firmly saying that she ‘hates anyone that would point a blade at someone for a reason as ridiculous as that’ (or something along those lines) A minute or so later, a sketch of Mami wielding Sayaka’s swords flashes across the screen, and the clip ends with Mami’s musket rifles being fired across a white backdrop, the sound of the gunshot echoing against the eerily haunting, twinkly music playing on the title screen, creating an atmosphere of unease and disillusionment. 

I suppose my one main hope for the Rebellion follow up is that Mami’s character development as a potential antagonist is expanded on more, alongside the shifting dynamic between her and Sayaka. I really love what I’ve been seeing so far across Magia Record and the clips from the concept movie, I can only hope to see them expanded on further as the series continues. 

New girl on the block?? 

I’m going to preface this by highlighting that I have never been able to play the Magia Record game as it’s unavailable in my country...my knowledge of everything in the Magia Record timeline is limited to the spin off series. However, the new character introduced for the upcoming event, theorised to be a foil for Homura, has absolutely piqued my interest, particularly as she’s apparently linked to WalpurgisNacht. Looking at screenshots from the trailer, it seems to be heavily implied that she also uses time manipulation magic and was present at WalpurgisNacht along with the others, never acknowledged until now. She appears to have an air of omnipotence about her; scarcely being actually seen, but subtly involved in everything, altering and toying with the structure of the timeline, her motivations currently unknown. 

Whilst it may well be exclusive to this event in the game, I’m very curious to see if she’ll be linked in to the film somehow...if she proves to be interesting, I would love to see her make an appearance.