Dunno if anyone would find this interesting at all or even want to pick my thoughts apart...
This is literally just my thoughts as the films go on. No timestamps, but everything is in sequence. There's bits where I've transcribed dialogue from the film, and bits where I've jotted down ideas for dialogue with Ben. (Keep in mind, a lot of this might wind up in my literary compost bin.)
Madoka and her mother have a very close relationship to each other. In fact, her entire family seems to be fairly tightly knit together. It's no wonder she's such a good girl - she has a strong sense of family, very much like Nanoha does.
"Boys that can't confess their love in person are no good." Hah. Shows what she knows. Not that I don't consider her husband to be a real man or anything of the sort, but she must have been shopping around in all the wrong places before she met him.
Sayaka and Madoka are freakin' hilarious together. She loves to tease Madoka in all the best ways possible.
.... Okay, their teacher is more than a little high-strung. "Judging a woman by the way she fries her eggs is the gravest of mistakes!" Not wrong, but holy hell... ....And then comes the 180. Wow.
Enter Akemi Homura. Drop-dead gorgeous Hime-sama complete with can't-be-bothered-by-this-shit hair-toss. (Not really, but damn if she didn't walk the walk.... Up! Nope! There is is!)
Poor Madoka. She just can't handle that intensity. At least, not yet.
Investigate: Is it possible for Homura to have been told or somehow shown that Madoka is "Nurse's Aide" class officer during her introduction? It would have set off alarm bells if everyone suddenly realized no one told her that before.
Bingo. Madoka lampshades it.
"Saotome-sensei told me." Sure she did.
You know, it's interesting how painfully awkward Homura seems to be here. Understandable though, considering the situation.
Jeeze, Homu-chan. Way to scare the poor girl. You're going about this entirely the wrong way.
Cut to girls chat. Topic of the Day: Akemi-Hime (duh!)
PFFFT! DAMNIT SAYAKA! Lampshading something like that so blatantly!
Oh GOD if only she knew how close she was to the truth. Past lives indeed!
Madoka definitely loves herself some pop music.
And there's the fucking little shit now. "Help me!" Cry some more, bitch.
Oh, calling her by NAME now!? %^@*$^%$#&!!!
It must be said, these little fuckers definitely know how to work their audience.
Homu, Homu, Homu-chan... You should have told her about Mephistopheles instead. After all these loops, you should know that by now.
Oooh! Witch battle. Symbology time!
Monarch butterflies, cards, the Eiffel Tower, country themes...
Yes, Homura. Now. Because Murphy is a cold-hearted bastard. You seem to have yet learn this fact.
Cotton-puff familiars with mustaches. Cute.
Reminder: See if anyone has the translation of the text when the familiars begin chanting at the girls.
MAMI-CHAN! Sweet, loving, beautiful Mami-chan. You never deserved the cruel fate that was thrust upon you.
OMG... Sudden realization.
HOMURA IS THE SHIELD HERO!!! All magical girls have some kind of 'weapon' they use, whether it comes off as an actual weapon or not. But what does Homura have? A FREAKIN' SHIELD! Albeit a time-manipulating shield, but still a shield!
We really need to get her with Naofumi, just so they can trade notes.
Very interesting. Mami can be very assertive in a very polite manner. She'd make a great diplomat.
And so Kyubey makes its pitch...
Confirmed: Mami is a 3rd year student while Madoka, Sayaka, and Homura are 2nd year students.
Question: what is Ben's firepower REALLY like? How much punishment can he dishout? Would it impress Homura? (Please refer to thread: Playing with Boom-Boom.)
Okay, so they're only told that Soul Gems are their "Source of Power" and "Proof that they are Magical Girls".
"If magical girls can be said to be born from wishes, witches can be said to be born from curses."
Yeesh. He then lies to them about Witches causing despair. In a ways they do, but that's mostly for the Puella Magi. In regular humans, they simply feed on the negativity that is already there.
At the very least there is the implication that their lives are on the line, but the truth is far more insidious. Neither life, nor death is their fate.
It's easy to see that Sayaka is already getting wrapped up in the smoke screen of romanticism.
