#how awful homura is and how she's a terrible person

[himehomu]

“Homura callously destroys everything and everyone else because she's selfish and she only loves madoka” right that's why, when she rewrote the entire universe, she not only made it to where Madoka would be surrounded by her friends and her family, but she also gave Sayaka a second chance with not only Kyoko, but with Hitomi and Kyoske as well. That's why she gave Nagisa and Mami a life together. Because she's callous and selfish and she doesn't care about anyone but Madoka. That's why she took on the brunt of immortality for Madoka to be human again, even if it's temporary, choosing to suffer alone whilst everyone else has a second chance at a life. Go fuck yourself. I'm so tired of seeing ppl minimize Homura's love for Madoka and her friends by writing off her actions as “oh she's just a selfish evil edgelord who destroys everything and everyone who isn't madoka bc she doesn't care about anything else bc selfishness vs selflessness themes!!” like you do know that you can point out Homura's selfishness and Madoka's selflessness without blatantly lying and trying to rewrite canon to fit your narrative, right?

#pmmm #puella magi madoka magica #mahou shoujo madoka magica #puella magi madoka magica rebellion #homura akemi #madoka kaname #muting notifications to this bc i already know ppl who either want homura to be evil to justified their hatred for her #because they can't admit they still don't understand why homura did what she did in rebellion after 10 years #or those who want her to be evil and toxic bc they think that makes her a girlboss are gonna foam at the mouth either way #yes homura acted selfishly but not in the way everyone claims she did y'all are just twisting her actions to fit your narrative #it's 2023 just say you hate her and move tf on bc i am NOT going into Walpurgisnacht Rising with ppl in my ear telling me #how awful homura is and how she's a terrible person #homura did nothing wrong

[myths-tournaments]

Awful Characters Round 2 Part 1 (8/8)

Propaganda under the cut!

HOMURA AKEMI

Apparently, loving Homura means promoting toxic relationships. And yup, the Madoka x Humura relationship is not sane. Homura is obsessed with Madoka, she follows her to not let her make the choice of becoming a magical girl, she even threatens her. But even acknowledging it, this is still a very well written character. Her obsession can be explained with trauma. And the show, especially the Rebellion movie, does not condone this behavior by depicting her as a villain.

ELIAS BOUCHARD

He manipulates the main character consistently, makes a character cry by telling him how much he looks like his dad, forces the knowledge of her father's dearh into a different characters head and ends the world through aformentioned manipulation of the main character

(this is about jonah!elias to be clear, og!elias is a different character) i love him so much he's so much fun but i'm not very open about it because he's the main villain and some people are very weird about it,,,, i have seen people say he's a personification of capitalism and if you like him you support capitalism or you didn't get the point of tma (which is just wrong, tma is vaguely a metaphor for capitalism yes but also for a lot of other things and elias isn't even a capitalist he runs a non-profit?) so many people call him homophobic or racist (because he's technically from the 1800s) and say if you like him you're a bad person but there are literally no canon basis for that at all (plus. he's literally a fictional character) i have actually seen a parody of the miku binder thing with elias to say that people who like him are just like people who woobify jefferson. which. what. you'd think people would latch on to the brutal pipe murder or the eye gouging that lead to body possession for his quest to be immortal or the constant manipulation to call him a terrible person but no apparently?? (or the. y'know. literally ending the world)

#awful characters tournament #tournament poll #awful characters round 2 #puella magi madoka magica #pmmm #homura akemi #pmmm homura #the magnus archives #tma #elias bouchard

[clacing]

Do you think Harrow would ever hit Homura levels of "girl who is just fine, everyone else is the problem"? Or do you think she's surpassed Homura in that area?

From what I've seen of the TLT fandom, Harrow seems to be almost universally loved, so I wonder if she'll do something that ppl will say is too messed up and start writing posts about how she's actually the devil. I think if that happened it would make me like her more than, or at least as much as, Homura.

THAT'S A REALLY GOOD QUESTION 'cause I've said repeatedly that Homura and Harrow are the same character but I never considered that Harrow doesn't really have an equivalent to Homura's "becoming the devil". She might still get one since she's literally going to be in hell for the first part of ATN but I honestly think it's too late in the game for her to do something that's actually unforgivable. The rift between Gideon and Harrow is already as large as you could make it because of Harrow choosing to forget about Gideon and even that is only a Wraith Arc Homura level of offense. With only one book left I don't think there's time for the rift to grow even deeper and for it to have a satisfactory resolution. She might do something terrible against John at the very end I guess but that'll be far from shocking unless she like, blows up a planet in the process or something (as I am writing this I just realized Harrow actually already blew up several planets so actually that won't cut it)

Even if Harrow were to pull an actual Rebellion, it would be framed and received differently, if only because I trust a target audience of mostly sapphics won't jump to "She's a horrible person and literally the devil" the moment she makes a morally ambiguous decision. I mean, look at Ianthe. She's absolutely awful and everyone loves her for it. Gay people are starved for complex characters like that and I'm sure if Harrow just went fucking apeshit everyone would love her even more.

Homura on the other hand is in a show targeted to adult men who have no idea what it's like to be a teen lesbian and can only spout misogyny and homophobia out of their ass. I also think a lot of the criticism coming from queer people is simply due to Rebellion coming out at a time when everyone still criticized morally ambiguous queer representation because of how few gay characters were actually around back then, and so everyone was understandably up in arms at Homura becoming the devil because of her feelings for Madoka. I love Rebellion to death and think it's the best movie ever made but I know if I'd watched it back then I also would have hated it, and people who first watched it in 2013 probably still can't shake off their first impression of it even though times have changed. But queer representation is definitely at a point where we can want something more than perfectly sanitized stories and it says a lot that people will usually be much more receptive to Homura if they watch Rebellion now

So yeah I honestly don't think Harrow will ever beat Homura on that front. Maybe she'll do something bad but in a series where everyone does bad stuff and in the context of what Harrow has already done I honestly think barely anyone will even blink. The reason Homura's actions are still debated today is that no one saw it coming and so everything felt so much more shocking because of how abrupt it was

#homura akemi #harrowhark nonagesimus #madoka magica #locked tomb

[a-student-out-of-time]

A thing i always found weird about Kizuna is that while Linuj wants her to be hated and seen as a terrible person all throughout he also went out of his way to say that prior to the memory wipe she worked on improving herself and that she wouldn't have tried to kill anyone if she had her memories, which doesn't seem like something a fake awful person who only cares about money would do?? And this is without even going into her backstory. It's kinda baffling to me how Linuj writes characters who are sympathetic but he himself doesn't see them that way, like bro you made the character

//For real, yeah. It's like he tries to micromanage the audience's reactions to everything, to the point that he tries to impose his readings of his own characters onto people. The problem, of course, is that you can't force your audience to see characters a certain way just by telling us, you have to convince us through showing these things in the story

//As a writer, you really can't control how your audience views your story. The most you can do is present it to them in a way that lines up with your goals and maybe your interpretations of the characters, story and plot. Even then, not everyone is going to agree.

//You can tell us that a character is irredeemable and awful, but if you show us someone who's clearly capable of regret and shame for their actions, I'm inclined to disagree.

//I have similar feelings about my favorite anime, Madoka Magica, where Gen Urobuchi says that Homura ultimately failed in her quest, which I and others have disagreed with. The difference is that this is a matter of interpretation, and even in PMMM's story, you can similar cases of characters to those in SDRA2, who ultimately can't be saved. However, here it's due to numerous factors and it isn't just a jaded fatalistic outcome, but one actually driven by their own actions that we see play out.

//If I can give some advice to my fellow writers out there, it's that you need to stop thinking you can control audience perspectives through the Word of God. You can't. Your audience is going to focus on what's actually in the story, not what you tell them about the story. In fact, your efforts to micromanage may make them disagree with you even more.

//If you want your audience to see the characters a certain way, it requires a lot of awareness of context, self-awareness and presentation within the confines of the story itself. This is really the essence of show, don't tell.

#mod talks #a student out of time #writing advice

[mistbornthefinal]

Madoka Magica Aniversary Analysis: Part 10

I Wished That I Could Turn Back Time

Well this is the episode, Episode 3 may have gotten people talking about Madoka but it was this one that cemented this series as a classic. 

We begin with Homura, but very clearly not the Homura that we’re familiar with. The introduction of this Homura is an inversion of what we saw in episode 1. Rather than brush off the curious students she needs to be “saved” by health officer Madoka. (rather than her transfer being mysterious we are told she just got out of the hospital for an unspecified heart condition that she still takes medicine for) This time Madoka leads and Homura follows, Madoka is the one setting the terms by which they refer to each other, Madoka complements Homura’s name which echo’s back to EP 1. Rather than Homura exhorting Madoka not to change it’s Madoka who exhorts Homura to try live up to her name. 

Also unlike in the first episode where Homura blows everyone away this Homura struggles with both academics and athletics. As she walks home she recalls Madoka’s call to “be cool to match her name” which only deepens her depression. She’s overcome with a sense of directionlessness and ennui that’s fairly similar to Madoka’s own insecurities. As he mood darkens the Witch Izabel calls to her seeding her with suicidal thoughts and then pulls her into her labyrinth. Her minions lurch toward Homura, all seems lost, but then a familiar theme is heard.

