no home and the acceptance of grief and loneliness
one of the things i liked most about the writing and development of the story of no home is how different arcs (or chapters) deal with different types of loss and how the character were able to get in touch with this lonely feeling and accept it in order to finally move on. in this analysis, i would like to comment on three characters: marie, haejoon and eunyung.
(spoilers ahead)
Marie
in marie's case, the feeling of loss has been there since she was young, when her mother left. in order to try to control the feeling of grief over the sudden loss of a motherly figure, marie begins to try to "take" her place, doing everything she can to take care of the house, her father and her brother, often putting her own desires aside in order to accommodate them.
the lack of her mother and the fear of abandonment make her dedicate herself more and more to being a support for her family and tries at all costs to prove that she is well and happy, afraid of being abandoned again. setting the table to wait for them while her sits alone represents, to me, this waiting that she constantly puts herself in to please everyone around her. marie even puts up with all the physical aggression from her brother and her father's neglect, with a gigantic fear of being the reason for her family to fall apart, following in her mother's footsteps in one way or another.
marie lies to herself that life at home is not that bad and often softens her brother's aggression, but she still does everything she can to have her own freedom. moving to the dormitory is the first big step for her to finally be able to break free from this loneliness and seek comfort in her own interests and well-being. but even so, she is afraid to put into words the reason why she wants to move, only being able to admit it much later in a conversation with her aunt.
marie's loneliness is still seen throughout some chapters, especially when she tries, in a somewhat aggressive way, to save minju from falling into the same situation she found herself in, since she knows what it's like to feel alone and carry such a huge burden at home. however, the more we see her open up to the characters and get more and more involved with the journalism club, we can find in between the lines a new comfort that she feels when she returns home, having finally come to terms with herself and her own person, thus understanding her belonging within the home and in the group of friends.
Eunyung
eunyung is an enigmatic character full of secrets from the beginning, but i really enjoy seeing how his loneliness unfolds throughout the story and how we follow his change side by side with the revelation of his past.
i think it's obvious when i say that eunyung's mourning comes from his family issues, especially his relationship with his father and all the abuse he suffered at his hands. all the times he ran away from home, all the times he tried to find comfort in unreliable friendships or even his way of seeking his own strength in fights with other people reflect his desire to be seen and understood, especially since he can't find this comfort and reassurance at home. in his constant escapes, eunyung is not only looking for an ideal place to hide from his parents, but also for family comfort, for someone to acknowledge how hard he's trying, for a bond to be created with people who will be able to overcome all the loneliness and mourning he feels for the loss of family affection.
the way in which the father is always presented as a shadow reflects a lot on the emptiness he feels every time he returns home or revisits his memories of the past. the father no longer has a human appearance and becomes represented by the fear that eunyung feels and the emptiness he brings into his life. he is not a person, but rather a feeling, a lack, a mourning.
when he finally manages to see his father as a person and understands that he is much smaller and weaker than he remembered, eunyung begins to understand that much of his pain comes exactly from this erasure that he himself had in his parents' lives and they in his. he begins to see his father as someone of flesh and blood only when he, at the same time, begins to find comfort in the dormitory or in the new friendships he has been making throughout the story.
no longer seeing this black mass of fear is not just because eunyung finally got tired of not fighting back or a representation of him finding his own voice, but also thanks to the fact that he finally begins to understand that he does have a place in the world and deserves to start dreaming of a better future. he is no longer alone and understands that he no longer needs the family support that he so desperately needed: now, the blood ties are those that he will build and pursue himself, made up of people who he knows care about him and who he feels reciprocal affection for.
of course, this change is not obvious from the beginning and there is a long way to go between finally seeing his father and finding his freedom. eunyung's trauma is much more deep-rooted than he believes it to be, but finding his home has brought him enough comfort and foundation to accept this grief and understand that, in order to move forward, he does not need this constant memory that is only there to hurt and deceive him. detaching yourself from your parents is not about accepting your loneliness, but rather embracing it and finding a way to live with it until it dissolves into the past.
