The ironic thing is that Urobuchi's "deception" when he said things along the line of him trying to make this happier and more upbeat than his other scripts isn't as deceptive as you might first think. As dark as Madoka gets at times, overall it IS the brightest and most hopeful one of any of his works I'm farmiliar with.
True! Which...I guess definitely _says something_ about the overall tone of his usual works, lol. I certainly wasn't smiling a lot by the time Fate/Zero ended, that's for sure.
Everything said in this video is precisely why I believe none of the copycats (the so-called Dark Magical Girl genre) that rose after PMMM's success have captured its essence. PMMM is well thought-out and *not* a torture porn at all, placing value on optimism and advocating against cynicism. What have the copycats gleaned from it? "The mascot is evil." "Magical Girls turn into enemies when they die." All shallow elements, and thus they can only present pale, edgey imitations.
Just like that one manga that got one of it's illustration turned into a meme lol. It also later on got an anime and needless to say lots of sad and edgy weebs.
Agree. But Sailor Moon and Madoka Magica they do have something in common. They both make you realize that you should have hope and love because that is what makes moving on as human beings.
@@puppy0cam reincarnation is a used a lot which requires a focus on death. Granted this is more so the case in the manga and Crystal while downplayed in the '90s anime.
But Kyubey is not wrong. When you have seen Rebellion you see that the universe was dying owing to the lack of energy created by the girls turning into witches. Kyubey is a logical being while the girls are very very emotional. Kyubey is a bit like Thanos ngl
@@lucyklee4607 the universe wasn’t dying the incubators just got curious about Homura’s story about witches and wanted to see if they could control the cycle thingy and bring witches back we barely saw anything outside of Homura’s labyrinth
That's a terrible description, because while there is death and blood, I recall most of the torturing being angst and mental anguish. Between the death or witch fights is a lot of characters standing or sitting around, depressed or arguing or discussing stuff with others.
Or at least they didn't finish watching the series to the end. I can see how someone might get that misconception if they skipped out after Sayaka's arc came to a close for example, or during the cattle speech by Kyubey.
Exactly! Though the rebellion movie doesn't help. I still think the madoka magica franchise is awsome but the fact remains people will who miss the point of realisim, dystopias, & grimdark are gonna misunderstand this too. because to those folks? Realisim, grimmdark, and distopians are short hand of "gritty, fadora wearing, emtionless husks we should all aspire to be" aka? Misery porn. Realism doesn't equal pessimism. It equalis consequences that match the narrative. Grimdark doesn't equal everyone is an asshole so don't even try. It's literally a case of cathartic experience by proxy. A case of "yeah sometimes life sucks but at least it's better than this!" Dystopian stories are a causationary story at best. A case of "complacenty is one of the worst prophecies because if you ignore the problem or help cause the problem then it's only gonna get worse!"
Literally this is why Madoka Magica means so much to me. Even in adulthood. Despite the world being a ball of fire, even now, we can all establish and achieve hope together. This show never fails to make me hopeful for my future and keep my head held high. It's why it's my favorite anime period. Such a great video. You earned a sub!
"Hope in front of overwhelming despair" Beautiful, simply beautiful. I'm an AMV maker, a writer, an inspiring director, but guess what. I didn't succeed in any of those. Worse, all of my ideas were stolen by the company where I applied. I even went to Japan to pass a 50,000 words script as the sequel for the rebellion movie. And yet, I'm stuck here fighting to live my dream in front of reality which is obviously way bigger than me. This video is a catalyst for me to fight again and a testimony of how great the Madoka series really is. Great job on this video. Instant subscriber. 👍
A year after huh. Im trying to forget the things that ideas "borrowed" from me. It only brings pain after all. Hopefully, we will have an announcement on Madoka's birthday this year. If they use some of the ideas from what I wrote. Time will tell
The message of hope in puella magi madoka magica has unironically saved my life. Back during the series’s release in 2011, i was a highschooler that was entrenched in a miserable life, everyday at home was miserable and violent, in school wasnt any better. I never had a support system. I felt myself everyday on the verge of wanting to end it all amidst all the violence in my life. During my school break i decided to start watching puella magi madoka magica because it was so new at the time, the last episode had just released, and the cute visuals drew me in. Man… when i tell you it was life changing it really was. The last episodes when madoka was giving hope to magical girls at their last moments and saving everyone from their fates, i felt myself bawling my eyes out. I realised all i ever wanted was to be promised hope even in this darkest moment of my life. When madoka said that “ if someone says it’s wrong to hope then I’ll tell them they’re wrong every time “ was the nail in the coffin for me. I will never forget it. I grew up to be a damaged adult in this very big world but to this day i have never lost hope. I’m truly thankful to this show as a whole as silly as that sounds hahaha
As both a PMMM and Danganronpa fan, I can confidently say that PMMM has handled the topics of hope and despair better than any other piece of media I have ever interacted with. The incredible nuance and complexity they add to it all makes for a really, REALLY well thought-out show. It's not torture porn, it's a look into why adolescence is incredibly difficult and how what is rational does not always line up with what is moral. Kyubey has a perfectly rational and logical explanation as to why his species does what it does, and yet he is the villain of the story. Walupurgisnacht, while first appearing to be the main villain, WAS INDIRECTLY CREATED BY INCUBATORS, and only serves as yet another method for Kyubey to get what he wants. And worst of all, he has a logically consistent and internally valid explanation for everything (assuming that he's telling the truth), which is LITERALLY SAVING THE UNIVERSE. We are put in this uncomfortable position where we are basically forced into understanding why Kyubey does what he does, and yet we hate him regardless. He even calls that out, saying that it makes no sense to resent the other party when you yourself didn't ask for clarification, and HE'S RIGHT. My favorite part about how it ended is that incubators made a mistake in using logic to harness something that is completely illogical, that being human emotion. Madoka wins in the end BECAUSE her hope defies the logical mechanics of the universe to the point where she creates an entirely new one and breaks the cycle completely. The only way she could have defied a scientific and logical system is by applying something illogical and breaking it entirely. You spend the entire show wondering how it's gonna end and then you get an ending that actually makes complete sense. It's honestly the only way it COULD have ended well; Homura's other timelines prove it. This show is amazing and anyone who says it's torture porn has seriously either never watched it or if they did, they did NOT pay attention.
