Puella Magi Madoka Magica – Ep. 11

Madoka‘s last two episodes aired together after a month long delay following the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake in March 2011. When I started these episode reviews for the 10th anniversary, my plan was to follow the show based on its original broadcast so I actually debated on whether or not I’d pause the show for five weeks and cover these two episodes together in one post. Seeing as how the 10th anniversary was two years ago and I generally don’t like to write multi-episode reviews, I’ve ultimately decided to cover these episodes separately.

The penultimate episode brings the story back to the original timeline. Kyubey reveals to Homura that Madoka has so much magical potential because of karmic destiny. A magical girl’s potential is relative to how important they are in the world. Being an ordinary girl, Madoka’s potential ought to be average at best. Because of Homura’s constant time traveling however, Madoka has become a central figure in fate and as a result, she has a lot of magical power stored within her soul. That’s why in the previous timeline, Madoka was able to destroy Walpurgisnacht in one hit and her witch can destroy the entire world in a manner of days. It’s an incredibly cruel caveat to Homura’s wish. All Homura wants to do is save Madoka’s life but with each trip she takes through time, Madoka’s fate gets worse.

Elsewhere, a funeral is held for Sayaka after her body is found in Kyoko’s hotel room. It’s more ceremonious compared to Mami’s death though the police can’t figure out how Sayaka died so her case will be just as cold as Mami’s. I think Kyosuke and Hitomi are present at the funeral but it’s hard to tell as everyone except for Madoka is drawn in silhouette. We also don’t hear from them apart from a line of dialgoue stating that Hitomi is taking Sayaka’s death pretty hard. Not directly seeing either character’s reaction is surprising considering that they played a big part in Sayaka’s fate. Then again, there isn’t anything they could say to make things better.

After the funeral, Madoka is approached by Kyubey once again. Kyubey has some serious gall to talk about magical girls again but then again, he’s an emotionless creature. Tact is definitely not something he’d be good at. Anyway, Kyubey denies any responsibility in Sayaka’s and Kyoko’s deaths, arguing that the deaths of magical girls are for the greater good and akin to people killing livestock for food. He then shows Madoka the entire history of magical girls, revealing that Incubators have contracted various girls throughout history, including the likes of Cleopatra and Joan of Arc (which is really silly, to be frank). If it wasn’t the for the Incubators, humanity would still be living in caves so Kyubey argues that their relationship is ultimately beneficial. Suffice to say, Madoka doesn’t feel better and Kyubey alienates himself from her even more. The Incubator may have a point but everything he argues feels apathetic and inhumane. The two are complete opposites to each other. Whereas Madoka is considerate of everyone’s feelings, Kyubey doesn’t care or even understand any of them.

At a bar, Madoka’s mother Junko (Yuko Goto) converses with her daughter’s homeroom teacher Kazuko Saotome (Junko Iwao) about the death of Sayaka. Junko worries over Madoka and speculates that her daughter is keeping secrets from her (which comes into play later in the episode). Saotome has appeared here and there throughout the show. I’ve never mentioned her before because frankly, her scenes amount to a running gag involving her boyfriend troubles. Junko is also a comic relief character though she does factor a little in the plot. As mentioned in the Episode 6 review, she’s the one who gives advice to Madoka on how to deal with her feuding co-stars. I don’t know if this scene is necessary but it is neat to see these side characters in a more dramatic light. It also goes to show that the main characters’ story isn’t entirely in a vacuum; it does cause ripples in the outside world.

The next day, Madoka asks Homura about Walpurgisnacht, having heard about it from Kyoko in Episode 9. Homura says she can’t handle the witch on her own but when Madoka doesn’t believe her and asks how she’s really feeling, Homura finally reveals everything to her. This is Homura at her most vulnerable, more so than her scene with Madoka in Episode 8. Even it it’s for a brief moment, Homura finally sheds away the emotionless exterior she created for herself and she shows Madoka how she truly feels about her. While certainly a touching scene, it’s also a very sad one. Homura is pouring her heart out but she’s aware that this version of Madoka sees her as a stranger. She lets Madoka know how she truly feels about her but she doubts Madoka will understand her feelings, let alone return them. All in all, this is easily one of my favorite scenes in the entire show.

Walpurgisnacht soon arrives in the city, creating a supercell that forces everyone to evacuate to various shelters. I know this is technically a different natural disaster but the situation does feel a bit eerie knowing that the last two episodes were delayed because of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake. From my understanding, a few shots were actually altered for the initial broadcast in light of the event. Delaying the episodes out of respect is a good enough reason but I think the move was also a good call in this regard.

While Madoka evacuates with her family, Homura confronts Walpurgisnacht on her own. To her credit, Homura does not mess around in this rematch as she uses a large number of weapons and explosives to damage the witch. I do wonder if anyone got confused over all of this stuff going missing but it really doesn’t matter. Unfortunately, the witch withstands everything Homura throws at her and eventually, Homura is too injured to fight. Homura considers resetting the timeline but she realizes that doing so will only worsen Madoka’s destiny. With no other option, Homura loses hope and she resigns herself into becoming a witch.

Although Walpurgisnacht is the one who pushes Homura to her limit, Kyubey is also to blame here. He’s the one who told Homura about Madoka’s karmic destiny and I’m willing to believe he did that on purpose to make Homura hesitate on turning back time and turn her into a witch. If Homura gives up and Madoka knows about this, then the latter will be compelled to step in and make a wish. Kyubey must’ve planned this from the start. It works too much in his favor.

Sure enough, Madoka decides to head out when Kyubey tells her what happens if Homura fails and loses hope. Junko finds Madoka and tries to stop her but Madoka convinces her mother to let her go. I generally don’t think much of Madoka’s family but this is a great scene. By having Junko present, Madoka has to decide if what’s she’s about to do is important enough that it’s worth leaving her family behind. It ties nicely with Homura’s point that Madoka has a family who loves her and that’s something shouldn’t be taken lightly. That Junko allows Madoka to head out is a bit surprising but you get her reasoning. She knows Madoka is hiding something and she doesn’t want her daughter to be in danger but she’s raised Madoka to be a good girl so whatever Madoka has to do must be really important.

After convincing her mother, Madoka heads out and she arrives with Kyubey before Homura becomes a witch. Madoka apologizes to Homura, presumably because she’s about to make her wish. When I first watched Madoka, I was actually a bit annoyed that it takes 11 episodes for Madoka to become a magical girl. This show is named after her and the OP kept teasing her as a magical girl. I didn’t think it’d take the whole series for it to happen and I wanted to see Madoka fight in some cool action scenes! Yes, Episode 10 shows her in action but that doesn’t count since those were alternate versions of Madoka. That what I thought at the time. I now know that this big moment has to happen at the end of the series. It was never about Madoka becoming this cool action hero. It’s about the actual choice of becoming a magical girl, whether it’s worth it or not, and if Madoka could go through with it without making any regrets.

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Watch Puella Magi Madoka Magica on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Hulu