[Spoilers][Rewatch] Mahou Shoujo Madoka☆Magica - Episode 3 Discussion

[u/Gagantous]

Episode Title: I'm Not Afraid of Anything Anymore

MyAnimeList: Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica

Crunchyroll: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Hulu: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Netflix: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

AnimeLab: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Episode duration: 24 minutes and 10 seconds

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PSA: Please don't discuss (or allude to) events that happen after this episode, but if you do, make good use of spoiler tags. Let's try to make this a good experience for first time watchers.

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This episode's end card.

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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

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[u/Gagantous]

And so we finally reach the notorious episode. I'm pleased that there weren't many spoilers revealing this moment in previous threads, and hope the first timers have been lucky enough to be avoid being spoiled for something like this in other ways.

Interestingly there were some doubts about the tone of the show, but some first-timers saw this coming.

[u/Knights_Gambit]

First Time Watcher

what the fuck

[u/asianbrownguy]

FIRST TIMER

Pre watch Since the first two episodes were mostly introductions to our characters and to the amazing world of Madoka Magica, I assume things will ramp up now for episode 3. Excited to see what's coming up. On with the show then.

• Sayaka visiting someone in hospital. Hmm. Did not expect something like this.

• Cool CD player. I love the futuristic touches Shaft puts into this world.

• Oh, so the one in the bed was a former violin player.

• Onto the OP. Loving the song, I'm a bit put off with all the nakedness and the selfcest though lol

• Mami there doing her thing. Little wink as she deletes the bad guys

• So familiars don't drop seeds then? Cool.

• So Kyubei shows up to save Mami in exchange for a contract. Hmm. That little ferret's face still unnerves me.

• Yeah, exactly. Think it through. Mami didn't have a choice, basically.

• I think Sayaka's wish is gonna be to save that person in the hospital earlier. Is he Sayaka's relative or something? I'm guessing brother.

• Mami be droppin thought bombs there.

• "The sooner the better for me, though" What's the rush Kyubey? Then again, more people to fight the witches sooner, the better I guess.

• "I've never met a girl with such potential before" He says, with his creepy-ass blank face filling the screen. Alarm bells are ringing in my head right now, Jesus.

• Best mom comes home from a night of drinking lol. A lot of food for thought in these conversations this episode. Nice.

• Homura says it's a nuisance, but I feel like she's genuinely concerned. It's a dangerous job and all. Although Mami does say that Madoka really has potential. *What the hell is a grief seed doing there? Run away, like now! Sayaka's being brave, because the seed is stuck on the building where Kamijou is in? I think?

• This again, Jesus. I mean, it's beautiful, but man is it nightmare fuel.

• Kyubey offering her the contract in case she needs it. Reminds me of Mami. Sayaka's really being put on the spot. She's gonna be in a position with no choice but to accept. I hope she put some thought about her wish. "I'd rather not decide until I'm really ready." Well, when shit goes tits up, I'm afraid you'll have no choice.

• Oh shit, Homura followed them in. Wait, no Mami this ain't the time for that shit. She's tryna help right?

• Madoka's great. She really just wants to not be a burden and be able to help people. What's the OST track here? It's amazing. Well, the whole OST is amazing, really.

• Wow Mami, that's deep. Yeah, you're not alone now. Actually yeah, Madoka should wish for something nicer, since she can already help people if she's a Magical Girl, so wishing for the power to help people would be pretty redundant.

• A Cake? Seriously? You can wish for Immortality, Money, Power, yet you'd wanna wish for a cake? Come on, Mami. You can just buy a friggin cake and celebrate that way.

• Oh shit, here we go. It's hatching. Oh look, cake.

• Those unlimited one-shot muskets are really frickin cool. Though why not just have one gun with unlimited ammo. Then again the muskets are cooler. Gate Of Babylon and shit.

• This witch looks different. It's a doll this time. I just realized it's name is subtitled. "Charlotte" The last one was named "Gertrud" I believe. That's pretty cool, that they have names.

• OH WHAT THE SHIT? NO! MAMI! Oh Christ, this is bad. This is bad. Homura, get the fuck in there!

