SubWatch Reviews

                When I started watching Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, I had no idea what I was in for. On the surface it looked like this cute, slice-of-life anime about a group of middle-school girls and “crazy shenanigans” they get into, typical of the genre. I was so wrong. Before I get this review/recap going I must warn you there will be MANY SPOILERS, so if you have not seen the anime yet, please go watch it!

Episode 1: I First Met Her in a Dream, or Something

Recap:

                The very beginning of the first episode hints that Madoka Magica isn’t a simple kids’ show. The main character, Madoka Kaname, is seen running urgently through a long hallway with large black and white tiles on the floor. At the end is a door. On the other side, this.

 A scene follows depicting a girl appearing to be the same age as Madoka making her way toward that monstrosity. She manages to dodge its blows at first, but is then hurled into a giant tree, losing consciousness. Madoka looks to her side to find a strange white cat-looking creature. It tells her that she has the power to change the girl’s fate, to make it so this never happens. As the other creature is about to deal the final blow, Madoka wakes up.

Shaking off the feeling of the strange dream, Madoka gets ready for her first day back at school after summer break. Her home life is pleasant enough; she seems to have a good relationship with her mother, father, and little brother. On her way to school, she meets up with her old friends, Sayaka Miki and Hitomi Shizuki. They joke around for a while before making it to class. Sitting down, their teacher introduces a new transfer student, Homura Akemi. Looking up, Madoka sees the girl from her dream the night before staring at her. Everyone in the class starts whispering about the mysterious, beautiful girl before them. They ask her questions like “Are you into any sports or activities?” (she isn’t), “What school did you come from?” (A catholic school in Tokyo), and “What kind of shampoo do you use?” After a few more questions, she claims she isn’t feeling well and asks to go to nurse’s office. Being the class nurse’s aide, Madoka accompanies her out of the classroom and through the hallways to the nurse’s office. Homura walks a little faster than her guide, and turns before Madoka can tell her which way to go, almost as if she had been here before…

Walking along a bridge between two buildings, Homura stops to ask Madoka a question. “Kaname Madoka, do you value your current way of life? Your family, your friends – do you think dearly of them?” Surprised, Madoka answers that yes she loves them very much; they mean a lot to her. Homura replies, “If that is true, then you mustn’t ever think of trying to become someone else. If you do, you’ll lose everything. You just need to stay Kaname Madoka, just like you have so far.” With that, she turns her back and walks away.

At lunchtime, Madoka and her friends discuss Homura and what she said to the pink-haired girl. Sayaka thinks it’s just an act, and Homura is just trying to impress people. Hitomi asks if this was truly the first time she met her. Madoka hesitates before telling them about seeing her in a dream the night before, most of which she can’t remember. Her friends just laugh it off and begin talking about other things. The show breaks to a scene of the white creature from the night before running through air vents – chased by Homura.

Sayaka and Madoka are in a CD shop listening to music together when a voice rings in Madoka’s ear, “Save me.” Startled, she stops the music. Again the voice in her head, “Save me, Madoka!” She heads toward where she believes the sound is coming from, in a closed-off section of the mall underground. The area is dark and empty, but she continues on. Suddenly, a panel from the air vents above collapses, and the white creature tumbles out. Beaten and bloody, it struggles for breath in a heap on the ground. Madoka runs over and picks it up, immediately concerned for the poor thing. Not a moment later, Homura jumps gracefully down, ordering Madoka to stay away from it. The girl holding the creature insists against such an action, afraid Homura will hurt it more.

Sayaka promptly sprays Homura swith a fire extinguisher, urging Madoka to run. Suddenly the art style changes to a form a Dadaism. Butterfly cut-outs and cotton balls with Mr. Pringles mustaches fill the screen as the girls are thrown into a bizarre and confusing world.

The terrifying creatures begin to chant in children’s voices as they close in. Just when it looks like the end for the two, a flash of light burns away the things surrounding them. A blonde girl wearing the same school uniform as the two emerges carrying a golden egg. “That was pretty close,” she says, “But everything is okay now.” The white creature Madoka had been holding turns out to be a dear friend of hers name Kyubey, and she thanks them for saving him.

The ordeal isn’t over however, and the creatures from before begin closing in on the group again. Unfazed, the new girl enters a transformation scene reminiscent of Sailor Moon. When that finishes, a ridiculous number of muskets appear in the air around her, completely destroying all traces of danger. The nightmarish landscape around disappears and they are returned to the normal world, in the same underground section they had been in at the start. Homura appears, and there is a brief confrontation between her and the blonde before she walks away.