The Puella Magi, Mami and Madoka(?!) are here for a clutch save and they make short work of the witch. At Mami’s apartment Homura is (presumably) filled in on Meguca 101 but also that Walpurgisnact is soon to arrive. 

We cut to that immediately after that because this episode doesn’t mess around. Mami’s dead, Madoka is the only thing standing in the way of the mightiest Witch. Homura pleads with Madoka to run, that no one will blame her for it. But for better or for worse Madoka has the soul of a true hero. Even though it’s brought her into this seemingly hopeless situation Madoka doesn’t regret becoming a Puella Magi she leaps back into the fray with a smile on her lips.

She’s even able to defeat Walpurgisnact but only at the cost of her life. As Homura sobs over her body, she should have lived rather than save someone like her. In her grief Kyubey is there with the same offer as always, is there a wish she’s willing to trade her soul for? There is, of course.

I want to redo my first encounter with Kaname-san. But this time, instead of her protecting me, I want to be strong enough to protect her!

The soul gem rises from her chest shining, her wish has surpassed entropy. As she grasps it we see the gears of her shield start to turn. She awakens in a new timeline, the clock wound back to the day she was discharged from the hospital.

At school she grabs the hands of a very confused Madoka at the first oppertunity and tells her that she became a Puella Magi. We then cut to Homura demonstrating her power by wailing on an oil drum with a golf club in stopped time. It’s an impressive power but as Mami points out it’s limited by her ability to actually do damage as she seems to lack the superhuman physicality that the other Puella Magi seem to have. 

Homura elects to solve this problem by making pipe bombs, which we see her demonstrate on the witch Patricia. Much to Madoka’s... enthusiasm. 

Sadly the happy-fun-(yuri)-times can’t last while the shadow of Walpurgisnact looms. We’re back to were the last timeline ended, only this time there’s still a Soul Gem in Madoka’s hand one about to fully darken. Homura leans the terrible truth as Kriemhild Gretchen is loosed on the world, and then the clock is wound back yet again.

Now knowing the truth Homura attempts to warn the other Puella Magi about Kyubey’s deception. Unfortunately the other Puella Magi now incudes Sayaka, who is instinctively hostile to Homura and dismisses her out of hand. Though it might in part owe to swords comboing poorly with bombs. That part at least is something Homura can solve, by stealing guns from the Yakuza. 

Just in time for Sayaka to become a Witch. Madoka is on the “try to talk down Oktavia” plan that we saw in the last episode and it’s not any more effective than that last time we saw it. As Madoka is cornered by wheels Homura steps in with her time stop to deflect the attack with her new end the fight.

As the reality of what happened set’s in the girls are distraught, especially Mami who ties up Homura with her ribbons and then just shoots Kyouko’s soul gem. She turns her gun on Homura saying that if Witches are born from Soul Gems then they have no choice but to die. Before she can pull the trigger Madoka kills her. Homura tries to comfort Madoka saying that the two of them can still defeat Walpugisnact.

Well she was right, but though victorious the two of them are out of magic, and they both know what happens next. Maybe it won’t be so bad Homura muses, the two of them can become monsters together and lay waste to this awful world. Madoka has a different idea, she actually has one last grief seed and she uses it to cleanse Homura’s gem. She wants Homura to do something that Madoka can’t.

Could you save me from my stupidity... before I get fooled get fooled by Kyubey?

Homura agrees and in this moment that the Homura we know is truly born. She’ll do it no matter how many times it. But there’s on last thing, Madoka doesn’t want to become a Witch, the may be many sad and awful thing in this world but there are some worth protecting, and one last thing the two of them can do for this world. 

It’s in this moment that Homura is finally able to call Madoka by her first name, just as Madoka asked her two timelines ago. 

In the new timeline Homura leaps from her bed, heals her eyesight with magic, and undoes her braids, completing her transformation into the Homura we’ve gotten familiar with throughout the series. She then appears beside Homura’s window dead Kyubey in hand and tells her that if anyone offer a miracle she shouldn’t trust them.

Homura raids a military base and then wages a one girl war against Mitakihara’s Witch population. She makes a vow, she will never depend on anyone again, never allow Madoka to fight, she will destroy all the Witches by herself. Including Walpurgisnact. 

Just like that we’re back to the very beginning of the show. The scene that the current Madoka saw in her dream, Homura struggling alone against the legendary Witch. As before Madoka looks on in horror and Kyubey is there to tempt her into his trap. This time though we hear as Homura desperately calls out to Madoka not to trust his contract. 

And this time we see the aftermath.  Kriemhild Gretchen looms on the horizon like a mountain of darkness, Kyubey estimates that she will destroy the planet in about ten days. Kyubey predicted that something like this would happen but given he has met his quota it’s humanities problem now. But not Homura’s this isn’t her battlefield she says as she turns back time once again. 

We’re now in the main timeline seeing Homura hunt Kyubey in episode one from her perspective.

I’ll do it over... as many times as it takes. I’ll relive the same time over and over, searching for the one way out. I’ll find the one path that will save you from your fate of boundless despair. Madoka... my one and only friend. If it’s... If it’s for you, I don’t mind being trap in this endless maze... for all eternity. 

This episode ends with Connect rather than opening with it, just in case we weren’t now aware that it’s Homura song. This version ends with all five girls rather than Mami, Sayaka, and Madoka (who are never contracted at the same time in the main timeline)

So that was episode 10 as previously stated this episode is all about Homura’s character, her wish and how she came to be the person we met in episode one. Honestly I’d say that Homura is the most misunderstood characters in the series, like we’ve all seen plenty of “crazy stalker Homura” jokes.  Homura’s determination to save Madoka isn’t a totally one sided thing either, ultimately she working to fulfil the request of TL 3 Madoka. Rather the tragedy is that she decides her devotion to saving Madoka must take priority over her relationship with Madoka, which doesn’t leave anyone happy.

To a certain extent Homura is a foil to all the other girls. Much like Mami most of what we see from her is a façade, as much they both project confidence they’re hiding a lot of pain and loneliness. Like Sayaka she made a selfless wish for somewhat selfish reasons and is ultimately kept from the person they love in part because they are unwilling to be honest about their feelings. She puts on an air of cynicism despite being a disillusioned romantic in a similar way to Kyouko even though both of them are still willing to put it all on the line for the person they love. 

And of course Homura and Madoka share a self-sacrificing streak born from a low opinion of their own value, and what they both want form their wish is not only to save others but also to change themselves. Homura doesn’t wish merely to save Madoka but to become someone capable of saving her, much in the same way Madoka wants to be a person who saves others. 

#semi-original content #puella magi madoka magica #madoka magica anniversary analysis

[thegospelofnagisa]

Hey person that’s watching Magia Record but never played the game again. I have to rant I don’t understand why people like Rena and feel bad for her. I see people being like “wow her apology was so sincere” (the scene where they were finding the rumor that took Kaede) and feel bad for her crying before entering the Rumor barrier, but do people even read what she said???

Yeah it sucks she’s insecure and doesn’t want to be herself, hell I think the morphing power is interesting, but that’s the thing: So many bullies derive this way. They still harm people over their own insecurities they don’t work on. She even gives glares if someone says something she doesn’t like (Iroha when she said the apology wasn’t sincere)

She had no shame blaming/bullying Kaede for her own insecurities and issues and even calls her a servant (which tbh I was so thrown off when she said that I know anime likes to do ridiculous things like that, but it didn’t feel cute if someone I was trying to be friends with said I was their servant I would walk) instead of a friend. She takes advantage of the fact Kaede will take any mistreatment from Rena because Kaede is a nice person. It’s scary how Kaede thinks its okay for accepting Rena as a crappy person and not improve so they can stay friends, it’s a form of being mentally abused for so long to the point you’re afraid to lose the person so you’ll accept anything they do. It makes me uncomfortable that the writers thought that was an okay satisfying conclusion, it felt like a bad ending for Kaede just accepting that. I think she’d be a great antagonist or conflict if done right, but the series paints her as a good guy and they just brush it all off to the next plot.

I believe she wouldn’t have even thought twice to get Kaede back if there weren’t a team of magical girls to make her. She was only scared because she got caught that she wrote her name on the staircase, not because she felt bad. Her reaction was like a cop pulling a person over for speeding not “Oh my God I hurt her feelings and ended our friendship forever!”

It’s funny too because I thought I’d dislike Kaede but in the end Rena was so awful for no reason that I actually felt bad for her. I’d understand being frustrated that she holds them down in fights but that just seems like the only reason that annoys her is because Momoko gives Kaede attentuon, but also getting upset that she’s nice and yelling at her over her wish? That’s not her business. Rena is literally an awful person with a beautiful aesthetic and that’s my thinking why so many overlook it. Idk how she is in the game but the anime convinced me she was awful. It just bothers me people see her as a misunderstood precious tsundure cinamon roll. Characters like Kyoko and Homura like them or not there’s more depth and reason to why they dislike certain people, I’m sure Yachiyo does too, but Rena is just a bully.

Feel free to disagree. Thoughts?

---------

Oh man my friend, if YOU THINK  RENA IN THE ANIME IS BAD...You’ll wish there was a murder option in the game because....Rena in the game is:

FUCKING UNBEARABLY MEAN, you really feel sorry for Kaede, in the anime at least Kaede can fight back against Rena’s bullshit, but in the game she just takes it and rarely fights back. at ,most she just delivers some indirect jabs at her.