Haejoon:
i think that when it comes to haejoon, his grief becomes even clearer and more obvious, since his entire arc, from beginning to end, is about him learning to live with the absence of his mother and the grief that never goes away.
it is very difficult to define what grief is exactly and whether or not we are able to “overcome” it. grief is a complex feeling with many layers and different types of understanding, so it is very wrong for anyone to want to define someone else’s pain with their own believes. for me, grief is a feeling that never goes away, you just learn to live with it and come to peace with yourself at a certain point. that said, i believe that this is literally haejoon’s final arc, especially when he “meets” his mother again.
haejoon finds himself alone in the world and has to, for the first time, learn how to live with this loneliness. and this lesson doesn't come only with everyday life and the memories that come and go, but also with your self-discovery, opening up to new friendships and gradually connecting with your family and their secrets. learning to live with grief isn't just about acceptance, but also about knowing how to move forward and find people who help you discover happiness in this new life and this new phase.
the final scene of haejoon saying goodbye to his mother shows the evolution he has undergone. his mother, who was always such a gentle and loving person before, begins to become more aggressive and assertive, trying to trap him with her. i don't believe that this is a new vision that haejoon has of his mother, but rather a way that his inner self has found to make him finally come into direct contact with this loneliness and grief and face them. accepting this new life and this new found happiness is something very difficult for anyone who goes through grief. accepting that you can be happy again even without the person you love in your life is almost like saying goodbye and abandoning all the good memories you had with them. and haejoon is incredibly afraid of forgetting his mother, of losing her, of never being able to see her again. therefore, creating a more persuasive mother in his subconscious forces him to understand that he can enjoy and celebrate this new phase of his life without ever losing the connection with his mother. little by little, he recovers the good times he had with his friends and his new life, and being trapped inside a bubble of sadness no longer makes sense to him. his mother is no longer just a painful memory, but rather the strength that allows him to move forward.
it is very beautiful to see the moment when haejoon says goodbye to his mother and returns to his normal routine, ready to start college. we get to see a much more mature and self-confident boy, who has not only finally accepted all his flaws and qualities, but has also managed to understand that grief and longing are things that never go away, you just find a way to live better with both. honoring his mother means continuing to live as long as he can and being happy in the way he wants. honoring the memories of the mother he loved so much means remembering all her kindness and continuing to share with the people he loves all the affection his mother once shared with him.
(I wrote this brief guide to ouji fashion for the Lolita Amino, and I figured I would share it here as well. I hope it will be helpful!)
Ouji is a Japanese fashion style that is typically thought of as the masculine counterpart of lolita fashion. Ouji is not a sub-style of lolita, but a fully-fledged fashion in its own right. It would be more accurate to think of ouji as the brother-style of lolita fashion, or the “prince” to lolita’s “princess,” since “ouji” is the Japanese word for “prince.”
The elements of a typical ouji outfit are: pants, a blouse, a jacket/vest, socks, shoes, and optionally a hat. When putting together an ouji coordinate, these pieces should be combined to create a look that is boyish yet elegant. Despite being a “masculine” fashion, this style can be worn by anyone, regardless of gender.
Ouji can be worn in a variety of substyles and themes. It’s three main substyles are the same as lolita’s: sweet, classic, and gothic. However, the substyles in this fashion are not nearly as well-defined, and there is significantly more overlap between styles. Additionally, color is much less important when determining which sub-style an ouji coordinate falls into, since black is quite common across them all. Instead the cut/shape of each garment, and the overall styling of the coordinate typically determine which category it falls into. Sweet ouji has a cute, frilly look, classic is more refined and elegant, and gothic has an overall darker look, usually featuring sharp, crisp lines. A number of other sub-styles, such as punk, exist but are much less common. When trying to determine which substyle a coordinate falls into, keep in mind that black is not automatically gothic, and sweet does not have to be pastel.
Sweet Ouji:
Classic Ouji:
Gothic Ouji:
Common themes include pirate, military, school, and royalty.
Many well-known lolita brands also carry ouji items. Alice and the Pirates, Atelier Boz, and Metamorphose temps de fille are among the most popular. Even Angelic Pretty has been known to carry ouji items in the past. Many Taobao brands, and several western indie brands create ouji pieces as well.