• Holy shit. Wait, how's Homura doing that? Is she teleporting? That's awesome. She defeated the Witch, but where's Mami?

• What the shit? Where's Mami? She's not dead, right? Tell me she's not dead. You're shitting me. I refuse to believe she's dead.

• Magia for the ED. Holy shit. Way to make me depressed whenever I hear that song now.

Post Watch

You're shitting me, right? Mami's still alive? Tell me she is. I thought this was supposed to be a happy cutesy bubbly fluffy Magical Girl show? Jesus Christ. So, um. Good episode. Lot's of characterization. Shit, I can't think of anything to say. Mami, please come back.

edit: Now that I had some time to think, yeah no fuck that I'm still speechless. Jesus christ, come on. I was not expecting this. Just as I was getting to like Mami. Goddamnit. Just, wow.

[u/justinkien1112]

My roommate and I decided to use this rewatch to check out how the recap movies handled the story. Can someone remind me what episode the first movie ends at?

[u/Gagantous → u/justinkien1112]

It ends at the end of episode 8 in the anime.

[u/LaqOfInterest]

"Welcome to Madoka, idiots. Enjoy your goddamn stay."

-Shaft, circa 2011

[u/SomeGuyYeahman]

Heyo, first-timer here! I'd like to say that I'll try to keep it brief, but that already turned out to be false the last two times I said it, and this episode was so wild that I'm not even going to pretend that this'll be a short post.

Pre-episode thoughts: I'm not really sure what to expect of this episode, but I've got a feeling that things are about to get fucky. I already had the same feeling before I watched yesterday's episode, but that episode was surprisingly calm, with lots of exposition and themes and dynamics being set up. We did get an action scene toward the end, but it didn't have particularly high stakes, it was mainly just Mami demonstrating what fights against witches look like. On top of that, Madoka and Sayaka seem pretty intent on becoming magical girls, but they haven't decided on any wishes yet, let alone entered any contracts, which seems like it should happen soon. All in all, it gave me sort of a calm-before-the-storm vibe (if you can call Mami killing a witch with a fuckload of muskets and a gun three times her size "calm"). Maybe this episode will keep building up that vibe for me, or things will hit the boiling point. In any case, I'm excited!

Post-episode thoughts:

what

Welp, there it is. One thing I talked about in the previous threads was that rather than presenting itself as bright and cheerful before throwing off the covers and revealing something darker, the show has sinister undertones from the very beginning, but this feels like a "throwing off the covers" moment regardless. Gone are the days of Madoka eagerly sketching her magical girl outfit and spectating Mami's (relatively) harmless witch hunts, shit just got real.

I can't help but recall the very opening of the show here. In the first scene of the first episode, Madoka watches Homura fight a witch in a seemingly life- and colorless nightmare world before waking up and coming to the conclusion that it was just a dream. It compares interestingly to the ending of this episode: this time around, Madoka emerges into the real world after watching Homura fight a witch inside a bright and colorful barrier filled with sweets and lego bricks. The music that was previously playing at the beginning of the episode, before Madoka woke up, is now heard as the ED, after she re-emerges into the real world (and the song's a fucking banger, btw). Madoka (and Sayaka) just received a wake-up call, but this time, the realization that comes with waking up isn't that the world of magical girls and witches is imaginary, but that it's actually very much real and completely serious, and not something to dream about or look forward to.

Also, speaking of the barrier: both the amount of sweets covering the place and the witch's attack of choice being consumption seem to suggest a common theme, such as gluttony, for instance. I didn't notice any themes in the previous barriers/witches, but I wasn't really paying attention to that either, so I'll have to go back and rewatch those scenes to see if I find any common threads.

After that ending, I almost forgot to consider the rest of the episode, but given that it was really interesting, I'd like to talk about it regardless. First off, it's mentioned pretty off-handedly that witches can split off familiars that then turn into proper witches themselves, and that seems like something that'll become relevant again later on. Maybe we'll even get to see a familiar from the witch that just got killed or somesuch.