Sayaka won't be used to the sort of music that Benjamin favors. Yes, he likes classical, but his tastes are so much more. A big break-through point between them would probably be when Benjamin is caught playing his electric guitar in the breezeway. He's sitting on his amp, speaker facing backwards, and just loud enough to take advantage of the acoustics of the confined space, the sound echoing off the walls. Sayaka will have never heard electric guitar like that before and it's going to give her goosebumps hearing it, especially in the wake of losing the boy she liked to her friend.
She'll learn the true face of the rock and roll rebel - a scorned and underappreciated person that people think so lowly of, just because they're different. Both angry and sad at the same time, and making a musical instrument weep bitter tears of sorrowful rage at the unfairness of the world.
Where on earth are they that is that high up and open to the elements, but also enclosed like a cage of brass? Is this part of their school grounds?
"I'm sure it's not all that unusual - wishing for something so strongly you'd gladly trade your life for it..." Don't be so sure of this, Sayaka. Those of my breed are rarities in the world.
Interesting that Madoka has sketches of Mami and Homura... It seems she was attempting to draw inspiration from their Puella Magi outfits for her own.
Aww, poor Madoka-chan. She needs hugs.
So, soul gems can 'sniff out' a witch's magic just like a blood hound with scent. Interesting... A built in mechanism, or like calling to like?
Okay, Mitakihara City has to be in some weird alternate timeline - there's a ferris wheel that looks almost exactly like The London Eye - it's even right by a slow flowing river that looks like the River Thames. Did Japan colonise England or did England colonize Japan?
Witch's kiss - magical marking a witch uses to help ensnare their prey.
We can see how painfully eager Mami is to have friends in how she brings these two who are wholly unprepared into a Witch's Labyrinth. She is so glad to no longer be lonely that she's putting them in such danger.
First witch - butterfly wings and weeping willow hair with roses in it. Insect legs too?
Madoka has a very slow and deliberate way of speaking.
This early on, she's an uncertain girl, not yet sure of what she wants in life.
I was once like you are now, and I know that it's not easy
To be calm when you've found something going on
But take your time, think a lot
Why, think of everything you've got
For you will still be here tomorrow
But your dreams may not
Next witch appears by a hospital. Kyubey takes advantage of the situation. We know it can summon Mami, but instead it splits up Madoka and Sayaka.
Witch's Labyrinth has lots of medical supplies strewn around. Thoughts of Awful Hospital by BogLeech comes to mind.
Now lots of candy and deserts? Was she a diabetic?
Homura makes the mistake of being too confrontational. She really should have offered instead to help.
Candies and sweet things inside medicine bottles. Dear heaven, what happened to you, Charlotte?
Madoka doesn't seem to realize that her true strength is her heart, which is so full of love that she doesn't know what to do with it. The poor thing.
Mami's mask begins to crack and Madoka is there to sooth her. But this is coming at entirely the wrong time - Charlotte is more dangerous than they realize and Mami's sudden swell of confidence does not come with the wisdom needed to back it up.
It's strange how Mami freezes at that one critical moment. Why? Why is it that she can't move when she's been able to do so before, even while pinned down by other witches? Is it because Charlotte gives off a human-vibe and for a split second she saw herself?
Homura has the right of it - this is what it's like to be a Puella Magi - but she's always doing these things in a way that makes things worse.
And there's that hair-toss.
That teacher of theirs has a complex.
Sayaka is now coming to understand how different life looks when you realize that it is so finite. Suddenly everything seems so meaningless.
Kyubey doesn't necessarily hide anything, but it omits exactly why Puella Magi want Grief Seeds.
"Have you seen a lot of people die like yesterday?"
"Yes."
"How many?"
"Too many to try keeping count of any more."
For once, I think Homura says the right thing, even though I feel it might tempt Madoka down that path anyways in a bid to save others. It's heartbreaking to hear, though.
"That is the end that all magical girls meet."
The truth is horrible and heartrending. Homura is right - all these girls become Puella Magi in hopes of making the world a better place, and so many of them leave this world, alone and forgotten with no one to even mourn over them. Madoka realizes all this in an instant. Such a kind and loving girl.
She and Belldandy would get along like two peas in a pod.
"You are too kind for your own good." Oh Homu-chan. This isn't where you push her away!
Sayaka was never into classical before she met Kyosuke? Interesting. Ben might have an even bigger impact on her.
