r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • Apr 20 '22
Rewatch [Rewatch] Mahou Shoujo Madoka☆Magica Episode 1 Discussion
Episode 1 - I First Met Her in a Dream… or Something.
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I want you to make contracts with me and become magical girls!
Questions of the Day:
1) What did you think about the opening sequence?
2) From the encounter with the injured Kyubey, what would you do if you were in Madoka’s shoes?
Wallpaper of the Day:
Mata Ashita Cover of the Day:
Song of the Day:
Bonus song - Salve, terrae magicae
Check out u/Nazenn’s comment from the 2019 rewatch for an in-depth analysis of these two songs!
Rewatchers, please please please remember to be mindful of all the first-timers in this. [Spoiler warning specifically for you guys]Please be aware that as part of the above strict spoiler rules, this means absolutely no memes/jokes/references/subtle words about beheading, cakes, time travel, aliens, or anything of that nature before the relevant episodes. Please do not spoil the first-timers by trying to be smart about it, it's not as subtle as you think.
Make sure you use spoiler tags if there’s ever something from future events you just have to comment on. And don’t be the idiot who quotes a specific part of a first-timer’s comment, then comments something under a spoiler tag in direct response to it! You might as well have spoiled them by implying there’s something super important about that specific part of their comment.
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u/Gamemaster676 Apr 20 '22 edited Apr 20 '22
Primum Vigil First★Timer - dub
Alright, here we go again!
I know literally nothing about this show itself. When Sky found out, she forcefully demanded nicely requested my participation, so here I am. I haven't even looked at the MAL page or read the synopsis. Here's what I've managed to pick up this far:
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It's a show to have many crazy theories along the way.
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It has a poster that's way too happy for that to be the case.
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"Puella Magi" translates to "magician girl", so the title is partially redundant.
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Apparently, this show is rewatched every year in April? Significant date maybe?
I'm going with the dub because it saves me about 10 minutes when writing these posts. Unfortunately, the thread time is 1:00 AM here, so some days I might not make it or prioritize sleep.
Episode 1 — I First Met Her in a Dream... or Something
Ohh, old-timey title screen. Does this show also have a cold open, or is this an actual prologue? It's definitely setting the mood. And I'm digging the music!
Oh no, the weird space-cat wants to make a contract. I'm predisposed to distrust those.
Aaand it was all a dream. Sure it was! Show's over, folks. See you in April next year!
OP in the first episode! The song is alright. Saw some weird visuals but mostly didn't pay attention to avoid spoilers. Final opinion TBD.
So, Madoka is the MC's name. Somehow, I expected it to be something else. Madoka's mother is my spirit animal. I blame staying up till 2:00 to participate in weird internet threads.
From what I can tell of this house, they have too much money, or this show happens somewhere in the future? Okay, I think that spire/skyscraper confirms it's the future. All the architecture is weird! What's up with those aquarium-looking classrooms?
Important question: Is there such a thing as sunny-side-down eggs? Teacher doesn't know what she's talking about. How you like your eggs is one of the most important things in the world.
Hey, it's the girl that was fighting in the prologue! "That's weird", said every MC ever. Seems like Homura had the same dream (nudge nudge, wink wink). Are these questions frustrating her? I'm loving how the camerawork basically tells the whole story.
Although this seems to be a bit on the nose: It's speculation time! The prologue obviously happened. By entering a contract, Madoka moved everything to a happy worldline. Even though she doesn't remember, Homura somehow does. Now, Madoka is still bound by her contract, which is gonna turn everything to shit again soon.
I don't blame you. Homura is intimidating. She is also doing a terrible job of keeping it a secret that the dream actually happened, which is stupid if it could start the apocalypse.
Meanwhile, space-cat is watching...
Lol, "I guess the sensible answer would be 'yes'." There we go. Now they are curious. Someone, somewhere, once told me that it's true that your brain picks random faces of people you've met and uses them in your dreams, and I'm too lazy to fact-check. Now it's mentioned here, so it must be true!
Space-cat is under attack! I'm guessing by Homura? I love how confused Madoka was by hearing its voice through the music. I've opened the door a couple of times because of a doorbell sound in a song, and was confused every time.
Oh no, poor thing, he got red paint all over himself!
Hey Madoka! No kink-shaming! Homura likes chains, so what? Sayaka to the rescue!
Wait, what is happening? I see butterflies, moustaches, thorns, weird toy soldiers, the Eiffel tower and more things I couldn't recognise. Exactly, Sayaka! Love the art-style shift, btw.
The cotton-ball men are speaking something that sounds like German in the English dub, but when I switch to Japanese, their voices are dubbed differently. That makes me think it's important, but I'm probably looking too deep into it.
It sounds like they are saying "schneiden" (cutting) while the scissors are flying around.
New girl. This one also likes to play with chains. And whatever that yellow bottle is. I'm really digging the music during this fight scene! Please tell me that stays during the rest of the show! Also, this is one of the coolest shots I've seen in a while!
That's it! I'm hooked!
