Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion

[MatsuriSakuragi]

You know, it's perfectly okay to like a character and accept that they're flawed.

precisely

Huh, that's your tumblr? What a coincidence! I was that anon that sent you the "your homura meta was spot on but you forgot to say she didn't start that why (etc etc)" msg. Small internet, eh =P

Yup, that's mine.

And here, may as well post my response to that here as well. http://matsurisunrise.tumblr.com/post/72975538198/yo-that-homura-meta-you-wrote-was-spot-on-great-job

[commandercool]

Maybe not the only one to fall in love, but maybe the only one that had the sentiment slowly corrupt and fester in her soul gem, alongside all the other impurity that goes in it, for the equivalent of 12 years.

I agree with the rest of your post, although I don't really think it was out of character for her to do what she did. I see it as a she having finally simply snapped completely ("i fought hard for 12 years to save madoka then she goes away forever and no one remembers her then the incubators fuck with me AGAIN to try to fuck with her AGAIN NO SCREW EVERYTHING I'LL HAVE WHAT I WANT FOR A CHANGE").

Like, I can't deny that I'd probably do the exact same thing if I were in her place. The shit she went through is not something anyone would ever be able to escape unscathed.

Homura is very likely the oldest magical girl in history, particularly given that at least some time seems to have passed between the end of the series and Rebellion (probably not much time since she looks to be the same age, but it's not totally confirmed that magical girls age normally or the same). She is almost definitely special in the history of magical girls in that regard. I would imagine many or most of them fell in love, Sayaka certainly did. And had Sayaka's circumstances been significantly different something similar probably would have happened to her given enough time.

Edit: By oldest I mean mentally oldest, hopefully obviously.

[Sagus]

Well, that mostly depends on how old certain historical figures that we know were magical girls were when they made their contracts, like Cleopatra and Queen Himiko (the former diead in her forties, the later in her eighties (she must've had a shit ton of witches to hunt and a will of iron to hold that long)).

But I doubt any other magical girl that had their wish centered solely on the intent of saving a single person managed to survive for as long as Homura did, yeah.

EDIT: Hey now that I think about it, doesn't the fact that those historical figures aged physically indicate that the bodies of magical girls DO age normally?
I mean, unless Marco Antonio was into lolicon and every artisan and painter decided to age up their rulers...

[Oh]

Homura is perfect in every way possible. You people are just delusional~

[commandercool]

Well, that mostly depends on how old certain historical figures that we know were magical girls were when they made their contracts, like Cleopatra and Queen Himiko (the former diead in her forties, the later in her eighties (she must've had a shit ton of witches to hunt and a will of iron to hold that long)).

But I doubt any other magical girl that had their wish centered solely on the intent of saving a single person managed to survive for as long as Homura did, yeah.

EDIT: Hey now that I think about it, doesn't the fact that those historical figures aged physically indicate that the bodies of magical girls DO age normally?
I mean, unless Marco Antonio was into lolicon and every artisan and painter decided to age up their rulers...

I might be mis-remembering this, but isn't it basically confirmed by one of Kyoko's flashbacks that she has aged since becoming a magical girl? It's possible I guess that the process gives her enough control over her body to magically age herself, but I'm pretty sure she was noticeably younger when she first made her contract.

[Sagus]

Well, going by The Different Story, she made her contract at least one year before the series took place. She did seem different in the manga from chapter 4 onwards (which happens in one of the timelines that Homura resets), but that could just be because her attitude changed.

But again, considering that at least two historical figures that we know were magical girls died far past their teen years, it's very likely that their bodies can either age normally or that they can use magic to at least appear older.

[Stuffman]

I think my favorite part of Rebellion is it establishing just how batshit insane the incubators are.

[MatsuriSakuragi]

Homura is perfect in every way possible. You people are just delusional~

If you're not going to contribute anything productive to the thread and keep ignoring peoples' analyses for the sake of calling them delusional for not thinking your precious favorite character is flawless you can just stop, you know.

[Desu_Cake]

I think my favorite part of Rebellion is it establishing just how batshit insane the incubators are.

