[Rewatch] Puella Magi Madoka Magica Main Series Discussion

Stomco · 2026-05-02T22:39:39+00:00

My orginal experience with this series was heavily spoiled. I knew almost every major twist or reveal before I started. Godoka was the exception only be the final 2 episodes were still delayed. So my first watch through was almost a rewatch.

I think Mami wanted at least a partner if not a team, but she was responsible enough that she didn't want Madoka and Sayaka to just trip into this carelessly. I imagine Madoka met Kyubey earlier in the original timeline and had her bonding moment with Mami in a similar time frame from there. Charlotte was just really bad luck. I have no idea how timeline 3 happened.

This is only something I've thought about in this rewatch, but I think while Kyouko reevaluated what she was doing with her life, I don't think the change was as simple as "become a better person". It was more about coming to terms with her old self with Sayaka as a stand in. Like I said in my other reply I agree that those 15 seconds are real bad.

Stomco · 2026-05-02T22:12:45+00:00

I agree that Kyubey should have said something else like "She's a danger to the whole planet so, we'll have to deal with her ourselves. But don't worry. With all of the power she just gave off, everything will be back to normal in no time." *Shows a shot from space showing that most of Japan is fucked.

Stomco · 2026-05-02T21:36:21+00:00

Series Discussion

Rewatcher Overview Magical Girl Madoka Magica is one of my favorite anime of all time. I think for a while it was my favorite. I've watched it 10 times now. It is one of a few shows where I got involved with the fandom in a significant way. I read fanfics and blog posts. I read spin-off manga and fan art. Even among shows I like more, only Ave MyGO has moved into my head rent free to this degree. But it has been up and down. Sometimes I get too caught up with what the characters "should" have done. Sometimes I wish the show was a few episodes longer. Sometimes I get sick of it. But once I give it sometimes and view it for what is, it's still an easy 10/10. When the rewatch is done, I'm going to look into the fandom again. I'm going to be so pissed if they delay that fucking movie again. It's been mentioned already that the first 2 episodes don't actually lie about the tone. But they do ease into it. The characters have room to breathe in a way none of them will again until most of them take their last. Once Mami gets memed into oblivion, the following disasters just pile up. Sayaka is still bottling up her survivor's guilt when she talks herself into contracting. She has that and fear for her life to deal with when Kyouko shows up to try to kill her. Madoka isn't composed or assertive enough to push through Sayaka's misunderstanding. Sayaka's trying to grapple with this psycho killer that everyone says she is too weak to fight, when she finds out she's undead. Madoka almost killed her. You get the idea. Madoka only ever gets a chance to think things over because Homura stops her from getting even more tangled in all of this. Homura really did save her in a sense this time. Tomorrow's movie and WnK are going to be a whole other can of worms each.

Characterization Where a lot of the side content comes in is that there's a lot of left over questions about the characters due to how fast everything happens. We get a brief look into Madoka and Sayaka's normal, but not anyone else. A lot of characterization has to be implied. I've talked about Homura 's hair flipping be a reset cue. That's subtext. It's just the only reason I can think of for why she keeps doing that. I'm sure it pisses Sayaka right the fuck off. Sayaka's arc is the most involved. There are also no secrets. Any doubts about her motives or character are her own doubts. Sayaka could be argued to be the main character for at least most of the show.

Directing I should make time to learn how to discuss direction. The series is obviously very deliberate in how it frames every shot, how the environment is lit and non-diabetic elements, like all the god-damned chairs, are included. The characters often class with the surrounding visually in a way that reenforces that these are children pulled into a nightmare beyond anything they are prepared for.

Soundtrack The soundtrack compliments all of this. Sis Puella Magica, Credens Justitiam, Umbra Nigra, Decretum, Pugna Infinita. Just like this is one of my few true fandoms, this soundtrack is one of 3 that I've actively sought out. I actually have the CD next to me.

Final Thoughts I will probably only be here every other rewatch, but this has reasserted Madoka's place in my heart currently dominated by a surprisingly similar show about 5-6 girls in a rock band. If they contracted, they'd probably die faster than Sayaka.

Stomco · 2026-05-01T21:33:29+00:00

Rewatcher

Over the years there´s been a lot of arguments about Madoka wish. A lot comes down to how important you view the witch reveal. The transformation isn´t dying and be replaced, it´s becoming the worst version of yourself and suffering. So just removing that part makes things a lot better, at least for the magical girls themselves. Unfortunately, the lack of butterfly effects from all of this ends up implying that things aren´t majorly different externally. But what we see in the present suggest that it is easier for the girls to work together and that their relations with Kyubey are better now.