They actyally toned her down like 70% in the anime, which is good because in the game she’s a terrible person, the bothering she does to Kaede is for the same reasons but it is much more severe and Momoko is more involved trying to stop it but...Momoko is not a good team leader, she’s a great friend but not a good leader, and she tries her best but Rena is just pure evil.

She has gotten a lot better as the plot goes on thanks to the side stories and events but man, you’ll want to murder Rena in the games. Stay with the anime on that one, Rena anime is a saint compared to Rena in the game.

And as to why they like her? she’s a tsundere, and people like tsunderes for whatever reason, I’ve stated before, you can make a really good paper for the university studying why so many people like Tsunderes.

#rena minami #magireco anime #magia record #kaede akino #submission

[wheremytwinwatches]

[Where My Twin Watches]: PMMM Rebellion - Part 4

Y’know, it’s really interesting how well this movie is working as a Watch. I was worried that there wouldn’t really be good stopping points, but like q_3 said at the beginning it does feel like there are these climaxes every 15 minutes or so. I could definitely see this as a proper followup series to PMMM. Looking forward to where it goes next!

After her pronouncement that the setting is a Witch’s Labyrinth, Homura enters some sort of underground passage, expositing on what Witches are to whoever decided to watch this movie without seeing the show first. Honestly I’m not sure if they’d be any more confused than me by what’s going on now. Still so many unanswered questions: When is this taking place? How did the girls get trapped in this Labyrinth? When did Charlotte get so powerful?

Oh, an answer to the first question! Homura’s thinking that “it all ended when one girl sacrificed herself, breaking the cruel cycle of hope and despair. (Still in awe of Madoka's DM-Dethroning wish). But if this is the post-Goddess!Madoka world, then what’s going on? Why have all the girls lost their memories? Well, moreso than before. I mean, when Madoka Ascended Homura was the only one to remember her, everyone else forgot her, even her family. So…

So…

Madoka? What… Did you…

I’m… gonna table that thought for now.

Moving on, Homura’s thinking about how someone is trying to implant false memories. On that note, can I say I’m impressed with the idea of having this movie be set in a Labyrinth? As Homura’s been waking up, things have gotten more and more outlandish, it looks amazing to see Mitakihara City slowly morphing into this crazy architectural mishmash. Regardless of whoever is behind this, it’s going to lead to some stupendous scenes later on, I can tell.

Ah, the suspect! In Mami’s apartment, Charlotte is acting all cute, chowing on cheese while balancing a teacup on her head. Homura’s sitting quietly at the table, probably thinking about how the Witch she remembers for eating Mami is now acting as Mami’s familiar. Or staring at Madoka, that works too. So, is anyone going to comment on Homura’s makeover? No?

Hmm, Madoka’s commenting on how “Bebe” has been with Mami ever since she first met her. Shots of cutsey pictures of the two, it is chilling to see Mami so infatuated with this Witch. While everyone giggles at their antics, Homura asks how Bebe ended up staying with Mami. Silence, a closeup of Kyubey staring, and the Witch peeks over the table at Homura.

[“Bebe”]: “Homura, why you ask?”

After a pause, Mami talks about how when she was the only Magical Girl in Mitakihara City, the only one that supported and cheered her on was Bebe.

Urk. Mami’s talking about how without Bebe she might have given up a long time ago, that she puts up a false bravado to be seen as a reliable senior MG. But with Madoka and Sayaka growing stronger, and Homura and Kyoko as allies…

Damn. I wish that we could have watched this show, just the five of them fighting Nightmares and growing up. That- OH COME ON UROBUTCHER! Ugh, Mami’s tea just settled to show her upside down head. You don’t have to remind me dude, I remember.

CHARLOTTE. GO AWAY. GET OFF HER SHOULDER.

*Sigh* Mami’s saying that this kind of daily life is what she used to dream about in the old days. She’s happy, isn’t she?

Homura asks Mami for some more tea. She walks away- and Homura just pulled out her Soul Gem. Homura? You making a move against the Witch? Yep, she just did a quick Transform (much, much faster than the one from before), and readies her clock-shield.

[Homura]: “Sorry about this, Madoka.”

Timestop! Madoka looks a bit confused. Don’t worry, it’ll be over soon.

Homura grabs Charlotte by the head, unfreezing her and telling her to drop the act. She remembers. All the girls have had their memories rewritten, and are trapped in a Labyrinth. And the only one who could have done that is the Witch that she is holding right now. Charlotte continues to claim ignorance, nice little freezing effect there as Homura lets go and then grabs her by the neck.

Really digging this melancholy music as Homura opens the window and leaps out with Charlotte in tow, thinking about how her memories are flooding back. She remembers Mami. She may not have been very comfortable with her, thought that Mami pushed herself too hard despite having the softest heart. It felt cruel revealing the truth of the old world to her (that, and she didn’t have the best reaction to it).

Ooh, the backgrounds of the Labyrinth are showing a lot of Charlotte images now! Yeah, keep claiming that you don’t know and shucking blame, Witch. We’re on to you. Playing cute isn’t going to stop Homura. Enough of the cheese talk, you

OH CRAP RIBBON WHAT HOW

[Mami(!!!!)]: “I’d intended to wait and listen until I understood what the situation was. But I couldn’t stand by and watch you hurt Bebe any further.”

Ooooooh crap. Yellow ribbons are festooned across the frozen city, leading back to the brainwashed Mami. Somehow she tagged Homura before the timestop, meaning that she wasn’t frozen as- wait.

Ranubis said:The girls go flying, Mami grabbing Madoka and Homura with her ribbons before Homura timestops everything. But not the other girls? Oh, she’s tied to Madoka and Mami with the ribbon so the timestop doesn’t affect them, got it.

FORESHADOWING! Damn well done, Urobuchi.

Ok, this is serious. Homura now has to deal with brainwashed Mami. This is the Magical Girl who twice snared Homura with her ribbons to where she was helpless, the second time being the last timeline when Homura was at the peak of her power! Mami may have died in the third episode, but that was a fluke when she was distracted by future plans. Now she’s focused on Homura, who has lost the advantage of her power.

This is terrible. And awesome, I am bouncing up and down in my chair squeeing about the epic fight that is coming up, but gah this is heartwrenching. One friend fighting another who is being manipulated? Terrible. And awesome.

Homura tries to tell Mami that she’s being tricked by “Bebe”. Unfortunately, she’s trying to say that Mami is being tricked (by her long-time familiar), they aren’t in Mitakihara City (when Mami sees nothing wrong), and they have all been implanted with false memories (when Homura is the one who suddenly did a personality 180 from Mami’s perspective).

This is tragic, seeing how far Charlotte’s control goes. We see a ruined city, images of Charlotte everywhere. But that’s not what Mami sees.

Homura throws the Witch and tries to shoot quickly, but Mami ribbons her and pulls “Bebe” back, telling her to run. Another timestop, Homura tries shooting the ribbon holding her but it reforms. Alright, how to destroy that pesky piece of fabric?

[Homura]: “Do you mean to protect it, no matter what?”

[Mami]: “Give up on chasing her. If you don’t, you will have to fight me."

Homura leaps. Mami leaps. A guitar riffs. And the battle begins.

Awesome, looks like Homura still has her arsenal, pulls out an SMG to Mami’s muskets. But Mami has a lot of them, enough to match even Homura’s automatic fire. That is incre- no nevermind that, the fact that she is firing her musketballs with enough precision to collide with Homura’s shots is just… wow. The sky is riddled with frozen bullets and musketballs, until time resumes and tumble through the mini-fireworks in their battle. Homura’s still after Charlotte though, both she and Mami head towards her until Homura can timestop again, rounds tracing white lines through the frozen air.

This is an absolutely beautiful fight, I cannot say this enough. Both of these expert Magical Girls, masters of firepower, reading each other well enough to counter each and every round of their opponent. But there’s a question of endurance, which will run out first: Mami’s magic or Homura’s hammerspace?

Mami Ribbongirl’s her way to Homura and they clash their guns and is this yes it is they are doing Gun Kata now. These two magical girls are doing melee combat with guns, knocking the other’s weapons away and dodging point-blank shots. This is amazing. Eat your heart out, Equilibrium.

But now Homura’s fallen back, and Mami is in pursuit. Now it’s Freefalling Gun Kata, the firing lines spreading out like trees and lead and whatever-Mami’s-musketballs-are-made-of fly. Then they… stop? Oh! So many rounds have been fired in this timestop that the girls are utterly surrounded by them, both catching their breath as the camera pulls out a friggen Christmas Tree design made by the rounds. Until time resumes, and sparks fly.

My word. These girls, just standing there pointing their guns at each other, unflinching while their rounds whizz by and utterly obliterate the ruins…

*slow clap*

Well done, Studio Shaft. I don’t care if the rest of the movie turns out to be an elaborate Surprise Birthday Party for Homura, or she wakes up and has to hurry to her Geometry Exam, or just the scene of Mami’s head getting eaten on loop for an hour. This fight, this scene? Fantastic.

After the dust clears, the girls remain as they were. Homura is still bound by the ribbon, and Mami remarks that they aren’t getting anywhere they’re so evenly matched. Dunno, Homura’s done well this fight but you’re standing while she’s kneeling. Then Homura tosses her pistol aside and freezes time again?

