Puella Magi Madoka Magica/Fridge: Difference between revisions

*** I thought {{spoiler|that they don't run out of magic, but simply fall into despair? That their magic is linked to their souls and emotions?}}

**** No, they can {{spoiler|run out of magic. That's how Sayaka dies in the new universe: She uses up all of her magic to help Kyousuke.}}

* Take another look at the silhouettes in the ending-theme. Mami's silhouette is the only one sitting down {{spoiler|(likely a reference to her death in episode three)}}, and Homura's can be seen turning after Madoka's and reaching for her as she walks past.

* Kyoko's dad {{spoiler|claimed that she was a witch}}. As of [[Wham! Episode|Episode 8]], {{spoiler|[[And Then John Was a Zombie|turns out he wasn't too far from the truth]]}}.

** He can't be mad: {{spoiler|if he is healthy and was truthful, he can't have emotions, also known as "mental disease". And I doubt they will send mentally handicapped persons to Earth}}.

*** Note though {{spoiler|that - unless yesy translation bungled the Ep 11 Kyubey-Madoka conversation - he switches to speaking about his race as a whole when asked directly if he ever tried to understand human suffering. He might have contracted the condition while on Earth. But it's impossible to tell for sure.}}

** Episode 10 showed that {{spoiler|Homura DID kill him in that timeline, just before they ran into Madoka}}. As for his reaction, given his nature, it's safe to assume that he just doesn't care.

*** Indeed. {{spoiler|Episode 10 shows that in timelines where Madoka is a Magical Girl, she has only been one for 'a week' as of Homura's first day of school. Timeline 4 shows Homura leaping out of bed and stalking off, showing up outside Madoka's window holding a dead Kyubey. Despite the common subtitles of that scene, Madoka doesn't appear to actually recognize her except in the same vague 'crossing memories' way shown in Episode 8 (she only says 'Homu...?' in a confused way, not her whole name). Then the 'current timeline' segment of Episode 10 shows her blowing up another Kyubey, which is the event Kyubey is referencing when he says "second time". Presumably ever since she promised Madoka to save her from Kyubey, the very first thing Homura has done in every subsequent timeline is prevent Kyubey from contacting Madoka a week before she starts school.}}

* The Elsa Maria's barrier in episode 7 [[Art Shift|makes everything black and white]]. At a glance, this would seem to be a discretion shot so the viewers can't see Sayaka's insane expression. The [[Fridge Brilliance]] is that both Elsa Maria and Sayaka see the world in [[Black and White Morality]].

* Why are there no Magical '''BOYS'''? {{spoiler|Because girls undergoing puberty are more emotional than boys and so would serve QB's purpose better}}

*** It's more likely that boys are taught to actually want concrete, direct things for themselves that they can use to benefit others, rather than being taught that they'll be rewarded for thinking of others ahead of themselves like girls are. The girls {{spoiler|except Madoka}} all wish for huge, largely vague and abstract things that benefit others, thinking that they'll reap the much simpler, indirect benefits they really want, but since Kyubey has no emotions and can only seek to profit by granting the wish in its most literal form, it's just that much more efficient to only use girls.

**** Kyoko suggests {{spoiler|in the fifth loop}} that wishes should be made for selfish things. {{spoiler|This makes perfect sense as a selfish wish is limited in scope, has limited potential backfire for despair and does not involve the unpredictability that inevitably wreaks havok on selfless wishes made for others. She speaks from personal experience, her own selfless wish having destroyed her entire family through its unforeseen complications.}}

** Regardless of statistics, or what girls and boys are ''supposed'' to be like, everyone is different, so there should be '''some''' males with magical boy potential.

* Kyoko is a constantly seen eating something and the food is her obsession. {{spoiler|Because she and her entire family had fallen in poverty, and nearly starved. Real people were known to have food-hogging manias after prolonged hungers, particularly the young survivors of World War Two.}}

*** [http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/874517/ This part of the opening] strangely makes MUCH more sense with {{spoiler|[[Fan Nickname|Megahomu]] instead of Madoka}}.