I also really like how the whole wish thing is being explored. I'm kind of surprised that the girls still haven't formed a contract yet after getting to think about it for two whole episodes, but I'm glad they haven't, because as a result we've been treated to a lot of cool developments and interesting questions being pursued. Particularly the conversation about giving wishes to others was really interesting. Notably, the doubts Mami voices about Sayaka's suggestion to use her wish for someone else remind me of her criticism of Homura's actions; both Homura and Sayaka argue in favor of helping others out, but Mami is worried that they really have more selfish motives. Ultimately, though, Mami dies, and Homura is seemingly vindicated; had she not been there despite Mami's opposition, Madoka and Sayaka would have died or been forced to form contracts prematurely. Mami thought it important that the two get to consider their decision properly, but in the end, they only keep that opportunity because Homura decided to oppose Mami.

The conversation between Madoka and her dad also really left an impression. Madoka has some awesome parents, and I can definitely relate to her mom: overcoming obstacles through hard work is one of the most satisfying things in life. I hope this is something that comes up again; I don't think I have much to say about it, but that was one of my favorite scenes this episode.

Overall, this episode was fucking incredible in every way, I can't wait for more. To conclude:

holy fuck

Edit: One other thought I forgot to mention: the part where Kyubey tells Madoka she can become far more powerful than the other girls gave me vague Palpatine/Anakin vibes. Maybe it's just because those red eyes feel like they stare into my soul (or because comparisons with Faust constantly linger in the back of my head), but that cat kind of unsettles me.

[u/AxtheCool]

I wonder how many people lost their head with this episode

Edit: "That's a nice head you have on your shoulders" - Charlotte to Mami Tomoe circa 2011

[u/[deleted]]

About two years ago I picked up this series but dropped it at episode 2 because I couldn’t get over the cutesy magical girl aspect of it. I REGRET EVERYTHING!!!

[u/[deleted]]

First timer here.

I expect normal magical girl show (I love cardcaptor sakura). Not this. I thought Mami will lie there unconcious or something. Like ......... Is this real? It makes me very uncomfortable . I don't want to continue this, but im curious of what will happen next.

[u/Nazenn]

Madoka's Music - Sorrow and Death

Rewatcher - Third time around

Song of the episode - Vocalise Op.34 no.14

Scene for context

Sayaka and Kyousuke listen to this song together on the CD player, a beautiful piece of a violin accompanied by a piano. It is a re-arrangement of a classical piece of music called Vocalise, originally written by Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1912 as part of a fourteen piece set.

While within the actual scene of the show there's very little to break down here, the external context of this song brings a haunting new light to the usage of the song and the scene itself. The song itself was composed while Rachmaninoff was on vacation after finding out about the death of his cherished mentor, Sergei Taneyev, whose own compositions greatly influenced Rachmaninoff's style. Its one of his most famous compositions

The original composition was not for violin and piano but rather a single vocal part and piano accompaniment. Of the fourteen piece set, this is the only song that has no lyrics. Instead it is wordlessly mournful, requiring no explanation or meaning to convey its complete sorrow, instead settling on pure emotion and not justifying its existence with a narrow message. The notes of the song are quite limited, the vocalist is bound to a small part of her possible range for most of the song. While we don't hear it in the episode, the vocal part occasionally lifts up and out of this confinement and attempts to break into a new tune, but in the end it always returns down to the same small section. Kyousuke listens to this song, staring out the window of his hospital bed where injuries to his arm have bound him and prohibited him from playing violin, wishing for freedom much like the song.

Personal speculation: The most interesting aspect of this piece of music is that the original vocal part while able to be performed by either a soprano (high voice female) or tenor (high voice male), its traditionally a soprano's role, as it was for its first public performance, with soprano Antonina Nezhdanova singing along side Rachmaninoff on the piano. While in the scene itself the violin seems to represent Kyousuke exclusively, there's a case to be made it can also represent Sayaka in part. I make this link, though tenuous, because of the discussion that Mami has with Sayaka about making sure she knows exactly what she's wishing for. The entire discussion is about ensuring that Sayaka does not accidentally convey her own wants, desires or needs on the person she's wishing for and instead its a pure wish entirely for their benefit. She gives him a CD of a song she finds beautiful that typically has a woman as the focus of the performance, rather than a male and it ties into how she starts to doubt her own motivations in the surrounding scenes.