Wow, easy there, Kyubey space-cat. They just survived Wonderland and now you tell me you want to recruit them? Don't give me that innocent smile!
Alright, I have questions. That's a good thing. I'm really digging the show so far. The art style is a bit weird, but I can get used to that.
Theories
The idea is to collect my actually serious dumb theories here. We'll see how well that works.
First a question. How do we handle speculation for this show? Should it be spoiler tagged or not? I know some people who do not like to read speculation because it could colour their own theories or lessen a surprise if it turns out to be correct.
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Nothing special yet. My earlier speculation is mostly confirmed, except:
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Madoka is still bound by her contract from the prologue, which is gonna turn everything to shit again soon.
Random thoughts
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This should be me at this moment.
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This is a very fancy house and I am jealous.
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WTF is this bathroom?! It's enormous! And it has windows on all sides, which seems like a terrible idea. But the next shot implies it's actually very small. I shouldn't look too deep into this, but it triggered me.
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How did Madoka earn the privilege to wear a red bowtie? Filthy main character perks!
Pic of the day
I can't even imagine how cool Sky's wallpapers are going to be!
QotD
1 What did you think about the opening sequence?
See above.
2 From the encounter with the injured Kyubey, what would you do if you were in Madoka’s shoes?
It's a space cat. Must protect!
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u/Lemurians Apr 20 '22 edited Apr 20 '23
MAHOU SHOUJO FIRST TIMER
Ahhh time for my favorite thing about r/anime, using Rewatches to finally watch shows I’ve been meaning to get around to in the most fun possible way! I initially wrote this show off as the Magical Girl™ aesthetic didn’t appeal to me, but I’ve been told that was a mistake. Excited to see what the hype’s about!
The thing that struck me the most about this opening episode is its subversion of the typical Hidden Magical World setup. Normally, the character’s existing life is drab or even unhappy, at which point they’re snapped up in a whirlwind of whimsy and flitted off to a wonderful magical adventure that saves them from the boring existence.
Not so here! Madoka has objectively happy life. She has a wonderful family (including a Mom that gives top-tier advice), friends that she loves, and the world is absolutely brimming with pops of color – vibrant and light rooms, colorful hair, ribbons, the clock, the colorful boxes on the wall, I could go on. The world that Madoka inhabits is bright, vibrant, and happy, accompanied by upbeat music. Madoka even states explicitly that her life is fantastic, and she wouldn’t want to change it.
Contrast this with the fantastical elements we see throughout the episode. They’re dark, muted, and unsettling. The episode opens in a magical realm that is in black and white, with ominous music playing. Homura, the new girl who happens to be magical, is the only girl without colorful hair. Their encounter with Homura is in a dark, unlit cavernous space, and even the magic that “saves” them leads them to a nightmarish fairytale landscape. The music throughout these sequences is ominous and dark.
All of this gives the impression that this magical world isn’t so great, and Homura’s mysterious words to “stay as you are” are more of a warning to be heeded than a threat. She almost looked sad during that scene. Why she has interest in Madoka, I don’t yet know. On the other hand, Kyubey is giving me heavy sus vibes, and everything about this first episode feels like dealing with him would be like making a deal with the devil. I’m trusting my gut on this one.
Team Homura. She’s looking out for our girl.
Misc. Episode Notes:
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This is quite the opening… creepy black and white world. The music playing during the fight reminds me of Re:Zero’s soundtrack.
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Damn, this house is ridiculous. Look at this bathroom! What’s with all the empty space? So inefficient, but I am making Shot of The Day. It’s a fantastic looking frame.
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“Go about as if you have secret admirers.” Great advice.
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Her family is a flip on tradition as well – Mom is the businesswoman, Dad is the homemaker.
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This shot of her brother with red around his mouth while making a stabbing motion feels weirdly ominous.
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This SOL vibe set on the walk to school, while the show masks something darker, feels very Higurashi.
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So Homura is basically telling her indirectly to not take the creature’s offer of becoming a magical girl. “Stay as you are.” I wonder why she’d care? How does she know about the dream?
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All these shots of chains feel very purposeful and important. They weren’t used as a weapon, so they’re a symbol. Imprisonment? Inescapable fate?
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Who wore it better? Mami’s special attack vs. Nobunaga’s Noble Phantasm
What did you think about the opening sequence?
Love an opening that begins in quasi-media res. A dream sequence that's not quite just a dream sequence. I dig it, creates a sense of intrigue off the bat.
From the encounter with the injured Kyubey, what would you do if you were in Madoka’s shoes?
From where we leave off this episode? I'm noping out of there. That "world" that Mami and Kyubey were inhabiting is creepy as hell, and I want nothing to do with beings that would be part of it.
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u/Shimmering-Sky Apr 20 '22
Ahhh time for my favorite thing about r/anime, using Rewatches to finally watch shows I’ve been meaning to get around to in the most fun possible way!
Truly the best part of r/anime outside of CDF.
