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brazenautomaton · 8 months

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Princess: The Hopeful, Crystal Edition

Princess: the Hopeful is a fanmade game line about magical girls in the Chronicles of Darkness, struggling against the overwhelming evil with the light of Hope. A lot of people loved the premise but found the rules clunky and the execution profoundly unfocused. I was one of them.

Princess: The Hopeful, Crystal Edition

It's not DONE -- it's in beta, which means it's feature-complete. A few options need to be filled in (a couple stat blocks, some Signets only have one option at a given level, Embassies don't have all their benefits, and not all the interstitial fictions are in), but all of the systems are in and you can play it perfectly fine. I mean, it's probably imbalanced as all hell, but that's what a beta is for. It's also probably formatted badly, and there's places I didn't catch where I use the wrong term for something because I changed it later. That's why it's only 0.8.

Crystal Edition is not a page-one rewrite of P:tH, but it's at least a page 2 or 3 rewrite. The structure and Queens are still there but everything has been revamped and refocused to give it clear through-lines both emotionally and physically. And the magic system is totally new and, though I do say so myself, it's really cool.

There's no more specific spells to buy one at a time. Each Charm has a basic action to it, and a bunch of Upgrades that expand its capabilities multiplicatively, so you stack together your Upgrades to get a spell that can do something neither Upgrade alone could do, and in doing so make an anime word salad spell name! Do you want to hit a ghost with a truck? Give it a Redline Phantom Step! Fling someone's bullets back at them? Rewinding Restoration, Stat! You wanna do sick air combos with multiple weapons? Weapon Master into Aerial Rave! Play three-card monte with your own presence? Blunt Tricky Cunning Illusion! How about a devastating magical finisher? BOTTOMLESS INFINITY PETADRIVE ANNIHILATION HYPER-EXPLOSIVE BUSTER!

Story and theme wise, The All-Consuming Darkness is not some new and distinct entity that inflicts supernatural taint on people to make them Darkened when they spend too long near a tainted place; the taint of the Darkness is fear. The supernatural corruptive force that drives others to spread misery in its name is literally the emotion of fear. The game's central thesis is about how much of the suffering we inflict on others has fear at its heart. The world is drenched in fear down to its bones, and Princesses believe that all of the weird-ass inexplicable nonsensical horrors of the CofD are all manifestations of the Darkness, though of course whether or not they are correct about that is another matter.

The basic "okay so what do I do" problem is solved by presenting a basic ground-level threat: Nightscapes, which are like Madoka labyrinths or Persona dungeons created by someone breaking under the weight of fear, and send out monsters to re-enact it. You don't just need to blow up the monsters, you need to figure out the source of the pain and overcome the psychodrama the prisoner has created in order to solve it, so there's multiple types of gameplay involved.

Instead of having a focus on virtue and public service that got frankly weird in the old versions, a magical girl character is someone who has a vividly defined personality and ideals, such that when they overcome obstacles, it's validation of their ideals. Princesses now have a Drive and Dread instead of Virtue and Vice; a guiding principle that they're About and something whose fear most motivates their behavior. Wisps are regained from spending Willpower, your human spirit purifying and refining. You can emotionally invest yourself into whatever you do by Flaring your power, granting you a free dot of your power stat, Inner Light, and you can do it multiple times... but if you emotionally commit like that, and you still fail, or you still have to compromise your Belief, the consequences will be devastating. The stakes are high and the tension is overwhelming and you will need to devote everything you are to succeeding and that might still not be enough.

#princess the hopeful #chronicles of darkness #world of darkness #rpg

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wrldsearch-you · 6 months

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thoughts I've had since watching eternal/the concept movie:

homura's bow is Very similar to madoka's I believe hers has a bloomed rose unlike madoka's (up until she uses it for her wish to rid everything of the existence of witches). this points to homura subconsciously manifesting and interacting with things related to madoka (like when she saw tatsuya and went over to see what he was doing, and talking to junko and almost seeming at peace when she remarks that madoka sounded nostalgic.)

cont. homura's bow also seems to be pretty powerful unlike both hers and madoka's past magic. its stated in the first timeline that madoka is more of a support role, and homura states in one of the earlier timelines that she serves more as a support role than a damage dealer. in a way you could say she's god's most traumatized and tired soldier (/lh)

homura by the end of both eternal/the series feels really tired when she's on her own/with kyubey, like she's nearing the end of her thread but simultaneously wishes to never stop until she is sure that she will meet madoka again. she's freed from her self-inflicted cycle of hope and despair but, what else is there to living now? how cruel it is, to allow the girl who lost and regained everything that became her world, only to lose it once more for the price of freedom from her eternal hell.

literally no one execept for homura knows what the clara dolls are. no one except her and maybe sayaka. madoka refers to them as "fairies", and if it goes the way I'm thinking... the story might be like folklore surrounding fae and their tricky nature... in this case it would be something like trapping those that they percieve as treasures in an almost impossible maze.

TLDR: I love Madoka Magica I got into it literally less than a month ago.

#puella magi madoka magica #pmmm #homura akemi #madoka kaname #mahou shoujo madoka magica #madoka magica

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deltaruiner · 6 months

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ajsbvsgbbbdv GUYS

HEAR ME OUT OK

so like, the girls in pmmm have their powers, AKA: the strength of their hope manifesting as the ability to fulfil it (homura able to go back in time to save madoka as her wish even after she made it for example), right?

And their amount of power is based off their potential, and so is the power of the wish thry can make, right??

AND they always turn to witches and the hope they bought is returned with the same amount of despair, cancelling it out, RIGHT?????

so like what if. what if kyubey basically just

cancels the hope they wouldve bought out as their influence on the world. which their potential represents. and converts that to energy to counter entropy somehow.

like a future wise queen has lots of potential, which makes her become a powerful witch, but it's barely ok because she bought the same amount of hope as a magical girl! we all know that already right???

except what about the hope she wouldv'e bought as queen to her people if she wouldnt have witched out????? and even below that, for regular people, what about the grief bought upon their friends and familiy, which also affect potential?????

like i'm going rabid at kyubey rn. absolutly feral. every time I look back on the show there is more reasons to hate him. there is no end to his torment

#sorry for the rant i was going insane after midnight w this #rot in hell demonspawn (kyubey)#pmmm #madoka magica #puella magi madoka magica #cw: caps #like he litterally converts their adulthoods to energy. what #deltaruins tags #actual oc posts

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maguro13-2 · 2 months

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Darkness Reborn ~ Origins of the Ink Final Chapter Pt. 24 ~

"It all happened at the end of the show before studio shaft went to make the movies."

"Drawcia, Head of Drawcia Family Science Corporation, discovered on her research that the true ruler of the cosmos isn't Shinigami, but acclaims to be a goddess that was unveiled by the eye of truth."

"Shinra thought that he created a entity made from Adolla Burst to keep truth out of it, but a Goddess still remains as the cosmos' true ruler. This Goddess that rules the universe is none other than Madoka Kaname, or perhaps that the name Madoka is Godoka."

"Before Godoka's birth, Godoka was the giver of earth hope's along with Angel Vibe that gifted Shinra to destroy Demon Vibe's creation, the Evangelist, in order to save his world from being fallen by the despair gifted by the one-winged man himself, the true giver of humanity's despair was none other than Sephiroth."

"After Death and the manifested Soul World was created, the Time-traveling and destroyer of universe, called the Time Eater, came and annihilated Shinra and his people, including his beloved Iris. Following this after the execution of Inca Kasugatani, the goddess that gave Shinra hope fell into despair that became a victim to her own heart and that despair gifted from Sephiroth would be the fault of Demon Vibe, knowing that it was all part of his dream of bring galactic conquest and would cover the galaxy in an the everlasting reaches of darkness."

"With the help from Truth, Godoka and Angel Vibe manages to prevent the despair that was actually a key to open the Door to Darkness and stopped Demon Vibe from ever conquering the galaxy. And after his defeat, he was banished to a mysterious world known as the Shadow Realm."

"Thus, Godoka was no longer being controlled by the despair and restored hope as the gift of light itself. But suddenly, Godoka herself disappears."

Homura Akemi : And after Soul World was created as a facade to Shadow Realm, why on earth would Madoka be the goddess of another universe to rule? Please, Madoka! It's me, Homura!

Tabuu : So a human girl that is literally goddess that rules the cosmos and is the one reponsible for giving hope to Shinra! You gave Hope as a gift to the devil with Angel Vibe! I heard the stories about you being long gone for real, but I never imagined that you were truly are the ruler of the cosmos!

Godoka : ...for the last and 412th time that I keep telling everyone, there is no such thing as Ruler of the cosmos, only me that rulers of the multiverse and you a ruler of your realm aren't welcome to destroy the planet that I once protected a long time ago, along with Angel Vibe.

Homura Akemi : So you worked with Angel Vibe a long time and gave a man named Shinra hope from you. Why didn't you save him and his people before he and his beloved Iris was killed by the Time Eater?

Godoka : You hardly recognized that my friend, I knew that I saw the Time Eater came to the Ohkuboverse on day in 1000 years. Time Eater knew that Shinra was given hope to his people and his newly manifested world to bring heroism by spreading his influence, so your brother killed him and his beloved Iris, along with his people in order to stop the influenced that he spreaded from real world.

Homura Akemi : What? The Time Eater's...my brother?

Seto : So I guess the Time Eater's is not the father...but a brother to Homura Akemi?

Homura Akemi : Maybe you're right. So the Time Eater is, my creator and brother, uses a disguise that looks alike me, I know it's tough times for a girl to make myself popular one day. But I'm gonna change the subject with the usage of these.

Sonic : Hey, what are you going to do with those Chaos Emeralds!?

Homura Akemi : To re-arrange the events of the 2010s, I must make proper use that the Time Eater told me that i was going to fix everything. Now witness the power of a magical super that you have never seen before. Here goes, it's time for me to re-arrange the events!

Tabuu : You fool! What's gonna happen is that everything will be resetted! If you do that, then what's gonna happen to this universe...!

Homura Akemi : Is why that I born to recreate history, it's time for me put the past.

Time Eater (as Homura Akemi) : This should be worthy enough to erase these shenanigans of theirs. I will make great use of them. (The time stones appears around him)

*DBZ SFX : Energy Glowing*

Homura Akemi : Chaos...

Time Eater : Chaos....

Tabuu : YOU INCOMPETENT BRAAAAT!!!

Homura & Time Eater : [together] CONTROLLL!!!

*DBZ SFX : ENERGY CHARGING+WAVE*

[Is it Right? - Tai-Hey]

Homura Akemi : D...Did I do it? Am I going to fix everything that is right?