My favourite part was the breakdancing.

[Stuffman]

Nagisa was completely pointless :V

Oh, I wanted to talk about this too, since I've heard it more than once. There are a few reasons the presence of a witch is beneficial to the story:
- In the early part of the movie, having a witch be present very much helps contribute to the "what's wrong with this picture" aspect, since there aren't supposed to be any, especially one that was already killed!
- After the revelations in the later half, Sayaka following Madoka in makes sense just because they're best friends; having Nagisa also be there establishes that Madoka actually has a full procession of grateful witches following her will.

And if you're going to put a witch in the movie, why not the most popular one of all?

Also, I think it's safe to talk without spoilers, you'd have to be crazy to walk into this thread without having seen the movie.

[yuyukos]

This movie left an emptiness in me, that was insufficiently filled with cheese :V. Always more cheese witch.
I enjoyed the movie. I understand why it ended the way it did, but it just makes me want more. Well played sirs.

[commandercool]

My favourite part was the breakdancing.

I wish someone had taken a picture of everyone in the room's faces during the breakdancing part and the cake part, because I imagine it would have been pretty funny.

Oh, I wanted to talk about this too, since I've heard it more than once. There are a few reasons the presence of a witch is beneficial to the story:
- In the early part of the movie, having a witch be present very much helps contribute to the "what's wrong with this picture" aspect, since there aren't supposed to be any, especially one that was already killed!
- After the revelations in the later half, Sayaka following Madoka in makes sense just because they're best friends; having Nagisa also be there establishes that Madoka actually has a full procession of grateful witches following her will.

And if you're going to put a witch in the movie, why not the most popular one of all?

Also, I think it's safe to talk without spoilers, you'd have to be crazy to walk into this thread without having seen the movie.

I was thinking something along those lines, but didn't get around to trying to articulate it. The biggest thing it seems like she added was giving us an idea of how Godoka operates, which is interesting and might become relevant at some point.

And she gave Homura and Mami an excuse to have their superfight, although I imagine that could have just as easily been started any number of other ways.

[Serela]

I actually got kind of bored with the Homu/Mami fight, because it got pretty samey after twenty seconds. They just kind of jumped and shot guns at eachother and blew up bullets for a few minutes straight (running on memory here idk the time) - nothing was really any different until the very end.

Although, yeah, the strange, tainted transformation scenes were cool. Homura's being all full of runes.

Anyway, yeah, magical girls age. Kyouko is depicted as significantly smaller when she first contracted in both the anime and mangas.

While the Homura love transformation thing -does- seem like a weak point, I think there's some degree of justification as well. I think it's not just that she was in love that tainted her gem; I think it's that the love was painful, for such a long period of time. Repeatedly seeing Madoka die and/or sacrifice herself, and then being in a world where Madoka no longer even existed, yet still was "there" in a way that effectively kept someone as devoted as Homura from being able to move on with her life. (This is shown in the movie, briefly thinking about it brings to mind the in-a-boat scene after she talks to Sayaka about who the witch might be) After she's a demon she does say that now she concentrates on that pain, or something to that effect.

Her life after contracting had pretty much been centered entirely around Madoka, whom she was never able to truly save, or even be happily together with at all after the first few timelines. And near the end of the movie she even actively corrupts her soul gem as much as she can in order to try and suicide to protect Madoka from the incubators. It's a pretty special case. (I still agree that the love transformation thing is a bit of a thing, though, yeah)

Also, about how Homura in the original anime doesn't make Madoka happy; that's partially because her goal of keeping Madoka from contracting or dying to Walpurgisnacht  is far more important than keeping her happy during that time. As well... growing too attached to each individual Madoka in the timelines I imagine would be very painful, not to mention trying to hang out and make her happy would probably be difficult after going through that period of time so much; anyone would probably become detached after they'd run through the same event over, and over, and over.

