Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Difference between revisions

* [[Arc Words]]: Walpurgisnacht is used as some sort of [[Vagueness Is Coming|omnious threat]]. {{spoiler|It turns out to be the appearance of a superpowerful witch.}}

* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: Second episode, discussing wishes:

'''Madoka:''' [[Lampshade Hanging|I don't know about that last one]]... }}

* [[Artistic License Physics]]: {{spoiler|(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.)}}

* [[Batter Up]]: On her first witch hunt alongside Mami, Sayaka brings along a baseball bat to compensate for a lack of magical girl powers.

* [[Be Careful What You Wish For]]: [[Played With]]. It's is sometimes [[Played Straight]], sometimes surprisingly [[Subverted]] : the problem isn't in the literal granting of the wish, it's the fact that the wishers aren't asking for what they really want. The repeated warnings against making selfless wishes are there because ''there is no such thing as a selfless wish''. Each wish was made in the hope that it would result in something the magical girl would ultimately benefit from, but since that result isn't what they asked for, that isn't what they got. [[Batman Gambit|This plays into Kyubey's plans rather nicely]], since it means {{spoiler|forcing the girls to realize that their pure dreams and wishes were never really pure at all, and can only further divide them from the happiness they wanted after it's too late to change their minds}}.

** [[Played Straight]] for Mami's wish. {{spoiler|She connected to life, being able to continue her own life, but it was alone, without family or friends...}}

** [[Subverted]] for Sayaka's wish: She wished for the boy she loved to get better; he did, and no bad consequences came from it, but what Sayaka ''didn't'' wish for was for him to fall in love with her, which was what she really wanted. Kyoko pointed out that what she ''should'' have wished for was for him to never recover and become completely dependent on her.

* [[He Who Fights Monsters]]: {{spoiler|Witches are magical girls who let their soul gems become too corrupted}}. {{spoiler|Sayaka}} is a more specific example.

* {{spoiler|[[Hive Mind]]: Kyubey, according to an interview with Urobuchi.}}

* [[Hope Spot]]: And an in universe example in {{spoiler|Episode 9. The main characters ask Kyubey if it's possible to restore Sayaka to human form. He replies that [[Jedi Truth|it's never been done before]].}}

** {{spoiler|Subverted in that not only does it fail, but he was counting on it failing and only presented the hope as a trap.}}

** {{spoiler|In the manga, Homura wears her hair in pigtails in the new universe, using both ribbons.}}

* [[Lawyer-Friendly Cameo]]: ''[[Dance Dance Revolution|Dog Drug Reinforcement]]'' makes its debut! Supports up to three players!

* [[Leaning on the Fourth Wall]]: {{spoiler|In Episode 12, when Homura seems to recognize Tatsuya's "imaginary friend" (Madoka), Madoka's mother asks, "Is she some kind of anime character or something?"}}

* [[Leitmotif]]: Each of the six main characters has one. [[Friend to All Living Things|Madoka]] has [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvzp1ZgE5TA&feature=related Sagitta Luminis] (Arrow of Light), [[Knight Templar|Sayaka]] has [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX5kJ11Mdbs Conturbatio] (Disorder) and later [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yXUjLjO2X0 Decretum] (Decision) (same motif, different arrangements), [[The Obi-Wan|Mami]] has [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iutt7mdLeCk Credens Justitiam] (Believing in Justice), [[Determinator|Homura]] has [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpX9RBDsOGs Puella in Somnio] (The Girl in the Dream), [[Fallen Hero|Kyoko]] has [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHxdIa6RTCs Anima Mala] (Evil Soul), and [[Manipulative Bastard|Kyubey]] has [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrKelyhkbqU Sis Puella Magica] (You should be a Magical Girl).