Oh Sayaka. The better answer would have been, "Do you not have two hands? The other one seems to work just fine!"
Another way Homura messes up: she should have given Madoka and Sayaka a way to contact her.
Third witch. Manakin angels and horses, carousels, TVs and 8-bit graphics.
No, Madoka. You were never a coward. Being afraid isn't cowardly.
A girl with long, dark hair and a red ribbon, and an orange dress.
Poor Sayaka. She has no idea. She's once again caught up in the romanticism that screens the true horror of what's become of her.
"Honestly, I really do think I was meant to be a magical girl."
Perhaps you were, Sayaka. But always remember that Big Brother Ben is here to catch you in case you fall.
Hoo boy. Kyoko. Looking to offend from the very get go. Bad girl! No cookie for you!
Fourth witch. School stationary, toy blocks, stickers and crayons... Dear God, how young was this girl? Pigtails in braids with a little crown. Somebody's little princess. Dear God, what happened?
"Kyoko. This isn't the world you once knew. Things work differently here. And there are powers at work that you wouldn't even believe."
"What we've got here is... failure to communicate. Some man, you just can't reach. So you get what we had here last week. Which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it. I don't like it any more than you men."
And here is our Lady of Hair Tossing to save the day again.
She's taking a pretty hard stance towards Madoka this time. Not exactly wise, methinks. And then later she's confronting Kyoko at the arcade...
Kyoko is really living quite lavishly, all things considered. I would be surprised if she WASN'T prostituting herself - especially in an outfit like she has on in the arcade. Her outfit screams 'fresh young teenager for sale'.
Madoka having a heart to heart with her mother over the situation with Sayaka.
"It's sad to say, but just because you keep trying to do what's right doesn't mean you're guaranteed a happy ending."
Harsh truth, that. Mother has that downtrodden look to her - she's BEEN THERE.
Mother advises that it would be good for her to make some mistakes while she's still young so she can learn from them. Perhaps in any other case, but she has no idea what an understatement it is that this won't end pretty.
"Oh, us adults are always in pain.... For adults, it's only as [much] fun as it hurts."
Lady. A mile in another man's shoes. You don't want to wear mine.
Kyoko. Always gotta be sticking your nose in it. Even after Homura told you not to.
"If you use [your wish] for somebody else, it always ends up going bad!"
Uh-huh. You got a funny way of showing empathy there, kid. She really needs to get over her damage. I know I'm one to talk, but I at least talk about it rather than pretend there's nothing wrong with me.
God, Kyoko, stop.
Kyubey again. Little shit stirrer. Trying to get Madoka involved so it can have her as a Puella Magi.
Thank goodness Homura at least showed up to put Kyoko back into her place.
"Your way is too soft!" Uh-huh.
Madoka makes her big mistake...
....Huh. I thought Kyoko knew about this. She is completely blown away.
FACT: 100 meters is the maximum distance a soul gem can get from their body before losing control.
And Kyubey's blue and orange morality shows at last - that it can't understand why people feel this way.
At least Homura is now being civil towards Madoka again as she tries to explain Kyubey's morality to her.
"It doesn't change the fact that it was a miracle." That's a very good way to put a silver lining on it... but it still rings false because it's a silver lining. Silver linings don't make it better.
Homura is giving Madoka a lot of hard truths here. It's brutal... but there's nothing that can be done about it - the facts are the facts.
No Homura. You are all too human.
Kyubey claims that the soul gems are much safer, but it can't be further from the truth. Soul gems are vulnerable, fragile, probably even more so than the human body - the human body can at least take some damage and recover.
Kyoko has this thing about wasting food. She and Ben will agree on this point. Ben has experienced starvation, as has Kyoko when her father had lost everything.
It's remarkable how this revelation about the soul gems has driven Kyoko to mend fences with Sayaka.
Reminder: it was because Kyoko's father discovered the truth about her and her wish that everything went bad for her.
Kyoko has empathy for Sayaka, but she still doesn't understand Sayaka. She doesn't get that Sayaka has and always will fight for what's right and good in this world.
Sayaka asked about how she gets the food, where she gets the money for it... Kyoko can't answer.
