That was a great subversion of one of the most overused mahou shoujo tropes: the magical object that somehow allows the girls to transform themselves. Now that this show mentions it, I’ve seen very few series that actually put in a deeper meaning to these items. The only other I can think of right now is Fancy Lala.
The idea that your soul gets separated from your body when you become a mahou shoujo is a great one. It offers a very interesting explanation to all the healing and invincibility powers that you often see in these series. What’s even more interesting is that most of the mahou shoujo don’t know about that, and maintaining your soul gem suddenly gets a whole new meaning here.
Aah, and Kyuubei. Seriously, that animal was being evil in this episode: it specifically called Madoka when Sayaka was about to be attacked and it just keeps referring to Madoka’s latent powers. In this episode we also learn that it eats grief seeds. That really can’t be a good thing.
That mysterious “Walpurgis Night” will probably the climax of this series. With this episode we pretty much learn what Homura’s goal is, though it’s still unclear what she was planning to do while fighting Sayaka in this episode. She obviously was trying to do something to her without killing her, but that as all I could gather.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
I would have said the episode was awesome instead of excellent but oh well you still appreciated it so I’m happy xD I just liked how Kyuubei screws with everyone’s head. That little bitch is very very creepy!!
The revelation that Magical Girls were, in essence, LICHES (with the Soul Gems being phylacteries), came as a massive surprise. Less so was Kyuubei’s severe lack of understanding for human emotions, and how people place importance on their souls.
Best ep so far, it looked really amazing and its a nice twist
But meh, I didnt know this was gonna be only 12 eps… wtf? The first half is gone and Madoka still isnt a mahou shoujo, and now with this revelation, she will definitely not want to become one…
And yeah Kyubei keeps teasing that Madoka has the most talent etc etc, SO ANNOYING
So. Sayaka and the rest basically sold their souls to the devil. Even if their bodies die, their soul would be trap in that form. Bummer.
I wonder what happens to soul gems that have lost their hardware.
Yikes. Kyubey eats grief seeds which might have been soul gems in the beginning. That might be his food. He grants wishes to magical girls, who in turn hunts for him. He’s living the life. >.>
Hmmm. Kyebey said that Madoka has loads of potential. She might become the most powerful magical girl of them all, she might also becomes the most powerful witch that Homura can’t destroy.
Oh god…thank you Homura @_@ you are the real hero of this show!
For everyone who doesn’t know what the heck Walpurgisnacht/Walpurgis night is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walpurgis_Night
If url doesn’t show up, google it =P(I did google it ^^;)
LOVED this episode. Mahou Shojous are zombies! XD
The only disappointment was that there was no Witch/Familiar’s zone to speak of and that’s a part of the show that I look forward to. Part of me wishes that the ending would have had one of those zones appear (drawn by Kyoko’s rage at Kyubei or something), then leave off.
Still, I got chills from a number of scenes: Sayaka’s explanation to Madoka and the ending explanations were really well done. Plus the dork in me loved the DDR speedup version of the show’s opening. XD
WANT MORE OF THIS SERIES!
Omg,that was intense! Like almost everyone else,I’m expecting either Madoka or Sayaka to be the enemy that Homura was fighting in the 1st episode. If Puella Magi do really turn into witches,then Madoka who have the strongest potential must be 1 hell of a witch to beat. Btw,that scene with Madoka’s mum sure was hinting “Something bad is gonna happen to me soon!” ^^;
I think that Madoka’s mother is controlled by Kyubey, the talk that her and her daughter had in this episode is going to be decisive when Madoka make the contract.
I half-expected Homura to crush Sayaka’s soul gem or whatever after reaching it. Would’ve been a nice twist. Anyway, great episode as usual.
so it seems this whole puella magi thing is a “game” similar like in “the worlds end with you”.
every time the girls use magic they pollute their soul gem. if they don’t purify it with a familiar or an grief seed their soul gem becomes an familiar (and afterwards an grief seed). to prevent that to happen they hunt grief seeds, which were puella magis before. so its basically a game in which all magi more or less fight each other to not become a grief seed themselves.
all set up by kyuubei ^^
Wait, if the magical girls body is invincible then that means that Mami may still be alive. Remember when Homura picked up her soul gem and it was still in-tacked, what did she do with it? I bet it will tie in with the climax, maybe Mami “dieing” was all a part of Homura’s plan, which involves Madoka.