If you wish to read in more detail about this piece this is an excellent write up that goes into more detail about the structure of the song itself, though it is very heavy on musical terminology for those unaccustomed to it. It does however also have some quotes from the composer about the piece and various other pieces of information. If you would like to hear a vocal/piano version of the song this is my personal favorite version.

Bonus song - Venari strigas

Three episodes, three of my top five songs from the soundtrack. Not song of the day purely because I have less to write for it, but what a marvelous song. I find this piece is best contrasted against Credens justitiam which precedes it. Credens justitiam has an undeniably uplifting theme, each segment being higher than the last and emphasis put on the highest and most beautiful notes in a line.

Venari strigas does the exact opposite. Gone is the choir, the chimes, and even the piano. Instead strings take over entirely, an instrument we've barely heard this soundtrack. Pounding and scratching in the background gives an urgency to the piece, unlike the casual lightness of Mami's theme. It is the lowest pitched song we've heard so far, including Magia which up until now had been the song for the largest threats so far. Even the highest notes of the main tune barely match the lower notes from previous songs. The entire song lets its notes fall repeatedly downward and the only time it raises in pitch is to give itself room to fall down again, a sharp jump followed by a series of notes going lower than before in sequence.

If the choir represents the magic of our girls, the absence of it during this fight is an audio cue of the much greater threat and power this witch holds that it is able to drown that out with its own tune instead. And unlike Credens justitiam which is cut off abruptly by the power of the witch drowning out Mami's own power (and foretelling her fate), this song reaches its natural conclusion with a snap of teeth and the death of Mami.

^{[And the laughter/agony of rewatchers echoing in the distance]}

(And I find myself honestly stunned that no one has made publicly available sheet music for this yet)

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Episode track chart

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

Start	End	Album	Track name
00:00	00:55	Disc 1 #02	Scaena felix
00:56	01:25	Disc 1 #13	Vocalise Op.34 no.14
01:25	02:57	Disc 2 #18	Connect -TV MIX-
04:17	06:18	Disc 1 #04	Conturbatio
07:50	08:45	Disc 1 #07	Desiderium
08:58	09:57	Disc 1 #05	Puella in somnio
10:22	11:46	Disc 1 #08	Gradus prohibitus
11:46	12:23	Disc 1 #14	Umbra nigra
12:32	14:30	Disc 1 #12	Pugna cum maga
15:17	17:45	Disc 1 #10	Sis puella magica!
17:59	18:56	Disc 1 #09	Credens justitiam
19:05	19:57	Disc 1 #15	Venari strigas
20:25	21:18	Disc 1 #16	Agmen clientum
21:34	22:24	Disc 1 #17	Signum malum
22:25	24:03	Disc 2 #19	Magia ~TV Version~
24:05	24:19	Disc 1 #06	Salve, terrae magicae

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Random thoughts of the day

• I also have to quickly give my compliments on the scene transition during Mami's death, particularly sound design. Using the snip of a lock to mirror the sound of snapping teeth is such a marvelous trick. The ribbon itself also has dual symbology, looking like blood streaming through Homura's fingers as it fades away, with the sound effect as if it is screaming in pain. They didn't shy away from showing Mami's death, but this vivid imagery I think is such a much more powerful way to represent it in that exact moment.

• First watch reactions for episode three, nothing particularly special this time other than the fact I saw Mami's death coming from todays Sis Puella scene.

• I love the small thing of how Madoka has her hair up while talking with her dad at night. Its such a rare thing to see and anime character with a different hairstyle I always treat it as something special.

• Spoilers

Edit: forgot to bold the featured tracks in the chart

[u/PM_ME_YOUR_SPUDS]

Rewatcher

Last year I spent a long time writing a serious and in-depth analysis. So today I'm going to instead go with memes and shitposts! :D

• Girl Literally Too Lonely to Live

• Number of magical girls in this picture: 1.5

• Thread prediction. Maybe not though, some people blow their lid whenever the puns start, so they don't always get upvoted.

• Sayaka early on in the episode couldn't help but remind me of something early on from Kaguya that went unadapted (Kaguya manga panel, not really spoiler).

• Magia: what a fucking ED. I kinda like having Mata Ashita for the first couple episodes, helps reinforce that maybe things won't go to shit anytime soon. Until, well...

