Whenever I see yet another vaguely schoolgirl lesbian subplot in anime
(argh, I swear, I'm not trying to turn this into a general anime thread)
I'm reminded of the manga Aoi Hana, about a rather socially awkward lesbian at a girl's school (no, it's not dirty, I promise, it's very sweet coming-of-age story)
Her friends are always assuming that it's like anime where it'll just be a cute crush and a little sexual tension, and then they'll eventually go marry some dude anyway.
Meanwhile she's trying to deal with actual real-world problems like her ex-girlfriend threatening to out her, or her parents asking if she's met any nice boys.
It's a pretty great takedown of the whole incredibly obnoxious trope.
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
I constantly wonder if this is some cultural thing (like, in real life, do highschool girls go and pair off their female friends together?) or some specific anime trope that's gotten too popular to be a fad.
With the way Madoka eliminated/subverted all other tropes, I want to believe the close ties between the characters is exactly what they are shown to be, without any underlying tones to cater to the trope.
On the one hand, it makes much of the official merchandise that plays it like a straight up magical girl show morbidly hilarious...especially the plushies of a certain creature.
But now that they've gone and tossed in very specific shipping subtext in stuff like the PSP game, I'm officially sick that the goddamn fans have "corrupted" yet another poignant relationship.
Nanoha was fine as it was when it depicted one positive little girl forming a friendship with another little girl who had suffered abuse and neglect from her mother. It was enough to establish an empathy between the two characters.
One million fan-arts and fanfics later, and they've got drama CDs where they share 4 hour baths together and the one male love interest is practically written out of the series.
Yeah, LBGT stuff in Japan is... weird. Well, the stuff like Nanoha is mostly just fanservice for the otaku (AKA, the worst fans in the universe)
But It's sort of interesting to read about Japanese attitudes about this stuff though, in some ways they're much more accepting, and then in other ways extremely cruel.
Some of this is a bit off topic, but just for a couple links of rather interesting reading:
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
I'd be interesting in checking out Niseimonogatari, but apparently while Aniplex plans on releasing it in the US, there are no plans to release the series that preceded it. *sigh*
Yeah, LBGT stuff in Japan is... weird. Well, the stuff like Nanoha is mostly just fanservice for the otaku (AKA, the worst fans in the universe)
But It's sort of interesting to read about Japanese attitudes about this stuff though, in some ways they're much more accepting, and then in other ways extremely cruel.
Some of this is a bit off topic, but just for a couple links of rather interesting reading:
This is acceptable if there is actual subtext to justify shipping.
Instead, 99% of the "subtext" basically boils down to "two characters who acknowledge the existence of one another".
It would be like people making up Mass Effect pairings like (Male) Shepard and Garrus, Tali and Miranda, Illusive Man and Wrex. Of course stuff like that already exists, but most of the time it would be met with laughter or disgust.
In Japan, it becomes an OMG KAWAII thing where the publishers behind the series then start pandering to the fanbase in order to make it "official". By all accounts, saying that "you made this show gay" actually has some merit.
Besides, you'd think there would be more Madoka/Sayaka than Kyouko/Sayaka, given how closer they were. Or does that sort of thing spark a rage with the Madoka/Homura fans? I don't even know anymore, shit is stupid and I wish it would stop.
Anyway, here is a sample of the Taiwanese dub for Madoka. Episode 11 spoilers:
It would be like people making up Mass Effect pairings like (Male) Shepard and Garrus
Oh, yeah
That would be uh
Totally crazy man
Haha who would do that?!?
ahem
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
Seeing Prof. Snugglesworth's reaction to the show makes me want to watch it again. Gah you bastard!
I know every fandom has this, but again, I find it both irritating and stupid as far as this series is concerned.
Also, the gameplay for the PSP version looks incredibly boring and misguided (a first person tile-based RPG? This is what you come up with from a series with gun-kata and swords?), but the alternate story paths sound really awesome.