The blonde girl revives Kyubey, who reveals her name as Mami. Kyubey knows Madoka and Sayaka’s names and makes a request.

 “I want you to make a contract with me and become Magical Girls!”

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Okay, if you need a reminder of how the first episode goes, you can read my recap here (it is basically the episode in text form). This critique assumes you have watched the anime in its entirety already, so some parts will make very little sense if you haven’t. This is more of a critical analysis of the themes and literary/filmic devices the episode uses, how I interpret them, and how they work with the rest of the show rather than a regular “n out of 10” review. I’ve reiterated a few things from my recap for clarity.

The opening shows the battlefield from the very end of the series. Homura is making a last-ditch effort to defeat the witch Walpurgisnacht alone, to save Madoka from making a contract with Kyubey.

From the get-go we see Kyubey is at least somewhat aware of the future, and possibly the other timelines Homura went through.  “You can change this fate,” he says to Madoka, hinting that the “dream” she experiences may be a vision given to her by Kyubey of one of the failed timelines (or just the future of this one). When we see her rip open the curtains and literally almost drag her mother out of bed to get to work, we can see a little bit of the strength and compassion she displays later on in the series (she cares about her mom and wants her to do well).

                In the scene of them getting ready in the morning, when Madoka asks which ribbon to use, her mother points to the one Madoka thinks may be “too flashy”. She’s shy and doesn’t want to draw attention to herself. Her mother is encouraging her to get out of her shell and stand out a bit. Jumping to Homura being introduced in the classroom. She stares at Madoka the entire time, expressionless, hoping this time she can keep her from losing her innocence. On the walk to the nurse’s office, Homura’s face looks tense and angry, her eyes are hidden from view so we see only the underlying scowl as Madoka talks to her.

After watching the series, it looks like this is when Homura is reminded of that innocent girl she keeps trying to save, a reminder of all the times she’s failed.

As she turns to ask Madoka about whether she loves the life she lives, the camera zooms out to show them on a bridge between two buildings. In one building, Madoka and her classmates – the normal world. In the other, the dark unknown. On the bridge together, Homura keeps Madoka on the normal side and walks into the unknown, separating herself from the girl she wants to save. Madoka returns to the classroom pondering Homura’s words and sits down with her friends. At lunch they discuss Homura and what she said to Madoka. When she mentions that she saw her in a dream, the others just laugh.

In the CD shop, Sayaka is finding music for the boy she likes, and Madoka is on her own listening to other music. When Kyubey’s voice calls to her, she walks toward it alone, without mentioning anything to Sayaka. After what happened at lunch, she doesn’t want Sayaka to laugh at her again; she seeks validation that what she saw wasn’t just a dream. She follows Kyubey’s voice underground to an abandoned construction site. It is fitting that the place her life changes is a place where something new is being built. When Kyubey falls from the vents, he tricks Madoka into rescuing him (he being immortal with many bodies exactly like the one Homura has just injured). This is another example of Kyubey’s deceit.

To top off the encounter with Homura, Sayaka and Madoka become trapped in a witch’s labyrinth, separated from reality. The change in art style does a superb job of letting us know, “this is not your world.” ((Personally, I loved the change in animation; it’s something I hadn’t seen in an anime before, and I enjoyed it.)) The butterflies and cotton-ball-men look comical at first, but as they get closer misshapen mouths and eyes appear on their “faces” with injurious intent.

I imagine the butterflies represent the end of a metamorphosis; just as a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly, the girls’ lives have been forever changed.

When the evil things have closed in, Mami’s light comes to comfort the duo and drive away the darkness. Mami at this point represents that which can remain pure even in the foulest of places.

She also drives away the apparently ‘evil’ Homura when she comes to finish the job with Kyubey. When Kyubey is healed, it is revealed that he knows more than he is letting on. He knows the girls’ names; what else could he know? After his display of weakness, the episode ends with him trying to take advantage of their naivety and turn them into soulless Magical Girls.

TL;DR :

Homura is more than she seems

Kyubey is manipulative and morally unsound

Madoka and Sayaka are relieved of part of their innocence

A hidden world parallel to this one is revealed

An offer to join this parallel world is made

I hope I’ve touched on a few good things here, and I would appreciate any feedback you have for me! Literary/Film critique is a different style of writing than I’m used to, and I would love advice from anyone experienced in the field.

Thanks for reading!