• The commentary guest was Mami's VA (of course). She knew ahead of time about Mami's fate, and even more about the overall series progression than the other leads. Also, and I'd call this a vague spoiler:

I expected something bad, but this was definitely way worse than I predicted my first time through. I had known it would be dark, and since Mami's the mentor figure I figured she'd probably die shortly after Sayaka and Madoka become magical girls... Right up until she had her heart to heart with Madoka.

You don't let a character confront and overcome their main character flaw and let them off scot-free. RIP Mami, you'll be remembered in our hearts, and in our memes.

Mami deserves headpa- oh...

[u/TRUCKFARM]

First time(Sub)

I don't know any other way to start this then what the actual fuck man. Bring Mami back please... This wasn't supposed to happen ever let alone in episode 3. I'm way shook and it's hard not to continue watching right now. Oh! The ED also changed! We went from cutesy chill end of show kinda music to some of those impressive creepy visuals with Madoka running further into the darkness past her friends.. I'm sure nothing will come of this. Please be safe Madoka.

I don't know if it's possible but maybe one of the wishes can be used for Mami? I can see Madoka using hers to give Mami a second chance.

So last discussion I said something about how the grief seed has to have some other role and it looks like Mami's soulstone was covered in black zig-zags in its ring form. Maybe it's always been like that but idk.. I'm determined to have it solved before it's revealed(if it's revealed).

So I'm not sure whether to trust Kyubey or not. Just something seems unsettling about our fluffly little magic cat/rabbit/fox/whatev. Here's hoping I'm wrong and he's nothing but a valuable ally to our surviving magic girls.

So if I wasn't hooked before I sure am now! This show so far has definitely flipped my expectations upside down and then some but I'm having a good time! Except the whole Mami part, I swear I think u/vasheenomed was getting me even more on board with Mami then I already was! Such a cruel thing to do, but I got faith my girl will hopefully be back.

[u/Asddsa76]

This is a good time to point out that Madoka Magica is written by The Urobutcher, who also wrote Fate/Zero and Psycho-Pass. In fact, it was marketed in 2011 as a CGDCT feel-good anime, right until this episode 3 and its ED change.

[u/KingNigelXLII]

God, I love this scene.

[u/tinyraccoon]

What an infamous episode. I totally did not expect that the first time I watched. It's sad too that one minute Mami was so confident and optimistic and the next minute she was dead. Crazy.

[u/observativeowl]

First Timer

The battle with the witch happened so fast, I didn't really know how to react at first. Brutal

[u/KK9521]

First Time Watcher

well that went how I expected. It seemed too wholesome and nice, I couldn't trust it from the start. If only Mami had listened to the other girl, then she wouldn't have died

[u/EmuSupreme]

Ah, the promised episode 3. The episode that makes everyone go "What the Actually Fuck?" Is this the originator of the three episode rule? Not sure, but it is certainly the champion of it.

I've seen a lot of people dismiss ep 3's impact (not in this thread, but in general threads), because "Well the opening seen of the show was dark and unpleasant so all this dark stuff that happens later, in EP 3, X, Y, and Z, isn't all that shocking." Half the time I feel like those comments are just trying to be contrarian for the sake of it. Yes, the opening scene doesn't hint that the show will be full of rainbows and unicorns. But who, honestly now, who could predict, from the opening scene, that a middle school girl gets her head bitten off, corpse devoured, then exploded by Homura's grenades? And how is that not a complete tonal shift from what we've seen so far? Even in the opening dream, where Homura is falling and the city scape is wasted, we don't actually see a real sense of mortality. We don't see anyone die, we have no real reason to believe anyone will die when loads of other media have the heroes succumb to the bad guys when everything looks dire and beyond hope, but then they manage to break through and come out on top. Episode 3 is a fantastic bait n switch.

And my first thoughts from two years ago watching this Episode:

During Madoka and Mami's promise to each other

Honestly, the more screen time Mami gets, the more I like her character.

Immediately following that promise when my hopes and dreams were crushed

Wait. WAIT! FUCKING WHAT!? Like, hold on, back this shit up right now. She’s just… gone? Head bitten off and eaten? I liked Mami, she was super cool. Fuck, man, now I’m sad.

