Puella Magi Madoka Magica/Trivia

"Gen Urobuchi wants to write stories that can warm people's hearts... But ever since I can't recall when, I can no longer write works like this. I have nothing but contempt for the deceitful thing men call happiness, and have had to push the characters I poured my heart out to create into the abyss of tragedy..."
 * Abridged Series: As seen here.
 * Another one.
 * Accidental Pun: Mami Tomoe's name "Mami" means Mommy in Spanish and other languages like German. Considering her mentor role it fits her.
 * It's also a derogative slang for a woman in many Latin American countries, akin to babe, except being vulgar.
 * There's also "Mami's mammies"
 * Anime First
 * Break the Cutie: Both Aoi Yuki and Emiri Katou (who voice Madoka and Kyubey respectively) apparently love the Magical Girl genre, and are excited to be in this anime. According to Gen Urobuchi, they didn't take the plot very well. Ume Aoki seems to suffer a mild version of this when learnt the plot of episode 3 too.
 * Fan Nickname:
 * "Homerun-chan" for Homura. It was coined in /a/ (someone suggested to draw Homura in a baseball outfit, and the resulting picture was captioned Homerun-chan), but quickly gained popularity in Japan as well. She is also called Homuhomu quite often. (For reference, the origin of the latter nickname seems to come from the Cypher Language in Episode 3.)
 * Homu Homu has become an Ascended Meme through the Limited Edition of the upcoming game, which will feature a handkerchief officially titled the "Homu Homu Handkerchief", based on this scene.
 * Her house is also being called "Homu Home". As in "Homu Homu".
 * And with the release of the PSP game, we now have
 * There's also (WARNING: There's a Higurashi no Naku Koro ni spoiler within the spoiler tags as well)
 * Also "Homurambo" or "Hommando" after she gets all those guns.
 * "Unlimited Musket Works" for Mami's first attack.
 * "Pringles Monsters" for Anthonies, one of Gertrud's familiars.
 * "Green-haired Mugi" or just "Green Mugi" for Hitomi.
 * With the English dub out, this becomes Hilarious in Hindsight, as Mugi and Hitomi are both voiced by Shelby Lindley.
 * "QB" for Kyubey.
 * Or "Trollbey", because he trolls the girls a lot.
 * Chidamari Sketch for the entire series. (Chidamari means "puddle of blood".)
 * Taken to its logical extension here. Spoilers, obviously.
 * Or Sailor Faustus.
 * Condom-chan for Kyoko, due to the thing in her mouth during the OP. It's actually one of those ice tube popsicle things.
 * In Japan, she is sometimes called "Anko" based off an initial misreading of the characters in her name. As a reference to this, some American fanworks have used Anko as the name of
 * "Umami" for Mami.
 * "Mami's mammies" for Mami's, well, mammies.
 * "Urobutcher" for the scriptwriter, Gen Urobuchi, himself. Because, well...
 * (WARNING: There's a Higurashi no Naku Koro ni spoiler within the spoiler tags as well)  
 * After the events of the finale:
 * Legion Arrow for  due to its resemblance to Taskmaster's hyper combo of the same name.
 * Foreshadowing: Entirely a pure coincidence, but the editor of one standard critical edition of Faust, Cyrus Hamlin, passed away on January 19, 2011; one day before episode three aired. It's pretty creepy honestly.
 * God Never Said That: Mami's wish is "to connect to life". Not "to connect lives". Sounds small, but this very wiki had a problem with contributors saying that she lied about her wish.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: Why hello there Miya-chan!
 * Oh look, it's Senjougahara.
 * Kafuka Fuura is a magical girl now!?
 * Kagami can fufill any wish, all you need to do is form a contract with her and become a Magical Girl!
 * That blue magical girl voiced another blue magical girl before named Miki Aono
 * And of course, the star of it all, a literal Magical Girl... Platinum the Trinity
 * Madoka's parents are Mikuru Asahina and Malik Ishtar.
 * In both English and Japanese, Madoka's mother is Kaede Fuyou from SHUFFLE!.
 * The English cast, while mostly casts newbies, already invokes this with Azusa, Ritsu, and Tsumugi as Madoka, Kyubey, and Hitomi.
 * Also in English, Nanoha Takamachi voices another magical girl, in the form of Homura. Also we have a much younger, less boobie, much more cynical Litchi Faye-Ling (Kyoko), whose Mantenbou grew one pointed stick.
 * Madoka Kaname is Azunyan and Squid Girl.
 * And again in English, just when you thought Casca had it rough, now she got chomped on the head very early. (Carrie Keranen as Mami)
 * There's an odd intersection between Skullgirls and the English dub of Madoka Magica: Filia (Christine Marie Cabanos) stars as Madoka, Cerebella as Homura, and Peacock (Sarah Williams) as Sayaka.
 * According to sources and Twitter, apparently Madoka's father is Kazuya Mishima. Oh Crap...
 * Lying Creator: Gen Urobuchi shortly before the series premiere: "I have been entrusted with the formidable task of series composition and script for all episodes. Although having director Akiyuki Shinbo and Ume Aoki-sensei as teammates puts a great deal of pressure on me, I will do my best to deliver a heartwarming, happy story to our viewers!"
 * If you actually believed that last part, you don't know what his idea of a "heartwarming" story is.
 * From his postface to the first volume of Fate/Zero:
 * If you actually believed that last part, you don't know what his idea of a "heartwarming" story is.
 * From his postface to the first volume of Fate/Zero:


