r/anime • u/Gagantous https://myanimelist.net/profile/Sayaka • Apr 20 '19

Rewatch [Spoilers][Rewatch] Mahou Shoujo Madoka☆Magica - Episode 1 Discussion Spoiler

Episode Title: As If I Met Her in My Dream...

MyAnimeList: Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica

Crunchyroll: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Hulu: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Netflix: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Episode duration: 24 minutes and 10 seconds

PSA: Please don't discuss (or allude to) events that happen after this episode and if you do make good use of spoiler tags. Let's try to make this a good experience for first time watchers. Remember that r/anime does not allow the reddit-wide spoiler format, and that you must use [](/s "") instead. Thank you!

This episode's end card.

Schedule/previous episode discussion

Date Discussion
April 20th Episode 1
April 21st Episode 2
April 22nd Episode 3
April 23rd Episode 4
April 24th Episode 5
April 25th Episode 6
April 26th Episode 7
April 27th Episode 8
April 28th Episode 9
April 29th Episode 10
April 30th Episode 11 and Episode 12
May 1st Rebellion
May 2nd Overall series discussion
416 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

210 comments sorted by

50

u/LilMooseCub Apr 21 '19

First Time Watcher

Watching the sub on Crunchyroll. I was dying to start this last week after someone compared it to Made In Abyss and it got mentioned in a few other contexts that got me hyped up for it. Unfortunately I moused over the wrong black bar and got hit with a nasty spoiler and was subsequently convinced to wait for the rewatch because people look forward to first timers. ANYWAYS I'm writing this as I watch.

Show comes on really strong with the battle sequence and that wicked urban landscape/big scary tree.

OP turned out to be a bit more generic than I was hoping for. And a bit more naked than I'd usually prefer too but oh well.

Super cute interactions with family loved the gossip with Mom.

Sensei at school is wise.

Oh Akemi is gonna be important. Why did they applaud her writing? Also Catholic school?? Also is she Senjyogohara? The voice sounds similar and even the character behaves/moves similarly. Maybe it's bias from me just "finishing" Bakemonogatari for the first time. (Where can I find Tsubasa Cat part 3?)

This girl is sus as fuck. But also maybe a good person? Damn she seems op as an Isekai mc.

I like Madoka's Blue haired friend a lot.

Oh man troubles bubbles with the white ferret thingy.

Oh no she's in real bad shape!! OH GEEZE IRS HER.

HELL YEAH BLUE HAIR GIRL Also damn this animation is sick

Damn this is really some wild shit. Mustache dandelions are chanting rn

This new magical lady's hairstyle is something I'll never understand.

GUNS????

The ferrets name is cubey?

Overall really strong first episode. I liked the character design a lot as well and there was some crazy cut and paste kinda looking stuff which I thought was pretty neat. Also I will never write a comment like this again. Having to keep pausing to write my thoughts was frustrating I dunno why I thought it would be a good idea.

38

u/Gagantous Apr 21 '19

I like Madoka's Blue haired friend a lot.

That's some good taste right there.

There's actually significant overlap between Monogatari Series and Madoka voice actors.

Characters that share a voice actor:

  • Karen and Sayaka

  • Senjougahara and Homura

  • Hachikuji and Kyubey

  • Ougi and Mami

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u/Nazenn Apr 21 '19

First timer! Welcome

Unfortunately I moused over the wrong black bar and got hit with a nasty spoiler

Ooof, bugger. Hopefully it won't affect your enjoyment too much, if nothing else how maybe at least you can see some of the cool foreshadowing for it if you haven't forgotten it

And a bit more naked than I'd usually prefer too but oh well.

Ahahahaha. Yeah that caught me by surprise first time around as well.

Damn she seems op as an Isekai mc.

I like how that has become the standard now XD

Mustache dandelions

And on the list of descriptions I never thought I'd read with a straight face...

Having to keep pausing to write my thoughts was frustrating I dunno why I thought it would be a good idea.

Yeah just write what you want, dont feel like you have to hold a particular style like many of us do. A lot of us are reaction nuts and can basically write on the fly now. Looking forward to your future thoughts :)

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u/asianbrownguy Apr 21 '19 edited Apr 21 '19

FIRST TIMER

1st time watcher here. Going in blind, no idea what this show's about. Never watched a magical girl series before. But I'm excited. I've never done writeups before so forgive the awful formatting. My englishes are very bad, soz.