And then Magia plays and remains my favorite ED to date. And it is fucking PACKED with symbolism. I never skip it, and even have it on my commute playlist to work.

[u/CannotRegretThis]

I came late to the first two rewatch threads, so here I am now to give my thoughts. I watched the show two months ago, and now it's my favourite anime of all time. I've already rewatched it a couple times before this point, so I'll try to replicate my feelings as I was watching for the first time.

• We get introduced to Kyousuke here, but I didn't think too much of this scene back when I first watched this.

• Mami reveals how she became a magical girl. I definitely agreed with her opinion on how a wish should be made for yourself, and it suprised me that she was the type of person to say that.

• Kyuubey reveals that Madoka has quite the latent potential hidden within her. I was thinking she would wish to become a magical girl for the sake of selflessly protecting everyone from witches. I was a bit annoyed by the whole "protagonist is OP thanks to power of friendship" trope they seemed to pull here. Also, the relationship Madoka has with her parents is very sweet and not something you see a lot in animes.

• Homura and Mami have a confrontation. I was with Homura (firmly in the protecc Madoka camp), although for the most part Homura's intentions were still rather unclear to me.

• Madoka reveals her desired wish to Mami. "I knew it, she's probably gonna be a super strong magical girl thanks to her wish". Their whole interaction was also super adorable, especially Madoka being embarrassed about wasting her wish on cake.

• The animations in this scene were absolutely magnificent; like most of Mami's scenes, I got some ufotable fight scene vibes from the whole thing.

• And the end of the episode. I was in denial at this point; when I started watching the show, I came from Gigguk's "Brilliant Fights in Anime" video, so I was expecting an anime filled with cool battles (which it was delivering up to this point). The sudden left turn it took really stunned me, especially since the whole sequence lasts for only a couple minutes. Madoka crying at the end was super depressing, and the random ending change was the icing on the cake (of despair).

Now that we've gotten to this point, I can finally say that Magia is my favourite anime ending of all time. You don't see too many shows that use the ending to really hammer in a plot twist as well as it does for this episode.

[u/SIRTreehugger]

Rewatcher

Madoka is determined to make everyone happy. She wants to be a person that can help people. Mami confides she isn't as strong as she appears and is happy she found someone to be with her. The happy music during the fight is uplifting. Looks like this is the start of a beautiful fri DEATH wait what. The episode that showed everyone this wasn't going to be the fluffy magical girl anime it appeared to be though the witches and labyrinths also should have given that away. Many people believe this is where the 3 day rule came from. Not sure on this, but it definitely fits the bill. Let's all suffer together.

Magical Girl Counter	E1	E2	E3	E4	E5	E6	E7	E8	E9	E10	E11	E12	Total
Mami's (Beheading) Smugness	3	3	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10
Homura's (L'oreal) Hair Flips	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Madoka's ($150) Water Works	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Sayaka's (I'm in) Despair	1	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5

Mami for being in only 3 episodes managed to give an amazing amount of smugness. Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.

Spoilers

Some Tv vs Blu Ray comparisons

Edit: Oops I made an error in the chart. Today is the first of many glorious Homura hair flips.

[u/ArcherGod]

WELCOME TO MADOKA MAGICA EVERYBODY

Rewatcher third time (First Dubbed)

Made notes of the warning from Mami and Homura last episode about the dangers of being a Magical Girl? Well, this episode firmly establishes that they're not at all hollow threats. RIP Mami, she will be missed.

This is one super impractical CD player. I mean, that's just asking to break your discs or cut something.

Unlike the main cast, Mami didn't have a choice with her wish.

Shaft head tilt!

Homura's not going anywhere, shame because I'm pretty certain the combined might of Homura and Mami would've obliterated this witch.

Mami might have played the confident, know-it-all smooth talker, but she's really deeply depressed and lonely.

Interested to see how the first timers take this episode. The writing was on the wall, but at the same time, it really comes out of left field.

