#warn madoka of the reality of being a magical girl

[kuramirocket]

I just saw all of Puella Magi Madoka Magica for the first time (I only really knew that the white creature was evil) and HOLY SHT. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't any of THAT.

Now need to find where to watch the movies!!

Homura is my fave!! She is best girl!

[miimo96]

Thoughts on Madoka magica walpurgisnaught rising Trailer 2

AAAAAHHH OMG WE'RE SO BACK! Oh my god juat look at my 2 Lovebirds ^^ not even 2 minutes in and Already the animation Looks absolutely Beautiful and I can't stress this enough but just seeing Madoka and Homura dancing again hand and hand just makes me all warm and Fuzzy inside AHHHHHH ^w^

What's this, NEW Characters!? 👀 I'm guessing these are probably either magical girls who almost became witches or people from the side series Madoka magica Record, either way this is already looking to be the most Unique outta the franchise, Also yay Cheese/bebe/Nagisa is back ^_^

Can we all just appreciate how Madoka magica Never fails to make its scenery ABSOLUTELY Beautiful, Like I don't even know what this is but just WOW, I already get the feeling we're going to be getting some more biblical or symbolic representations here, And all for it >_<

Uh oh, Looks like someone didn't heed Homura's Warning, I'm guessing that's probably why She looks like that, knowing her she probably either tried stopping Homura and tried fixing things back to way it was, and as punishment got Seriously messed up, word of advice Sayaka, Next time don't MESS with Homura ^^

YOOOUUUU!? Why is HE back!? OMG NO Get this mother f$%ker Outta her NOW! GET OUT! GET OUUTTT!! I already get a bad feeling with him being around, I get that Homura Needed him to whatever the hell she needed him to do but No I just can't with him and judging from what I'm seeing, he's looking pretty better than Last time!? What the hell man!?

Omg I SO can't wait for this movie, already 2025 is Looking like a good year, and I gotta feeling I know how this Thing is going to end, and it I'll be with be with me crying in a theater for 10 EFFING MINUTES, that and maybe Homura and Madoka MIGHT end up becoming Gods together, because I feel like that's the only way this movie can end; Homura's whole deal is that she believes that Madokas whole sacrifice Wasn't what she Really wanted, she believes that even though Madoka sacrificed herself to save everyone else, it isn't what SHE really wanted in the end, if ya wanna know what I'm talking about check out rebellion and watch the scen with Madoka and Homura having a heart to heart, the part where she's braiding Homura's hair ^^ Anyway with Homura having that mindset now We get to the point of where we are now, but the thing IS, yes while what Madoka said is True, it wasn't really the mindset she had going in when she sacrificed her existence, to Save all magical girls; she was Fine with doing this and being alone if it meant saving her friends, ESPECIALLY even Homura, Because what she was doing with Time travel previously, was technically Cursing her, basically Madoka sacrificed herself to save Homura, not just the other magical girls, in the end, it was all for Homura.

Homura believes that what she is doing, is for Madoka's sake, when in reality, it's actually hers, Because she couldn't handle being Alone, she ended up going against Madoka's wishes, and Reset the world once again, with the excuse "That it's what Madoka would've wanted" Homura's whole character arc is that she's Selfish, she'll do ANYTHING to be Madoka, even if it means Destroying the world, *sigh *I wish I could word this better but I think the Only way this series could end, is if both of them end up becoming "Gods" let me explain. Since neither of them is willing to give the other one up, and pretty much always ends up sacrificing themself for each other, i think the only way we really could see this series end on a "Happy" ending, is if the 2 of them both end up becoming Gods, and remake the world into THEIR Image; that way none of them is Alone and they don't have to suffer anymore, they can BE the creators of their New world and have each other by their side, since they basically represent 2 halfs of Yin and yang, from the colors of their outfits, (Madoka's being light, Homura's being Dark,) to their personalities, (1 being Selfless the other being SELFISH,) they can basically act as the Law and Order of their New world, and run things how they see fit, both being the embodiments of Oder and Chaos. I think that would be a pretty good way to send things off and in my opinion, would really be a cool ending for these 2 character's arcs, Since they've already been through so much it would only make sense for this would be their ending, It would be an ending that's not completely Heartbreaking, but is just Bittersweet, they won't get to live together in the real world, but they WILL have each other, and I think the thing that really proves this and that sent me down this rabbit hole to begin with, was the end credits of Rebellion, Where it depicts 2 girls, (That look VERY similar to Madoka and Homura) walking hand and hand off into the Abyss, which to me is a metaphor for the afterlife or where ever the heck magical girls when they're taken by the Law of cycle, possibly representing those 2 becoming GODS together, basically Sharing the same fate and running the world as they see fit.^^

Anyway yeah, Totally can't wait for this Movie , Oh i feels SOO Good to be back baby ^^ See ya in 2025

[ellipsiseffervescent]

I am once again going to talk too much about Rebellion

and how people don’t understand Homura. Here I would like to address the reasons why people call Homura evil/the antagonist, which is usually their reason for disliking Rebellion. My blog has basically morphed into an obsessive discussion on why that movie is my favorite and elevates the story, so I’ve covered a lot of these topics before, but I hope to make things more comprehensive here.

I’ve seen some people call Homura “corrupted” by the part of her that is a witch. Two thoughts on that:

Rebellion goes out of its way to show you that witches are not inherently evil. They have experienced serious pain and are spreading that pain before Madoka’s sacrifice. However, if this meant that witches were inherently evil, then why are Sayaka and Nagisa not? They are still witches- that’s why their witch forms are still a part of them.

Also, in Rebellion, Sayaka warns Madoka’s essence to not fear Homura, as “she’s the one who’s most hurt”.

I think that people misunderstand the theme of what a witch is overall. A witch is an inevitable reality of magical girls because being a girl in a patriarchal/Kyubey system is CRUSHING. The transformation into a witch is a coming-of-age step into womanhood. It comes from the culmination of mistreatments and systemic oppression girls inevitably become overwhelmed by. This isn’t to say that all women are forever overwhelmed, but it is an unpleasant reality that most women become awoken to. Think of the resolution of the Barbie movie, for instance, where (BARBIE SPOILERS) the characters need to “wake up” the others to the suffocating reality of living in a patriarchy. Same principle, honestly.

I also think that people sometimes interpret the Christian imagery in a stereotypical “good vs evil” way than looking at the situation, especially when it comes to Homura’s demon label and Madoka’s sacrifice.

I’ve talked about this a lot so I won’t go into too much detail, but I believe that the series is going out of its way to create its themes around the dark reality of the self-sacrificing nature of girls. For a brief recap:

Making wishes for someone else is considered taboo

Madoka mattered as a girl. Throughout all iterations of pmmm and its sequels, Madoka laments on the tragedy of magical girls vanishing from the world without anyone knowing and says in Rebellion that she would never want to go anywhere where she couldn’t be around her friends and family. Her mom had plans for them when Madoka grew up, her brother remembers her, and it drives Homura insane that she’s the only person who remembers the other timeline. Madoka was always worried that she wasn’t good enough at anything to have a place in the world and I truly have a hard time believing that this series is saying that young girls who don’t feel they have value anywhere else are best served to sacrifice themselves into oblivion. That’s basically been the history of women, forever.

Homura calls herself a demon because, “[Madoka] was sacred as a god and I couldn’t help but pull her from heaven and undermine her.” Throughout the Wraith Cycle, Homura commits herself to honoring Madoka’s sacrifice and new world order, so the phrase “and I couldn’t help but pull her from heaven undermine her” is, I think, more of a reflection of her self-loathing for going against Madoka’s wish and less of a true admission of evil, because I don’t think that Madoka’s erasure from the world was ever an okay thing. I think people get too hung up on “demon-bad” without thinking of the nuances of the imagery. I don’t believe that Madoka’s godhood is inherently good, and I don’t believe Homura’s demonhood is inherently bad. I think that Madoka’s godhood is more an alignment with self-sacrifice, and Homura’s demonhood is an alignment with desire, and I think that too much of either is a bad thing. It’s why they both needed to come together to eviscerate the Kyubeys.

I think that the label of “demon” makes Homura irredeemable to people and I think that people are deeply unforgiving of the not so pretty things that make us human. I’ve seen that a lot of what I assume are younger users are completely unforgiving to girl characters who go through things and make mistakes. I’m not even talking about Azula defenders (though I think there is a nuanced conversation there) but the Catra-type haters. As others have pointed out, ya’ll about women’s wrongs until a girl suffers a time loop to try to save the love of her life (who, lest we forget, begs Homura to shoot her in one timeline) and her friends and almost loses her mind by being the only person to remember the love of her life in the timeline that ya’ll think was the good one. I even hesitate to call it “toxic yuri” until the last movie comes out. Now, this isn’t to say that Homura has made no mistakes. I think the fact that her rewriting of the world to include the Kyubeys is going to be a BIG mistake on her part, and she did pull the identity of Madoka away from the Law of the Cycle against her wishes. But I think that to take everything Homura has done to try to save Madoka and even give Madoka the power to become the Law of the Cycle and say that she is irredeemable or toxic because she is traumatized…. It’s heartbreaking to me.

Moreover, this perception of Homura as irredeemable flies in the face of all this Christian imagery. Throughout the entirety of Rebellion’s ending (and as you’ll see further down) Madoka assures Homura that she loves her no matter what, that she is always there for her. Madoka in her fullness can see in intimate detail what Homura endured for her- literal YEARS of suffering yet never giving up- do you really think Goddess Madoka can’t and shouldn’t forgive Homura? Are the “good” guys in Christianity not all about forgiveness?

And finally, the real reason I made this long ass post: Homura and Rue from Princess Tutu are parallels. For those who don’t know: in Princess Tutu, the character Rue transforms into an “evil” persona- Princess Kraehe, daughter of the Crow. While Rue is convinced that she is now an agent of evil, the main character Ahiru/Duck insists that she is not. Also important to note is Rue may not rewrite the universe, but objectively commits more women’s wrongs than Homura. She rips the shards of emotion from her lover’s breast and tries to sacrifice innocent people’s hearts to her father, but the story does not paint her as condemned or irredeemable. She’s been lied to, groomed, and traumatized. She’s not an evil person, she’s a girl trying to navigate horrible circumstances, like Homura. Rebellion creates these parallels because Homura is forgivable and it wants you to know that.

So anyway, first parallel is the outfit. Demon Homura is SOOOOO inspired by Kraehe it HURTS:

And finally, Rebellion went so hard to reference this scene:

PLEASE put on sound they translate it differently but here she says "homura chan is homura chan"

so yeah if you stuck around thanks! love u muah

[daffodilswilloutliveyou]

Okay so maybe someone already said something similar but I have something to say about Madoka Magica

It's about Homura, especially the events in Rebellion

I won't go over why people don't like it because I think they're wrong not to, nope, but il going to talk about the ending so warning spoilers I suppose?