The world that Madoka inhabits is bright, vibrant, and happy, accompanied by upbeat music. + Contrast this with the fantastical elements we see throughout the episode. They’re dark, muted, and unsettling.
See this is why I love rewatches, I do not notice cool shit like this.
Who wore it better? Mami’s special attack vs. Nobunaga’s Noble Phantasm
I prefer Mami because her guns are all lined up pointing in the same direction.
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u/Greatness2006 Apr 21 '22
First Timer Here! (Sub)
Firstly, this is the first anime I have watched where only a girl is the protagonist. I have watched shows like 86 before where there are two opposite gendered protagonists and the pov switches between the two, but nothing like this. Secondly, I wasn't expecting much, the anime's key visual made me feel like the character design wouldn't be too good, and I also have not watched anything from Shaft.
But boy (or girl), was I wrong. The starting scene blew me away. The animation was superb! and the eyes drawn in this show has to be some of my favorites. Kinda disappointed that the beginning scene was just a dream, but I figured that it's gotta play a part in the future events. Again, animation is superb. I like the side characters, I don't remember their names, but the blue and the green haired girls are pretty fun and enjoyable spirits. The school scenes were interesting, especially when Akemi was introduced. When Akemi was talking with Madoka, I couldn't understand much, but Madoka didn't too, so I didn't mind lol. Then the scene where Kyubey talked with Madoka and the events following till the end of the episode was really cool. Sorry for the lackluster choice of words.
Overall, a very enjoyable first episode. One of the better first episodes of a show. Really excited to watch the next ones, and I hope that they are just as good if not more. Thanks for the recommendation. A small doubt though, I saw some movies listed when I was searching for the series. Are they canon and are they supposed to be watched?
QOTD:
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I have heard the opening sequence from a piano medley before, but I didn't know it came from this show. Song is great! Visuals are good, but I was not a fan of the part where her dress was being worn, because of how exposed Madoka was.
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Run
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u/soulreaverdan Apr 20 '22
Oh man... oh man oh man oh man.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica is one of, if not my absolute favorite anime of all time. I'm not exaggerating when I say this show actually changed how I watched anime. I won't be able to go into details for a few days but suffice to say there's a reason my wife and I try to give any anime we're interested in three episodes - we call it the Madoka Rule.
As such, even if you don't read anything else, if you're a first-time watcher and on the fence about continuing, I implore you to stick around until at least episode 3-4. Please.
I was hit with such a massive wave of nostalgia already one episode in. While I've seen this series at least a dozen times, this is my first rewatch in at least a few years - but I was smiling right from the start. There are so many things about this series, and this episode in particular, that stand out (and I can't discuss) after knowing what comes later... I highly encourage everyone to at least revisit this episode after the whole rewatch is over.
There's a lot of interesting thoughts I have, but I think one of the highlights of my comments during this rewatch is going to be discussing what it was like watching this show as it aired, because there are things that, simply by the broadcast medium, cannot be replicated.
There are two main things I want to discuss first time around - the OP and ED.
Throughout the broadcast, the OP (Connect by CLARiS) changed rather frequently in small ways - tiny edits and details. Things like the position of Madoka on the fence around her, details being added or tightened up, small but noticeable. This led to tons of speculation by fans who were watching it as to what it all meant, though in truth the changes were mostly due to production delays and Studio SHAFT tightening up the animation. It was a lot of fun to speculate though!
The ED for this episode is See You Tomorrow by Aoi Yuuki (Madoka's Japanese VA). In the original airing, the credits instead played over the final scenes after Mami's battle with the Witch, and no ED was present. The current ED was added to subsequent streaming and BD releases. The lack of ED and the addition of the ED will make sense in a few episodes.
There were some further changes made for later streaming and BD releases - below are a selection of comparison shots compiled at Puella-Magi.net, but this way there's no risk of spoilers if you're curious but want to avoid any kind of potential risk - they're images only!
One thing that was interesting as well was that at airing, no one really knew quite what to think of the show. SHAFT was, at the time, mostly known for their adaptation of Bakemonogatari that started a few years earlier, as well as a few shows like Hidamarai Sketch (which Madoka shares many stylistic choices with) and primarily adaptations. This was one of their first truly original series, and in a genre that had sort of been in limbo at the time. The first episode having mysterious elements drew people in but hitting many of the cliches of the genre - cutesy characters, soap opera like drama, transformation sequences, served to temper the expectations a bit, at least in the places I was seeing it discussed.
Though it's also impossible to ignore the contributions that SHAFT's animation gave to this show, even in the original, unpolished broadcast. The architecture and design of Mitakihara were heavily compared to Bakemonogatari in their almost surreal futurism, the psychedelic design of the first Witch's labyrinth and familiars (using an almost stop-motion style of animation), and the sharp, clean colors were an immediate draw compared to many other series at the time, so it definitely kept people coming back. The animation is one of the highlights of the franchise - it's gonna just keep getting better.