S'kind of hard to encourage happiness when she's unavoidably tangled in the world of magical girls, anyway. Sayaka turning into a witch is implied to be a very common event in the timelines, and if Mami doesn't die by then she goes off the deep end after, even if it's not the same as it is in the anime showing of it (Some of the official side-story mangas show other ways it goes down). As well, Homura tries to push the "Being a magical girl is terrible" aspect to try to discourage Madoka from contracting.

[Oh]

If you're not going to contribute anything productive to the thread and keep ignoring peoples' analyses for the sake of calling them delusional for not thinking your precious favorite character is flawless you can just stop, you know.

It's on topic.

[Kilgamayan]

Coming and posting nothing but "this movie is shit and this franchise is shit" is also on topic.

Being on topic isn't a get-out-of-being-an-asshat-free card.

[Quad City QBs]

Is art also on topic?

cause we got a real jam going down

[commandercool]

This is no accident, because the clear intent of the movie is to open the way for a sequel. The events of the movie do much to temper the finality of the original ending. By design, the movie opens more plot threads than it closes, and as a result the writing lacks the purpose, the mounting urgency of the original series. For the first time in the continuity, there are scenes that feel wasted. Compared to the original series, Madoka Magica 3 does more to suck the viewer into its world, but offers less to keep them there.

Valid! Criticism!

When I try to convince people to give the series a try I typically do it by saying "There isn't a wasted scene in the whole thing". That certainly doesn't seem to apply here, but I guess you could argue that the non-essential scenes are pulling their weight by creating the amazing mood that the movie has. It would be interesting to see some other edits of it to see what adding or taking from it does. Do it please, DVDs.

[Kimidori]

I think the Homucifer transformation make sense, isn't the reason why Homura suddenly have so much power is because she stole it from Madoka? and also because incubator prevented her soul gem from breaking when it should made it accumulate grief on a unusually dangerous and powerful level, I mean Homulily is the only witch so far have familiar that is as powerful as magical girl (the Clara Dolls).

[Serela]

It's lightly mentioned in places that they're probably purifying Homura's soul gem to a small degree (to keep it from getting further corrupted), until Homura actively makes her grief worsen, outspeeding how fast they can cleanse with the system that's in place.

I guess they may have meant "There won't be time for purification!" as in no time for Madoka to cleanse her soul gem, though.

[Space Flower]

I think the question of how much Homura cares for non-Madokas is always interesting.
It's hard to grasp because a normal person may only care for others on a scale of 1 to 10. Homura's feelings for Madoka are more like a 100 on that scale; everything else seems insignificant in comparison and people write her off as not caring about anyone else.

I also couldn't help but feel that the movie was trying to make some profound implications by bringing up Nietzsche in regards to Homura.

[Zengar Zombolt]

This movie took my hand, showed me a wonderful paradise, and then tossed me to a grinder right beyond that. And I loved every part of it.

Am curious about what kind of role will the Incubators take under Homura's heel now. That, and what kind of role will Sayaka will take now, or if she's gonna be "rolled back" like Kyouko or Mami seem to have.

[Stuffman]

New season with Sayaka as main character plz.

[Drake]

New season with Sayaka as main character plz.

the movie literally saved her

[pineyappled]

New season with Sayaka as main character plz.

Yes.
Actually, anyone mind telling me why you didn't like Sayaka before  the movie?

[Drake]

It's more that they didn't give Sayaka much time to be awesome when her entire character was about being rash, jealous, flaky, distraught, and making stupid decisions because of it. She was too busy fulfilling the role of the fallen to have had much screentime being best-friend-tier, suave and confident.

[PX]

It's more that they didn't give Sayaka much time to be awesome when her entire character was about being rash, jealous, flaky, distraught, and making stupid decisions because of it. She was too busy fulfilling the role of the fallen to have had much screentime being best-friend-tier, suave and confident.

So basically, they 360'd her character :V

[Drake]

and then walked away

[Warawau]

Good movie, waiting for BDs~

[Space Flower]

It's really tough to pick who to preorder from and get a bonus poster from. I kind of want Akuma Homura, but at the same time, she is so lewd. Can I hang her up on my wall?