Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a 2011 anime series created by Shaft and distributed by Aniplex. It follows the story of Madoka Kaname who is offered the chance to have any wish granted on the condition that she become a magical girl and fight against evil witches.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica began development after Akiyuki Shinbo expressed his desire to work on a new magical girl series to producer Atsuhiro Iwakami while they were working on Hidamari Sketch and Bakemonogatari.[1] During early planning stage, Iwakami decided to not adapt an existing work in order to give Shinbo more freedom in his direction style.[1] He then contacted Gen Urobuchi to work on the project as a scriptwriter and Ume Aoki as a character designer.[1] The series was announced in a commercial slot during the anime series Togainu no Chi.[2] Since then, more commercials have been shown in the same slot revealing the characters and cast.[1]
The first ten episodes aired on MBS, TBS and CBC between January 7, 2011 and March 11, 2011.[3] Episodes were then made available for streaming on Nico Nico Douga and BIGLOBE's Anime One service a week after broadcast. Due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the broadcast of episodes 11 and 12 were delayed and were later aired as a double bill on April 21, 2011.[4][5][6] The series will be released on Bluray Disc and DVD between April 27, 2011 and September 21, 2011, having been delayed from the original release date of March 30, 2011 due to the quake, each volume containing a bonus CD.[7][5][8]
Music for the series is composed by Kajiura Yuki. The opening theme is "Connect" (コネクト Konekuto) by ClariS while the ending theme is "Magia" by Kalafina, both of which were released on February 16, 2011.[9] On the DVD/BluRay release, the ending theme for episodes one and two is "See you Tomorrow" (また あした Mata Ashita) by Aoi Yūki, whilst the ending theme for episode nine is "And I'm Home" by Eri Kitamura and Ai Nonaka. Drama CDs are included with the first, third and fifth DVD/BluRay volumes.
Contents |
| No. | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | "We Sort of Met in a Dream..." "Yume no Naka de Atta, Yō na..." (夢の中で会った、ような…) |
January 7, 2011 |
| After having a strange dream, Madoka Kaname is surprised to find the girl from her dream, Homura Akemi, enroll into her school the next day. Seemingly knowing her already, Homura warns Madoka to stay the way she is, lest she risk losing everything. Later that day, when Madoka goes shopping with her friend, Sayaka Miki, Madoka hears a strange voice, leading her to a backroom area. There, she encounters a strange creature named Kyubey being attacked by Homura, who is revealed to be a magical girl. As Homura demands Madoka stay away from Kyubey, Sayaka arrives and escapes with Madoka, only for them to be caught in a mystical barrier and approached by strange monsters. They are rescued by another magical girl named Mami Tomoe, who dispels the attackers using her magic abilities. After Homura is forced to retreat, Kyubey explains that he wishes to form a contract with Madoka and Sayaka to make them magical girls. | ||
| 02 | "That Sounds Wonderful" "Sore wa Tottemo Ureshii natte" (それはとっても嬉しいなって) |
January 14, 2011[10] |
| Mami and Kyubey explain to Madoka and Sayaka that Kyubey has the power to grant wishes, but in exchange, those who make wishes must become magical girls to fight witches, who are born from curses. Mami offers to take Madoka and Sayaka with her on a witch hunt to help each decide if there were a wish she'd risk her life for. The next day, Kyubey, who cannot be seen by normal people, accompanies Madoka and Sayaka to school, where they learn to communicate with each other telepathically. Homura visits Madoka once again to repeat her warning, and refuses to answer when Madoka asks what her wish was. After school, Madoka, Sayaka and Mami follow the aura of the witch from the previous day to an abandoned building, where they manage to save a woman controlled by a witch from committing suicide. They then enter a portal inside the building where Mami finds and defeats the witch responsible, earning a Grief Seed which can be used to recover magical power. | ||