One of them goes far beyond the spectrum of grimdark it's almost hilarious in its absurdity.
The same argument could apply to Madoka and Homura
No. Unlike the Kyouko/Sayaka shipping, which you correctly pointed out has little basis in canon, Homura being in love with Madoka is a totally legit interpretation of her behavior.
Well yes, when I said it "could" apply, I failed to mention that I'm willing to buy that interpretation. It doesn't take anything away from the character, and could only attribute to her questionable obsession with Madoka. In other words, I could somewhat accept it if they wanted to make it "canon", as unnecessary as that would be.
But this Kyouko/Sayaka nonsense seems to stem fully from the notion that "they're cute together". It's just fan pairing for the sake of fan pairing. I also can't help but wonder why they're largely focused on this specific pairing when there was far more "subtext" to be gleamed with Madoka/Sayaka.
Old friends since childhood
One is tomboyish, the other girly
Said tomboy has always looked out for and protected girly friend
Even made a "Mai Waifu" comment in the first episode
Spends more time together than any other pair of characters in the series
Pretty sure those are the exact reasons why Fang/Vanille exploded the way it did. Maybe it's because Homura is so "right" that it overwrites anything else, or maybe I'm thinking way too hard about this.
Again, normally I would be impartial to that, since every fandom does it, but in the case of this series, it "cheapens" the overall meaning of the show as well as severely undermine why Sayaka made her wish in the first place.
In case you didn't know, her entire character and premise is based off The Little Mermaid (the original).
Pretty sure if people changed the ending of that book to "and then she decided to be a lesbian with another mermaid", they'd hang you for that back in the olden days
And again, it results in company pandering, which has already happened with some of Madoka's supplemental media (novel illustrations, the PSP game, etc). I don't want the upcoming movie to add in new scenes that have the two characters blushing or sharing pocky sticks just to "keep the yuri fans happy".
One of the reasons I loved this series was the way it kept its typical Magical Girl tropes firmly in check. They could have tossed in a million yuri undertones and loli panty shots, but they took the high road instead to focus on a dark and emotionally gripping premise, where the bonds of friendship were always prevalent and was the only thing keeping the characters from falling into complete despair (well, some of them).
Having these assholes demand that every character secretly wants to sex one another completely diminishes things.
He remains the only anime columnist I consider to have good opinions and also not be clinically insane.
In other news, I checked out more of the Orika manga. While my complaints over the near-guro violence (and an underage magical girl who looks like she's fighting with oven mitts) remains, it's a decent premise.
My favorite moment is when Madoka calls out Homura on her bullshit
in which she focuses only on protecting Madoka but does nothing to help her friends.
Homura's hesitant response is a nice touch that shows how "defeated" she is, suggesting deep down that she still cares for the other characters but ultimately decided that they "can't be saved"
I'm holding off until the sets get released, because the pricing scheme is ridiculous for Puella Magi.
Though the dub trailer lowered my interest. It's so bad in the early parts that it left me wondering if it's on purpose, and gets better once shit gets real.
Well yes, when I said it "could" apply, I failed to mention that I'm willing to buy that interpretation. It doesn't take anything away from the character, and could only attribute to her questionable obsession with Madoka. In other words, I could somewhat accept it if they wanted to make it "canon", as unnecessary as that would be.
But this Kyouko/Sayaka nonsense seems to stem fully from the notion that "they're cute together". It's just fan pairing for the sake of fan pairing. I also can't help but wonder why they're largely focused on this specific pairing when there was far more "subtext" to be gleamed with Madoka/Sayaka.
Old friends since childhood
One is tomboyish, the other girly
Said tomboy has always looked out for and protected girly friend
Even made a "Mai Waifu" comment in the first episode
Spends more time together than any other pair of characters in the series
Pretty sure those are the exact reasons why Fang/Vanille exploded the way it did. Maybe it's because Homura is so "right" that it overwrites anything else, or maybe I'm thinking way too hard about this.