Honestly, after watching both madoka and sailor moon, it's interesting how they're thematically the same. Sailor moon is all about a group of young girls protecting other young girls from those who want to exploit them and their emotions for profit. In sailor moon, the scouts die. A lot. And the solution is a reset where they return to earth to live as Normal Girls. And yet, they're always drawn to a larger purpose, because they all want to protect the girls of earth. It's about social justice and the need to fight for a better, safer future for the preyed upon. Madoka (the series at least) just states those themes more explicitly, without fun filler beach episodes or boba tea breaks.
I like what you said about Madoka Magica being inherently no different to the typical magical girl genre out there, in that one of the show's core thematic ideas is, well, hope. And I'd like to add this quote shown at the end of the original TVA: "Don't forget - always, somewhere, someone is fighting for you. As long as you remember her, you're not alone." Whilst this may be "just an anime/show," but this quote makes me aware of so many things I take for granted, such as - me being a woman of colour - basic human rights we have these days, voting/education rights to women and/or people of colour. If you look back in history, none of these were truly attained without a single bloodshed. Of course, there's no use over-glorifying sacrifices (I mean, what ends could really justify those who suffered and died? When, to them, their one life must have been EVERYTHING), but it makes me truly humble and grateful of so many nameless individuals who must have sacrificed for me to be able to have this life now. And that thought alone makes this world a less lonely place.
This video essay was amazing. I was familiar with the reference to Walpurgisnacht beforehand, but when you explained the story of Faust it all made perfect sense! I really didn’t have high hopes for this magical girl anime because other anime’s of this genre tended to be way too sexualized, typical or uncomfortable. Then Madoka blew my expectations out of the water. And this essay makes some great examples about hope and despair, human flaws, and introspection. Really well done. Just subbed and I’m on to PT2!
Man this series is so hard to watch . so emotionally destructive, every single time I reached the end I cried for an hour . You know it's a good show when I can feel the pain and darkness of the series
Mami is so interesting because she definitely gives the appearance of the balance, but she's also incredibly selfish in that she knew exactly how hard it is to be a magical girl and kind of lured/convinced them to try to be one anyways. You can see her facade start to crack on the bridge with Madoka before she dies, you can see her battle with the guilt of convincing someone to sell their soul but wanting to no longer be alone in her struggles. I guess in that case she's be the balance between selfishness and selflessness, and it's such a horrifying thing to realize once you sit and ruminate on it for a while. Her naive principles led Sayaka down the path she eventually went down, and she fully knew what she was telling them to sign up for. She was only there for 3 episodes, but she's such a complex character when you dive a little deeper and think about it for a while.
I was (and still am lmao) new to anime, and had heard PMMM was dark, which is up my alley. I was watching a dark, depressing anime (Violet Evergarden) alongside it too. At first, even though *I knew* it was supposed to be dark, I started to think that everyone was lying, and that it really was a fluffy anime. The fluffier out of the two, at least. I started to focus on watching VE, and eventually I watched it again, needing something cuter and nicer. Hoo boy, was I fooled. That's one of the reasons I think Madoka Magica is just brilliant. You could go up to someone and say, "Watch Puella Magi Madoka Magica. It's dark, you'll like it" and they'll still be lulled into a sense of security by the first two episodes and surprised when it turns. Truly an insane feat for a show to accomplish.
Great Video When discussing Rebellion there are three things that don't seem to be brought up much. -Rebellion being deeply influenced by The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, arguably even more so than the original was influenced by Faust. I've also seen some comparisons to Paradise Lost, but I find the supposed connection to be baseless, with Milton's Satan being a radically different character then Homura. -The large amounts of suicide imagery present throughout Rebellion. Hell, one of the runes in Homura's transformation sequence which literally translates to ICH TÖTE MICH (I KILL MYSELF). -The references to the philosophy of the proto existentialist, misanthropic and all-round weirdo Fredrick Nietzsche.
17:44 Small thing that I didn't realize it until I finished the Magia Record anime, but Homura doesn't overwrite timelines, she abandons them and jumps to another. Which means that until Madoka becomes the Law of Cycles, Homura is leaving a lot of these worlds to their doom. I don't think the episode that reveals that was out when you made this video so I'm not like mad you misinterpreted it (like I did myself lol) I just wanna clear it up for the people watching now :)
I finished Madoka blind 3 days ago, I can safely say this is top on my list and I have even started reading things like wraith arc and different story. I really love this series and I hope I can come back to this show in a year and still be able to say "yep thats still really fucked up" I miss Mami...
I watched this show a few years ago and it completely blindsided me. I was just scrollin through Netflix, saw this show that looked light and fluffy and cute and specifically clicked on it bc i was feeling nostalgic about Magical DoReMi and the look of this show was identical. I had never heard of it. Got to eps 3. Blew my friggin mind. I remember watching the next episode thinking that surely they’re gna reveal that shes just trapped or missing. Like they didnt actually just kill that child on this fluffy show about fairy girls or whatever. Or if they did, they’re gna bring her back. Which, tbf, they kinda did
I will never forget madoka ep 3 Mami was my favorite character and I loved her aesthetic and powers, her fights were so hype and then that happens, devastating me and then the show adds insult to the I jury by playing my favorite song at the time (Magia by kalafina) which I had found separately from the show so I'm crying my eyes out while singing along to the song I love I was 100% hooked and it was an amazing show
Honestly Madoka Magica is one of my top 5 most influential medias. The character's struggles around depression and anxiety, identity have helped me with my own.
By the time I got inot Madoka Magica, Rebellion was already a thing and everyone was taling about the ending. I felt like I'd missed a step in being able to take part in the discourse surrounding the show itself. The ending to PMMM is absoluely stunning and I cry every time, from the moment Madoka makes her wish all the way through the post -credits scene I'm an emotional wreck from how beautiful, triumphant, bittersweet, and hopeful it is. But...it's not a perfect system. I'll get into Homura's...attempt...at a fix in Part 2, but suffice it to say, I don't think the truth is "HOMURA DID NOTHING WRONG," or "HOMURA DID EVERYTHING WRONG," so much as it is somewhere in between. Once I've watched part 2, I'll give my thoughts on it there.
