2026 REREAD:
WELCOME TO OCTOBER MAGICA!
The end is nigh.
Of the main series, that is.
'Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Vol. 3' is an imperfectly adapted and retold manga version of episodes 9-12 of the original 'Madoka Magica' anime. There are more details, more character interactions, that are cut out or watered down. Characters who aren't magical girls are underdeveloped. And there are a few new things added, which I won't reveal due to spoilers (like how Homura's hairstyle changes three times...).
Whenever I think of the similarities and differences between the anime and the manga, I turn back to what is said in the Afterword of 'Vol. 3', placed before the twelfth and final chapter, 'My Very Best Friend': 'I'm sure this volume has a lot for you to complain about, but please look at it with a forgiving heart... As always, the story is being told at the same breakneck pace, but because of a decision to increase the page count (thank you, editorial department!), I was finally able to draw the way I wanted to and add things I had imagined from the start.' [...] 'The manga version of Madoka Magica is not really a comic adaptation of the anime, but rather became a derivation of the scripts instead. It would make me happy if the readers who watched the anime also read this and decided this wasn't a bad depiction of the story.' [...] 'Maybe you can think of it as two parallel but different universes.'
Though the Afterword also seems to suggest that, paradoxically, manga Kyubey does have emotions - 'His eye colors change with his sentiments, but when he does have feelings, they don't reflect in his face.'. This it is the exact opposite and antithesis of his character and his entire species, so... what's that about?
But regardless, however it is told, 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' is a great, fantastically written story, with a sad, beautiful, triumphant and satisfactory ending. The fact that it is about magical girls should never, ever negate that. For such a story to exist with female leads at all is a triumph and a miracle all on its own.
It's no 'Sailor Moon', and it was never supposed to be. And even 'Sailor Moon' has its hopeful yet grim and despairing (though not nearly as cynical and depressing) merits, for humanity to take heed of, and take to heart.
Madoka teaming up with Kyouko close to the finale is brilliant, and whether alone or together - as friends forever - both Madoka and Homura are the most magnificent characters - glorious, outstanding - transcending the magical girl genre, and even fiction in general. Always. Forever.
The two girls are iconic. I love them. The same goes for the other magical girls, to a slightly lesser extent, but who are no less worthy of love and respect. Rejoice, and despair for them!
Madoka and Homura are opposites in so many ways, but are the best, yet most tragic, of friends. Beyond space, time, and reality as they know it...
Amazing. Perfection.
It's a shame that, like all popular franchises, 'Madoka Magica' cannot be left well enough alone as its own special, completed story that exists, to be enjoyed for generations; it has to keep continuing, no matter what, even when it doesn't make sense, even when nobody asks for it, in every medium - as a product, as content, in a neverending corporate chugging machine...
Capitalism is the truest curse of all.
So is the patriarchy, which exists in tandem with capitalism.
Love the OG 2011 anime, and really like and appreciate the manga. With its thought-provoking themes, and spectacular, complex, thee-dimensional female characters.
The next 'Madoka' manga I'll be taking another look at is... a different story.
"They're saying that it's a mistake to embrace hope. I want to show them that they're wrong. And I'll repeat it as many times as it takes. I'll keep saying it forever."
"So now I understand everything. Every little bit, even how you gave your all for me, Homura-chan!" [...] "All those times you were driven to tears and all the countless scars... But still you kept fighting, just for my sake... Here I had this extremely precious friend... And I never even realized it. I'm sorry!"
"[...] magical girls are those who have their hopes and dreams come true! So it's possible that a tiny miracle might happen."
"Don't forget. Always, somewhere, someone is fighting for you.
As long as you remember her, you are not alone."
Happy October Magica, everyone.
Final Score: 4/5
Original Review:
And now that the true nature of Magical Girls is revealed, Kyuubey has his nightmare face on every panel he's in.
Great ending to a great series. There were things in this manga that I didn't think about when I watched the anime - it highlighted certain ideas and expressed new themes!
The characters truly shine here and it's amazing to see how far they will go to achieve what they want. The sacrifices made are genuinely tragic; I adore these magical but human girls.
And I've come to accept that not every panel is going to imitate the anime, because the artwork and the emotion put into it is heart-wrenching all on its own.
I also have to talk about a certain trope that relates to 'Madoka Magica' in regards to feminism:
Too often in movies, TV series and books, whenever a woman or a girl-becoming-a-woman is made powerful and is supposedly highly intelligent, it is a mandatory rule that she must go insane. She can't keep so much mental and emotional responsibility under control without a man by her side. I think this stems from a misogynistic world viewpoint that females can't handle adulthood - they must stay innocent and pure and young, so that men can protect them always (after all, to call a grown woman a girl is considered a compliment mostly, whilst calling a man a boy is widely seen as an insult). Also, this implies that men are not allowed to be emotional - or heck, human - in mainstream culture.
Without giving away spoilers, 'Madoka Magica' does present this trope... kind of. But in the case of this franchise it actually makes sense - to the concept and the plot. Besides, as it contains an abundance of three-dimensional female characters who are strong in their own way, a slip-up like this is easily forgivable. To me anyway.
Full of twists and turns and inevitable outcomes, I got teary-eyed all over again. 'Madoka Magica' is brilliantly-written, thought-provoking and beautiful.
A dark and perfect Magical Girl story.
Final Score: 5/5
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