- >implying women can’t do anything without being helped by magical powersALL of humanity would still be living in caves without the incubators granting wishes, remember?>implying all powerful women got to where they were by selling their soulsMixing up cause and effect here. Beginning of episode 11, Kyuubey says queens and saviors attract misfortune, giving them more potential as a Puella Magi. They didn’t become powerful by selling their souls, they got the offer to sell their souls because they were powerful.>It’s like social commentary or something! Can’t wait for feminists.The “still living in caves” thing implies men have never made any progress in anything in history ever. So this show is actually VERY feminist.
Showing posts with label Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
In which more lessons are learnt
More Take-Home Lessons from Madoka Magica
This time from The Final Message of Madoka Magica
I feel that the final message Madoka is offering is that although there will always be negativity and tragedy in this world, even a single act of hope can seem like a miracle.
I liked the fact that Madoka did not wish for despair to disappear, as some would suggest that she should have. It is a balance thing. In order to have hope, one must suffer or have some form of despair. To have courage, one must experience fear. To love, one must also feel hate and indifference. That is the nature of balance... Madoka is smart enough (or Buddhist enough) to know the effect that her wish can have.
I also loved how this makes Madoka the precursor to all the magical girls we know in anime — without Madoka, there would be no Sakura Kinomoto, no Pretty Cures, no Sailor Moons, etc. More than a world reset, this was in some ways a genre reset, and a pretty brilliant one at that.
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Onto my main point, for all the theorizing about the ending from bloggers all over, genre comparisons, claims for deconstructionism, religious references, and general fandom fervor digging out every cipher and mystery in the series, everyone seems to be confused as to why Homura at the end of the series is one of the few to remember Madoka.*
I believe it is in the fourth episode that Homura herself says that, Mahou Shoujo who die in a witch's realm are forever missing persons, lost and forgotten to the rest of humanity. Madoka is adamant that she will never forget Mami, to which Homura replies that is the happiest thing a Mahou Shoujo can hope for, and that she is fiercely jealous. Madoka, in a crazy instance of foreshadowing, instantly and without hesitation extends this to Homura as well.
Homura's wish, as vaguely as I have gathered, is something along the lines of protecting Madoka. Protecting her image and her memory, I would argue, is the only thing left for Homura to do once Madoka makes her wish at the end of the series. More detail once I've actually watched the episodes.
*I read somewhere that her brother apparently remembers her too, and her mother has a vague sense of "if I had a daughter..."; parallel world theories aside,^
^I'm not quite ready to call whether Homura's time travelling resulted in parallel worlds or merely rewound time. If the former is true then, barring a cross-dimension spanning level of omnipotence granted Madoka, the series is only truly "solved" [ie Madoka's wish only comes true] in one branching of the universe. Such branching, however, could possibly resolve the seeming paradox that is the breadth of power granted Madoka by Kyuubei.),
Omake From TV Tropes:
I feel that the final message Madoka is offering is that although there will always be negativity and tragedy in this world, even a single act of hope can seem like a miracle.
I liked the fact that Madoka did not wish for despair to disappear, as some would suggest that she should have. It is a balance thing. In order to have hope, one must suffer or have some form of despair. To have courage, one must experience fear. To love, one must also feel hate and indifference. That is the nature of balance... Madoka is smart enough (or Buddhist enough) to know the effect that her wish can have.
I also loved how this makes Madoka the precursor to all the magical girls we know in anime — without Madoka, there would be no Sakura Kinomoto, no Pretty Cures, no Sailor Moons, etc. More than a world reset, this was in some ways a genre reset, and a pretty brilliant one at that.
----
Onto my main point, for all the theorizing about the ending from bloggers all over, genre comparisons, claims for deconstructionism, religious references, and general fandom fervor digging out every cipher and mystery in the series, everyone seems to be confused as to why Homura at the end of the series is one of the few to remember Madoka.*
I believe it is in the fourth episode that Homura herself says that, Mahou Shoujo who die in a witch's realm are forever missing persons, lost and forgotten to the rest of humanity. Madoka is adamant that she will never forget Mami, to which Homura replies that is the happiest thing a Mahou Shoujo can hope for, and that she is fiercely jealous. Madoka, in a crazy instance of foreshadowing, instantly and without hesitation extends this to Homura as well.
Homura's wish, as vaguely as I have gathered, is something along the lines of protecting Madoka. Protecting her image and her memory, I would argue, is the only thing left for Homura to do once Madoka makes her wish at the end of the series. More detail once I've actually watched the episodes.
*I read somewhere that her brother apparently remembers her too, and her mother has a vague sense of "if I had a daughter..."; parallel world theories aside,^
^I'm not quite ready to call whether Homura's time travelling resulted in parallel worlds or merely rewound time. If the former is true then, barring a cross-dimension spanning level of omnipotence granted Madoka, the series is only truly "solved" [ie Madoka's wish only comes true] in one branching of the universe. Such branching, however, could possibly resolve the seeming paradox that is the breadth of power granted Madoka by Kyuubei.),
Omake From TV Tropes:
Fun fact: priority one for someone with an interest in extending the life of the universe would be shutting off all the stars, which throw away vast amounts of energy just to light up dust and dead rock.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Lessons from Madoka Magika
On the show's ending, in the comments of Madoka's ending leaves something to be desired. Emphasis mine.
Although this rebuttal
scares me a little.