| 03 | "I'm Not Afraid of Anything Anymore" "Mō Nani mo Kowakunai" (もう何も怖くない) |
January 21, 2011[10] |
| Sayaka visits an injured boy named Kyōsuke Kamijō, who was a violin player she admired when she was little. After defeating a witch's familiar, Mami tells Madoka and Sayaka that she had been involved in a traffic accident and didn't have time to think about her wish. She also lets Sayaka know about the precedents for wishing on other people's behalf. Later that night, as Madoka helps her drunk mother and talks with her father, Mami is approached by Homura, who warns her about making Madoka a Puella Magi. The next day while visiting the hospital, Madoka and Sayaka find a Grief Seed that is close to activating, so Sayaka and Kyubey enter the portal ahead of them while Madoka finds Mami. As Madoka and Mami catch up with them, Homura tries to warn Mami about the witch, but Mami binds her to stop her from following them. As they continue, Madoka mentions her wish is to simply be a magical girl and help others. Mami laments that her job as a magical girl has left her lonely and afraid, but feels happy that Madoka wishes to fight alongside her. As the Grief Seed activates, Mami goes into action and starts to fight against the witch. However, the witch suddenly transforms into a huge caterpillar which decapitates and instantly kills Mami right before Madoka's eyes. Homura, her bonds dissolving with Mami's demise, steps in and defeats the witch, claiming the Grief Seed, leaving behind a mortified Madoka and a heavily resentful Sayaka. | ||
| 04 | "Miracles and Magic Both Exist" "Kiseki mo, Mahō mo, Arun da yo" (奇跡も、魔法も、あるんだよ) |
January 28, 2011[10] |
| As Sayaka continues to be concerned about Kyōsuke, Madoka, still in despair over the death of Mami, admits she's too scared to become a magical girl, so Kyubey decides to let her be. Madoka is later approached by Homura, who tells her that Mami, along with other magical girls she has seen die during her time, will only be considered missing by normal people. Madoka says she will never forget Mami or the fact that Homura saved her life, though Homura warns her that her kindness may turn against her. As Kyōsuke becomes more frustrated and desperate about his condition, which keeps him from being able to use his fingers to play the violin, Sayaka decides to contract with Kyubey. Meanwhile, Madoka notices several people, including her classmate, Hitomi Suzuki, infected by the witch's kiss and preparing to kill themselves by mixing detergents. When Madoka thwarts their attempted suicide, they chase her to a closet where she is caught by a witch who tortures her with memories of Mami's death. Just then, she is rescued by Sayaka, who had become a magical girl after using her wish to cure Kyōsuke's hand, much to the shock of Homura. Meanwhile, Kyubey is seen talking to another magical girl named Kyōko Sakura, who isn't happy that Sayaka took over the area Mami once looked after. | ||
| 05 | "There's No Way I'd Regret This" "Kōkai nante, Aru Wake Nai" (後悔なんて、あるわけない) |
February 4, 2011[10] |
| Both Madoka and Homura show concern about Sayaka's decision to become a magical girl. Sayaka visits Kyōsuke and feels happy that he is finally able to play his violin once again. Meanwhile, Madoka asks Homura to become friends with Sayaka, not wanting her to suffer the same fate as Mami, though Homura's words, that those who become magical girls can't be saved, do nothing to comfort her. Later that day, Madoka joins Sayaka on patrol, where they find a witch's familiar, but it escapes when Sayaka's attacks are blocked by Kyōko, who only cares about collecting Grief Seeds from mature witches. Kyōko's selfishness angers Sayaka, and the two magical girls start to fight fiercely against each other, with Madoka unable to do anything to stop them. As Kyōko gets the upper hand, Madoka considers using her wish to stop the fighting, but Homura steps in before she can make such a wish. | ||
| 06 | "This Just Isn't Right" "Konna no Zettai Okashiiyo" (こんなの絶対おかしいよ) |
February 11, 2011[11] |