Finally, while you may occasionally hear ouji fashion referred to as “kodonna,” please note that this term is not correct. “Kodonna” is a combination of the Japanese words for “child” (kodomo) and “adult” (otona), and was once used by a member of the visual kei band, The Plastic Trees, to describe his personal style in an interview with a Japanese magazine. When this interview made its way to the west, a number of people were confused by his comments and believed he was referring to ouji. The fashion style has never been referred to as “kodonna” in Japan, and these days, the term is disliked by most who participate in the fashion.
For more information on ouji:
-Buttcape’s Ouji Overview
-Palace of Princes
-Ouji’s Armoire
Could you have a three course meal with only Madoka merch?
I’ve seen things like this before with Pokemon or Evangelion but I wanted to try it with Madoka, it would probably be a little more difficult since it’s a lot less popular than both but here we goooo!
So we’re looking for food and crockery for this! We want a starter, a main course, a dessert and a drink for our food. And for crockery we want a plate, perhaps a bowl (for starter or pudding), a knife, fork, spoon (perhaps for dessert) and a cup or glass.
I’m more confident with the crockery so let’s start there.
There are plenty of plates to choose from! So let’s go with the Broccoli line which includes every girl, Kyubey and Charlotte. Originally sold for ￥1200. I’ll choose Mami :)
I could only find one bowl in contrast but that’s good enough. From Movic, we have to choose a Kyubey for this one… sigh… at least we can pretend we’re drowning them XD This one’s a slightly pricier￥1260.
Now cutlery is a lot harder… I couldn’t find any knives or forks but we can compensate! It may be harder for certain dishes but we can use the Penguin Parade chopsticks! Originally selling for ￥840, we’ll choose Mami again, of course.
However another option is the cake forks from the "I’m not afraid of anything anymore" cake set selling for ￥5880 altogether. Perhaps we could use the forks for our main but it could also be for dessert depending on what we choose (though if we’re buying it all we might as well choose the cake that comes with it too XD )
Even though we have a cake forks, let’s still prepare well with a spoon! This is actually the reason I wanted to do this in the first place XD I saw a set of spoons on a regular ebay trawl! I believe, these are limited from the Madoka Magica cafe. Unfortunately the listings for these settle to around $150 since they’re limited items from a no longer running cafe…
But fear not! Perhaps instead we can choose the spoon from the Kyubey cake set! Now we get two cakes for dessert! This one is certainly cheaper than the first option at ￥3780.
Next let’s choose a glass and a cup! There’s certainly plenty to choose from in this category. Let’s go for the ACG glass set and choose the lovely Charlotte! This set also includes a Kyubey design, a generic fancy design and runes. You can buy three glasses for ￥2800, we can bring guests!
Let’s go a bit more modern for our cup! The glass was from 2014 now let’s jump to 2021! A lovely cup designed by our favourite Inu Curry for ￥1500!
Now we’ve got our crockery, let’s move onto food! I have a feeling this will be far more tricky…
We can’t really have a traditional starter but what about some bread hm? No, what if I put it in a can for you? Canned bread! We’ve got the same lineup as our original plates but sadly missing Kyoko as many early merch pieces do… sorry Kyoko… I know you would’ve appreciated the bread…
This is only a low price of ￥700 hooray!
Now onto our starter! What luck, we have a choice! Would you like the curry for ￥683?
Or the ramen for ￥893? I’m surprised they sold full meals, I don’t know about you
We already bought our dessert with our cutlery so we have another choice of two! Would you like the peach and pineapple Mami cake?
Or the vanilla and raspberry Kyubey cake?
Wasn’t that tasty? Now why don’t we top off our meal with some tea in our 10th anniversary cup! Let’s have the black tea from Mami for ￥525!
So let’s run the maths, how much did our lovely meal cost? A-Ah… ￥40982..? just shy of $300..? P-Perhaps it’s not such a good idea then… shouldn’t’ve bought those spoons…
I've been obsessing over this rendition of the Law of Cycles as a kinetic sculpture for a long time, so it's kind of embarrassing to realize there are actually ten witches here, not nine. (In my defense, one is so washed out, it's really hard to tell that there's anything there.) Fortunately, the Rebellion Production Note comes to the rescue again with Inu Curry's original artwork, which is even more interesting to me than the versions that made it into the movie.