I am convinced that Mami will show up for the finale!
It felt obvious that something was ominous about Kyuubei, seriously anything with a perpetually smiling expression can’t be good.
But yeah, I’m liking the theory that witches are instead fallen Puella Magis. As for Mami, I would say she has already reappeared.
The way I see it, if Witches are Puella Magis, then that weird space containing the witches would be a physical manifestation of the wish that was made, a miracle that was lost, and hope became grief, as such the soul gem transforms into a grief seed.
The witch/familiar thing that appeared during the episode after Mami’s death, the one Sayaka fought after transforming into a Puella Magi for the first time. I’m convinced that’s Mami, there were “TV screens” in the weird witch space thing showing her, and several screens showing the moments of her death.
@drill, that’s a pretty good point, but I think there is another contractor besides Kyubi. The black cat in the OP song may be the contractor that gave Homura her power, which explains why she is a mystery to Kyubi
@chris bennett
She is dead. Remember that her Soul Gem takes the form of a hairpin, it was the first thing to get crushed when Charlotte bit her head
@EvilDevil
Bugger, I missed that little detail. I forgot that each magical girls soul gem takes a unique form (I think?). Good eye for detail dude, though im kinda bummed now as Mami was a great character.
I loved Madoka talk with her mother and how at the end she says she can’t wait to grown up and drink together; Unfortunately, the advice she gave her almost kills Sayaka.
Kyubey is right. Robot bodies are much better for fighting/healing. Just think of it as a Gundam. Now who would turn down a chance to pilot a Gundam?
Kyubey is awesome.
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@Chris bennett
Kyouko’s is located between the chest and neck area and has the oval form, so maybe a pendant? Sayaka’s is located on the belly button so kinda reminds me of those bellybutton piercings and looks like a funky C. Homura’s is located on the top of her left hand and it is the shape of the Ace of diamonds. So each one is different, Mami’s looked like a flower or a daisy…
The twist was a major shock. I never expected such a thing to be possible and it painted an even darker image on the mahou shojou: Basically becoming an undead (like a lich as someone else said).
Kyubei was really evil this episode. Trying to use Sayaka to get Madoka to switch and then telling Madoka the only way to defend Sayaka is to make the contract was really low.
And the twist pretty much reveals that witches are former mahou shoujo seeing as their real form is so eerily similar. Which brings me to the question… is Kyubei collecting those to create new magical girls to fill the orbs and creating a cycle? And if so (or not), what’s the goal behind all this?
Finally… will Madoka ever make the contract? The more the series progresses, the more terrifying it becomes for anyone to make the contract. What on earth could make her sacrifice so much at this point?
@Ncrdrg
Well, sometimes people are willing to sacrifice their lives for something. More and more, it looks like becoming a Mahou Shojou is basically sacrificing yourself–a potentially long, painful sacrifice, but a sacrifice nonetheless.
So, Madoka will need a reason to lay down her own life to make the contract. (I’m suddenly reminded of Grim Grimoire, and contract loopholes!)
I find it surprising that this “twist” is so surprising to everyone. Why would you need a “soul gem” otherwise? To store the souls of your vanquished foes? Maybe I’ve just played too many RPGs and watched too many magical girl type shows before?
The best subversion in this episode was Madoka’s mother.. such a bad parent is a dark parody goldmine compared to the parents-of-the-year you get in most magical girl shows.
I’m looking forward to learning why Kyubey targets little girls in the first place. It will be nice if they at least put a twist on the reason why it’s always little girls.
@Hogart: Why only little girls?
Just watch to Korezonbi to check out how a char different than a little girl fits in a majokko role. XD
PS: I’m pleased on how this anime was developed so far. I started pretty biased negatively here.
I was wondering . . . If Madoka makes a contract with Kyuubei , shouldn’t she wish to keep her soul attached to her body ? Unless she prefers freeing all the Puella Magis from their contract by sacrificing herself.
She will eventually become a Puella before the show ends, won’t she ?