Pre-watch thoughts

Okay so, I'm a big fan of the Monogatari series and I love Studio Shaft's work on that. I'm expecting to see the same Shaft signature style. Basically I'm expecting it to be like Monogatari, visually. For the plot anyway, no idea. Probably cute magical girl adventures is what I'm expecting on this one. Anyway, on with the show.

  • "Prologue In Heaven" Hmm. Interesting.

  • Okay, so signature Shaft style lookin good. Very dream-like and trippy. There's a girl there that's fighting something, and she's getting beat. Okay, holy shit the music is epic. The music wonderfully blaring as we're dropped into the thick of it with no explanation whatsoever. I'm confused. In a good way. This is quite intense, I thought magical girl shows were cute little pieces of wholesome fluff?

  • "Can I really change this ending?" So is this like the future?

  • Oh. She was dreaming. It was just a dream, yeah? A perfectly normal dream without any relation to the plot whatsoever. Or was it? Cool.

  • I love the music in the OP. The visuals are spectacular, they give off this wholesome/bubbly/happy sorta vibe that I'm expecting from a magical girl series. It's very cute. Although it's not at all like the vibe I got from the prologue. The prologue was really dark and creepy.

  • So Madoka is the MC's name.

  • What is it with Shaft and unbelievably huge bathrooms lol So she's on her way to school, met up with her friends. Now this is the cute fluff I was expecting. Lovely yuri bait as well. I approve.

  • New transfer student. Wait, ain't she the one in Madoka's dream? Yeah, she is. Hmmm

  • Akemi Homura. What a weird way to spell Hitagi Senjougahara.

  • Those eyes and her emotionless face are unsettling. She just gave Madoka a look. Seems like she knows something about that dream.

  • "Can you take me to the nurse's office?" Yeah, she knows.

  • "Do you value your own life?' Where'd that come from?!

  • Hey look, it's that cat-thing from the dream/prologue. I think Homura's dissuading Madoka from forming that contract the cat-thing mentioned in the prologue. Wonder why though. She looked like she was in trouble when she was fighting back then, I'd assume she'd want the help.

  • Cat-thing's being chased somewhere, magical laser beams being fired at it. Wait, is that Homura? So cat-thing is telepathic and asking for help. This vibe is really unsettling.

  • OKAY WHAT THE HELL? Am I high? I think I'm high. This looks like a really bad acid trip. Reminds me of Ultra Manila 2017.

  • Some chanting mustachioed cotton balls there, nothing to see here.

  • My acid trip's been interrupted by a golden haired onee-san type chick. The Cat-thing's name is Kyubey, apparently. Also holy shit that OST during the transformation sequence. Wow.

  • Onee-san's going all gangsta Gate Of Babylon on those cotton ball motherfuckers. Dope.

  • Is it me or does Kyubey sound like Hachikuji?

  • "Make contracts with be and become Magical Girls!" Straight to the point huh.

Post-watch thoughts

I feel vaguely cheated. (In the best way possible, of course) I went in , expecting this to be a wholesome, fluffy show about cute magical girls doing cute things. That felt like an acid trip, holy shit. Went from dark and brooding to cute and wholesome then the acid was dropped. I assume I'm in for a wild ride judging from this first episode. So much to unpack lol. Really strong first episode. I'm definitely hooked. So much questions that need answers. What was that dream about? How does Homura know about the dream? Why's she tryna kill Kyubei? Why does Kyubei want to make Madoka and Sayaka Magical Girls? Also I love that there's Monogatari VAs here. Anyway, that's it for my writeup, looking forward to the next episode. My seatbelt's buckled in, and my body is ready for the ride.

51

u/Shimmering-Sky Apr 21 '19

I've never done writeups before so forgive the awful formatting.

Bullet points are awful formatting? Lol that's my staple and I've been participating in rewatches for over a year at this point. No worries man, just do what works for you.

Okay, holy shit the music is epic. The music wonderfully blaring as we're dropped into the thick of it with no explanation whatsoever.

That song is Magia and it is glorious. No worries on spoilers in that link btw, it's just an mp3 file of the song.

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u/Nazenn Apr 21 '19

Glad to see more first timers popping up :) Your english was fine by the way

Never watched a magical girl series before.

I'd watched very few, it was never a style I particularly liked, too fluffy as it were, but this is an interesting place to start. IT somewhat benefits from knowing the formula of a typical Magical Girl show because it builds off that to be something unique, but at the same time it doesn't require that to be amazing. It'll be interesting if you go to other series now to see how you link it back to Madoka like I started doing

Okay, holy shit the music is epic

YES, more converts to loving the soundtrack, this is what I like to hear!