Again, normally I would be impartial to that, since every fandom does it, but in the case of this series, it "cheapens" the overall meaning of the show as well as severely undermine why Sayaka made her wish in the first place.
In case you didn't know, her entire character and premise is based off The Little Mermaid (the original).
Pretty sure if people changed the ending of that book to "and then she decided to be a lesbian with another mermaid", they'd hang you for that back in the olden days
And again, it results in company pandering, which has already happened with some of Madoka's supplemental media (novel illustrations, the PSP game, etc). I don't want the upcoming movie to add in new scenes that have the two characters blushing or sharing pocky sticks just to "keep the yuri fans happy".
One of the reasons I loved this series was the way it kept its typical Magical Girl tropes firmly in check. They could have tossed in a million yuri undertones and loli panty shots, but they took the high road instead to focus on a dark and emotionally gripping premise, where the bonds of friendship were always prevalent and was the only thing keeping the characters from falling into complete despair (well, some of them).
Having these assholes demand that every character secretly wants to sex one another completely diminishes things.
He remains the only anime columnist I consider to have good opinions and also not be clinically insane.
In other news, I checked out more of the Orika manga. While my complaints over the near-guro violence (and an underage magical girl who looks like she's fighting with oven mitts) remains, it's a decent premise.
My favorite moment is when Madoka calls out Homura on her bullshit
in which she focuses only on protecting Madoka but does nothing to help her friends.
Homura's hesitant response is a nice touch that shows how "defeated" she is, suggesting deep down that she still cares for the other characters but ultimately decided that they "can't be saved"
This might be a western/eastern thing. American media puts a very strong stress on romantic love and sexual tension, and those things are generally ignored in anime, which creates problems for the western audience trained to detect romantic plot hints for a mile away.
Same gender shipping has primarily been an Eastern thing, though. The only Westerners who engage in that are hardcore Otaku, whereas in Japan it's apparently widespread and recognized enough that companies pander to that crowd.
But enough about that, here are some surprisingly good fandubs of the vocal themes.
Can I just say that the music was awesome (especially Mami's theme)?
Yes, you can. I'm certain the majority of Mami's popularity stems from her amazing theme (which originally was just going to be a standard BGM and not a specific character track).
OtakuD00DCan I hit the exploding rocks?San DiegoRegistered Userregular
edited April 2012
Favorite character is Homura, by far. Especially once you really learn about her.
I'm a sucker for devoted, tragic characters.
EDIT: Saw the English OP/ED stuff. Very nice. Listening to and actually understanding the lyrics for once really gets to you, especially if you see the show through. It hit me like an emotional hammer.
Favorite character is Homura, by far. Especially once you really learn about her.
I'm a sucker for devoted, tragic characters.
She certainly gets a pass for much of her actions, but she's still flawed in that
She primarily focuses on trying to change Madoka's fate, but ultimately has "given up" on the other girls, despite spending several timelines as friends.
You do get glimpses that she still cares about the others, and it makes sense that she's emotionally defeated and drained that she's just barely teetering on the edge of despair, so there is a justification there too.
But she was also willing to kill off Sayaka just so Madoka wouldn't despair over seeing her turn into a witch. That's a bitch move, even with the good intentions.
Also, Sayaka is every bit as devoted and tragic as Homura. About the only one who had it good was Mami, she just wanted more friends.
The PSP game basically proves that if she did put a bigger effort on the others, the outcome would have been far happier.
Also, one more remix from me. Blame SA for most of these vids.
Yeah. Sayaka's a close second, but what beat it for me is going through time loop after time loop for... god knows how long, trying to make everything right and failing every time. That just really wears on a person. Insanely so. Yeah, she pulled a lot of bitch moves because of it, but by then, she was just so fed up, all she cared about by then was the pragmatic bare minimum. Can't blame her. (Besides, I think by then she realized that no matter what she did, Sayaka ALWAYS died. The others almost always survived until the end, more or less.)
