So I finally watched the highly revered third Madoka movie and rather than write a review about it I will instead describe my experience watching the film on a Sunday morning in a dark room.
Here’s my review of the main series:
58th G–View: Puella Magi Madoka Magica
WARNING! This review/experience is chock full of spoilers so if the reader is one of the few Madoka fans out there who has yet to see this movie, stay away from the red text.
Genres: drama, psychological, magic, supernatural
Themes: Magical Girl, Dark, tragedy, yuri
Running time: 119 minutes
G-Rating: N/A
Plot Summary: Madoka Kaname used to be a normal girl living happy days of her life. This all ended when she sacrificed herself in order to save other magical girls from the utterly cruel fate that awaited them. Unable to let her memories of Madoka die, Homura Akemi continues to fight alone in the world that Madoka left behind for humanity in order to see her smile once more.
If the viewer is an avid Madoka and has seen the TV show in its entirety or the two preceding recap movies then picking this one up is a no-brainer. Because it’s a movie, the animation quality is twice as good, the doodles/”witches” are twice as bizarre and epic, the music is both recognizable and superior, the story retains its cryptic, symbolic depth that the show is known and it’s as dark as ever. Whether the story will make sense to the viewer depends on how well they understood what happened.
That’s my mini-review of the movie. Now on to the meat of this post:
The first 30 minutes felt like a tease to the fans of what most initially expected the Madoka show to be like. It was amusing and effective. The henshin and “feeding frenzy” finishing sequences were adorable. Don’t really care to understand why they finished the wraiths off by feeding them. Probably something similar to the recent Godzilla commercial. I don’t think I’m the only fan who got a chuckle from Hitomi turning into a wraith. Silly character.
The movie officially begins at the 31 minute mark when Homura asks Kyouko this question that changed the mood of the movie entirely. Before this I thought the previous two recap movies had made some exclusive changes not present on the TV show. Turns out the storyline, as far as the Madokaverse goes, started making sense.
So the writers started off with a “False Paradise” scenario here and when Homura sort of summarized the important events of the TV show I had a feeling that Bebe here being the culprit would have been too obvious. She wasn’t. Bebe is one weird looking mouse. At least she could still transform into Charlotte.
Mami vs Homura kicked serious ass. I thought Homura sacrificed her eye when she went all kamikaze on Mami. That was some intense stuff right there.
They promoted this brand new character that would debut in the movie and not only is she never addressed as Nagisa but it took around nearly an hour for Bebe to reveal this form. Other than being adorable, I feel Nagisa’s only purpose was to give Mami a girlfriend. Bebe didn’t really do much in this form.
Sayaka also knowing the world wasn’t real was also unsurprising because she chose not to become a part of it…however, there was an excellent payoff to this later on.
The intimate moment between MadoHomu was like a replay of the intimate moments they had on the TV show. In short, it was very touching.
I also sensed familiar subliminal messages about humankind and their inability to accept true peace. I mean, when Homura began remembering stuff, she brought up things that made me think about questions pertaining to why it is incredibly difficult for world peace to exist. Questions like “Can humanity actually achieve world peace?” “If it is achieved, will humanity accept it?” “If the possibility of acquiring world peace can be achieved at the price of living a lie, will you take it?” “If it is revealed that YOU are the source of the lies, what will you do?”
I sense both Paprika and Inception motivated this first twist. So the source of the “False Paradise” and the “Homu-ception” was Homura all along being experimented by the demented furries from planet Saturn, seeking to learn the secret of “god” (Madokami) and how to gain control of her. An alien race that is willing to manipulate existence in the name of research. The Incubators must have secretly been working for the United Nations or the unholy alliance of Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Ung.
The amount of suffering this girls had gone through all this time…my goodness. Would it ever end? This had better not secretly be subliminal messaging stating that “This happened because Homura’s a lesbian”. Yeah…that’s reading too deeply into it and I’m not known for delving deep into anime storylines.
