Nagisa Madoka Magica - Tumblr Posts
Nagisa living long enough to form bonds with other magical girls presents two wildly different AUs:
1. She meets Mami and the two help eachother through their mutual issues (fluff-fix-it-fic style)
2. She's mentored by Yuu and becomes an assassin who gets you with the bubble blower and puts a slice of cheese on your corpse (fix-it-fic but alot less fluff)
Unlike other magical girls, Nagisa's magical girl outfit is super casual and cute (to the point it's hardly even a magical girl costume). It feels like such a perfect representation of her; like she's wearing fun clothes she normally can't.
Somehow my blog has become Nagisa themed despite Nagisa not being my favourite character.
My favourite part of Nagisa's sidestory is when Nagisa, Yuu, and Inui had a lovely tea party with Nagisa's homemade cheesecake and emotional support for Inui to break up with her shitty boyfriend and emotional support for Nagisa dealing with her shitty mom's death and nothing bad happened!
+ﾟ*｡Nagisa Momoe Headcanons｡*ﾟ+
+ Her favorite kind of cheesecake is orignal/plain (she likes the more interesting varieties too, but the original can't be beat)
+ She is currently going through/will soon go through a vicious Edgar Allan Poe + Shakespeare goth phase
+ Her favorite school subject is language arts
+ She HATES romance-focused media, and always gets disinterested when her friends start talking about crushes
+ She's befriended the workers at her local bakery, and occasionally goes there just to hang out
+ She's very responsible and hates burdening others; relatives and family friends compliment her for being "mature" and keeping up with chores, but she'd prefer to act goofy and do kid stuff
+ She gets very engaged in her favorite media: audibly and physically reacting and engaging with content (ex: yelling at a character in a show or book)
+ She occasionally shoplifts small things that look nice (and hasn't been caught)
+ Her favorite summer activity is blowing bubbles
+ She's slightly a "teacher's pet" in the sense she's a very good student (behavior-wise), and often has to tell her teachers about her home situation (thus creating a close bond with her teachers)
+ She's made several OCs and fanart for her favorite media, and WILL rant for hours if given the chance
+ Her favorite genres of music are pop and metal (pop to relax to, metal when she's upset and/or because she likes the feeling of bone-shaking music)
Ok so I know that the other Holy Quintet girls have much more obvious/drastic changes to their costumes but THIS
IS SO CUTE AND WONDERFUL FOR HER!!!
*looks at your account*
“Going Through A Madoka Magica Phase, Again”
I mean, I can see why it’d catch up to your brain again, it’s a wonderful show–
(ALSO NAGISA IS AMAZING)
I managed to ever so slightly become not as obsessed with Madoka Magica for a brief time before accidentally nosediving into allowing PMMM to consume my life for a second time. It's too good of a show: they need to put some safety labels on it.
Also I love Nagisa she is the most wonderful cheese goblin, she does nothing and yet makes two of the most emotionally impactful moments in the franchise and-
Nagisa has such a complex and emotional backstory (the one presented within Magia Record) and while I love the memes, I'd also love to see her analyzed the same way as the Holy Quintet girls more.
When it comes to Nagisa's relationship with her mother, it is clearly emotionally and verbally abusive in a very realistic way. Nagisa loves her mom. Her mom is still her mom despite everything, and Nagisa wants to love and forgive her. Nagisa also hates her mom; The mom who yells at her, is implied to hit her, and tells her she's wasting money and time. Nagisa tries her best to support and care for her mom despite everything; she acts like a hit dog still coming back to the hitter because it's all she has.
Speaking of dogs, I want to draw parallels between Nagisa and Inui. Kyuubey specifically mentions that another girl in similar circumstances* (*to Nagisa) wished to have the attention of the boy she liked; cut to Inui, who talks to Kyuubey about her worries with the Sleepwalking Ghost and her boyfriend. From this we can guess that Inui is impoverished, has a difficult relationship with her mom, and has the same goal as Nagisa; to be loved in a conditionless way by someone who endlessly hurts them.
Inui is a perfect parallel for Nagisa; Nagisa has become disillusioned with the concept of "love" to the point of viewing all fairytales and stories in a gloomy light; Nagisa has not been loved in the way a child needs to be loved, and so cannot fathom the type of carefree love shown in fairytales. Inui on the other hand is so desperate for the attention and love she hasn't gotten she's gotten into a relationship with (presumably) the first douchebag who showed any kind of interest in her; she craves a fairytale romance and to be swept off her feet by a prince and so in her mind Sho can't be anything but that prince. Both of them cling to their delusions and coping mechanisms while further being hurt by people supposed to love and protect them.
Nagisa resents her mother despite craving her affection; she considers using her wish to make her mom regret being unkind to her (a vengeful fantasy of an abused child [she hopes for an apology and for things to become perfect]) before finally settling on making her mom unknowningly seal her own doom (ie, the cheesecake).