Homura, after all the firepower you’ve used against Mami I don’t think that that dinky little pistol is going to wait what nO NO HOMURA WHAT Yes thank you Mami Homura just put the gun to her head Mami yanked her foot out to throw off her blood what homura no why wait

Oh. Oh my. Well done with that trick Homura but good MADOKA don’t scare me like that again!

*deep breath*

So Homura put a gun to her head knowing that Mami would have the same reaction I just did, when Mami pulled on the ribbon Homura grazed her head just enough to cause a blood splatter and distract Mami, as she used the ludicrous reflexes of a Magical Girl to pull the ribbon into the bullet and tear it, breaking Mami’s connection to her. Well done Homura! Although how did the bullet break the ribbon, shooting it before did nothing. Did Mami need to be distracted for it to be vulnerable?

Oh jeez maybe that was a little more than a “graze”, reminder that these are just meat puppets for the girls to control from their Soul Gems. Alright, well now that Mami’s frozen you can slip away and catch up to Homura what are you doing. Time is still frozen, use what you have left to get away not oh Madoka you’re aiming at her Soul Gem. Homura. Homura no!

Ok, still think that you should just run away and you don’t have to shoot, but at least it’ll just be a leg wound. Bullet freezes just above her leg, Homura looks away as time resumes wait what MOTHERFUCKING RIBBONS WHAT

Homura was… fighting a ribbon clone this entire time? Mami was indirectly fighting Homura, all of that was indirect, setting up this very trap? Holy carp Mami, you scary.

So 3 for 3, Homura is trapped by Mami’s ribbons, who lectures her about always thinking you have the upper hand. Homura pleads from her captivity, asking if Mami really doesn’t see that they’re in a ruined wasteland. Mami just notes that Homura didn’t shoot to kill (ok good I was really worried there for a sec MST), so why did she attack “Bebe”? She doesn’t remember anything about the Witches, after all. Her enemies are- wait.

[Mami]: “Our enemies are the Wraiths, right?”

YES. Come on Mami, fight off that brainwashing! You’ve been fighting Wraiths all this time (in Madoka’s world, at least). So what’s with the Nightmares?

Uh oh. The skyline just turned into an eye.

Think that, only more a mouth with eyelashes and a walnut for a pupil.

Charlotte is watching.

Wait, what? Fire extinguisher? Sword! Sayaka, where you been?! The white cloud from the pierced extinguisher fills the screen, Mami waves it away with her ribbon to show that Homura has been cut free and is gone. Well all right! So did Kyoko go and break Sayaka’s brainwashing then? That changes the score, we’ve got the Mysterious Transfer Student with Blue Paladin and Food Girl now knowing the truth, and Mami is at least questioning it. Although that leaves Madoka, who I guess is still back at the apartment wondering where the heck everyone is.

Mami’s looking around YOU. It’s the girl from the box art, the one I didn’t know! Eff off cutsey harp music, I know who that is! Mami listen you have to get away before Charlotte brainwashes you again, don’t listen… damn it. We’ve lost her.

AAAAAAHHHH you guys that fight good gravy that was beautiful, one of if not the most gorgeous fight scenes I have ever seen in anime, or any movie. Homura is rebelling against Charlotte and may have gotten Kyoko and Sayaka on her side now, unfortunately we’ve lost Bebe and next we can expect Charlotte to send Title Character Madoka against them. Is that a fight that Homura can even push herself to do? Yeesh. I’m also worrying that Homura lost too much of her arsenal against Mami, while it was almost entirely close combat towards the end I did note that Homura was just using pistols. Did she use all her heavy weaponry in that fight? If so that’ll make the next time they face off a mite more difficult.

#wmtw #where my twin watches #ranubis #pmmm #pmmm rebellion #puella magi madoka magica #pmmm rebellion 4

[jean-and-ali-liveblogs]

Ali: uuuuuuuum... Homura? What are you planning this time? Because this looks extremely dangerous and generally deadly. 

Does she wants to have like a... out of body experience or something? Does she wants to like... um... “kill” her body but preserve as a soul and... I don’t know... get to see... something? Or like... reach the...

Ok, well, this is totally pointless to write if she is not going to let that truck drive over her.

But I am pretty sure she is going to let that truck drive over her. 

So... is she hoping she will get to some kind of “spiritual” plane - like the one in which she had naked space hugs with Madoka -  and there find the person who is doing everything - presumably Madoka? 

God, that sounds like a terrible plan. What is she even thinking? This is terrible, this is awful. And once again it just totally puts me off how little respect for her own body Homura has. Like if it’s just an empty vessel for her, that she doesn’t really care much about. And well, I guess that’s kinda true, it is just a vessel for her concious, since she is just that Soul Gem, but this is still not a view that a mentally healthy person should have about herself! This is just sad. So damn sad. 

#madoka #rebellion #session06 #liveblog #liveblogging

[tuchimuchibrainvomit]

Netflix’s Death Note -- I’m Not Mad, I’m Just Disappointed

I’ve wanted to do a real in-depth critique and response towards one of my earliest posts about the Death Note movie on Netflix, but first I had to go back to watch the anime and read the manga to really formula my thesis and case study

Let’s start blunt:

Netflix’s Death Note (NDN) is a terrible movie.

We can get that out of the way. But my real thoughts are not so much on why it was awful...

Yet rather, the amount of potential to be a decent film and create an identity for itself. For a short “review” of this film -- the acting’s hokey, the CG is little ridiculous and the plot nonsensical mess of contrivances that tries to create a deep mystery, but at center elements of creating a compelling and truly thrilling mystery.

And that’s what to analyze today:

Not “Why Netflix’s Death Note Was Bad”, but “How COULD Netflix’s Death Note Be A Compotent Mystery”.

Let’s start from the basics of an adaptation.

We all know an adaptation will never be 1-to-1 with the original source material, however it is an adaptation’s job to convey to the audience the themes, emotions and intentions of the original works.

NDN, fails on all three accounts. Now let’s break it down:

Firstly, Themes:

Looking at the original Death Note manga, the central themes of the series were the cat-and-mouse mind games of the two main characters Light and L. What NDN was, was a gory action flick in the vain of Final Destination.

You see where the fundamentals went wrong from the start? The writer clearly did not have an idea of what made Death Note the experience that it was and the Death Note as an object itself was more of a means to an end -- creating a compelling series of mysteries.

Now, using the events that transpired in NDN itself -- How could this start to get the feel of Light and L’s mind games:

I could see the seeds sewn in NDN with the final events of Light’s plan...

However, what this lacked was the input of L and his own counter strategy. And this is where NDN’s L really failed to capture what made the original special. The focus on L being a more “realistic” -- and I use realism in the term of the film making style and not actually pertaining to reality -- character and have more human reaction very much weakened the other worldly intelligence that made the original L so interesting.

It’s one of the few times that progress was made with Light Turner, but this would be in vain as the first 3/4 of the film failed at creating a truly intelligent and complex Light. In fact, this is kind of what Mia was becoming, but they only went halfway with both of them.

Secondly, Emotions:

What do I mean by emotions?

More or less, the feelings that the movie was to facilitate from the audience itself and this is the one that NDN gets closest to understanding, but still fails miserably in execution.

In the original, Death Note wanted its users to both feel on edge and excited, but also in a place where they could understand Light and L -- almost as if they were watching the events play out and seeing each plan in motion and how they were successful or not in their mutual scheming.

And while the chase scene in NDN is ridiculous, I won’t outright discredit the metaphorical feeling of a cat-and-mouse chase -- however presented more physically than mentally. This paired with the main theme being lost really hurt the movie’s chances of creating interesting battles of wit.

Light Turner -- feels too much. He’s far too emotional to allow the wit that he begins to present towards the end of the movie to have audience throughout the film. And this is a problem and all has to do with splitting the dual personalities of Light Yagami into Light Turner and Mia. In fact, I would have enjoyed if Mia had become the central character as a means to incorporate Light’s steady decline from sympathetic to a murderer with a God complex. And this is just one example of how the film could have been stronger.

L -- also feels too much. The idea of L going into an emotional rampage over the death of Watari flies in the face of how cold and intellectual L is. And while this is a different twist on a what-if L remained alive long enough to mourn Watari, it fails that L does not take that as initiative to chase Light harder in wit, rather than creating a chase that leads to nowhere.

Mia -- actually feels the right amount. She’s supposed to be Misa, but quickly begins to be the dualism of Light’s personality. Which, I also think was not inherently a bad thing, but too many bad ideas and plot contrivances actually lowered the amount of potential she had.

I’ll come back to this a little later on.

Thirdly, Intentions of the Original Work

What does Death Note intend to do with it’s audience?

It presents a story about two genius playing metaphorical chess with each other to catch one and kill the other. It shows the downfall of a genius with hints of sociopathy break down into a god complex that removes morality and limitations to his ambition by giving him limitless power. It shows the nature of man, life, death and control. Light and L manipulate MANY people on their conquest to defeat the other and even after his death, his tailing of Light never ceases. Near and Mello just happen to be the legacies of L and are nowhere near as compelling or interesting but the point still stands.

NDN does none of that. But I want to look at why this is both a good and a bad thing for the sake of the film:

Here, this should explain plenty on why.

