Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica – 09

Incubators from outer space!

Sometimes I just don’t know what to write for the intro. Yeah, I’m being honest with you guys. What, do I tell you about my day? About how I sat through some lectures then went home and played Sengoku Basara? Think of some witty preamble that leads into Madoka? Maybe if my life was more magical I could say something like “Speaking of mermaid conductors who throw wagon wheels about like they’re beach balls, HOW ABOUT THAT EPISODE 9?” I guess it’s for the best that my life isn’t like Madoka though, because that would be one messed up life.

At first I was rather surprised to see Sayaka’s body still there, despite there being a giant witch in the distance. I quickly remembered that it was just a vessel and Sayaka had indeed turned into a rampaging mosaic of magazine cut-outs. Homura comes in the nick of time to help Kyoko escape, using her time-stopping abilities.

As Kyoko drags her lifeless body along with Homura, they happen to run into Madoka. Homura wastes no time dishing out the bad news: Sayaka is a witch. Madoka has yet another breakdown (why hasn’t she committed suicide yet?) and Kyoko yells at Homura for being so mean. Hey, it’s meant to scare her from being a mahou shoujo and it seems to be working! In fact, when Kyubei pays her a little visit that night, Madoka is disgusted by his reasoning. They use mahou shoujo’s emotion as an energy source to help save their planet since they don’t have emotions themselves. Expect a mini science blurb in the end thoughts, my friends.

Kyoko also has to deal with the despicable fluffball, who watches her as she cares for Sayaka’s body. He tells her it’s pointless, but Kyoko seems convinced there must be a way. Then, she dramatically eats away her sorrow. Too bad se didn’t have any potato chips.

And that’s probably the only bed there to sleep in. Oh baby.

As per usual, Madoka gets up and goes to school. Madoka, no, what are you even doing. Stop that, there are more important things to do. Kyoko sends her a long-distance mind text basically saying “GET YO ASS OVER HURR.” So she does. They agree on trying to wake up the sleeping Sayaka with the power of RABU ANDO FURENDOSHIPPU even though it’s seemingly pointless. And that’s how Kyoko went from “I’m going to rip all of Kamijo’s limbs off” into secretly lusting after Sayaka and being Madoka’s buddy.

Sensing something to be wrong, Homura goes to the nurse’s office LIKE A BOSS. She’d better hurry, because Kyoko is already hot on Sayaka’s trail. The redhead makes some small talk as they search, if you can call explaining that Walpurgis is an immensely powerful witch that neither of them can beat alone as small talk. Nom time is over once they finally find the portal, and the two of them enter to try and save Sayaka.

At first I thought this was a deep, hidden message. Then I saw \(-3-)/….

Madoka has yet another “should I become a mahou shoujo?” moment, as if she’d be any less whiny if she wore frilly pink clothes and 3X the ribbons. No, Madoka, no. You only become one if you REALLY HAVE TO. You saw everyone lose their soul and you still want to become one? DID YOU LEARN NOTHING?

Enough chitchat, it’s time for the witch. In a realm rife with musical symbolism and all things relevant to Kamijo, Sayaka’s grotesque witch form emerges. Madoka tries to talk to it, but Sayaka seems like a lost cause. If anything, her beatings just get worse as Madoka keeps talking. Kyoko gets beat down by wagon wheels, hoping that getting beat up would be atonement for the fight during their first meeting. That is, until she grabs Madoka. Then Kyoko has to up her game and actually retaliate.

The floor suddenly collapses, sending everyone tumbling down. As they near impact, Homura catches Madoka and Kyoko manages to land properly. Most disturbingly, a figure resembling Kamijo’s is there. Kyoko tells Homura to escape with Madoka as she sacrifices her life, using all of her magic to kill Sayaka and destroy her soulgem in a swirl of super lesbian colours. No really, Kyoko is TOTALLY hot Sayaka. I don’t even like yuri and it’s all I could think of.

If that wasn’t a sad enough ending, Kyubei just has to show up and say “ohai, now that everyone is dead you can’t fight Walpurgis alone and now the city is gonna go bye bye lolololol trollface.jpg” Homura isn’t gonna let Madoka become a mahou shoujo so how will they deal with this mess? D=

The Last of Kyoko:

It’s only a matter of time before that soulgem is photoshopped and replaced with someone else…

IT’S BETTER, DOWN WHERE IT’S WETTER UNDER DA SEAAA~~ DO DO DO DO DO DO DO~~

It hurts to be this gangsta.

End Thoughts: Kyoko AND Sayaka died, noooooo!!! WHY ARE THINGS ALWAYS SO INTENSE EVERY SINGLE EPISODE AHHHHHH~~~!!! NOW how will they beat Walpurgis? Without as many characters things might get very…talky…the next few episodes. I don’t foresee any new characters butting in, so episode 10 may just as well be Homura interacting with Madoka. Maybe she’ll reveal more about her timeline. From now until episode 12, it’s all prep for Walpurgis. Will Madoka ever become a mahou shoujo?