It paid off. KyouSaya 4 Life! You know what’s good about this show? The yuri can be completely overlooked by the naive but the yuri nation can see the truth and be glad they can without suffering any prejudice from the foolish…then again, Madoka is a mainstream sweetheart and they usually get bombarded with crack by the foolish.
And now…
.
.
.
You know, the internet had pretty much spoiled Homucifer’s existence. I couldn’t go into any yuri website without reading about Homucifer or seeing images or gifs of the “anti-goddess”.
So this was “Option C”…uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…”ahem”. Yeah, lesbian gets super powers, has her buttons pushed over and over and over and over and over and over…
You not only a second big bang (the Homupocalypse) but the birth of Darth Yuri, a being far beyond the Dark Side of the Force. Homucifer SPITS IN THE FACE of the Midi-chlorian nonsense. So my best explanation for the birth of the anti-goddess is that Homura had had enough and could not take it anymore. She was going to have Madoka all to herself and was willing sacrifice all existence and alter reality to achieve this goal if need be. Woman’s scorn and all that…Whether viewers empathize with Homura or not was probably debated to kingdom come after the movie came out and some viewers watched the Camrips.
I find it amusing that love, the already established ultimate weapon against evil in the magical girl mythos, was the instigator of the second big bang. Another important life lesson we should all take to heart, love can be both a blessing and a curse.
After finishing the movie I was left with one simple question…is “Homutopia 2” really so bad? The first “Homutopia” wasn’t all bad.
I’d say that after seeing this post-credit image…maybe it’s not so bad. I guess the moral of this story is, “Never piss off a lesbian in love”…or something.
So yeah, the movie was worth the wait…Happy Easter.
The Yuri Empire 
Madoka Magica and its pairings are so mainstream that the series is probably THE largest contribution to public yuri knowledge in recent years.
I’ll leave out the in-depth analysis, but my general interpretation of the ending is quite the opposite. Homura went rogue not in order to have Madoka all to herself, but to let Madoka live a normal, mundane life. There is no evidence of Homura having happy fun times with Madoka, only a rudimentary checkup to see how Madoka was adjusting to the new world she created. Then she finds out that Madoka will ultimately oppose her, and she accepts the fact gracefully. Simplifying Homura into an out-of-control, selfish lesbian doesn’t do justice to her character and the story.
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Point is she loves the pink haired fluffball to death. I dunno, part of me sees her as being possessive and the other part agrees that Madoka’s happiness is equally as important. To put it simply Homura is a human being in love and love can drive some people to unimaginable extremes. Of course there is more to her intentions than what I said. I just gave a simpler conclusion.
Keep in mind I never called Homura insane, just said that she got fed up with waiting and decided to once again take matters into her own hands and created “Homutopia 2” specifically for Madoka.
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However, considering Homura’s own state of mind, I do not know if she will ultimately snap and commit yuri rape on Madoka…
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“Whether viewers empathize with Homura or not was probably debated to kingdom come after the movie came out”
lol, oh man you don’t know the half of it. It’s still going on really xD
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I can imagine. Homucifer’s impact is about as huge as The Undertaker’s Wrestlemania streak being broken.
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Spoilers.
or not.
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I was obviously referring to the anime and wrestling communities respectively. You’d be surprised.
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…Bunnycat is still a dick.
My interpretation, as I understood Homura’s actions, was that her -intent- was to snatch away the mortal bit of Madoka to allow her to simultaneously live life while fulfilling her duty as the Law of Cycle…or as she writes it on her taxes, Madokami. But that scene where her eyes turn gold shows Homura bit off too much and it desires to go back to join her true form, but Homura, just for a bit, wants to fall in love again. Hence her declaration she’s prepared to accept the role of their enemy in the end.
Terrifying the Incubators into bowing to her whims so they stop trying to fuck with Madoka is just a bonus.