NDN tries to be more of a cash grab on the respected Intellectual Property of Death Note, using its name to turn a profit. It is turned more into a teen drama as that is what will be familiar to American audiences, even if we can all agree teen dramas in this day and age are a waste of time.

Even if Adam Wingard is a fan of the original Death Note, his film does not present an adaptation that pays respect to Death Note -- but is using Death Note’s IP as a means to make money.

I can understand WHY this happens because films need to make money and thus taking risks is a lot harder to do since the focus seems to be less on artistic integrity for the film medium, but on turning profit. This is not a new concept either, it’s just something that is more blatant that it has been in the past.

But let’s talk more about NDN not for it’s failure as an adaptation, but rather the potential to be a satisfying mystery, and an interesting development of a character that was put out before he had enough time to cook.

Let’s start with Light and HOW he had the potential to be a compelling character.

Nat Wolff and his terrible acting aside, there was a point in the Netflix Death Note film that genuinely started to become intriguing. And I HATE to recap with these words, but here we go:

While Light and Mia are at their high school prom (Ugh, I want to die),  Mia reveals that she wrote Light’s name in his Death Note as a means to scare him into forfeiting the notebook to her. 

Which first I’ll say, Bravo Mia -- you were the character I was rooting for since you were closest to the original Light Yagami as a manipulative sociopath. Too bad you weren’t enough to save this horrid film.

This was a bit of potential that urked me to not be handled with care, Mia COULD’VE been an interesting character and personally I feel would have worked better as the main protagonist (Notice: Protagonist does not equal Hero).

And in an act of petty revenge, Light sets up an entire scheme using the Death Note that results in his name being erased from death by being engulfed in flames and Mia dying.

There are some problems -- like how the rules of the Death Note make no sense in the movie’s universe and are more of a plot contrivance than something used to create genuine intrigue.

But I like this turn of events in Light, I started to see a new side of him emerge and become a manipulative genius that he could have been for the entire film. I don’t mind the fact that he starts as a wimpy geek, this is NOT Light Yagami, I disassociate the two. But, his change is so jarring with no real progression throughout the film that Light comes off more as a lucky jackass than a real calculative person.

And this is a MAJOR problem when you want a character to develop.  And I get it, this is a movie.  It has a time limit to wrap itself up, but this should have been done with better care. You have to have a natural progression from where the character starts to where he ends up. Him being timid teenager with a Death God in the first two acts to immediate sociopathic genius just because his girlfriend tricked him is NOT natural progression. It comes off as contrived and uncoordinated.

(If you haven’t seen my Madoka Rebellion review, check it out. This is ONE of the reasons why the series of Puella Magi Madoka Magica is not as good as the Rebellion movie in my opinion. The progression of some characters -- except Homura, Madoka and Sayaka feel jarring, like Kyoko, who is my favorite character but is not given enough time to truly change naturally. And Mami, ugh, Mami, I like your design but I saw your impending death coming so fast it was uncanny, you were better developed in the alternate timelines, but I digress.)

For an example of how the Death Note anime does this well is in Light Yagami himself.  From the start, he is a genius, popular and well-respected by both his peers and the police. However, you can tell he has signs of sociopathy, not having much sympathy for those who do not abide by laws.  Once he is given the Death Note, he is skeptical, as any intellectual would be. But after learning the truth, he starts to become corrupted by his power, culmanating into a complex, where he takes a Machivellian approach to creating his “Perfect World”

And I can hear you saying the anime had multiple episodes to get this right, but that doesn’t mean a movie cannot do it as well.

Take James Cameron’s Avatar for example, the main characters go from scientists to environmentalists. It is not jarring to see them want to protect what they have studied and the Na’vi that they have learned the culture of. This was done in one lone movie, and that shows that Netflix’s Death Note could have done it to. It needed to better pace Light’s fall from grace and timidness into a confident one.

Same goes for L, who has the opposite problem in NDN. L starts of as fairly confident, obtuse and clearly slightly autistic... But, his descent into a gun-toting maniac comes without much clarity. Sure, his motive was in Watari’s death, but L never shows any personal agency to represent the respect he had so earned. L needs Watari for everything, which for L doesn’t work with how he is depicted to be.  He’s a genius and a detective who has solve many crimes on his own, but why I found myself asking, HOW?! He’s so unstable that pricking his finger seems like enough to set him off. No one that unstable should be anywhere near a crime scene or trusted by police. And while the ending shows this, at the same time I asked why did the police TRUST him in the first place.

See how it makes no sense?!

Light is about how he got from Step A to Step C. L is about how he got to Step A in the first place.

Mia is the same way.  How is this cheerleader, who by all intents and purposes is depicted to be less intelligent than Light, albeit quirkier, such a genius?!

She even says “I’m a fucking cheerleader, Light?”

Is she the head cheerleader? She shows no signs of being a manipulative genius until she gets the Death Note. Which is SIMILAR to Light Yagami, but for all the wrong reasons. Mckenzie Zales, she is not. Most Popular Girls in School may be about cursing Barbie dolls, but atleast we understand where Mckenzie’s brilliance is from. She’s the head cheerleader, she manipulated her way to the top as a little girl. Her personality and her intellect are never in question. But Mia’s are in constant questioning. Hence the title of this article, I’m not mad, but disappointed.

Mia had potential to be interesting but we saw no progression.Sure, she LOOKED a bit off her rocker, but the audience is never clued in on this. She’s characterized as a hot cheerleader to us from Light’s perspective and I’m certain he’s not supposed to be an unreliable narrator based on how he is SUPPOSED to be perceived. We have nothing, not a hint of a doubt until the reveal of her insanity.

And this is where I want to talk about writing mysteries:

I’ll be upfront, I hate the series Sherlock. HBomberguy did a fantastic review on it, articulating my reasons extremely thoroughly. But that video is an hour long, so I’ll sum it up.

The key to a good mystery comes in four things:

1.) The Set Up. Show us the problem. What do we know and what needs to be answered? 2.) Investigate. What is being shown/revealed to the audience that plays a major role in solving the mystery? This can range from explicitly said or shown, to a Chekov’s Gun, Red Herrings or minor background details that gets some attention. 3.) Hypothesis. Using what we’ve seen, what can the audience articulate as the solution to the case? 4.) The Reveal. And this is VERY important and the easiest to mess up -- when the answer is revealed and how the protagonists got to the solution, it should involve ALL the things that the audience had been shown beforehand and be reasonable. 

Or to sum it up, violently:

DO NOT HAVE A PIECE OF EVIDENCE THAT LINKS EVERYTHING TOGETHER BE REVEALED AT THE LAST SECOND DURING THE EXPLANATION!! 

THAT’S BAD MYSTERY WRITING!!! There is a reason why Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was such a good mystery writer and used logic and control over the world he creative to build compelling mystery. There is a reason why people say to read Umineko No Naku Koro Ni’s sound novels and not watch the anime.

They give the audience enough information to hypothesize the answer in a reasonable manner and when the answer is inevitably revealed, the pieces make sense and if your hypothesis was wrong, it was because YOU did not put the pieces together properly and you have only yourself to blame. 

That’s how a puzzle works, is it not? If you are missing a piece to it, you CANNOT solve the puzzle. 

Let’s use an example above of how it fails:

Using Umineko’s anime, we’ll use Episode 2 -- Turn of the Golden Witch the 4th, 5th and 6th Twilights (Murders based on an Epitaph).

In the novel, we see a room with three dead bodies, one dead in a chair with a stake in his stomach, one dead on the floor with a stake in his leg and the other with her head laid on a desk and a stake beside her and a bullet wound to the head.

In the anime, we see a room with three dead bodies, one dead in a chair with a stake in his stomach, one dead on the floor with a stake in his leg and the other with her head laid on a desk and a stake inside of her head.

Now, this series is about disproving magic and that every death could happen logically and does happen one way logically. Does something seem off in the anime?

That’s right, why is there a stake in her head?! In the novel, it was beside her head!

In the 7th novel, it is revealed that she committed suicide by shooting herself in the head with a rifle that fell behind the desk due to a complex set up, the stake was a red herring to make people assume she was murdered by it and that she/he (it’s complicated) was the true mastermind of the tragedy in the series.

This little inconsistency breaks the mystery and would be impossible to answer as suicide, since the stake was in her head and her wound was NOT a bullet wound. 

See how the mystery falls apart when you have the answer and look back?

In any adaptation or any mystery in general, DETAILS ARE IMPORTANT!!

Sherlock has a habit of presenting Sherlock as a genius because he finds something that solves the mystery that the audience is never shown. And while this does make Sherlock SEEM intelligent, his logic is anything but as the audience must play a role and have ALL evidence required to confirm a mystery and its solution.

This is why games like Ace Attorney and Danganronpa work well, there is enouhg evidence in most places to theorize and when a new piece of evidence is brought it, it is merely to confirm what the audience all ready knew was true. For example, in Danganronpa’s first case,

Kirigiri, the main heroine finds a piece of evidence to confirm the player character’s innocence in a crime where he and the victim switched rooms. This revelation is inoffensive because the player knows that they were innocent, the rest of the cast does not. While Danganronpa is the pinnacle of the mystery genre, the writing is competent when it comes down to crafting a good mystery.

