Madoka Magica is one of my fav shows, but a funny thing that a lot of people don't understand is that the magical girl genre has ALWAYS been full of dark themes, but i think a lot of people think they all lack substance (as a lot of people tend to think about ANY media aimed at girls) and think the only dark one is Madoka Magica. the magical girl genre in reality is so diverse, from stuff aimed at kids to introspective adult oriented shows.
And then there's Card Captor Sakura, which manages to basically be an injection of serotonine straight in your nervous system while at the same time having pretty solid writing. Yeah, it is a very diverse genre
Though the Magical Genre has indeed always been full of dark themes (thinking of that death scene in Sailor Moon), it's true that it always felt dramatic in a 'normal' way. There is something about the dark themes in Madoka that make it more 'cosmic' and 'philosophical'. It's not just 'shit happens'; it goes beyond that, way beyond that. This doesn't disagree with your main point -- that the Magical Girl is diverse -- but it does stress that the point is not simply that Madoka deals with dark themes, but the way it does. How everything ends up connected, how there is a meaning beyond it. It's as if Madoka were a shiny little jewel, like a soul gem...
I would even say that Madoka isn't a dark and edgy show--that is to say, darkness isn't what Madoka is about. It's about how love and hope triumph over all, about how one should reach inward and face their feelings with honesty, and how one should be happy with the outcome if what they've truly desired has been achieved. In other words: a really well told fairytale!
5 minutes in and I already like your reaction style so much. You don't just sit there silent but you also don't talk over dialogue so much that you miss it. Truly the perfect middle ground. Plus your commentary is right up my ally lol.
same!! ive seen madoka so many times that its more fun now to watch people watch it for the first time than rewatch on my own lol and this is definitely the most engaged ive been while watching a reaction yet!!
- The use of Latin in the 'English' title is to replicate a piece of wordplay found in the Japanese name of the show. It's not a spoiler per se, but won't be relevant until Episode 8. - The transformation sequence is a hallmark of the mahou shoujo genre. In addition to letting the studio reuse a *lot* of footage, it's possibly also a representation of the changes experienced during puberty. - I don't think I've watched anything else by Shaft, but have heard that the studio has a very distinctive house style. - Kyubey uses the 'boku' pronoun, but there's some stuff (mostly outside the anime) that casts doubt on whether kyubey even has a gender.
"it's possibly also a representation of the changes experienced during puberty." that is actually really interesting. The characters do seem to be about that age range as well. There do seem to already be some "coming of age" kind of themes as well so I'll have to keep that in mind. "that casts doubt on whether kyubey even has a gender." yeah I mean I wouldn't be surprised if kyubey is simply "magic cat" haha. It could be similar to trying to gender the witches, which seems hard. Good ol magic cat 🎉
oh interesting. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think in Japan using a first name is a sign of familiarity/closeness, right? So I assumed that her correction was basically saying to Madoka "ey girl we're not that close yet, back off a bit." Maybe I have it flipped though or maybe she's not saying that idea to Madoka. Good to know though, very cool
@@PinkCubed yeah you're right I totally get why you thought Homura was telling Madoka to use her last name, but she was actually telling her to use her first :)
you're both confusing the issue by even using the terms "first name" and "last name". a person has both a family name and a given name, and in japanese culture the family name comes BEFORE the given name. homura asks madoka to call homura by her given name.
To explain, there is the 12 episode anime, 2 movies which recap the anime (like Made in Abyss's first 2 movies) and then a continuation in the 3rd movie Rebellion. The side story anime Magia Record is based off of a gacha game based on Madoka Magica and is a completely separate thing in its own universe independent from the main storyline of the anime and movie. 4:40 welcome to magical girl shows, you will see a lot of brightly colored naked girls. I forget if we know the exact year the show takes place, but it's suppose to take place somewhere in the future, not super in the future but more futuristic than the modern day. Which is why the school and everything looks the way it does.
Welcome to MEGUCA (forget that is is a shity meme)! Madoka is one of the most influential animes from the last decade and practically spawned a genre. unfortunately like many others got drowned in the isekai great flood. also most people wo watch reactions to this usaly pick up at end of the introduction episodes.(read 3~4)
the "transformations" were originally a trick for long running series easy up in the animation budget we see on other genres too like Digimon, Saint Seiya. A similar trick is using the same attacks screaming the name with no background. But to many more recent series is a stylistic choice or a omage to the genre.