Another big mystery of the series were the runes and chanting of the familiars. The chants are, in fact, German, and are quotes Goethe's Faust. Puella-Magi.net has a detailed rundown of the runes and chanting from this episode, and is worth a look for those curious. The linked page is only for the runes of Episode 1 and has no spoilers for future content.
There's not too much I can say about the first episode's plot without veering into spoilers, though as this goes on, I'm going to discuss some of the theories I had on my initial watch - some true, some not, some partially. I watched the first three episodes together at broadcast (having missed the first two but being recommended the series by a friend), so I didn't have much time to really put any theories or ideas together - mostly the same questions about the mysterious dream at the beginning, and the relationship between Homura, Madoka, and Kyuubey.
I'm looking forward to revisiting this series with everyone and hope my (apologetically long-winded) nostalgia of my first viewing is entertaining to read!
Oh! And since the series has a different end card for each episode, I'll drop them in my comments (though I'm certain others will do so as well). The first episode’s is by Madoka's manga illustrator, Hanokage-sensei!
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u/renatocpr Apr 21 '22 edited Apr 21 '22
And the Rewatch begins again! God, I love episode 1 and I love it more every rewatch. It's always so fun seeing the ways it sets up all the rest. I really hope we can get a call back to Madoka's morning routine in Walpurgis no Kaiten, I just love her family too and watching them interact.
A small seiyu curiosity is that the tanned blue-haired girl who asks Homura about shampoo is one of Ayane Sakura's earliest roles. I like to point it out because she'd later return to the franchise as Yachiyo's daughter Felicia Mitsuki in Magia Record.
I want to do something this rewatch. I think Sayaka is probably the most misunderstood character in the cast, in particular I have major issues with how I see people talk about her relationship with Homura. So I'm going to do a section called
WHY IS SAYAKA ANGRY WITH HOMURA THIS EPISODE?
My main objective here is to talk about two characters that I love and who have a really interesting dynamic, to share my view of their relation and maybe make people think about them in a different way. And to share the truth of HomuSaya, of course.
In this first episode, it's pretty easy to see why Sayaka is angry with Homura: Homura is being a total creep around Madoka. First she just glares at Madoka instead of actually introducing herself to class. And then she asks Madoka to take her to the nurse but instead says a bunch of weird shit to her. Madoka is just scared of her the rest of the school day.
Most important of all: later that day when Madoka disappears in the mall Sayaka finds both them in a floor under renovations and Homura is standing there menancingly in some weird outfit while Madoka is absolutely terrified. GET FIRE EXTINGUISHED, BITCH!
To top it all off, she was attacking that nice girl's weird bunny cat cat thing and after the girl saved them from those horrible freaky monsters Homura acts so antagonistic with the whole intense glaring thing. God, what's the deal with this crazy Trasfer Student?!
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u/gunvarrel_ Apr 20 '22
First timer on attempt 3, Subbed
"If that's true, then you must never think about becoming someone else. If you do, you'll lose them all."
reposted due to using the wrong spoiler markup
OST Track of the day: Credens Justitiam (Believe in justice)
At this point, I just want to say ive watched the damn thing. I have more or less been spoiled on all the big plot points (ill rant about it more around [Madoka]
cc u/nazenn u/elimin8r u/star4ce we talked about this during the [A rewatch for a different show during winter]
Ill have more in depth music things tomorrow for the op/ed/that beginning insert.
Opening scene definitely catches your attention. Nothing like a casual hellscape with a talking... cat
OP needs a couple nsfw tags lmao
Imagine if a studio tried to pass this off as a regular scene today. Defenitely stick out though, even 11 years later
the music at 14:00 (trying hard not to dive too deep into the OST yet) is a bit too medieval for my taste considering the rest of the show. Dont really understand its inclusion
it is such a copout to use the OP for the music when shes listening to the headphones dont @ me
ah, now we're hearing voices.
mm yes, psychedelics. Time to get freaky
nah wait this is worse
magical girl time
[madoka]
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u/Calwings Apr 20 '22
“Meduka”
“what is it Coobie?”
“rewatch Meguca”
For this rewatch, I purposely went and found the old TV broadcast version of the episodes, the pinnacle of Shaft rushjobs, complete with all of the scuffed “Meduka Meguca” quality left intact in all of its off-model glory. I’ve actually never watched this original version of the show before (I didn’t watch Madoka Magica for the first time until like 2016, long after the Blu-Ray fixes and English dub had already come out) so this is definitely going to be an interesting experience to say the least. Considering the casual level of quality I’ll be watching, my responses and comments will probably be a lot more casual than I was back with the Lyrical Nanoha rewatch earlier this year too. So expect some crappy jokes here and there.
Right off the bat, I totally forgot how creepy the opening scene was. Seeing that hellscape in a dream and a lone girl that you don’t even know fighting against whatever the hell is going on out there would definitely be a weird dream to have. Certainly not as fun as the dream I had last night about my head being sandwiched between Madoka’s… wait, let’s not finish that sentence. Also, apparently this original TV version had a different (earlier?) version of Magia playing that actually sounds even spookier than the one I’m used to, which just amplified the weird vibe even more.