Time Eater : This is what I consider this a gift to you, I offering to save the Real World and rewrite history, we are not destined to meet each other in the next time, all these events that appeared will be re-written and re-arranged them into new events that are canonized to the excursion of saving the planets, the Galaxy, and the universe itself. I suggested that you Homura Akemi, younger sister of mine, has decided that you will become the next ruler of the universe, and smite the lies from Demon Vibe being ruler of the Ohkuboverse, I despised him for making the devil's influence spreading all over the world.

Homura Akemi : You would reconsider that as a term that whether there will be darkness in hearts of all, or there will be light within the hearts and souls for power. That's why you wanted Destroy the Ohkuboverse, the Ohkuboverse that was created was nothing more than a facade, a lie that was once existed within the Shadow Realm. Shinra and people were killed by you because of his influence, that's why Maka Albarn was the hero of the story of Soul World. She had been nothing more than a puppet on a string to Shinra's Kind the entire time. So what's gonna happen to Shinra and what's gonna happen...to all of those that live on earth!?

Time Eater : Speak to yourself. You know what's gonna happen when events of 2011 will be re-arranged and all of them shall make War of Shadow Realm exist as a conflict ever again. Rewrite the stories, retconning the plots, all of 2011 will be re-arranged and I'll be waiting for you. Just meet you to draw your last breath in the year 2013 A.D.

Homura Akemi : Okay, wish me luck. I'll see you there, Time Eater. But before you go, I want you give me one last request, I want you battle me! I want you to fight me in order to proven that who is best time traveler! So that's why I wanted to see you fight for real!

Time Eater : Okay! You have my word. Very Well, I will give you the challenge if you really wanted a challenge, then come and get me, Homura Akemi! I've waited for this a long time, a battle between two time-traveling relatives, and the winner shall be victorious to become those who traveled through time and space in each of the universe! With all Seven Emeralds, Seven Time Stones, and Seven World Rings, the hero will finally reach the end of his or her tale! (converts into it's disguise form as Homura herself) Come, Homura! And face your relative in the ultimate battle!

Homura Akemi : Bring it on, Time Eater! Let's get this over with and save 2011 for good!

"THE BATTLE BETWEEN TIME AND SPACE HAS BEGUN!"

~ 104th Scene : Battle For the Generations ~

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drops-of-moonlights · 2 years

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Our convo on Discordix got me wondering. If the Holy Quintet (plus Nagisa and Any if the MagiReco girls if you feel like it) lived in your Winx AU and used your magic system, what magi class would they be/transformation they used/source they had/etc

another question I've been waiting for ages! Will only focus on the Holy Quintet plus Nagisa (and Hitomi as an added bonus just because lmao) because I never got a good handle on the Minazuki Villa girls the way I did with the Quintet.

Madoka is a no brainer, she's the Fairy of Hope (Sources of Healing, Flora and Fauna, she has a focus on organic life in general). She would probably get Enchantix and use that solo and she would be selfless enough to earn Altheix to heal a random cat, also getting Butterflix in the process.

Sayaka is also a no brainer, she would be a Specialist, later part of a Guild dedicated exclusively to helping others, and while she would dabble in Fairy magic she prefers her armor and doesn't go past Glamourix until meeting the others. Her Sources would be Water, Sound and Healing, and she would use the title of Knight of the Sea.

Mami, as we said on Discord, would be the Fairy of Ribbons (Light and Metal Sources, also dabbling a bit in Flora), and her magic would work the same as in canon. She would actually be way stronger if she was a Witch, but she'd rather not put herself through the emotional hassle that that entails. She would definitely get Enchantix, and I can see her getting Onyrix on the side. dunno why, it's just a vibe.

Kyoko was the Fairy of Miracles, but she changed her title to Witch of Speed later on (Metal, Fire and Darkness Sources) once she realized what her power actually was and was a bit unnerved by her own illusory power. She definitely got Enchantix in a kind of stupid way and like Mami, I can see her with Onyrix.

Homura is the Sorceress of Distortions (Light, Darkness and Metal sources), her power in the AU manifesting as being able to distort the enviroment to "stop" time in a sense (more accurately, casting illusions that make everyone around her super slow while she gets to still move normally). Like Mami, she would be way stronger if she was a Witch, but chose Sorceress to confine her potential a little bit. She would OBVIOUSLY go straight to Valiantix saving Madoka, let's not kid ourselves here, and other than that like the last two she has Onyrix vibes.

Everyone would later obtain Believix after some time of acting as the Holy Quintet.

as for the other two:

Nagisa would be a simple Caster I feel, and she hasn't chosen a title yet due to being so young. However, I can see her becoming an Enchantress. Her Source would be Fire.

Hitomi is the bonus here, and I can also see her as a Caster, specifically a Conjuror. Dunno why, but like with the last members of the Holy Quintet, it's the vibes. Her Sources would be Light and Wind, and her title would probably be Conjuror of the Skies.

#Drops answers #Winx Redux AU #Puella Magi Madoka Magica

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animepopheart · 3 years

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Wonder Egg Priority, Episode 7: The Scars to Prove It (or, Love for the Moms, the Cutters, and the Drunks)

Wonder Egg Priority (WEP) has felt like the successor to Puella Magi Madoka Magica in many ways throughout its run, but in episode seven, it almost went full Madomagi by driving the stakes to their utmost height—to the death of one of the main characters. But as has been consistent with WEP, what it did instead, after some moments of true worry, is to instead deliver hope in the face of pain, resolve against overwhelming circumstances, and strength in weakness.

The series returns to Rika Kawai’s story in this episode, which starts with her turning 14. And on her 14th birthday, after leaving her hungover mother halfway asleep at the bar she works at and which they call home, Rika opens up to the rest of the girls, explaining that she doesn’t know her father (it could be any of five possibilities, or even more) and her mom won’t reveal any further information about him. As she trashes her mom, Neiru and Momoe are incredulous, which only drives Rika away from them. And though Ai goes to comfort her, Rika is in a terrible state of mind as she enters her next fight.

This was a difficult episode to watch. They’ve all been somewhat hard since the series never shies away from brutal and violent situations impacting young people, but I found myself squirming especially here as Rika’s cutting takes center stage. At one point, she decides to cut herself and it seems certain she will, before her turtle-like partner, Mannen, prevents it from happening.

Challenging, also, is how strained Rika’s relationship is with her mother, who’s life revolves around drink—alcohol both pays the bills and helps her forget how miserable her existence is. And in the midst of all the bad behavior in this episode—the usual Rika talk, her mom’s alcoholism and neglect, and the selfishness all around, one begins to feel deeply sorrowful for the Kawai women. Yes, Rika is often obnoxious, but her family life is in shambles, and she still exhibits goodness, including a curiously gentle relationship with Mannen. And Rika’s mother is a tragic figure, used by men and quite on the road to an early death, it would seem, unable to lift herself out of the gutter as she tries, in her own sloppy way, to protect and reach out to her daughter.

It’s in this hopelessness that Rika turns again to cutting, and then finds herself tempted by something even more dangerous. Her foe this time is a religious leader who led the egg, a follower who continues to believe in him, to commit suicide as a way of “connecting” with the universe (Heaven’s Gate, anyone?). Rika decries the ghoul as a charlatan, but is confronted with her own weakness when the egg shows her own scarred arm to Rika, revealing that she can tell that the latter cuts just like she did. And then she explains that Rika can be released from this pain.

The scars, evidence of what Rika does to cope with her pain, now become the weakness that they truly are, revealing how hopeless she feels, and how powerless she is against the mechanizations of her family life. And defeated, she’s about to allow herself to be killed when a surprising savior comes along—a turtle. Mannen attacks the spiritual leader, to Rika’s surprise as well, until she remembers that he has imprinted on her. Rika is Mannen’s mom, and as he did when he prevented her from cutting, Mannen is again protecting his mother.

The conclusion that Rika reaches is unusual but inspiring. She understands, in this moment, the need to protect one’s mom, finally admitting to herself in a de facto way that maybe her mother is in need of love, too. It’s funny to consider the need that mothers have for love since culturally and socially, they’re always seen as the providers of it. But of course, they need it in return, especially when they falter. My own mother is sick right now, and I think of the support I need to give her and the lack of that I’ve provided through the years.

Warning: Screenshot involving cutting after the jump.

My mother was a good one, however. Rika’s, on the other hand, has struggled with the charge, which reminds me of a story from one of my favorite books, The Ragamuffin Gospel, about another bad parent—a far worse one, in fact, and a real one. I’ll quote part of the passage from chapter seven:

“‘Our daughter Debbie wanted a pair of earth shoes for her Christmas present. On the afternoon of December 24, my husband drove her downtown, gave her sixty dollars, and told her to buy the best pair of shoes in the store. That is exactly what she did. When she climbed back into the pickup truck her father was driving, she kissed him on the cheek and told him he was the best daddy in the whole world. Max was preening himself like a peacock and decided to celebrate on the way home. He stopped at the Cork ‘n’ Bottle–that’s a tavern a few miles from our house and told Debbie he would be right out. It was a clear and extremely cold day, about twelve degrees above zero, so Max left the motor running and locked both doors from the outside so no one could get in. It was a little after three in the afternoon and…’

Silence.

‘Yes?’

The sound of heavy breathing crossed the recreation room. Her voice grew faint. She was crying. ‘My husband met some old Army buddies in the tavern. Swept up in euphoria over the reunion, he lost track of time, purpose, and everything else. He came out of the Cork ‘n’ Bottle at midnight . He was drunk. The motor had stopped running and the car windows were frozen shut. Debbie was badly frostbitten on both ears and on her fingers. When we got her to the hospital, the doctors had to operate. They amputated the thumb and forefinger on her right hand. She will be deaf for the rest of her life.'”

Max—a real person, mind you—was a successful, well-liked man, but his drinking problem led to an unconscionable decision and profound failure as a parent. And yet, this book is about grace, an idea which to humans feels unjust, but which has the power to change hearts and tear down walls, sometimes literally.

Could Max be given grace? Could Rika’s mother? If not directly, she’s done her own physical damage to her daughter in the form of those cutting scars (difficult and perhaps triggering images below). As mentioned earlier, the egg that she’s helping knows her pain and insists that letting go of everything, including life itself, is the way to peace. After all, to a young, suffering girl, what else could these scars mean?

But in the midst of giving up, in the moment that she actually capitulates (and this episode takes you 99% to the edge, both in the cutting scene and in the apparent death scene), Rika experiences something powerful. She experiences grace.