| Homura knocks Sayaka unconscious and gets Kyōko to leave, before reiterating to Madoka that she not get involved, later even telling her to give up on her. Kyubey mentions to Sayaka about the potential Madoka has to become a Puella Magi, but Sayaka insists that she doesn't want Madoka to get involved. Homura later confronts Kyōko, mentioning that something known as Walpurgis Night is approaching in two weeks, to which Kyōko agrees to form an alliance with her to fight against it. Meanwhile, Madoka becomes concerned about Sayaka, who ignores her pleas to try and just talk with Kyōko, also showing hatred towards Homura, who she blames for Mami's death. The next evening, Sayaka is once again confronted by Kyōko who goads her into another fight on top of a highway bridge. Before the battle can begin, Madoka arrives and throws Sayaka's Soul Gem, the source of her magic energy, off the bridge in the hope of stopping the fight. However, this causes Sayaka to suddenly become lifeless, shocking both Madoka and Kyōko. Kyubey reveals that as part of the contract, the Soul Gem literally contains a magical girl's soul, while their body is merely a shell that can only be controlled within 100 metres of the Soul Gem. Homura rushes to retrieve the Soul Gem and brings it back to Sayaka in order to revive her. | ||
| 07 | "Can You Face Your True Feelings?" "Hontō no Kimochi to Mukiaemasu ka?" (本当の気持ちと向き合えますか？) |
February 18, 2011[11] |
| Sayaka gets angry at Kyubey for keeping the truth from her, but he keeps her in check by making her feel the pain she would've otherwise felt while fighting Kyōko. The next day, Madoka asks Homura about the meaning behind Kyubey's actions and why she never told them. Meanwhile, Kyōko talks with Sayaka, taking her to a church which belonged to her father before he was excommunicated for his controversial beliefs. She explains how she made a contract with Kyubey so that people would listen to her father's preaching, but when her father found out about her wish, he broke down and killed himself and his family, leaving Kyōko alone. While Sayaka apologizes to Kyōko, she refuses to listen to her advice to live for herself. The next day, Kyōsuke returns to school, but Sayaka declines to talk to him. Hitomi later confronts her about it and reveals she is also in love with Kyōsuke, giving Sayaka one day to confess to him before she does. Later, Sayaka breaks down in front of Madoka, believing that she can never be with Kyōsuke in her state. As Sayaka fights against a witch that night, she ignores Kyōko's help and recklessly attacks the witch without regard to the damage caused to her body, laughing maniacally. | ||
| 08 | "I've Been Such a Fool" "Atashitte, Honto Baka" (あたしって、ほんとバカ) |
February 25, 2011[11] |
| Sayaka defeats the witch, but refuses to take the Grief Seed it produces. Madoka tries to reason with Sayaka, who just berates her, blaming her for her state before running off. Meanwhile, as Homura and Kyōko discuss Walpurgis Night, Kyubey approaches them, mentioning that something bad will happen if Sayaka's Soul Gem isn't cleansed. Sayaka doesn't return home that night and just watches as Hitomi makes her confession to Kyōsuke the next day, sending her further into despair. Homura approaches her in an attempt to offer a Grief Seed, but Sayaka once again rejects it as she doesn't trust her. Homura, who doesn't want Madoka to suffer because of Sayaka's downfall, prepares to kill Sayaka, but Kyōko prevents her from doing so. Meanwhile, Kyubey coerces Madoka into making a wish to save Sayaka, but Homura shoots Kyubey before she can do so, breaking down before Madoka and telling her not to be so self-sacrificing. Madoka gets the feeling she's met Homura somewhere before, but leaves to search for Sayaka. A replacement Kyubey appears and eats the dead body of its , who identifies Homura as being from a different timeline while she recognizes his true identity as Incubator. Kyōko finds Sayaka, who is implied to have just killed two men on the train after overhearing them slandering two other women, admits her stupidity before her Soul Gem, having turned completely dark, shatters and transforms into a Grief Seed. The episode ends with Kyubey saying that it only makes sense to call the girls "Puella Magi" because they are the children who will become witches. | ||
| 09 | "That, I Will Not Allow" "Sonna no, Atashi ga Yurusanai" (そんなの、あたしが許さない) |
March 4, 2011[11] |