Basically, many people stated that the conversation Madoka and Homura have in the flower field was the turning point that led to Homura becoming a demon, and I agree. What happens is that Madoka clearly said she would never willingly and happily give up her life and leave her loved ones, and that led to Homura deciding to separate Madoka from the law of cycle

HOWEVER there is something important to note !!

Unlike the other characters present in Rebellion who are basically the actual magical girls (plus Bebe), Madoka is solely the version of herself that Homura has in her head. An idealised version of her. Indeed, it wouldn't make sense if she was the real Madoka because then she wouldn't be able to come to her as Madokami, if she was inside the labirynth with the others.

She's only the reflection of what Homura wanted Madoka to be, and the moment Madoka sais she would never be happy doing what she did, it was only what Homura wanted to hear, a way to comfort her in her idea that that was not what Madoka wanted while, in reality, it was not what HOMURA wanted !

I think it's relevant because it completely changes the reasons of Rebellion's ending. Because instead of Homura's actions being done for Madoka's happiness, it was for hers. We tend to forget that the whole point of opposing Madoka and Homura is to oppose Selflessness and Selfishness.

Thanks for reading !

[animefeminist]

Against the World: Madoka Rebellion, saviorism, and abolitionist schooling

Content Warning: Discussion of queerphobia, racism, carceral violence/structural oppression, suicide, and sexual violence.

Spoilers for Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Madoka: Rebellion.

It gets better. Keep your head down and survive the here and now. Stay hopeful for a better future, and your hope will be rewarded. This is the narrative that is fed to queer children of color from the youngest age, in media, by family, and more than anyplace else, in schools. I have known the falseness of this promise my whole life, in every iteration of violence I or my friends have experienced from our time as children. This false promise is mediated by race: should you be East Asian, it may be fulfilled materially in the form of assimilation into some white power structures, but will certainly be spiritually broken in the suffering of assimilation and the constant threat of your proximity to whiteness being revoked.

Should you be Black, the promise is designed to enclose you in both material and spiritual suffering, in pillaging of wealth, the school-prison nexus, and experiences of gratuitous violence. The juxtaposition of these two experiences of suffering, where the Asian one is made to be the model of what to do right so as to deny the reality of antiblackness, is what produces the model minority. The only solution that will remedy these dual sufferings is abolition: the destruction of all systems that enclose and entrap Black people and all people of color in a cycle of cruelty and premature death, and the creation of a new world.

Watching Madoka Magica as I began my career as a teacher in New York City, I saw a mirror of these realities. In Madoka, which reimagines being a Sailor Moon-like magical girl as a trap that ensnares those who want justice in an endless, despairing battle, all designed to maintain order and prevent the chaos of entropy, I found a language to describe a system that was actively invested in the suffering of the oppressed.

Read it at Anime Feminist!

[mysteriouspresence]

Madoka Magica and Evangelion: A Comparison of Themes

part 3/3, SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT

i’m assuming that anyone reading this post has either watched both shows or does not care for spoilers. this is your warning, if you don’t want to know what happens, turn back now before I start exposing the truth as the shows in question do, after the first few episodes.

again, this post got rather long, so please click on the expand button to read it all!

science fiction works with enemies disguised next to the protagonists

both the wish magic and EVA robots have alien origins — the former is granted through the Incubator’s technology, and the latter is cloned from the first Angel, Adam. later on, the protagonists will use this very technology to try and defeat the source, though it causes reality itself to reconstruct from how powerful the ability becomes, in their hands. however, in both cases, the power to defeat evil spawned from evil itself. the threads of fate that allowed Madoka to become a goddess (and later on, Homura to become a devil) and destroy all witches came from Homura’s attempts to save her while Shinji ended Instrumentality since Rei and Kaworu (Lilith and Adam) helped him find his will to live again, and respected his wish to rebuild the world. in both cases, it’s shown that the otherworldly powers are great enough to grant wishes to save or destroy humanity, based on the user’s desires.

also, the enemy that secretly controls the negative events impacting the protagonists is revealed to be the system they serve. still, said enemies also claim to be causing suffering for the greater good of humanity: Kyubey, who served as the magical girls’ guide turns out to be an Incubator. this advanced alien race uses magical girls’ despair (when their Soul Gems become so polluted with negativity that they burst and cause the girl to turn into a witch) to reverse entropy and stop the heat death of the universe. on the other hand, NERV, under the control of SEELE, had secretly planned for Instrumentality (the merging of all human souls) to happen, hoping that it would unite humankind to a higher plane of existence by removing the walls that people erect around their hearts. however, in both these cases, these benevolent plans require the suffering of children — to make wishes, to pilot the EVAs — to realize.

Character Arcs and Archetypes:

main character (Madoka/Homura, Shinji): they’re framed as weak and useless on the surface, often bursting into tears and wishing to run away, yet they face their fears and turn out to be the strongest ones of all, by sacrificing their own wishes to give humanity a chance to fight on, even if it means they must endure the pain of those around them. in Madoka’s case, she became a goddess who must take away the despair of all magical girls in all time and space, while Homura chose to become a devil to save the “human” portion of Madoka so she could have a normal childhood with her other friends. meanwhile, Shinji rejects Instrumentality despite knowing it means returning to a ruined world where humans will become individuals who can hurt him again. each of these characters takes responsibility for the fate of the world with their final wish because there were people (friends, family, and comrades) they loved that they wanted to see happy again.

(Left: Madoka crying over Mami's death by a witch. Right: Shinji runs away from home after his friends almost got killed in an Angel attack)

supporting tsundere (Kyoko, Asuka): both characters are portrayed as “tsundere”, but this stock character personality is broken down over time in both series to show that their pride is just a front for their internal helplessness, avoidant attachment, and lack of self-confidence — both girls are orphans who tragically lost their families (and in part due to acquiring their special abilities) at a young age and decided that the best way to avoid being hurt again would be to claim absolute independence because they learned that relying on other people means that this comfort may fly away at any time. as a result, they push away the people around them to assert themselves as an individual who “doesn’t need others”. in the end, both characters regain true confidence, only to sacrifice themselves in hopes of saving the very people they rejected at the beginning of their arc.

mysterious quiet one (Homura, Rei): both characters are portrayed as kuudere types who prefer to observe the other main characters except when making vague comments that make little sense to anyone but become painfully clear in retrospect, such as Homura’s warnings against becoming a magical girl (seeing how the girls must suffer until they become witches) or Rei’s declarations that she is easily replaceable (having hundreds of backup clones stored in the NERV headquarters). ultimately, the reason they know so much about the “truth” is revealed much later in the story, near the climax — Homura is a time-traveler who’s lived through the same month dozens of times, while Rei is a clone made from Lilith’s soul who has been killed at least twice throughout the series.

Thematic Ideas and Symbolism

in both franchises, despair brings great power but also great suffering. wishes and a mother’s love power magical girls and EVA units accordingly, but as a result, the abilities of the main characters to fight become impacted by their emotional state as well. soul gems are corrupted by despair and cause magical girls to turn into witches over time, while the EVAs will stop responding to a pilot who closes off their emotions. unfortunately, in both cases, the users are exposed to traumatizing situations that leave them emotionally exhausted and vulnerable to negativity, driving them toward doom and the inability to fight any longer. notably, Sayaka becomes a witch after falling into a destructive spiral, and Asuka loses control of her EVA following her mental breakdown. 

both series use allusions in their world-building. in Evangelion, the aliens are named Angels, while the progenitors of life are named Adam and Lilith, all obvious references to the Christian religion. in Madoka Magica, Madoka becomes a goddess to save magical girls. Madoka’s witch form is called Kriemhild Gretchen, a reference to Faust’s love interest, and other Faust quotes are featured in the witch runes scattered in labyrinths. what is most interesting is how the usage of Christian themes in a non-Christian predominant society (Japan) echoes Western works referencing Grecoroman pantheons, creating a sense of ancient power by tying a set of objects to some foreign, mystical force.

(Left: Madoka goddess from Madoka Magica episode 12. Right: Angel Areal from Evangelion episode 22)

Conclusion

Madoka Magica and Evangelion serve as deconstructions of conventional magical girl and mecha shows by showing how cartoon portrayals of war with otherworldly forces, normally targeted at children, paint over a grim reality with idealizations. these shows seem to ask, "isn't it ridiculous to think that kids can save us all when even the adults can't?" the shows challenge this mindset that we grew up with — hoping for a call to adventure, for a chance to prove ourselves in extraordinary circumstances — without truly considering the burden of responsibility that we will have to take on, while simultaneously exploring the nature of human relationships, something that everyone is inevitably familiar with — themes such as love, trust, and grief.

that's all I have for analysis for now, i hope this was an interesting read! please let me know if I missed anything major, and feel free to add to the discussion!

[silvermoon424]

do you think Homura hated Mami?

Actually, I think Mami was the one Homura cared about the most after Madoka. Remember, Mami was the first magical girl Homura met after Madoka, and they spent a lot of time together throughout Homura's timelines. Not to mention that Mami saved Homura's life in the first timeline too, not just Madoka.

We know that everyone in the Holy Quintet (even Kyoko before she lost her idealism) greatly respect and idolize Mami for being the ideal magical girl. And why wouldn't they? She's strong, poised, kind, elegant, experienced, and a great mentor. I have no problems believing that Homura, in her earlier time loops, greatly admired Mami and probably even leaned on her for guidance as Homura learned how to be a magical girl.

And then the incident happened. Where Mami found out that magical girls become Witches and attempted to murder-suicide all of her teammates. I think that by doing this Mami essentially took a hammer and smashed the pedestal Homura had her on. Homura realized, in the worst possible way, just how fragile Mami was. She realized that she could no longer truly rely on Mami for help. Her senpai, the person who was supposed to be the leader, was unreliable.

I think that may have made Homura feel betrayed. Mami, who had been such a source of stability for the entire group, was in reality the most unstable of all of them. I bet that must have made Homura feel even more alone too, because now she had one less person to be able to rely on in her mission to save Madoka.

That being said, I don't think Homura ever stopped caring for Mami as a friend. In the main series, she desperately tries to warn Mami about the danger Charlotte poses and seems genuinely upset when she realizes Mami was killed. Also, in the Rebellion movie, there's a scene where Homura reflects on Mami, saying that despite the fact that she puts on a brave face she has the weakest heart of any of them. But then Homura immediately follows that up by saying this:

If Homura didn't care about Mami, she wouldn't give a shit about Mami's feelings and it wouldn't hurt her to reveal the truth of the magical girl system to Mami.

So no, I don't think Homura hates Mami. I actually think that Homura cares about Mami a great deal, especially in her earlier time loops.

[akari-hope]

lgbtq+ anime for pride month

decided to make this for anyone looking for new recommendations, or anyone who’s wanted to get into anime but doesn’t know where to start! all recs will include a summary, genres, applicable representation, and how accessible it is to people brand new to anime, as well as any major content warnings.