@@d4s0n282 same here, watched this show at the start of the year. I had the luck that the only spoiler I had was "OMGG the chapter 3 is so dark" or "THE CHAPTER 3 CHANGES THE SHOW" and things like that So when Mami died I was like, "ok, sad, this must be what everyone was saying... so, when is Madoka going to use her wish to revive Mami?" Anddd, until Sayaka turned into a witch, I realized The next 5 chapters will not be an clasical magical anime I am so stupid
Juuuust gonna drop this here.. Talking about magical girl animes... one of the first bits of "deconstruction" of the genre I'd argue is Lyrical Nanoha, because they detract bigtime from the usual demographics that most magical girl anime go to... and things get DEEPly dramatic on that one...
i was 13 in 2011 when this anime came out, i remember watching it and falling so in love with it and Kyubey and even after finishing the anime i knew for a fact if i lived in that world i would have made a wish and become a magical girl
Ah, yes, my favorite German writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goth. It's pronounced with a hard t and the e at the end is not silent. The ö sounds kinda like the i in "first", I guess? I can't find a better comparison lol. Sorry, I thought about the pronounciation and then I had to try and explain it to see if I could haha. Great video! I love Madoka Magica for many reasons, mainly the soundtrack and for how unglamorous it is. Also, the art style really does something for me
BRO I KNEW IT WAS FAUST i kept thinking i was insane (i speak german and read it in German) and didn't think an anime would incorporate those elements ahhhhh I'm happy now
first jack saint sells me on beastars, and now i've gotta watch madoka magica too! wasn't expecting to be sold on two animes dealing with deeply uncomfortable subjects in one week lol
A fatigued girl's deconstruction of genre fatigue derived deconstruction of genre fatigue . . . See... sentences like this are why my friends demanded i write video essays and stop spamming their DMs with 3am text walls. Anyways. This video may have accomplished what episode 4 of Madoka Magika failed to do. And that is... get me to watch the rest of Madoka Magika... You compared it to Faust so now ... i mean... i gotta right... ?
this video is divine, there are no words i may say to express it. your references to the story so reminiscent of this show absolutely astounded me- it makes me so upset you have not received the recognition of which you deserve ;-;
The conclusion to your video had me tearing up. I have always loved Madoka's messages of the power of hope to conquer despair, even when that despair seems insurmountable. I have such mixed feelings about Rebellion, so I can't wait to hear your thoughts!
I know I’m the only person who didn’t watch this because of the spoilers for Goeth’s Faust but thank you /so/ much for putting that spoiler warning up, because I’m just about to read it, and that did genuinely matter to me.
Every time I show a friend Madoka Magica, I make a careful effort to make sure they don't know how dark it is. I don't usually watch anime, nor do I watch fluffy shows, so ofc I need to say why I love the anime, but I NEVER say it's dark or existential or angsty. I make sure I'm with them whilst watching episode 3, and their reactions to Mami's death is always priceless
@@Lunarrbase, I’m sure they know their friends better than you do. If you know they’ll enjoy those aspects you should try to conceal them, it creates a better experience.
I had absolutely no idea that this was a dark anime lmao. I thought you were just gonna talk about it in the same way as One Piece or a Toby Fox game. Yknow, the more lighthearted stuff on the channel ehshshshs. Heads getting chomped on came so far out of left field as I was only partially paying attention while drawing
I've recently started to compare this anime with "Pirates of the Caraibean". It's easier than you think: - Kyoko is Barbosa; - Hitomi is Elizabeth; - Madoka is Calypso; - Homura is Davey Jones; - Kyubey is Beckett; - Mami is Captain Teague; - Nagisa is Jack Sparrow; - Sayaka is...I don't know, maybe Will ? - And the Magic Girls from the spin-offs are the Brethen Court.
This show isn't really a deconstruction. Every magical girl show after like 1998 have similar and incredibly dark themes. One of them involves going through life with like 5 magical candidates then at the end you realize that all of them but 1 have to die to grant a wish. xD Then there is also Princess Tutu which has quite a few moments of mass genocide. The thing they all have in common is that of Hope. It's the defacto message for all of these shows. Definitely not torture porn though. Not even Higurashi is torture porn if you watched the entire thing. For anime those would be those super gory random movies and probably Akira. lol In Madoka and Higurashi there is a reason behind the despair. It's so that it's super awesome when the plot finally does move forward.
I mean honestly when I went into the only spoilers I had were that it would apparently get depressing and that everyone hates Kyubey. Also the time loop thing but I repressed that and only remembered like an episode or two before it was revealed and even then I didn't know it was just Homura so I actually went into this mostly blind which was really refreshing considering how much shit I've spoiled myself on ruining experiences for myself in the process.
Hey, so I know it's been 8 months, but I wanted to ask if you watched Yuuki Yuuna Wa Yuusha De Aru, if not, It's one of the exceptions in the works inspired by Madoka that gets the point about hope overcoming despair. The whole series (with both prequel and sequel) is on youtube in a playlist in the correct watch order, so If you have time, I recommend it!
19:16 It's for most likely the 2nd law of Thermodynamics. Honestly idk how I even begin to explain it other than "too much entropy will destroy the universe, entropy keeps increasing naturally, and reversing entropy needs energy". So in the simplest way, Kyubey is farming as much energy from this process as he could to delay (and possibly save) the universe from its own ultimate fate, destruction. The way the universe works is in multiple ways parallel to the way the girls move, slowly but surely, to their own ruin. Or should I say symbolic, hmm... Symbolic. Yeah. I really recommend reading Stephen Hawking's The Theory of Everything, it surprisingly, helped me alot in understanding Kyubey's motivations haha It gets kinda wishy washy when you look at Kyubey's actions (and the show in itself) from a scientific lens, but when you consider how a huge advancement in science can seem like magic (like how us talking to e/o face to face over long distances will be unbelievable to people a few centuries back), the show makes a tiny bit more sense.