The implications (on the universe)…less than stellar. Homura may well have broken Madoka’s universe, by taking her karma up front like this and accepting the price as eternal war with Madoka and her forces…that’s a bit too much like the Incubator contract, not sure if physics has a mulligan or what.
Personally I find it endearing (what? no…no of course this isn’t the half of me that has my fiance call me her goddess). This “perfect” universe with Wraiths was bought with the price of one girl’s soul. And Homura says “that’s not good enough”. Her actions reflect Madoka’s. In Madoka, we generally accept that it’s heroic because the needs of the many, yadda yadda. But does the fact Homura does the same for one person make it any less heroic? Sure, personal reasons. But was Madoka -purely- motivated by altruism? Or was the catalyst seeing her friend *lover) suffering and succumbing to her Curse?
Anyway, I was very happy with the film. It was just as intellectually challenging as the series and while it wasn’t as dark as I’d like (I actually would have been okay with the grand tragedy of killing the Homulily entity), it’s a fitting cap to the series.
Until part four, of course.
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In the end it is an endearing tale of a girl in love with another girl, forced to endure a gauntlet of endless suffering for the sake of her beloved’s happiness…even if it means messing up the status quo of all existence. That’s why Homura is the real main protagonist of the series and it is her legend that will be foretold from generation to generation of yuri nation members past, present and future. Maybe after this movie KyouSaya will get their own chapter.
Like I said, love can be both a blessing and a curse. Anyway great movie.
I don’t like sad endings much, which is why I’m more comfortable with a bittersweet one. The whole “tragedy for the sake of telling a compelling story” argument doesn’t really do it for me.
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So my wife caught the real reason while we were watching it together today. The after image, Kyubey’s eyes are shimmering with Despair energy. She literally turned them into the vessels to house Humanity’s negative emotions instead of the magical girls.
…Too good for him, I say.
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I think Kyubey’s immortal so eternal torture is better than nothing.
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“Questions like “Can humanity actually achieve world peace?” “If it is achieved, will humanity accept it?” “If the possibility of acquiring world peace can be achieved at the price of living a lie, will you take it?” “If it is revealed that YOU are the source of the lies, what will you do?””
I had a thought on a similar question and my conclusion, which I think can apply here too, was as follows: The question as stated is based on an assumption, that the ONLY way to achieve said peace is through that lie. If that’s the case, then of course everything collapses when the lie is removed. If this IS the case, then, does the world truly deserve said peace?
But the real world is made of many interlocking parts. Even if you somehow succeed in destroying one part of it (in a way similar to removing the lie) it will cause trouble, maybe even major suffering. But other people will work to compensate for and eventually replace the lost part.
Peace will come when people make a genuine effort to make it happen, not before. It will not have a single lie that will destroy it. As a result, it WILL last.
So no. I won’t bother lying, I won’t need to.
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That’s a good answer to the questions. I only brought them up because that’s what Homura’s situation got me to asking.
I did say world peace is possible…just very difficult to obtain.
Yeah…lies hurt, no matter how small. I leaned that the hard way.
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I enjoy this movie very much and I understand homura’s pain and achievement at some point.
It kind of surprise me when she told madoka we will be enemy’s one day, but I doubt homura will hurt her. I hope they make a 4th movie it will be like the battle of the goddess or to stop homura from destroying the world
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At this point in the story a duel between Madokami and Homucifer is inevitable should a 4th movie be made.
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When we walked out of the theatre, my wife and I both thought she went crazy possessive…but after a few days to stew over it we both agreed that her decision was more selfless. She knew the incubators would keep on experimenting to get Madoka even if she died and was carried away. She made the tough choice to keep her love safe. At least that’s how we interpreted it.
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That’s a nice way of looking at it. No matter how I or anyone else put it, it is clear that her actions had Madoka’s happiness in mind from the start.
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Epic sequel to an epic series…but it can’t be the end.