Now let’s bring this back to NDN and why the mystery of the finale fails SPECTATULARLY!!

Similar to Sherlock, when Light Turner reveals his master plan, we are only shown glimpses of him writing names from a computer screen. However, we are not shown who or what he is writing. And if that’s not bad enough, a new rule is set in place that is never explained or introduced to the audience or to make it perfectly clear: 

“WHEN DID THE DEATH NOTE EVER SAY THAT LIGHT COULD CONTROL FATE BY MAKING HIS NAME ON THE LOOSE SHEET FALL INTO A FIRE BY WRITING THAT MIA TAKES THE PAPER ON HER WAY DOWN TO HER DEATH AND DROPS IT INTO A FLAMING BARREL IN THE AIR!?! I’M SORRY BUT I DON’T THINK LIGHT OR MIA FOR THAT MATTER HAS THE ABILITY TO CALCULATE WHERE THE NEAREST FIRE COULD BE AND DROP IT!!”

... And even more offensive, the story could have used some logic, Mia is a smoker, we see her smoking. He could have written that she used her lighter to burn up the page before falling to her death, but NO, it had to be super dramatic and artsy, instead of actually thinking a mystery through. 

Even in the rules the movie made up, it could not follow them. Remember, Ryuk states that EVERY death and actions taken leading up to it must be possible and be possible by that person’s immediate knowledge, a major part of Light’s plan is not logical.

I know, this movie irks me.

Not because of the acting or the writing or the adaptation itself, but for the fact that when the movie TRIED to be a competent mystery, it left the audience in the dark and broke immersion just to be artsy. It had potential to atleast be a compellingly intriguing finale, but it did not have enough faith in its writing nor the audience to actually think about how Light’s plan can be explained by what the audience had seen.

Sigh... I guess it’s time to wrap this up...

Netflix’s Death Note... 

I’m not mad at you for being bad. I’m disappointed in you not taking advantage of your source material, creating an interesting cast, and for failing to be a genuinely intriguing mystery.

You wanted to be artsy and you failed to abide by your artist integrity and be an interesting take on a brilliantly creative premise. 

And to me, that’s the most tragic part...

I’ve been Tuchi, This is my Brain Vomit, And I hope you always bloom proudly,

-- TUCHI OUT... (God, I need an aspirin...)

#death note #case study #netflix #adam wingard #adaptation #mystery #writing #brain vomit #anime #movies #hollywood #cynicism #how to write a good mystery #sherlock #sherlock holmes #umineko no naku koro ni #umineko spoilers #light yagami #L #light turner #ryukishi07

[zephyrthejester]

Reflecting on Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Please click “Keep Reading” to view my concluding thoughts on the Madoka Magica franchise as a whole. Unfiltered spoilers abound.

I am only now realizing it: At one point, I stopped perceiving Puella Magi Madoka Magica as being a standard fare story. Right now, I hold this franchise in the highest regard. This tiny, twelve-episodes-and-a-movie story feels to me a grandiose epic, sweeping in scope and masterful in presentation.

I once said I would have dropped this show were I not liveblogging it. That it wasn't for me. I've never been so glad to be wrong.

At the start, my feelings about this show were neutral at best. The content that is surely far more enjoyable upon a rewatch didn't do much for me on my first time through. But as mysteries unraveled and characters became more nuanced, I was sucked in completely to what ended up being a story I'll never forget.

This is, perhaps, the concept of time loops taken to its full potential. The show's initial, slow pokes and prods into the dark and terrible horrors that Magical Girls face became all the more heartbreaking as we saw timelines where even worse outcomes came to pass, where the characters we came to know were broken in body and mind, where one legendary young woman stood tall against it all.

Akemi Homura has cemented herself as being one of the most fascinating fictional characters I've ever encountered. We saw her transform from suspicious neutral party to the main character. From weak and shy, to deathly cold, to the self proclaimed embodiment of evil. Her love for Madoka was so powerful that she walked through time for years and years, letting herself deaden all emotion, letting herself become a focused machine with only one goal. To save Madoka from all the pain Homura personally shouldered upon herself.

And then, one day, Homura won. Madoka was elevated far beyond the reach of that pain and became the salvation of every Magical Girl. But that wasn't enough for Homura. She thought that Madoka wasn't as happy as she could be, so she plucked God from the heavens and made her a mortal. So Madoka could have a shot at a truly normal life. Even if it meant destroying everything Madoka wanted and everything Madoka accomplished...

Homura‘s determination is a pathos that also invokes awe. A willpower that is unforgettable. She said she would do anything to get what she wanted, and she did everything. I am certain that I'll be remembering Homura and thinking about everything she's done for years down the line.

Kaname Madoka appearing to be the main character? A red herring. She easily had the weakest and lightest personality among the main cast, but I suppose that reinforces what she really was. In the end, she was an idea. A concept. Madoka was not a person, but the goal, the everything, the end-all-be-all answer to all the pain Homura and countless other Magical Girls suffered. Despite this, in the ultimate final moments, she didn't matter at all. Madoka, and everything her Godhood represented, was cast aside in favor of what Homura thought was best. And it was all so heartbreaking.

Incubators, or Kyubey, were less a character and more the representation of everything Homura fought against. They were a force of nature, only there to weather against as the characters dealt with everything thrown at them. But then they went too far, and the wrath of Homura was extreme. According to the wikipedia synopsis, it seems Incubators in Homura's world are the new Soul Gems. They feel the emotions, they absorb curses into themselves. Homura drove the entire hive-mind race mad and doomed them with wracking torment. And this pleases me. The meddling of Incubators is why this tragic story exists and why everything was changed forever in the final moments.

Miki Sayaka was instrumental (HA HA HA) in proving to the cast and we viewers the full extent of the horror that lurked just beyond Kyubey's facade. Sayaka's story arc was the baseline summary of how the universe worked (at the time). By itself, Sayaka's rise to glory and fall to despair was beautifully effective, and it defined what Homura's endless journey meant. And beyond that role, Sayaka herself was charming and fun to watch.

Tomoe Mami, in what little screen time she had, was the experienced veteran of the lot... Despite being largely unaware of what it actually meant to be a Magical Girl. As Rebellion proved, she was capable and strong in many respects. Her sudden and immediate death in Episode 03 was monumentally important because it established the stakes. It was a bold, bright neon message saying "This franchise means business."

Sakura Kyouko was the lovable hotheaded tomboy of the group. Looking back, I'm not entirely sure she accomplished anything meaningful in the full scope of the story, beyond assisting in key fights. Sayaka and Mami left their marks, steered the story down a different path... but Kyouko? I'm not entirely sure what she affected in the long run. Even still, I loved her personality and her commanding presence.

Bebe Nagisa wanted cheese.

Finally, I would be remiss not to talk about what is perhaps my favorite aspect of the franchise: The visuals. This show's aesthetic is unique. It's unique. Take a moment to think about what that means. Nothing else looks like Madoka Magica, and nothing else ever will (without being branded a rip-off.) The complete marrying of standard anime visuals with real-life textures, splayed in chaotic, reason-defying patterns... Never once did the Witch content look aesthetically ugly. At all times this show carried a splendid sense of style. All at once, its chaos was structured.

I’d also like to applaud the music. This area is definitely not my forte (HA HA HA), so all I’ll say is that I thought it really sounded nice all the time. The ED song in particular stands out to me as embodying the general mood of this story.

Indeed, it took me a long while to warm up to this show. But now that I am here, looking back at all there is to see, and knowing all there is to know... Puella Magi Madoka Magica has my greatest respect. I am never going to forget this story.

This concludes my liveblog of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Thanks for reading, and thank you for recommending it to me.

#Puella Magi Madoka Magica Liveblog #Madoka Magica #Liveblogging #Liveblog

[ghoultyrant]

Madoka: Rebellion

So I finally watched Madoka: Rebellion because some people insisted I would actually like it and have my concerns about its awfulness addressed if I watched it.

These people were badly mistaken.

Massive spoilers, of course.

As with my FoZ notes, [bracketed text] is notes I added in after the original writing, taking into account information from later in the movie.

---------------------

So wait, in Fixed-Verse, anyone can Witch out? (Yes I know they're called 'Nightmares' now. You know what I see? SUPER WITCHES) WHAT THE FUCK MADOKA. [We’re not actually seeing fixed-verse, so it’s not as dumb as I thought]

It took more than fifteen minutes for the plot to start going anywhere.

What is Kyoko doing in the same school in the same year as Madoka and Sayaka? She's more Mami's peer, so even if she was going to the same school she should be in a year above. THIS IS NOT HOW CAUSALITY FUCKERY WORKS. [”But Ghoul Tyrant!” I hear you say. “It’s supposed to be wrong like that because It’s All Just A Dream!” Sure. Fine. And Kyoko is still in their school in their year at the end of the movie because?...]

Oh: and of course we have 'fanservice'. Kill me. [It’s far, far more common than these notes might lead you to believe, as I was not going to note down every goddamn individual instance]

… why are the transformations in the Witch art style? (With a million panty shots fuck everything forever) I note we get a split-second Witch-word cut during Sayaka's one. Then Homura's did a Witch-word cut with, like, silent film surroundingness. Twice. [Taking into account later events, this is actually somewhat competent foreshadowing]

… they call themselves the 'holy quintet'? Really?