Its kind of funny to see people call the plot basically constant torture as someone who grew up with the show (and prob got introduced to it wayy too young) when my clearest memories of it is feeling a weird sort of solidarity and comfort in it, i genuinely felt sorrow when the truth started being figured out but somehow came out of it all with acceptance that despite everything I'd probably take my chances too and weirdly enough hope
That all said from what I've heard from my friends and others online its a surprisingly common afab childhood experience to be crushingly aware that you'll have to fight your whole life for a system and people who dealt you sh1tty cards on purpose with your reward being a cake you pray someone else gets to eat ((im just a kid still and fully aware i get to be selfish for a few more years, but even knowing history and knowing the pattern rarely breaks i feel like i couldn't truly feel like i did right by existence unless i at least tried to leave hope behind))
I went in absolutely blind. I had only watched a couple anime at that point, the darkest of which was the first 3 episodes of Attack on Titan before i turned it off and went back to lighter shows like the 2001 Fruits Basket. XD i was not prepared
"I wish for the universe to always, forever now and later, and to have always had and have enough energy to keep existing without any help from outside forces, to forever prevent the ever existence of witches and magical girls." That is my wish, it could fix everything.
Not exactly, kyubey would find another reason to "need" energy, they dosent want enough energy but more than enough, that's why they try to exploit the law of cycles in rebellion
A wish like that would require potential you do not have. I doubt even Madoka before or after turning into GodOka could accomplish something like that. It'd break the universe many times more seriously than what she did with the witches.
@@tysej4 Who knows man I could be in like five million alternate homura-realities but I'd have no idea till I made the wish and broke the laws of like, everything 🤷
fun fact there are some simalarities with madokamagicas plot and theme wih the live action tokusasue series Kamen rider Gaim wich have gen urobuchi work on madoka magica
I only watched this anime because of a thumbnail on youtube for a video which I then refused to watch, cause I was thinking "hey I saw that girl on Netflix... why does it say true horror? Guess I'll watch it before I watch this!" Then was met with a weeks worth of crying in one night- lol
There was an interesting fanfic I was reading in which a being from Kyubey's race gained emotional freedom and tried to help the girls in the timeline the show happens in... but it ruined it with the introduction of Slenderman. Seriously, there were so many other characters the author could have brought to the story that fitted way better, such as Elizabeth from "BioShock"...but maybe I'm being too harsh. Maybe I should try to reread it and see if there's any logic to this character being included in the story. Do you think this course of action makes sense ?
Dan Floyd? I love that guy. He's brilliant, and he has his own channels now. Playframe and New Frame Plus. He's still doing what he loves even after the channel kicked him off, which is great. :)
／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼
What wish will make _your_ soul gem shine?
How long is this video?
matt0044 29 minutes.
@@NezumiVA Thank you.
To make your channel popular.
A really big cheeseburger, but the catch is I'm lactose intolerant.
The ironic thing is that Urobuchi's "deception" when he said things along the line of him trying to make this happier and more upbeat than his other scripts isn't as deceptive as you might first think.
As dark as Madoka gets at times, overall it IS the brightest and most hopeful one of any of his works I'm farmiliar with.
True! Which...I guess definitely _says something_ about the overall tone of his usual works, lol. I certainly wasn't smiling a lot by the time Fate/Zero ended, that's for sure.
One was brighter, a litterally childrens show
@@lextatertotsfromhell7673 you mean Gaim?
@@waluigisbizzareadventuresi1430 yes. I'm not saying much brighter, but definitely brighter
Everything said in this video is precisely why I believe none of the copycats (the so-called Dark Magical Girl genre) that rose after PMMM's success have captured its essence. PMMM is well thought-out and *not* a torture porn at all, placing value on optimism and advocating against cynicism. What have the copycats gleaned from it? "The mascot is evil." "Magical Girls turn into enemies when they die." All shallow elements, and thus they can only present pale, edgey imitations.
Just like that one manga that got one of it's illustration turned into a meme lol. It also later on got an anime and needless to say lots of sad and edgy weebs.
@@Dog.This_Identifier_Is_Shit. are you by any chance referring to mahou shoujo site ?
@@hani69 Yes, fellow feline enjoyer.
Fun fact- There were actually alot of deaths in Sailor moon, some who never ended with an "happy ending"
But was it a primary theme of the show?
@@puppy0cam Well basically they were in a life or death battle in the finale of every arc so whatever you wanna consider it. It was just a fun fact
Agree. But Sailor Moon and Madoka Magica they do have something in common. They both make you realize that you should have hope and love because that is what makes moving on as human beings.
@@puppy0cam reincarnation is a used a lot which requires a focus on death. Granted this is more so the case in the manga and Crystal while downplayed in the '90s anime.
I remember Naru and Nephrito in the 90s anime series where it actually had a bit of an after effect in the show, although it wasn't for long
I went into the series completely blind since it was one of the first anime series I ever watched.
I can’t trust any magical mascot at all now
But Kyubey is not wrong. When you have seen Rebellion you see that the universe was dying owing to the lack of energy created by the girls turning into witches. Kyubey is a logical being while the girls are very very emotional. Kyubey is a bit like Thanos ngl
@@lucyklee4607 the universe wasn’t dying the incubators just got curious about Homura’s story about witches and wanted to see if they could control the cycle thingy and bring witches back we barely saw anything outside of Homura’s labyrinth
I guess we can’t trust emergency food
@@ad-skyobsidion4267
Is that a reference to Genshin I-
I also watched it when i was 9
I'm sorry, but whoever says that Madoka is just pure torture porn hasn't watched the show at all
That's a terrible description, because while there is death and blood, I recall most of the torturing being angst and mental anguish. Between the death or witch fights is a lot of characters standing or sitting around, depressed or arguing or discussing stuff with others.
I agree, it doesn't make much sense.
Or at least they didn't finish watching the series to the end.
I can see how someone might get that misconception if they skipped out after Sayaka's arc came to a close for example, or during the cattle speech by Kyubey.
Exactly! Though the rebellion movie doesn't help. I still think the madoka magica franchise is awsome but the fact remains people will who miss the point of realisim, dystopias, & grimdark are gonna misunderstand this too. because to those folks? Realisim, grimmdark, and distopians are short hand of "gritty, fadora wearing, emtionless husks we should all aspire to be" aka? Misery porn.
Realism doesn't equal pessimism. It equalis consequences that match the narrative.