(a quick disclaimer for those new to anime - some series on here will NOT have explicit rep, but rather be heavily coded or have implied queer themes. however, these are included generally because the implication is strong enough to treat it as text, or because the series has been generally accepted as queer. i’ll be sure to clarify whether something is canon or coded in each entry.)

ouran high school host club (comedy, romance) summary: haruhi fujioka is an honor student on scholarship at the prestigious ouran academy, who’s only looking for a quiet place to study when he runs into the notorious host club. in his frantic attempt to leave, he accidentally breaks a vase valued at 8 million yen. club leader tamaki suou has an idea for how he can pay them back - working for the host club. rep: crossdressing/drag are staples of this series, nothing explicitly stated but there are definite themes of gender identity exploration, and the show doesn’t shy away from homosexual themes or ideas accessibility: newcomer friendly! the english dub of this series is notably good. content warnings: some 2000s-era language in regards to gay/trans people that may be seen as offensive today, one scene that implies intent of sexual assault (while there is no actual assault and it is quickly played off, it may still be upsetting to some viewers)

yuri!!! on ice (sports) summary: yuri katsuki is a professional figure skater, recovering from a crushing defeat at the grand prix final. he returns to his family home to debate what he plans to do for next season. he goes to the local ice rink to clear his mind, and shows his old friend there something he’s been practicing - his idol victor nikiforov’s latest world-winning routine. unbeknownst to yuri, he’s being filmed. the video goes viral, and before he knows it victor is standing right in front of him, offering to be his coach. rep: canon mlm romance accessibility: newcomer friendly! content warnings: a few scenes that briefly display anxiety/panic attack-like symptoms

given (drama, romance) summary: one day on his way to his favorite napping spot in school, ritsuka uenoyama finds a boy, mafuyu satou, dozing in his spot, clutching onto a guitar with rusted, broken strings. uenoyama wakes him up, berating him for not taking better care of his instrument. mafuyu, noticing his knowledge of the instrument, begs uenoyama to repair it and teach him to play. uenoyama initially refuses, but mafuyu is persistent, even following uenoyama to band practice. it’s not until uenoyama hears mafuyu sing that he changes his tune, offering lessons if he joins the band as their singer. rep: canon mlm romance accessibility: newcomer friendly! content warnings: discussions of grief and loss additional note: given also has a movie sequel, which has a scene involving sexual assault.

sweet blue flowers / aoi hana (romance, slice of life) summary: fumi manjoume and akira okudaira were best friends in elementary school, until fumi moved away. now in high school, fumi is back and attending the same school as akira once again. their relationship isn’t the same now, though. the two must navigate the new trials of high school while trying to revive their waning friendship. rep: canon wlw romance accessibility: newcomer friendly!

bloom into you / yagate kimi ni naru (drama, romance) summary: yuu koito has always dreamed of the sort of soft, heart-fluttering love in shoujo manga. when a boy finally confesses to her though she feels...empty. she begins to wonder if she only understands love conceptually, but cannot feel it. yuu is still mulling over how to respond to her suitor when she witnesses the student council president, touko nanami, turn down a love confession of her own. she decides to approach touko for advice, but then the unexepected happens - touko confesses to yuu. rep: canon wlw romance accessibility: newcomer friendly! content warnings: some mild sexual content, depictions of homophobia

stars align / hoshiai no sora (drama) summary: toma shinjou is desperate to recruit new members to the boys’ soft tennis club, which is on the verge of being disbanded due to poor performance. maki katsuragi, the new transfer student, immediately catches his interest due to his quick reflexes. toma persuades maki to join, and maki’s skill quickly becomes driving momentum for the entire team. through their shared sport, the boys of the soft tennis club explore their own capabilities and hardships as they navigate life. rep: canon nonbinary character, discussions of gender identity and sexuality accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable, but not necessary content warnings: discussions and depictions of abuse, bullying, and violence

mahou shoujo madoka magica (fantasy, psychological drama) summary: madoka kaname and sayaka miki are good friends, regular middle school girls with regular lives. one day, the mysterious homura akemi transfers into their class, and strange happenings begin occuring. they meet a strange cat-like creature known as kyuubey, injured and on the run from homura. as thanks for saving its life, kyuubey offers them a reward - he’ll grant any wish they desire, and in return they’ll become magical girls with the power to help others. homura, despite being a magical girl herself, discourages them, saying everything is not as it seems. rep: sapphic themes and implied romantic feelings accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable content warnings: blood, violence, major character death, unreality, grief additional note: madoka magica has 3 movie sequels, with a 4th on the way. while the first two are merely recaps of the series, the 3rd, rebellion, is a continuation of the story.

no. 6 (sci-fi, drama) summary: the world has been ravaged by war - the last safe haven of mankind lies in six walled-off city-states. shion is an elite resident of one such city-state, no. 6, given priority housing and treatment due to his exceptional abilities. one night, a fugitive by the name of nezumi sneaks into shion’s room, and threatens to kill him. despite knowing he’s a fugitive, shion instead tends to his wounds and shelters him for the night. when his transgression is discovered by the authorities, shion and his mother lose their elite status, and are relocated. now just a regular citizen, shion begins to discover a new side to the city he’s called home. years after their first meeting, he reunites with nezumi once more - their meeting putting in motion a series of events that will unveil the secrets of no. 6. rep: canon mlm romance, trans/nonbinary coded character accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable, but not necessary content warnings: blood, violence, major character death, body horror, insects (bees)

seraph of the end / owari no seraph (supernatural, action) summary: a virus ravages the human race, infecting and killing everyone above the age of 13. their food source now threatened, vampires come out of the shadows to take the remaining humans captive. the children of the hyakuya orphanage are among the survivors. yuuichirou detests the vampires, and is determined to escape. mikaela has hatched a plan to do just that. the hyakuya kids make their way to the exit of the vampire city, only to be ambushed by a vampire noble. yuuichirou is the only one to escape. he’s found by the japanese imperial demon army, who say they’ll use him against the vampires. believing the rest of the children dead, yuuichirou joins immediately, determined to seek revenge against the monsters who killed his only family. rep: implied romantic feelings between two men (in the manga the anime is based on this is canon, and the localization team views the relationship as romantic) accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable, but not necessary content warnings: blood, violence, death, body horror, unreality

banana fish (action, crime drama) summary: ash lynx is a runaway on the streets of nyc, taken in and raised by the godfather of the mafia, dino golzine. now the leader of his own gang, he begins investigating “banana fish” - the only two words his brother will speak after returning from the iraq war. ash meets his friend skip at a bar, where he’s shunichi ibe and eiji okumura, japanese photographers covering american gangs. however, their conversation is cut short, as dino’s men storm the bar and kidnap skip and eiji. ash sets out to rescue them and continue his investigation. rep: canon mlm romance accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable, but not necessary content warnings: blood, violence, major character death, drugs, homophobia, pedophilia, sexual assault, rape

wonder egg priority (fantasy, psychological drama) summary: after the suicide of koito nagase, ai ohto is left to grapple with reality without her best friend. under instructions of a mysterious entity, she purchases a wonder egg. ai breaks the egg in the world that materializes in her sleep, and is tasked with saving people. under the belief that she’ll be able to save koito, ai embarks on a journey where she must recognize the relationship between other people’s demons and her own. rep: canon trans characters, sapphic themes accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable content warnings: blood, violence, death, suicide, self-harm, transphobia, fatphobia, bullying, abuse, pedophilia, sexual assault, rape additional note: wonder egg priority has a special airing on june 30th, 2021, meant to wrap up the original series - as of writing this post, the series is technically incomplete.

flip flappers (fantasy, sci-fi) summary: cocona is an average middle schooler liing with her grandmother, no clear goals in mind for the future. she meets an odd girl, papika, who inites her to join the organization “flip flap”. cocona finds herself dragged along by papika into the world of pure illusion, a mysterious alternate dimension where papika searches for crystal shards. as cocona and papika explore pure illusion, they awaken to the power within the crystals, transforming into magical girls. they must learn to work together in order to unravel the mysteries of pure illusion, and their pasts. rep: sapphic themes and exploration of sexuality accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable content warnings: mild violence, unreality, mild sexual themes and nudity

noir (action, drama) summary: parisian assassin-for-hire mireille bouquet receives a strange email from kirika yuumara, a japanese student, who invites her to make “a pilgrimage to the past”. mireille makes to dismiss the email as nonsense, until it starts playing a song she recognizes from her youth. when the two meet in person, they’re ambushed by gun-wielding men. to mireille’s surprise, kirika is able to fend for herself - even more surprising, kirika has no memory of how she has such skills. the two of them team up to unravel the mysteries of their pasts, operating under the codename “noir”. rep: canon lesbian characters accessibility: some prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is desirable, but not necessary content warnings: violence, death, implied rape and csa (not shown)

revolutionary girl utena / shoujo kakumei utena (fantasy, psychological drama) summary: after an encounter with a prince who comforted her after the death of her parents, utena tenjou is given a rose-crest ring, and a promise that they’ll meet again someday. however, utena has now committed to becoming a prince herself! after witnessing the abuse of fellow classmate anthy himemiya, utena is drawn into a dangerous game. duelists with rings matching her own battle for the ownership of anthy - the “rose bride”. utena decides she must free anthy from this fate. rep: canon sapphic characters, implied romance (in the movie sequel, this becomes canon) accessibility: prior knowledge of anime tropes and themes is necessary to fully enjoy this anime content warnings: unreality, violence, abuse, homophobia, pedophilia, incest, sexual assault, rape (for a comprehensive, spoiler-free breakdown of all potentially disturbing content, click here) additional note: the movie sequel, adolescence of utena, gives more explicit canon romance than the original series. however, the original series is considered an absolute classic must-watch for sapphics.

if anyone has questions about any series on here, feel free to ask! any other recommendations, feel free to tack on! (please include a summary, rep, accessibility, and any content warnings!)

[stainofred]

Lgbt anime I highly recommend

Part one

A list of anime for fans who are tired of fetishized “representation” meant for straight people to gawk at enjoy!

This list includes exclusively LGBT series and series with canon LGBT characters

Banana Fish (2018)

“Aslan Jade Callenreese, known as Ash Lynx, was a runaway picked off the streets of New York City and raised by the infamous godfather of the mafia, Dino Golzine. Now 17 years old and the boss of his own gang, Ash gets his hands on a mysterious drug called "Banana Fish"—the same two words his older brother, Griffin, has muttered since his return from the Iraq War. However, his investigation is hindered when Dino sends his men to retrieve the drug from Ash at an underground bar he uses as a hideout.

At the bar, Skip, Ash's friend, introduces him to Shunichi Ibe and his assistant, Eiji Okumura, who are Japanese photographers reporting on American street gangs. However, their conversation is interrupted when Shorter Wong, one of Ash's allies, calls to warn him about Dino. Soon, Dino's men storm the bar, and in the ensuing chaos kidnap Skip and Eiji. Now, Ash must find a way to rescue them and continue his investigation into Banana Fish, but will his history with the mafia prevent him from succeeding?”