Hitomi confesses that she loves Kyosuke to Sayaka... Quite bluntly, too, taking Sayaka off-guard. She at least tells Sayaka that she has first dibs on him, but gives her the ultimatum that she has until after school tomorrow to confess her own love to Kyosuke, or else she will first.
We find out that Sayaka, for a split second, regretted ever saving Hitomi. And now she hates herself for having such a terribly selfish feeling, that she's not worthy of being an ally of justice, and that she could never face Mami again.
She can't confess her love to Kyosuke because she feels that she's no longer human - which is terrible because this couldn't be further from the truth.
"Sayaka, you are human still."
"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT!?"
"Because I see tears in your eyes, and zombies don't cry. They don't feel anything. They never feel their hearts ache or the comfort of someone they love as they're held by them. You are Human, Sayaka."
Fifth Witch - a girl that prays at a cenotaph, her back always to everyone else, and attacks with serpents from the earth and tree branches from her back. A girl that has shut out everyone so she can be alone with her sorrow and suffering.
Sayaka is falling. She has completely lost touch with herself as she begins to discard her humanity.
Madoka and Sayaka. She weeps for her friend because she can't stand to see her like this.
"Benjamin... please don't... I don't want to see you hurt..."
"I'm sorry, Madoka-chan. This is my onus, my cross to bear. Pain and suffering is my world. Every which way I turn, I'm snared by the briars. But don't cry for me, Little Rose. I know it hurts to watch, but I'm stronger than the pain. I bind it to me and turn it into my strength and my rage against this cruel world. My pain fuels my drive to make this world a better place. For you. For me. And for everyone we care about."
Sayaka is continuing down this course of dehumanizing herself. Where does it end? She even goes as far as to accuse Madoka of not being her true friend because Madoka won't make a contract and experience what sayaka experiences.
Kyubey, ever the shit stirrer. It wants fewer Puella Magi and more Witches, so it's goading Kyoko to be there when Sayaka falls and turns into a witch.
Kyubey working on Madoka again. Ironically, it tells her a truth that is helpful for her to hear, that no matter what, Sayaka would likely have made a contract because she had her own wish she wanted to have fulfilled.
And Homura finally lets her self pour out over Madoka.
"Don't treat yourself like you don't matter! Think about all the people who consider you precious! Stop being such a fool! There are so many people who would grieve if you died. Why can't you understand that!? What about the people who are trying so hard to protect you!?"
Oh Homura. Madoka and I are of a type. We feel the pain of those we love as though it were our own pain. The difference between her and I is that I can't handle it. I shut off parts of myself to the world. And I don't know how to open them. But even so, we will always sacrifice ourselves for those we love. It is in our natures. And if we cannot ease the pain of those we love, we always feel that we are the greatest failures in the world.
Madoka has a suddenly flash. Something distant and hazy - that it feels like they met before.
Kyoko finally found Sayaka, but it's too late. And as she's falling, she comes to understand the terrible, horrible truth. For every miracle, there is a curse. And the curse is a dreadful one that eventually destroys you, the one who made the wish for the miracle.
End of Movie One.
One day the light of love shining in your eyes
(will transcend time)
And will certainly shatter a dream of this world
(heading into ruin)
Swallow your hesitation
What is it your desire?
Is there a fragile future
In the direction of your deep desires?
Like the ancient magic
I dreamt about as a child
With the strength to shatter darkness
I want to see you with your smiling face
In these shivering hands of mine
Is the courage of a hand-picked flower
I can only rely on my emotions
Calling forth the light is my wish
You too, for the sake of someone else
(will wish for a strong power)
In a night when love overtakes my heart
(new unknown words are born)
If I can advance without hesitating
Then it's fine if my heart gets broken
I want a spell so I can stand up
to the sadness in front of me
You are still dreaming about your memories
While I have a sleepless future
I'll continue forwards
To seize the miracle of our encounter
In this shivering hand of mine
Is the sword of a hand-picked flower
I live for my emotions
Not turning my back on my heart is my wish
The captured sun rays shined
back then when I loved stories of Wonderland
I believed all those fairy tales that said
Wishes Come True
(Between light and darkness)
Quietly blooming profusely
Is the ancient magic which tenderly whispers to me
"The power to change the world
lies in those hands of yours"
Let's have an eternal dream
In this time we're together
I live for my emotions
Creating life is my wish.