Grimdark doesn't equal everyone is an asshole so don't even try. It's literally a case of cathartic experience by proxy. A case of "yeah sometimes life sucks but at least it's better than this!"
Dystopian stories are a causationary story at best. A case of "complacenty is one of the worst prophecies because if you ignore the problem or help cause the problem then it's only gonna get worse!"
Or they saw one of the torture porn magical girl animes that came in the wake of Madoka and assumed that this is what Madoka was all about.
Literally this is why Madoka Magica means so much to me. Even in adulthood. Despite the world being a ball of fire, even now, we can all establish and achieve hope together. This show never fails to make me hopeful for my future and keep my head held high. It's why it's my favorite anime period. Such a great video. You earned a sub!
I knew exactly what quote you were going to show to sum up the show and I still managed to start crying the instant it appeared on screen.
same. Every single time.
"Hope in front of overwhelming despair" Beautiful, simply beautiful.
I'm an AMV maker, a writer, an inspiring director, but guess what. I didn't succeed in any of those. Worse, all of my ideas were stolen by the company where I applied. I even went to Japan to pass a 50,000 words script as the sequel for the rebellion movie. And yet, I'm stuck here fighting to live my dream in front of reality which is obviously way bigger than me.
This video is a catalyst for me to fight again and a testimony of how great the Madoka series really is.
Great job on this video.
Instant subscriber. 👍
huh interesting, what ideas do you know of where stolen that was used by the company, just wondering
A year after huh. Im trying to forget the things that ideas "borrowed" from me. It only brings pain after all.
Hopefully, we will have an announcement on Madoka's birthday this year. If they use some of the ideas from what I wrote. Time will tell
Just to clear it. The one who keep stealing concept is Not Shaft where i send the sequel for rebellion. Its a different company in this rotten country
**Angry Monokuma noises**
The message of hope in puella magi madoka magica has unironically saved my life.
Back during the series’s release in 2011, i was a highschooler that was entrenched in a miserable life, everyday at home was miserable and violent, in school wasnt any better. I never had a support system. I felt myself everyday on the verge of wanting to end it all amidst all the violence in my life. During my school break i decided to start watching puella magi madoka magica because it was so new at the time, the last episode had just released, and the cute visuals drew me in. Man… when i tell you it was life changing it really was. The last episodes when madoka was giving hope to magical girls at their last moments and saving everyone from their fates, i felt myself bawling my eyes out. I realised all i ever wanted was to be promised hope even in this darkest moment of my life. When madoka said that “ if someone says it’s wrong to hope then I’ll tell them they’re wrong every time “ was the nail in the coffin for me. I will never forget it.
I grew up to be a damaged adult in this very big world but to this day i have never lost hope. I’m truly thankful to this show as a whole as silly as that sounds hahaha
as a magical girl fan, madoka is not just a deconstruction of magical girls but a celebration of them
exactly
very clever with the ad placements
“as mami is devoured head first-“
“DO YOU SLEEP HOT OR COLD? PURPLE MATTRESS IS FOR YOU”
As both a PMMM and Danganronpa fan, I can confidently say that PMMM has handled the topics of hope and despair better than any other piece of media I have ever interacted with. The incredible nuance and complexity they add to it all makes for a really, REALLY well thought-out show. It's not torture porn, it's a look into why adolescence is incredibly difficult and how what is rational does not always line up with what is moral. Kyubey has a perfectly rational and logical explanation as to why his species does what it does, and yet he is the villain of the story. Walupurgisnacht, while first appearing to be the main villain, WAS INDIRECTLY CREATED BY INCUBATORS, and only serves as yet another method for Kyubey to get what he wants. And worst of all, he has a logically consistent and internally valid explanation for everything (assuming that he's telling the truth), which is LITERALLY SAVING THE UNIVERSE. We are put in this uncomfortable position where we are basically forced into understanding why Kyubey does what he does, and yet we hate him regardless. He even calls that out, saying that it makes no sense to resent the other party when you yourself didn't ask for clarification, and HE'S RIGHT. My favorite part about how it ended is that incubators made a mistake in using logic to harness something that is completely illogical, that being human emotion. Madoka wins in the end BECAUSE her hope defies the logical mechanics of the universe to the point where she creates an entirely new one and breaks the cycle completely. The only way she could have defied a scientific and logical system is by applying something illogical and breaking it entirely. You spend the entire show wondering how it's gonna end and then you get an ending that actually makes complete sense. It's honestly the only way it COULD have ended well; Homura's other timelines prove it. This show is amazing and anyone who says it's torture porn has seriously either never watched it or if they did, they did NOT pay attention.
Honestly, after watching both madoka and sailor moon, it's interesting how they're thematically the same. Sailor moon is all about a group of young girls protecting other young girls from those who want to exploit them and their emotions for profit. In sailor moon, the scouts die. A lot. And the solution is a reset where they return to earth to live as Normal Girls. And yet, they're always drawn to a larger purpose, because they all want to protect the girls of earth. It's about social justice and the need to fight for a better, safer future for the preyed upon. Madoka (the series at least) just states those themes more explicitly, without fun filler beach episodes or boba tea breaks.
@Atari_01 I got a friend into sailor moon by saying chibi usa pulls out a glock and I.... Still can't believe it worked
I didn't expect to see another anthro cat PFP on here. Cool.
@@dragon9261 Lol. Gen Z humour doez that.
I like what you said about Madoka Magica being inherently no different to the typical magical girl genre out there, in that one of the show's core thematic ideas is, well, hope. And I'd like to add this quote shown at the end of the original TVA: "Don't forget - always, somewhere, someone is fighting for you. As long as you remember her, you're not alone." Whilst this may be "just an anime/show," but this quote makes me aware of so many things I take for granted, such as - me being a woman of colour - basic human rights we have these days, voting/education rights to women and/or people of colour. If you look back in history, none of these were truly attained without a single bloodshed. Of course, there's no use over-glorifying sacrifices (I mean, what ends could really justify those who suffered and died? When, to them, their one life must have been EVERYTHING), but it makes me truly humble and grateful of so many nameless individuals who must have sacrificed for me to be able to have this life now. And that thought alone makes this world a less lonely place.
This video essay was amazing. I was familiar with the reference to Walpurgisnacht beforehand, but when you explained the story of Faust it all made perfect sense!