No. Puella is indeed 'girl', but magi isn't an adjective and if it were it's declinated for the masculine plural not a feminine singular noun like puella. Based on the context then, it's probably the genitive form of 'magus' Puella magica *does* translate as something like 'magical girl' though. Puella magi, however, is something more like 'girl of the mage'...
One of my favourite series along with Steins;Gate, and you are reacting both of them right now. Hope you also try Angel Beats someday, not that great compared to these two, but it’s also one of my favourite animes. And the three of them were aired in 2010-2011
I really appreciate what you're doing here. As much as I love anime I admittedly haven't seen a lot of it, but out of what I have seen Madoka Magica and Steins;Gate are my two favorite shows and Your Name is my favorite movie, and you're basically doing all 3 at once.
I honestly haven't seen much anime either (though that is changing pretty quickly.) Good thing I'm watching the bangers though, that is EXACTLY what we like to see.
I just know that I'll love your reaction to what is in my opinion, one of the greatest magical girl shows out there. So, we have Madoka Magica, Made in Abyss and to complete the trauma triangle you only need Gakou Gurashi!
This is my favorite anime of all time! Really looking forward to your reactions of all the episodes. Yeah, after episode 12 comes the Rebellion movie. A continuation of the story following that has been in the works for like near a decade, and they finally announced a fourth movie last year (still no release date on that, to my knowledge). There’s a spin-off anime based on a mobile game called Magia Record. I’ve started watching that, but I got distracted and haven’t gotten back around to it yet.
I actually don't agree that Madoka Magica is a deconstruction of the magical girl, and more of a love letter to magical girls. People see how dark it gets and then completely disregard the overall message of hope and love it preaches. The whole message is "it's not wrong to hope!" -but because it gets dark in the middle, people disregard that, and also people tend to call any subversion a deconstruction which isn't true, either. But yeah, this anime is really good and ultimately the message of hope is what I really love about it! Although, the movie does go further into it, with the question of is one person's hope, or even the world's hope, everyone's hope? And also a lot about selfishness/selflessness, and the nature of love. Ultimately, I really love the movie too, and think it's even better than the anime. The everyday world of this is implied to be way more technicalogically advanced than our world due to the existence of Magical Girls through history. So, yeah, Madoka has a really nice house and a goes to a really nice school. Still not a perfect world, because it still has poverty, unfortunately, but everything is highly stylized and cool looking, sooooo... Homura actually made Madoka use her first name, not her last name, which is highly unusual in Japan for the first meeting. Apparently, even in romantic relationships some people still use their last name. So Homura, despite how cold she seems, is being really intimate with Madoka-which is really, really strange. Also, Homura tried to attack only Kyuubey, not Madoka. She did take a menancing step towards her, though. But did not attack her. Still, her trying to kill Kyuubey does not inspire confidence in her being non-murdery.
Madoka Magica is one of my fav shows, but a funny thing that a lot of people don't understand is that the magical girl genre has ALWAYS been full of dark themes, but i think a lot of people think they all lack substance (as a lot of people tend to think about ANY media aimed at girls) and think the only dark one is Madoka Magica. the magical girl genre in reality is so diverse, from stuff aimed at kids to introspective adult oriented shows.
And then there's Card Captor Sakura, which manages to basically be an injection of serotonine straight in your nervous system while at the same time having pretty solid writing. Yeah, it is a very diverse genre
Madoka Magica is the show that popularized dark magical girl anime, it's the first good dark magical girl anime (even if it's just an opinion)
Though the Magical Genre has indeed always been full of dark themes (thinking of that death scene in Sailor Moon), it's true that it always felt dramatic in a 'normal' way. There is something about the dark themes in Madoka that make it more 'cosmic' and 'philosophical'. It's not just 'shit happens'; it goes beyond that, way beyond that. This doesn't disagree with your main point -- that the Magical Girl is diverse -- but it does stress that the point is not simply that Madoka deals with dark themes, but the way it does. How everything ends up connected, how there is a meaning beyond it. It's as if Madoka were a shiny little jewel, like a soul gem...