| As a witch appears before Kyōko, Homura appears and uses her time manipulation to help Kyōko escape, bringing Sayaka's body to Madoka. Homura reveals that the witch was actually Sayaka, whose Soul Gem had transformed into a Grief Seed as a result of becoming too tainted. A brief altercation between her and Homura leads Kyoko to take Sayaka's body with her and attempt to look after it, hoping for a way to bring Sayaka back to life. Later that night, Kyubey appears before Madoka again, explaining that his kind, with no emotions of their own, discovered a way to use energy from human emotions in order to counter the effects of entropy in the universe, hand-picking girls in this particular point in their lives and then raising these "Puella Magi" to become witches in order to obtain powerful energy from the transition from hope to despair. Kyubey also explains that he has no idea what it means "to trick," and that he believes the miscommunication to be a mistake on the girls' part. After leaving Madoka in complete despair, Kyubey then visits Kyoko, telling her that because Puella Magi themselves defy reason, there may still be a way to recover Sayaka's Soul Gem that he doesn't know of yet. Desperately clinging to the hope that there may still be a way to save Sayaka, Kyōko asks Madoka to help her in an attempt to reach Sayaka's human feelings and try to obtain her Soul Gem from the witch. As the two enter the portal to confront the witch, Kyōko takes the majority of its attacks while Madoka tries to reach Sayaka with words. However, when Oktavia von Seckendorff, Sayaka's witch form, attacks Madoka, Kyōko has Homura get Madoka to safety while she sacrifices herself to destroy Sayaka. Later, Kyubey, who'd clearly known there was no way of saving Sayaka, taunts Homura, admitting to having manipulated Kyoko. He gloats that with Kyōko gone, she won't be able to stop Walpurgis Night without Madoka becoming a Puella Magi. | ||
| 10 | "I Won't Depend on Anyone Anymore" "Mō Dare ni mo Tayoranai" (もう誰にも頼らない) |
March 11, 2011[12] |
| The episode looks at an alternate timeline in which Homura is a shy transfer student who makes friends with the cheerful Madoka. Lacking confidence in herself, having been in hospital for the past six months, Homura is attacked by a witch but is rescued by Madoka and Mami, both of whom are magical girls. When both Madoka and Mami are killed in the battle against Walpurgis Night, Homura makes a contract with Kyubey to send her back in time so that she can protect Madoka. She joins Madoka and Mami and learns how to use her Puella Magi powers. However, following the battle against Walpurgis Night, Homura witnesses Madoka transforming into a witch and realizes Kyubey had been deceiving everyone. She attempts to tell the others during the next time loop, but they don't believe her. When Sayaka becomes a witch that the others are forced to kill, Mami goes insane and kills Kyōko before Madoka is forced to kill Mami as well, leaving her and Homura to face Walpurgis Night. With their Soul Gems depleted, Madoka uses her last Grief Seed on Homura, begging her to return to the past to keep her from being fooled by Kyubey before asking to be killed so she won't turn into a witch. Returning to the past again, now with a colder personality, Homura attempts to keep Kyubey from making contact with Madoka in the first place and decides to fight against the witches herself. However, this ultimately fails, leading to the current timeline and the events of the first episode. The episode ends with the opening sequence. | ||
| 11 | "The Last Path Left" "Saigo ni Nokotta Michishirube" (最後に残った道しるべ) |
April 21, 2011[6] |
| Kyubey reveals to Homura that the reason Madoka has the potential to become such a powerful witch is because of Homura's constant trips through time. After Sayaka's funeral, Kyubey shows Madoka the history of magical girls and how it has shaped civilization, causing Madoka to become extremely distressed. Meanwhile, Madoka's mother, Junko, is concerned about Madoka, feeling she is hiding something from her. Later, Madoka goes to see Homura, who unconvincingly reassures her that she can handle the Walpurgis Night, and finally reveals the truth about herself, begging Madoka to let her protect her. As a storm hits the city, and the citizens take shelter, Homura stands alone to face the Walpurgis Night, throwing everything she has at it, but even so she is still overwhelmed and eventually is all but defeated. When Madoka hears from Kyubey that Homura may turn into a witch if she loses hope of saving her, Madoka prepares to go and find her. Junko tries to stop her, but Madoka convinces her to let her go. As Homura begins to lose hope, and is on the verge of becoming a witch, Madoka and Kyubey arrive. | ||
