#pmmm analysis

[atamascolily]

Saw this meme while browsing and immediately had to repurpose it because it's so perfect for her.

[liridus]

It's actually really important to me that one of Sayaka's breaking points was her overhearing men being sexist and gross before absolutely losing it. Because it further emphasizes that Sayaka's main tragedy is not a boy not falling in love with her.

I think you can start applying this to Sayaka's character from when Mami first warns her to be cautious. What Mami tells her about think of why she's making her wish, I think it still applies, but not as her wanting Kyosuke to love her. I think Sayaka wanted to do good for others, but at the end of the day she wanted something out of that, primarily justice, change, a chance to make things better.

Her main tragedy is trying her absolute best to care for people, to be righteous, to use the powers given to her, to carve a better world; but to be given nothing in return. No reward, no foreseeable better future. Just suffering. And her eyes open to the suffering of others just for her to not be able to do anything about. Again and again and again.

And she tries to do this selflessly, like Mami indirectly told her to. To be fine with her efforts not being recognized, to be fine with people finding happiness without her, to be fine with people not respecting her right to make her own decisions. But at the end of the day that doesn't work and it tears her apart.

She wants to do something for the world, and risks her life to do it, the only thing she gets in return is her bodily autonomy being taken away. She's turned into a husk of a soldier without fully knowing what's going on. She's not even the best soldier (like her best friend could be), an average one. And she still tries to use that to keep fighting, because it has to be for a reason. It has to mean something. Because she's essentially given up everything, it has to mean something. It has to help her reach her goals in some way. Right?

It's not just a messed up way to cage her in a system that forces her to add onto the injustice she's fighting against. Right? Right?

(Maybe she calls herself stupid because she thinks she's stupid for trying to change things, for believing that things are capable of change)

[blacksnapdragon]

Has anyone talked about Homura's interactions with all the girls in Rebellion before realizing she has become a witch possibly symbolizing stages of grief?

Thinking Bebe's the witch and fighting Mami about it = Denial

Wanting to kill the witch who trapped them and arguing with Sayaka about it = Anger

The conversation with Madoka in the flower field, where she realizes what might be happening but still isn't ready to fully accept it = Bargaining

The "I'm sorry, goodbye" talk with Kyoko as she slowly accepts what she has to do = Depression

"When did I become a witch?" and the choice to die in the labyrinth = Acceptance

[burnorgetburned]

EVEN MORE CLARA DOLL DETAILS:

So you know how the Dolls have their own distinctive clothes?

Guess who else has their own distinctive clothes!

That’s right. The multiple Homuras are actually Clara Dolls.

And that’s why ‘Homura’ is smiling.

Here they are! The one with the striped hat is Nekura (Gloominess or Pessimism) and the one with the flower is Mie (Vanity).

Here’s their descriptions from the art book.

[The second one to come was Gloominess. Walking out with a tapping sound, she sneered at Good-for-Nothing. “This is Good-for-Nothing! How very unbecoming.” These dolls are only disciples of Freedom, and are devoted to their lust for it.]

[The tenth to come running is Vanity. She exaggeratedly avoids Good-for-Nothing's head and says a few words. “I wouldn't be able to bear dirtying my cape with that sticky blood!” These dolls make fun of the witch's self-mutilation.]

Good-for-Nothing is Homura, by the way, but the Clara Dolls seem to consider Good-for-Nothing to be good for something after all after she splits Madoka. She turns into the Devil, and the Clara Dolls are stated to be “okay” with the Devil. If the young voices in the trailer belong to the Clara Dolls, then they also call her “Akuma-sama” now. Something like Mistress Devil, implying a sense of respect.

[… if they are not summoned, they will simmer. There are orders they will comply with, and also orders they will disobey. What they are and the witch herself's own magic are not well understood.]

At the end of Rebellion, Homura gave Madoka her ribbon back. She declared that they might become enemies in the end. Honestly, I thought that Homura would try her best to avoid Madoka entirely. The trailer suggested that Homura was meeting Madoka, though. Here’s the answer: it wasn’t Homura herself, but Gloominess, who wants freedom.

Now, I’m not sure how this situation works out. Do Clara Dolls have free will? Are they obeying Homura’s orders? Acting out Homura’s true emotions? Is Homura perhaps directly puppeteering them in order to fulfill her goals, or do they act on their own?

I find it likely that it’s a mix of both: some of them obey her, and some of them will try and fulfill her (probably very conflicting) desires, as familiars usually do. Gloominess is likely part of Homura who wants the freedom to talk to Madoka, for example, but Vanity seems to me like a Clara Doll who is obeying Homura. After all, she still needs magical girls to fight wraiths, at least until she finds a way to wipe them out.

