Something I Find Really Neat And Subtle Amoung Madoka Magica's (many) Foreshadowing And Narrative Contrast-y

Something I find really neat and subtle amoung Madoka Magica's (many) foreshadowing and narrative contrast-y moments is Mami's fight against Gertrud.

Gertrud has a strong flower and butterfly motif, and Mami's soul gem is shaped like a flower (and maybe a stretch but in one of Mami's transformations she does an action that resembles a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis).

I think there's some parallels between the two that make Gertrud a surprisingly clever and well designed first enemy. (But perhaps I'm stuck in Mami fan mode, and just see Mami in everything)

In a sense, Homura is the "audience" that dictates who gets the spotlight while the incubators are the "directors" who decide what that spotlight entails.

Madoka is the center of Homura's everything (time travel, attention, affection, ect) and therefore she becomes the center of the universe too.

Madoka being the protagonist of the story just further cements that Homura's timeloop could never have worked. No matter what, Madoka would always be in the spotlight, she could never be just a normal person, not after this.

OH MY GOD THE PARALLELS!!!

Thank you so much for adding onto my Mami-Gertrud stuff and adding in the Sayaka-Elsa Maria stuff!

Elsa Maria's probably my favourite witch, so I feel like a fool for not recognising the parallels between her and Sayaka earlier!

I always thought there were probably some similarities between Sayaka and Elsa Maria: but you explained the "self-proclaimed hand of righteousness" very well!

Something I find really neat and subtle amoung Madoka Magica's (many) foreshadowing and narrative contrast-y moments is Mami's fight against Gertrud.

Gertrud has a strong flower and butterfly motif, and Mami's soul gem is shaped like a flower (and maybe a stretch but in one of Mami's transformations she does an action that resembles a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis).

I think there's some parallels between the two that make Gertrud a surprisingly clever and well designed first enemy. (But perhaps I'm stuck in Mami fan mode, and just see Mami in everything)

This is such a cool analysis and interpretation of Kyoko's character! I never thought about the Little Match Girl when it came to potential inspirations for Ophelia (too hung up over the Hamlet reference) but it makes alot of sense and is generally quite cool!

Dya ever wonder why Ophelia is a candle? Too fuckin bad, I’m about to tell you: it’s cause I think Kyoko is partially inspired by the little match girl.

Now I hear you dear reader, “what the fuck is the little match girl” and firstly I must say you are privileged to not have had your heart gutted from you watching the short film, however I am happy to summarize.

An impoverished little girl is huddled in an alley in the dead of winter with nothing but a box of matches she has failed to sell. She doesn’t go home, though wether she is orphaned or her father will beat her for failing to sell her matches varies based off the iteration. Never the less, cold and starving, she lights one of her matches and sees a beautiful feast and is warmed by the flame. Though swiftly the wind blows it out. So this continues, as one by one, she lights a match, sees a comforting vision, and the match is snuffed away. She then dies in the alley way.

Does that not sound like the story of Kyoko Sakura? An impoverished girl goes out to help her father, though what she does fails at pleasing him and thus can’t return to him lest she be harmed. So instead she indulges in fantasy after fantasy: living as a hero, living for her and her alone, and saving Sayaka Miki. One by one the flames are snuffed until she is left with nothing but the hope of a pleasant dream as she dies.

Also in terms of her powers, it’s notable that she had the abilities to create illusions, much like what the girl saw in the flames.

Doing a little more examination of Ophelia’s design, it’s noteworthy that she rides on a horse, as horse meat in Japanese is “Sakura.” Her riding on it could imply that she sees either her past life or her family as just a vessel that got her where she is, or perhaps that she thought she was destined to fail; just a lamb to the slaughter.

God for being my least favorite of the holy quintet, Kyoko is so fucking cool. Maybe meguca is just good actually and none of its characters are ba- oh right Kyubey, fuck Kyubey.

One thing that I don't see talked about as much is Mami's dependant-related personality. Of course there's the stuff with her wanting Madoka to become a magical girl and join her (which is the obvious one), but there's also her relationship with Bebe in Rebellion and her witch Candeloro.

Mami feels a NEED to be the "responsible" and "dependable" type, highlighted by how she takes care of Bebe like she's her mother (all the pictures she has with Bebe really look like family photos to me). This is juxstaposed by her witch form Candeloro, who is tiny and carried around by familiars that look like the rest of the holy quintet.

Mami really wants to be "carried", to be weak, to depend on others, and to be selfish. She's isn't bad for this; her circumstances are tragic, and she didn't even really get to choose her wish. Because she's older and has more experience than the other girls, she feels like she HAS to be the rock of the team.

Most of all, she simply doesn't want to be alone. She's lost so many people she's loved, and the chance of having other people around again for once gives her so much joy she can't help but try to push Madoka and Sayaka into becoming magical girls. And unfortunately, that was her doom in the main-series timeline. I find it bittersweet that she died at her most happy; on one hand she felt hopeful and unalone, but on the other hand she never got to see and fight alongside Madoka and Sayaka.

The apple scene between Kyoko and Sayaka feels both like "a proper introduction between enemies who no longer wish to fight" and "a final invitation to connect with someone and pull yourself back from the edge".

Sayaka tossing aside Kyoko's gifted apple feels like her making a conscious choice to fully go crazy and a denial of Kyoko's attempt to reach out to her.

Additionally, Kyoko giving away to Sayaka something that holds significance for her (food, which she considers incredibly precious) without any expectation of something in return aside from "connection" is an interesting moment for a character previously depicted as "selfish" and constantly against Sayaka.

Kyoko sharing her story TO Sayaka is a moment of vulnerability, later matched by her sharing her story WITH Sayaka by sacrificing herself when she likely could've defeated Oktavia without dying in a effort to ensure Sayaka wouldn't be alone anymore.