Given (2019)

"It's stuck deep inside me and I can't get it out of my head. Mafuyu's voice is an insane and dangerous weapon."

That day, Ritsuka Uenoyama started to feel that playing the guitar and playing basketball, both of which he liked very much, were becoming boring. He then encounters Mafuyu Sato, who's holding onto a broken guitar, and decides to fix it. The moment Uenoyama finishes fixing the guitar, Mafuyu becomes completely attached to him. However, after hearing Mafuyu sing it leaves a deep impression on him.”

puella magi madoka magica (2011)

“Madoka Kaname and Sayaka Miki are regular middle school girls with regular lives, but all that changes when they encounter Kyuubey, a cat-like magical familiar, and Homura Akemi, the new transfer student.

Kyuubey offers them a proposition: he will grant any one of their wishes and in exchange, they will each become a magical girl, gaining enough power to fulfill their dreams. However, Homura Akemi, a magical girl herself, urges them not to accept the offer, stating that everything is not what it seems.

A story of hope, despair, and friendship, Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica deals with the difficulties of being a magical girl and the price one has to pay to make a dream come true.”

wandering son (2011)

“Effeminate fifth grader Shuuichi Nitori is considered by most to be one of the prettiest girls in school, but much to her dismay, she is actually biologically male. Fortunately, Shuuichi has a childhood friend who has similar feelings of discomfort related to gender identity: the lanky tomboy Yoshino Takatsuki, who, though biologically female, does not identify as a girl. These two friends share a similar secret and find solace in one another; however, their lives become even more complicated when they must tread the unfamiliar waters of a new school, attempt to make new friends, and struggle to maintain old ones. Faced with nearly insurmountable odds, they must learn to deal with the harsh realities of growing up, transexuality, relationships, and acceptance.

Lauded as a decidedly serious take on gender identity and LGBT struggles, Takako Shimura's Hourou Musuko is about Shuuichi and Yoshino's attempts to discover their true selves as they enter puberty, make friends, fall in love, and face some very real and difficult choices.”

Doukyuusei (movie 2016)

“Rihito Sajou is an honor student who got perfect scores in every subject on his high school entrance exam. Hikaru Kusakabe plays guitar in his band that performs at live events and is popular among the girls. These boys would have never crossed paths. But one day Hikaru offers to help Rihito prepare for their upcoming chorus festival and the two begin to talk. As the two meet after school, they feel one another's sound, listen to each other's voice, and begin to harmonize as their hearts beat together.

It starts out slow but soon their feelings for one another grow and in just one moment they both realize that it is love. Hikaru's emotions are frivolous, pure, and direct causing Rihito to hesitate at first, but he gradually opens his heart. The boys are learning about each other as they also learn about themselves and support one another during this difficult time typical to youth. As the time to start thinking about their futures approaches, what do these young men find as they try to move forward...”

sweet blue flowers (2009)

“Fumi Manjoume, an introverted, bookish teenage girl, is beginning her first year of high school at Matsuoka Girls' High School. She enters the school year with her heart broken by a previous relationship. At about the same time, she reconnects with her best friend from ten years ago, Akira Okudaira, who is now attending Fujigatani Girls' Academy as a first-year high school student. As they reconnect, they both deal with their own respective romantic problems, and help each other get through them.”

cardcaptor sakura (1998)

“Sakura Kinomoto is your garden-variety ten-year-old fourth grader, until one day, she stumbles upon a mysterious book containing a set of cards. Unfortunately, she has little time to divine what the cards mean because she accidentally stirs up a magical gust of wind and unintentionally scatters the cards all over the world. Suddenly awakened from the book, the Beast of the Seal, Keroberos (nicknamed Kero-chan), tells Sakura that she has released the mystical Clow Cards created by the sorcerer Clow Reed. The Cards are no ordinary playthings. Each of them possesses incredible powers, and because they like acting independently, Clow sealed all the Cards within a book. Now that the Cards are set free, they pose a grave danger upon the world, and it is up to Sakura to prevent the Cards from causing a catastrophe!

Appointing Sakura the title of "the Cardcaptor" and granting her the Sealed Key, Keroberos tasks her with finding and recapturing all the Cards. Alongside her best friend Tomoyo Daidouji, and with Kero-chan's guidance, Sakura must learn to balance her new secret duty with the everyday troubles of a young girl involving love, family, and school, all while she takes flight on her magical adventures as Sakura the Cardcaptor.”

Tanaka-kun is always listless (2016)

“For high school student Tanaka, the act of being listless is a way of life. Known for his inattentiveness and ability to fall asleep anywhere, Tanaka prays that each day will be as uneventful as the last, seeking to preserve his lazy lifestyle however he can by avoiding situations that require him to exert himself. Along with his dependable friend Oota who helps him with tasks he is unable to accomplish, the lethargic teenager constantly deals with events that prevent him from experiencing the quiet and peaceful days he longs for.”

bloom into you (2018)

“Yuu Koito has always been entranced with romantic shoujo manga and the lyrics of love songs. She patiently waits for the wings of love to sprout and send her heart aflutter on the day that she finally receives a confession. Yet, when her classmate from junior high declares his love for her during their graduation, she feels unexpectedly hollow. The realization hits her: she understands romance as a concept, but she is incapable of experiencing the feeling first-hand.

Now, having enrolled in high school, Yuu, disconcerted and dispirited, is still ruminating over how to respond to her suitor. There, she happens upon the seemingly flawless student council president, Touko Nanami, maturely rejecting a confession of her own. Stirred by Touko's elegant manner, Yuu approaches her for advice, only to be bewildered when the president confesses to her! Yuu quickly finds herself in the palm of Touko's hand, and unknowingly sets herself on a path to find the emotion which has long eluded her.”

No.6 (2011)

“Many years ago, after the end of a bloody world war, mankind took shelter in six city-states that were peaceful and perfect... at least on the surface. However, Shion—an elite resident of the city-state No. 6—gained a new perspective on the world he lives in, thanks to a chance encounter with a mysterious boy, Nezumi. Nezumi turned out to be just one of many who lived in the desolate wasteland beyond the walls of the supposed utopia. But despite knowing that the other boy was a fugitive, Shion decided to take him in for the night and protect him, which resulted in drastic consequences: because of his actions, Shion and his mother lost their status as elites and were relocated elsewhere, and the darker side of the city began to make itself known.

Now, a long time after their life-altering first meeting, Shion and Nezumi are finally brought together once again—the former elite and the boy on the run are about to embark on an adventure that will, in time, reveal the shattering secrets of No. 6.”

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Dear 'Anime Bad' Anon: I Want To Help I pity your situation, so please have a list of weebshit that isn't moeified, or wherein the cutesy art-style serves a greater purpose. (Note: though they won't be soft marshmallow uguuuu, they may still have issues in other ways. Some may have aged badly with regards to how society views or portrays groups or beliefs, some may have upsetting content and dark themes, and some may simply not be to your taste. Note: Anime is a genre, not a monolith, and the disparaging stereotype that it's all cute girls uwuing over their brother s-s-senpai!!! is as much of a disservice as saying all western movies are just vapid cash grab superhero movie sequels with no inegrity or thought put into them. There are indeed a lot of superhero movies, but they're not all identical schlock (megamind vs venom vs kick-ass),  but even more than that, there is a wealth of creative endeavor just beyond the veil of Marvel's cape: just as there are plenty of good anime if you dig past the isekai high school harem wish fulfillment genre that no one wants to keep making but people keep making because it prints money to a very small demographic of the animation equivalent of a mobile game whale thereby allowing this frankly quite-small industry to work on engaging and worthwhile series where the budget permits, Regardless,)

Mushi-shi: -Pros: gorgeous animation, tranquil vibes, episodic stories so you can cram in an episode between classes or on your lunch break. highly recommended by the literal-who typing this out. -Cons: some themes or stories may cause emotional distress, learning to tell apart Urushibara Yuki's characters is a learning curve.

Baccano-Pros: meticulously-researched 20s-and-30s-era mafia violence with a hint of the supernatural, as a treat, told anachronistically with flair and jazz music. practically made to be binge-watched. the novels are finally getting translated into english as well. -Cons: lots of characters to keep track of, fair bit of blood and violence, some scenes or themes may be upsetting, lots of jumping around between different time periods. See Also: Durarara, another series by Ryōgo Narita with a ton of characters and a plot with more threads an overpriced sheet.

Cowboy Bebop-Pros: incredibly well-regarded, space bounty hunters are cool, episodic series that slowly takes on a plot towards the end, fantastic animation, scoring, and even dub work.  -Cons: some scenes or themes may be uncomfortable, some parts have not aged quite so well, the smart doll version of the main character is ugly, you're gonna carry that weight.

Trigun-Pros: starts lighthearted, develops an increasingly investing plot as the series goes along. fictional westerns are cool. this world is made of love and peace -Cons: some scenes or themes may be upsetting, and probably will be. gun violence is naturally present, but that ain't all of it.

Hellsing (standard or Ultimate. or Abridged)Pros: vampires killing nazis. the original adaptation isn't bad, the second adaptation (ultimate) is generally viewed as an improvement. abridged is a youtube parody version that was so popular the voice actors reference it in convention interviews.Cons: a Lot of violence, even trending to the gorey side of things. Uncomfortable Themes Everywhere, but it's a horror-tinged action series about killing nazis, so that's to be expected. 

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood-Pros: while the original anime was quite good, the second iteration is a large improvement. does to alchemy what naruto does to ninjas: It's Basically Battle Magic. the plot starts on a strong note and doesn't let up from there. -Cons: there are distressing scenes and themes that may or may not be tolerable to the viewer. there are moments of cheesecake and even an occasional joke or a moeblob here and there, and it's not all doom and all gloom all the time, but this doesn't detract from the abject horror-despair that comes to permeate this series as it progresses. finally understand why people on the internet respond so negatively to the name 'nina'! 

[Mod: many more recs/reviews under the break, worth reading for those who like more obscure anime and animation]

Grave of the Fireflies-Pros: you will remember how to cry. it's a good reminder that one country's 'triumphs' often come at the expense of another country's people.  -Cons: this movie is incredibly dark, do not watch if you are in a bad headspace. see also: Barefoot Gen, a similar tale but this time from the perspective of an actual survivor from Hiroshima.

Michiko to Hatchin-Pros: an actually diverse cast of characters tangled up in a messy and very humanizing story, interspersed with Shinichiro Watanabe's particular flare for adventure. -Cons: some scenes or themes are very likely to be distressing. can be tricky to find, too.

Mo no no Ke (not the ghibli movie, though it is also quite good.) -Pros: incredibly unique art style and pacing that draws heavily from japanese theatre traditions, every screenshot is wallpaper-worthy. -Cons: may cause motion sickness. it is a psychological horror series, and one that does not need blood, nor gore, to cause visceral emotional response in the viewer. scenes and themes will be distressing- as really, that's the point.