This is literally just my thoughts as the films go on. No timestamps, but everything is in sequence. There's bits where I've transcribed dialogue from the film, and bits where I've jotted down ideas for dialogue with Ben. (Keep in mind, a lot of this might wind up in my literary compost bin.)
Madoka and her mother have a very close relationship to each other. In fact, her entire family seems to be fairly tightly knit together. It's no wonder she's such a good girl - she has a strong sense of family, very much like Nanoha does.
"Boys that can't confess their love in person are no good." Hah. Shows what she knows. Not that I don't consider her husband to be a real man or anything of the sort, but she must have been shopping around in all the wrong places before she met him.
Sayaka and Madoka are freakin' hilarious together. She loves to tease Madoka in all the best ways possible.
.... Okay, their teacher is more than a little high-strung. "Judging a woman by the way she fries her eggs is the gravest of mistakes!" Not wrong, but holy hell... ....And then comes the 180. Wow.
Enter Akemi Homura. Drop-dead gorgeous Hime-sama complete with can't-be-bothered-by-this-shit hair-toss. (Not really, but damn if she didn't walk the walk.... Up! Nope! There is is!)
Poor Madoka. She just can't handle that intensity. At least, not yet.
Investigate: Is it possible for Homura to have been told or somehow shown that Madoka is "Nurse's Aide" class officer during her introduction? It would have set off alarm bells if everyone suddenly realized no one told her that before.
Bingo. Madoka lampshades it.
"Saotome-sensei told me." Sure she did.
You know, it's interesting how painfully awkward Homura seems to be here. Understandable though, considering the situation.
Jeeze, Homu-chan. Way to scare the poor girl. You're going about this entirely the wrong way.
Cut to girls chat. Topic of the Day: Akemi-Hime (duh!)
PFFFT! DAMNIT SAYAKA! Lampshading something like that so blatantly!
Oh GOD if only she knew how close she was to the truth. Past lives indeed!
Madoka definitely loves herself some pop music.
And there's the fucking little shit now. "Help me!" Cry some more, bitch.
Oh, calling her by NAME now!? %^@*$^%$#&!!!
It must be said, these little fuckers definitely know how to work their audience.
Homu, Homu, Homu-chan... You should have told her about Mephistopheles instead. After all these loops, you should know that by now.
Oooh! Witch battle. Symbology time!
Monarch butterflies, cards, the Eiffel Tower, country themes...
Yes, Homura. Now. Because Murphy is a cold-hearted bastard. You seem to have yet learn this fact.
Cotton-puff familiars with mustaches. Cute.
Reminder: See if anyone has the translation of the text when the familiars begin chanting at the girls.
MAMI-CHAN! Sweet, loving, beautiful Mami-chan. You never deserved the cruel fate that was thrust upon you.
OMG... Sudden realization.
HOMURA IS THE SHIELD HERO!!! All magical girls have some kind of 'weapon' they use, whether it comes off as an actual weapon or not. But what does Homura have? A FREAKIN' SHIELD! Albeit a time-manipulating shield, but still a shield!
We really need to get her with Naofumi, just so they can trade notes.
Very interesting. Mami can be very assertive in a very polite manner. She'd make a great diplomat.
And so Kyubey makes its pitch...
Confirmed: Mami is a 3rd year student while Madoka, Sayaka, and Homura are 2nd year students.
Question: what is Ben's firepower REALLY like? How much punishment can he dishout? Would it impress Homura? (Please refer to thread: Playing with Boom-Boom.)
Okay, so they're only told that Soul Gems are their "Source of Power" and "Proof that they are Magical Girls".
"If magical girls can be said to be born from wishes, witches can be said to be born from curses."
Yeesh. He then lies to them about Witches causing despair. In a ways they do, but that's mostly for the Puella Magi. In regular humans, they simply feed on the negativity that is already there.
At the very least there is the implication that their lives are on the line, but the truth is far more insidious. Neither life, nor death is their fate.
It's easy to see that Sayaka is already getting wrapped up in the smoke screen of romanticism.
