Tag: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

New ‘Madoka Magica’ Movie Announced

 

There is a new trailer now available for a second sequel to Puella Magi Madoka Magica, the magical-girl title from Studio Shaft that reshaped the magical-girl genre.

This new movie is entitled, deep breath, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica Movie: Walpurgis no Kaiten. I assume an official English-language release, when and if it happens, will bring the title back into line with the other English-language titles (i.e., have “Puella Magi” instead of “Mahou Shoujo”).

No release date appears to be available as of this writing.

This is the fourth movie. The first two were a reshaping of the twelve-episode television series, and the third, Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion was a sequel, which famously reversed the first’s already controversial themes. The creators indicated at the time that they did not consider the story complete yet, so it is possible that this fourth film, which has been a long time in coming, will be the finale to the Madoka saga.

I have to admit I have never seen Rebellion. Not only is it harder to find in the U.S. than the original series is, but I have never bothered to look for it for the same reason I’ve never been able to bring myself to watch The Godfather: Part II. The original is such a masterpiece, and so complete in itself, that I feel no need to see it continue. The fate of Madoka at the end of the original show is about as final as a character’s fate can get, so I sincerely doubt there is any way to continue her story that will not feel contrived to me.

Also, I must admit that I am ambivalent about Madoka: It is unquestionably one of the greatest magical-girl stories of all time, but what it has done to the genre has not been good: It was followed by too many imitators eager to copy its angst or its violence without understanding the purpose of either. I once naïvely hoped that Yuki Yuna Is a Hero, which openly challenged Madoka’s themes, might close out the “Madoka era,” but that was not to be.

Perhaps the true answer to Madoka has not yet been made. Princess Tutu, which was created as an answer to Revolutionary Girl Utena, successfully refuted Utena’s ideas in part because it was Utena’s artistic equal. You can set those two shows side by side and note that both, though flawed, are excellent works that stand shoulder to shoulder. However, the series that can both answer Madoka and stand beside it unembarrassed has not yet been made.

An Account of a Visit from a Magical Girl

Featured image: “Mahou Shoujo Madoka☆Magica Magical Girl Madoka Magica #900086” by SubaruSumeragi.

I think it’s time to bring back this classic. Merry magical-girl Christmas to all!

’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the town,
Lots of girls were a-stirring, to beat monsters down.
So they stalked all the baddies that threatened mankind,
For to blast them with magic and kick their behinds.

They crouched in the dark by the chimneys with care,
Or slipped across rooftops—villains beware!
One might wear a kerchief, and one has a cap,
But they all got short skirts, what you think about that?

Then at City Hall, there arose such a clatter,
That Plum Fairy Lyssa soon checked out the matter.
A monster showed up with a roar and a flash,
So Lyssa transformed and got ready to bash!

When what to her wondering eyes should appear,
But a slavering, fanged, and bloodthirsty deer?
’Twas Rudolph! Whose terrible, powerful nose,
Had at last warped his mind with its horrid bright glow!

Our Lyssa, however, so eager to brawl,
Quick leapt like a gymnast atop of a wall.
“Stop there, evil monster!” she said with a scoff,
“You’ve attacked us on Christmas, and that ticks me off!”

The Moon Princess blest her with power and might,
That she might be quick to kick butt in a fight,
To halt evil crooks in the midst of a crime,
Or to battle vile creatures beyond space and time!

Now punch him, now bludgeon! Now blast him with pow’r!
And yet his eyes glowed with a menacing glow’r!
Now kick him, now stab him, now strangle and blitz ’im!
That deer is no match for this young doe-eyed vixen!

At last Rudolph gasped and lay dead at her feet,
As his bright ruby blood ran out into the street.
“I’ve vanquished the creature,” the Plum Fairy mused,
“But why then do I feel as if I still should lose?”

In leapt Marionette, the famed robot girl,
With her magical pencil, which she gave a twirl.
“Young Lyssa, my dear, you have fought well and brave,
But killed poor Rudolph, whom you know you should save.”

“Well, no one has once taught me any of that,”
Said Lyssa, perplexed. (On the ground she now spat.)
“To fight off the monsters that threaten our world,
Is the constant hard job of a magical girl!”