[I'm Vanity (Mie). I'm pushing myself to the limit for someone.] And she is, of course. All of the theatrics, the calls, the organization of magical girls. These are things that Vanity is shown to engage in. All of this is for Madoka.

We see with Gloominess, at least, that she seems to be fulfilling a specific desire: in the background are white spider lilies. Instead of the red spider lilies that mean death, final goodbyes, and lost love, white spider lilies mean a hope for the future and a fresh start. Maybe this really is the first meeting for these two in a while, and she wants to be friends again?

Or maybe, being Gloominess, she wants to warn her about something.

[I'm Gloominess (Nekura). Forcing smiles tires me out.]

Then there’s this Homura.

Nothing about her clothes is very different. She is wearing ribbons as Homura in the wraith universe does, but look closely: the ribbons are different. They have some wavy stripes on them, while Madoka’s ribbons are plain. She does not correspond to any known Clara Doll.

However, there’s mentioned to be a fifteenth Clara Doll that is not yet born: Ai, representing love. This could be her. Is it love for others? Or love for herself? I’m hoping it’s the latter, but very likely it’s love for Madoka and her friends. This would explain why she’s trying to fight Homucifer in the poster, as Homura believes that she’s a danger to everyone else.

How can this be? Well, here’s a few options:

- The Clara Dolls are grown-up familiars. They ate souls, and they became a copy of their witch. This is a process that was explained to us in the original series, where some magical girls are stated to farm familiars by letting them eat people so that they would grow souls/grief seeds.

- The Clara Dolls are not familiars, or wraiths, but instead a secret third thing. “What they are and the witch’s own magic are not well understood”, as said in the Rebellion art book. They could be magical constructs of a different kind, but I do think that this would get into overcomplicated explanations quickly, so I favor the familiar explanation.

- The Clara Dolls could be familiars, but instead of eating souls they’re simply powerful enough to change their shape. Their strength is equal to the strength of a magical girl…. when Homura was a witch, before Homura became something more. It could also be energy from the contracts making them stronger. Maybe it’s me being sentimental, but I don’t like the idea of Homura letting anyone’s soul be nommed on.

Now, before there’s a panic about how they’ll juggle fifteen extra characters, here’s a few thoughts:

- Just because they seem different doesn’t mean they’re actually different. It might be that the Clara Dolls are a way for Homura to present herself. As Vanity, she might show off more, or have dramatic flourishes like her throne and her dress. As Gloominess, it might be that she doesn’t believe that her plans will work, so she tries to do what makes her happy. It’s likely that the Clara Dolls are just extra ways to explore Homura’s character. They’re parts of her soul, after all, and right now she is extremely powerful. She might simply want to keep her true self away from humans.

- They could work like projections. Homura wants more bodies to work with, but she has to filter herself through the Dolls’ personalities. This could result in a lot of juicy character interactions, as the things she tries to keep hidden are closer to the surface.

- Will ‘Ai/Mystery Homura’ fight against Devil Homura? Very likely! How can this be when they’re the same person? Well, who hates Homura more than Homura? That’s right. Nobody. Anyone can fight and argue with their self, it’s just usually not on the level that a reality-warper like Homura can manage.

If this is true, there’s plenty of interesting directions they can take it.

- Because the Clara Dolls have a degree of separation from Homura, they can show other characters things that Homura herself has ignored or locked away. Bad memories, affection for her friends, the resentment she must feel - everything from concern to a cry for help can be plausibly shown through them as the actors.

- Manuke (Stupidity) is specifically more naive/sincere than the others. Maybe interacting with this Doll would show the Quintet that there’s something more going on than a Devil who wants to hurt other people.

- If Ai represents a love for other people, Ai can have a strange character arc where she learns to value Homura/herself, and become self-love.

- On the other hand, Ai can represent self-love from the start, and because Homura looks very fucking unhealthy in the trailer, she only wants to stop her because she’s hurting herself. This option plays into the themes of self-sacrifice and happiness, which I believe to be some of the major themes that they’re going for.

- The poster could be misleading and Ai ends up fighting everyone but Homura. I find this the funniest option.

- Homura can hug herself. It’s possible. In fact, every character can hug Homura 15 different times.

Smiles are a Clara Doll’s default expression. We have yet to see Homura smile for real.

Is this going to get very ambiguous and confusing? Probably. But rewatching for details was the fun part in Rebellion, so I’m looking forward to it!