** It also explains why Homura has been doing so well in school and gym class.

*** Episode 3. After her nighttime conversation with Mami, Homura looks very pained, complete with [[Hidden Eyes]]. {{spoiler|You would be that way too if someone who was your mentor in a previous timeline thinks of you as an enemy and doesn't wish to speak with you anymore.}} Heck, most of Homura's interactions with Mami are this. Giving Mami back Gertrud's Grief Seed? {{spoiler|She doesn't want Mami to become a witch.}} Saying that Madoka's talent is a problem? {{spoiler|In the previous timeline, Madoka became a witch that could ''end the world''}}. Her refusal to explain these things to Mami? {{spoiler|[[Freak-Out|You saw what happened in the third timeline.]]}}

* Madoka's doodles of everyone's magical girl outfits were astonishingly accurate, {{spoiler|probably because she's seen them all before.}}

* Why does Kyubey, a {{spoiler|[[Starfish Alien]], [[Hive Mind|Hive Minded]] [[Eldritch Abomination]]}}, look like [[Ridiculously Cute Critter|an adorable mutant cat thing with big floppy ears]]? (I mean in-universe, not just because [[Cute Is Evil]]) {{spoiler|His form was ''designed'' to appeal to teenage Japanese girls; it's a trick to help him lure his victims. The [[Cat Smile]] was chosen as the "cutest" expression, but due to his difficulty with emotions, he doesn't know what it should be in different circumstances, and [[Frozen Face|leaves it the same]] to be on the safe side.}} The main thing that makes him seem a bit creepy in the show is the way his voice and expression never change no matter what's happening; show a still screenshot of him to someone and they'll usually go "D'aww!" {{spoiler|Which is exactly what he's aiming for.}}

** Also, it does help that there are magical girl anime in Madoka's world too, which probably made it easier.

** In fact, [[Stealth Pun|that makes complete sense]]. The reason why Homura is under Madoka's thumb is because Homura is doing all of this is ''because'' of Madoka. In short, Homura is driven by Madoka. This also explains why {{spoiler|Madoka's a [[Decoy Protagonist]].}}

* Ever stop to think about Soul Gems and Grief Seeds and why they're called that? {{spoiler|Take the initials of Soul Gems, and flip them. SG becomes GS. GS stands for Grief Seeds. Guess what Soul Gems become. Also, Soul Gems are held by Magical Girls. Grief Seeds are held by witches. Guess what Magical Girls become.}}

-spinindiamond

* Kyousuke's song choice (Ave Maria) might be a bit odd, but then you realize that the song was in [[Fantasia|a short]] that also had Walpurgis Night as a plot device. In the finale, he plays it after Walpurgisnacht was taken care of, much like how the song was played after Chernabog hid away.

* Next time you watch the series, check out Madoka's room, particularly the arrangement of stuffed animals and shelves. In episode 9 in particular, during her conversation with Kyubei, the arrangement of the room changes over the course of a single scene. Sloppy animating, or {{spoiler|is this conversation taking places repeatedly, identically, in several different timelines?}}

* Kyoko explained her wish and the downfall of her family to Sayaka using a little puppet show. In a dark [[Ironic Echo]], she re-enacted the very wish that destroyed her past life in the first place.

** Related is, in Episode 9, we see her gobbling up lots and lots of food from her apartment[/]hotel room. She already figures [[Heroic Sacrifice|she's going to die in the battle]], so she's making sure none of her food stores go to waste - note that her fight against Oktavia and the buildup to it are the only scenes in which she's not eating anything.