 * Urobuchi later confessed that he lied to retain surprise episode 3. The original plan for the production team was to hide Urobuchi's involvement with the show, so when the staff list was leaked he tried to do damage control. Now that the cat is out of the bag and it's clear nobody believes that he reformed: "Okay now I've took a big load off my mind. Thank you everyone who keep up until today! I'm going back to the normal Urobuchi from now on!"
 * Note that Episode 3 is his idea of going back to "normal".
 * As a warm up to the statement above, just watch Episode 4. Then Episode 6.
 * His statement that Sayaka's the actual main character should also be taken with a grain of salt, considering recent events.
 * Meaningful Release Date: The last two episodes were released on Good Friday, and in the finale
 * Although this troper most definitely agrees with the symbolism of releasing the final two episodes on  and thinks it's very meaningful, it should be noted that
 * Names to Know in Anime: So far...
 * Aoi Yuki as Madoka Kaname.
 * Chiwa Saito as Homura Akemi.
 * Eri Kitamura as Sayaka Miki.
 * Kaori Mizuhashi as Mami Tomoe (and Tatsuya Kaname).
 * Emiri Katou as Kyubey.
 * Ryoko Shintani as Hitomi Shizuki.
 * Yuko Goto as Junko Kaname.
 * Tetsuya Iwanaga as Tomohisa Kaname.
 * Junko Iwao as Kazuko Saotome.
 * Ai Nonaka as Kyoko Sakura.
 * The soundtrack is by Yuki Kajiura
 * Directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, who also directed the adaptations of Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei and Bakemonogatari
 * The character designs are by Ume Aoki, the author of Hidamari Sketch
 * Gen Urobuchi of Saya no Uta fame is writing the scripts.
 * And in a cameo, Shinichiro Miki and Nobuo Tobita as a pair of misogynistic hosts on a train,.
 * The Drama CD, especially the third, adds up Kikuko Inoue as Kyoko's (soon-to-be-dead) mother.
 * Relationship Voice Actor: This anime had several connections between the VAs of this in both languages.
 * The Dub brings us a tonload of connections! Take this:
 * From the Lyrical Nanoha universe; Nanoha Takamachi, Yuuno Scrya (Marianne Miller), Arf/ Chrono Harlaown, and Shamal (Shelby Lindley) as Homura Akemi, Kyousuke Kamijou, Kyouko Sakura and Hitomi Shizuki respectively.
 * From the K'ON Universe; Mio Akiyama, Ritsu Tainaka, Tsumugi Kotobuki (Shelby Lindley), Sawako Yamanaka and Azusa Nakano as Homura Akemi, Kyuubey, Hitomi Shizuki, Kazuko Saotome and Madoka Kaname respectively.
 * From the Squid Girl Universe: Ikamusume, Chizuru Aizawa (Shelby Lindley), Ayumi Tokita (Sarah Williams), Nagisa Saito and Yuuta Matsumoto (Marianne Miller) as Madoka Kaname, Hitomi Shizuki, Sayaka Miki and Kyousuke Kamijou respectively.
 * While not exactly a lot, there's also from Blaz Blue universe: Noel Vermilion, Nu-13 and Litchi Faye-Ling as Homura Akemi and Kyoko Sakura.
 * Not trailing from behind is the Skullgirls Universe wherein: Filia, Cerebella, and Peacock (Sarah Williams) as Madoka Kaname, Homura Akemi, and Sayaka Miki respectively.
 * From the Zero no Tsukaima Universe: Louise, Kirche, Henrietta, Flame; Malnicorne (Marianne Miller) as Homura Akemi, Kyoko Sakura, Kyuubey and Kyousuke Kamijou respectively.
 * From the Tekken Universe; Alisa Bosconovitch, Kazuya Mishima, Ling Xiaoyu (Carrie Keranen, or Carrie Savage in Street Fighter X Tekken) and an extra character as Homura Akemi, Madoka's dad Tomohisa Kaname, Mami Tomoe (alternatively Junko Kaname) and Madoka Kaname.
 * From the Tweeny Witches Universe: Melissa, Luca, Barunn, Miletis (Shelby Lindley), Magna & Qoo (Marianne Miller) as Homura Akemi, Tomohisa Kaname, Kyoko Sakura, Hitomi Shizuki, and Kyousuke Kamijou respectively.