Tokyo Godfathers-Pros: a transwoman, a (self-identified) homeless bum, and a runaway teen girl find a newborn in the baby on christmas. incredibly wholesome, somehow, and grounded in reality, with wonderful animation from the tragically late satoshi kon. -Cons: it is grounded in realism, and sometimes, people are dicks. mild transphobia warning, too, but in-universe- the transwoman herself is portrayed with kindness and allowed to be her own (wonderful!!!) person. still, viewer be mindful.

Kino no Tabi (the first series is my preferred, the second is shinier but lacks emotional impact- in my onion.) -Pros: mostly episodic, very unique series that can be gritty where it counts and kind where it matters. -Cons: some scenes or themes might be disturbing. finding it's not easy, either, and unfortunately, i don't think the novels are being translated right now, either.

Spice and Wolf-Pros: it's mostly about economics. there are shenanigans, a harvest god, and a slowly burgeoning romance, sure, but it's still mostly about economics. -Cons: there are moments of cheesecake and comedy, and moments that may cause distress to the viewer. it may or may not be to your taste.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica-Cons: yeah i know, it's moeblobs.  -Pros: you're gonna watch 'em die, though, in case that may interest you. it's quite a good subversion of the magical girl genre overall. somehow volks hasn't made an MDD of anyone from the series and i will never understand how that didn't happen.

Wolf Children: Ame to Yuki-Pros: watch a family grow together as a newly-single mother does her best to raise her twin children after the tragic loss of their father.  -Cons: keep tissues handy. certain scenes or themes may be uncomfortable.

Lupin III (Red Jacket, Ghibli, and the new 3D animation are all A+) pros: heist comedy elevated to an art form before half (or more!) of the people reading this were born. the english dubbed series that used to air on adult swim is a treat. cons: this franchise started in THE SIXTIES, so naturally, some shit has not aged well. certain series (fujiko mine) are darker than others in themes and material. the 3d movie that released recently is an excellent starting point.

Samurai Champloo-Pros: breakdancing samurai, a fascinating roster of characters, and a superb soundtrack by the tragically passed Nujabes. -Cons: it was made in the weird era of the transition from analog to digital animation and so the /series master/ was animated at a painfully low resolution, so even if there's a bluray out there (I haven't looked,) it will be an upscale, which doesn't always look the best. as well, there are scenes and themes that may make the viewer uncomfortable here and there.

The Works of Studio Ghibli Oh, I'm sorry, Ponyo too suffused with childhood wonder for you? My Neighbor Totoro not depressing enough?  In addition to the infamous Grave of the Fireflies, Studio Ghibli has made a wealth of movies that aren't aimed squarely at the kodomo (children's) sector. -Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind: climate change existential dread, the movie -Castle in the Sky: government obsession with obtaining weapons of mass destruction destroys everything beautiful, the movie -Pom Poko: human-caused deforestation and urbanization is destroying the natural world and all that live in it, the movie -Princess Mononoke: industrialization will be the death of everything beautiful in the world, the movie, with a side of sometimes everyone (and no one) is the villain when everyone is simply trying to survive -Howl's Moving Castle: The Physical Manifestation of Depression is a Liquid Ooze, the Movie, also War Is Bad It's not all depressing, but let it never be said that Hayao Miyazaki was subtle. Whisper of the Heart is a good coming-of-age story, Kiki's Delivery Service is a classic, Tales from Earthsea is divisive among fans of Ursula K. Le Guin but I personally liked it. From one studio alone there is a wealth of opportunities.

And that's really the point. These are just some from the top of my head. There are so very many options outside of the cute-girls-doing-cute-things genre that I couldn't list them all if I was here for a week. Or as Madoka Magica so ruthlessly showcases, even series that appear a certain way on the surface might not be what you bargained for once you look into them! These are all (I think) mostly older, mainstream-appeal series that should be easy to track down, too -- there are all kinds of singular animations like The Diary of Tortov Roddle, crowdfunded experiments like KICK-HEART, Masterpiece World Theatre renditions of classic (western) novels that never get talked about, films like A Silent Voice that confront social issues- and of course, series like Rozen Maiden that helped popularize this very hobby!

There is literally an ocean of content to explore from Japanese creators alone, and it opens up even more if you look into works from other parts of Asia- just look at how popular manwha have become, or Chinese animations like Leafie, a Hen Into the Wild! It's a genre unto itself, with all the breadth of content and inter-industry problems that come with it, and without any of the respect that similar art forms have been granted over the years. The way an entire culture's art form is often disparaged, disregarded, and belittled- and by extension, the way most of Asia's animated endeavors are often rolled up into that reductive dismissal along with anime and manga- is honestly Not Great, and there is absolutely a thread of xenophobia that runs through it. The industry has so very many problems (low wages, poor training, overwork of everyone ever, archaic financial modules, the exclusivity and breadth of merchandising necessary to turn a profit and how it leads to consumer burnout and disconnection over time, and yes, the way minors are portrayed not just in anime, but in Japanese media in general- and how much of that is actually bad (some of it is indeed,) and how much if it is cultural difference (I've heard people call the scene where the family in Totoro bathe together problematic because of the nudity, but I've also only heard people say that from the West)

-- none of the actual problems affecting the people who produce this medium are gonna improve when the general response to "animators frequently have to live at home to survive" is "that's what happens when you're a weeb."  It's 5am and I'm gonna point out the problems in the narrative around how we discuss this genre of entertainment because it's important, damn you! Regardless, thank you for coming to my unasked for and overlong TED talk about animation on a doll collecting drama blog, feel free to call me a pathetic weeb etcetera on your way out- but while you do so, might I suggest you also go watch a choice animated series! My current go-to is Bofuri, which is a cute-girls-doing-cute-things moefied isekai series that I refuse to apologize for watching. Be free. (The battle scenes are great and it captures the feeling of learning to play a new MMO with your friends better than most video-game-based anime I've seen in a long, long time. does anyone even still remember .hack? how about serial experiments lain...?)

~Anonymous

[pinkymoone]

Puella Magi Madoka Magica~ The Cursed Hope ���

Warning Major Spoilers Ahead! Read with Caution!

Kyubey, our favorite little creature represents hope. However, we all know this whole system is rigged. But is it really? Couldn’t it just be the reality of such wishes that seemed sensible? Think about it. After you’ve made one “wish” out of everything you could’ve possibly wanted in this sucky world (like picking the best thing out of a trash can) and throwing away your old life (that was possibly better), in return for killing witches to save other people (that don’t really deserve or return your forceful, kind deed) just how long can you hang onto being a robot basically? Hope is such a cursed thing rather than the wishes, it is like a facade that later stabs you in the back. But its necessary, if hope didn’t exist, the world would end. 

Mami Tomoe’s Wish- To survive a family car accident. Her death in the third episode of the anime series was shocking to all of us, but the more I thought about it, it made sense. She never thought to save her parent’s lives, only herself, and was the wish what she hoped it to be? It was a blunt one... so Mami did survive the car crash. However she is in forever solitude, no one is ever on her side anymore. Her only purpose was to live for herself, that’s it. So it only made sense that she’d also die alone. 

Kyoko Sakura- Her wish was for people to listen to her father's teachings. She got exactly what she wanted, but she didn’t think about the consequences of this wish before she made it. How was it going to work? Is my family going to be happy after people come to listen to my father preach? Are we going to prevail after all the suffering we’ve been through? Of course not. Mindless people came one by one to hear his teachings, which her father himself was obviously suspicious about. It didn’t bring him joy, but rather, fear. Did my daughter sell her soul to the devil? Sakura was seen as a monster, making her family commit suicide. Leaving herself in solitude. But Kyoko Sakura has such a strong mindset in experiencing all of this. Why? because she’s already seen how rotten humanity was when her family was still alive. In fact, having a purpose in killing witches rather than suffering from them was better.

Sayaka Miki- Her wish was to fix the hands of Kyosuke Kamijo, a violinist whose career ended when his hands were forever damaged. Sayaka’s wish and story was one of the most interesting out of the OG Five Magical girls. Her wish was very innocent, and it only came from her love for him. But wishing for someone else’s happiness, causes someone else to bear all the misery and despair in return. There is no such this as an unfair exchange in this world, and Sayaka Miki seemed to have realized such a trivial idea after she broke. Was she hoping that Kamijo would be happy that she fixed his hands? Did she think that he was going to fall in love with her and they were both going to continue living happily? No. She did not wish for any of those things and only hoped that that’d be the case. 

Homura Akemi- Her wish was to become a person who can protect Madoka, just as Madoka protected her. She was overcome by grief and uselessness after Madoka’s first death, so Homura decided to change into a stronger person. What she had hoped was that her and Madoka could live happily together after everything was over. But she didn’t wish for that. She wished to protect her, and if you think about it, the whole anime was Homura protecting Madoka so the wish did come true. She did not think about how long it would take until Madoka would actually be safe and happy, so how much longer would it take until she finally cheated the system? Homura lost all emotion, innocence, humanity, and forgot about her original motive in making Madoka happy in return for protecting her over and over again. But during that time when Homura would only save Madoka, was Madoka happy? She saw her friends die, her friends getting broken, and Madoka herself couldn’t do anything about it. So. She wasn’t happy. Which goes to show that Madoka making a wish was inevitable even though Homura tried so hard to prevent it. 

Madoka Kaname- Her wish was to prevent all magical girls from the past, present, future and all other timelines, from ever becoming witches. In other words, to become god. But really, this whole idea is controversial. A mortal becoming god? If anyone could do it it would’ve obviously been the being of purity, Madoka. But she was still human. Her wish was to basically lift all burdens of other girls, but like Sayaka’s story, where does all that misery go? It seems Homura might’ve known of such consequences in taking everyone’s despair and bearing it as a lonely god while living multiple timelines which could be the ultimate reason in why she didn’t want her to make a wish (rather than preventing Madoka from dying). To relieve Madoka of this huge stress, Homura turned into the devil itself but gladly welcomed this cheat cuz now, her beloved Madoka can be happy. 

If the wishes aren’t what you hoped to be, then that meant that you yourself was struggling from the very things that you were to fight after making that wish. How could you save and understand others when they are broken, or you yourself are broken? That’s why you’re making a wish right?

So you could ultimately say that these Magical Girls live to ultimately destroy. . .themselves. But did Kyubey tell them that? Of course not. He’s the evil “hope”

You also need to think very carefully about your wish. Analyze every single aspect of it... because sometimes, life would’ve been better if you hadn’t made any wish. 

[shiny-procrastinates]

(re)Watching Magia Record S1 - part 1

Hello and welcome everyone to the first post on this watch-along commentary of the first season of Magia Record! Whether you are just now watching it for the first time, or are re-watching in preparation for the second season, or have only played the game and are curious about the anime (in which case I'd be surprised you even exist) I hope you can have some fun reading these ramblings as I try to put my thoughts into words  (actually turned more into narrating the show) throughout all 12 13 episodes.