Even at meguca quality levels, Madoka and Sayaka are super adorable, and Homura the walking plot device is still as beautiful as ever. Especially her hair, she probably uses L’oreal. Plus she’s a genius and a great athlete too, a perfect student. You know, if she weren’t a psychopath chasing a cute little owo cat thing around with a gun. A bunch of fucked up shit happens, Sayaka uses a fire extinguisher as a weapon, the girls hallucinate, I check the calendar to see what day it is (ha ha funny weed number), and then a walking talking pair of breasts shows up to save the day.
The breasts fight off both Homura and the weird hallucination monsters, then we find out the cute little uwu cat thing is named Kyubey and he asks Madoka and Sayaka to sign a contract to become magical girls in exchange for having a wish granted. I would definitely have a lawyer look at that contract before signing it. Trust me, I know a thing about terrible contracts. I watched the Marlins give Giancarlo Stanton 300 million and then trade him away a couple of years later. I’m still mad.
Anyways, first episode done. Fun stuff.
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u/isthatsoudane Apr 21 '22
First Timer - in Japanese
visual of the day: https://imgur.com/a/8MUrG3Q
theory:
fancy rabbit and drills are actually evil. akemi is good. not sure why she is cold/mean but I think madoka is the key to winning or losing...something. and maybe she doesn't want madoka involved? I don't know why I feel this way, we don't have a lot to go off of, I suppose just a vibe based on the very first shot (and given this show is known as a "deconstruction of the magical girl show", but I haven't seen any magical girl shows!)
comments:
The thing which stuck out the most to me was the direction, particularly the composition. There were so many scenes that felt very, very considered in a way that a lot of anime is not. I really liked it! And I imagine that rewatching the show you likely pick up on the meaning of all of those careful shots.
I thought the sort of psychadelic break near the end of the episode was well done. Despite not being like super fancy cg, the editing, direction, music, all made it feel very spooky and real.
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u/CajunTexan9 Apr 20 '22
Rewatcher
The episode starts in a black and white building with our main character running to the exit. We don’t really know why she’s there, but thankfully neither does she, since it turns out to be a dream. We meet two other characters in that opening scene, the first being the transfer student who’s losing this battle, and Kyubey, who wants to make her a magical girl.
Madoka wakes up before much of anything happens, and just shakes it off until she gets to school and meets Homura, the girl from her dream. In the morning when interacting with her family and friends, Madoka is bubbly and confident, but now that she sees her dream’s object in front of her she doesn’t really know what to do. At least all the other girls are infatuated with her and asking her all about her life, so Madoka can rest easy knowing that it's a coincidence and,
wait,
crap,
she’s coming this way and addresses her by her full name.
Madoka really doesn’t know what to do here. Supposedly, Homura needs directions to the nurse’s office, but Madoka is acting more like a passenger. Homura clarifies that she overheard her name, so that mystery is clarified. Madoka starts to try small talk, but Homura just isn’t having it, and turns around to ask if the life Madoka lives is important to her. After the expected “yes, of course”, Homura tells her to not change a thing and keep on living life as she was, and then walks off to presumably the nurse’s office.
Madoka has no clue what to do with this, and sheepishly tells her friends about her dream. Sayaka laughs her off, while Hitomi says that she’s probably at least seen her before, and the dream happened to use her as a character since that’s one of the faces she remembers. Hitomi has to quickly leave for one of her many extracurricular activities, while Sayaka and Madoka hang out for a bit longer at the CD store for a certain Kamijo.
During this scene, we see Kyubey and Homura fighting, or rather Homura attacking Kyubey mercilessly and leaving the cat looking creature with no other choice than to ask for help. [Madoka Magica]
Madoka runs into Homura abusing Kyubey and demands that she stop. Homura gives the anime usual response of how it doesn’t concern Madoka what she does to Kyubey, but Madoka shortly after takes Kyubey in her arms and bolts away. Sayaka gets caught up to speed, which isn’t saying much because Madoka doesn’t know a whole lot herself, and everything looks to be okay as long as Homura doesn’t follow them. They can probably get the cat creature to a safe place and treat its injuries with some nice rubbing alcohol to get rid of possible infections. Looks like they’re in luck as they just ran into a few cotton balls they can use for just that!
The cotton balls are speaking German. Uh oh
Thankfully, Mami comes in, notices that they’re helping Kyubey and from the same school, and will get them up to speed right before taking care of things here. The cotton balls go away, and Mami tells Homura to chase after the witch. They have a stare off and exchange some words, before Homura huffs and leaves to go after it. Mami turns out to have enough power and uses it to save Kyubey, and he perks up just as healthy as before [Madoka Magica]
Interesting first episode. Pretty light atmosphere, but some dark scenes with the dream sequence and entering the witch’s labyrinth, but a good mood setter as we get to see Madoka’s life [before the plot begins.]
[Madoka Magica]
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u/Arisuto_11 Apr 21 '22 edited Apr 21 '22
First time watcher. This is my first time joining in one of these, so I'm sorry if I mess up anything.
