Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica 02

Thank god its Friday and that means its Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica time!!!! ( warning Spoilers ahead)

Kyube's stare burns into your soul

Well to summarise this episode i will have to say that its the typical mahou shoujo episode in which they explain their reason to fight but in typical Urobochi Gen style there is a slight twist.

In this Mahou Shoujo universe, the magical girls are born from wishes to quote Kyube and with further explaination in the episode we find out that each mahou shoujo forms a contract with Kyube and in order to get her wish, she must fight witches. I find this quite interesting as in other mahou shoujo shows the characters mainly fight to save to world or save others, so in Madoka Magica with this condition set in their contract i think it will pose a dilemma to the characters in the later episodes as they ask themselves whether are they fighting for others or just fighting for themselves to get their reward, but this in just speculation as Urobochi Gen is quite unpredictable.

On the other hand, the witches in this universe are born from curses and so to summarise the basis of this show is that there is a big HOPE vs DESPAIR battle going on.  BUT in typical SHAFT style or thier laziness, instead of animating their witch in the normal anime style, they pull a fast one and use their animation skills to turn the witch into some paper/stop motion plant monster.

SHAFT X ufotable?

The witch to me looks like the Shaft version of the fairy monster in Ep 6 of Kara no Kyoukai. To me i feel its quite interesting of them to combine different styles of animation so much into one show but i think some people may be turned off as they do not like the style.

Other than explaining their reasons to fight and the characters contemplating should they become magical girls, this episode has nothing much EXCEPT the fighting scene near the end of the episode in which Mami shows Madoka and Sayaka how she kicks some witch-ass and it is a joy to watch.

Senjougahara but with guns?

Infinite Gun Style?

This pic reminds me of Soul Eater Mifune’s Mugen Ittōryū.

But this last scene just made my day:

PHOTON CANNON!!!

And just to make things words, near the closing minutes of the episode they throw and even bigger twist, revealing that in order for them to sustain and keep their magical powers , they have to defeat witches and use the essences earned from defeating them to recharge their energy. This means that everyone technically has to fend for themselves and only in rare cases can they share the spoils. I feel that this is an interesting turning point as in most mahou shoujo shows the characters do not need to worry about their source of energy or the object that they are fighting for with other mahou shoujo do not affect them on such a basic level.  Therefore, i think that this revelation will prove troublesome for the characters later in the story and i hope it will be for the best.

Overall I feel that this in a great episode with tons of plot revelations and quite a lot of light-hearted moments such as Madoka’s mum’s dark plan if she had magical powers and Hitomi’s little Yuri misunderstanding just to quote a few. The episode is further made enjoyable with Kajura Yuki’s  superb music in the background with a few new tunes to add to the enjoyment. And lastly what i want to say is that Katou Emiri as Kyube is just tooooooo cute!!!

-Arc