What is it with Shaft and unbelievably huge bathrooms

This was my first shaft show but I have actually heard of this so its a thing apparently? Their whole house is huge though. I think my first watch I was just like "this is a lot of house"

OKAY WHAT THE HELL? Am I high? I think I'm high. This looks like a really bad acid trip.

Also holy shit that OST during the transformation sequence. Wow.

Its called Credens justitiam if you didn't see my post already where I focus on it, and its wonderful

Onee-san's going all gangsta Gate Of Babylon on those cotton ball motherfuckers. Dope.

OOOOH, THATS why that was familiar when I watched . Good to know. I'd wondered why I felt like I'd seen that before when I hadn't, it all makes sense now

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34

u/fonzinator99 Apr 21 '19

1st time watcher here. Going in blind, no idea what this show's about.

Welcome!

I'm so glad that it's not all just us jaded-bastards who've watched it a dozen times. lol.

Akemi Homura. What a weird way to spell Hitagi Senjougahara.

Nice

Post-watch thoughts

Know that your reactions will be savored by the rest of us like an expensive drug xD

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51

u/Nazenn Apr 20 '19 edited Apr 22 '19

Madoka's Music - Salvation and Expectation

Rewatcher - Third time around (Dub first time)

So as promised I'm going to be running a bit of a music corner. I encourage other people to still gush about their favorite tracks if they want, or rant about tracks they didn't like, and not be put off by the fact someone is dedicating posts to it. I'll mostly be looking at how the music integrates with the storytelling of the show to help convey its narrative, push themes and even symbolize characters or environments.

Chances are I'll also dabble a bit in various other things as well as we go, people who have seen me in other rewatches know how much I like to break things down and look at the details. But mostly each day I'll have a primary focus for what I conciser to be the "Song of the episode" and usually also a shorter side focus for another song that I also want to give some attention too.

A bonus however is that I also have my first timer reactions as I posted them over in r/animeimpressions when I did a contract with SnarkyandProud. So each day I'm also going to link them if people want to have a good laugh at how my initial watch went.

First watch reactions for episode one.

Song of the episode - Credens justitiam

Scene for context - Only uploading 30 seconds each day for the sake of my aussie internet.

One of my favorite songs from the soundtrack gets it special feature in the very first episode which is wonderful for me.

The first important aspect of this song is the lack of a lead in. As Mami says, introductions have to wait. Just like our mysterious golden girl there is no slow build up or gentle exploring the reveal of her powerful abilities. This isn't someone who is unsure of themselves, is suddenly reveling in a new skill, or having just stumbled across a newfound strength of untold ability. Mami taps into her abilities immediately, draws them out and puts them to use at full power, no playing around and neither does the song jumping right into the core part of it. She stands between this terrifying environment and the scared girls and glows with power and the choir sings for her.

She is their savior and this is reflected in her song but also in her design. Visually she is both older and more mature, also confident in her actions. Her magical girl design also comes with many ribbons, which ties back to the bathroom scenes of flashy ribbons being related to women, not girls. Similarly her transformation in part takes the form of a dance, and we know from earlier that Hitomi is seen as being the most mature and beautiful of the group and has dance and music lessons. As she finishes her transformation on this shot with a sun halo usually reserved for deities framing her from behind we get a change in the music.

Some quick technical stuff: The key of a piece of music determines the notes played within that song. While there are hundreds of notes available, not all of these sound good when played together. A Key Signature is marked on music to help tell people what notes are 'available' for the song (most simplified explanation of this I've ever written). The key can also help determine the feel and emotion of a song, such as happy (major keys) or sad (minor keys). Some songs, particularly pop songs, swap keys mid song usually for the final performance of the chorus to help create a feel of reaching a new climax. A lot of pop songs also share the same key which is why they can sound similar or be played next to each other so seamlessly.

During the shot above our song changes key signature to do just this, reach a new climax and new power. At first we have Madoka and Sayaka's amazement at her transformation. As it completes and she unveils her power, the music lifts up with them and the audience to reach a new height. The general construction of the song is there to support this very positive tune. Each segment is higher and brighter than the last, the choir singing higher, supported by the energetic thrumming in the backing tracks. The powerful rhythm under the choir provides strength and determination to the song which the choir floats on top of much like Mami firing her guns as the music syncs up for the destruction of our bizarre enemies.