Have you ever been challenged to forgive someone when you don’t want to, when you feel completely in the right? Maybe it’s easy for you, but perhaps it isn’t. The girls surrounding Rika experience differing degrees of this with her sometimes maniacal and often hurtful behavior. Ai forgives easily. Momoe gets fired up and then equally seeks to make peace. And Neiru…well, Neiru holds onto “justice” more than love (setting up what I imagine will be the most powerful transformation in the series of all, in true Homura fashion). But in the moment that Rika is about to give her life, the girls yell out their love for her, even Neiru, and then more profoundly, without any hesitation, Mannen puts his own life on the line to stop the death from occurring. Rika has already given up, but this turtle hasn’t—not for his mother, whom he loves very much.

And experiencing that love from a different angle, Rika is changed just a bit. She begins to see her weakness as a “mother,” failing her turtle-child, and thinks of her own mom who is overwhelmed by hurt and a failure as well. And if just a little—for as the final scenes indicate, it is just a little—the path toward forgiveness begins.

But a little bit of grace is like a little bit of a flood—its power overwhelms, and it defeats the enemy, whether that means bitterness, a physical person (or manifestation of one), or the devil himself.

When Rika returns from the event, having killed the cult leader monster, it’s interesting to note that she isn’t a wholly different person. She’s changing little by little. And her scars remain. In fact, as she admits, she probably will cut herself again. But strangely enough, those scars now represent something different. They show someone trying—failing, yes, sometimes considerably and maybe very often—but trying, and only able to try because love was shown her, and through that, she is now able to show love as well.

You may have such scars in your life, physical or emotional, battered by the world and by people. I hope that you can develop relationships that help you heal as well, and that you’ll also remember that there are other scars which are meaningful to you, but which you cannot see on your person, scars that were borne out of a desire to heal you. Christ took the piercings, on his head, hands, feet, and side, so that while your heart and flesh may be cut, your soul need not be. And through his wounds, you may be healed.

The grace offered through Christ is one that, as he explains about everlasting water at the well to the Samaritan, for now and through eternity. The egg seeks peace forever by dying, but Jesus, unlike the cult leader, died for us so that we may not have to. He took the nails, the cross, and the spear so that we don’t have to inflict pain on ourselves and receive the punishment of our actions against him and others. He is our scar.

That’s grace. That’s the power that it has. And it can reach anyone—even a terrible dad, an alcoholic mom, a tempestuous child, and, and most significantly and personally—you.

If you’re suffering and in pain, maybe self-inflicted, we encourage you to explain such to a parent or trusted adult and ask for help. It’s a difficult first step, but one that will help you begin recovering. And we also advise that you turn to Christ for help—in prayer, community, and scripture. He provides people to us that will aid us in our times of need, as well as himself and the Holy Spirit if we are believers.

Additionally, there’s a scene in this episode where triumphant, Rika concludes that cutting is okay. That’s said in the context of her moving forward bit by bit and forgiving herself for her failures, even the upcoming ones. That’s an important lesson, though we must certainly be careful not to let it be a license to continue cutting with impunity.

Wonder Egg Priority can be streamed through Funimation. Read more of our articles by signing up for our weekly newsletter.

#wonder egg priority #rika kawai #wep #pmmm #Christianity #tw cutting #blog

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seventeenlovesthree · 3 years

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Gotta start my headcanon spree by starting with my Digimon magical girl/boy AU. I haven’t completely fleshed it out storywise - it’s basically Sailor Moon with Digimon elements anyway -, but some character relationships are pretty much set in stone already. @dutchforstrangers You may find these interesting, even if they’re just loose thoughts on the AU, I have already lined out my thoughts for Taishirou and Koumi (still need to think about how I want to deal with Taikoura in MORE detail aside from them being very close friends at first.)

The main aspect is basically about the connection between the digital world and the real world - whenever the balance of both worlds, the balance between light and dark is disturbed, the real world is scanned for eight human souls with significant potential in certain characteristics. Light and Hope are ALWAYS the first and always set within the group of eight, because they are linked to all other characteristics, yet take the longest time to fully awake and have their full potential realized.

Thus, when earth is scanned, Hikari and Takeru are the first to be discovered. Their direct relationships with the people around them would trigger the awakening of the other characteristics, who in turn would also awaken other characteristics, etc. Thus, it is not surprising that their brothers are chosen to have most formidable potential in awakening their courage and friendship...

If this was an anime, the viewer wouldn’t know that Hikari and Takeru are the first - instead, the focus would be put on Taichi, who’s much, much quicker to realize that he NEEDS courage to fight forces of darkness threatening the real world. (I’ve been thinking of them manifesting like witches in Madoka Magica, but they’re also having Digimon and Daimons mixed into them as well.) They’d “transform” by somewhat fusing with their respective Digimon partners who materialize in the real world to guide them and thus, Taichi is assigned with the task to “find his seven other companions” by a smol version of Koromon/Agumon. While Hikari is also always kinda around (like a trigger for the others), she hasn’t gained access to her powers yet and Taichi obviously doesn’t realize it either...

So the awakening “chain” in my head goes like this: Hikari (and Takeru) => Taichi (although he’s portrayed as being the first) => Koushirou => Sora => Yamato (in reality, he’s already triggered by Takeru, but his interactions with Sora set up his transformation) => Jyou => Mimi.

Taichi, Koushirou and Sora already know each other from the beginning, I actually made them football club companions again, but Koushirou already quit at the beginning of the semester and Taichi mopes about him still sitting in the stands and watching all the time, instead of being the best offside trap they've ever had. They spend a lot of their breaks together and Koushirou and Sora are actually study partners who spend time alone with each other as well. Sora will easily be the second best fighter later, together with Yamato, as the others are having more support/healing/protection roles. But back to Taikoura, I really wanted Koushirou and Sora to be the first to awaken after Taichi, a. because THIS IS MY AU, b. because the UsaAmi dynamic in the first episodes of Sailor Moon (until Rei joined) made me think of how Taishirou would be established. (They’re already friends after all, but Taichi is behaving all secretive after being awakened and since they’re not in the same club anymore, Koushirou at first fears that they’re drifting apart. In the 90s version of Sailor Moon, Ami awakened by refusing to use a dull learning software and I can basically see Taichi trying to investigate some kind of brainwashing USB sticks that were handed out by a newly founded computer club and Koromon senses them to be dangerous. But - Taichi doesn’t know how to handle technology like this, so he lowkey tries to reach out to Koushirou, who’s all giddy to be able to help. In the end, the monster/demon tries to suck energy from humans and Koushirou basically refuses to get brainwashed himself, fighting back on instinct when he sees Taichi being attacked and THAT’S where he awakens himself.)

Koushirou, as he has always done, is the one who figures stuff out after all when Taichi is stuck. "Did you see the ring of crests on the digivice we’re transforming with? Do you think it has a specific order in which they have to awaken? Mine's not next to yours, so that can't be it. But we should look around among the school to find the others quickly." They grow significantly closer through being partners in crime, so when Taichi is actually considered to be the leader of the group and starts having doubts about it, Koushirou is the one who assures him that “I wouldn’t want to accept anyone but you as our leader.” Which is obvious shipping foreshadowing, obviously, thank you again, Digimon Adventure novels.

Again, if this was an anime, it’d be stretched over several seasons - season one would be the one in which Courage, Knowledge, Love, Friendship, Reliability and Sincerity get awakened, ending in a tough final battle in which, in true Sailor Moon fashion, they have to sacrifice themselves to defeat their first enemy... Then, in even more Sailor Moon-esque manner, they'd lose their memories of the past at the beginning of season 2 - and one of the plot points I have already completely lined out is that Koushirou ends up as the only one who DOESN'T get them back right away. Which causes Taichi to get so frustrated, because Kou literally doesn't even seem to remember that they had become very close friends.

Taichi: "He just remembers that we used to be in the football club together and was all... Reserved and distant, his mother didn't even remember that I came over recently either! He called me Yagami-san..."

Mimi: "HE CALLED ME TACHIKAWA-SAN, WHAT THE HECK, WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM?!"

When he eventually regains his memories, he'd reveal MUCH later that he basically had the adoption confrontation with his parents by the end of the first season, before their final fight. His hypothesis is that his subconscious rejected the idea of having several identities, as he had just come to terms with his parents and wanted to shield himself from further emotional harm. So he decided that he doesn’t “want to know anything about it”, subconsciously rejecting his curious nature and thus blocking his memories (and Motimon/Tentomon) to return to him. He's basically having an existential crisis over the thought "I have obtained happiness through acceptance of where I come from, but there is this headache I keep having when I see Yagami-san and his friends, I do not understand why they're so friendly with me, but a part of me seems to be drawn to them. I don't want this, I am happy with how things are... Aren't I? Why does Yagami-san look so sad when he looks at me..." And Taichi literally looks like a sad puppy, showing him his digivice and asking if he's ever seen something like this before and almost cracks when Koromon tells him he can't sense Motimon's presence at all. That's where Koushirou would be 14/15ish, but I'd still wait a bit longer for him to open up about this. Basically, I want him to want to talk to Taichi about it, but simply can’t yet. Taichi would have to open up to him about his experiences with Hikari first, before he can fully consider opening up to him, because... That'd be only fair. If he trusted him this much, he has to be honest with him too. And I think they'd be around 16/17 there already. (Hikari starts to get sickly once her potential starts to finally awaken and when she collapses on the street right next to Taichi, Koushirou and Takeru, Taichi immediately panicks, gets flashbacks from when they were little and he almost caused her to get killed... They call Jyou to get her to the hospital, Taichi stays by her side the entire time and Koushirou waits outside for their parents to arrive. He then stays with Taichi afterwards, trying to silently comfort him and Taichi just naturally breaks and confesses to him how scared he is of losing her, that she is tremendously likely to actually be one of the remaining fighters and that he could never forgive himself if it was HIS fault for awakening her, putting her into danger. It’s where they slowly start to discover their feelings for each other when Koushirou lets him lean against him, half hugging and consoling him.)

Besides Taichi, Koushirou would - at first - be the closest to Sora (due to their football club past) and Mimi (due to them being classmates), but since he usually always just hangs around with his football club friends, they don't have much opportunity to spend time prior to their awakening. Especially because he doesn't know how to deal with her at first. However, he really starts to notice her - after having been in the USA for a few years and joined the class mid semester - when she sees that people have scribbled awful things on his desk and she outright shouts at them for being asshats. He reacts all flustered like:

Koushirou: "You didn't have to do that, Tachikawa-san, I-"

Mimi: "I HAD TO. Please call me Mimi, okay?."