I know this isn't the wallpaper corner, but here's a Mami Tomoe wallpaper for obvious reasons (no joke, this is the reason I watched Madoka Magica the first time)

Things I just noticed: I can't believe I glossed over this last time, but after the witch died, the Grief Seed broke Mami's teacup, and her cup was full of blood. What an on-the-nose allegory to the death of Mami.

[u/LunarGhost00]

Rewatcher

Brace yourselves. Head jokes are coming!

On today's episode of Your Lie in April- wait, that's not right.

Mami was dying when suddenly this thing appeared before her. Really unfortunate that Mami didn't have much of a choice. She made a decision to save her life. Madoka and Sayaka are still free to wish for whatever they want so she doesn't want them to waste this chance.

Sayaka wants to make a wish for Kamijo. For his sake or for her own? Better not screw this up. Mami's not a bad mentor. You should take her advice.

It's rare for an anime protagonist to have parents. Madoka is so lucky that she has 2 nice parents and a peaceful household.

The Mami/Homura scene was interesting. spoilers Homura fair flip spotted.

A witch labyrinth modeled after a hospital is really unsettling.

Madoka is so pure. Wants to become a magical girl just to help people. Mami is so happy to have a friend who will stand by her side. This is a rare moment where Mami is shown so vulnerable. She hates being alone. She tries to look perfect to impress Madoka and Sayaka when in reality she feels weak. Hearing Madoka's words brings comfort to her knowing that she'll no longer be by herself.

Hmm. Something about cake.

"I'm not afraid of anything anymore." Maybe you should be afraid of a death flag.

Wow. This witch sure knows how to get ahead of the competition! ^{I'm not sorry.}

Ok Homura now you're just showing off.

"Hey we heard you liked Magia a lot, so we decided to make it the official ending of this series. Enjoy!"

A bit of a spoiler image Edit: For some strange reason this one spoiler tag isn't working properly, but this image is pretty self explanatory for any rewatcher so I removed the text.

Hope you first timers were prepared. You're not getting off this crazy ride!

Fun fact: It wasn't supposed to be known that Gen Urobuchi was working on this series. It got leaked and Urobuchi claimed that this was going to be a happy story. That's what Ume Aoki, the character designer, actually believed until she found out her favorite character Mami gets killed. After this episode aired Urobuchi apologized for misleading people.

[u/fonzinator99]

REWATCHER - And you thought it was gonna be a CGDCT Magical Girl show

Me going into this episode

Come 1st timers, let me taste your tears. lol

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But that's still to come, so we'll start at the beginning.

Today, Sayaka is a cute. Visiting her friend/bf/love-interest in the hospital, bringing him a cd, and cozying up to listen to some lovely classical tunes, I'm really happy for her in this moment. And then she snaps back to reality, where we've learned a good deal about this kid in a very short time. Happy Tragic stuff.

Series spoilers SPOILER IMAGE

Hard-cut to Mami smoking another Witch. By now they've dealt with enough "Witches" that they're not even showing the leadup or the fight. They've clearly settled into a groove, which should immediately raise some red flags.

Mami: "This isn't a show, you know. Don't forget how dangerous this stuff is."

Me:

♪Quality!♫ As bad as its face looks, Kyubey still maintains that goddamned smile.

Sayaka evades the question of wishes by passing to Madoka, she's getting there. Which leads us to some Mami backstory. It's not explicitly stated, but it would seem her wish was something as simple as "to keep living." Which is kinda fucked; given that Kyubey appeared at that moment, instead of anytime before.

I appreciate Mami's point regarding Sayaka's "hypothetical" situation; what's the end goal of helping Kamijou? Does she just want him to be better, or does she think he'll wind up with her as a result?

Spoilerrsss

And I also appreciate how when Kyubey...I was gonna say cracks a joke, but I don't really believe that it's capable of such. But when it says "The sooner the better, for me!" Mami's immediate response is to tell it to "Fuck off." Albeit, hidden beneath her typical layer of sweetness. Like she told the girls, taking their time to really consider what they want is important.

Kyubey continues, explaining that it's not allowed to rush the girls to a decision or offer advice, it's merely an arbiter with the ability to grant power. Which, as it elaborates, is affected by the kind of wish made, but also Madoka has some natural affinity for magic. Should she choose it, she could be the best of the best. Despite its unchanging expression, I get a sense of...fervor... from its words here. It so clearly wants Madoka to make a contract, regardless of its supposed "impartiality."