I would even say that Madoka isn't a dark and edgy show--that is to say, darkness isn't what Madoka is about. It's about how love and hope triumph over all, about how one should reach inward and face their feelings with honesty, and how one should be happy with the outcome if what they've truly desired has been achieved. In other words: a really well told fairytale!
9:58 that’s the thing you say when you’re 13 and look back on when you’re 25 like ‘oooohhh,,,I’ve never been straight’
5 minutes in and I already like your reaction style so much. You don't just sit there silent but you also don't talk over dialogue so much that you miss it. Truly the perfect middle ground. Plus your commentary is right up my ally lol.
same!! ive seen madoka so many times that its more fun now to watch people watch it for the first time than rewatch on my own lol and this is definitely the most engaged ive been while watching a reaction yet!!
- The use of Latin in the 'English' title is to replicate a piece of wordplay found in the Japanese name of the show. It's not a spoiler per se, but won't be relevant until Episode 8.
- The transformation sequence is a hallmark of the mahou shoujo genre. In addition to letting the studio reuse a *lot* of footage, it's possibly also a representation of the changes experienced during puberty.
- I don't think I've watched anything else by Shaft, but have heard that the studio has a very distinctive house style.
- Kyubey uses the 'boku' pronoun, but there's some stuff (mostly outside the anime) that casts doubt on whether kyubey even has a gender.
"it's possibly also a representation of the changes experienced during puberty."
that is actually really interesting. The characters do seem to be about that age range as well. There do seem to already be some "coming of age" kind of themes as well so I'll have to keep that in mind.
"that casts doubt on whether kyubey even has a gender."
yeah I mean I wouldn't be surprised if kyubey is simply "magic cat" haha. It could be similar to trying to gender the witches, which seems hard. Good ol magic cat 🎉
@@PinkCubed
..lol. The funny part is, gendering the witches is actually incredibly easy, once you know xD
small correction, Homura actually made Madoka use her first name, not last
oh interesting. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think in Japan using a first name is a sign of familiarity/closeness, right? So I assumed that her correction was basically saying to Madoka "ey girl we're not that close yet, back off a bit." Maybe I have it flipped though or maybe she's not saying that idea to Madoka. Good to know though, very cool
@@PinkCubed yeah you're right I totally get why you thought Homura was telling Madoka to use her last name, but she was actually telling her to use her first :)
you're both confusing the issue by even using the terms "first name" and "last name". a person has both a family name and a given name, and in japanese culture the family name comes BEFORE the given name. homura asks madoka to call homura by her given name.
Sweet, another reaction series to a great anime series. Keen to see your reactions and thoughts to this as you go along.
To explain, there is the 12 episode anime, 2 movies which recap the anime (like Made in Abyss's first 2 movies) and then a continuation in the 3rd movie Rebellion. The side story anime Magia Record is based off of a gacha game based on Madoka Magica and is a completely separate thing in its own universe independent from the main storyline of the anime and movie.
4:40 welcome to magical girl shows, you will see a lot of brightly colored naked girls.
I forget if we know the exact year the show takes place, but it's suppose to take place somewhere in the future, not super in the future but more futuristic than the modern day. Which is why the school and everything looks the way it does.
Okay that is good to know. I'll most likely watch the Rebellion movie once we're through with the 12 episodes. Thanks for the info!
The language in the Witchworld is german (you could hear it). And the letters are substitutions for the alphabeth.
Welcome to MEGUCA (forget that is is a shity meme)!
Madoka is one of the most influential animes from the last decade and practically spawned a genre. unfortunately like many others got drowned in the isekai great flood.
also most people wo watch reactions to this usaly pick up at end of the introduction episodes.(read 3~4)
Meduca become Meguca
_Call out in the middle of night, for when else could I hear you?_
_Fall out in the cold starlight. I can save you if you do._
cool that you assumed the dad was the one working, it adds to the theme of the show: expectations of women in society
the "transformations" were originally a trick for long running series easy up in the animation budget we see on other genres too like Digimon, Saint Seiya. A similar trick is using the same attacks screaming the name with no background.