I’m a shameless KnM main, that being my first yuri (and first anime to boot, hearing “agony” on some youtube video which piqued my interest, that’s another story), so every yuri is invariably compared to ChiMeko.
But here, it especially hit home. Girl goes crazy possessive…but agree that the decision is more selfless…she knew the incubators would keep on experimenting on Madoka…
“She made the tough choice to keep her love safe.” While the entire world and very possibly her love herself hating her, “Unless you break your ideals, we will ultimately be enemies…but I wish for your happiness,” was it not that exact quote?
This needs a sequel, since ending the season after an Episode 8 virtual goddess rape is unforgivable.
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It’s a dramatic tale that many fans of dramatic love stories can eat up.
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That leaves me to wonder if Homura is gonna end up like Chikane…
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Who knows?
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I don’t care if Homura did that just for have Madoka all for herself or for protect her from the incubators, no matter what her reason was she deceived Madoka, spit at her face, so I just want that in future she begs for Madoka’s forgiveness.
That moment KyoSaya was perfect, more than we have hope for.
Oh but there was something I like about Homura-chan, her definition for love was quite amazing, and with that now only remains Madoka saying the same to her, when she kneels down obviously.
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Homura knew her actions would be seen as wrong by many but she chose to go along with it anyway because it was probably the only way she could think of to both protect Madoka and screw the incubators.
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Despite the fact that the first half hour being very ‘off’, I did find the ‘Cake Song’ sequence to be very disturbing. After that, holy shit that was just amazing. I dare say it surpassed the finale of the TV Series at certain points. Granted, I did like the ending and wonder what will come next what with the arrival of Homucifer-should be interesting.
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I should have mentioned that the first half hour’s TRUE purpose, besides fooling the crowd, was to showcase what the paradise would have continued to be if Homura had not interfered with it by investigating its origin. I didn’t mention that because it was not necessary. It’s more fun seeing it as “trolling the fans”.
The cake song was both awesome and freaky.
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Thank you for the synopsis. As a lover of magical girls, but a loather of Madoka Magica, after watching the TV show I never wanted to spend any time with the series again. Your summary assuaged the small level of curiosity I had about the movie, and now I don’t need to watch the thing.
(Since you’re going to ask: I hate Madoka Magica because of all the horrible things that it does to the magical girls. Worse, it does it with great animation and a good storyline… damn them.)
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Guess you’re not into dark mahou shoujo anime then. Fair enough.
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I used to think the TV series concluded itself quite perfectly, but the continuation after the TV series (aka movie 1 and 2 recaps) story is pretty amazing as well. I’m not sure either if I could empathize with Homura with what she had done by the end, but it does create another plot point for future storylines.
If anything, I rate Madoka Rebellion 10/10 for Kyubey constantly getting pwned, and for all the Kyouko X Sayaka goodness in the film.
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No arguments with anything you mentioned because both paragraphs contain valid reasons why it’s not that simple to say whether Homura’s actions are empathetic or not and Kyubey’s torture along with KyouSaya goodness are major highlights of the movie.
Point is that the movie is great.
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is all Kyubey’s fault. but the joke is on him, he is now Homura’s slave for life.
Love conquers all, even despair!
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lesbian goddesses included.
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For better or worse.
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That it does big man.
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Serves him right for trying to tamper with Madoka’s system.
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True that.
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I must also point out that Kyubey did not follow this quote by Jack from Mass Effect 2:
“Turns out, mess with someone’s head enough, you can turn a scared little kid into an all-powerful bitch”
THAT was Kyubey’s biggest mistake in Rebellion as his meddling into Homura’s buried and lingering emotions on Madoka (especially her dark emotions) had transformed Homura into the Goddess-Bitch of the entire, freaking, universe!
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Well said dood.
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What about the fourth movie? Coming not coming?
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Dunno. It’s hinted that it will.