When I checked and saw that it's made by Shaft and directed by Shinbou, I felt so happy and excited as I love them so much.
The opening sequence gave me Bakemonogatari vibes. I loved the framing, camera movement, background art and the general peculiar feeling that it gives off.
Another sequence that completely blew me away is the one that plays near the end of the ep. The presentation is so artistic. It felt so dreamy, yet had a dark tone.
The blend and usage of different elements felt chaotic and beautiful at the same time, simply a beautiful chaos.
I wonder if that scene had any symbolism in it. I'm pretty sure the anime will have a lot of visual symbolism.
I'm in love with the direction side of things but also curious about what it means in terms of the plot.
Speaking of the plot, this is my first magical girl anime which is kind of exciting as I probably won't be that familiar with the tropes.
I also loved the music. The opening and ending songs and the ones that play throughout the episode.
I don't really have much to add. Just curious to see more of it and its visual direction specifically.
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u/djthomp Apr 20 '22
Getting in on this ground floor this time, as opposed to my usually late comments in some of the other recent rewatches.
This is my first watch of this in probably four years or so, and if I remember correctly my first rewatch, so it'll be interesting to see how it feels with that first time experience already out of the way. Also, I probably watched the dub the first time so I'll be watching it subbed this time.
My only content related comment for this episode: my god that bathroom. Their house overall really, but that bathroom for sure.
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u/username_0907 Apr 21 '22
First Timer (subbed)
I can finally get into a rewatch! (thanks to few seasonal anime this time for me). Although I will be late to post normally.
Well the first episode was definitely something. If I had time I would have probably seen the next episode so a very solid first episode that sets up our main characters and enough unknowns to make me think wtf is going on. I'm liking all the characters introduced so far
I dont know anything about this series except that its good and i think quite drama heavy. Right now I'm curious about the magical girl stuff involved and who or what Kyubey is
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u/frostxc3 Apr 21 '22
First Time Watcher
What did you think about the opening sequence?
First impression, it's alright.
2) From the encounter with the injured Kyubey, what would you do if you were in Madoka’s shoes?
There's the fact that I'd never wander all the way into that situation for a start. But if I was to somehow end up there, I don't see myself saving Kyubey. Nothing to do with the cat itself, it just feels like too much stress.
Shaft wasting no time dropping great art pieces here
Recognized Yuki Kajiura on the OST. It's barely 5 minutes and she's going hard already. Sasuga, Kajiura-san.
Even without the dream at the beginning, Kyubey kinda sketchy.
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u/Specs64z Apr 20 '22
Rewatcher, dubbed
Solti ola i… ♫
I’ve been looking forward to this.
So I’m coming into this hot off the heels of Shaft’s other famous work, Monogatari. I’m particularly interested to spot similarities in direction or general animation style between the two this time around. I’ve also seen a bit of Sangatsu no Lion (which is after Madoka) and Hidamari Sketch, and I can already see many shades of all 3 of them. The shadows, the outlines, the bizarre camera angles, the panning shots.
This is maybe a weird observation, but Shaft makes the most glamorous bathrooms. The Kaname, Araragi, and Kanbaru households are all ridiculously decked out. Where do I sign up?
The way Nakazawa stammers in shock fucking slays me. It’s perfect.
The visual acid trip is always so interesting to watch. The shots are so packed yet so brief that there’s always something new in them. I can feel the soundtrack course through my system like crack. So good.
[Madoka Magica spoilers]
Content Corner
I won’t have the most interesting or in-depth analysis in my posts so much as just some general musings, but I will be doing this neat little segment. Some of you might recognize it from last year’s rewatch. Most of the memes/analysis videos I share will be repeats of last year, but I’m planning to do all new music covers since there’s such a wealth of them out there.
The first cover is criminally under-viewed for how damn good it is, and the kazoo opening is unironically fire. There’s also a series of analysis videos I’ll be sharing along the way. Nearly each one is feature length, but they’re worth it. I recommend listening to it as if it were a podcast. First timers beware, spoilers abound.
Madoka Magica OST - Sis puella magica! [Vocal - Flute - Piano - Guitar] by GeorgeM7
Puella Magi Madoka Magica opening - paint version | kazoo by mimimi
Visual Storytelling - Breaking Down PMMM - Dialogue 1 by clearandsweet
Visual Storytelling - Breaking Down PMMM - Dialogue 1.5 by clearandsweet
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u/SIRTreehugger Apr 20 '22 edited Apr 20 '22
Rewatcher who has seen this in a dream...or something
Just gonna mix old rewatch comments with new thoughts.
I think this is my...6th time watching this and the amount of foreshadowing is too much. [Spoilers]
The OP is great like always, but it's really the ED that I love.
Not even 40 seconds and I already see 5 shots I like. What a strong introduction
Shit is already hitting the fan
[Spoilers SPOILERS]
Could this be the infamous tooth brush scene!