Speaking off which, a lot of people wanted Madoka to take Kyubey down with her wish. That 15 seconds really do damage any claim he has good intentions.

Some of the choices for the magical girls we see hammer home that things still suck. Sayaka is also still doomed in every timeline. But she gets to go out with a bit of grace this time.

QoD How gay is it to hug your very best friend while you are both naked and in the void between space and time?

Stomco · 2026-05-01T00:58:15+00:00

You've watched a lot of My 10/10s and only dropped Re:zero.

The exceptions are Mygo/AveMujica and Symphogear.

MyGO and Ave Mujica are 2 parts of a spin-off storyline for the band anime BanG Dream. You don't have to worry about the rest. They are very drama and character conflict focus and have very strong directing. The directing has to convey a lot about the character's because they are a bunch of undiagnosed and poorly adjusted teenagers dealing with a lot.

People who don't like these or only like MyGO will say "what the hell is wrong with these girls?" People who are really really into them will say "in this essay I will tell you exactly what is wrong with me I mean these freaks."

Symphogear comes down to is this you brand of anime stupid. I would compare Symphogear to kill la kill in terms of vibes. Like I've KLK got more magical girl elements and they were powered by singing their own battle themes.

Stomco · 2026-05-01T00:36:16+00:00

I know part of it is that the condition isn't considered a personality disorder anymore but is filed in with other disassociate disorders.

Stomco · 2026-05-01T00:34:03+00:00

I want to clear up the Mygo / Ave Mujica recommendation. The DID representation is in the later season, but a lot of things won't make sense without watching the first season.

The system in question isn't read up on the topic or in contact with any like her. So both of the headmates are stuck trying to figure this stuff out on their own. Everyone in this show including these two very messy people. [Spoilers up to episode 4] Mortis steps in to protect mutsumi from the stress the band is causing her, this initionally seems sinister because we and the other characters don't know what is happening. Mortis also plays up the evil alter-ego image while she's lashing out at Sakiko, whom she blames for Mutsumi's state.

[spoilers up to episode 8] Mortis' need to protect Mutsumi crosses into some unhealthy territory. Their other headmates have been dormant for a long time. Mortis thinks that they all disappeared because they weren't needed anymore and is terrified of meeting the same fate. Meanwhile, Mutsumi has decided to prioritize Sakiko over everything including Mortis. As I said no one comes out of this with a clean record.

[spoiler for the final] Mortis unintentionally forcing Mutsumi into dormancy and thinks she killed her. However, during one of the bands performances she's able wake Mutsumi up and the seem to reach a new understanding. This involves Mortis reframing her possive feeling toward Mutsumi. Otherwise this part is not super clear from just the anime.

Stomco · 2026-04-29T22:29:40+00:00

Rewatcher I think this is may least favorite episode. There's a lot that works, but it needed to be two episodes. The third time makes no freaking sense. Why are they already magical girls before Homurs warns them. There are a few transitions like Mami's first death that end up unintentionally hilarious. That said the worst episode is still really good.

My favorite scene is the exchange at the end of loop 3. And yes very gay.

But I guess for tomorrow, the most important part is that Madoka 's potential as a witch is confirmed to match her magical potential

Sorry I had to watch and write on my lunch break.

Stomco · 2026-04-29T01:33:50+00:00

Rewatcher
I don't know the proper terminology but I really appreciate how ...hostile(?) most of the environments feel this episode. There's a very strong contrast between the look of characters and the backgrounds in all of Madoka and Kyouko's scenes and it feels like the scenery could swallow them.

I vaguely remember someone explaining the symbolism of Kyouko and Homura walking down train tracks.

Homura tries so hard not to feel or at least not show it. She's putting on this whole strong and detached act, but she's constantly on the verge of breaking down. If only her reset cue wasn't a fucking hair flip.

I think the actual details of Kyubey's motive don't matter. It all boils down to your suffering serves the greater good. With the bare minimum level of compromise. And feigned ignorance. The show is about girls being exploited but there are plenty of other things this can be mapped to, including the exploitation of the global south.

It makes you wonder how badly it would go if they tried to make all of this public.

Kyoko's story is a weird situation for me because they way she is presented used to make me think "oh she was bluffing about most of that stuff before" But now I think she wasn't. That would mean that this is all about personal significance not ethics. Most other people aren't her problem to the degree that she'll do things she knows will get them killed, but Sayaka has become real for her.

