Puella Magi Madoka Magika [3]

[BobBQ]

Apparently a modified version of the concept movie is being shown at the Osaka Madogatari. Hints that girls previously rescued by Madokami may return from the Law of the Cycle to join the action.

[esselfortium]

Interesting. I wonder if they plan to show a different version at the Sapporo exhibit, too, or if this was just a late revision.

[BobBQ]

tweet-body

— twitter-user (@username) date

I like the butcher's profile picture.

[BobBQ]

You thought it was wacky KyouSaya hijinks? Too bad, it's a Mami chapter!

[esselfortium]

Yay for updates!

Very dark chapter this time. Zoya is a really interesting character, the poor thing. She lives up to her scary reputation, but her backstory and how it ties into the chapter's events make her easy to sympathize with.

I was initially surprised by the relative normalcy of the labyrinth, though I suppose Rebellion showed that they can behave very differently depending on the mindset of the witch, so it makes enough sense in context here.

[BobBQ]

I would say the barrier's apparent normalcy comes from it being created by a (mostly) sane witch. Bianka also gets a small role in A Witch's Courtship, and she's going to be a lot scarier there.

[esselfortium]

Ah, that's cool! I hadn't seen until now that you had started working on some other Madoka fics.

[Reichu]

I just discovered that Charlotte made a cameo in the Japan-only Monster Hunter Explore mobile game. (Gobul, what have they done to you?!?) Apologies if this was posted already; I only just discovered it.

[Mr. Tines]

Limited edition Puella Magi lingerie sets now on sale.

[Ray]

Limited edition Puella Magi lingerie sets now on sale.

WHAT THE FU-!

They're not even teenagers! Well, cept Mami. And arguably Homura. But that still doesn't make it any less creepy!

[Mr. Tines]

Are you trying to imply that the blue, red and pink should be panties-only, or something?

[Compiling_Autumn]

WHAT THE FU-!

They're not even teenagers! Well, cept Mami. And arguably Homura. But that still doesn't make it any less creepy!

I didn't think any of them (except that one girl in the third movie) were any younger than thirteen. They're all about Asuka's age, except for Mami who is a few years older

[robersora]

^
I mean, I see where you're coming from, but you are aware of the shit ton of questionable merchandise available for Eva?

[GAP]

Yeah......PMMM merchandise is weird lol.

[Bagheera]

WHAT THE FU-!

They're not even teenagers! Well, cept Mami. And arguably Homura. But that still doesn't make it any less creepy!

Ray, every last one of them is older than any of the pilots in Eva. But, more importantly, those sets are marketed toward girls (as in, female fans of the show, not girls looking to excite their boyfriends). If you think they're creepy you're fundamentally missing the point in a big way.

[ElMariachi]

WHAT THE FU-!

They're not even teenagers! Well, cept Mami. And arguably Homura. But that still doesn't make it any less creepy!

Madoka is canonically 14 years old during the series and a second year middle-schooler, so Sayaka, being in the same clase is either 13 or 14. Mami is a third year middle-schooler, so she's 15-16, for Kyouko it's more complicated since she never went to middle-school, but since she was in Madoka and Sayaka's class in Rebellion, she's probably 13-14.
Finally there's Homura, who is probably 13-14 like her classmates, but with the timeloops is mentally in her early twenties.

Aside from that, there's a new image form the concept movie that's floating around the internet:


For those who don't know, that white star-shaped thing is one of the Wraiths' evolved forms, introduced in the Wraith Arc manga. At least that confirms that Wraiths are still around.

[Dima]

Where is this pic from? It seems like it was taken from a direct feed. Did they released the concept movie?

[BobBQ]

Some screencaps from the concept movie were released in press packages. AFAIK the movie itself is only circulating as a camrip.

[Dima]

''sigh''

I wonder if they will ever release this concept movie.

[ElMariachi]

Here's the Tumblr post with the images:
http://hourai.tumblr.com/post/141162012 ... movie-2015

For those who don't know about the different kind of Wraiths, here's the end page of Volume 1 of the Wraith Arc that list them:

SPOILER: Show

Interestingly, their power levels are named after the different Buddhist levels of enlightenment, that's why the more evolved they are and the less humanoid and more "abstract" they look.

And the story of the manga expends further on their powers: we though from the TV Series that they were just a bunch of cyber-old men with lasers, but they actually have some seriously vicious powers up their sleeves.




Also I just wanted to come back to this:

I really disliked what the movie did with the Kyubey...

In the series, the Incubators came off as beings with a refreshingly alien outlook, thinking on a universal time scale and truly interested in the big picture. They're not actually evil and are, in fact, beneficent, working toward a universe-spanning greater good. Our species, in comparison, exists on a microcosmic and ephemeral level, and we're unable to truly grasp anything that transcends that. The main characters, being human, are accordingly interested in nothing that exceeds their concept of human existence and purpose. self-interested, and with their limited human perspective understandably view the Incubators as hostile and morally bankrupt. The show smartly compares what Kyubey is doing to humanity's exploitation of other organisms for their own benefit. Intriguingly, the Incubators have the high ground on us, acting not merely in their own species' self-interest but in the interest of all sapient life, present and future.

Arguably the film doesn't render the Incubators' prior characterization null and void, and merely elaborates upon their methods, giving insight into the sort of scientific exploration that's been necessary to gain insight into the problem of fighting entropy. Maybe there's something I missed, though, and they were concretely transformed into the straight-up villains fans have been clamoring for. Whatever exactly Homura did to them with her asspull devil powers -- I wasn't terribly clear on the gobbledygook there, nor what the intended takeaway of that bizarre stinger was -- much of the fan reaction seems to treat this development as fannish wish fulfillment. If that's how it was intended by Urobuchi et al., it's a rather spiteful move and shows very little regard for the material. The lack of conventional (i.e., human) morality makes PMMM's antagonist(s) interesting and different, and far more than conniving, loathsome furballs.

The Incubators were already smug scumbags back in the TV series, remember episode 10 when Madoka's Witch appeared: "Wow, as expected she became the most powerful Witch Earth has ever seen, I did a great job contracting her! btw it'll destroy your world in around 10 days, but that's not our problem since we reached our energy quota, thxbye!"
That scene definitively showed that their claims of dealing with earthling as equal is completely bogus and that they see no problem to bring our extermination (Kyubey knew that something like that would happen if Madoka contracts) if it can make them reach their energy quota faster, and don't bother to hide their disdain once they have what they wanted (or think they obtained it) so their actions in Rebellion aren't out of character, but this time they bit far bigger than they can chew, and it backfired on them with a vengeance.