* Homura's given name is usually a surname, while her surname is usually a given name. This makes her name sound like it's being spoken in western order and gives her a foreign feel right from the get-go. {{spoiler|Turns out, she ''is'' a foreigner to this timeline.}} Likewise, the other characters all have surnames that are usually given names, so they always sound like they're speaking informally to one another even when they're not {{spoiler|1=which is foreshadowing to how close they were/will be in other timelines.}}

 

=== Fridge Horror ===

* It is mentioned that those who die in a witch's barrier leave no bodies behind. Pondering this, it makes you wonder how many people killed by witches were presumed to be missing. Also, {{spoiler|consider Magical Girls who turned into witches. Their families and friends think of them as missing and spend the rest of their lives looking of them never realizing that their daughter, sister, etc. has now become an [[Eldritch Abomination]] that feasts on humans. That missing 12 year old on the news report whose parents are begging to be found, probably skulking around in an alley sucking human souls and emotions assuming she hasn't been killed by a Magical Girl yet.}} Wow, the thought's really depressing.

** {{spoiler|It makes perfect sense that the first despair victims of a new witch would be her family. It is much harder for the family of a disappearance victim to wonder what happened to their missing loved one than to learn she was murdered and get closure in time.}}

** Halfway [[Jossed]]: Sayaka's first words after re-activation prove that a deactivated Puella Magi is not conscious and aware inside the Soul Gem:

{{quote|'''Sayaka''': What... happened?}}

* {{spoiler|Familiars do not drop grief seeds and there's not a lot of witches, so magical girls sometimes need to let familiars kill people and turn into witches in order to get their grief seed.}}

** That's not really fridge horror, though given that Kyoko admits to doing this

* So, it turns out that Kyoko's father {{spoiler|killed his family, then committed suicide because he realized that people listened to him because of magic rather than because they wanted to listen to him}}, meaning that Kyoko is now completely alone... Wait a minute... Mami is also alone because {{spoiler|her parents died in a car crash even before she made her contract}}... And we know nothing about Homura, but she surely looks like a loner... {{spoiler|Oh god there is a pattern! Puella Magi's loved ones end up dying sooner or later!}} [[The Khan|SAYAAAAAKAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!]]

** In fairness, {{spoiler|they could have been familiars who grew into witches...but they likely still originated from a fallen magical girl.}} [[Cloning Blues]], perhaps?

*** Don't forget, it's been stated that familiars have to kill someone (possibly consume their soul?) to become full Witches...

* Episode 10 reveals that {{spoiler|the trigger condition for the world to be restarted is Homura failing to protect Madoka. This means there is no easy way out of this for Homura, she can't simply [[Mercy Kill|kill Madoka to prevent her from becoming a witch]]. ''She actually tried that''. YMMV, this can be a Fridge Heartwarming...}}

** Also, if you look carefully in episode 10, you'll notice that {{spoiler|Madoka is getting ''stronger'' through each successive timeline. In the first few timelines, she is killed trying to defeat Walpurgis Night, then transitions to her using up too much power and becoming a witch herself, and then finally to her ONE SHOTTING Walpurgis Night. In the current timeline, she shows signs of being able to recall Homura and the events in past timelines. Perhaps this was the potential that Kyubey was talking about?}}

*** {{spoiler|No longer Fridge Horror, but actual canon. Kudos to the above troper for coming up with the theory months before it was shown in the series}}.

** Could just be situational though. First time she fights with Mami, then Mami and an inexperienced Homura, then a battle-hardened Homura. The fourth timeline's obviously situational because she ''wished for power'', probably for the power to kill WPN. Also note that Madoka survives to corrupt into a witch in all but the first timeline, but Homura cuts her off in the third.

* Witches have to come from ''some''where, if there's to be Magical Girls to "harvest" their Seeds. While the story focuses itself on Madoka's tight inner group, for all we know there are many other Magical Girls elsewhere in the city, the country, the ''world'', {{spoiler|all of them eventually turning into Witches...}} Just what exactly is Kyubey up to when he's not on camera? How many contracts has he made that we're not aware of? Maybe he's approaching the girl next to you right now...

** [[Paranoia Fuel|Say, ''your'' sister has been acting a little odd lately, hasn't she? I believe she was nattering away making a wish about something or other until about three days ago, hmmm? Let's hope she hasn't made a wish ''that'' way yet.]]