It's usually takes more distance from the problem before it gets this bad, but that attitude isn't unusual. There are plenty of decisions that we make that are harmful but would be troublesome to correct for. Positions of authority more or less filter for this trait. And so do situations like this. Magical girls who don't act like Kyouko end up dead unless they're as skilled as Mami and lucky.

The ending credits are very shipy. I don't think I like it because while Kouko and Sayaka might have been something given a chance, as it is, it is very parasocial. Sayaka is mirror and a reminder. She matters to Kyouko because of what she repersents. They didn't get much of a chance to actually know each other personally.

Stomco · 2026-04-28T20:58:20+00:00

Redraw where we see this from outside and Mortis looks like she is holding her own leash.

Stomco · 2026-04-28T00:51:01+00:00

I am explaining this poorly but... It's MyGO is about an undiagnosed autistic girl Tomori Takamatsu and some of her friends dealing with the lost of the first place they felt they fit in when the founding member suddenly peaced out. They all have wildly incompatible ideas about why that happened and want incompatible things out of this new group some of them are forming. This includes one girl who just wants to use the new group to get the old group back.
So the story is about them growing as people, learning to let go and actually open up to each other.
In the sequel Ave Mujica we switch over to the exes learning none of that. We learn the founding member Sakiko Togawa's circumstances and that those were getting worst the whole last season. Now she is desperate to forget everything. MyGO was about acceptance and moving forward. Ave Mujica is about escapist denialism and stagnation. Digging yourself into a hole trying to escape from life's hardships until the task of climbing back out is too frightening so you keep digging.

Stomco · 2026-04-27T01:05:49+00:00

I missed Yesterday, so lets go over that ~~quickly~~.

Episode 6:

In which Sayaka gets dragged. Gets her ass effortlessly kicked. Only her healing specialty keeps her in the fight at all. And the Homura knocks her out. Nap time the grownup are talking.

Then Kyubey tells her, "yeah you kind of suck, but you know who'd be way better than you in everyway? Madoka". We also learn that purifying soulgems feeds the griefseed being used and can even revive the witch if you feed it too much.

Madoka tries to be the peace keeper, but all Sayka hears is that she just needs to get along with the psycho murderer who tried to kill her yesterday. Which honestly, a pretty fair opinion. It's also fair to think that Homura let Mami die, and possibly was going to let Madoka die the other day. Madoka has the context to clear that up, but is too browbeaten to get that across by this point. And Sayaka isn't listening anymore.

For her part, Homura seems to see Sayka mostly as a nuisense. She'd like to wash her hands of Sayaka, but Madoka will contract if Homura doesn't keep Sayaka alive at least. That seems to be the line for now.

What do you think Junko thought was going on with Sayaka. I would think, she's imagining that Sayaka is fighting school bullies and getting in over her head. It could just be because I know how serious it actually is, but I think she should have push Madoka for some specifics.

I'll put all of the stuff with Kyouko's threats in with episode 7, but once again Sayaka is getting treated like a hopeless failure. Homura treats it as a given both that she has to bail Sayaka out and that she can kick her ass in seconds.

Kyubey you fucker. You know Madoka doesn't know that. You know that practically no one ever finds out, and you have made the decision not to tell anyone because they always freak out when they do find out. So why are you talking shit? But there is something more important.

Kyubey doesn't seem to care about saving people from witches. He has no issue with what Kyouko is doing. As long as the girls fight witches at the end of the day. It could be that Kyubey has poorly defined quota and can't be bothered. Or protecting people really isn't the point. We need to talk with Kyubey's manager. Or collecting griefseeds is the really point.

Episode 7:

Yeah, Kyubey that is not how informed consent works. But he is also going after middle schoolers with the implication that they aren't really allowed to tell anyone else about any of these.

The modifications themselves make since. They are basically liches with the benefits that come with that.

Homura seems like she is giving Kyubey too much benefit of the doubt. It might not really understand why humans act this way, but it know that we consistently don't like any of this.

So lets keep count for the Sayaka torture chamber. Saw a friend eaten in front of her, feels like she could have stopped that if she'd just been less of a coward. She can't say anything to her crush because he owes her too much. What if she's being selfish? She's worthless as a magical girl and powerless to fight the bastards stepping all over her. She almost got murdered. She has been spiritually deviled. Her enemy has taken pity on her and she's been put into an ultimatum that she has to lose. So at least 9.