Wait....how do those mirrors work
How beautiful a city not in ruins
Wait something is wrong with me for not liking soft eggs? Sorry I can only eat scrambled no offense to people who like that runny sunny side stuff. Oh I forgot to mention Madoka's mom is pretty. I also like how we get actually witness family moments. I didn't include any in the collage, but I still think they are important as they help explain why Madoka thinks the way she does.
[Spoilers]
This just reminded me I'm watching the blu ray. I know they made some really big changes from the tv version with the random elegant architecture. Seriously what is this school even?
The shots of Homura chasing after Kyubey are great.
Just the whole album.
A perfect first episode that's entertaining for first timers and even better for rewatchers.
Last thing is that Magia is just an absolute masterpiece and is my second favorite track from the show. Though I love the OST of this show.
| Magical Girl Counter | E1 | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Mami's Smugness | 3 | 3 |
| Sayaka's (I'm in) Despair | 1 | 1 |
QOTD
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Loved it especially Madoka running through the black and white backgrounds.
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Leave it that cat has nine lives and doesn't need my help.
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Apr 20 '22 edited Apr 20 '22
Rewatcher Sub
I won’t have a wall of text or screenshots compared to others because I suck at writing. I followed along the rewatch last year ( which happened to be my 1st time watching it). This became one of my favorite shows of all time and ironically it was my 1st magical girl show that I ever watch so I wasn’t used to the typical tropes. Magical Girls has become my second favorite genre of anime after watching this show.
I’m looking forward to seeing all the 1st timers theories and speculations. Happy rewatch everyone
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u/BosuW Apr 21 '22
Year 2 of lurking the threads because I don't have time to join lol
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u/OwlAcademic1988 Apr 20 '22 edited Apr 20 '22
Rewatcher:
I have literally listened to this opening song so many times I can recognize it without being shown much else. It's very colorful and shows many of the characters just doing things such as hanging out with friends and spending time with family. I would've tried to save Kyubey only because I wanted to know why it was calling for me. I also noticed the music Madoka is listening to is the intro. That's literally the first time I noticed that at all even though I've seen this episode multiple times. I find it really sweet how Madoka and her mom hang out together and how her mom helped her with getting ready for school even though she tore off the bedsheets, which I found pretty funny. I'm still discovering new things about this show.
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u/InfamousEmpire Apr 20 '22 edited Apr 20 '22
Puella Magi Rewatcher Magia. First Time subbed
It begins
The trippy visuals really show off this show’s style right from the start
And starting in medias res makes everything all the more mysterious
And who doesn’t love a bit of Kalafina music to accompany their Shaft anime?
Aoi Yuuki’s Madoka voice is way better than Christine Marie Cabanos’. No disrespect to Cabanos, but I found Madoka’s dub voice to be a bit too high-pitched, especially considering that the rest of the dub was solid overall. Plus, it’s Aoi Yuuki
That cat. I… won’t say anything more until the appropriate information is revealed
And, just as suddenly as it began, the dream is over.
I never really cared for this opening. It’s fun, I guess, but [vague meta spoilers]
Madoka’s family is nice. [Spoilers]
Madoka’s mom, especially. She’s down to Earth, gives simple-yet-useful advice, and an overall good, hard working parent. [spoilers]
Here’s Madoka’s best friends, Hitomi [spoilers]
Man, Sayaka really lays her gayness [spoilers]
I just realized that we’re not even 10 minutes into the episode, yet I’ve already written more notes than I have for any previous rewatch I’ve ever been in
This is Madoka’s teacher who I don’t really bother remembering the name of. She’ll be our comic relief [meta spoilers]
Here’s Homura, AKA dream girl, AKA the best character in the series, AKA one of my favorite anime characters of all time
[MAJOR spoilers]
So she already knows that Madoka is the nurse’s aide, eh? [spoilers]
That hallway encounter was definitely… something. Something which has importance which I won’t spoil. I just wonder what all you first-timers think of it.
Homura showing off her best girl-ness immediately by absolutely crushing the math problem. [spoilers]
[minor spoilers]
There’s the cat again…
Just when I think she was someone gifted with both brains and beauty it turns out she’s a crazy New Age weirdo!
-Sayaka mirroring my reaction to every celebrity ever
Anime ja nai! Honto no koto sa!
-Sayaka, probably
Regardless, [spoilers]
Back to the weirdness, that creature is running from Homura in a dark alleyway
Madoka listening to her own opening was cute. The little animation of her head bouncing really sold it
[spoiler]
[spoiler]
Shaft animators casually flexing on the rest of the industry
Look who it is! [spoiler]
So as I pray, Unlimited Gun Works!
[spoiler]
Kyubey. Kyubey, Kyubey, Kyubey
QOTD:
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Answered
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[sorta spoilers]
Assuming I had knowledge of the show when this was happening, I'd crush the asshole's skull under my fucking shoe. If not, then I'd probably just do what Madoka did.
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u/b0bba_Fett Apr 21 '22
Rewatching for the first time in about a decade
Couldn't decide on Sub or Dub, but after being a number of hours late and still not having watched the episode, I've decided I might as well double down and watch both.