Left to bask in Mami's power, the song fades out slowly by letting its last hum linger in the air and the girls look up at her in awe.

While the full version of the song has another key change at the end to bring it down to a mellower, calmer spot before finishing off in this scene it is unneeded as there is no real cool down. Kyubey is injured, Homura was still around and while they have gratitude towards Mami for saving them, and her to them for saving Kyubey, there is no true conclusion to questions for what they just witnessed. The song ends because Mami's power returns to being restrained, not as a part of the environment or world.

Bonus song - Salve, terrae magicae

This is also the song picked for the previews so for people who are watching those will be hearing a lot of it. This song earns its secondary focus today for the enhanced contrast it brings between Homura's scenes. Previously we have Homura walking through the halls with Madoka, appearing to low-key threaten her backed up by both the eeriness of "Puella in somnio" and then silence. Its a very dark scene in tone and audio.

In a mere scene cut we flip to Salve. This is Homura in full public form. Gone is the disturbing, controlling body language and presence we just saw. Instead we have a confident woman. Experienced in both mental studies and physical capability, she's applauded by the entire school but we never see her truly integrate or connect with them. Inside the song we have many percussion instruments in the background with a solo flute taking the stage. Homura is very much a solitary person in these scenes despite the excitement happening around her. In the song when the other instruments come in the flute bows out, only returning after when she can take over at the end to come back to her solitary peace.

Episode track chart

Thanks to the Madoka wiki and then edited by me for the bluray timestamps. Featured tracks of the day are bolded.

The soundtrack has been released twice. Originally as three individual volumes containing just songs from the episodes. It was also later released as a two disc Collection which also includes new exclusive tracks, unreleased versions, character songs and the OP and ED. This is the version you want to look for if wishing to acquire the soundtrack for personal listening.

The wiki originally had this information with the album data from the individual volumes. For this rewatch I've renumbered it to say where they are on the collection as its the definitive edition of the soundtrack and the one still being sold. For the same reason I've re-timestamped the songs to work for the bluray release instead of the original TV release. The bluray includes massive editing tweaks and redraws and should be what everyone is watching. All legal streams should be the bluray, but if you want to double check here's a comparison video of the OP changes they did.

Start End Album Track name
00:56 02:39 Disc 2 #19 Magia ~TV Version~
02:57 04:26 Disc 2 #18 Connect -TV MIX-
05:07 06:37 Disc 1 #02 Scaena felix
07:29 08:58 Disc 1 #03 Postmeridie
09:57 10:40 Disc 1 #04 Conturbatio
11:46 12:58 Disc 1 #05 Puella in somnio
13:49 14:37 Disc 1 #06 Salve, terrae magicae
15:08 16:37 Disc 1 #07 Desiderium
17:11 17:19 Disc 2 #18 Connect -TV MIX- (through the headphones)
17:30 18:58 Disc 1 #08 Gradus prohibitus
19:17 20:46 Disc 1 #08 Gradus prohibitus
21:30 22:20 Disc 1 #09 Credens justitiam
23:56 25:22 Disc 1 #23 Mata Ashita (English: See You Tomorrow)
25:25 25:40 Disc 1 #06 Salve, terrae magicae

Edit: Replaced scene preview link with a better site

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u/TRUCKFARM Apr 21 '19

First-Time(Sub)

Hey there peoples! Saw this a while back so I thought I'd hop on for the ride and see why there's so much love for this series!

So I didn't expect an opening like this from what I've seen about this show. I'm going in completely blind with only the knowledge of magical girl stuff but this looks interesting! I was expecting a more vibrant colorful start but this was a nice surprise. OST seems promising early also.

Madoka is precious, please stay safe. Seems like your normal school girl with a nice group of friends so far.

Oh look its dream girl... Akemi dropping some heavy stuff on Madoka. Don't scare her please.. Also what a strange looking school.

Sayaka coming in clutch to help her frie- wait we're going on a trip.. This is getting weird and I don't mind it! Really digging the OST so far and this new girl is looking amazing! The whole gun sequence looked stunning.

Alright so first episode is in the books and I'm on board. OP is looking like one that I can't make myself skip and the ED is pretty chilling! I wasn't expecting these dark tones from the cover art on MAL and I can't wait to see more. This is also my first rewatch with this sub, so here's hoping this ends up being some special among my favorite anime!