He may not remember, but he was the first who greeted her when she came to the class, even offered to help her with stuff, because he knows how it feels like to deal with things on your own. When she awakens, they fight alongside each other and even though she's offended at first that he doesn't seem to remember that they interacted before, she still realizes that, even if he's maybe a bit too focussed on the stuff he's focussing on, he is still a kind and caring guy. They still need time to adapt to each other and she does have "You are really something, huh" moments sometimes, but still values his input and encourages him to speak up. On the flipside, he helps grounding her and SHE makes him think outside the box and they do make a good team. Part of him still aims to be taller than her one day, so that's a motivation too. He actually grows taller than her in the final season, Sora is the first to point it out and it’s just a very important plot point to me.

Plus, even though their personalities make them clash sometimes, she is becoming more and more observant when it comes to his antics - as mentioned before, I'd have that plotpoint of him losing his memory and she's absolutely not having it when he starts all formal all over again and tries - gently - to nudge him forward: "I thought you liked ladybugs, so I made you a bookmark with them printed on. Don't you think they're cute?" or "We're all gonna meet up for a picnic later on, maybe you want to join us? Taichi-san will be there too???" Something like that. (I’d also have her trying to visit him at home while he’s suffering from amnesia and she witnesses him being out with his mother, all relaxed and smiling and so she starts contemplating whether it is a good idea to force him to get his memories back. Maybe he’d be better off not having to fight? Maybe he wouldn’t want to make his parents worry if they actually ended up dying at some point... So for a while, like in Adventure 01, she would depart from the group herself, because she’s so scared that someone would get hurt. Taichi is furious, because he wants Koushirou to regain his memories SO BAD and he knows they can’t finish their mission if they can’t get all eight fighters together while also missing him like hell, but he also knows that Mimi isn’t wrong... I really want to write a scene in which Taichi and Mimi would make up again after she realizes that they’d have to fight and they’d basically also bond over worrying about Koushirou. And that’s where she’d come up with the picnic idea. Koushirou himself, as stated by his inner monologue above, is quite confused and conflicted as to why these people keep trying to approach him so frequently, claiming that they’re friends when he has no recollection of it and gets rather frustrated and angry with how it always gives him headaches when Taichi, Mimi or Sora get too close to him...)

I just really like the "unlikely friends still working well together after learning about each other's antics" between them and that takes time and care to develop, please hire me, Toei, I can pull this off. She's also the louder wingwoman, while Sora is a bit more gentle with it towards him.

Also, favourite headcanon is still them bonding over being completely clueless over how to deal with Taichi and Yamato arguing with each other, so they let Sora and Jyou handle it and share some "Welp, let's stay out of this" glances instead.

Bonus: You know when you're so involved with an AU that you imagine how a series would play out as a show and how the producers would talk about directing decisions? I had a whole interview lined up about shipping possibilties: "We didn't plan to make Taichi and Koushirou romantically involved at the very beginning, we initially just wanted to have a character who'd push the protagonist by being very curious, leading him on through his research, basically making them best friends and giving Taichi an external love interest. But then we couldn’t add another character, since we already wanted to give Jyou an external love interest. First drafts even had Taichi ending up with Sora, but we couldn't agree on that, we didn't want the hero and his female best friend to destroy that bond, which is where we decided to parallel Sora’s arc with Yamato's and made them end up by the end of the series. Then when we got close to the end of season 1 and started writing for season 2, one of our reports pointed out how we made Koushirou way too involved with Taichi, emotionally. We told his voice actor about the adoption aspect and didn't tell any of the other actors, so when he is close to "confessing" something to Taichi several times... It didn't look like a friend who'd tell his best friend about family affairs. [laughs] We DID plan to give Koushirou a love interest however, seeing that his arc revolves around becoming more open and accepting being loved, but... Literally everything fell apart when we observed those scenes between him and Taichi more closely. We even held a promo screening and the audience was pretty perceptive of how emotionally attached Taichi was towards him and how they seemed to make each other better, stronger and more emotional. The reactions were very positive and so we thought, why not? That's why the tone changed in season 2. It was pretty organic and seemed natural all of the sudden."

They’re growing very slowly (and would only come to terms with their feelings by the middle of the last season. Which focusses on them being confronted with a prophecy that says “If you can’t protect those that are most important to you, you will fail miserably” and Taichi may fall captive to their enemy, because he’s so scared and afraid of hurting and losing certain people and the first reaction would basically be “Hikari is the one who’s most important to him, so she may be able to rescue him”, to which she just shakes her head and says “I don’t think it’s me.”).

Basically, the most prominent relationships, romantic and platonic, would be:

Taishirou, Taiora, Koura (and Taikoura in general), Koumi, SoraMimi, Sorato, Jyoumato, Jyoumi, Taikari, Yamakeru, Takari, Taito, Koukari. (BUT: I’ll definitely put emphasis on less visible relationships as well and add the 02 kids as support cast later on. You know what’s great? Thinking about how Taichi and Hikari would visit Koushirou in his computer club, where they’d also meet Miyako and that’s where her and Hikari would become friends. Because, you know, the Yagami siblings love their computer geniuses very much.)

To be continued...

Edit: Adding some more angst for the “theoretical” final season:

Taichi - like Mamoru in Sailor Moon - being confronted by a vision that shows that, if he can't save the ones most dear to him, everyone will die eventually and it completely messes with his perception. Like, they're planning an attack and everyone looks at him like "What shall we do?" and he is like:

"Jyou, Mimi, I need you to create a barrier once we're in enemy territory, so nobody else can enter. Takeru, please help them maintaining that barrier. Sora, Yamato, I need you by my side on the attacking force, Sora does the aerial attacking, Yamato, you and I will do the ground work. Koushirou... You'll stay here with Hikari and watch her."

"Excuse me, I do WHAT now??? We always fought side by side, it's completely irrational to leave me behind, Sora-san and I always do the aerial attacking together, it's reckless and will leave you open to get spotted and attacked, it also puts all three of you in danger!"

"I KNOW THAT. JUST DO IT FOR ME, OKAY."

And it just has a lot of tension, Kou going all self-conscious about not being able to help and not being trusted (there’ll be mirror scene like in Sailor Moon, in which they all get confronted by their inner desires and his mirror tells him "What are you even here for if Taichi-san doesn't need you anymore?") and in the end, it DOES shoot Taichi in the foot and he gets captured and confronted by all his fears and trauma.

They're told by the prophecy that they can only enter the realm if they're linked with the person inside of it. "The most important one" and everyone is like "Then Hikari needs to go" to which she responds "It isn't me..." and Kou immediately goes "Please let me go."

#personal #my two cents #magical girl au #magical boy au #again it's mainly sailor moon au with digimon elements haha #but i basically just needed an excuse to have a long running series to actually flesh out interpersonal relationships #(like taikoura taishirou koumi koura and so on haha)#headcanons

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starlitwishes · 3 years

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((So! I’ve finished the Archon Quest for Inazuma so far, wooo! I need to do world quests and hunt things down ofc, but the main story has been complete!))

((Firstly, I want to talk about some plot ideas regarding Evan and Act 1′s information, but I’ll save that for another post. For now, though... Here are my thoughts on the Inazuma Archon quest so far.))

((Honestly, Baal’s expressions in the cut-scene, plus her design... like if she wasn’t being a ruthless tyrant of Inazuma, she looks so gentle? Is that a weird thing to notice about her? Her expressions are soft and subdued--I think this was meant to give her a cold, heartless gaze but I don’t think the mark hits. She almost seemed sort of sad at times? Still, I do like the reverse trope--a gentle looking soul with gentle expressions being ruthless and cruel. Even if that was probably not intentional.))

((I have to wonder how Visions are truly made, however--with how personally connected to their hosts Visions are, it feels more like a vision is manifested into a physical form by a person’s ambition, memories, willpower, hopes and dreams. Like, I’m talking about Madoka-levels of manifestation here. Like how in Madoka Kyubey rips out the girls’ souls to make their soul gems, I think that’s what Visions are--pieces of a person’s heart and soul, ripped out and made into Visions. The way people behave and lose their memories and drive just seems... so unnatural. It also explains why a vision dies with it’s owner--the soul is moving on to the after life. I don’t think it’s as grimdark as Madoka is ofc, seeing as people don’t die, but... What if Visions really were manifestations of the soul, if only in pieces?))

((My final major thought was about Baal’s boss battle itself. I’m... very disappointed in Mihoyo right now. Mainly because there’s a massive oversight that I know people are talking about--and that being, Venti and Zhongly aren’t immune to the Vision Hunt Decree Attack. The attack is meant to disable vision bearer’s visions, as we see that Traveler still has their Elemental Skill and Burst available to them. However... Lore wise, Zhongli and Venti? Their visions are fake. They don’t even have their Gnosis anymore. Their elemental power is solely their own, built into their very being from not being human. This really bothers me greatly. Why is traveler the only one immune, when it’s heavily implied that this attack is meant to disable Visions only? Besides, I think it would be pretty cool to have the Archons immune to Baal’s attack--that puts them above the other 5 stars, as they should be as literal Archons. Only a total of 7 characters, not including travelers and other worldly people, would even be immune to the attack following this logic... idk, this feels really disappointing to me, seeing as MiHoYo has always been so attentive to small details in the past that they just, flat out miss this massive oversight.))

((Those are my thoughts! Also I lowered my world level to beat Baal, but honestly, I don’t think I had to. She was pretty easy, I think a bit more of a challenge wouldn’t have been so bad in my case. But people scared me into thinking she was incredibly hard... Idk, maybe she’s a lot worse at WL8 xD))

#ooc #Genshin Impact Spoilers #Genshin Impact 2.0 Spoilers #GI spoilers #GI 2.0 spoilers

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dandivinity · 4 years

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Madokannon: Religious Symbolism in Madoka Magica

If there’s one word I’d use to describe the show, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, it would be deceptive. If you’re wondering how a cute Sailor Moon rip-off with even brighter colors and a moe art-style is deceptive, congrats, you fell for the deception. As the series continues, it becomes clear that the show is not a cut-and-dry monster of the week where good always triumphs. Rather it is a pastel-colored Faustian bargain where even the best intentions can lead to dire consequences. In the end it is only through the titular characters unshakeable hope and faith and no small amount of divine intervention that the series reaches it’s bitter sweet conclusion. This is obvious upon a first viewing. What is less obvious is the nature that this divine intervention takes. While the show occasionally makes direct connections to Christianity, It seems to me that the theology implemented is Buddhist through and through complete with Four noble truths, samsara, vile rebirth, and an allegory of the bodhisattva Kannon.