“We fight for mankind, that is certainly true,”
Said Marionette, whose cold fingers turned blue.
“But always remember that we serve the Light—
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a clean fight!”

Nyanzi on Dark Magical Girls

The other day, I posted a link to Christopher Kinsey’s discussion of how the magical girl genre has grown darker and more adult in recent years. Shortly thereafter, senpai noticed; that is, Rawlye Nyanzi took up the subject and gave his own speculation.

He looks at the subject from a different angle and makes an interesting observation: Japan is facing a devastating population winter. That is, the Japanese are not reproducing at replacement rate. And that means that the traditional target audience of magical girl anime is not getting replenished.

Nyanzi writes,

Remember that child-focused anime aren’t only trying to sell themselves, but associated merchandise as well. Before, they could aim at parents. Now, since there are way fewer parents and way more childless adults (who have way more disposable income), magical girl anime no longer have to be child-friendly. There’s no money in the children’s market anymore because there are too few children.

He also points out that there were grimmer magical girls even before the most recent spate. He gives My-HiME as an example, but we could easily refer to others—and even some of the great classics have their dark elements. Let’s not forget that Sailor Moon was forced to watch all her friends die and that the girls of Magic Knight Rayearth were tricked into committing a cosmic mercy-killing.

Continue reading “Nyanzi on Dark Magical Girls”

#memes

Rachael Lefler Asks, ‘Have We Seen the End of the Magical Girl Genre?’

In light of Magical Girl Site, which I will be discussing at greater length in the near future, I recommend a reading of this essay, “Have We Seen the End of the Magical Girl Genre?” written by Rachael Lefler and posted at Reel Rundown. She discusses the increasingly grim tone of magical girl anime in the aftermath of Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

I think this is a thoughtful essay worth reading, but I disagree with her premise. She thinks the disappearance of lighter and happier themes in anime (which have not actually disappeared, incidentally) is due to politics: that is, the world has grown grimmer, and therefore our entertainment has grown grimmer, magical girl anime included.

I disagree with this for a few reasons. First. the world is not actually a more terrible place than in the past. That kind of myopia is common to every age, but it is false in every age. Bad stuff has always happened, and many more catastrophic things have happened in the past than have happened in our lifetimes. To support the view that this is myopic, I note that Lefler’s evidence that the world has gotten worse is very much centered on America, which is not the source of the anime she is discussing. (She does, however, note Japan’s concern over a declining birthrate—and this has become a discernible theme in anime lately.)

Second, the hypothesis she rejects almost out of hand, that grimdark magical girl anime is largely due to the influence of Madoka, would be in keeping with other patterns of influence both in this genre and elsewhere. The magical girl genre previously fell into the pattern of Sailor Moon because of its influence, so we should not be surprised that it has now fallen into the pattern of Madoka—though often with Madoka’s atmosphere and without the elements that actually make Madoka work. In a similar fashion, American comics fell into the pattern of Watchmen.

Third, lighthearted anime most certainly still exists. Moe and “healing” anime are definitely still things. In fact, we could probably make a stronger case that plotless, saccharine, slice-of-life CGDCT is eating the medium alive, than that grimdarkness is.

Fourth, this is not an unusual pattern for a genre. The move from clunky but sincere to more expertly crafted but sincere to snarky and insincere seems to be the typical process of growth, flourishing, and decay.

I don’t think it’s due to a change in the world at large, but an evolution in the genre itself, that we see all these deliberately miserable magical girl titles. The question on my mind is whether this genre is vigorous enough to survive the current trend. It survived Revolutionary Girl Utena, just as the mecha genre survived Neon Genesis Evangelion. It remains to be seen if magical girls are tough enough to survive Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

It’s time for magical girls to rise up

I feel a strange urge to create magical girl gang weed memes

The Madoka

Initially sweet, it soon turns sharp and bitter

Pour Cannon Blast into a shot glass. Carefully pour Irish creme down the side of the glass until it forms a white “head” on top of the dark liquor.

Initially sweet and creamy, followed by a strong citrus taste and a sharp burn of ginger in the throat. Pairs well with heavily implied homoeroticism. Drink until you suffer.

#Memes!

#Memes!