* [[Powered by a Forsaken Child]]: {{spoiler|Kyubey's race decided they wanted to violate entropy. What better way than to use the transformation of pubescent magical girls into witches?}}

* [[The Power of Friendship]]: Episode 10 shows this being played straight, [[Deconstruction|in as much as the series can play it straight]]. {{spoiler|The reason Homura keeps repeating things is because she wants to save Madoka. She outright says so at the end of her [[Day in The Limelight]] episode.}}

** Subverted ''hard'' in Episode 3. When Mami gets hyped up on the [[Power of Friendship]] during the battle with Charlotte, {{spoiler|it leads to her fighting recklessly against the witch, as opposed to the cool, careful and methodical style of witch-killing she employed in the second episode, resulting in her freezing up when Charlotte goes [[One-Winged Angel]], leading directly to her [[Cruel and Unusual Death]]}}.

* [[The Presents Were Never From Santa]]: Sayaka (and Mami) falsely believe that their [[Magical Girl]] powers are righteous in nature, and people like Homura and Kyoko are misusing their powers for selfish interests. {{spoiler|Of course they are wrong, their powers have nothing to do with morality. Not at all.}}

** Episode 12: {{spoiler|Madoka gives Homura her hair ribbons.}} This has also been used as symbolic bonding between magical girls in [[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]].

** Another one in 12 -- {{spoiler|Madoka's speech as she tells off Kyubey for trying to renege out of fulfilling her wish ends with three sentences that are almost word-for-word from [[Thousand Origami Cranes|Sadako Sasaki's Memorial Statue]].}}

** Episode 9, {{spoiler|When Kyubey explains the purpose of magical girls and witches, along with his real role in it to Madoka}}, several chairs similar to those on which characters from [[Bokurano]] sit while piloting Zearth can be seen in her room. Even more of these chairs are added in certain locations throughout the series in the DVD version.

** [[Creamy Mami|Mami]] [[Sailor Moon|Tomoe]] and Kyoko [[Cardcaptor Sakura|Sakura]] have some very familiar names.

* [[We Have Reserves]]: {{spoiler|Why Kyubey doesn't feel guilty about all the [[Magical Girl]] blood on his hands.}}

** {{spoiler|Also why he doesn't seem to mind Homura killing him, seeing how he's a [[Hive Mind]] and all.}}

* [[Weird Moon]]: The moon phases consist of either dramatic crescent or completely full moons.

* [[Wham! Episode]]: Episode 3. '''You will NOT be ready.'''

** And in Episode 12, we see {{spoiler|what she wishes for--and it's big enough to [[Reality Warper|completely rewrite the laws of physics]]. [[Apocalypse How|Even]] [[The Stoic|Kyubey]] [[Oh Crap|freaks out.]]}}

* [[Wham! Line]]:

'''Kyubey:''' Even on this world, something like {{spoiler|throwing [[Soul Jar|your friend]] down there}}, that is crazy. }}

** Episode 8 spoilers:

** From Episode 8 as well:

** Episode 11

** And in episode 11:

** Also from episode 11:

** Episode 12:

'''Kyubey''' {{spoiler|[[Oh Crap|That's treason against the wish itself! Do you really want to become a god?]]}} }}

** [[Rule of Three|And finally from Episode 12]]

* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]]: In Episode 7, after having her advice rejected by Sayaka, Kyoko is shown furiously taking bites out of an apple.

* [[What Have I Become?]]: Kyoko's reaction {{spoiler|after learning the [[Awful Truth]]}}. Her previous arrogant nature is completely dropped, and she's ''openly horrified''.

** {{spoiler|Heavens no, she's a ''lich'', which is [[Comically Missing the Point|much better than just a zombie.]]}}

* [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic]]: [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|There is no way that]] Homura could be {{spoiler|[[Faust]]}}, Madoka couldn't possibly be {{spoiler|Gretchen}}, and Kyubey representing {{spoiler|Mephistopheles/Satan}}? [[Sarcasm Mode|Patently absurd.]]

 

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{{spoiler|[[Reconstruction|you are not alone.]]}} }}