** As of December 2011, Wikipedia on entropy states: "The role of entropy in cosmology remains a controversial subject. Recent work has cast some doubt on the heat death hypothesis and the applicability of any simple thermodynamic model to the universe in general. Although entropy does increase in the model of an expanding universe, the maximum possible entropy rises much more rapidly, moving the universe further from the heat death with time, not closer."

* People are complaining about Kyubey having facial expressions in the manga, arguing that the reason Kyubey is so scary is because of his [[Frozen Face]] showing his [[Lack of Empathy]]. On the other hand, being able to show facial expressions makes Kyubey's job easier. After all, a girl might be wary of a creature whose face never changes. Kyubey's inability to feel emotions probably hasn't changed. Now he just ''knows how to fake them''.

** I thought it was more of a pragmatic thing. A lot of the impact of his (lack of) tone of voice and ''absolutely'' still expression (even most characters with a [[Frozen Face]] move their mouth when they talk) is lost in the transition to a print medium. As mentioned earlier under [[Fridge Brilliance]], he tends to look much cuter in still screenshots than he actually does in context, so the manga had to try to compensate for that.

* Episode 11 Kyubey states that "emotion is a mental disorder on our world." [[Individuality Is Illegal]] on the Incubators' homeworld, so not only are there probably thousands of fully sentient Incubators trapped in asylums for "feeling", but the Incubators as a whole will never evolve emotion and thus have to keep leeching off the despair of other worlds.

* Remember that one familiar Kyoko let escape in episode 5? The childlike scribble playing with hundreds of rubber balls? [[All There in the Manual|The official website]] labels her Anja, a minion of the witch Albertine, whose ability is...transforming humans into rubber balls. [[And I Must Scream|And making them bounce for every lie they've told in their lives.]] How long can someone survive being bashed against the ground like that? How many people died because Anja escaped, [[What the Hell, Hero?|just so Kyoko could get a Grief Seed?]]

** [[It Got Worse]]. Anja attacked Sayaka using the rubber balls, and Sayaka ''cut them in half''.

* {{spoiler|It is heavily implied that Homura is about to die after the Credits. First we see her with white wings, then after the Ending with Witch-Barrier like wings. Also she is hearing Madoka's Voice, suggesting that Madoka will have to prevent the birth of a Witch again.}}

* When Kyubey tells Madoka about {{spoiler|humans and cattle. We're not so different from the incubators, possibly worse because they actually give girls a choice (Mami didn't have to choose to live). Are the incubators more humane than we are? Magical Girls die for a bigger cause than cattle dying for a day's dinner.}} Almost makes you feel guilty about hating the little critter.

* Take a close look at Mami's thighs during the {{spoiler|HEADCHOMP}} scenes and you'll see what appears to be liquid staining her stockings. Blood right? Nope. {{spoiler|People void their bladders and bowels when they die.}}

** Actually, ''nothing'' runs down there. You might be thinking of {{spoiler|1=the infamous ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzFzherdWKo Chidamari Sketch]'' fanmade video, which artificially ''adds'' the running urine to "fix" that detail the anime didn't have. [[Nausea Fuel|Thanks a lot, guys.]].}}

** ''Worse'', when you consider that her confessing to Kyosuke was the accidental catalyst for {{spoiler|the already very deep-in-shit Sayaka's transformation into a witch.}}

* The Manga's changes show some unsettling ideas. For one, look at the scene where Sayaka attacks Hitomi and Kyousuke. Consider that one, the author of the manga supports the theory that Sayaka killed those two men in the train, and two, ''you never see Kyousuke and Hitomi until the new timeline''.

** Another disturbing scene occurs when Homura is fighting against Walpurgisnacht and gets attacked by three familiars that take the shapes of Mami, Kyouko, and Sayaka. When you consider that Walpurginacht is an amalagation of the spirits of dead [[Magical Girl|MagicalGirls]], its possible that those werent familiars but the three other main characters under the control of Walpurgisnacht. To add to that nightnarish scenario, remember that Madoka also fought against the same witch in other timelines and may have also been treated to the same experience.