Sayaka won't be used to the sort of music that Benjamin favors. Yes, he likes classical, but his tastes are so much more. A big break-through point between them would probably be when Benjamin is caught playing his electric guitar in the breezeway. He's sitting on his amp, speaker facing backwards, and just loud enough to take advantage of the acoustics of the confined space, the sound echoing off the walls. Sayaka will have never heard electric guitar like that before and it's going to give her goosebumps hearing it, especially in the wake of losing the boy she liked to her friend.
She'll learn the true face of the rock and roll rebel - a scorned and underappreciated person that people think so lowly of, just because they're different. Both angry and sad at the same time, and making a musical instrument weep bitter tears of sorrowful rage at the unfairness of the world.
Where on earth are they that is that high up and open to the elements, but also enclosed like a cage of brass? Is this part of their school grounds?
"I'm sure it's not all that unusual - wishing for something so strongly you'd gladly trade your life for it..." Don't be so sure of this, Sayaka. Those of my breed are rarities in the world.
Interesting that Madoka has sketches of Mami and Homura... It seems she was attempting to draw inspiration from their Puella Magi outfits for her own.
Aww, poor Madoka-chan. She needs hugs.
So, soul gems can 'sniff out' a witch's magic just like a blood hound with scent. Interesting... A built in mechanism, or like calling to like?
Okay, Mitakihara City has to be in some weird alternate timeline - there's a ferris wheel that looks almost exactly like The London Eye - it's even right by a slow flowing river that looks like the River Thames. Did Japan colonise England or did England colonize Japan?
Witch's kiss - magical marking a witch uses to help ensnare their prey.
We can see how painfully eager Mami is to have friends in how she brings these two who are wholly unprepared into a Witch's Labyrinth. She is so glad to no longer be lonely that she's putting them in such danger.
First witch - butterfly wings and weeping willow hair with roses in it. Insect legs too?
Madoka has a very slow and deliberate way of speaking.
This early on, she's an uncertain girl, not yet sure of what she wants in life.
I was once like you are now, and I know that it's not easy
To be calm when you've found something going on
But take your time, think a lot
Why, think of everything you've got
For you will still be here tomorrow
But your dreams may not
Next witch appears by a hospital. Kyubey takes advantage of the situation. We know it can summon Mami, but instead it splits up Madoka and Sayaka.
Witch's Labyrinth has lots of medical supplies strewn around. Thoughts of Awful Hospital by BogLeech comes to mind.
Now lots of candy and deserts? Was she a diabetic?
Homura makes the mistake of being too confrontational. She really should have offered instead to help.
Candies and sweet things inside medicine bottles. Dear heaven, what happened to you, Charlotte?
Madoka doesn't seem to realize that her true strength is her heart, which is so full of love that she doesn't know what to do with it. The poor thing.
Mami's mask begins to crack and Madoka is there to sooth her. But this is coming at entirely the wrong time - Charlotte is more dangerous than they realize and Mami's sudden swell of confidence does not come with the wisdom needed to back it up.
It's strange how Mami freezes at that one critical moment. Why? Why is it that she can't move when she's been able to do so before, even while pinned down by other witches? Is it because Charlotte gives off a human-vibe and for a split second she saw herself?
Homura has the right of it - this is what it's like to be a Puella Magi - but she's always doing these things in a way that makes things worse.
And there's that hair-toss.
That teacher of theirs has a complex.
Sayaka is now coming to understand how different life looks when you realize that it is so finite. Suddenly everything seems so meaningless.
Kyubey doesn't necessarily hide anything, but it omits exactly why Puella Magi want Grief Seeds.
"Have you seen a lot of people die like yesterday?"
"Yes."
"How many?"
"Too many to try keeping count of any more."
For once, I think Homura says the right thing, even though I feel it might tempt Madoka down that path anyways in a bid to save others. It's heartbreaking to hear, though.
"That is the end that all magical girls meet."
The truth is horrible and heartrending. Homura is right - all these girls become Puella Magi in hopes of making the world a better place, and so many of them leave this world, alone and forgotten with no one to even mourn over them. Madoka realizes all this in an instant. Such a kind and loving girl.
She and Belldandy would get along like two peas in a pod.
"You are too kind for your own good." Oh Homu-chan. This isn't where you push her away!
Sayaka was never into classical before she met Kyosuke? Interesting. Ben might have an even bigger impact on her.