THE WITCH IS EL KABONG I INSTANTLY FORGIVE... some... of the horribleness.

Why are we doing the Cake Song. [Knowing what’s actually going on doesn’t make this any more sensical] Why are we 25 minutes in and I still have no clue what's going on?

It took thirty minutes for Kyoko to actually eat and talk at the same time. Kill her now, Homura, she's clearly a pod person!

“I came, I saw, Mitakihara”. Cute.

FINALLY, not quite 40 minutes in we get Homura going “I remember the past, no one else does”. No, sorry, the scenery porn wasn't interesting enough to hold me for the first third of the movie.

I keep wondering if the extreme closeups on Homura are supposed to look like Witch art style as a hint or if it's a coincidence they failed to notice. [At this point I’m pretty sure it’s an ill-thought-out coincidence, as they also do it with Madoka’s eyes at times]

Goddammit, no, punching a button in timestop shouldn't un-timestop the windows. And what kind of lunatic would design windows so high up to open like that at the push of a button anyway? [Answer: Homura, apparently]

The thing that's crazy-making about Fake Mitakihara City is that the real thing is such an insane collage of nonsensical and/or improbable architecture that what parts are “crazy because Labyrinth” and what parts are “crazy because Mitakihara City” is difficult to parse. So when weirdness is supposed to be a hint... er... how am I supposed to tell?

Okay, so I thought Mami and Homura's mega fight sequence was pretty dumb when I happened to watch it in isolation on Youtube, but now I know how it starts, and it goes from “dumb” to 'Dumb with a side helping of the Idiot Version of Just As Keikaku.” [Why did Mami have an invisible ribbon on Homura when she timestopped? What made her that paranoid about Homura? Oh, you wanted your story to make basic sense? You poor fool, you’re watching Rebellion. Abandon hope, all ye who enter here, because there’s no fucking quality or sense here. Ever]

Wait, why did I just hear a Pokeball release sound? [Charlotte made it]

Let me expand on this fight sequence being dumb: I thought it was... like, occurring in a post-apocalyptic town or something, when I watched it on Youtube. Okay, sure, now I know Homura thinks everything is fake so WHOO COLLATERAL DAMAGE GO! So... why's Mami recklessly tearing apart everything, beyond “it looks cool shut the fuck up and enjoy our five billion yen lightshow”? Also, why did Homura re-initiate timestop, given it does nothing to help her in this (utterly retarded) fight? And frankly the choreography is awful, as you spend the first half with no way to get a coherent idea of what's actually happening beyond that they're Shooting At Each Other A Lot. The second half is easier to follow, but makes even less sense as a fight scene, with the bit where they keep trying and failing to shoot each other in the head from point-blank being probably the best example of how Cool But Nonsensical Shit is happening because fuck you enjoy the spectacle!

It was neat to break up the monotony the first... five or so times we were viewing people through reflections or whatever. At this point I'm starting to think whoever headed the art of this movie had an actual psychological problem, though.

I would like for events to at some point progress because the characters make some kind of sense and are working toward actual goals, rather than spouting cryptic nonsense or fighting or whatever because lol. Kyoko and Homura trying to leave the city and it failing is so far the only time anybody has done anything that really made sense.

Dog drug reinforcement? The fuck, crazyland DDR?

Okay, I'll admit, the bus slamming into the ground out of the sky got a laugh out of me. Good on you Rebellion. I legitimately liked... a 0.5 second sequence. I'm over an hour in. Congrats.

No, I'm sorry. This “Isolation Field” bullshit doesn't explain jack. It's a copout. “We're supersciencers, ergo we can make a field that blocks out what amounts to a god and/or law of physics.” No. A million trillion times no. This isn't even a lampshade, as the movie clearly intends for me to take this nonsense seriously.

Oh, and it's one-way! Except when it isn't! Hold up, stop, even if I accept this utter and total bullshit, it fails under the weight of its own bad writing anyway. Who would Homura invite in first? Madoka, you utterly godawful writer. Who is 'the Law of Cycles'? Fucking Madoka. Fail. Terrible. Nonsense. I don't have words for how much I hate this crap.

No, saying “well, you see, Madoka could only come in as a victim and not as the semi-omnipotent Law of Cycles” via Kyubey is not an explanation. Kyubey doesn't know shit. He knows he doesn't know shit, or else he wouldn't be doing the fucking experiment! So having him make random baseless assertions the audience is supposed to accept without question doesn't fucking work because we know he doesn't know that for a fact. In the anime, we could accept that he was an authority figure/expert because he was talking about shit that had been occurring for thousands of years, and it only really broke down once Madoka made her wish and Kyubey was suddenly just the writer talking directly to Homura/the audience, at which point I could basically pretend he's just the most convenient voice actor to play the role or some such vaguely reasonable crap.

Here though, we have several essential plotpoints simultaneously hinging on “I am ignorant! SCIENCE TIME!” that are then being explained by him with “I know everything. Trust me.”

No. This is like the definition of bad writing, and nothing prior to this point has gotten me invested enough in the story to overlook what a colossal fail this is on every level.

One hour and fifteen minutes in, with 40 minutes left to go. The remaining 40 minutes better be the best shit I have ever seen. [Spoiler: Not even slightly]

THIS IS NOT HOW SCIENCE WORKS ON ANY LEVEL. “We don't know this thing exists. It has clearly observable effects, which we know for sure are happening, albeit we don't know its actual mechanism” is what Kyubey should be saying. Not “Oh man this 'law of cycles' thing is a mere hypothesis with no evidence!” I hate this movie.

Kyubey: “Gosh darn all you illogical people.” ← the most illogical being in the universe in this movie.

Now, I'd like to like that we're watching a Witch attacking someone with the Witch as the protagonist, except so far it's been lame and primarily been an excuse to draw Weird Symbolic Shit. There's bits that I like... but only bits. And what the hell is with Kyubey just reappearing somewhere nearby each time he 'dies'?

Okay, I like Kyubey being freaked out by Sayaktavia. Congrats, two times I've actually liked a tiny fraction of the movie.

Sidenote: imagine that every third line or so I instead said SUICIDE METAPHOR INTENSIFIES. Yes, really. [The original anime was kind of bad about its suicide metaphor subtext not being very sub. The movie is far, far more blatant]

GAME OVER. RETURN OF GANON RISE OF HOMURA

So why exactly is the movie condemning Homura rewriting reality to... do... something... vs praising Madoka for rewriting reality to do away with Witches? What has Homura even done that is so contemptible? Why am I supposed to agree with this awful narrative? Oh no, her wish was ‘selfish’ vs Madoka heroically sacrificing herself for the benefit of everyone. And? Has anyone actually had their life made worse? What has she even done, beyond bring Madoka back into humanity and rewrite history to flip some things around? I mean, she even says she intends to destroy all the Wraiths! She’s doing something noble, for sure, so, again: why am I supposed to conflate her with Satan?

And why am I supposed to care, given nothing at any point made even dreamlogic sense?

Also, Kyoko is still in their goddamn class in the 'real world'.

This movie is dumb. This movie is just “look, a bunch of artists were given billions of yen to draw whatever they wanted, and then I guess some writer tried to pretend it made sense?” If you want to watch visually interesting stuff and never, ever have it make any kind of sense -okay, occasionally make some symbolic sense- then okay cool this is a decent movie.

Otherwise?

What the fuck this movie is awful.

Okay: the stinger ending having Homura dancing to Kyubey's corpse? Made me laugh. Seeing Kyubey horrified? Also made me laugh. CONGRATS FOUR WHOLE MOMENTS I KIND OF ENJOYED IN THIS HOUR AND FIFTY-EIGHT MINUTES.

THAT'S LIKE MORE THAN A MOMENT OF NOT-AWFUL EVERY THIRTY MINUTES.

--------------------------

Having slept on it, I've realized I have still more criticisms.

Audio: Back in the anime, I wasn't necessarily a fan of how any given episode used the music available to it, but the music was fantastic on average. I actually had one of the credits/Witch battle tunes as my background music for reading for a while there, that's how good they were on their own. Rebellion continues the trend of putting its music to questionable use, only now the music itself is fairly forgettable and boring. The best stuff tends to be riffing on established 'Madoka music', and even then it's merely okay, not actually engaging in its own right.

I touched upon this indirectly when covering the Mami/Homura fight, but the choreography is weaker in general. The anime had its weak moments, but it also had some great moments, like how it handled Homura's “teleportation”. Rebellion is just... weak, other than it's occasional questionable 'gotcha' moments.

After the Mami/Homura fight, Sayaka swoops in to save Homura and jabber at her a bunch. This is not any kind of natural flow of events, it just sort of happens without an actual explanation. I didn't like the scene when I was watching the movie, but I was sort of half-expecting it to make sense somewhere down the line, particularly with Sayaka indicating she's more in the know than she 'should' be, but no, it just... is a thing that happens, because.

Similarly, why is Charlotte Bebe the only Witch to act as Goddoka's right-hand woman aside from the bizarre case of Sayaka apparently being able to... tap her Witch powers?... even though Madoka's wish prevented Witches from occurring in the first place? What is any of this crap?

Why was Homura able to entrap a 'piece' of Goddoka at all?