| 12 | "You Were My Best Friend" "Watashi no, Saikō no Tomodachi" (わたしの、最高の友達) |
April 21, 2011[6] |
| Madoka makes the decision to become a magical girl, wishing to stop all witches from the past, present and future, to erase them before they are born by her own hand, a wish made possible due to the massive power inside her. As she makes the transformation, her consciousness is greeted by Mami and Kyōko. Becoming a god-like entity and defeating Walpurgis Night, Madoka spreads herself across space and time, preventing magical girls from becoming witches by having them disappear when their Soul Gems become too tainted. The gigantic Soul Gem produced cracks into a giant mass of despair, but Madoka's hope manages to quell it. As a result, Madoka becomes an omniscient being, of which there is no evidence of having existed on Earth. Madoka then says her goodbyes to Homura, leaving her with her a ribbon so that she won't forget her, before fading from existence, where she rejoins Sayaka. Homura returns to a world where Madoka doesn't exist, and she, Mami and Kyōko are fighting together, though Homura still retains her memories of Madoka. With a different type of enemy that are born from curses around, Homura continues to protect the world that Madoka loved. After the credits roll, Homura is seen in a desert-like area, confronting vast amounts of "Distortions," and sprouts witch-like wings before entering combat. | ||
| No. | Title | Original release date |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | "Memories of You" "Memorīzu obu Yū" (メモリーズオブユー) |
April 27, 2011 |
| An expanded look at the original timeline depicted in episode 10, where Homura and Madoka become friends. When Homura becomes troubled about her lack of talent, Madoka tries using some of her magic to help her out during PE, but it just causes her to go out of control. After Madoka and Mami save Homura from a witch, Madoka confesses to Homura that she became a magical girl in order to save the life of a cat named Amy who was hit by a car. As a storm hits the city and Homura learns the meaning of Walpurgis Night, she follows Amy to where Madoka is. | ||
| 02 | "Sunny Day Life" "Sanī Dei Raifu" (サニーデイ ライフ) |
June 22, 2011 |
| In a more carefree universe, Madoka and Sayaka flunk their English tests and study for a makeup test at Mami's apartment alongside Homura and Kyōko. The girls soon set into action when they assume a ghost-like witch is about, only to find it to be the work of a cat. Afterwards, they all get together to have dinner at Mami's place. | ||
| 03 | "Farewell Story" "Feaueru Sutōrī" (フェアウェル・ストーリー) |
August 24, 2011 |
| A prequel to the main series. Kyōko, who is starting off as a magical girl, meets Mami for the first time during a battle with a witch. The two decide to become partners, fighting witches together and learning special moves. After inviting Mami to eat with her family, Kyōko tells her the wish she made. However, after discovering her family's death, Kyōko takes on a different outlook on fighting witches which leads to her falling out with Mami and deciding to leave town. | ||
| Volume | Date | Episodes | Extras |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume 1[14] | April 27, 2011 | 1-2 | Drama CD - "Memories of You" Character Single - "Mata Ashita" by Aoi Yūki |
| Volume 2[15] | May 25, 2011 | 3-4 | Original Soundtrack Vol. 1 |
| Volume 3[16] | June 22, 2011 | 5-6 | Drama CD - "Sunny Day Life" |
| Volume 4[17] | July 27, 2011 | 7-8 | Original Soundtrack Vol. 2 |
| Volume 5[18] | August 24, 2011 | 9-10 | Drama CD - "Farewell Story" Character Single - "And I'm Home" by Eri Kitamura and Ai Nonaka |
| Volume 6[19] | September 21, 2011 | 11-12 | Original Soundtrack Vol. 3 |