[orangeju1ce-01]

[PMMM SPOILERS]

The way in which magical girls are treated simply as assets/commodities by kyubey is something that I consider uncannily similar to real life. A magical girl is promised a wish (to achieve a goal) in exchange for a lifetime of fighting witches. They are selling their lives and labour off under a contract that is rather deceiving under the belief that they can achieve their goals. It sounds a lot like false class consciousness to me, but once they gain consciousness of the inherent cruelty of the system they’re too far in to get out (much like how you can’t just quit a job or else you won’t be able to afford necessities and you will end up dying one way or another). Regardless, once a magical girl meets their end by becoming a witch or having her soul gem shattered, kyubey will simply find another person to turn into a magical girl (employing another person to fill in that vacant role again)

The magical girl system is like employment under capitalism is what I’m trying to say. So I guess that makes kyubey their shitty boss.

And by extension, when madoka rewrites this system, being a total reform, I feel like it’s a lot like a revolution. Does that make madoka magical girl karl marx?

[madokamagicaposting]

Analysis of the new Walpurgisnacht rising trailer

I think Homura's eyes here are Homucifer's unique shade of pinkish purple. However she has a school uniform and the stockings are different from the ones Homucifer wears. Not only are they differently colored but the ends have patterns. Could it be a Homucifer casual form?

The bright red color of that liquid reminds me of the powers of the new Madoka looking ass magical girl people theorize is the love clara doll, and the symbol made before a phone is summoned for Telemarketer Homura, which needs a lizard to be summoned (Lizards are a symbol for Homura).

Also the scene where a knife (Possibly sword?? Sayaka trying to kill Homucifer perhaps???) is placed inside this persons hand, and similarly colored blood comes out. There was a lizard in the middle of the sword being stabbed, which goes inside the blood, and the blood later bubbles, turns into floating black blood and turns into the same cube on this image (Curse the tumblr image limit for not letting me show this). In the first image I showed, the liquid also appears square shaped just like the cube there.

In the shot of Homucifer falling, there are these golden things surrounding her which also seem square to me. This time they are golden. Gold is the color of Godoka's eyes. I did an analysis on Homucifer's design and found many references to Godoka, so it could be that this isn't a coincidence, and Homucifer's cube powers (?????) changed into a golden color as a reference to a connection with Godoka. (Like stealing powers maybe?)

There's also the shot where a big lizard goes into Homucifer's tummy (??) leading to wings growing, where she is surrounded by blood. Blood is a very big theme when it comes to Homucifer, and it could be a reference to Homulily's suicide themes. The big lizard is (I think) roughly the size of that lizard plush in telemarketer Homura's room (can't show cause of image limit :/) which could have been a reference to the needle and thread imagery from rebellion (I forgot what it was symbolism for lol)). Homucifer's wings grow to only have hints of pinkish purple. Unlike Homucifer from the last trailers which had a full set of pinkish purple feathers. Is it black smudge or a representation of Homucifer losing her powers??

There's also this black and white text just explaining Walpurgisnacht lore. I wonder if it will be in the movie or if it's a trailer thing? There's evidence things about the old world are going to be explained to Sayaka, and maybe others?

There's this shot where Sayaka is in a a background that looks like a theater. The original pmmm show has tons of references to theater plays. What if the original timeline is shown to her through that? And there's a new shot of her in the library short of place (??). I don't know much about the magia record game and it's lore, I watched the anime, where Madokami said she keeps records of every magical girl's story though, and I wonder if that's what this is. The books look identical, so they aren't made by different authors. There's also paint splashes , and that sort of art style change is typical of withes in pmmm.

Kyubey is there, and he tends to be the one giving exposition. In a later shot he's somewhere with a water color sky (art style change therefore witch) looking pretty evil and malicious, (accurate) so maybe he tricked Sayaka into releasing a witch by presenting himself as the reliable narrator. Also Kyubey's ears seem bigger, not sure if that's an art style change or if there's a reason or not.

He could also be starting beef with Homura again, who is seen in the same place. The background is much darker, so it now looks like Homura's soul gem in the end of rebellion.

There's a shot of the background turning darker and darker, and Sayaka turning her head scared, which could be Sayaka getting caught trying to find information by Homura

Oh yeah, this shot of (maybe) stage curtains could be used to explain witch lore to Sayaka. However it could also be for the audience. The og pmmm had curtains at the start too (only used for the audience), and tons of references to things from stage plays as said before, but most interestingly Walpurgisnacht was shown as a stage play witch, and had the most references to stages. So it could be a reference to how Walpurgisnacht is coming.

Also in the shot where Homura is there, the library looks destroyed, which would fit how in this shot there's books all over the floor. The orange magical girl being there as well as Kyubey, when they aren't there in the shots with Sayaka, could mean these happen at different times throughout the movie, or that they interrupt a homusaya conversation I guess.