Before we can get to it, though, I have a few warnings to give:

1 - As much as I'd love to be able to memory swipe so I can watch this fresh all over again, such an ability is sadly still beyond my grasp. In other words, this isn't my first time watching (or second, for that matter; more like the sixth… or seventh…). That being the case I can't claim that these are my first impressions and it's very likely this commentary will be somewhat biased by my previous knowledge. However, I can guarantee one thing: I will do my best to keep this spoiler-free, so you don't have to worry if this is your first time watching.

(I will, however, be assuming that you have watched the OG series and Rebellion, so beware of that).

2 - Please don't come into this expecting it to be Madoka 2

Also no, this is not a continuation of the OG, it’s an alternate universe spin-off.

This one's for first-time viewers.

Well, ok, this sounds like vague tweeting and I'm kind of whining here, but I have seen a number of peeps on the internet saying that Magia Record is bad only for their argument to boil down to "because it isn't OG Madoka!"

Yeah it isn't. I'm pretty sure there's "Side Story" written somewhere in the title too.

Leaving aside the matter of nostalgia glasses and whether the original series was that much of a masterpiece or not (it's been over five years since I last watched it, so I can't say anything either way.) it seems kind of weird to me that someone would bash a spinoff on the grounds of how close it is to the original. Because here's the thing: to me, the whole point of spinoffs is taking an already existing scenario and putting a spin on it to make something new. That's exactly what makes them fun!

MagiReco didn't need to be a Madoka clone or to try hard and beat the original. That would probably have made it bad, actually. What it did need to do was to create an interesting story using the world set up by the OG Madoka and the other spinoffs, and that, in my opinion, it did, so I hope people can give it a chance and judge it on its own merits rather than only compared to the original. I'm not saying you can't hate it, either, I myself have my own problems with it, it's just that I want to see more reasonable reasons than "it's not the OG so it's bad".

3 - As you can probably already tell from these warnings, these posts are bound to get looong, so I'd recommend setting aside a fair amount of time and getting real comfy if you're gonna read it all. I also don't mind if you just skip ahead and only read the interesting parts, I'm not the internet police.

3.5 - I don't want to use it as an excuse, but I think I should make it clear that English is not my native language, so I apologize in advance for any mistakes and awkward/stilted text. It's hard to tell by myself, so feel free to correct me if you find something.

SO, with that out of the way let’s get down to what’s really important:

Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story: Magia Record Episode 1

Whew, now that’s a mouthful.

You know, in my mind I always thought a “side story” was something that happened alongside a “main story”, like another POV, so I’m not sure that’s the most appropriate title, but who am I to judge?

So here we go, we’re off with some beautiful futuristic scenery already, that’s the Madoka series I know.

As the classic Sis Puella Magi plays in the background, two unseen narrators tell us the tale of the so called “magical girls” as we are shown the reality of being one, meeting our first witch for this series.

Risking your life to save a cat doesn’t seem like the smartest of things. Rather, witches eat cats? That’s mean.

No, you really, really don’t. This narration definitely seems made to make everyone who saw the original say this, particularly with how silly are the wishes these girls suggest. 

And hey, look, even this girl who supposedly had her wish granted doesn’t seem very happy.

Hang in there, this is only the first episode.

Man, this scenery really is pretty though.

After an exciting fight with a witch in the train, our girl here silently goes home to find

Whatever the heck this is.

So, our girl here seems to be having strange visions whenever she enters her room, that is very very suspiciously cut exactly in half. Protagonist, you sure have an unique sense of interior decoration.

She goes on with her day, makes two lunchboxes and… oh, it seems she’s all alone.

Is this something you should be telling your own daughter?

Long story short, Iroha’s parents are abroad right now (as is suspiciously the case with many a anime protagonist parents). I actually love the parallel this scene draws with OG Madoka: whereas Madoka’s parents seem responsible and Madoka even looks up to her mom and they’re a happy united family, Iroha comes off as being the responsible one in her family and her parents are gone from the get-go. This way, the lonely atmosphere of the previous scene also starts making sense.

So, it seems like there’s something Iroha wants to do here, and that’s why she decided to stay behind.

Perhaps. Did you wish to save a black cat?

Wow, this teacher is speaking fast. Calm down lady, we’re not here to speedrun the content, geez. Though I guess we should be happy she’s at least giving a proper class, unlike a certain other teacher…

Oh great, it's this guy.

Ok, Iroha doesn’t remember what she wished for and Kyuubei doesn’t know either, although he knows she used her wish for the sake of someone. Kyuubei theorizes that the reason she doesn’t remember might be that not remembering was part of her wish, but Iroha doesn’t think she’d wish for that. I don’t think you’d ever think to wish for something like that until you had to wish for something like that though.

She’s got a fair point. After all, wishing in this universe is basica— the heck is going on in the background there?! O-kaaay…

Iroha was having a weird think-spot mental conversation with Kyuubei there, and missed speedrun teacher’s lecture entirely. Being meguca is suffering.

We get some school motto propaganda, and now we’re on the roof. Oh? Where did all the friendship stuff from the propaganda go? Seems like Iroha’s not following the school spirit. Unless she considers the white weasel a friend, so that’s why she gave him her extra… wait, Kyuubei can EAT? I thought he was some alien machine-like being. H-Huh...

Classmate A: Tamaki-san, maji tenshi!

She’s probably just shy. According to her classmates, Iroha used to be busy doing something or the other, but no one can remember what that is.

Cute. 

But maybe don’t do that somewhere someone could easily walk in on you, Iroha.

Iroha gets a call by the girl from the combat scene from before, whose name is Kuroe. I couldn’t tell from their conversation if they’ve known each other for a while or if they just met each other for the first time in the fight before.

On the train, although she’s the one who called her over, Kuroe remains silent. Iroha, clearly uncomfortable, tries her best to make conversation. Poor Iroha, I know the feeling.

We learn from her that the number of witches around has been decreasing. She comments that being unable to get Grief Seeds is troubling, but it’s better than having witches causing trouble. Poor girl has no way to know just how much of a bad news it is running out of Grief Seeds.

What’s with pink-haired girls and lacking self-esteem? Iroha, are you sure you didn’t wish to save a black and forget that you did? You did save a white one just before.

Kuroe finally decides to talk, and she tells us this:

If you go to Kamihama, you’ll be saved. To anyone that saw the OG, the first thought that comes to mind is that they’ll be saved from their destiny of turning into witches, but it seems Kuroe doesn’t know the truth yet. She just doesn’t want to fight witches anymore. I think.

The train lights up, and…

...this is extremely unsettling considering the truth about witches and the conversation they’re having right now. There’s a lot of this, but this just hits different having watched the original.

Iroha’s not inclined to believe what Kuroe’s saying. Of course, despite not remembering her wish, she’s the type that’s happy with fighting witches if she can save someone, and Kuroe’s not being very convincing either. The whole thing is apparently a rumor spread by some girls who saw a dream that told them that.

Except that Kuroe actually had the dream too.

Like most magical girls, Kuroe made a short-sighted wish, and regrets it. She now wants to be saved, so she’s going to Kamihama.

...or she was, but before that, they’ll have to defeat the witch they let escape the other day, ‘cos she’s back for more.

I actually have so many questions about this scene. Weren’t Labyrinths pocket dimensions? How come this one’s moving in physical space? We know witches themselves move and their Labyrinth goes with that, but I thought it was more, like, the entrance to the Labyrinth moves. Then how come witches can escape if magical girls get carried with their Labyrinth when they move…? Just... just... what?

The answer to all of that is probably “magic”.

Like that, Express Witch Labyrinth crashes right into what seems to be a train station. Labyrinths don’t have brakes, confirmed.

Brutal.

Looks like it’s not only magical girls who have territorial disputes going on. Although it’s nice that they won’t have to fight two witches at the same time, this is not exactly a relief when you consider these two were already struggling with the previous one, and this one just ripped it apart like crab.

As expected, Iroha’s arrows do no damage at all. When all seems lost…

A wild singing mini Kyuubei appears! Is this a shiny?

The singing Kyuubei distracts the witch and jumps towards Iroha, who uses her pro white cat catching skills to grab it, and… something happens. Whatever this Kyuubei did, Iroha’s having some flashbacks now. Sadly, the middle of a battle isn’t the best time to be having a BSOD and, despite Kuroe’s attempts to snap her out of it, they’re sitting ducks right now, a black and a white one.

Thankfully for them, though, they’re not alone in this barrier. This mystery blue haired girl spams flying spears and makes short work of the witch Iroha’s arrows didn’t even scratch earlier. She’s clearly at a whole ‘nother level.

Also, chibi Kyuubei’s gone. Totally not suspicious. Nope. Not at all.

So, from this OP miss get-the-heck-out-of-my-territory, who didn’t even bother saying her name, we learn that not only there is no salvation in Kamihama, there are more, stronger witches, and there are currently no Kyuubei. She gives them the Grief Seeds from the two witches before, and passes on a warning to them. Not the friendliest of magical girls. Though if you consider what happens when you run out of Grief Seeds, one could understand why it’d be undesirable having too many magical girls in the same place.

With this, Iroha and Kuroe take the train back to their town and things are totally awkward again.

Welp, seems like Kuroe doesn’t want to chat anymore, so we’ll have a dream sequence instead.

Forgive my lack of words, but this scene doesn’t need them. This is just… you couldn’t ask for a better representation of what being a magical girl wishing for salvation is like. Everyone has their own reasons, but in the end, having known despair, these girls are desperately clinging to this last hope called Kamihama. It’s almost a pilgrimage.

“Let’s go to Kamihama. We’ll be saved there”

And in the midst of all that is the mysterious girl from Iroha’s dreams.

(the track here, Paradero de Memoria, is also great btw)

Now, with various wishes written all over in the background, we get Kyuubei’s spiel about magical girls. I think this is word-by-word the same from the original too.

We now get to finally know what our protagonist’s wish was.

So Iroha wished to cure her younger sister’s illness, but the sister in question is now nowhere to be found. Worse: everything related to her is gone. Even Iroha, who made a wish for her sake, didn’t remember her existence until now. Oh man, that’s no normal disappearance. What happened? Guess that’s what Iroha will have to find out now.

With that, we conclude the first episode of Magia Record(’s s1)!

This is a really strong first episode in my opinion. It decently introduces our protagonist, sets up the mysteries we will be dealing with from here on and also manages to trace connections with the original, while using the viewer’s previous knowledge to give a whole different impression to some scenes. You wouldn’t be like “hell no” at the rumor there at the start if you didn’t know the truth about magical girls, and I doubt that final scene would hit that hard either. It’s just really good at this and it’ll continue doing that from now on. I love it.

Speaking of the final scene, me having watched the original over five years ago might also be part of it but that is really my favorite scene in Madoka overall. I just really really love that scene. (Seriously, I’ve watched this scene so many times I know it by heart now. Help.)

Alas, I lied, the episode’s not over yet, we still have our classic anime first episode ending-opening to watch. So let’s listen, to Gomakashi:

This logo’s real pretty.