* {{spoiler|Kyouko}}'s last moments in Episode 10. {{spoiler|Mami, the Magical Girls' [[Team Mom|parental figure]], finds out everything she believed in is a lie and tries to commit triple murder-suicide in a fit of madness. [[Pater Familicide|Which incident from Kyouko's past does that sound like?]] So basically, Kyouko dies going through the worst thing that ever happened to her ''all over again.''}}

* So according to Kyubey, putting too much corruption into a Grief Seed can revive a witch which is why he eats used up Grief Seeds. This is bad enough in that it means Puella Magi have to continually battle witches to keep [[The Corruption]] at bay with new Grief Seeds {{spoiler|but think about what this means for witchturned!Puella Magi. Since the Soul Gems are the girls' [[Soul Jar]] and they can only be killed if the gems are destroyed and Grief Seeds are fully corrupted Soul Gems then defeating a witch doesnt kill it but only puts it into hibernation since the Grief Seed hosting the former Puella Magi's soul is still intact. In other words, ''' The girl is still doomed to live out the days of her unlife as a witch unable to pass on. The only true way to end the girls' curse is to destroy the Soul Gem or Grief Seed.''' Kyubey, true to his nature of preserving resources could be collecting Grief Seeds to revive them later as foes for new contracts as well as prevent any Puella Magi aware of the [[Awful Truth]] from destroying them. For proof, consider the scene in ep 12 where Madoka ascends to godhood and meets up with Mami and Kyouko in some sort of limbo yet surprisingly Sayaka is absent. You'd think that Madoka's own best friend would be there to greet her until you remember that she died as a witch and her soul is probably still trapped in a Grief Seed.}}

* Listen to the song "Nux Walpurgis" from OST volume 3. While it plays in episode {{spoiler|11, Homura's gem is corrupting, but Madoka stops the process}}. But in the OST there is a longer version, and it perfectly fits the {{spoiler|Homura transformation into witch}}.

** Which even has precedence, considering {{spoiler|1=Kyuubey also eats his own corpse, and the witch/magical girl system is the creation of the Incubators.}}

* In episode three how does Homura know Mami is dead? Her ribbon she bound Homura with disapeared. Homura probably recognised this from the {{spoiler|timeline where Mami found out that Magical Girls turn into witches and she bound Homura in the same way before killing Kyoko and almost killing Madoka and Homura.}}

* In one of the {{spoiler|alternate timelines}} in Episode 10, Mami {{spoiler|tries to commit triple murder-suicide after finding out the fate of a Puella Magi and starts by attacking Kyouko first, by destroying her Soul Gem}}. This implies that Mami {{spoiler|in that timeline knew that Puella Magi were the equivalent of liches}}.

* A girl who wins a fight but gets a serious injury may be [[Pyrrhic Victory|already dead]]. Her fighting ability is severely downgraded, lowering the ceiling on the strength of witches she can fight. She'll use up more power compensating. If another girl is interested in her territory, they'll lunge at the opportunity. If the injury is serious enough, she may be forced to get medical treatment. And imagine if she's trying to keep a civilian life! [[Blatant Lies|"No big deal, Mom and Dad, I just tripped and ripped my arm off."]] This logic applies to [[Triple Shifter|a lot of settings]], but it seems more depressing for this one; {{spoiler|imagine the terror and mounting desperation of a prepubescent or teenage girl as these consequences hit her. Now imagine the effect it has on her soul gem.}}

Magical Girl or not, one would assume that Cleopatra still seduced Mark Anthony and produced Caesarion, Alexander Helios, Cleopatra the Second and Ptomley the 16th.

Now, as we all know, becoming a Magical Girl turns you a corpse.

* Why didn't any of the girls think of using their wishes to {{spoiler|resurrect}} or warping realities to something like "Erase negative emotions forever for everyone" or simply asking for a thousand more wishes. But then again that would remove any conflicts in the story and we wouldn't have this awesome show we are watching now. But QB wouldn't agree to it anyway.

** Episode 12 shows that he can't actually refuse to grant a wish as Madoka essentially wishes for Witches to have never existed. He doesn't like it, but he's unable to actually tell her she can't do that. All he can do is point out the potential consequences.