 * From the Bleach Universe: Sosuke Aizen, Mareyo Omaeda, and Momo Hinamorias Madoka's dad Tomohisa Kaname, mom Junko Kaname, and teacher Kazuko Saotome respectively.
 * From the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Universe: Kamina and Kiyoh as Madoka's dad Tomohisa Kaname and teacher Kazuko Saotome respectively.
 * From Durarara!!!! Universe we have Saki Mikajima, Anri's Mom and Hanako, Horada, and Mika Harima as Kyuubey, Kazuko Saotome, Madoka's dad Tomohisa Kaname, and mom Junko Kaname respectively.
 * And from the recent Dynasty Warriors installment (and to go with Samurai Warriors too): Lian Shi, Sima Yi, Xiao Qiao and Okuni as Homura Akemi, Madoka's dad Tomohisa Kaname, Madoka's mom Junko Kaname, and Kazuko Saotome respectively.
 * Shout-Out: The plot of the first episode up until, as one fansubbing group puts it, "Madoka is attacked by the SZS opening", is extremely similar to the first episode of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. But then again, it is the same director.
 * If one was to compare the characters of Kamen Rider Ryuki, they might be convinced that the entire show is one huge reference to it. See here for more details.
 * Mami's Macross Missile Massacre looks like Gates of Babylon. Also Justified, the scriptwriter worked on Fate/Zero.
 * Mami Tomoe as well as Kyoko Sakura shares their names with 3 protagonists from famous Magical Girl series. Coincidence?
 * Also, Mami's surname is probably a reference to Tomoe Gozen, a famous female samurai from the late twelfth century who supposedly fought in the Gempei War.
 * A wall in the abandoned building in Episode 2 has graffiti of text lifted verbatim from the original German edition of Faust.Creepy.
 * The Guest Artwork at the end of Episode 2 features Lord Humungus from MadMax: The Road Warrior. Just because.
 * Mami's battle with the witch in Episode 3 may look familiar, and this is why. Somehow this just makes it worse.
 * The incredibly ominous ending animation has the mask of Mephistopheles, from the 1981 movie Mephisto (which while decidedly non-supernatural, is itself a Faustian story)
 * Episode 9 has Madoka's room filled with all kinds of different chairs, a Shout-Out to Bokurano.
 * Episode 9 also features some graffiti that reads "Love Me Do".
 * is a knight-mermaid. Can you think of another story involving a young girl who trades her original body for the guy she loves only to lose him to someone else? The original does not end well.
 * In the OP while Madoka is reflecting on her adventures as a Magical girl, Madoka is seen striking 3 famous poses.
 * In the final episode, when Madoka the way that she  is awfully similar to the . Similarly,
 * Madoka picks a red ribbon over a yellow one in the first episode. Taking this as a reference to the yellow-ribboned Haruhi Suzumiya might seem like a stretch, until . The red ribbon also achieves similar iconic status when.
 * What Could Have Been: Word of God has stated Episode 10 was actually cut down in size, and would have originally been 45 minutes long.
 * According to the official guidebook, the original proposal for Madoka had thirteen episodes instead of twelve.
 * As seen here (major spoilers in link), the audio Drama CDs were originally going to be quite different. Even in the final product, a line got cut from the first Drama CD -
 * The battle in Episode 11 was noticeably different in the manga version. It turns out that the manga version was based off the original storyboard for the episode (scroll downward to episode 11).