Let’s start with the basis of the show, the wishes. This is one of Madoka’s most prominent aspects and the largest concern from the beginning of the series before the villain’s true underpinnings are revealed. For those of you not familiar, 1). Why are you reading this? And 2). The set-up of the Madoka, like most magical girl anime, involves a cute animal mascot offering the girls magical powers in order to fight monsters. What makes this set up unique however is that the oh so cute cat-bunny-thing known as Kyubey also offers the girls one wish as an incentive so that they would accept it’s “contract”. Now the use of the word “contract” is an obvious red flag meant to alert us to the Faustian nature of the deal. And yes, the agreement comes with several hidden clauses that Kyubey conveniently leaves out such as the fact that becoming a magical girl involves having your soul removed from your body and placed into a gem because it’s “easier to protect”. But Kyubey’s not exactly stealing it like a Christian devil would. More importantly than the hidden clauses though, is the wishes themselves.

Now stories of the devil tempting people with promises of wealth or power are quite common in Western literature, as are tales of djinn or monkey paws providing wishes that always go wrong in Near Eastern lit. But what’s extraordinary about Madoka is that for the most part the wishes the girls grant are simple in nature and rather generous. Our main focus point, and the only wish we see pursued from beginning to end in chronological order is that of Sayaka Miki. Sayaka is established to be crushing on a boy who was a former violin prodigy before a car accident left him paralyzed with no hope of playing ever again. Sayaka wishes for him to be healed, and just like that, it’s done.

The boy does not relapse, nor does he lead into another accident. He simply starts a miraculous yet slow path to recovery, until the series finale where he is shown without crutches and playing beautifully for a wide audience. The problem? Well as pointed out before Sayaka even makes the wish, she’s wasn’t actually doing it for him: she was on an unconscious level hoping that he’d be forever grateful to her. Does she hold this over him? No. Does he reject her? No. She simply doesn’t ask. Sayaka is too busy with her new responsibilities and ashamed of what she has become to ask.

And frankly the importance of Kyosuke in Sayaka’s fall is largely overstated by the fanbase. Yes, he’s a large factor but even more so than wanting to heal him or his gratitude, Sayaka wants to be a hero. This is heightened when their magical mentor dies within the first three episodes. Sayaka now feels like it’s her responsibility to protect her city as no one else will. Unfortunately, she’s simply not as strong as her former mentor or the new morally unsound magical girls that seeks to dispose of her (both Kyoko and Homura). This is really what leads to Sayaka’s downward spiral as she comments, “The world doesn’t need a magical girl who can’t even kill a witch”. Sayaka wants to be a hero, and she wants to get the guy and she gets neither. Her desires, both fulfilled and unfulfilled, all lead to her suffering. This is the First Noble Truth of Buddhism.

I realize this isn’t the most convincing argument on its own but let’s zoom out a bit here. What is desire if not earthly attachments? Attachment and inability to let go of attachment is a concept found in nearly all the wishes in the show. It doesn’t matter if it’s Sayaka’s wishing for her friend’s health, Mami literally trying to cling to life, or Kyoko (in the most directly religious moment in the show) wishing that people would come to her father’s sermons so that her family could have enough to eat. All of these desires are moral in some way and yet they are still desires. More importantly, they all involve a longing for what once was, and are attempts to return things to how they were rather than moving on. This inability to let go is characterized not just in the wishes but in the reason they’re implemented in the first place.

When Kyubey finally explains why they knowingly cause suffering to countless adolescent girls throughout time, they explain it’s to harvest enough renewable energy from the emotions of magical girls to stave off the entropy of the universe. The whole process is rather convoluted and -let’s face it- an excuse to deconstruct magical girl tropes, but that doesn’t change the fact that preventing the heat death of the universe is still Kyubey’s number one goal. That combined with their inability to truly understand the suffering they’re causing has caused some of the community to question their villain status or at least say they’re a villain with a just cause. And while postponing the heat death of the universe may be noble in the long run, it is a literal fight against the impermanence of the universe. A fight that we know from Buddhism is doomed to only lead to personal trauma in the face of inevitability of a changing world. But it is this fight against impermanence that kyubey embodies so well, and one that is baked into the wish-based magical girl system they run.

Ok, enough beating around the bush. It’s time to talk about Homura. After spending most of the show as a mysterious red-herring villain that knows far too much, Homura finally gets an episode dedicated to her near the end of the show where it’s revealed she’s a time traveller who restarted the timeline over and over again in order to make her wish come true; to be able to save Madoka. Specifically Homura has to replay the same month over and over again until she can succeed in saving Madoka’s life and cannot escape until this goal is reached. This obsession leads to a very literal samsara, by repeating the timeline again and again Homura is actively choosing to trap herself in endless cycles of suffering, death, and rebirth all because of her attachment to the mortal world. Through this process we can see Homura fall apart becoming more and more monstrous in her single-minded focus to save Madoka at the expense of everything else. By the time she arrives at our main timeline that the rest of the show takes place in, Homura is comparable to a hungry ghost. She’s directly accused of walking through the world as if dead, unable to feel anything except for the desire that damned her in the first place, her obsession with Madoka. When even this too seems lost, she nearly becomes a witch.

In Mahayana Buddhism, rebirth on earth is not the worst thing that can happen after one’s death. If one leads a sufficiently desperate life they can be reborn as an animal, hungry ghost, or in hell. This is where Madoka’s witches come from. Perhaps the most tragic twist in Madoka Magica is that if a magical girl falls into despair (usually due to her wish’s inability to make her happy), her soul gem will transform into a grief seed which then becomes one of the monsters they fight. These nightmare collage monsters have new names separate from their old identities and live in pocket dimensions where they lure people in. These pocket dimensions often in someway manifests the desires of their old lives being filled with sweets, TVs, or (in Sayaka’s case) violinists. Interestingly, when Sayaka first dies and is reborn as the witch Octavia in a train station, her labyrinth is also full of railroad tracks. She relocates to a concert hall and the labyrinth follows suit, but train wheels remain despite having no apparent bearing on her previous life. This could be a reference to Buddhist beliefs about your final thoughts and which direction you look when you die having bearing on which realm you’ll be reborn into.

Homura’s obsession in contrasted by Madoka’s ability to let go. Madoka’s final wish and subsequent ascension has often been compared to Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross, and rightfully so. Madoka’s wish to become a cosmic force that can take on all the despair of magical girls before they become witches at the cost of her own mortal life has many strong parallels to Jesus suffering on the cross to redeem humanity. However that idea only works if Jesus is suffering. Madoka is stated to be taking the grief of every magical girl who ever became a witch onto herself and we even see a far future version of her becoming a witch large enough to destroy the world. But before it does it is shot down by another version of a truly ascended Madoka in a white dress. This version states paradoxically that since her wish applies to all magical girls that would become witches, that includes herself. The fluidity of time and direct denial of the necessity of suffering or sacrifice are at odds with Orthodox Chriastianity, or at least its perception of Jesus. Rather I argue that the way Madoka saves all the magical girls, her subsequent erasure from existence, and even such mundane symbols such as the white dress all link her closer to the Bodhisattva, Kannon.

Let’s take a closer look at the scene where we see Madoka actually ascends and manifests to relieve the potential witches of their grief. We see Madoka split herself into thousands shafts of light, all of which appear above different suffering magical girls in different places and time periods. And above all of them Madoka appears, she touches their corrupted soul gems which are then purified before shattering, allowing the magical girls to die in peace. A rather sad ending, but one that’s better than rebirth as a witch, which we already identified as equivalent to the hell realm. So while it is unclear where the magical girls are going to go after they die (or even if they go anywhere at all as we just saw the gems holding their souls shatter, possibly destroying them), we can know that Madoka is saving them from a worse rebirth. This directly parallels miracle tales that surround the Bodhisattva Kannon, especially in her Chinese incarnation as the white-robed Guanyin.

Kannon is the primary example of Bodhisattva or one who has put off Budhahood to aid those still on earth. Kannon in particular swears to never ascend until all living things have been freed of samsara. She’s often depicted as having 11 heads and a thousand arms to better reach all those suffering in the world at once, like how Madoka splits herself into a myriad of forms. Many of these tales have devotees of Guanyin spared from tragic fates such as beheadings or shipwrecks. However a few, adapt these stories to instead refer to a more metaphorical salvation, especially in the pure land tradition popular in Japan which then says that anyone who calls out to Kannon on the verge of their death will be still die and be reborn to the pure land rather than wherever else they were supposed to reincarnate. Madoka’s god form even highly resembles the Chinese incarnation, Guanyin. Wikipedia states, “Guanyin is generally portrayed as a young woman wearing a flowing white robe, and usually also necklaces symbolic of Indian or Chinese royalty. In her left hand is a jar containing pure water, and the right holds a willow branch.” While we never see Madoka with any water; the flowing white dress, red gems along her collar bone, and branch-like bow (though on that seems to be more of a sakura branch) all bring to mind Guanyin.

Finally Madoka’s ascension ends with her body dissolving into glimmers of light as she explains how no one will remember her, but she’ll still be there. This dissolution of the her spiritual body is a visual symbol of ego-death. Madoka recreates a word where she does not exist, and had never existed, yet still manifests as a concept and virtuous force that leads others to salvation rather than as a sentient entity. This is the Nirvana. Madoka hadn’t just ascended to godhood, she had surpassed it and achieved nothingness, as her buddha nature radiates throughout the world, ultimately changing it into something better. This is the paradox of Buddhism and the goal of any buddhist practitioner, to achieve an inner peace so strong you become a part of the universe like madoka had. And the new world she created was better for it.

That is at least until the show decided to make a movie sequel and trick madoka into descending. At that point she stops acting as a Buddha and instead as Pistis Sophia in line with the obscure belief system of 2nd century Gnostics. But that will be a conversation for another time.

#madoka magica #buddhism #madoka kamane #kaname madoka #kannon #guanyin #kuan-yin #samsara #homura akemi #pmmm sayaka #pmmm #Essay #Religion #Religious studies #I should've submitted this two months ago when it was still relevant.#oh well

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themonotonysyndrome · 4 years

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Witches' barriers and familiars are supposed to be formed by feelings and connections, ahem Candeloro had relatives that look like sayaka and madoka, and one of Octavia's relatives looked like kyosuke, so if the girls turn into witches too They would have relatives based on their TW friends, how the boys would react to seeing it and seeing that they are a distorted version of them.

That’s the best thing about Witches and their barriers and familiars! They’re essentially the physical manifestation of Magical Girls’ true desires and emotions, just horribly warped like a nightmare. Oktavia is the clearest example. Her form, barrier and familiars all matches what she really wanted and now represent.

