Very exposition heavy episode this week, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t see some epic shit go down. Kyoko’s back story went into Key territory in its forced drama, but the way it was told was visually entertaining, and it added depth to her character. And we were finally served with some genuine character development in Sayaka as she came to terms with the fact that she’s a “zombie.”
The stars this week? Kyoko, Sayaka, and… Hitomi? You know, the girl who’s hanging around Madoka and Sayaka? Her crush on Kyosuke came out of left field, but still wholly believable given the middle school setting. What was unbelievable was the maturity with which she handled it, telling Sayaka outright that she was willing to give Sayaka the 1st chance. Now, I’ve talked with someone on SCCSAV who thinks maybe this was a ruse by her to play matchmaker for Sayaka and Kyosuke, but I think that’s overthinking it. It’s just a straight up love triangle.
At least, it would be, if Sayaka believed she was capable of being loved. Nameless’s post comparing magical girls to child abuse victims painted the scene in which Sayaka cried in Madoka’s arms in an even darker light than it initially appeared. It’s a painful catch-22, isn’t it? Because she got her wish for Kyosuke granted, she no longer feels that she can have his love.
The pain that a magical girl has to bear... it's too much for one person. Also, I like that Sayaka used the z-word to describe herself.
Meanwhile, Kyubey offers her no consolation. In fact, the cold open showed him to be a sociopath, unable to sympathize with the girls’ horror at getting their souls sucked out. And literally torturing Sayaka to make his point. I feel that this might be Kyubey’s true nature; he’s not malicious, but he just can’t understand humans. His motivation is something that’s still up in the air, and his obsession with Madoka comes off far too strong, but hey, maybe he just wants a really powerful magical girl to take down witches. Still no reason to suspect him of ill intent.
Who does step in as a sort of a mentor to Sayaka is, surprisingly enough, Kyoko. Her explaining her back story was another thing that came out of left field given what we’ve seen of her so far, but it humanized her, letting us see her as more than just a villain but a victim as well. In fact, she’s the girl of whom Kyubey and Mami spoke when referring to a magical girl who wished for someone else only to have the wish backfire. And boy did it backfire! To the point that it had me rolling my eyes a bit, but hey, it wasn’t as overtly trying to manipulate our feelings as some of the shit we saw in Angel Beats! And the presentation really helped.
No fourth wall? In a Shaft show? Say it ain't so!
The paper cutouts during Kyoko’s flashback should remind you of the flashbacks from Bakemonogatari – Mayoi’s and Tsubasa’s back stories used this technique. But this show played with it by showing Kyoko actually holding the cutouts as she spoke, a visual metaphor for her verbal recounting of her past. It’s not a new trick, but it worked well in delivering the feeling of Kyoko telling her story to us. Also, the rundown church in which the scene took place was flat out gorgeous and fit in with the music by Yuki Kajiura better than any other setting in the show so far. The view of the dilapidated beauty served as a metaphor for the magical girls of this show and also reminded of the haunting settings from the Kara no Kyoukai movies.
Speaking of hauntingly beautiful, how about that final fight scene? Shaft is notorious for hiding cheap animation with its artistic style, and the silhouetted fighting did that quite well. We finally got to see Sayaka kick some ass, and the choreography and action direction overall were great! Beyond hiding the money-saving animation, the silhouetted fighting fit with the theme of the fight, which was Sayaka finally accepting her situation as a “zombie” and going mad. I had thought Kyoko was the one who had gone mad from the horrors of being a magical girl, but it looks like it was Sayaka! Then again, Kyoko is clearly Sayaka’s foil, and perhaps Sayaka has simply taken a step toward becoming another Kyoko.
Flat out badass and beautiful. This is the type of action scene I wanted to see Sayaka in.
It seems that each of the girls we’ve seen represents a different stage in the life of the magical girl. At one end of the spectrum, there’s Hitomi, who’s unaware of the existence of magical girls, and our heroine Madoka, who knows, but hasn’t become one yet. Then there’s Mami, who became a magical girl, didn’t know all the details fully and was still fairly idealistic, but got killed before she could progress any further. Sayaka, on the other hand, survived, and discovered the true horrors, and we got to see her go mad. Kyoko seemingly went through that phase as well, and now she’s a cynical, narcissistic, self-serving jerk. And at the end, we arrive at Homura, who has fully accepted her role, completely jaded by what she’s seen, but also fully committed to making sure that others don’t have to go through what she has. It’s a very sad progression, and so far, we’ve gotten to see Sayaka go from start to, well, where she is now.
Will Madoka be the one to break this seemingly inevitable downfall of magical girls? That’s the question in my mind, as we cross the halfway point in the show with our title character still not a magical girl. And showing no signs of wanting to become one, being present to both Mami’s death and Sayaka’s descent into madness. What will finally drive her into becoming one? What is the wish that she will deem so precious that she would be willing to go through what she knows is the hellish life of a magical girl? Part of me hopes that we will enter the final episode with her still not having turned, because the anticipation will have built to epic proportions by then. It’s still far too early to pass judgment on this show, but I haven’t had this much fun watching a TV anime episode to episode since The Tatami Galaxy last year. Which won our best TV Show (traditional) award for that year if you’ll recall.
Speaking of badass, Kyoko was that in this scene. Holding up another girl entirely by her collar? Awesome.
The downfall of idealism is too common in the universe that Madoka Magica revolves around, I suppose. No place for little girls, indeed.
It’s a pretty common theme in fiction in general, but certainly something that kind of blindsides you when you’re watching something called Magical Girl Madoka Magica. Indeed, it’s the exploration of this theme in the context of a magical girl show that makes this so compelling.
I’ve seen others throw the term “deconstruction” around, and the more I watch, the more I’m convinced that it’s an accurate term to describe this show. Not just of the magical girl genre, but of fantasy action in general.
Well, there’s still room for some other twist I think.
Still 5-6 episodes…
Who will die next? :D
Until this episode, I would have hoped Sayaka would be the next to go, but now that she’s gone insane, she’s just too damned fun not to keep around! I’m getting to like Kyoko quite a bit as well, but I think the way this episode humanized her would be a good setup for a heroic sacrifice later. I want to see her go out with a smile.
Then again, the way this show has kept being fun is by being unpredictable. It would be quite something to see either Kyoko or Sayaka suffer a sudden and meaningless death just like Mami did.
Do magical gils age? The church wasn’t just run down it had grass growing out of the floor, just how long ago did the events Kyoko described take place? Did her father become suspicious because his daughter stopped aging?
Homura also seems much older than she appeared, like the soul conversation was one she had had over and over.
That’s a good question. I wondered that as well, ever since the reveal at the end of the previous episode about the girls’ bodies being just husks. The church certainly looks like it’s been abandoned for quite a few years, long enough that Kyoko, given her age, should have visibly changed in appearance.
Homura’s comment about how she’s lost count of how many people she’s seen killed implies that she may be older than she appears. That would mean that she is really damn good, not dying for all this time.