Yeah. Sayaka's a close second, but what beat it for me is going through time loop after time loop for... god knows how long, trying to make everything right and failing every time. That just really wears on a person. Insanely so. Yeah, she pulled a lot of bitch moves because of it, but by then, she was just so fed up, all she cared about by then was the pragmatic bare minimum. Can't blame her. (Besides, I think by then she realized that no matter what she did, Sayaka ALWAYS died. The others almost always survived until the end, more or less.)
I bet Sayaka would have done the same if she had time-traveling powers (I'm staring to sound like the very shippers I despise).
Interestingly enough, Sayaka wasn't a magical girl during the first timeline (it was just Madoka and Mami), so I wonder what Homura did differently that ultimately set the course for Sayaka to make the contract from then on?
And another fact: Mami would have survived the fight with Charlotte had Madoka already contracted by then. Since that was also from Homura's interference, she's practically screwed over the other girls in addition to making Madoka more powerful from each timeloop.
But I don't hold that against her, and it only shows how "hopeless" her situation was. Still, I did like the scene in the Orika manga which shows that Homura still has a human side that laments having to sacrifice her other friends in order to save the one that's most important to her. It would have really helped if that was included in the anime.
Kyouku was also apparently saddened by Mami's death, as the two of them used to be good friends. We don't see that though, instead during her first appearance she's basically "Score!" while eager to move in on Mami's turf.
I really do wonder what they'll do with a continuation, which is apparently going to happen in the movie and (unofficially?) a second season. All I would really want is more character moments that aren't all filled with soul-crushing sadness and tears.
The PSP game basically proves that if she did put a bigger effort on the others, the outcome would have been far happier.
Would it really have been, though?
Madoka would have never contracted, meaning that magical girls would still become witches when they burn out. Walpurgisnacht would someday return. Madoka herself seemed to gain self-confidence after becoming a magical girl (just compare the way she behaves in the first three episodes before Mami's death as compared to how she behaves in the alternate timeline where she was already a a magical girl when she met Homura); I don't think being a helpless bystander surrounded by friends who are all heroes would be a good longtime situation for her. Becoming the greatest magical girl of all, preventing magical girls from becoming witches, and apparently creating some kind of heaven for all the magical girls who ever lived seems to be, by far, the best outcome for Madoka and everyone else.
In other news, the first two movies have been announced as being released this fall. The first is titled The Beginning Story, and the second is The Everlasting Story.
Hexmage has got it - while the personal outlook seems "better off" in that Madoka would have stopped the W.S. and not become a witch, the ultimate conclusion of Homura's time-travel is that Madoka makes it so witches never existed in the first place. A much better outcome for all involved.
The second BD arrived today. I'd watch it but I got my housemates to sit down and watch the first two episodes yesterday night... we have to wait until next week to watch the next two... I am eagerly awaiting their reactions.
Did they make a mistake by releasing this on CR and Hulu ( or is it Netflix?). Cause here I am watching it on CR, up to ep 8, which is on par with whereabouts the comercial release is. And I still have my $40 x 3volumes worth in my pocket. Woulda pulled the trigger on this one had I no other choice.
I'll save the money for the movies I guess, unless they pull the same dealio. lol.
I'm holding off until the sets get released, because the pricing scheme is ridiculous for Puella Magi.
They aren't going to do a full series set, because it's Aniplex doing their own publishing and selling solely through Right Stuf. Look at everything else Aniplex has published themselves - actually, I think the Madoka DVDs are the first thing they've done themselves that hasn't been limited edition.
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EDIT: No, the Gurren Lagann films aren't.
The Madoka Wiki is chock full of translations and fan stuff, including image packs filled with some really good artwork...and an unsurprising amount of Mami porn.
Here's a few choice images. Can you guess the recurring theme?
If you guessed "Soul Crushing Despair and Sadness", you win!