I really didn’t have high hopes for this magical girl anime because other anime’s of this genre tended to be way too sexualized, typical or uncomfortable. Then Madoka blew my expectations out of the water. And this essay makes some great examples about hope and despair, human flaws, and introspection.
Really well done. Just subbed and I’m on to PT2!
"Hope in front of overwhelming despair"
**Angry Monokuma noises**
*happy nagito noises*
Man this series is so hard to watch . so emotionally destructive, every single time I reached the end I cried for an hour . You know it's a good show when I can feel the pain and darkness of the series
Madoka - Hope
Homura - Despair
Kyoko - Selflessness
Sayaka - Selfishness
Mami - The Balance
The moment when the Balance was shattered...
@@lpfan4491 ?!
@@SuitcaseTheInnocent ded.
Mami is so interesting because she definitely gives the appearance of the balance, but she's also incredibly selfish in that she knew exactly how hard it is to be a magical girl and kind of lured/convinced them to try to be one anyways. You can see her facade start to crack on the bridge with Madoka before she dies, you can see her battle with the guilt of convincing someone to sell their soul but wanting to no longer be alone in her struggles. I guess in that case she's be the balance between selfishness and selflessness, and it's such a horrifying thing to realize once you sit and ruminate on it for a while. Her naive principles led Sayaka down the path she eventually went down, and she fully knew what she was telling them to sign up for. She was only there for 3 episodes, but she's such a complex character when you dive a little deeper and think about it for a while.
Nagisa: The Cheese
Madoka makes me so happy I don’t think anyone gets how much the show means to me I love it more than anything
I was (and still am lmao) new to anime, and had heard PMMM was dark, which is up my alley. I was watching a dark, depressing anime (Violet Evergarden) alongside it too. At first, even though *I knew* it was supposed to be dark, I started to think that everyone was lying, and that it really was a fluffy anime. The fluffier out of the two, at least. I started to focus on watching VE, and eventually I watched it again, needing something cuter and nicer. Hoo boy, was I fooled. That's one of the reasons I think Madoka Magica is just brilliant. You could go up to someone and say, "Watch Puella Magi Madoka Magica. It's dark, you'll like it" and they'll still be lulled into a sense of security by the first two episodes and surprised when it turns. Truly an insane feat for a show to accomplish.
Great Video
When discussing Rebellion there are three things that don't seem to be brought up much.
-Rebellion being deeply influenced by The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, arguably even more so than the original was influenced by Faust. I've also seen some comparisons to Paradise Lost, but I find the supposed connection to be baseless, with Milton's Satan being a radically different character then Homura.
-The large amounts of suicide imagery present throughout Rebellion. Hell, one of the runes in Homura's transformation sequence which literally translates to ICH TÖTE MICH (I KILL MYSELF).
-The references to the philosophy of the proto existentialist, misanthropic and all-round weirdo Fredrick Nietzsche.
17:44 Small thing that I didn't realize it until I finished the Magia Record anime, but Homura doesn't overwrite timelines, she abandons them and jumps to another. Which means that until Madoka becomes the Law of Cycles, Homura is leaving a lot of these worlds to their doom. I don't think the episode that reveals that was out when you made this video so I'm not like mad you misinterpreted it (like I did myself lol) I just wanna clear it up for the people watching now :)
This show basically pulled off in anime what Doki Doki Literature Club did in gaming. It looks all cute and cuddly but then BOOOOOOOM.
Wow this video quality reminds me of that “Search for the last secret” thing in Shadow of the colossus Jacob Geller did.
Hope you were able to watch gametrailers' Pop fiction: is there a 17th Colossus, 5 years prior, where it all started 😃
this comment convinced me to watch this video all the way thru, and it did not disappoint 👌
I tried to get my best friend to watch madoka magica and as soon as kuyubi told madoka to make a contract, they said, “yea, sell your soul to satan”
I feel like this specific anime fandom has a none verbal agreement not to tell newcomers how badass Madoka really is
I finished Madoka blind 3 days ago, I can safely say this is top on my list and I have even started reading things like wraith arc and different story. I really love this series and I hope I can come back to this show in a year and still be able to say "yep thats still really fucked up"
I miss Mami...
I watched this show a few years ago and it completely blindsided me. I was just scrollin through Netflix, saw this show that looked light and fluffy and cute and specifically clicked on it bc i was feeling nostalgic about Magical DoReMi and the look of this show was identical. I had never heard of it. Got to eps 3.
Blew my friggin mind.
I remember watching the next episode thinking that surely they’re gna reveal that shes just trapped or missing. Like they didnt actually just kill that child on this fluffy show about fairy girls or whatever. Or if they did, they’re gna bring her back. Which, tbf, they kinda did
I will never forget madoka ep 3
Mami was my favorite character and I loved her aesthetic and powers, her fights were so hype
and then that happens, devastating me
and then the show adds insult to the I jury by playing my favorite song at the time (Magia by kalafina) which I had found separately from the show
so I'm crying my eyes out while singing along to the song I love
I was 100% hooked and it was an amazing show
Yes! Thank you! I have been looking for this for years! The series isn't about inescapable despair, it's about the hope that overcomes it.
Honestly Madoka Magica is one of my top 5 most influential medias. The character's struggles around depression and anxiety, identity have helped me with my own.
By the time I got inot Madoka Magica, Rebellion was already a thing and everyone was taling about the ending.
I felt like I'd missed a step in being able to take part in the discourse surrounding the show itself. The ending to PMMM is absoluely stunning and I cry every time, from the moment Madoka makes her wish all the way through the post -credits scene I'm an emotional wreck from how beautiful, triumphant, bittersweet, and hopeful it is.
But...it's not a perfect system.
I'll get into Homura's...attempt...at a fix in Part 2, but suffice it to say, I don't think the truth is "HOMURA DID NOTHING WRONG," or "HOMURA DID EVERYTHING WRONG," so much as it is somewhere in between. Once I've watched part 2, I'll give my thoughts on it there.