I think the girls will definitely have familiars that look like their friends from TW and their barriers will have decor and motifs from their respective dorms. For example; Candeloro most powerful familiars would be a distorted version of Vil and Rook (these two would be a challenge to Homura and the rest of the Magical Girls) and the one who would lure people into her Labyrinth is a distorted version of Epel. The Pomefiore trio would be horrified of their warped forms are how Mami actually view them (perhaps the distorted Vil, Epel and Rook are their Overblot forms that Candeloro created. And that’s the worst because these are Overblots created by a Witch’s power). Expect them to fight alongside the Magical Girls, hoping that they could bring Mami back. And if they can’t? Vil and Rook would be the one to kill her and the aftermath? Epel might Overblot as a result.

I’m focusing on Mami since you gave Candeloro as one of the examples and I want to keep the other characters’ reactions a secret for now~

#twisted wonderland #puella magi madoka magica #puella magi holy quintet #Holy Quintet in TW series #crossover

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muffinrecord · 4 years

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Feb 08, 2020: Who is your favorite of the dark-element girls and why?

I’m not doing fanart for this one. I think, if I actually make a prompt list again next year, it'll just be one week long instead. Or just for easily answerable content. Or something. I don’t even know.

Anyways, this answer is probably fairly obvious! Haha. It’s definitely my girl Kirika. I’m not going to sit here and try and lie and say that’s she’s a good person, or even necessarily a good, well-written character-- I just like her. Yeah she’s edgy and I can’t really describe her love for Oriko (or their relationship) good in any way, but that’s kind of the appeal. It’s unhealthy but it’s also fiction. Sort of like how, in your imagination, you might want to fight bad guys with magical powers but not in real life.

I think also that Kirika is the sort of OC I would have made as a teenager. I had issues with depression back then that sort of manifested itself in seeking out (and creating) content that skimmed grimdark. As a young, cringey, edgy teen, I felt like sad and cruel content felt more “real” than anything else did-- if it could make me cry, it was something good. It made me feel something. Thinking back on it, that’s probably why I started to watch Puella Magi Madoka Magica in the first place. Although, Madoka at the end also kind of slaps you in the face and screams, “HAVE HOPE ASSHOLES,” which was a good thing for my younger self to hear.

But back on topic. I like Kirika because she’s terrible. She’s willing to do awful things for the person she loves/obsesses over, and she just dips further and further into madness as the spinoff goes on... But also a sort of strange calmness as well. And in one of the books you can kind of see that she could have been heroic, if the enemy was different.

Give me the wretched evil characters who wear black and red, and have issues with morals pertaining to murder, and are endlessly devoted to one person and ideal. Throw in some possible yuri and I’m sold. Give me all the evil lesbians!!

#Muffin Record #Magia Record #Magia Rapport #Kirika Kure

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brazenautomaton · 3 years

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Given that you are literally the perfect candidate for this, I request your assistance. In light of recent animu viewings, and upon stumbling across the TVTropes page for Princess the Hopeful, I was inspired to run a few sessions for my boys. However, digging back through your blog, I found a post indicating you had some fairly negative feelings on the system. As I trust your judgment, I would like your input on How To Make Princess Work, whether these suggestions are thematic and/or mechanical.

well I can't be as helpful as you would think because after a certain point the instinctive shame was too much and I can't even bear to read the current version of it so I don't know what to say "don't do this" other than "don't do anything that was Earthscorpion's idea". I asked someone to read it and summarize for me but then they just didn't do that.

and some of it was mechanical stuff you can't change, and probably the most important one was the post about nightmares as the primary environment, which I can't find now because of course I can't and now I am thinking maaaaaybe I never actually detailed it outside of PM?

the primary environment and source of low-level threat is a Nightmare, which is a little sub-reality bubble created by one person's fear and misery, operating under dream logic, where spirit creatures that are manifestations of that person's fears and flaws dwell, and the person is both the prisoner and monarch, exalted and tormented. the nightmare creatures go out into the world and hurt people and try to bring them back in, so that's the first source of monsters of the week. to put a stop to them you need to find the source, the Nightmare itself, and free whoever is trapped inside. the Nightmare reflects their fear and trauma and etc and you need to at least somewhat understand it to free the person, because you need to convince them they can and should leave. also because the nightmare creatures aren't self-aware it's a situation where starting a fight doesn't mean the end of social interaction; some challenges have to be talked through and some have to be fought and maybe you're doing both at once because the talky creatures don't notice or care you're fighting the gibbering monster creatures and you need to get past both to get to the core

yes, there's a lot of Madoka in that, but when Princess was first conceived Madoka didn't exist so it gets to catch up

higher level antagonists use and exploit these Nightmares. Princesses of Tears drive people to this point on purpose because like Kyubey harvests magical girl despair, the energy released by awakening a Nightmare is what keeps the lights on in Alhambra for a little while longer. evil warlocks use them as a source of disposable minions.

things are bad, it is a World of Darkness, because everything is tainted by Darkness. the taint of the Darkness is not Blizzard fel corruption or sinister black mind control oil -- the taint of the Darkness is fear. people do bad things because they are afraid. if an antagonist isn't cackling and unapologetically evil and clearly Okay To Kill, their actions are motivated at some basic level by fear. set them up so they can be redeemed and helped because a Princess is about fighting fear and balming misery. but also that redeeming them will take away most of their evil powers so that the group doesn't just accumulate a larger and larger posse of warlocks to stomp everything.

Dark Magical Girls should always be able to be redeemed. Ignore whatever stupid fucking subsystem EarthScorpion put into Princesses of Storms that kills them if they turn good, whether it's still the stupid organ implants or he changed it to something else. Basically anything that is a unique subsystem just for them was probably EarthScorpion's idea, he was obsessed with them for some reason

give players lots of opportunities to interact with higher-level antagonists before they are in a situation where one of them has to die, so they can get to know the antagonist better.

never imperil a character's civilian-life relationships unless they have fucked up super hard or you have given them ample, ample chances to prevent it from becoming a problem -- you cannot make it so the best idea is to cut yourself off from your friends so they won't be in danger, that's what lonely and isolated and terrified Dark Magical Girls do

the Queens are maternal figures who cannot give advice relevant to the situation on the ground (can't solve problems for you) but help you work them out yourself (they would love to do more but the dream-state they are in makes it hard to operate on anything but dream-logic)

Princesses are not evil, Queens are not evil, there is no "oh no you're so morally grey maybe you're the bad guys" because that is covered by every other WoD game. the darkness level of the game is keyed off of "how much does it matter that you're truly and righteously good guys? will that help you change things?"

this does not preclude them from getting into conflict with other forces who believe themselves to be or truly are motivated by goodness, but play up how that's a tragic thing that people who want to help the world have to fight

I also had a thing where Princesses basically gambled Belief the way Hunters gambled Willpower, to represent getting extremely emotionally invested in what you were doing and the possibility of being spiritually crushed if you try your hardest and fail. this was a way to get fucking super amped up EX modes on your Charms but not knowing how their system works I can't say how to adapt it

one other mechanical thing I wanted was "a Princess is basically invincible if she's devoting all her juice to keep herself safe, but has very little capacity to actually do anything else; the more effective you want to be at actively doing things to the world, the more you have to put yourself out there and risk being harmed" but again don't know how to integrate that into whatever mechanics they have

if I think of anything else I will let you know

#princess the hopeful

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animebw · 4 years

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Madoka Magica was the first work by Gen Urbuchi I ever saw, and coming back to it now that I’ve also seen Fate/Zero and Pyscho-Pass (which I’ll be returning to soon enough, so stay tuned!), I have a much better appreciation of how it fits with his ethos. Urobuchi’s famous for writing dark, twisted stories where a lot of people die, but there’s a very specific way that darkness manifests in his stories that doesn’t get discussed enough imo. In his work, darkness isn’t in the individual cruelty or evil of humans, but the systems they live under. Madoka, Psycho-Pass, and Fate/Zero are all stories in which the characters are trapped under the thumb of an oppressive system that grinds them up as fuel for its own self-sustenance. Magical girls become witches that perpetuate the need for more magical girls, criminals designated by the Sybil System are turned into law enforcement to enforce the laws that turn more people into criminals, and modern-day mages are sacrificed for the magical power to fill up the very prize they’re fighting for. There are semi-villainous characters in each of these cases- Kyubei, Makishima, Gilgamesh- but the ultimate evil in Urobuchi’s work is always the system that traps all its characters, good and bad alike, in its grasp.

And most importantly, in all of these cases, the characters themselves are unwitting participants in their own oppression and dehumanization. No one “forces” the girls of Madoka Magica to become magical girls; they’re just coerced and negged by Kyubei until they give in, who just so happens to not fill them in on what the true result of that choice will truly be. A little purposeful omission, a little guilt-tripping, and a little self-perpetuating necessity form the gaslight that keeps the cycle of despair flowing, but the ultimate choice to become part of that cycle always comes from the girls themselves. Just as the Sybil System is actually “irregular” psyches who chose joining the system to persecute their own kind over being wiped from existence, just as the Holy Grail’s power comes from the blood spilled by the masters and servants fighting for it, the magical girl system simply hands the girls a noose and gives them the right nudge for them to wrap it around their own necks.

The true horror of Urobuchi’s work isn’t the thought of a broken world that’s designed to rob us of hope. It’s the thought that we might be the very ones upholding that broken world without even realizing it. It’s the thought that the survival and prosperity of dehumanizing, immoral forces isn’t just the result of evil powermongers gaming the system, but our own ignorance and fallibility allowing them to do so. It’s the thought that we very well be living under this exact kind of horror about already and not even realize it, unknowingly perpetuating the machinery that grinds us up for its fuel. That is the true darkness at the heart of Gen Urobuchi, and that’s what makes him such an enduring, engrossing writer.

#anime #the anime binge-watcher #tabw #madoka magica #madoka rw #puella magi madoka magica #mahou shoujo madoka magica

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itsbenedict · 6 years

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No Driver’s License: Session 37

No Driver’s License is a Madoka Magica game I’m running for five players, using a homebrew of Yaruki Zero’s Magical Burst system. It follows five magical girls as they deal with an upheaval in the world’s magic system caused by some strange new three-eyed Incubators. They have to figure out what’s going on, who to trust, and how to put a stop to the cycle of despair.

I post session logs and omakes weekly sporadically, both as a reference for the players and for anyone who wants to follow along with the party’s misadventures.

[adventure log- read from the beginning]

[session 36]

Last time on No Driver’s License, the team held a tense negotiation on the moon, which was inconclusive due to problems with disclosing their Big Secret to their biggest enemies. Emiko seemed open to further negotiation, but headed home to discuss things with her team.