Blood Tears For The Blood God Kyubey
What is surprising is the amount of doujin games. Any of them in particular that are worth playing?
I bet that sidescrolling one would be great with online play.
I've been thoroughly impressed by the fan-art created for this series (minus the shipping bullshit, though admittedly there are a few good images there too). I especially like the art that makes use of the various art styles used for the Witch Barriers (it would take forever to sift through the "Sayaka in Silhouette" pics). Lots of it is depressing as hell, given the context, but also hauntingly beautiful.
Even the memes are clever and hilarious. I don't foresee myself getting tired of all the Kyubey-related stuff anytime soon.
Posts
(argh, I swear, I'm not trying to turn this into a general anime thread)
I'm reminded of the manga Aoi Hana, about a rather socially awkward lesbian at a girl's school (no, it's not dirty, I promise, it's very sweet coming-of-age story)
Her friends are always assuming that it's like anime where it'll just be a cute crush and a little sexual tension, and then they'll eventually go marry some dude anyway.
Meanwhile she's trying to deal with actual real-world problems like her ex-girlfriend threatening to out her, or her parents asking if she's met any nice boys.
It's a pretty great takedown of the whole incredibly obnoxious trope.
With the way Madoka eliminated/subverted all other tropes, I want to believe the close ties between the characters is exactly what they are shown to be, without any underlying tones to cater to the trope.
On the one hand, it makes much of the official merchandise that plays it like a straight up magical girl show morbidly hilarious...especially the plushies of a certain creature.
But now that they've gone and tossed in very specific shipping subtext in stuff like the PSP game, I'm officially sick that the goddamn fans have "corrupted" yet another poignant relationship.
Nanoha was fine as it was when it depicted one positive little girl forming a friendship with another little girl who had suffered abuse and neglect from her mother. It was enough to establish an empathy between the two characters.
One million fan-arts and fanfics later, and they've got drama CDs where they share 4 hour baths together and the one male love interest is practically written out of the series.
Sometimes, I really hate Japan.
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But It's sort of interesting to read about Japanese attitudes about this stuff though, in some ways they're much more accepting, and then in other ways extremely cruel.
Some of this is a bit off topic, but just for a couple links of rather interesting reading:
There really is a genre all around sorta-kinda but not really schoolgirl lesbianism with a long history of japanese feminism
And then there's a famous all-female acting troupe which was raising eyebrows with their lesbian overtones all the way back in the 1920s(!)
And just for a bit of interesting reading, those red-covered books that Kanbaru had scattered all over her room in Bakemonogatari
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This is acceptable if there is actual subtext to justify shipping.
Instead, 99% of the "subtext" basically boils down to "two characters who acknowledge the existence of one another".
It would be like people making up Mass Effect pairings like (Male) Shepard and Garrus, Tali and Miranda, Illusive Man and Wrex. Of course stuff like that already exists, but most of the time it would be met with laughter or disgust.
In Japan, it becomes an OMG KAWAII thing where the publishers behind the series then start pandering to the fanbase in order to make it "official". By all accounts, saying that "you made this show gay" actually has some merit.
Besides, you'd think there would be more Madoka/Sayaka than Kyouko/Sayaka, given how closer they were. Or does that sort of thing spark a rage with the Madoka/Homura fans? I don't even know anymore, shit is stupid and I wish it would stop.
Anyway, here is a sample of the Taiwanese dub for Madoka. Episode 11 spoilers:
http://youtu.be/-mpxlNC9DL8
Skip to 2:01 for maximum hilarity.
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Oh, yeah
That would be uh
Totally crazy man
Haha who would do that?!?
ahem
Fuck, I'm going to cry.
Such a goddamn sad outcome for both of them.
There are not enough d'awwws.
Too bad I had to look at this page to find it.
I know every fandom has this, but again, I find it both irritating and stupid as far as this series is concerned.