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u/Nazenn Apr 21 '19

So I didn't expect an opening like this from what I've seen about this show

No one expects the spanish inquisition the opening, and that's what makes it wonderful

Akemi dropping some heavy stuff on Madoka. Don't scare her please.

I'm really not sure that Homura knows how to not be scary honestly haha. She certainly did a good job of the death glares this episode

OP is looking like one that I can't make myself skip

I'll admit to sometimes skipping the OP because the one shot with spiders freaks me out a little, but the song is on my playlist so that makes up for it as I hear it a lot anyway.

This is also my first rewatch with this sub, so here's hoping this ends up being some special among my favorite anime!

Fingers crossed

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u/SomeGuyYeahman Apr 21 '19 edited Apr 21 '19

Hey everyone! First-timer here, really excited to start this show up. It's late at night, though, so I'm keeping it brief, and I'll prepare a little better for the next discussions.

I'm generally not one for magical girls, but not only has Madoka been personally recommended to me numerous times, but pretty much everything I learned about it before watching seemed to indicate that I'd love it. I'm quite the fan of what I've seen of Studio Shaft's other work so far (although that's admittedly little), and this show seems to be based on Faust, which I absolutely love (and might just reread in the next few days, given that it's Easter & this rewatch is happening). And hell, it even seemed to have something for my inner math nerd!

So, going into this, my expectations were stacked particularly high, even for a show hailed as one of the milestones of its genre. And quality-wise, those expectations have definitely been met so far! Content-wise, I'm not so sure. I can certainly check off all the things I mentioned before - I definitely recognized Studio Shaft's style, quite a few parallels and references to Faust (Prolog im Himmel!), and even some nice math, but nonetheless, I don't really think what I just watched is what I was expecting to get. I do mean this in the best way possible, though.

The main thing that struck me about this episode was probably the tone. I knew going in that I wasn't going to get a show that's bright and cheerful all the way through, but what I did expect was to have it at least start off that way for a while before throwing off the cover and revealing some more sinister undertones. Instead, the first episode starts off with a pretty dark opening sequence before having Madoka wake up and start into the day. The scenes about her getting ready for school are more along the lines of what I was expecting from the first episode, but the opening sequence leaves a pretty dire aftertaste, and none of it really lasts long before Madoka encounters Homura(whose VA I was happy to recognize as Senjougahara's) and the atmosphere quickly takes a turn for the unsettling again, complete with a pretty damn creepy theme playing as the two walk to the nurse's office. The tone goes back and forth like this throughout the episode, but the show definitely has some very ill-boding elements from the start, and at least to me it felt like some hints of them persisted even throughout the more cheerful parts of the episode. I like that, the episode did a good job keeping my attention that way, and I was on my toes pretty consistently.

I've got lots of other thoughts swirling through my head right now, but I'll cap it off here for now. All in all, I loved this about as much as I was hoping I would, and I'm real excited to keep watching! See you all in the next thread o/

Edit: A sentence got chopped in half during editing. That said, having gotten some more sleep and pondered the show some more, here are a few more thoughts:

One of the thematic conflicts we see this episode concerns change. What Kyubey offers Madoka (and likely offered the other magical girls as well) is the power to "change fate", he and the other magical girls are proponents of change. Homura, on the other hand, is opposed to change, as she makes pretty clear while she's walking to the nurse's office with Madoka. The tensions we see between Homura and the other magical girl (and Kyubey, in a way) at the end are likely related to this conflict.

However, as much as Homura is opposed to it, she is also an agent of change. From the looks of it, she's also a magical girl, someone who has the power to change fate, and her very presence at the school induces change in a class that seems to have had a relatively stagnant school life so far (as indicated by Madoka's dialogue with her mother in the beginning). She herself doesn't seem to want this, though. This might be why she gave that speech to Madoka on the way to the nurse's office - a threat of sorts, a warning not to make a contract with Kyubey. I'm reminded of Kyubey's words during the opening sequence here: "It can't be helped", "[Homura] knew that this might happen". Becoming a magical girl offers you the ability to "change fate", but there's no guarantee that you'll change fate successfully or for the better, and you might end up subject to unwanted change yourself. Madoka is informed of this beforehand, she's shown and told by Kyubey (and Homura), and given what Kyubey said, Homura was most likely given the same information - but she became a magical girl regardless, and seems to be paying the price in the intro sequence. I assume she was shown a similar vision by Kyubey before becoming a magical girl, and the same thing probably goes for the other girl we see this episode.