Ibara and Seina’s players were absent this time around, so this session, we’ve just got two main scenes- Sakura, talking with Tama-chan and Yukari about plans for the future (and... playing a tabletop RPG within a tabletop RPG)- and Makoto, visiting the cannibals and getting involved in their discussions.

It goes super good.

So- after Hekima leaves, Sakura notices Tama-chan in a tree.

Sakura mentions how she wants to do good, and that one of the ways she’s planning on doing that is taking total control of the Hell Engine. Which, okay, out of context sounds like an incredibly supervillainous thing to say, but Tama-chan is in the loop.

Sakura mentions the power generated by her Hope burst, earlier, when she used it to prevent the Engine from falling apart on impact with the Earth. Tama-chan agrees that that’s unusual- and it’s one of the reasons that the Incubator guard on the Engine has been increased. Which, oh yeah, that’s a thing- in part because of the manifestation of an unknown energy source, and also because Piercing Perpendicular Edge Which Punishes Aggression got super fucked up by Seina’s witch event and they’re really suspicious, now. Tama-chan is under orders not to mess with the Engine any further, and there’s more things like Pierce patrolling the inside. Tama-chan refers to Pierce as “it”, and...

Tama-chan isn’t really interested in giving the incubators the time of day- but she seems to know a lot about what happened to Pierce. She asks Sakura if she knows the details, and Sakura describes them as “infected with empathy”, and suggests maybe trying to do that to the entire Incubator species, to make them not evil anymore.

So... other plans, then. Rather than try and make the incubators cooperative, it’s going to come down to going behind their backs and doing some sneaky Engine hacking.

The big issue with that... is, well. They fought Pierce earlier, when he was papers in Seina’s barrier, and... what did he have? 81 Fury? Incubators have completely ridonkulous stats, and that includes Real- which means they’re going to auto-crit any sort of roll to notice someone stealthing. That means however they sneak in, it’s going to need a 0% chance of failure- or at least, low enough that the Incubators don’t even get a roll to notice.

They do some brainstorming re:stealth, but it keeps coming down to the issue of muffling stealth. Ibara’s Friction domain is probably applicable, but might not be up to the task. If only someone had power over sound...!

...Well, anyway, following some discussion there, Tama-chan has to go, and Sakura is invited to curry by Yukari.

Sakura attempts to read between the lines, which leads to...

Which... is just her characteristically overdramatic way of saying that her decision to tell the cannibals about the Big Plan is extremely dangerous, and now it’s out of her hands. She’s basically fine, as far as Yukari is ever fine.

Oh yeah, that’s a thing! Trying to help Sokoko wasn’t super doable earlier, what with how that’d involve fighting way too many witches in a row, with breaks to fight an increasingly-powerful feral magical girl in between. But now? The power levels they have access to are up to the challenge.

Sakura also brings up the stealth issue- specifically the sound-muffling requirement.

The conversation swings back around to Sakura’s frustrations, and Yukari presses her on that some.

Yukari is... unable to give her the reassurance she wants. She’s spent her life being resigned to transience, trying not to form attachments, and can’t in good conscience offer to be Sakura’s lifeline. They argue about optimism vs pessimism and the power of friendship for a little bit, but it comes down to...

Yukari tries to encourage Sakura to go back to school after all this, make normal friends and have a dang childhood already. Sakura’s not initially enthused about it, but the prospect of using her crazy powers to become an urban legend and get a reputation is enticing. The mood lightens, and eventually...

This... gets fairly silly and somewhat involved, but suffice it to say that Yukari plays a memetically badass version of herself who’s a werewolf and has guns and destroys all her enemies, and Sakura freaks out one of the waitresses by making tabletop supplies out of her own body parts. They have a whale of a time- and we’ll pick up with them next session, which follows on the heels of this one. In the meantime, let’s go check in on Makoto!

Makoto goes up to Yoshe’s apartment, and is invited inside by her dad. She goes to see the cannibals, and finds... they haven’t revived Kimiko yet. In fact, they’re arguing over whether or not to do it.

Rather than try and speculate and take a side, Makoto suggests just... asking Tama-chan what would happen, since presumably she’d know. Emiko and Yoshe aren’t exactly sure, since Tama-chan is sort of their mortal enemy, but they figure it can’t hurt if Makoto asks.

So... she does! Leaves and goes and tracks Tama-chan down, finding her in a tree outside a curry place. Specifically, the curry place Sakura and Yukari are eating at, but they’re unawares and Makoto doesn’t know they’re in there. Tama-chan’s spying is totally secure.

When Makoto asks about Kimiko, Tama-chan isn’t really sure. With Honoka’s one trauma track gone, the question is how much influence the original personality would have- the bare bones of her personality, who she is when she has no trauma tracks and can’t feel bad. If that person is a strong personality, it might affect Kimiko- but if it’s weak, Kimiko will probably be unaffected.

Tama-chan has been kind of uneasy this whole conversation, and Makoto is able to pick up on it.

Makoto reassures her that they’re okay now- that they can leave their issues with each other in the past. She offers a hug, which is kind of A Lot what with Tama-chan’s emotional state and physical size, and... well, after that winds down, Tama-chan awkwardly excuses herself to get back to work. Makoto goes back to the cannibals, to tell them the news.

Still, they decide to trust Makoto and go revive Kimiko. Emiko leaves to go collect Fumi-chan from outside, and Makoto and Yoshe make some small talk, wherein Yoshe admits she doesn’t actually hate the moon.

So, they finish up that conversation, and now it’s time to revive the golden girl.

Turns out you can force an Incubator to do a revival, so Emiko holds out Fumi-chan for Makoto to do the job.

Kimiko revives, and... instantly, something happens. Something happens which Makoto makes her saving throw against.

Kimiko calms down a little bit, no longer reacting on impulse to an immediate threat. So, she’s not going to try and incapacitate Makoto now, right?

The other cannibals think this is hilarious, and Kimiko defends her decision by pointing out that Makoto can still talk, and the effect is temporary anyway, so it shouldn’t be a problem! Yoshe asks her to dispel it anyway, though.

So- they catch her up to speed on what happened since she was out. Kimiko wants to know if Emiko managed to take out any of the party after Kagutsuchi formed.

So- it’s sort of a catch-22. She’s not sure she can tell Kimiko, because Kimiko might try to sabotage the plan- but explaining to her why she shouldn’t try and sabotage the plan anyway would give away dangerous details. It’s all or nothing- once they have all the details, they’re either on-board or more dangerous than ever.

Makoto goes over the plan in vague terms- not saying anything specifically about what the Devil wants, or what the grief sink is, but telling them about the Devil’s offer and the grief sink’s existence.

Makoto points out that if this doesn’t work, they can still go back to Plan A. She just wants them to give the plan a chance, and hold off on killing people in the meantime.

Makoto tries to sell them on the use of making allies and artifacts- building and arming a coalition against the Incubators, instead of trying to concentrate power in one place. Emiko is totally sold on it- not least because being able to use artificing to enhance Seelenfaust means she can make it not suck.

Makoto points out that magic armor is a thing, that artifacts can be used to power people up without having to kill anyone.

(Oh, around that point, the gold wears off, and Yoshe talks Kimiko out of re-applying it.)

Makoto, lost for hard evidence, brings up that Yukari’s prophecies give the plan a good chance of success.

Kimiko is exercising the proper amount of paranoia here, which is to say: too much. Makoto points out that Hekima exists, can read minds, and verified Yukari’s trustworthiness- which just leads Kimiko to pass the buck. Now Yukari and Hekima might be in on the trick.

Still, Kimiko’s willing to let the relevant parties try to prove it to her firsthand- so Makoto is asked to set up a meeting. The cannibals, the devil, the party, and their allies- all in one place, trying to negotiate a truce.

Next time on No Driver’s License: the fate of the world is decided over curry.

#no driver's license

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raincoastgamer · 6 years

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Anime Ramble: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Magical Girl anime have this tendency to provoke a binary reaction. Either you see Magical Girls on the promo material and want to watch the show, or else you don’t. So, I’d like to preface this bout of gushing-about-a-show-that-I-watched by saying that your initial reaction to seeing the below poster should be discarded and you should just watch this show.

No, really, I think it’s safe to say that if you have an initial gut reaction of “I’m not interested” then you are probably going to appreciate this show quite a bit, while those who are avid fans of the Magical Girl genre might actually end up being put off by their expectations. Not because of what this show is, but rather by what this show isn’t.

In the same way that everyone knows that Darth Vader is Luke’s father or that a certain noble from the North loses their head, there are some story twists which percolate into the general cultural consciousness due to sheer popularity and end up becoming common knowledge. Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a series which blew up to such popularity in 2011 that you’ve probably seen the characters somewhere before even if you don’t watch a lot of anime. You’ve probably also seen this little guy

around, often in the context of memes in which either 1) he tries to get people to make a contract or 2) people inflict violence on him and his smug little face never changes.

So while I want to say that Madoka Magica will surprise you when it pulls a left turn into darkness and despair, not only have I just ruined that specific surprise for you but the internet at large more than likely already did that job for me. Not only was this show popular, which translates into a more widespread awareness of its overall tone and some of its twists, other more recent shows have pulled a similar deception. Only last year did we have Made in Abyss, which I haven’t seen yet but which I understand exists for the sole purpose of having cute kids set off on an exciting adventure only to be eaten alive by Uncle Lovecraft’s Happy Fun Time Cave. If you’ve been around the anime niches of the internet or, like me, have a former otaku for a sister then you know from the onset that this show is far more than meets the eye based on reputation alone.

To start with, take a good look at the promotional material for this show, such as the trailer. The production team did their damndest to ensure that from the outside the show would look like the most derivative Magical Girl show ever made, up to and including keeping Gen Urobuchi’s involvement in the production a secret. Gen Urobuchi (aka ButchGen aka The Urobutcher) is a writer who is known for being a bit of a downer, having been involved in projects such as Fate/Zero and Psycho-Pass. He’s very outspoken when it comes to his distaste for heroic archetypes played straight and his tendency to drag his characters through the mud, so his presence as the show’s writer was what you might call a dead giveaway.

So what happens when a writer like this tackles a genre known for being all about hope, courage, and the power of friendship and love? There are many people who argue that Madoka Magica deconstructs the Magical Girl anime (Magical Girl Warrior subgenre) as codified by Sailor Moon or Cardcaptor Sakura. Some even say it’s the Neon Genesis Evangelion of the Magical Girl genre. As NGE showed us just how psychologically messed up a Giant Robot show would be if populated by actual human beings, Madoka Magica is about how having child combatants fight monsters in an urban environment with no support network does not make a well-adjusted childhood.