Also, the gameplay for the PSP version looks incredibly boring and misguided (a first person tile-based RPG? This is what you come up with from a series with gun-kata and swords?), but the alternate story paths sound really awesome.
One of them goes far beyond the spectrum of grimdark it's almost hilarious in its absurdity.
For real this time.
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No. Unlike the Kyouko/Sayaka shipping, which you correctly pointed out has little basis in canon, Homura being in love with Madoka is a totally legit interpretation of her behavior.
But this Kyouko/Sayaka nonsense seems to stem fully from the notion that "they're cute together". It's just fan pairing for the sake of fan pairing. I also can't help but wonder why they're largely focused on this specific pairing when there was far more "subtext" to be gleamed with Madoka/Sayaka.
One is tomboyish, the other girly
Said tomboy has always looked out for and protected girly friend
Even made a "Mai Waifu" comment in the first episode
Spends more time together than any other pair of characters in the series
Pretty sure those are the exact reasons why Fang/Vanille exploded the way it did. Maybe it's because Homura is so "right" that it overwrites anything else, or maybe I'm thinking way too hard about this.
Again, normally I would be impartial to that, since every fandom does it, but in the case of this series, it "cheapens" the overall meaning of the show as well as severely undermine why Sayaka made her wish in the first place.
Pretty sure if people changed the ending of that book to "and then she decided to be a lesbian with another mermaid", they'd hang you for that back in the olden days
And again, it results in company pandering, which has already happened with some of Madoka's supplemental media (novel illustrations, the PSP game, etc). I don't want the upcoming movie to add in new scenes that have the two characters blushing or sharing pocky sticks just to "keep the yuri fans happy".
One of the reasons I loved this series was the way it kept its typical Magical Girl tropes firmly in check. They could have tossed in a million yuri undertones and loli panty shots, but they took the high road instead to focus on a dark and emotionally gripping premise, where the bonds of friendship were always prevalent and was the only thing keeping the characters from falling into complete despair (well, some of them).
Having these assholes demand that every character secretly wants to sex one another completely diminishes things.
Edit: Coincidentally, Ask John just wrote an article about "Otaku Pandering": http://www.animenation.net/blog/2012/04/05/ask-john-what-constitutes-otaku-pandering/#more-28291
He remains the only anime columnist I consider to have good opinions and also not be clinically insane.
In other news, I checked out more of the Orika manga. While my complaints over the near-guro violence (and an underage magical girl who looks like she's fighting with oven mitts) remains, it's a decent premise.
My favorite moment is when Madoka calls out Homura on her bullshit
Homura's hesitant response is a nice touch that shows how "defeated" she is, suggesting deep down that she still cares for the other characters but ultimately decided that they "can't be saved"
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Like, as bad as the prices for 90's anime VHS.
I don't know what in the hell they're thinking. Also heard the dub is pretty mediocre.
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Good lord. Don't remind me. So what is it, something along the lines of what Bandai Visual tried pricing on us when they came around a few years ago?
This is literally the first, and probably last anime I've ever ordered, so I have no idea what's "normal"
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Though the dub trailer lowered my interest. It's so bad in the early parts that it left me wondering if it's on purpose, and gets better once shit gets real.
Twitter
This might be a western/eastern thing. American media puts a very strong stress on romantic love and sexual tension, and those things are generally ignored in anime, which creates problems for the western audience trained to detect romantic plot hints for a mile away.
But enough about that, here are some surprisingly good fandubs of the vocal themes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BRW_kweYI8&hd=1&list=FLrc1NJTyjqhuoj88qsmm_Iw&index=2&feature=plpp_video&hd=1
Wish they'd dub the full version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KAb2c7Z-Sk&hd=1&feature=related&hd=1
This just makes you appreciate the OP even more, even before you learn the "truth" about it.
Also...
ASSUMING CONTRACT
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The worst part is that they're charging so much but were offering bargain basement rates for the english writing and voicework.