---
All of the responses to this show only makes me worried about delving too deep into the realm of anime blogging (although that may change if I find someone fluent in Japanese blogging on the subject and some of the linguistic relevancy, or at least writing their PhD on fansubs? Have yet to find one), and although it is tempting, I will definitely NOT go browsing forums.
That reminds me, I had a joke to tell about that one guy's Tsundere is bad in real life and that anyone who watches anime or is fluent in Japanese language and culture needs to read it. Said joke being that the two are, for all intents and purposes, mutually exclusive.
Whenever I get around to that Durarara!! analysis maybe I'll wash my hands of this...
----------
On a side note, as a result of all this searching, I found a guy who is traveling the world with a cutout of bridal Holo* and feel incredibly disturbed and violated. Not only because of the attraction I feel for the dynamics of the Holo-Lawrence [why aren't they trying to call him Rawrence hahaha] banter-relationship, or that she has been inducted as one of those nijigen maidens who are used to define my tastes in real girls [funny that the Tsundere article referenced above really struck home! Maybe it's that, like girls with romance novels, I've learned to be too picky and unsatisfied.]. It's that, for heaven's sake I had just thought of going to the Wolf Sanctuary to commemorate my newfound fandom and determination to read the light novels and, if possible, play the games. Luckily the gap between seiyuu and character is still an incredibly wide chasm for me, and the radio shows do not hold much interest other than socialization (as in sociolinguistic stuff) and plain-old Japanese practice.
*I came upon a controversy as to whether her English name should be Horo or Holo. Anime geeks can be so infuriating sometimes! R and L are fairly indistinguishable in standard Japanese, but dammit Holo sounds much better! And I actually prefer the way Holo speaks in English rather than her Oiran language. Dunno if that's one of the accursed artifacts of being a native English speaker or what, but regardless damn western otaku need to get a grip!
-----
Add to the list of things I need to write about:
Learning how movie sound effects are made -> I Saw the Devil & Man from Nowhere -> Who's Camus, Anyway?
And the need to discuss this with my friends in film studies.
---------
Funny how I can write this much but I still have admissions essays to get cracking on! To-do-list for tomorrow:
Purpose essay, mail fin aid form and fee letter, update resume and upload
And whatever else I'm missing.
Gotta be productive!
"The more important/salient points to take from that though are to make sure you know what you’re really wishing for, and to be prepared to pay the cost for it. If you’re willing to accept that responsibility and those burdens, then the show’s theme is indeed that no, it’s not wrong to hope and believe in things."
Although this rebuttal
"If this is truly the case though, why does the show depict the girls falling into despair after they've made their wish? Clearly they weren't ready to accept the consequences..."
scares me a little.
“But when Madoka wishes for everyone’s safety, she gets that wish. ”
It’s possible that she doesn't, in one interpretation of the final scene. Homura’s wish was to protect Madoka, a girl who’s existence has been negated. So unlike any other magical girl who ever lived, Homura’s wish can never be fulfilled — and so she can never be saved. In a universe where witches cannot exist, Homura becomes the Last Witch, and her barrier fills the sky.
---
All of the responses to this show only makes me worried about delving too deep into the realm of anime blogging (although that may change if I find someone fluent in Japanese blogging on the subject and some of the linguistic relevancy, or at least writing their PhD on fansubs? Have yet to find one), and although it is tempting, I will definitely NOT go browsing forums.
That reminds me, I had a joke to tell about that one guy's Tsundere is bad in real life and that anyone who watches anime or is fluent in Japanese language and culture needs to read it. Said joke being that the two are, for all intents and purposes, mutually exclusive.
Whenever I get around to that Durarara!! analysis maybe I'll wash my hands of this...
----------
On a side note, as a result of all this searching, I found a guy who is traveling the world with a cutout of bridal Holo* and feel incredibly disturbed and violated. Not only because of the attraction I feel for the dynamics of the Holo-Lawrence [why aren't they trying to call him Rawrence hahaha] banter-relationship, or that she has been inducted as one of those nijigen maidens who are used to define my tastes in real girls [funny that the Tsundere article referenced above really struck home! Maybe it's that, like girls with romance novels, I've learned to be too picky and unsatisfied.]. It's that, for heaven's sake I had just thought of going to the Wolf Sanctuary to commemorate my newfound fandom and determination to read the light novels and, if possible, play the games. Luckily the gap between seiyuu and character is still an incredibly wide chasm for me, and the radio shows do not hold much interest other than socialization (as in sociolinguistic stuff) and plain-old Japanese practice.
*I came upon a controversy as to whether her English name should be Horo or Holo. Anime geeks can be so infuriating sometimes! R and L are fairly indistinguishable in standard Japanese, but dammit Holo sounds much better! And I actually prefer the way Holo speaks in English rather than her Oiran language. Dunno if that's one of the accursed artifacts of being a native English speaker or what, but regardless damn western otaku need to get a grip!
-----
Add to the list of things I need to write about:
Learning how movie sound effects are made -> I Saw the Devil & Man from Nowhere -> Who's Camus, Anyway?
And the need to discuss this with my friends in film studies.
---------
Funny how I can write this much but I still have admissions essays to get cracking on! To-do-list for tomorrow:
Purpose essay, mail fin aid form and fee letter, update resume and upload
And whatever else I'm missing.
Gotta be productive!
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>implying women can’t do anything without being helped by magical powers
>implying all powerful women got to where they were by selling their souls