Oh Sayaka. The better answer would have been, "Do you not have two hands? The other one seems to work just fine!"
Another way Homura messes up: she should have given Madoka and Sayaka a way to contact her.
Third witch. Manakin angels and horses, carousels, TVs and 8-bit graphics.
No, Madoka. You were never a coward. Being afraid isn't cowardly.
A girl with long, dark hair and a red ribbon, and an orange dress.
Poor Sayaka. She has no idea. She's once again caught up in the romanticism that screens the true horror of what's become of her.
"Honestly, I really do think I was meant to be a magical girl."
Perhaps you were, Sayaka. But always remember that Big Brother Ben is here to catch you in case you fall.
Hoo boy. Kyoko. Looking to offend from the very get go. Bad girl! No cookie for you!
Fourth witch. School stationary, toy blocks, stickers and crayons... Dear God, how young was this girl? Pigtails in braids with a little crown. Somebody's little princess. Dear God, what happened?
"Kyoko. This isn't the world you once knew. Things work differently here. And there are powers at work that you wouldn't even believe."
"What we've got here is... failure to communicate. Some man, you just can't reach. So you get what we had here last week. Which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it. I don't like it any more than you men."
And here is our Lady of Hair Tossing to save the day again.
She's taking a pretty hard stance towards Madoka this time. Not exactly wise, methinks. And then later she's confronting Kyoko at the arcade...
Kyoko is really living quite lavishly, all things considered. I would be surprised if she WASN'T prostituting herself - especially in an outfit like she has on in the arcade. Her outfit screams 'fresh young teenager for sale'.
Madoka having a heart to heart with her mother over the situation with Sayaka.
"It's sad to say, but just because you keep trying to do what's right doesn't mean you're guaranteed a happy ending."
Harsh truth, that. Mother has that downtrodden look to her - she's BEEN THERE.
Mother advises that it would be good for her to make some mistakes while she's still young so she can learn from them. Perhaps in any other case, but she has no idea what an understatement it is that this won't end pretty.
"Oh, us adults are always in pain.... For adults, it's only as [much] fun as it hurts."
Lady. A mile in another man's shoes. You don't want to wear mine.
Kyoko. Always gotta be sticking your nose in it. Even after Homura told you not to.
"If you use [your wish] for somebody else, it always ends up going bad!"
Uh-huh. You got a funny way of showing empathy there, kid. She really needs to get over her damage. I know I'm one to talk, but I at least talk about it rather than pretend there's nothing wrong with me.
God, Kyoko, stop.
Kyubey again. Little shit stirrer. Trying to get Madoka involved so it can have her as a Puella Magi.
Thank goodness Homura at least showed up to put Kyoko back into her place.
"Your way is too soft!" Uh-huh.
Madoka makes her big mistake...
....Huh. I thought Kyoko knew about this. She is completely blown away.
FACT: 100 meters is the maximum distance a soul gem can get from their body before losing control.
And Kyubey's blue and orange morality shows at last - that it can't understand why people feel this way.
At least Homura is now being civil towards Madoka again as she tries to explain Kyubey's morality to her.
"It doesn't change the fact that it was a miracle." That's a very good way to put a silver lining on it... but it still rings false because it's a silver lining. Silver linings don't make it better.
Homura is giving Madoka a lot of hard truths here. It's brutal... but there's nothing that can be done about it - the facts are the facts.
No Homura. You are all too human.
Kyubey claims that the soul gems are much safer, but it can't be further from the truth. Soul gems are vulnerable, fragile, probably even more so than the human body - the human body can at least take some damage and recover.
Kyoko has this thing about wasting food. She and Ben will agree on this point. Ben has experienced starvation, as has Kyoko when her father had lost everything.
It's remarkable how this revelation about the soul gems has driven Kyoko to mend fences with Sayaka.
Reminder: it was because Kyoko's father discovered the truth about her and her wish that everything went bad for her.
Kyoko has empathy for Sayaka, but she still doesn't understand Sayaka. She doesn't get that Sayaka has and always will fight for what's right and good in this world.
Sayaka asked about how she gets the food, where she gets the money for it... Kyoko can't answer.