If the Incubator's retarded Isolation Field blocked out all outside forces, why does gravity apply? Why does light apply? Why does, you know, myriad physics apply? Oh right I'm applying critical thinking to a retarded plot device. How foolish of me to expect the story to make even the slightest bit of sense. I might then be able to derive some enjoyment from the movie, and that would clearly be a mission fail.

I just. I have no idea why there are people who watched this movie and went “This is a good movie and I enjoyed it” instead of “This is a terrible movie on pretty much every level and I will make sure everyone everywhere forever knows it isn't worth watching even if you're a fan of Madoka.”

I have difficulty imagining it even if I turned my brain off and just took in the wacky art. I have difficulty imagining anyone, anywhere, deriving any enjoyment from it at all in any manner ever.

But people have, somehow.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

#PMMM #Madoka #Argh #Hate

[ghostmartyr]

top 5 villains

You know, the thing about villains, that I have learned through many years of skimming fandom, is that I am bizarrely short of villain stanning. I should have a long list of villains I like. And yet.

I like plenty of characters who are very much not good people, and very much antagonists. But it’s the chaos that’s essential, there. My favorite member of the villain squad is the nuisance who’s just hanging out enjoying being their worst self.

A top villain should be, like. Threatening. To be at the top, they should be adhering to their own agenda, and that agenda shouldn’t be the level of a side quest in the main story. The plot should turn on their ambition just as much as it does for the heroes.

Their reign should be both devastating and entertaining. Bring some style to it. It’s not about being an obstacle for the good guys, it’s about winning.

How many of the following truly check off all those marks is up for debate, but I think they’ve at least got the vibes.

Spoilers for each series the villain belongs to, and I will make sure to note said series in bold when it hits. Images blatantly stolen from wikis.

- - - - -

The Locked Tomb, specifically Gideon the Ninth

Cytherea Loveday

(No art for you, book person.)

She probably shouldn’t be on this list. Yes, that’s how we’re starting out. Not that she isn’t a villain, and not that she isn’t threatening, and --

Look. She’s on the list. More because I like her and she happens to be a villain than me liking her because she’s a villain, but as villains go, she is, as the kids say, a fave.

The living embodiment of, “I came out to attack people and I’m having such a good time right now.” She is the main villain of the first book, and she spends most of the time that we see her lounging in gardens and batting her eyes at her boss’ daughter. She basically treats her murder spree as a company-sponsored tropical vacation. She impersonates her first victim, puppets said first victim’s closest companion’s corpse around (yes the corpse is also her responsibility, and yes she may have stuffed FV’s corpse in around it what of it), kills children, kills a married couple enjoying their anniversary, doesn’t kill the main character because the main character is easy on the eyes (it is slightly more complicated than that but if you want a good story you can read the book), and even when she dies she’s getting something she wants.

(Neglected wants include murdering God.)

Essentially, she’s dreamy. Don’t @ me.

- - - - -

Madoka Magica: Rebellion

Kyubey

Specifying the movie and not picking Homura. I’m great at this.

The reason is actually very simple.

In the movie, Kyubey filled me with hatred. In the series, it’s more of a, ‘lol, you scamp, helping move the plot along’ annoyance at best. I don’t really mind the evil alien bunny ferret in the series. Obviously it’s a bit of a dick, but Kyubey feels like a product of the evil system more than actually being a villain.

Enter the movie.

Enter (irrational levels of?) rage.

Kyubey, in Madoka’s new world, operates with less gains than the witch system provided. The system still functions, but the Incubators could be more fulfilled by it, so it’s like -- ‘can has throne of madokami? kthx start the torture back up.’

Again, Kyubey is a product of the evil system. But the evil system that Madoka defeated. She won, and here Kyubey is, trying to start the game all over and break everything she fixed (arguably succeeding in the case of Homura). The injustice of it all made me actively angry at Kyubey in a way that I seldom experience towards fictional characters. The system was dead, and it had no business trying to come back. Kill it, kill it good, and don’t leave a body behind to bury, because fuck the system.

Then Homura’s treatment of Kyubey at the end disturbed me enough that I can’t actually stomach a manifestation of my dislike for our favorite alien cat marshmallow, but for the strength of reaction Kyubey inspired, we have our second spot on the list.

- - - - -

Rurouni Kenshin

Makoto Shishio

Obligatory mention that all the decent people in this series would punch their author in the face at bare minimum.

Shishio is probably the closest embodiment of the ideal villain talked out above the cut. He has goals. He has a life outside the hero. He’s initially only mildly interested in including the hero in that life. He’s out to rule the country and bathe the current government in blood, and doing it in style is a very cool side effect.

The guy’s set on fire by his own side because they’re terrified of his power. He is the nightmare created by people who put down a road to Hell brick by brick with their maybe good intentions. Along the way they meet a demon, and up until the threat of his power becomes too great, they happily embrace his skills.

Upon his recovery, all he’s really about is proving that they were right to be terrified, and they also should have done a better job with their murder, because guess who’s alive, bitch.

The strong live, and the weak die. Makoto Shishio is alive to remind the government that they are weak, and he will feed on them.

He has an army, he has followers, and he balances all of their motivations so that they are acting only in his favor. Hatred, admiration, or loyalty, it’s all a tool. He kills the woman he loves to win a fight, and she dies grateful for it.

Terrible person. Beautiful conviction. He dies without once faltering in his philosophy and power. He is a force.

Bonus points for being voiced by Steve Blum in the anime.

- - - - -

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)

Horde Prime

This is the part of the list where I start having a little bit of trouble. I mean. The first entry is also that, but Horde Prime is here because I looked at my standards and shouted into the void of my mental file cabinet, “is anyone in here like that?”

Horde Prime is here because he is scary as fuck. He’s a genocidal religious cult leader, and the cult members being clones of him does not mean he plans on being nice. He will put on a polite smile and sink his claws into your throat if you so much as think of being a creature beyond his might.

He is the epitome of a Saturday morning cartoon villain, but in the best way. He doesn’t have a positive motive outside of his own ego. He’s power-hungry and arrogant, and the entitlement oozes off him in any scene where he deigns to interact with people. He is a monster. A veneer of civility can be draped over it all if he’s in the mood, but the universe is his, and he will destroy as much of it as he pleases until it catches up and starts bowing down.

I want to have fun hating villains, and Horde Prime is delightful to hate.

He’s evil and has stage presence. Thank you, sir, your descent into Hell will be witnessed with great satisfaction.

Worth noting that his voice actor, Keston John, is a huge part of that stage presence, and does phenomenal work as his voice.

- - - - -

Rurouni Kenshin

Yukishiro Enishi

(Image not stolen from a wiki because somehow the vibes weren’t right from his page.)

Enishi would do so much more than punch his author in the face, because he’s an awful human being, but an awful human being with one very clear, obsessive stance.

Yes, I wrote Enishi’s name with the family name first and Shishio’s with the family name second. Yes, this is because Kenshin going “Makoto Shishio” in the anime dub is burned into my brain, and Enishi doesn’t have that going on. My list, my bad choices.

First, it must be said: COOLEST CHARACTER DESIGN OF THE LIST. FASHION GOALS. FITNESS GOALS. REALLY FUCKING COOL SWORD. REALLY FUCKING COOL FIGHTING STYLE. BADASS TRANSFORMATION THAT PROBABLY MAKES ANYONE WITH BASIC BIOLOGY UNDERSTANDINGS WINCE.

What a dick.

Here’s the deal.

Kenshin killed his sister.

Enishi will make Kenshin suffer.

Here is the nuance that Enishi can’t grasp until the end.

His sister loved Kenshin. Her death was a horrific accident, partially set up by both her and her brother attempting to arrange Kenshin’s death (one of them changed their mind).

For the hero of the story, Yukishiro Tomoe is a gaping, open wound across his face. It is his greatest failure. There is no part of him not aching with guilt and remorse over her death. There is only pain, and the reminder of it threatens to drown him.

For the villain of the story, there is only one response to that: Good.

It is not enough for Enishi that the man he hates dies. Enishi wants to rip Kenshin’s heart out of his chest and leave it beating in a field of salt and glass. He wants to destroy any shred of life Kenshin has found without his sister, and he wants Kenshin to know that all of this destruction is his fault.

What Enishi wants is the hero’s complete and utter annihilation. His soul deadened, and his suffering infinite.

Obsessive hate to the extent that Enishi feels is just... impressive as hell. His view of the world is black and white to the extreme, and he will make that our hero’s problem. He will not doubt himself except to wonder if keeping Kenshin alive to suffer is a misstep. Enishi is angry, traumatized, and quite often a fucking asshole whose emotional development ceased as a child. Where he was also a little jerk, but you could try to imagine a world where maybe he didn’t bite people if you wanted to be optimistic.

Then he watches Kenshin kill his sister, and proceeds to be the absolute worst in the name of his righteous vengeance. A bunch of people are seriously wounded, there is a large amount of property damage, and trauma is everywhere.

Here is peak Enishi:

Villains need to commit, you know?

Points for passion.

- - - - -

And that’s five? I count five. Awesome.

Sorry this took so long. I wasn’t sure how to go about a list, and then I didn’t want to just phone it in, since it’d already taken forever. Thanks very much for the ask, though! Hopefully this serves as an entertaining response.

#asks #Rurouni Kenshin #spop in the name of love #viva la pluto #Madoka Magica