I first watched it when it went out on netflix but I also wish i could have taken a part in the community when it came out although it was 7 years ago
@@d4s0n282 same here, watched this show at the start of the year. I had the luck that the only spoiler I had was "OMGG the chapter 3 is so dark" or "THE CHAPTER 3 CHANGES THE SHOW" and things like that
So when Mami died I was like, "ok, sad, this must be what everyone was saying... so, when is Madoka going to use her wish to revive Mami?" Anddd, until Sayaka turned into a witch, I realized
The next 5 chapters will not be an clasical magical anime
I am so stupid
It’s not just about the girls’ pain and suffering, it’s about hope more than anything and I completely agree with you
Juuuust gonna drop this here.. Talking about magical girl animes...
one of the first bits of "deconstruction" of the genre I'd argue is Lyrical Nanoha, because they detract bigtime from the usual demographics that most magical girl anime go to...
and things get DEEPly dramatic on that one...
Princess Tutu does this as well
This video managed to make me like Puella Magi Madoka Magica, one of my favorite anime, even more! 😍
i was 13 in 2011 when this anime came out, i remember watching it and falling so in love with it and Kyubey and even after finishing the anime i knew for a fact if i lived in that world i would have made a wish and become a magical girl
Ah, yes, my favorite German writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goth.
It's pronounced with a hard t and the e at the end is not silent. The ö sounds kinda like the i in "first", I guess? I can't find a better comparison lol. Sorry, I thought about the pronounciation and then I had to try and explain it to see if I could haha.
Great video! I love Madoka Magica for many reasons, mainly the soundtrack and for how unglamorous it is. Also, the art style really does something for me
BRO I KNEW IT WAS FAUST i kept thinking i was insane (i speak german and read it in German) and didn't think an anime would incorporate those elements ahhhhh I'm happy now
@@wired.raskolnikov i was pretty clear it was a faustian pact, also witches are heavy on german folk? Hexenhammer and stuff.
The last 3/4 of this video had me crying. You describe it all so beautifully.
first jack saint sells me on beastars, and now i've gotta watch madoka magica too!
wasn't expecting to be sold on two animes dealing with deeply uncomfortable subjects in one week lol
god madoka is easily one of my favourite pieces of fiction
A fatigued girl's deconstruction of genre fatigue derived deconstruction of genre fatigue . . .
See... sentences like this are why my friends demanded i write video essays and stop spamming their DMs with 3am text walls.
Anyways.
This video may have accomplished what episode 4 of Madoka Magika failed to do. And that is... get me to watch the rest of Madoka Magika...
You compared it to Faust so now ... i mean... i gotta right... ?
26:59 ?
Stopping at ep 4 was an awful mistake. It literally just keeps getting worse and worse (or better and better?) from there.
Once you get past the halfway point in the season, you’ll want to finish, trust me. The show really gets interesting.
I actually didn't know anything when I watched Madoka Magica. My friend who recommended it said it was "cute and wholesome" and I believed him.....
Very much looking forward to the next video. Rebellion is one of my all time favorite anime movies
I’m kinda glad Magia Record exists, I can enjoy the universe of Madoka Magica without having it be despair 24/7
yeah !! magia record is such an amazing spin off
this video is divine, there are no words i may say to express it. your references to the story so reminiscent of this show absolutely astounded me- it makes me so upset you have not received the recognition of which you deserve ;-;
you always make video essays on the things I love and want to sink my teeth into.
what a wonderful video!! i’ve really been looking very forward to this one >:3
omg the undertale music made me whip my head around so fast
This video means a lot to me thank you for making it. Exactly what I needed to hear. And I’m going to pick up Faust ASAP.
THAT QUOTE IS THE SAME ONE I HEARD ALL THE TIME WHEN HEARING THE OPENING THEME! IT MY FAVORITE!
this video deserves 10 million likes
This show shaped me. I don't think I would be the person I am without it.
madoka is probably the least dark thing urobuchi has made all things considered tbh
The conclusion to your video had me tearing up. I have always loved Madoka's messages of the power of hope to conquer despair, even when that despair seems insurmountable. I have such mixed feelings about Rebellion, so I can't wait to hear your thoughts!
I watched this show when I wasn’t in the anime community so I came blind and omg(but I love it still one of my top animes)
I was one of those who actually went into the show thinking it wouldn’t have everything it had
im gonna tell my friend its cute and shit
I know I’m the only person who didn’t watch this because of the spoilers for Goeth’s Faust but thank you /so/ much for putting that spoiler warning up, because I’m just about to read it, and that did genuinely matter to me.
Well done! I enjoyed this vid very much. I think you hit the many nails on the head here. Can't wait to watch the next part. :)
waaaaaaaaaaaaaah, coming back to
this franchise has been emotionally taxing enough
Unrelated but Madoka Magica is the first series I ever gotten into without being spoiled.
I made my friend watch the entire show at a sleepover completely blind. Let's just say they did not expect what that night was gonna be
Every time I show a friend Madoka Magica, I make a careful effort to make sure they don't know how dark it is. I don't usually watch anime, nor do I watch fluffy shows, so ofc I need to say why I love the anime, but I NEVER say it's dark or existential or angsty. I make sure I'm with them whilst watching episode 3, and their reactions to Mami's death is always priceless
hey man thats kinda werid you should at least tell your friends that theres some upsetting things in it
@@Lunarrbase, I’m sure they know their friends better than you do.
If you know they’ll enjoy those aspects you should try to conceal them, it creates a better experience.
Can't wait for the 4th movie!
I love this, very nice video
I loved Madoka Magica so much❤️😭 such a good anime. It blew my mind!
I had absolutely no idea that this was a dark anime lmao. I thought you were just gonna talk about it in the same way as One Piece or a Toby Fox game. Yknow, the more lighthearted stuff on the channel ehshshshs. Heads getting chomped on came so far out of left field as I was only partially paying attention while drawing
wow this is amazeballs
such a good video u r so underrated !!
Cool how interests align. i knew it was going to be a cool video when it started with the pillows
Set that little loop from that song as my alarm sound a couple of years ago and it's remained the same ever since.
I cried after watching this show, not ashamed
Did you watch Berserk 97?
I've recently started to compare this anime with "Pirates of the Caraibean". It's easier than you think:
- Kyoko is Barbosa;
- Hitomi is Elizabeth;
- Madoka is Calypso;
- Homura is Davey Jones;
- Kyubey is Beckett;
- Mami is Captain Teague;
- Nagisa is Jack Sparrow;
- Sayaka is...I don't know, maybe Will ?