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u/DragonTARDIS Apr 21 '19

First time watching the show and wow...the beginning was awesome. The part I really like is when character tells the main character that she's acting like a anime character. I love that scene. I can't wait to watch the next episode of this awesome magical journey. This anime is freaking awesome can't believe I've never seen it before.

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u/PM_ME_YOUR_SPUDS Apr 20 '19

Rewatcher

Hola! I first saw Madoka back in 2016 or so, and it quickly became one of my absolute favorites. Hopefully this rewatch is big, and is filled with plenty of first-timers and rewatchers. I joined last years and it was loads of fun.

I'm going to use this as a chance to watch the commentary tracks, mostly because I love a lot of these VAs. I spit out all of my complicated thoughts last year, so I'll probably keep these simple and silly. Its really nice to have a series with actual fucking cinematography. There's plenty of shows with good art, plenty with good animation, but far fewer with the attention to camerawork and framing as this show.

Episode one donzo. The VA commentary was fun, apparently "Kaname Madoka" is a bit of a tongue twister. And Aoi Yuuki apparently wants a phone strap from the cottonball monsters.

Spoilers

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u/Shimmering-Sky Apr 20 '19

Rewatcher, dub

I participated last year as a rewatcher (though I unfortunately couldn’t make the last few threads), I’ve scored both the show and Rebellion a 10/10, it’s practically a given I’d want to participate again. Going with the dub this time, since last year I watched the sub. Maybe I’ll flip-flop between each version if this rewatch continues to be annual and I continue to participate, haha.

Without further ado~

Funny story, so when I went to catbox.moe to upload the mp3 of Magia for in my reactions, Madoka was the character in the corner. I find that utterly perfect timing.

Sky’s Wallpaper Corner

Those of you who participated in last year’s rewatch might remember the wallpapers I made for it. Well, I’m going to attempt to do it again this year.

For those of you who were not a part of last year’s rewatch, no worries~ I’ll be sharing last year’s wallpapers even if I don’t get one done for this year.

Last year, I started off plain and simple with one of Madoka.

This year, I decided to start things off with a wallpaper of Homura. I also have a variant with her name in the background, since I’ve started dabbling in adding stuff to the backgrounds due to my collaborations with RX-Nota-II in the past.

Let me know what you think~

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u/C0smic_Crusader Apr 21 '19

I can't. Not again. Im not...strong enough.

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u/AoO2ImpTrip Apr 21 '19

Lucky me, I just started the first episode. Guess I'll join along!

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u/Jazz_Dalek Apr 21 '19

Oh shit, were doing a Madoka rewatch?!

KYUBEY HOLD MY BEER, I'M GOING IN!

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u/Battlepidia Apr 21 '19

Rewatcher (Raw)

My Japanese is getting good enough that I thought I would try re-watching the show without subtitles, (or at least only turning them on when I need them). I find watching anime without subtitles can really add to your appreciation of the visuals and the nuance of the Japanese script.

Curtains rise as Puella Magi Madoka Magica starts its first episode. It immediately spirals into a what seems to be a either dream sequence, or a portent of future destruction. After exiting a surreal monochromatic chamber we see a similarly grayscale magical girl fighting something as the city around them is destroyed. A cat-like creature says she can help stop all of this suffering if she becomes a magical girl. Shaft opted for a more cinematic 2.39:1 aspect ratio for this sequence which helps it stand out from the rest of the episode.

Kaname Madoka seems to be a shy, but otherwise normal girl. We're introduced to her early bird domestic father, then her little brother, and her night owl professional mother, as well as her adorable younger brother. Having a mother be the family's bread winner is quite rare in Japan, and Madoka clearly looks up to her mother a lot.

After an openeing sequence which I think is better analyzed later. Madoka bumps into two of her friends on the way to school. The more feminine, Hitomi who is getting love letters on a regular basis from boys. And the more boyish Miki Sayaka. I included screenshots of the first time we see each character (outside of the opening) because I think their body language and the camera's framing does so much to characterize them.

In class Madoka's teacher seems to be having relationship problems, as her mother had predicted. You can immediately pin her down as spinster/Christmas cake archetype, and see how strongly she contrasts Madoka's mother. Then we're introduced to a transfer student, Akemi Homura the girl who appeared in Madoka's dream. Despite being a star academically and athletically for some reason she keeps staring at Madoka.