These look like balloons, they might be witch things. (My most deeply philosophical analysis yet)

The new green girl shows up in whatever that thing is, and Madoka gets scared, which could be because she's not supposed to be there and got caught, because of the giant spiders, or because of both. All these images are shown on separate times of the trailer but I think they are the same location because of the similar sky, architecture, and water. I wonder what she's doing there...

Shot of the shoes (leaving shoes behind is a suicide sign) over a ledge (which also has water so it could be the same scene but it's less likely). Madoka flies up with pink smoke, futuristic looking squares, and no shoes (I think). "Madoka suicide attempt??" Well no because Madoka doesn't wear black socks, she always wears white stockings! Same goes for this movie. Who has a witch form with themes of suicide and square powers? Homucifer! Could be a Madoka looking ass love clara doll.

This might be the same sky as that building Madoka's in. Maybe Kyoko comes in at the last moment to the rescue.

Cranes building city architecture, just like in the original pmmm! I have no idea what it could be a metaphor for in the og series and I still don't know now in the year of our lord 2025

The trailer might have confirmed the new girls are Walpurgisnacht?!?!?

"Yes...

Even if there is not yet a label for this calamity...

I know the name, that represents this phenomenon...

A throng of witches, woven as one...

(shows the new girls RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT)

An accumulation of curses beyond comprehension.

People call it...

Walpurgisnacht."

It could be the trailer misleading us as trailers do, but this would make so much sense as to why they are being introduced now, when they haven't been in any other supplemental material. Because in every other supplemental material, Walpurgisnacht is either dead, a witch, or doesn't exist!

I noticed in all the trailers the orange and green mg duo kinda don't show any other emotion other than being relaxed and/or happy. It reminds me of Homucifer's calm smile when she remade the universe.

This shot appears right as Homura says "I know the name, that represents this phenomenon..." implying Homura's explaining witches to Sayaka, and there will be a team-up??? Again: could be bait. But Octavia DID disappear as Sayaka's memories disappeared, so Homura explaining witches to her (someone who forgot about them) is NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION!

Sayaka's bandages come off revealing what looks to be a witch (art style change therefore witch). Is it just me or does it have Octavia's colors? I wonder if Homura knows anything about it.

Madoka is placed between a perfect row of old phones, traumatized. This series is so wacky. In all seriousness though it's kinda implying she finds out about Homucifer! Maybe Red eyed Homura will try to recruit her to beat Walpurgisnacht against Homura's wishes.

[doomedsaints]

I also found a new way to read Madoka after my latest rewatch. The friend I was showing it to pointed out that even the simplest of actions are super exaggerated and I thought “huh, they usually do that in stage plays when so the audience in the back can see better” ex:

Then I realized: this is on purpose. The way the whole story is told is privy to a stage play.

The very first things that happen are the curtains opening and Madoka entering centre stage.

The sets, too. Ik the chairs are symbolic but it also is very much spread out like it’s on a stage

Especially the shadow play with Kyubey, it’s a common thing utilized in stage plays.

Most of all, Walpurgisnacht is LITERALLY THE STAGE-CONSTRUCTING WITCH.

Walpy puts the play in action by killing Madoka and Mami in the first timeline. From then on, Homura is forced to act out the same play over and over again helplessly for times lines and time lines. Her lines become scripted, she’s become an actor and in the theatre witches play.

[cellarbon3s]

On the ending of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, I just think it's interesting that in the end Madoka's wish kind of did align with Kyubei's beliefs.

When she learns the truth of the Incubators actions, she vehemently rejects the idea that it is okay for a small amount of people to suffer for the universe to sustain through entropy. However, in the end she too decides that it is better for a handful of people - in this case she thinks it would be just herself - to suffer rather than the whole of magical girls.

And of course it was noble, it was and kind and goodhearted and incredibly brave of Madoka to do this. It was an action done out of love, entirely separate from Kyubei who acts out of self-sustainment.

But what of Homura's grief? Who will be the only one to remember her in this new timeline? Of her little brother who can still remember her, of her parents who only have the faintest of suppressed memories. What about Sayaka, who had to accept both her own and Madokas sacrifices in however brief the time was in which she had to accept it. Akane, Mami, Hitomi and Kyousuke who will have to live on with something missing in their lifes. And herself, having to exist in a place separate from them all, unable to grow up or move on.

It's like her mother told her in their final conversation, Madoka sacrifices herself without thinking about how the people around her would feel about it. And though her actions and intentions are undeniably good, she still acts as Kyubei does, sacrificing her life and the feeling of others for a greater cause.

I think it's an interesting place for the series to end on, which again highlights the shows themes of how self-sacrifice can be incredibly destructive and how you should value yourself as well. And I'm gald the series ends in a bittersweet spot instead of going for either a false feeling happy ending or an exaggeratedly tragic one, where Madokas action would change absolutely nothing about the new timeline.