Architecture:

 * The Burj Khalifa (formerly Burj Dubai) appears in the OP, right before Homura can be seen frowning as she is having higher ground than Madoka. Considering Burj Khalifa is 828m high and is currently the tallest man-made structure in the world, that's one heck of a visual cue.
 * The shopping mall Madoka, Sayaka, and Hitomi visited in episode 1 is a blatant rip-off of the Weltstadthaus. There are actually extremely glass-y buildings in the world!
 * Weltstadthaus means "global-city house". According to The Other Wiki "global city" is defined as a city where happenings in it affects the world (due to the city's economical/strategical/ magical importance), i.e. Alexandria in the ancient world or New York in the modern world.

The writings on the wall in episode 2
...are German quotes from Goethe's Faust.

Rune translations
The various runes which appear during the fight sequences are actually cryptograms and in German. The translations can be found on http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Category:Runes

Ending cards and their respective artists:

 * First one is by Hanokage, the author of the manga adaptation.
 * The second is by Hikawa Hekiru, of Pani Poni Dash! fame. (And inexplicably includes a Mad Max reference.)
 * The third is by Santa Tsuji, a professional ero-ren'ai game artist from Nitro+ (same as Gen Urobuchi).
 * The fourth is by Jin Kobayashi, author of School Rumble.
 * The fifth is by Yuupon from Nitro+Chiral, the BL branch of Nitro+, who is the artist planned for the novelization of Madoka Magica.
 * The sixth is by Hajime Ueda, who created the FLCL manga and the art for one of the Bakemonogatari endings, among others.
 * The seventh is by Takashi Tensugi, the artist for the Kazumi Magica spinoff manga.
 * The eighth is by Fujima Takuya, the artist behind Nanoha Vivid.
 * For comparison, [[media:ViVid_2625.jpg|here's [[Vi Vid]] volume 2 cover]]. Yeah, Madoka is Vivio and Homura is Einhart.
 * The ninth is by Namaniku ATK, the main artist for the Nitroplus Visual Novel Full Metal Daemon Muramasa.
 * The tenth is by Kuroe Mura, the artist for the upcoming Oriko Magica spinoff manga.
 * The eleventh is by Buriki, the character illustrator of Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko.
 * The twelfth and final end card is by Ume Aoki herself, thanking the viewers (in English) for watching.

The rest of the trivia...
Are here: http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Facts_and_Observations
 * The Cyrus Hamlin one gets special mention for being particularly creepy. A case of maybe meta-Editor Existence Failure?