But to many more recent series is a stylistic choice or a omage to the genre.
This is definitely my favourite anime alongside Made in Abyss! Excited to see your reaction to it.
Puella Magi literally means Magical Girl in Latin.
No.
Puella is indeed 'girl', but magi isn't an adjective and if it were it's declinated for the masculine plural not a feminine singular noun like puella. Based on the context then, it's probably the genitive form of 'magus'
Puella magica *does* translate as something like 'magical girl' though. Puella magi, however, is something more like 'girl of the mage'...
@@jasonbrennan9918 True, and people have speculated about this. Personally, I think this was just the production team not knowing Latin so well...
you're watching madoka, yess 🙏 🙏 really good reaction like always
One of my favourite series along with Steins;Gate, and you are reacting both of them right now. Hope you also try Angel Beats someday, not that great compared to these two, but it’s also one of my favourite animes. And the three of them were aired in 2010-2011
I really appreciate what you're doing here. As much as I love anime I admittedly haven't seen a lot of it, but out of what I have seen Madoka Magica and Steins;Gate are my two favorite shows and Your Name is my favorite movie, and you're basically doing all 3 at once.
I honestly haven't seen much anime either (though that is changing pretty quickly.) Good thing I'm watching the bangers though, that is EXACTLY what we like to see.
I just know that I'll love your reaction to what is in my opinion, one of the greatest magical girl shows out there.
So, we have Madoka Magica, Made in Abyss and to complete the trauma triangle you only need Gakou Gurashi!
This is my favorite anime of all time! Really looking forward to your reactions of all the episodes. Yeah, after episode 12 comes the Rebellion movie. A continuation of the story following that has been in the works for like near a decade, and they finally announced a fourth movie last year (still no release date on that, to my knowledge). There’s a spin-off anime based on a mobile game called Magia Record. I’ve started watching that, but I got distracted and haven’t gotten back around to it yet.
oooh shoot a new movie would be exceptional. I'll have to be on that as soon as they release it. Good to know 🎉
Next movie trailer just released, time to watch the entire series once again
“Your family, your friends-do you think dearly of them?”. I really thought Homura was about to threaten her 😅
madokas mum ❤❤❤❤ i love her relationship with madoka
Great reactor! New sub here. Can’t wait to see the rest of this amazing series
welcome aboard
I actually don't agree that Madoka Magica is a deconstruction of the magical girl, and more of a love letter to magical girls. People see how dark it gets and then completely disregard the overall message of hope and love it preaches. The whole message is "it's not wrong to hope!" -but because it gets dark in the middle, people disregard that, and also people tend to call any subversion a deconstruction which isn't true, either. But yeah, this anime is really good and ultimately the message of hope is what I really love about it! Although, the movie does go further into it, with the question of is one person's hope, or even the world's hope, everyone's hope? And also a lot about selfishness/selflessness, and the nature of love. Ultimately, I really love the movie too, and think it's even better than the anime.
The everyday world of this is implied to be way more technicalogically advanced than our world due to the existence of Magical Girls through history. So, yeah, Madoka has a really nice house and a goes to a really nice school. Still not a perfect world, because it still has poverty, unfortunately, but everything is highly stylized and cool looking, sooooo...
Homura actually made Madoka use her first name, not her last name, which is highly unusual in Japan for the first meeting. Apparently, even in romantic relationships some people still use their last name. So Homura, despite how cold she seems, is being really intimate with Madoka-which is really, really strange.
Also, Homura tried to attack only Kyuubey, not Madoka. She did take a menancing step towards her, though. But did not attack her. Still, her trying to kill Kyuubey does not inspire confidence in her being non-murdery.
loving your thoughts as you watch along
hopefully you enjoy this show, its an amazing journey, that I wish I could experience again.
this man in single-handedly carrying the madoka magica react game rn
Same writer as S1 of Psychopass and Fate Zero.
Since you watched Psychopass, its equally dark as those series.
cant wait for ep 3
' w '
Subscribed
nice
nice
I always thought Kyubey is some weird mix between a weasel and a fox.
It's a wonderful anime, hope you don't lose your head over it ;)