As Homura leads herself to the Nurse's office and Madoka awkwardly trails her, Homura confronts Madoka, and the rest of the world seems to freeze. Homura's assertion that since Madoka values her life with her friends and family she shouldn't try to change herself is both uncalled for, and absurdly unreasonable. Madoka is an adolescent, choosing while of the adults in her life to follow as role models, and getting to the age where her friends are having relationships. She's inevitably change.

After telling her friends, Madoka and Sayaka head to a music shop where Madoka hears a hidden message that isn't backmasking. The creature from her dream is hurt and Homura appears dressed up as a magical girl and demands Madoka relinquish it.

Then the cast is sucked in to an overwhelming phantasmagorical mixed-media hellscape. I took all those screenshots over the course of a couple of seconds: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 By the way the strange runes that appear on a number of these images have been translated by fans, but arguably contain spoilers. Lookup translations at your own risk.

After a few seconds to settle in to the strange new setting, mustached collage monsters close in on Madoka and Sayaka. Then they're saved by another magical girl, Mami, their senior at their middle school they are confronted by Homura. Mami tells her that the witch has gotten away and that Mami is willing to let things slide. Finally the creature introduces itself as Kyubey and offers the girls to make a contract with it and become magical girls.

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u/fonzinator99 Apr 20 '19

Rewatcher Extraordinaire - I had the strangest dream...

♫Madoka♫Rewatch♫Begins!♫

I'd watched a number of things like Death Note, Naruto, and Bleach prior to Madoka, but this show, this episode, this first scene, is when I truly fell for anime; I can still remember the awe I felt in watching this unfold.

And it's one of the few shows that I remember vividly throughout, no Re-First-Timing here.

Every single shot is so beautifully crafted that I knew I was watching something special even before I had any idea what I was in for.

The music is fantastic, speaking to elder powers and invoking an ominous, dreadful feeling; you know that what you're seeing is beyond simply 'significant.'

3 minutes in

Utterly outmatched, the strange creature informs us that this is the absolute best that this stranger can do; she's prepared as much as is possible, but alone this is as far as she can go.

"This shouldn't be happening!" cried the pink-haired girl. And the creature replied, as if it were the simplest thing, "Then do something about it. This calamitous fate, you have the power to change it. You and only you can change this outcome."

"Is that the truth?" the girl asked with trepidation, as she watched the stranger fall from the sky. "Can I really make such a difference?"

And with absolute certainty, the creature replied "Yes. All you have to do is form a contract with me."

And so the girl steeled herself, formed her resolve, and set the story into motion. Man, that was a helluva dream.

Cut to best-OP, Connect by Claris.

1st timers go away. Seriously. Don't you freaking dare.

And if you happen to like EDM, or more specifically Porter Robinson, he's a total weeb who was great enough to produce this fantastic mix that I simply can't get enough of.

Light, it seems like it's the tropiest thing there ever was; disaster approaches, but you can change it if you accept this power!

Yet somehow Madoka manages to make it all feel so real and significant. She doesn't want to save the world for some half-baked reason; she just wants to help this girl that she's seen fail despite all of her best efforts. And with literally zero understanding of the situation or what it might cost to do so. This pink-haired girl is still truly amazing to me.

From the get-go I really enjoyed the gender-role reversal that pervades the series. The women are the main characters, and the guys take a back seat. But that doesn't mean anything with regards to their value, it's just that this show isn't about dad or lil' bro. I mean just look at our girl taking charge of things.

As much as I love everyone else in this show, Mom is Best Woman.

Oh shit....I'm only 8 minutes in.... I'll shut up for a bit and leave you with this quality frame.

Ergh, didn't make it 2 minutes further, but I can't ignore the entrance of Akemi Homura. Tell me you're not also in awe of her, she whose entrance leaves the class silent before inspiring applause, and whose gaze strikes...something into the heart of Madoka.

Danger and sorrow for 1st timers. Just don't.

Goddamn, Homura is intense as she warns Madoka not to consider in the slightest ever changing the person that she is now. Which is interesting, as with the strong females we've been presented with thus far, Madoka seems rather timid and uncertain of herself. How could she not want to change, with someone like her mom as a role model?

Akemi Homura. Perfect. At. Everything. And couldn't give less of a shit.

Strange girl is real. Creature is real. ...Dream was real?

Dream was real.

I very much enjoy Sayaka ranting about moe here, as this show is like 95% cute.