Nagisa's cheesecake is an incredibly important object for both literal and symbolic purposes. She wished for it instead of saving her mother's life; It represents her final revenge against a woman who never treated her kindly. It also represents the unobtainable love Nagisa searches for even as Charlotte; "unable to make the cheese she loves" aka "unable to obtain love". There is a more uplifting (albeit dark) symbolism here too; that being Charlotte's unfortunate decapitation of Mami. Mami, who in Rebellion is Bebe's caretaker and mother figure, is eaten by Charlotte: Mami is the "cheese" Charlotte loves and has finally found.
Nagisa is abandoned by everyone: the only one who hasn't abandoned her is her mother, who is convinced Nagisa will abandon her. They have a vicious cycle of mistrust and dependence. Right before she becomes a witch, Yuu promises "I'll never leave your side"; after taking the only person who never abandoned Nagisa, Yuu promises "I'll never leave your side". Those were some of the last words Nagisa heard: the crippling loneliness, guilt, and betrayal that sunk in is what caused the birth of Charlotte. What makes it worse is those are words Nagisa was likely told by her parents at some point: afterall, parents will say anything to comfort their child, especially before something like hospitalization or leaving the family entirely.
Nagisa is 12 at her oldest possible age and 8 at her youngest possible age. She is a tragic figure on the same level as Sayaka, Kyoko, and Mami. The only true closure we have for her at the moment is her relationship with Mami (and the other Holy Quintet members) in Rebellion.
Some of my favorite Nagisa images and gifs:
OH THAT IS SUCH A GOOD ANALYSIS!!!
It's always been "Mami is the loving mother figure Nagisa/Bebe needs" however when you describe it this way, it adds another layer of complexity to Mami and Nagisa's dynamic.
They worked backwards from Charlotte to Bebe to Nagisa; so they probably kept Mami and Charlotte's fight in mind when coming up with Nagisa's story.
Nagisa has such a complex and emotional backstory (the one presented within Magia Record) and while I love the memes, I'd also love to see her analyzed the same way as the Holy Quintet girls more.
When it comes to Nagisa's relationship with her mother, it is clearly emotionally and verbally abusive in a very realistic way. Nagisa loves her mom. Her mom is still her mom despite everything, and Nagisa wants to love and forgive her. Nagisa also hates her mom; The mom who yells at her, is implied to hit her, and tells her she's wasting money and time. Nagisa tries her best to support and care for her mom despite everything; she acts like a hit dog still coming back to the hitter because it's all she has.
Speaking of dogs, I want to draw parallels between Nagisa and Inui. Kyuubey specifically mentions that another girl in similar circumstances* (*to Nagisa) wished to have the attention of the boy she liked; cut to Inui, who talks to Kyuubey about her worries with the Sleepwalking Ghost and her boyfriend. From this we can guess that Inui is impoverished, has a difficult relationship with her mom, and has the same goal as Nagisa; to be loved in a conditionless way by someone who endlessly hurts them.
Inui is a perfect parallel for Nagisa; Nagisa has become disillusioned with the concept of "love" to the point of viewing all fairytales and stories in a gloomy light; Nagisa has not been loved in the way a child needs to be loved, and so cannot fathom the type of carefree love shown in fairytales. Inui on the other hand is so desperate for the attention and love she hasn't gotten she's gotten into a relationship with (presumably) the first douchebag who showed any kind of interest in her; she craves a fairytale romance and to be swept off her feet by a prince and so in her mind Sho can't be anything but that prince. Both of them cling to their delusions and coping mechanisms while further being hurt by people supposed to love and protect them.
Nagisa resents her mother despite craving her affection; she considers using her wish to make her mom regret being unkind to her (a vengeful fantasy of an abused child [she hopes for an apology and for things to become perfect]) before finally settling on making her mom unknowningly seal her own doom (ie, the cheesecake).
Nagisa's cheesecake is an incredibly important object for both literal and symbolic purposes. She wished for it instead of saving her mother's life; It represents her final revenge against a woman who never treated her kindly. It also represents the unobtainable love Nagisa searches for even as Charlotte; "unable to make the cheese she loves" aka "unable to obtain love". There is a more uplifting (albeit dark) symbolism here too; that being Charlotte's unfortunate decapitation of Mami. Mami, who in Rebellion is Bebe's caretaker and mother figure, is eaten by Charlotte: Mami is the "cheese" Charlotte loves and has finally found.
Nagisa is abandoned by everyone: the only one who hasn't abandoned her is her mother, who is convinced Nagisa will abandon her. They have a vicious cycle of mistrust and dependence. Right before she becomes a witch, Yuu promises "I'll never leave your side"; after taking the only person who never abandoned Nagisa, Yuu promises "I'll never leave your side". Those were some of the last words Nagisa heard: the crippling loneliness, guilt, and betrayal that sunk in is what caused the birth of Charlotte. What makes it worse is those are words Nagisa was likely told by her parents at some point: afterall, parents will say anything to comfort their child, especially before something like hospitalization or leaving the family entirely.
Nagisa is 12 at her oldest possible age and 8 at her youngest possible age. She is a tragic figure on the same level as Sayaka, Kyoko, and Mami. The only true closure we have for her at the moment is her relationship with Mami (and the other Holy Quintet members) in Rebellion.