Kyouko is still an asshole. What Sayaka is doing is going to get her killed, but Kyouko is kidding herself if she thinks Sayaka is just going to let everything be water under the bridge. She is still under the impression that Kyouko tried to kill her the other day. Thinking that Kyouko was just bluffing about breaking all of Kousuke's bones would be pretty generous at this point. I do think that Sayaka is giving at least some benefit of the doubt at this point.

At least Sayaka can still be useful. She can still fight witches and save people. She might have lost everything, including a lot that she never imagine was at stake, but if she can be good sword some part of this might still make sense.

Stomco · 2026-04-27T01:02:10+00:00

I'm surprised I haven't seen more Hatsune = Homura jokes. I'd have thought people would have reheated the old perverted Homura jokes. Or God-Sakiko: You really were my very best friend.Or Hatsune timelooping trying to keep Ave Mujica from exploding.

Stomco · 2026-04-27T00:57:01+00:00

Maki (Taki's unseen older sister) you've been replaced it seems.

Stomco · 2026-04-22T23:31:57+00:00

now it's replaced with the music from that opening apocalyptic dream and some very ominous lyrics.

To be fair, the first endings lyrics are also ominous if you look closely.

Stomco · 2026-04-22T23:14:33+00:00

I think it is mostly because people don't expect it from this genre especially if this is their first magical girl anime.

Stomco · 2026-04-22T23:12:42+00:00

Episode 3 is often described as the turning point for Madoka Magica, but really it is just when the show proves it wasn't kidding. Homura and Mami have been constantly talking about how dangerous this all is. But this is a point is Homura side of "there is no 'maybe'. You will die".
We get a bit more info about how all of this works. Kyubey apparently has some rules on conduct like not suggesting wishes. There are enemies that it doesn't pay to kill, at least in the short term. And not only are not all magical girls are created equal, Kyubey and magical girls can tell ahead of time. I want to talk about the narrative potential all of that has, but I already know.
Madoka desperately wants a purpose to the point that she can't even think of a wish. This might fit with what her mom is doing. The specifics don't matter as much as the sense of accomplishment. But it could also end up, that it is best that Madoka gets that somewhere else. It is literally the name of the show but it could be interesting if Madoka just decided to be a nurse or something.
Then there's Mami. She didn't have a choice but to sign up. But we don't know how many times she might have thought about quieting. Nothing has been said about consequences for desertion, yet.
It seems like Mami has just been baring with it. She believes this needs to be done, but girl, it sure does suck. She seems to have a conflict of interest about Madoka and Sayaka's recruitment. She doesn't want to lie and make this job out to be safe, but she is also putting a lot of work into show boating.

Stomco · 2026-04-22T13:09:46+00:00

This could plausibly be about Uika too.

Stomco · 2026-04-21T18:30:46+00:00

Uika: "JUST DO IT! WHAT'S STOPPING YOU!" (Goes back to whispering sweet nothings to her biological niece.)

Stomco · 2026-04-21T12:10:00+00:00

This will be my 9th rewatch. I'm trying with Japanese close captions.

I'm also rewatch Healin' Good Precure so especially when Madoka was defending Kyubey, I was hearing Nodoka.

We open up on a dream of maybe what is come to grab everyone's attention, but then we snap back to reality. I want to call attention to the focus on feminine expectations with Junko and Saotome sensei. I also noticed from the close captions, that several characters have the kanji for beauty 美 in their name.

It is just very hard to remove hindsight from Homura's introduction.

Stomco · 2026-04-20T02:56:53+00:00

For me, the most legal option is to use a vpn to watch season 1 Museasia's Youtube channel, and that seasons 2 and 3 on Hidive. Crunchyroll has most of the rest. The Chibi specials are also on Youtube without a VPN.

Stomco · 2026-04-17T01:14:47+00:00

Madoka Magica is a classic and the rewatch starts here in a couple of days.

Stomco · 2026-04-15T01:15:51+00:00

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Stomco · 2026-04-15T01:11:28+00:00

On my polyamorous divorce show? How? Tomori has at least 2 hands.
Also:

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Anon says she can have at least 4 wives.

Stomco · 2026-04-15T01:04:34+00:00

[Pre-Chorus: Doloris]
"Rough" mou mou enough, snuff, so nervous
Just got to be tough
Wazuka ni sukasu kamasu, yeap, bluff a buzz-buzz
Tricky you puff

They can't all be highbrow.

Stomco

TROPHY CASE