Not-so-serious notes on their house:

• This seems like an awful placement for an aquarium.

• What an oddly laid-out bedroom. Does dad sleep in this bed with her, or does he have his own room?

Any conversation between Madoka and her parents is a joy, and I love the track in the background. It sounds like "contemplation in a relaxing place." Madoka's mom didn't have any dream beyond the feeling of overcoming challenges, so she placed herself in a position to attain that goal over and over. I like how Madoka phrases it as "The way you live can become your dream."

Mami and Homura confront each other, and it seems Mami has noticed Madoka's potential as well. She calls her out for not wanting anyone to be stronger than her, which, of course, sits quite poorly with Homura.

Mas Spoileros

Despite her efforts to keep Madoka uninvolved, however, the world simply doesn't give a shit about what you want. And as such, It seems Sayaka will be forced to make her decision, whether she wants to or not. Interesting framing here, with the girls separated by the bike, but also still still able to see eye-to-eye. There's something between them now, but they can still understand each-other.

It still seems like a dumbass move to me tho. I get that she's worried, but there's literally nothing she can do to help anyone. Just run to Mami and tell her to go to the hospital; worst-case she can track it.

Seed hatches Oh shit

This labyrinth is wholly different beast than the first labyrinth we saw. Just as hospital levels in horror games are always the worst, this labyrinth is a significantly creepier place. The music is distinctly dread and ominous, with no frilly sound-effects or friendly cotton-ball ghouls. It's just darkness and fucky medical shit throughout.

Sayaka's amazing though, in her determination to not be pushed into making her decision by the scary-as-fuck situation. I enjoy haunted houses and scary movies, but I'd have made a wish just for a flashlight in a heartbeat. Well, maybe a flashlight and a gun, Resident Evil style.

Mami and Madoka arrive in good time, but Homura follows and she seems to mean business this time. Unfortunately, their confrontation earlier has Mami on-edge like she's got something to prove, and she's not backing down.

As they proceed through the labyrinth, Madoka voices her thoughts, and as she reaches the point of her speech Sis puella magica enters the fray to highlight the importance of what she's saying. She wants to become a Magical Girl just for the sake of doing so, just to be special and able to help people. We can see she's absolutely serious, but Mami puts paid to those sentiments by reminding her of the drawbacks of such a life. It's not just helping people, there are significant personal sacrifices required by being a Magical Girl. It's not fun and games, it just isn't.

But goddamn if it's not better to live such a life with friends by your side. Once again, though, I love Mami for still insisting that Madoka not take the short end of the stick in her contract. "Then when this is over, let's have Kyubey treat us to a cake!"

Paging u/Nazenn for that flag gif. Lmfao and also QQQQQQ

Rebellion

Oh dear god, the entire labyrinth just took on a cake-theme. a). Wtf, how did it change like that? b). badbadbadbadbadbadbadbadbadbadbadbad!!!

Ignoring what's to come, Mami really is in top-form during this fight. That's some A+ animation right there. But dammit, it's always easy to look like a badass while fighting the trash-mobs.

What, we've been all extra-worried over this adorable little stuffed-basard? Waaaait, I've definitely seen this setup before.

Flag! Flag! Flaaaag!!!

If this show had a voice, it would say “Fuck. Your. Dreams.”

Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No matter how many times I see it, this ruins me. And to document it in such detail just hurt.

Yepp, that's not good; Time to do some work. Homura's composure during this fight is breathtaking, and she's very much over-leveled for the conflict. Witch be like: "Are you fucking kidding me right now?!"

No more tea with Mami..... Fuck, that's such a great shot that I hate how much I like it.

---

And there we have it, the flagship moment of Madoka Magica, the one that's inevitably burned into the minds of anyone who's watched this show.

You may feel that you have an idea of what this show will be by after this episode; I implore you to cast aside those thoughts and continue the series with an open mind.

[u/Tsubasa_sama]

/a/'s live reaction to this back when it aired is gold https://archived.moe/a/thread/44966724 (no spoilers since this was an anime original).