*** Homura's looping also made Madoka stronger if I'm understanding this right.

*** Short answer: {{spoiler|An early reveal that Homura is a time traveler would weaken the impact of episode 10's development of her characterization.}}

***** {{spoiler|Long answer bonus: the more times Homura hits reset to try and do something different, the more despair she accumulates and carries off to the next loop, making the situation harder to beat and creating MORE energy, more despair, and requiring Madoka's wish to be ever BIGGER in scope to try and reverse it, making an even greater endgame [[Earthshattering Kaboom]] as its ultimate conclusion. The only way out of this was Kyubey's inability to foresee final loop Madoka's [[Rules Lawyer]] wish making her absorb ALL the despair in the universe and saving HERSELF from becoming a universe obliterating force into a paradox so massive it forced the ENTIRE UNIVERSE into a [[Heroic BSOD]] and forcing a reboot with a new rule: NO WITCHES ALLOWED.}}

* So now that the episode 10 witch cards are out, it seems that alternate!Oktavia's barrier is based around ''guitar'' and not violin. That makes very little sense.

** Or maybe they needed to understand basic physical laws precisely for explaining it to us humans. Which makes sense since Kyubey's explanation could have come from a guy who just skimmed through a physics textbook; the gist is there, but it's not quite right.

** The most likely theory is that the magic is capable of breaking the laws of thermodynamics, and Kyubey's [[Magical Girl]] system is simply the most efficient way to generate energy. I'm pretty sure that even Kyubey isn't sure how the magic works, but I don't think he cares as long as he gets energy out of it.

** I think the correctness of it is unimportant. The main point of it is to drive home the idea: Kyubey is utterly alien, in a way seldom seen in fiction. He's not only emotionless, relentless in pursuing his goal, and a hive mind that cares nothing for one body, but even the thing he's doing in the story is incomprehensibly alien to any human being: the heat death of the universe is an event that's somewhere around 10^100 years away. In that time the solar system could be fully recreated, humans to re-evolve and the Sun to die more than 10^80 times. Yet he's here, today, working on postponing that date, and working personally with humans on their timescale. Just try to figure out how something like THAT thinks. Either that, or he's just a minor servant or the extension of an even greater eldritch horror. Alternatively, maybe the heat death is much closer than we think, and his race might be the only one that realized it. Now there's a scary prospect.

 

*** Still, the cryptic explanation would make any realistic parent (deconstruction = realistic, not just [[Darker and Edgier]]) even more reluctant to let their children go off into danger. The only reason this kind of thing works in any other anime is because at this point the parent is aware of the child's powers or Mon traveling companions, so they know their child will be protected. Madoka on the other hand is still a normal fourteen year old and her mom doesn't know any different.

**** To quote the Puella Magi Wiki, "In Episode 6, Junko and Madoka had a conversation on how difficult it is to do the right thing, even when no one is in the wrong (per say). Junko's advice was for Madoka to be on the wrong against her friend to solve the problem, even if it means that her friend would hate her for it. In Episode 11 Junko confronts Madoka to stop her from getting into the danger of the storm, Madoka reminds her mother that she is a good girl and never does anything wrong but she tells her she needs to do this, a throwback to their earlier conversation. Madoka knows that what she is doing will worry her family, but she also knows that she must disobey her mother to save her family and her town. This conversation between Junko and Madoka earns her mother's trust."

*** It's also been theorized that Roberta is the witch form of the School Teacher, which could give Junko even more reasonable suspicion that Madoka is a Puella Magi or is planning to become one.

* Episode 6: The major [[Wham! Line]] of the episode. {{spoiler|Kyubey seeming surprised, calling Madoka crazy for "Throwing her friend" off an overpass.}} Seems reasonable until you realize that he KNOWS she doesn't know the truth, as he never told her. There's no reason for him to seem so surprised, or pose this statement this way, other than it being the most shocking way to reveal {{spoiler|the truth about [[Soul Jar|Soul Gems.]]}}

 

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[[Category:Fridge]]