- And the Magic Girls from the spin-offs are the Brethen Court.
Madoka Magica is Re:Zero but the time traveler is a side character :)
would you be willing to do an analysis video of Yuuki Yuna is a Hero? :D
Spoiling Madoka is fine, but I drew the line when you spoiled Faust.
Haven't heard the series being compared to an existing literature before so this was an interesting watch ❤
This show isn't really a deconstruction. Every magical girl show after like 1998 have similar and incredibly dark themes. One of them involves going through life with like 5 magical candidates then at the end you realize that all of them but 1 have to die to grant a wish. xD Then there is also Princess Tutu which has quite a few moments of mass genocide.
The thing they all have in common is that of Hope. It's the defacto message for all of these shows. Definitely not torture porn though. Not even Higurashi is torture porn if you watched the entire thing. For anime those would be those super gory random movies and probably Akira. lol In Madoka and Higurashi there is a reason behind the despair. It's so that it's super awesome when the plot finally does move forward.
12:27 that's a long ass gap between sequels
Oh yeah the walpurgis night good memories.
I mean honestly when I went into the only spoilers I had were that it would apparently get depressing and that everyone hates Kyubey. Also the time loop thing but I repressed that and only remembered like an episode or two before it was revealed and even then I didn't know it was just Homura so I actually went into this mostly blind which was really refreshing considering how much shit I've spoiled myself on ruining experiences for myself in the process.
Same.
Great video!!!!! :'D
Hey, so I know it's been 8 months, but I wanted to ask if you watched Yuuki Yuuna Wa Yuusha De Aru, if not, It's one of the exceptions in the works inspired by Madoka that gets the point about hope overcoming despair. The whole series (with both prequel and sequel) is on youtube in a playlist in the correct watch order, so If you have time, I recommend it!
AGREEEEEEED. love YUWYDA even more than madoka magica
19:16 It's for most likely the 2nd law of Thermodynamics. Honestly idk how I even begin to explain it other than "too much entropy will destroy the universe, entropy keeps increasing naturally, and reversing entropy needs energy". So in the simplest way, Kyubey is farming as much energy from this process as he could to delay (and possibly save) the universe from its own ultimate fate, destruction.
The way the universe works is in multiple ways parallel to the way the girls move, slowly but surely, to their own ruin. Or should I say symbolic, hmm... Symbolic. Yeah.
I really recommend reading Stephen Hawking's The Theory of Everything, it surprisingly, helped me alot in understanding Kyubey's motivations haha
It gets kinda wishy washy when you look at Kyubey's actions (and the show in itself) from a scientific lens, but when you consider how a huge advancement in science can seem like magic (like how us talking to e/o face to face over long distances will be unbelievable to people a few centuries back), the show makes a tiny bit more sense.
I didn't expect to hear that many toby fox songs lol
Its kind of funny to see people call the plot basically constant torture as someone who grew up with the show (and prob got introduced to it wayy too young) when my clearest memories of it is feeling a weird sort of solidarity and comfort in it, i genuinely felt sorrow when the truth started being figured out but somehow came out of it all with acceptance that despite everything I'd probably take my chances too and weirdly enough hope
That all said from what I've heard from my friends and others online its a surprisingly common afab childhood experience to be crushingly aware that you'll have to fight your whole life for a system and people who dealt you sh1tty cards on purpose with your reward being a cake you pray someone else gets to eat ((im just a kid still and fully aware i get to be selfish for a few more years, but even knowing history and knowing the pattern rarely breaks i feel like i couldn't truly feel like i did right by existence unless i at least tried to leave hope behind))
I went in absolutely blind. I had only watched a couple anime at that point, the darkest of which was the first 3 episodes of Attack on Titan before i turned it off and went back to lighter shows like the 2001 Fruits Basket. XD i was not prepared
Any connection between Homura & Homer?
It's nearly 8 AM and at first I interpreted this as being about Homer Simpson.
@@NezumiVA Understandable, but still funny
The dream in episode 1 doesn't even feel like just a copy from other magical girl anime. It's more like a magical girl trope used in a different way
This series was so heavy to watch, a. incredible show, very sad lol
Never knew it was inspired by a play.
"I wish for the universe to always, forever now and later, and to have always had and have enough energy to keep existing without any help from outside forces, to forever prevent the ever existence of witches and magical girls." That is my wish, it could fix everything.
Not exactly, kyubey would find another reason to "need" energy, they dosent want enough energy but more than enough, that's why they try to exploit the law of cycles in rebellion
A wish like that would require potential you do not have. I doubt even Madoka before or after turning into GodOka could accomplish something like that.
It'd break the universe many times more seriously than what she did with the witches.
@@tysej4 Who knows man I could be in like five million alternate homura-realities but I'd have no idea till I made the wish and broke the laws of like, everything 🤷
I watched this when I was 10 years old am I OK? They put it on a children’s section of Netflix anime and they didn’t really bother to check.
fun fact there are some simalarities with madokamagicas plot and theme wih the live action tokusasue series Kamen rider Gaim wich have gen urobuchi work on madoka magica
I only watched this anime because of a thumbnail on youtube for a video which I then refused to watch, cause I was thinking
"hey I saw that girl on Netflix... why does it say true horror? Guess I'll watch it before I watch this!"
Then was met with a weeks worth of crying in one night- lol
Thank you
There was an interesting fanfic I was reading in which a being from Kyubey's race gained emotional freedom and tried to help the girls in the timeline the show happens in... but it ruined it with the introduction of Slenderman.
Seriously, there were so many other characters the author could have brought to the story that fitted way better, such as Elizabeth from "BioShock"...but maybe I'm being too harsh. Maybe I should try to reread it and see if there's any logic to this character being included in the story.
Do you think this course of action makes sense ?
Kyubey?
More like
“Screwbey”
You remind me of the guy from extra credits
Dan Floyd? I love that guy. He's brilliant, and he has his own channels now. Playframe and New Frame Plus. He's still doing what he loves even after the channel kicked him off, which is great. :)
Magical girl animes are already pretty dark when you watch the whole thing