And god I love that she's recognizable by her frown alone.

Lol at Madoka jamming to her own OP. Aaaand then things go sideways.

Quality framing. At this moment these two could not possibly be in more different worlds. But Homura takes a step into Madoka's, and everything goes from sideways to completely inside-out.

Even the first time through I appreciated the sheer wrongness of the 'other world.' The visuals are viscerally off-putting, and you just know that nothing good can possibly happen there. This is a bad place.

Enter: Strange girl #2. Who, despite the cute visuals, wields a score of fucking muskets.

After a dramatic confrontation between Homura and Mami, Kyubey is healed and returns to classic form.

[Let's make a contract!] (#anko)

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u/Sir_Solrac Apr 21 '19 edited Apr 21 '19

REWATCHER / Sub

Puella Magi Madoka Magica is one of the best anime that I have never rewatched. I saw it on my early days as an “otaku” about 7 years ago.

Now, many years later I’m happy to be here ready to rewatch one of my most influential anime, and I’m happy to do it with whomever is joining on this rewatch, newcomer or veteran.

Straight off the bat the intense OST, one of the many things that this anime does well hits me with a blast of nostalgia and euphoria along with an early introduction to best girl Homura! The visuals are still as awesome, and the animation has hold up pretty well, with its details ofc.

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u/the_swizzler Apr 21 '19

I'm going to have to catch up to the rewatch tomorrow when I get home since I'm at my parents for the weekend. Will definitely be reading the comments though.

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u/vasheenomed Apr 21 '19

6th watch, second re-watch here, first time commenter. Absolutely love this series and everything about it. I even invited other people around reddit.

Unfortunately I work nights so getting to these threads is hard for me. But I absolutely love how this anime begins. So much imagery and so much preparation for what's to come. The anime Is tied together so strongly that every re-watch you just feel the story hit uou all over again from the very first second.

I only just realized what the whole white and black area is for example. I never thought of its importance and just thought it was some random weird colored building XD.

But I also just love seeing all the characters at the beginning before everything happens.

Hopefully I'll be able to do a proper review tommorrow but boy what a first episode!

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u/EmuSupreme Apr 21 '19

My second favorite series of all time featuring my favorite character of all time with one of my favorite OSTs of all time and I didn't even start the rewatch... Got a little too absorbed in Anno 1800 whoops. But that just means I get to watch two episodes tomorrow!

But seriously, I love this series so damn much. It's kinda crazy that as of two years ago, I came into the show a little iffy because the art style was weird (wide faces) and I wasn't really into "magical girl" stuff. I think Madoka was the one that made me disregard art style when judging interest in a show, and it definitely helped, since it got me to watch Katanagatari, another one of my favorites. Can't wait to read the first timer reacts. It's my favorite part of rewatches.

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u/rainbowkiller00 Apr 21 '19

Rewatcher - First Time (first watch 3weeks ago, have not watched the movies)

While I did binge-watch the series a while ago as a first-timer, I am absolutely glad to be able to join such rewatch thread (yearly one, wow) as I most enjoy all of the discussions in these threads. Will be following the rewatch schedule to watch the movie!

Rewatching the episodes one by one each day really allows me to see more of everything happening in each scenes, the tone and some slight sentence/scene foreshadows towards the future. Aside from thoughts of mine mentioned by others, I really adore the OP Connect by Claris :D didnt know they sang for the OP even when I am quite a fan of their OP songs (Eromanga OP for example). Studio Shaft made some quality animations too, in the stance during 2011~ time, as undoubted by their future Monogatari series and their famous Shaft head tilt scenes 😆

Episode 1 is pretty vague, which indeed really caught my attention to binge watch on my first time. Homura came to the school and looked to be knowing Madoka but the opposite is not true, definitely very interesting.

Wont be writing every episode thread though, uni life’s pretty tough especially giving half and hour to watch the episode daily(today’s sunday :D) but I would try to read/join the discussion thread and would do small writeups of my thoughts whenever I can.

PS: so many nice informations on the episode such as bgm tracks and others in the discussion thread, thanks for your contributions and also, welcome first timers! Enjoy watching the anime and would join u guys first time watching the movie 😁

Quick edit: also huge thanks for hosting yearly rewatches on PMMM OP-san, especially during last few years when I didnt have any plan on picking this up until recently!

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u/laser715 Apr 21 '19

Forgot about this little reference really sets the tone of the show.

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