So yeah, pretty standard anime opening. If you pay attention, there are some references to Connect too, what with the selfcest and whatnot. Although I managed to mistake this when I first watched, this one’s actually sung by the trio TrySail rather than ClariS. That’s the VAs for Iroha, Asakura Momo; Yachiyo (the get-out-of-my-territory girl), Amamiya Sora and Natsukawa Shiina, whose character we’ve yet to meet. TrySail has a lot of cool songs, so do check them out if you haven’t already. (free ad)

This time, in fact, the episode is over! Whew, I did say this was going to be long, but not even I thought it’d be this long. By the time this is posted I should have a backlog of these, so my plan is to post one everyday until we are done. I hope you had fun reading this here rant and I’ll be looking forward to meeting you guys again tomorrow, same place, maybe same hour, so we can go on and watch episode 2 together!

(P.S.: I am considering doing a series of posts at a later date comparing the anime to the game, but we’ll see. The first few chapters are fine, but the game is stupidly long, so I feel it’d take a lot of motivation and stamina I’m not sure I have at the moment. There’s also the possibility watching the first arc again would bring back my yt copy-apocalipse grief back and that’d suck, definitely don’t wanna go through that again.)

[femalechibiblogger]

5 Dark Anime Series That Seem Cute At First

1. Higurashi When They Cry

Plot: Higurashi: When They Cry takes place in the fictional village of Hinamizawa in June 1983. Shortly before then, the main character, Keiichi Maebara, moves to the village and befriends classmates Mion Sonozaki, her twin sister Shion, Rena Ryugu, Rika Furude and Satoko Hojo. Keiichi soon learns of the village's annual Watanagashi Festival, a celebration to commemorate and give thanks to the local deity Oyashiro. Hinamizawa initially seems calm and peaceful, but shortly before the festival, Keiichi learns that for four consecutive years, people in the village have been killed or have disappeared on the evening of the festival. These crimes remain unsolved and have been named the "Oyashiro Curse" by the local populace. 

While the series seems innocent at first, it becomes a lot darker as the series progresses. Because of a mysterious illness, many of the characters become insane and will violently murder someone...even in public. While there are many story arcs within this series, they all have something in common: Hinamizawa is filled with people who slowly go insane and has many, unsolved mysteries regarding the illness that makes the townspeople go insane. 

There is much violence and gore, as well as betrayals and good guys gone bad. 

2. Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Plot: In the fictional city of Mitakihara, Japan, a middle school student named Madoka Kaname and her friend Sayaka Miki encounter a small, cat-like creature named Kyubey. It offers a contract in which a girl may have any wish granted in exchange for obtaining magical powers and being tasked with fighting witches. Meanwhile, a transfer student and magical girl named Homura Akemi tries to stop Madoka from making the contract with Kyubey. Madoka and Sayaka then meet Mami Tomoe, an upperclassman at the same school who is also a magical girl. Noticing their indecisiveness on whether to become a magical girl, Mami offers to take Madoka and Sayaka along on her witch hunts so they may learn of the responsibilities that come with being a magical girl. However, after witnessing Mami's death at the hands of a witch, Madoka realizes the life of a magical girl is filled with danger, anguish, and suffering. This is further enforced by the appearance of Kyoko Sakura, a veteran magical girl whose wish indirectly caused the death of her family. Madoka also discovers magical girls give up their souls to form their Soul Gems, the source of their magic, and that when Soul Gems become too tainted with despair, magical girls change into witches.

While it looks like an innocent, magical girl anime at first...this series is filled with violence and magical girls trying to kill each other. While the characters look like little angels, they are willing to commit cold-blooded murder and drive their enemies insane in order to save the world...though it tends to have terrible consequences for the main heroes. Madoka tries to be the ‘good guy’ of the series, but the cute-little Kyubey makes it difficult for her and her friends...especially since it enjoys watching magical girls and witches kill each other. 

This series is definitely not meant for children...especially little girls who are fans of ‘Sailor Moon’.

3. Happy Sugar Life

Plot: The series is centered on high school girl Satō Matsuzaka who befriends a mysterious little girl named Shio, and immediately falls in love with her. She kidnaps Shio and keeps her in her apartment. She vows to protect that feeling of love, even if it means committing crimes or even killing people.

While this series looks innocent at first, since high school girl, Sato, is protecting little girl ‘Shio’...it takes a dark turn real fast. Sato falls head-over-heels with Shio, who appears to be 5 years old, and kills anyone who discovers Shio’s existence. Shio once lived with her abusive father, her mother whose sanity was slowly slipping away, and her older brother who willingly put himself in danger in order to protect Shio and their mother. Not only that, but a teenage boy named Taiyo is raped by his female boss and becomes obsessed with Shio due to her innocence. 

Basically...many of the characters begin to slowly go insane because of an innocent, naive little girl who only sees the good in people. Of course, she to is on the verge of losing her sanity as well. I would not recommend this series to anyone who has children, younger siblings, or a mental illness. 

4. School-Live!

Plot: Yuki Takeya is a cheerful high school girl who lives at Megurigaoka Private High School and spends time with the School Living Club alongside fellow members Kurumi Ebisuzawa, Yūri Wakasa, and Miki Naoki. After some time, a zombie outbreak overruns the city. The outbreak spreads to the school, and many students and teachers are infected, including Kurumi's upperclassman, his girlfriend, and Kei Shido, who is Miki's classmate. Yuki's classmates work hard to keep Yuki safe while she seeks out fun school activities every day. It is learned that Yuki is a delusional school girl, believing that everything is normal and her classmates and teachers are alive and well at first.Later, Megumi Sakura learns from her mother and Yuri about the outbreak, realizing the change in the city's situation. Yuki later holds a school trip to the shopping mall which was hit by zombie attack like the rest of the city. After the tour, Miki quickly comes to learn about her delusions, including the fact that the existence of Megumi is also one of them. She also learns from Yuri and Kurumi how Megumi, who founded the School Living Club with Yuri, sacrificed herself in order to protect her students from the zombies, the resulting shock of which left Yuki with the delusion that Megumi and the other students are still alive. Miki later learns a little about how Yuki's way of thinking helps Kurumi and others and in order to understand more, she decides to become a trial member of the School Living Club. One day, Yuki and friends find a hidden safe containing an emergency manual, which reveals the school was involved with a biological weapon and was constructed as a safe house in the event of an outbreak.

I think anyone who watches this feels bad for the main character: Yuki. She was a cheerful girl with a normal life and without a care in the world. But then an outbreak occurs and her whole life comes crashing down right before her eyes...causing her to become delusional and to see the world as it once was, instead of what it has become. While her surviving classmates have accepted her current mental state...it’s still heartbreaking to see that Yuki’s delusions are the reason why she hasn’t tried to end it all. 

Yuki is just a child who wants her old life back...but reality is always trying to ruin her cheerful, innocent persona.

5. School Days

Plot: School Days focuses on the life of Makoto Ito, a first-year high school student living with his divorced and unseen mother in the fictional city of Haramihama. During his second term, he becomes infatuated with Kotonoha Katsura, a soft-spoken schoolmate who shares train rides with him to and from campus. When his homeroom seating plan is rearranged, he becomes acquaintances with Sekai Saionji, an upbeat girl who takes a special interest in his newfound crush, befriending the two and providing them the grounds to meet. In spite of her triumphant efforts however, Sekai becomes jealous of the new couple, having developed feelings for Makoto herself.

While it may be about normal, high schoolers...this series is just as disturbing as the other anime series on this list. While Makoto seems like a normal guy, his habit of quickly falling in love causes a series of events that lead to a violent end. Based off of a visual novel, this is just one of many disturbing stories. The series itself is connected to other visual novels that have messed up plots and tragic characters. It also doesn’t help that Makoto unknowingly falls in love with his half-sisters and even his own mother!

If you want to watch this series, best be warned before you watch it out of curiosity. If you wish to know about the other visual novels that this series is part of...be prepared to question the life and sanity of the characters.

[mistbornthefinal]

Madoka Magica Aniversary Analysis: Part 10

I Wished That I Could Turn Back Time

Well this is the episode, Episode 3 may have gotten people talking about Madoka but it was this one that cemented this series as a classic. 

We begin with Homura, but very clearly not the Homura that we’re familiar with. The introduction of this Homura is an inversion of what we saw in episode 1. Rather than brush off the curious students she needs to be “saved” by health officer Madoka. (rather than her transfer being mysterious we are told she just got out of the hospital for an unspecified heart condition that she still takes medicine for) This time Madoka leads and Homura follows, Madoka is the one setting the terms by which they refer to each other, Madoka complements Homura’s name which echo’s back to EP 1. Rather than Homura exhorting Madoka not to change it’s Madoka who exhorts Homura to try live up to her name. 

Also unlike in the first episode where Homura blows everyone away this Homura struggles with both academics and athletics. As she walks home she recalls Madoka’s call to “be cool to match her name” which only deepens her depression. She’s overcome with a sense of directionlessness and ennui that’s fairly similar to Madoka’s own insecurities. As he mood darkens the Witch Izabel calls to her seeding her with suicidal thoughts and then pulls her into her labyrinth. Her minions lurch toward Homura, all seems lost, but then a familiar theme is heard.

The Puella Magi, Mami and Madoka(?!) are here for a clutch save and they make short work of the witch. At Mami’s apartment Homura is (presumably) filled in on Meguca 101 but also that Walpurgisnact is soon to arrive. 

We cut to that immediately after that because this episode doesn’t mess around. Mami’s dead, Madoka is the only thing standing in the way of the mightiest Witch. Homura pleads with Madoka to run, that no one will blame her for it. But for better or for worse Madoka has the soul of a true hero. Even though it’s brought her into this seemingly hopeless situation Madoka doesn’t regret becoming a Puella Magi she leaps back into the fray with a smile on her lips.

She’s even able to defeat Walpurgisnact but only at the cost of her life. As Homura sobs over her body, she should have lived rather than save someone like her. In her grief Kyubey is there with the same offer as always, is there a wish she’s willing to trade her soul for? There is, of course.

I want to redo my first encounter with Kaname-san. But this time, instead of her protecting me, I want to be strong enough to protect her!

The soul gem rises from her chest shining, her wish has surpassed entropy. As she grasps it we see the gears of her shield start to turn. She awakens in a new timeline, the clock wound back to the day she was discharged from the hospital.

At school she grabs the hands of a very confused Madoka at the first oppertunity and tells her that she became a Puella Magi. We then cut to Homura demonstrating her power by wailing on an oil drum with a golf club in stopped time. It’s an impressive power but as Mami points out it’s limited by her ability to actually do damage as she seems to lack the superhuman physicality that the other Puella Magi seem to have. 

Homura elects to solve this problem by making pipe bombs, which we see her demonstrate on the witch Patricia. Much to Madoka’s... enthusiasm. 

Sadly the happy-fun-(yuri)-times can’t last while the shadow of Walpurgisnact looms. We’re back to were the last timeline ended, only this time there’s still a Soul Gem in Madoka’s hand one about to fully darken. Homura leans the terrible truth as Kriemhild Gretchen is loosed on the world, and then the clock is wound back yet again.