Hitomi confesses that she loves Kyosuke to Sayaka... Quite bluntly, too, taking Sayaka off-guard. She at least tells Sayaka that she has first dibs on him, but gives her the ultimatum that she has until after school tomorrow to confess her own love to Kyosuke, or else she will first.
We find out that Sayaka, for a split second, regretted ever saving Hitomi. And now she hates herself for having such a terribly selfish feeling, that she's not worthy of being an ally of justice, and that she could never face Mami again.
She can't confess her love to Kyosuke because she feels that she's no longer human - which is terrible because this couldn't be further from the truth.
"Sayaka, you are human still."
"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT!?"
"Because I see tears in your eyes, and zombies don't cry. They don't feel anything. They never feel their hearts ache or the comfort of someone they love as they're held by them. You are Human, Sayaka."
Fifth Witch - a girl that prays at a cenotaph, her back always to everyone else, and attacks with serpents from the earth and tree branches from her back. A girl that has shut out everyone so she can be alone with her sorrow and suffering.
Sayaka is falling. She has completely lost touch with herself as she begins to discard her humanity.
Madoka and Sayaka. She weeps for her friend because she can't stand to see her like this.
"Benjamin... please don't... I don't want to see you hurt..."
"I'm sorry, Madoka-chan. This is my onus, my cross to bear. Pain and suffering is my world. Every which way I turn, I'm snared by the briars. But don't cry for me, Little Rose. I know it hurts to watch, but I'm stronger than the pain. I bind it to me and turn it into my strength and my rage against this cruel world. My pain fuels my drive to make this world a better place. For you. For me. And for everyone we care about."
Sayaka is continuing down this course of dehumanizing herself. Where does it end? She even goes as far as to accuse Madoka of not being her true friend because Madoka won't make a contract and experience what sayaka experiences.
Kyubey, ever the shit stirrer. It wants fewer Puella Magi and more Witches, so it's goading Kyoko to be there when Sayaka falls and turns into a witch.
Kyubey working on Madoka again. Ironically, it tells her a truth that is helpful for her to hear, that no matter what, Sayaka would likely have made a contract because she had her own wish she wanted to have fulfilled.
And Homura finally lets her self pour out over Madoka.
"Don't treat yourself like you don't matter! Think about all the people who consider you precious! Stop being such a fool! There are so many people who would grieve if you died. Why can't you understand that!? What about the people who are trying so hard to protect you!?"
Oh Homura. Madoka and I are of a type. We feel the pain of those we love as though it were our own pain. The difference between her and I is that I can't handle it. I shut off parts of myself to the world. And I don't know how to open them. But even so, we will always sacrifice ourselves for those we love. It is in our natures. And if we cannot ease the pain of those we love, we always feel that we are the greatest failures in the world.
Madoka has a suddenly flash. Something distant and hazy - that it feels like they met before.
Kyoko finally found Sayaka, but it's too late. And as she's falling, she comes to understand the terrible, horrible truth. For every miracle, there is a curse. And the curse is a dreadful one that eventually destroys you, the one who made the wish for the miracle.
End of Movie One.
One day the light of love shining in your eyes
(will transcend time)
And will certainly shatter a dream of this world
(heading into ruin)
Swallow your hesitation
What is it your desire?
Is there a fragile future
In the direction of your deep desires?
Like the ancient magic
I dreamt about as a child
With the strength to shatter darkness
I want to see you with your smiling face
In these shivering hands of mine
Is the courage of a hand-picked flower
I can only rely on my emotions
Calling forth the light is my wish
You too, for the sake of someone else
(will wish for a strong power)
In a night when love overtakes my heart
(new unknown words are born)
If I can advance without hesitating
Then it's fine if my heart gets broken
I want a spell so I can stand up
to the sadness in front of me
You are still dreaming about your memories
While I have a sleepless future
I'll continue forwards
To seize the miracle of our encounter
In this shivering hand of mine
Is the sword of a hand-picked flower
I live for my emotions
Not turning my back on my heart is my wish
The captured sun rays shined
back then when I loved stories of Wonderland
I believed all those fairy tales that said
Wishes Come True
(Between light and darkness)
Quietly blooming profusely
Is the ancient magic which tenderly whispers to me
"The power to change the world
lies in those hands of yours"
Let's have an eternal dream
In this time we're together
I live for my emotions
Creating life is my wish.