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The concept movie that was shown in the Madogatari Exhibition in Winter 2015 has raised the possibility of either said movie or a future series being realized
https://wiki.puella-magi.net/Puella_Magi_Madoka_Magica_Concept_Movie
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http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm23405507
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looks like fun, apparently anyone can rewrite the laws of the universe. hmmm, maybe i should try my hands at it next 😛
Joking aside, how appropriate you tagged this movie “tragedy, yuri”. As Homura finally spoke on record, she did everything for love, which makes the yuri canon (from Homura’s side at least). But it’s also very tragic, the message I got at the end was — “love turned Homura evil”. Sad, but certainly not unrealistic, as there are poeple who do bad things in the name of love (or hatred, or god, or any other which excuses…) I agree with most that everything Homura did, right or wrong, were for her love for Madoka.
As I stated before, I’m okay with sad endings, even though I do prefer happy endings. And no, it’s not just because of the whole “tragedy for the sake of telling a compelling story”, though it’s also a valid point. I approach it from a more “holistic” viewpoint, in that I think tragic stories are a necessity not to be hated. If nobody tells sad stories any more (if everyone hates them so much), then what’s the point of rooting for your characters, knowing in advance everything will always turn out positive in the end? Plus, if sometimes you’re saddened over the tragic ending of a good story, then it just makes the times when you finally get a happy ending you really wished for in aother good story that much sweeter, right?
So all in all, I’ve enjoyed this Madoka Rebellion movie. Whether or not more stories/sequels will come out of it would not change my feelings. And it’s also a big win for all the KyouSaya fan as a bonus.
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I’d mostly like to change the world of television and human rights myself if I were given that power.
Homura’s actions were clear far before she said the magic “L” word. That is correct good sir. History, both fictional and real has shown on multiple occasions that love can sometimes drive people to do reprehensible things. I saw a recent example of such in “Law & Order: SVU”
Sad endings are only called for when the mood is set as grim from the start. I guess “a recent show” also gave people that impression, hence the backlash but I still prefer smiles and satisfaction over tears myself. Your point pertaining to the relevance of “bad ends” is a good one though.
KyouSaya LIVES!
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….
I can’t believe I didn’t watch this sooner…
Homura is my newest favourite girl!!!!!!!
❤
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Homura also ship kyosaya
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Looks like it.
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Looking at Homura’s actions, I cannot help but be reminded a lot about Himemiya Chikane’s….questionable actions towards Himeko in Episodes 8-12 of Kannazuki no Miko
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There are some similarities.
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I cannot help but note your reference to Star Wars in that article, especially considering that Gen Urobuchi himself had compared Homura to Anakin Skywalker.
That reminds me of this article: http://hubpages.com/entertainment/The-Positive-Influence-of-the-Star-Wars-Prequels-Madoka-Magica
The ultimate kicker, of course, is that both Homura’s and Anakin’s questionable actions were motivated by their own love for their respective significant others (Madoka for Homura, Padme for Anakin’s case).
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Except Homura’s a better written character.
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It’s also somewhat funny and ironic that my initial reaction to Homura’s controversial actions way back in 2013 goes like this: ‘It can’t be….it can’t be…there’s no way…there’s just no way! Homura is the last person who would do this sort of thing!’
The big kicker is that the above reaction of mine mirror’s Obi-Wan’s initial disbelief and denial on Anakin’s questionable actions in Revenge of the Sith.
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Mine was more like “…huh. Okay…”
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On the official English dub of Rebellion, I have nothing but praise for the whole performance, especially the English rendition of the Cake Song.
The only minor quibble I had for the movie in the English dub was Cristina Vee’s rendition of her Homucifer mode as it was a touch less subtle compared to Chiwa Saito’s Homucifer mode in the final cut (I am thankful that the English dub performance was more subtle compared to Chiwa Saito’s Homucifer for the First Take version).
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The dubs are good.
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It’s a shame that this show never won an Oscar despite being nominated for such an award.
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That’s what ultimately matters.
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