The effects of this kind of pressure and isolation on a bunch of adolescents is one of the elements of Madoka Magica, but fighting monsters with magic isn’t the only thing that makes a Magical Girl story. They’re traditionally as much coming-of-age stories as they are stories about definitions of femininity and self-determination. Madoka Magica has the trappings of a MG show: an all-loving protagonist, a dark and aloof rival, a tomboy friend, a non-magical friend, transformation sequences, fighting against the manifestations of dark emotions, and a cute(?) mascot. It’s talking the talk, but at its heart this is not a story about Magical Girl stories in the same way NGE was about Giant Robot anime (that’s what Revolutionary Girl Utena is for). It certainly plays with many common elements of the Magical Girl anime, but at its heart Madoka Magica is about hope, despair, idealism and selfishness. It’s a psychological drama and grand tragedy. It just happens to be wearing a Magical Girl outfit.

Which is not to say that one is superior to the other, of course. Just set your expectations accordingly if you’re already a Magical Girl fan. If you’re not, well, you might be in luck...

Twelve episodes isn’t a whole lot of time and Madoka Magica does a lot in those twelve episodes, so while I’m willing to spoil the tone of the story discussing the plot itself is a bit trickier. Kaname Madoka is our pink-haired milquetoast protagonist who doesn’t think she’s anything special, and just wants to make friends with everyone. We’re introduced to her via dream sequence, where she witnesses a dark-haired girl fighting against an enemy ravaging the city. A strange white bunny-cat creature asks Madoka to make a contract and become a magical girl, and then she wakes up. It turns out that when not dreaming of plot foreshadowing, Madoka has a pretty good life; a cool mom, a loving dad and good friends. But today it turns out the new transfer student at school - Akemi Homura - is the same girl from her dream. Homura warns Madoka to never change, to stay exactly as she is if she doesn’t want to lose her friends, family, everything she has ever loved. We wouldn’t have much of a story if Madoka never changed, though, so it isn’t long before the bunny-cat creature from the dream crashes into the narrative as well and introduces himself as Kyubey.

Kyubey offers Madoka and her best friend Sayaka an opportunity: make a contract with him and he will grant a single wish, any wish. In return the wisher receives magic powers and must now fight Witches. Not the pointed-hat, broomstick-riding variety, but rather strange, eldritch beings which bring about despair, death and suicide among ordinary humans. It sounds like a good deal: get magic powers and a superhero job on top of a wish? Who wouldn’t want that? But the catch is that this job is for life. If you’re spending all your free time saving the world, you’re not spending time with friends, getting a boyfriend, even just having fun. Is your wish worth dedicating your life to?

This story has a lot to say about good intentions. Our characters are living pretty good lives, so is there really anything worth giving that up for? Perhaps the wish is better spent on someone who needs it. But, remember, make a wish and you’re essentially fighting on behalf of that wish for the rest of your life. Is what you wish for really what you want, or do you really want some other outcome? Say you wish for a dying friend to heal; do you actually want them healed, or do you really want their eternal gratitude? All the characters in this story have the best intentions, but there’s a gap between intention and execution. If you don’t know what you really want, all the idealism in the world isn’t going to save you from your own regrets.

The phrase “I just wanted what was best” is a damning one. It's key to remember that the characters are adolescent girls, with all the contradictory vulnerability and immovable self-righteousness which comes at that age. It's the age at which ideas of how the world should be collide rudely with how the world actually is, and a person can either deal with it by changing themselves and developing coping mechanisms - healthy or unhealthy - or else break themselves on the impossibility of making their ideals fit with the system. Then again, it might be possible to change the system itself... but that’s a long shot.

At one point Madoka’s mother gives her a piece of advice: if you see your friend hurting themselves while trying to to the right thing, maybe the best thing to do is to do the wrong thing for them to break them out of their self-destructive cycle. After all, they’re all still young, they’re at an age where recovering from mistakes is supposed to be easier than when you’re an adult. But this advice happens to come at the wrong time, because these kids are stuck in a situation where a mistake can cost one’s life.

As it happens the relationship between Madoka and her mother is one of the highlights in the series. Mom is a career-chasing businesswoman who still takes the time to talk to her daughter, and though she may not be working her dream job she’s living life on her own terms and is obviously an inspiration for Madoka. Her relationship with Madoka plays a surprisingly important role in the story, which is a refreshing change since parents are usually a non-factor or killed off for backstory purposes. The rest of the characters fit much more neatly into standard archetypes. Madoka herself has a big heart and wants everyone to get along, while her much more outgoing friend Sayaka is the go-getter who will take on problems head-first. We’re introduced early on to a much more experienced magical girl named Tomoe Mami, and she ends up taking a sort of big sister mentor role. All three of these girls believe in helping and protecting others, though each has their own take on the best way of doing so. Homura on the other hand is the dark and mysterious loner who for some reason is fixated on Madoka. We feel like she’s an antagonist, but another character who enters the story later turns out to be even more hostile. The red to Sayaka’s idealistic blue, this new magical girl feels like the antithesis to the magical girl ideals we’re used to: selfish, violent and hedonistic.

As elemental as each of these characters is, by the end of the story each one ends up in a very different place than where they started - or else had their starting position shifted altogether. Not everyone is what they seem. Homura’s backstory in particular hits like a truck when it finally arrives and ends up being key to the resolution of the plot. That said, Madoka Magica is not a story that goes in for particularly complex characterization. Its twelve-episode runtime forces a fast buildup and resolution. Friendships and other relationships don’t really have the time to mature on screen, and a lot has to be left to subtext or inference. Each character’s arc takes them where they need to go for the story to progress, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Some of these character arcs are desperately tragic tales of misunderstandings and misplaced idealism, but in the end these are still archetypal characters, though perhaps not the archetype you expected. Ultimately, they serve more as conflicting views on the show’s central themes than as the driving force of the story itself. The short length of the show is a weakness, keeping the story from being able to develop the cast as much as would have been ideal.

On the other hand, the show’s compact twelve episode structure is also its strength, and the ‘realism’ of the characters is much less important than what each one represents in the story as a whole. It’s hard to say whether or not Puella Magi Madoka Magica would’ve been able to hit as hard as it does if was any longer. This is a story very much focused on building its plot and keeping a steady pace, layering the tone and atmosphere and absolutely killing it in the aesthetics department. It is a straightforward story when all’s said and done, but it is densely constructed and cohesive. Every element of the show works as part of a whole and builds on the others, the visuals, the cinematography, the music, and even in the way the plot is structured. It’s got no time for cheap fanservice, it makes full use of every moment, and it only gets better on repeat viewings. This isn’t a show that supports casual viewing, and it expects you to be paying as much attention to the way a character is being framed in a shot as to what’s being said (or not said) in the dialogue. This is ultimately a simple story, yes, but it’s dense and constantly being told on multiple layers.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica’s ace in the hole is its mixed-media action scenes. Whenever our characters are fighting a Witch the show pulls a Terry Gilliam and starts doing very strange things with the animation. The medium of the art itself changes, with our cel-animated characters fighting against and among stop-motion objects. Paper cutouts and cotton balls. Lace and embroidery. The effect is unnerving and psychedelic and sometimes overwhelming. It can be difficult to follow the action whenever this happens, but then again these are supposed to be things that aren’t quite in sync with reality, beings which practically run on magic. The fact that these unreal things and spaces are being represented with real-world objects intruding into the animation is a clever touch. It’s an effect that I’ve rarely seen used in anime, and never in an action-heavy context.

(Author’s addendum: I’m aware that director Akiyuki Shinbo’s thing is this mix of visual styles. I do think its usage in Madoka Magica is still notable, if only because it works really well here.)

Even when it’s being more conventional Madoka Magica is visually accomplished. Even though the wide-faced character designs threw me for a loop at first (so wide!) they did eventually grow on me. There’s something about how the eyes look almost penciled-in which keeps them from straying into overly-cutesy territory. The cinematography is likewise superb. Strong, stylized color work drives home tone and emotion. The setting often dwarfs people within vast, empty cityscapes, the background itself being a reflection of the characters’ emotions and the series’ tone. In dialogue-heavy scenes we get momentary flashes of expression and action illustrating what’s happening inside a character’s head, and the framing of characters in a scene tells you everything you need to know about their relationships without saying a word. Whatever else you might think about Madoka Magica, it looks beautiful and tells much of its story visually through color, framing, light and shadow.

Going further than that, the structure of the plot is beautifully constructed as well. You could divide the story into four arcs of three episodes, each following the development of a different character, or else three arcs of four episodes, each one ending with a new point of no return. The third and tenth episodes mirror each other as well, each one shifting the stakes and giving us new context for everything which came before. The reason why this show shines so much brighter on a rewatch is because things that seemed like inconsequential melodrama or lazy writing the first time around take on a whole new meaning once backstory and motivation are revealed. It’s for this reason that I’m not terribly concerned about revealing Puella Magi Madoka Magica’s swerve into darkness; high stakes and dark subject matter are not the only secrets that this series has got up its sleeve. By the end of the story we’re not only dissecting the intentions and desires of our characters, we’re asking hard questions about why this story had to happen the way it did at all, questions which lead to what might be one of the most satisfying conclusions to an anime I’ve ever seen.

That is perhaps what makes Madoka Magica the show that it is. Though the ultimate shape of the story is straightforward, we journey there through layers of twisting color and twisting plot. Though we have our perspective on the events of the story constantly re-contextualized about once an episode, it’s always building to a conclusion that both feels inevitable and yet less likely the closer we get. And when the end does arrive, it takes everything that has happened so far, every mistake, every hope, every good intention gone wrong and it makes them matter. Though the ending is theoretically open ended, it’s entirely self-contained. It has introduced us to a new world, revealed the lies underlying this world, and has shown us what these characters do about it. It raises questions, and in the end tells us what it’s been saying all along. Few shows, anime or otherwise, use such a cohesive combination of visuals, narrative, and music to deliver a message. Beautiful to look at, beautiful to listen to, and beautiful in how it unfolds.

As it turned out, a sequel movie was made anyways. I refuse to provide any comprehensive thoughts on Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion for now, because doing so runs the risk of being flayed alive by the fandom no matter your take. Suffice it to say that it’s incredibly self-indulgent, visually stunning, and it will make you regret wishing that the ending of the original series could have been happier.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica is beautiful, and you really should watch it.

- Taihus, the wish-granting @raincoastgamer

(And I somehow manage to write all of this without actually discussing the soundtrack. The thing is, I don’t really know how to critique a soundtrack. It’s good, its use of leitmotifs is masterful and actually brought me to tears in episode 8, Magia represents the show’s true face behind the pleasant pink facade, and I’ve still got Sis Puella Magica stuck in my head.)

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