[drmchsr0] Madoka Magica: A recap until now
on March 6th, 2011 at 3:00 pm
(Once again, click on the pic to go to the creator’s pixiv.)
Well, we’re past the latest episode of Madoka. Boy, was it carthartic.
Again, for those who think Madoka can’t get a-head, because of percieved suckiness of Urobouchi Gen, there’s… … … Fate/Zero. And Saya no Uta. Guess who wrote those? And guess which character is a homage to Archer from Fate/Stay Night? (NASU KINOKO WHAT HAVE YOU DONE)
I haven’t heard of much complaints from the people I hang out with on the Internet (apart from someone going on and on about how terrible the animation was in episode 8 and a few people who just hate Urobouchi Gen in general), so I suppose the show itself is doing something RIGHT.
So, let’s check in on the show before I get distracted by something else.
End of episode 9.
- Body Count: 2 Puella Magi, 1 Puella Magi-turned-Witch, 6-9 Witches, one very, very messed up Madoka.
- Yuri Count: 1 confirmed pair, 1 unconfirmed pair, several fanon pairs
- Is Mami still dead: Yes
- Big Reveal: KYOKO DIES (Kyoko is now moe to me D:), AND SHE AND SAYAKA GO TO CAKE PLANET TO HAVE CHEESECAKE WITH CHARLOTTE AND MAMI.
- Is QB evil: Duh.
- Series Ruined for me: GaoGaiGar (THE G-STONE WAS CREATED VIA THE DESPAIR OF MAGICAL GIRLS T_T)
- Who’s going to die next: HomuHomu (HomuHomu is gonna HomHom herself to DEATH D:)
- Happy End: No, this is Urobouchi Gen we’re talking about.
- Will Madoka need therapy if she survives this: Yes
- Kamen Rider Crossovers: None at all. Not even Den-O.
Enough with the silly factoids. Now for some realtalk.
I’m not too familiar with Urobouchi Gen’s work, so I can’t really comment on how people can hate on his writing. All I know is that Saya no Uta was really depressing and that Fate/Zero, apart from the MANLY scenes with Iskandar and the modern world (So manly he doesn’t need PANTS.) wasn’t all that hope-inducing. Still, apart from bracing for the worst possible ending to a magical girl series ever, there’s a few things about character development I’d like to touch on.
It’s not easy to tell a good story and develop characters now, what with the reduced budgets, anime series being 13 episodes instead of 49, and the advent of… … … moe. Crafting a good story is thrown out of the window in favor of cheap emotional hits and blatant plot development to the point where the fine art of storytelling is cast aside.
It IS like Dai Sato said: People are less interested in the story and more on the thrills.
I keep thinking if character development today was more like in G Gundam, I’d be a happy, happy man. And pardon me for making the haters mad, but Sayaka’s descent into despair was pretty well-handled, if rather cliched.
If you looked back on the events leading to Kyoko going “FINAL VEEEEEEEEEEEEEENT” on Witch Sayaka, you’d actually notice things. Things like Mami’s death influcing her decision to be a magical girl, the big QB reveal that Puella Magi’s souls are outside of their bodies affecting her obviously one-sided relationship with Kyosuke, Hitomi and her stupid ploy, and the train scene. It was painful to watch, and the payoff was HORRIBLE. At that point I really wanted to just jump in and give her a hug and tell her that it’s okay to feel bad when things don’t go your way. It was almost like G Gundam episode 45 happened, except with a lot more grim and dark.
As a counterpoint, Mami’s character development felt pretty much like something out of Key, only with a gruesome BAD END to stave off the wibbly feelings of hope. Kyoko’s felt insanely rushed and could have done with at least half an episode of padding to sort out the sudden change of attitude. Oh well, one can’t expect G Gundam-level development in 13 episodes, but I remain hopeful and Gen has been good here, if he had to cram in all that in 3 episodes per character.
Speaking of Kyoko…
All she wanted was a friend, because she was all alone in the world.
But it was only in death that she could do that. Kyoko was a good girl in the end T_T
LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO.
You remove your hands from my Kyouko!!!!!!!!! :E
Dude, those are your hands, not mi-
No wait, those are Sayaka’s. I’m sorry mang. I was never anywhere Kyoko :3c
No, REALLY. These F/SN comparisons have to STOP. NOW.
People need to stop throwing around Urobouchi’s name around, just like they throw Nasu’s and Maeda’s name around. The whole work is a result of the studio. Even the story elements are a result of the storyboard team and writing team (more so than the original author). Stop trying to pin a name to the work :|
It was a good post. I’m in a bad mood tonight. Good points about the length of anime and the thrills vs story.
But Komi, Guess who wrote Fate/Zero with the blessings of Nasu Kinoko? :3c
:3c :3c :3c :3c :3c :3c :3c :3c :3c :3c :3c :3c :3c :3c :3c
THOSE COMPARISONS ARE VALID OKAY :3c
In all seriousness, it was a reply to people hating on Madoka because “a VN author wrote it”, to quote a certain SHAFT fanboy on Twitter.
In my opinion VN authors + good story board + experienced animation team are pretty much the best anime creators – Clannad being the prime example, but this extends to Air, Kanon, and Madoka. It’s new that they’re doing this, and P.A. Works (while they have the right idea and good production) couldn’t close the experience gap with Canaan and Angel Beats (even so, those were reasonably popular during their air time).
It takes a lot for a VN-style writing adaptation, but it comes down to what the director wants to cut out and elaborate on in the short amount of time they have. And this large combination of staff decisions is why I will attribute animation to the studio and not individual authors. Directors/story board has the rights to override the author based on popular appeal/capabilities of the production team.
Honestly, VN authors have the best visions though. And shows done by VN authors always draw a lot of attention because of the amount of depth they put into the character designs and writing (generally they have enough elements to get everyone watching, and not just a sub-set of fans).
Okay, a bit more calm now. I think it’s funny how I disagree with you about every perspective you have of Kyouko, but wind up coming to the same conclusion. As in, look what you made me do, and Kyouko being a good girl. AKA: See my episode 9 post just before this one.
moe