Yes, you can. I'm certain the majority of Mami's popularity stems from her amazing theme (which originally was just going to be a standard BGM and not a specific character track).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE-QXsqf-9E&hd=1&feature=related&hd=1
That and the gun-kata. And the post-mission tea. The boobs probably help too.
But I already decided who my favorite character is:
And why I'll never consider the series to have a happy ending.
Also, I dare anyone to watch this fullscreen, lights off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgeC_ZwqqZQ&hd=1&list=FLrc1NJTyjqhuoj88qsmm_Iw&index=2&feature=plpp_video&hd=1
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EDIT: Saw the English OP/ED stuff. Very nice. Listening to and actually understanding the lyrics for once really gets to you, especially if you see the show through. It hit me like an emotional hammer.
She certainly gets a pass for much of her actions, but she's still flawed in that
You do get glimpses that she still cares about the others, and it makes sense that she's emotionally defeated and drained that she's just barely teetering on the edge of despair, so there is a justification there too.
But she was also willing to kill off Sayaka just so Madoka wouldn't despair over seeing her turn into a witch. That's a bitch move, even with the good intentions.
Also, Sayaka is every bit as devoted and tragic as Homura. About the only one who had it good was Mami, she just wanted more friends.
The PSP game basically proves that if she did put a bigger effort on the others, the outcome would have been far happier.
Also, one more remix from me. Blame SA for most of these vids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBNkIQzg_iM&hd=1
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Interestingly enough, Sayaka wasn't a magical girl during the first timeline (it was just Madoka and Mami), so I wonder what Homura did differently that ultimately set the course for Sayaka to make the contract from then on?
And another fact: Mami would have survived the fight with Charlotte had Madoka already contracted by then. Since that was also from Homura's interference, she's practically screwed over the other girls in addition to making Madoka more powerful from each timeloop.
But I don't hold that against her, and it only shows how "hopeless" her situation was. Still, I did like the scene in the Orika manga which shows that Homura still has a human side that laments having to sacrifice her other friends in order to save the one that's most important to her. It would have really helped if that was included in the anime.
Kyouku was also apparently saddened by Mami's death, as the two of them used to be good friends. We don't see that though, instead during her first appearance she's basically "Score!" while eager to move in on Mami's turf.
I really do wonder what they'll do with a continuation, which is apparently going to happen in the movie and (unofficially?) a second season. All I would really want is more character moments that aren't all filled with soul-crushing sadness and tears.
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Would it really have been, though?
In other news, the first two movies have been announced as being released this fall. The first is titled The Beginning Story, and the second is The Everlasting Story.
The second BD arrived today. I'd watch it but I got my housemates to sit down and watch the first two episodes yesterday night... we have to wait until next week to watch the next two... I am eagerly awaiting their reactions.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
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I'll save the money for the movies I guess, unless they pull the same dealio. lol.
FF14: ARR
They aren't going to do a full series set, because it's Aniplex doing their own publishing and selling solely through Right Stuf. Look at everything else Aniplex has published themselves - actually, I think the Madoka DVDs are the first thing they've done themselves that hasn't been limited edition.
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EDIT: No, the Gurren Lagann films aren't.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2Chwj5JEww
Also, with all the fan comics and memes out there, there is one that I hope actually makes its way into official canon (such as the upcoming movie):
Many of the greatest tragedies would have been averted with Pringles Duck. Lives would be saved with Pringles Duck.
Then there's this...
I'm convinced that being shipped is a worse fate for magical girls than becoming a witch
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Here's a few choice images. Can you guess the recurring theme?
If you guessed "Soul Crushing Despair and Sadness", you win!
Blood Tears For The Blood God Kyubey
What is surprising is the amount of doujin games. Any of them in particular that are worth playing?
I bet that sidescrolling one would be great with online play.
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Even the memes are clever and hilarious. I don't foresee myself getting tired of all the Kyubey-related stuff anytime soon.
Also, I laughed way too hard at this.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40Hzb5y84w4
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