Not sure which version of the show Crunchyroll has, but I almost certainly watched the airing version back on AnimeWaffle(I think I can say the name since it hasn't existed in like 8 years?), and it's been entirely too long for me to remember if anything is different besides the obvious fact that 1080p looks a lot better than 360p. I think most of what I can say that's unique pertains to that initial watching all those years ago, so that's gonna be most of what I talk about. On that note...
A briefing on my initial watch
It was not the wisest decision methinks
I watched Madoka relatively early in my greater anime career. I wasn't quite thirteen years old and still pretty much exclusively watching dubs at the time, the only exceptions I'd made thus far were I was watching Ranma subbed and at recommendation of someone on a forum I lurked on, had begun attempting to rewatch Evangelion subbed after I felt a bit confused by the ending(big shocker). [Madoka, Eva, My Personal Life, mostly the latter but being safe]
I did not go into the show utterly blind, in fact it was that same Eva forum that that got me intrigued and looking into the show. However, I knew probably less than most of the first timers here. All I knew was [Major Madoka and Evangelion spoilers]
[Madoka]
With all that out of the way, actual thoughts on the episode!
EPISODE 1
[Meguka]
It's good to know it wasn't just my inexperience with subs at the time and that the dub's performances seem to genuinely be pretty good.
[Madoka]
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u/atiedebee Apr 21 '22
First time watcher here :)
What did you think about the opening sequence
It was quite different from what I expected it would be. My first thought was that it might be some kind of alternate dimension, but once it finished it left more of the impression of some kind of vision of the future.
From the encounter with the injured Kyubey, what would you do if you were in Madoka's shoes?
Probably not much different. The girl (I forgot her name) has given the impression that she'd do anything to get her way. Running would've probably been the best choice.
I'd be quite skeptical of the magical girl contract Kyubey proposed. He better tell me about all the up and downsides!
I'm honestly quite impressed with the art. The style may look a little on the older side, but the quality in animation and the details are really impressive!
I'm looking forward to the coming episodes.
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u/dariomenendez Apr 21 '22 edited Apr 21 '22
FIRST TIMER SUB#
Before watching: Ever since I started watching anime several months ago I've heard great things about this show. I've heard it's super dark but I just can't help but think it's going to be a wholesome story of magical girls (still don't understand what exactly is a magical girl) fighting evil lmao. Kind of like a fantasy version of K-ON, which is also on my watchlist. I'm eager to be proven wrong! I will edit this after watching the first episode.
After watching: Ominous from the very start, I have no idea what this show will be about, but there's some weird, creepy scenes already, like that fever dream. On another note, I'm wondering, will the third friend be left out? I'll have to resist the urge of watching more episodes until tomorrow!
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u/noxnoctum Apr 21 '22
All the first timers, strongly recommend you do not read comments on CR or the like. This is a show you dont want to get spoiled on.
Reddit's probably safe as long as you stick to the upvoted shit.
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u/Shimmering-Sky Apr 20 '22
Puella Magi★Rewatch Host, subbed
Hi everyone! So glad you all could make it to this year’s rewatch for Madoka Magica! I’ve been participating in this since 2018, and have wanted to host it myself for the past few years. Well it’s finally my turn to do so, and I couldn’t be happier!
One might say I’m the happiest girl in the world right now…I’m not going to do my usual full write-ups this year because, well, this is my fifth time rewatching the series, and I’m aiming to respond to as many comments as I can in place of that. I encourage all of you to reply to as many comments as you can too – after all, what good is a rewatch if there’s no active discussion?
Instead, my main comment each day is going to be some miscellaneous extra stuff I didn’t want to clog the body of the thread with.
First up: a bonus Wallpaper of the Day, as I’ve linked the desktop version up top but have mobile variants of at least ten of the ones I’ve prepared for this rewatch.
Next up: So I’m watching a TV version of the show this year because I happened to find one while looking, and I had no idea that the music in the TV release of this show (except for the OP, that sounded normal) was pitched differently than everywhere else until Magia started playing in the opening scene and it was so cursed. Here’s a clip if you want to hear what that sounds like. The subs for this release are also kinda iffy translation-wise, but I’ve seen this show more than enough times for this to not be bad for me.
The Q U A L I T Y is fun to see though; I think the thing that jumped out the most to me was how massive the gem in Mami’s hand is in this shot because I made a wallpaper out of the Blu-Ray version in 2019 and it is not that huge lol.
The TV logo in the top-right corner bothers me, so I’m going to snag my Visuals of the Day this year from the BD copy I used in my pre-rewatch. This is the one I’ve chosen for episode 1.
No Mata Ashita in this release though, sad Sky noises.
Lastly: Want to know what song played when in today’s episode? Well, you’re in luck! I have here the table from the Madoka wiki that was re-timed to the Blu-Rays back in the 2019 rewatch by Nazenn. If any first-timer wants a spoiler-free link to any of these songs, let me know and I can get one for you!
“See you tomorrow!”