Here the "constellation" of witches is juxtaposed with the organ in Oktavia's orchestra. Clockwise from upper right:
HN Elly the Box Witch (also known as Kirsten) from Episode 4;
Sayaka's witch Oktavia's crown made of swords
Nagisa's witch Charlotte's doll silhouettes from episode 3
Patricia (spider witch with the clothesline webs from Episode 10)
Albertine the Scribbling witch (who doesn't appear in the show, but Sayaka fights her familiar Anja in the alleyway before Kyouko turns up in episode 5)
Elsa Maria the Shadow Witch whom Sayaka fights in episode 7
Gertrud the Rose Witch from Episode 1-2
Roberta the birdcage witch that Homura encounters in a flashback in episode 10
Suleika- another witch who never appears directly in the show but Mami dispatches her shadow lion familiars at the beginning of episode 3
Izabel the Art Witch who ensnares Homura in episode 10
None of this is explained in the Rebellion Production Note, by the way; for the designs of the sigils and other information that doesn't appear in the original series, you have to go to the corresponding production notes in the official guidebook "You Are Not Alone Anymore", which somehow I had never seen before. As someone who generally believes works should stand on their own without requiring further research, I am mildly annoyed at once again having to comb through supplementary artbooks in order to interpret this diagram, but such is life as a Madoka Magica fan.
Suleika's name and sigil don't even appear in the guidebook, to the point where the only reason I figured it out was by the process of elimination and the fact that it's a flashlight making the same star-shaped shadows as the lion heads (which are called Ulla). Talk about hidden lore!
Anyway, these ten witches are the ones that I think are most likely to show up in Walpurgis no Kaiten in some fashion or another, with preference given to those who have the most screen time in the original series (Gertrud, Charlotte, Oktavia, Patricia). Those who never appear on-screen in the original series or who only have a very brief appearance, like Albertine, Roberta, and Suleika, are probably less likely to be featured in a larger role, just because the average audience member who doesn't have a PhD in Madoka Studies might not know/remember who they are, but we'll have to see; if nothing else, Inu Curry loves a good esoteric reference.
This is not to say that there won't be witches from other spinoffs in Walpurgis no Kaiten, given that fans have already spotted multiple Magia Record witches in the witch book in the second trailer, but blink-and-you'll-miss-it freeze frame Easter eggs for hardcore fans are an entirely different kettle of fish from meaningful roles. That said, Doroinu Curry directed the Magia Record anime, so, uh, suffice to say that they really, really like Magia Record and it's not surprising that they'd try to slip in as many references as possible. TBD. Patricia was also heavily featured in Magia Record 2x01, which is one reason I ranked her so high on my list.
One thing that's really fascinating about this "constellation" is that Walpurgisnacht is not present in the movie version, even though her elephants appear to pull a pumpkin carriage when the Law of Cycles comes to take Homura away. However, she is present in the artwork in the Rebellion Production Note in the form of the lace curtain above the organ, making her the "stage" upon which the performance takes place. Alternately, the curtain here could refer to Homulilly, who is also associated with lace and curtains, as most of Rebellion takes place in her labyrinth.
Metaphorically, Walpurgisnacht is the dark mirror to the Law of Cycles--both are conglomerations of witches represented by a single entity, but one offers salvation/relief/death while the other offers death and destruction. Given Madoka Magica's tendency to make its metaphors literal, I suspect the two are more closely related than we know, though the mechanics of how exactly that would work remains to be seen.
Another fun tidbit: the captions in the Rebellion Production Note suggest that the "spokes" connecting the witches to each other represent links by fate or some kind of other link that makes them compatible with each other. Thus, Oktavia is linked to Elly/Kirsten because Sayaka fought and destroyed her; Sayaka and Nagisa are partners on the mission to save Homura, but I'm very curious about the other connections there. What do Suleika and Izabel have in common?
Also, I know I've said this before, but wow, does the constellation echo the isolation field that Kyubey puts Homura's soul gem in, so there's something especially poetic about the one being used to destroy the other.
It's still incredible to me I've been in this fandom for four years now and I'm learning new things about Madoka Magica every day!
The witch of sweets. Her nature is tenacity. She desires everything. She will never give up. Though she is capable of creating infinite amounts of any dessert she desires, she is unable to make the cheese that she loves most. One could easily catch her off-guard with a piece of cheese.
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