Now knowing the truth Homura attempts to warn the other Puella Magi about Kyubey’s deception. Unfortunately the other Puella Magi now incudes Sayaka, who is instinctively hostile to Homura and dismisses her out of hand. Though it might in part owe to swords comboing poorly with bombs. That part at least is something Homura can solve, by stealing guns from the Yakuza. 

Just in time for Sayaka to become a Witch. Madoka is on the “try to talk down Oktavia” plan that we saw in the last episode and it’s not any more effective than that last time we saw it. As Madoka is cornered by wheels Homura steps in with her time stop to deflect the attack with her new end the fight.

As the reality of what happened set’s in the girls are distraught, especially Mami who ties up Homura with her ribbons and then just shoots Kyouko’s soul gem. She turns her gun on Homura saying that if Witches are born from Soul Gems then they have no choice but to die. Before she can pull the trigger Madoka kills her. Homura tries to comfort Madoka saying that the two of them can still defeat Walpugisnact.

Well she was right, but though victorious the two of them are out of magic, and they both know what happens next. Maybe it won’t be so bad Homura muses, the two of them can become monsters together and lay waste to this awful world. Madoka has a different idea, she actually has one last grief seed and she uses it to cleanse Homura’s gem. She wants Homura to do something that Madoka can’t.

Could you save me from my stupidity... before I get fooled get fooled by Kyubey?

Homura agrees and in this moment that the Homura we know is truly born. She’ll do it no matter how many times it. But there’s on last thing, Madoka doesn’t want to become a Witch, the may be many sad and awful thing in this world but there are some worth protecting, and one last thing the two of them can do for this world. 

It’s in this moment that Homura is finally able to call Madoka by her first name, just as Madoka asked her two timelines ago. 

In the new timeline Homura leaps from her bed, heals her eyesight with magic, and undoes her braids, completing her transformation into the Homura we’ve gotten familiar with throughout the series. She then appears beside Homura’s window dead Kyubey in hand and tells her that if anyone offer a miracle she shouldn’t trust them.

Homura raids a military base and then wages a one girl war against Mitakihara’s Witch population. She makes a vow, she will never depend on anyone again, never allow Madoka to fight, she will destroy all the Witches by herself. Including Walpurgisnact. 

Just like that we’re back to the very beginning of the show. The scene that the current Madoka saw in her dream, Homura struggling alone against the legendary Witch. As before Madoka looks on in horror and Kyubey is there to tempt her into his trap. This time though we hear as Homura desperately calls out to Madoka not to trust his contract. 

And this time we see the aftermath.  Kriemhild Gretchen looms on the horizon like a mountain of darkness, Kyubey estimates that she will destroy the planet in about ten days. Kyubey predicted that something like this would happen but given he has met his quota it’s humanities problem now. But not Homura’s this isn’t her battlefield she says as she turns back time once again. 

We’re now in the main timeline seeing Homura hunt Kyubey in episode one from her perspective.

I���ll do it over... as many times as it takes. I’ll relive the same time over and over, searching for the one way out. I’ll find the one path that will save you from your fate of boundless despair. Madoka... my one and only friend. If it’s... If it’s for you, I don’t mind being trap in this endless maze... for all eternity. 

This episode ends with Connect rather than opening with it, just in case we weren’t now aware that it’s Homura song. This version ends with all five girls rather than Mami, Sayaka, and Madoka (who are never contracted at the same time in the main timeline)

So that was episode 10 as previously stated this episode is all about Homura’s character, her wish and how she came to be the person we met in episode one. Honestly I’d say that Homura is the most misunderstood characters in the series, like we’ve all seen plenty of “crazy stalker Homura” jokes.  Homura’s determination to save Madoka isn’t a totally one sided thing either, ultimately she working to fulfil the request of TL 3 Madoka. Rather the tragedy is that she decides her devotion to saving Madoka must take priority over her relationship with Madoka, which doesn’t leave anyone happy.

To a certain extent Homura is a foil to all the other girls. Much like Mami most of what we see from her is a façade, as much they both project confidence they’re hiding a lot of pain and loneliness. Like Sayaka she made a selfless wish for somewhat selfish reasons and is ultimately kept from the person they love in part because they are unwilling to be honest about their feelings. She puts on an air of cynicism despite being a disillusioned romantic in a similar way to Kyouko even though both of them are still willing to put it all on the line for the person they love. 

And of course Homura and Madoka share a self-sacrificing streak born from a low opinion of their own value, and what they both want form their wish is not only to save others but also to change themselves. Homura doesn’t wish merely to save Madoka but to become someone capable of saving her, much in the same way Madoka wants to be a person who saves others. 

[seasaltmemories]

Puella Magi Madoka Magica Review/Analysis

So in 2020, if you know anything about magical girl shows, Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a juggernaut of a franchise, casting a long shadow over the genre for nearly a decade now.  While it was beloved when it first came out, over the last few years I’ve noticed growing backlash surrounding it, claiming that it was never really as revolutionary as people claimed to be.  Since despite watching it soon after it came out but not really having strong feelings about it, I decided a rewatch was needed, so this review will function more as a retrospective, spoilers abound

Madoka Kaname and Sayaka Miki are regular middle school girls with regular lives, but all that changes when they encounter Kyuubey, a cat-like magical familiar, and Homura Akemi, the new transfer student. Kyuubey offers them a proposition: he will grant any one of their wishes and in exchange, they will each become a magical girl, gaining enough power to fulfill their dreams. However, Homura Akemi, a magical girl herself, urges them not to accept the offer, stating that everything is not what it seems. A story of hope, despair, and friendship, Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica deals with the difficulties of being a magical girl and the price one has to pay to make a dream come true.

I included the summary because at this point it’s tradition, but it almost feels silly to do so for this show when practically everyone knows it is the “dark, grim magical girl show” still the fact I rewatched this with my roommate who I warned that it did get dark but knew none of the details about, I think it gave me a new appreciation for the show, spoiler alert, I think it holds up pretty well

PMMM is all about taking the familiar iconography of the magical girl genre and twisting it into something darker.  And it’s very good about explaining its world and divvying out new information at a easy to understand pace to accomplish it.  Everything from Walpurgis Night, Homura’s true nature, and even Madoka eventual ascent into godhood is foreshadowed and set up several episodes in advance.  And while in hindsight some revelations can look silly like “Soul gems are actually the girl’s soul,” watching it with a blind viewer, most every one of them hit effectively (even when she just randomly guessed the big magical girls = witches off-hand)

It is very obvious why it got big so fast as a complex story told in about as digestible way as possible, to me it feels like PMMM always wanted to be mainstream, and while I think that is a value neutral trait, I also believe that influences some of the culture or surrounding fanbase, PMMM very much got the reputation of being an “actually good” magical girl show by dudebros just want to put down traditionally feminine media, and of course many series since then have also tried to tap into PMMM’s market by copying it, but I don’t think the show itself should be held culpable.

For one, a show has no control over its reception.  But second of all like the ultimate ending of the show makes it hard for me to believe the claims that “actually this show is all about showing how stupid it is for girls to believe this fantasy,” because Madoka stands up for wishes and dreams, rewriting the laws of reality and even saving herself from damnation.  I think to call the show itself feminist would be a bit too generous, but feminist readings are not impossible to make.  While she can’t change every aspect of the system, the world of PMMM post-Madoka is much closer to more traditional magical girl shows with only a bit of an edge.  If you want pure torture porn just look at Uta~Kata

I guess people more emotionally attached to the iconography of magical girl shows would still be offended by the systematic tearing down of the imagery, but tbh frank I’m a bit of a fake magical fan in that most of my favorite entries tend to distance themselves from the exact formula.  Even aside from my personal preference though, like let’s not kid ourselves that elements of the genre only exist for later toy merchandising opportunities.  I love me a good toy commercial from time to time, but that doesn’t make it too sacred to be fiddled with later on.

However while I think this is a well-made show, my feelings about it overall still remain pretty neutral.  The narrative is very plot driven and focused on its systems first and foremost.  The characters aren’t entirely ignored, but most of their stories are little bite-sized fables at their core as opposed to fleshed out story-lines.  Also while there is justification for some of the writing choices, like Madoka’s lack of agency up until the end or how no real friendship or support systems exist, those factors still impacted my overall enjoyment from episode to episode.  Also the dark elements aren’t quite as revolutionary as its reputation would suggest.  Again its a PG-13 sort of horror, character death, creepy imagery, and unfortunate implications, but nothing about the series itself is very transgressive or boundary-pushing.

This is all just personal taste though.  I don’t think most of these are genuine flaws, but after a decade of that reputation of being to only good or only dark magical girl show, I can see these criticism starting to grow more and more overblown to match the exaggerated reputation it got as this singular exception.  I hope as more time continues to past that we can get rid of the dichotomy others have put on it and rather than treat it like the ultimate good or evil, acknowledge the history that created it and appreciate its unique little niche it has rightly earned for itself.

[animefeminist]

Against the World: Madoka Rebellion, Saviorism, and Abolitionist Schooling

Content Warning: Discussion of queerphobia, racism, carceral violence/structural oppression, suicide, and sexual violence.

Spoilers for Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Madoka: Rebellion.

“How about the two of us become monsters and destroy this terrible world until there’s no more grief, no more sadness, let’s just break, break, break it all to dust”

“This is the hope that policy rolls like tear gas into the undercommons. Policy not only tries to impose this hope, but also enacts it.”

“Abolition is not a pathway—it is the end of paths and the end of worlds, a roadblock barring passage to the destination-cum-mirage of late liberal democracy.”

It gets better. Keep your head down and survive the here and now. Stay hopeful for a better future, and your hope will be rewarded. This is the narrative that is fed to queer children of color from the youngest age, in media, by family, and more than anyplace else, in schools. I have known the falseness of this promise my whole life, in every iteration of violence I or my friends have experienced from our time as children. This false promise is mediated by race: should you be East Asian, it may be fulfilled materially in the form of assimilation into some white power structures, but will certainly be spiritually broken in the suffering of assimilation and the constant threat of your proximity to whiteness being revoked.

Should you be Black, the promise is designed to enclose you in both material and spiritual suffering, in pillaging of wealth, the school-prison nexus, and experiences of gratuitous violence. The juxtaposition of these two experiences of suffering, where the Asian one is made to be the model of what to do right so as to deny the reality of antiblackness, is what produces the model minority. The only solution that will remedy these dual sufferings is abolition: the destruction of all systems that enclose and entrap Black people and all people of color in a cycle of cruelty and premature death, and the creation of a new world.

Watching Madoka Magica as I began my career as a teacher in New York City, I saw a mirror of these realities. In Madoka, which reimagines being a Sailor Moon-like magical girl as a trap that ensnares those who want justice in an endless, despairing battle, all designed to maintain order and prevent the chaos of entropy, I found a language to describe a system that was actively invested in the suffering of the oppressed. 

Read it at Anime Feminist!