Now let’s get these laws of Thermodynamics thing out of the way. Hopefully you’re not rolling your eyes at me – sorry if this is patronizing! While I’m no expert in the matter (feel free to correct me, fellow science nerds), Kyubei’s long-winded explanation makes sense. There is actually a theory that eventually the world will have no more “organized energy” to do work, and it will all be entropy. In other words, we are constantly moving towards a state of entropy where we have no potential/stored energy, so no work can be done. So Mahou Shoujo BREAK THE LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS and can spontaneously create energy without any input.  Energy can’t be created, yo. The only problem with this is that energy on Kyubei’s planet should be shared with Earth, since energy is everywhere, right? Unless he’s from another dimension.

Thermodynamics aside, Kyubei’s talk with Madoka was a bit…long. You don’t need to shove it down our throats – we are aware of the moral gray area here. Kyubei treats the contract as a perfect deal because he sees it from a purely logical standpoint, no emotions attached. He isn’t evil. But since humans have emotions, they got screwed over from not asking the devil for the details. It’s like signing a contract without reading the fine print – not Kyubei’s fault. Oh, I still hate him though. Best anime villain of the year, yes?

While I don’t get how Kyoko could develop into who she is now so goddamned fast, her change of heart has made her a very pleasant character to watch. Caring of others, yet brash in the way she shows it (“make a good decision or i’ll beat you to a pulp!”). Her advice to Madoka was extremely straightforward too. Madoka, whose past is a clean slate without any traumas, should not sacrifice her happy life if she doesn’t have to. This is a world for those who went through hardships. And Madoka…you who has never fallen down, don’t know how to get back up. Stay out. Kyoko backed up her speech by sacrificing herself for Sayaka too. Just to keep her company. JUST TO KEEP HER COMPANY. Despite gorging herself on KFC half the time, Kyoko really is a selfless character.

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A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.
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42 Responses to “Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica – 09”

  1. Anya says:

    Second law of Thermodynamics: Entropy always increases.
    The universe is growing bigger and the galaxies are spreading apart (more disorder in the system), and eventually everything will be infinitely cold and the universe dies. Well there are some theories where the universe will contract again before expanding (The Big Bounce). That’s why we need to figure out a way to escape to a different universe before that happens.

    I briefly had the thought that Madoka is Walpurgis when the Evil Marshmallow said she’ll become the strongest witch and Homura knew where it would appear because she was with Madoka in the first timeline. Then the Evil Marshmallow said Madoka will have to become a Puella Magi so it can’t be that…

    Maybe this will end with Madoka becoming a Puella Magi? That’s like sealing her fate, and we’ll all know that she’s doomed.

    • Metalsnakezero says:

      When Kyoko first appeared I had negative feelings about her. After learning more about her past and how much her character changed, I am not really sad that she is dead ;_;
      Why must characters I like in this show die!?

      Kyubey, your god damn race are crazy people! Killing off girls so the universe can keep going. First how and why is the universe dying out? But to be fair Kyubey’s speech really does twist with our morals of sacrificing for the greater good.

      So here what I think. Madoka will become a Puella Magi when Homura fails to beat Walpurgis and just before Kyubey turns Madoka in to a witch, she kills herself and ending up saving everything, reviving everyone who dead (This is just me hoping my girls will come back :P).

      @Anya “…Madoka is Walpurgis…” Oh god, that would be messed up!

      • Overcooled says:

        @Anya: You seem to be much more eloquent at explaining this than I am. I’ve heard the Big Bounce theory too, but I doubt we have to worry about that in our lifetime. I guess Kyubei does though, heh. Madoka = Walpurgis would blow my mind, but yeah, Kyubei is still speaking like she’s a separate entity. If they need Madoka to fight Walpurgis, she can’t be Walpurgis =/ I can see Madoka becoming a mahou shoujo in the last 5 minutes of the last episode…

        @Metalsnakezero: Everyone I like is dead now. ._. Curse you, Kyubei! The universe is dying because as entropy continually increases, the amount of usable energy decreases. All this random energy can’t be used, so we end up dying. The only weird thing about it is that if his planet is dying, Earth should be too.

        The only way to break the cycle is to have Homura and Madoka sacrifice themselves, so that would work. It would be sad, but a fitting end to the series. :3

        • Anya says:

          We wouldn’t have to worry about the universe coming to an end for bajillions of years. It will come eventually, but we’ll probably be able to fix it before then. And yeah, Kyuubey’s world would likely die at the same time as the earth. It isn’t a sudden thing, the temperature of the universe itself (cosmic background radiation – it’s how we proved the big bang theory, we practically stuck a thermometer in space and the data matched the predicted values of the big bang theory exactly) would decrease.

          • Anya says:

            Oh and another thing: the amount of energy required to save the universe would be able to destroy the earth a bajillion times over, so if Madoka can save the universe the outburst of energy will make everything go kablooey.

            • Overcooled says:

              I’m guessing Kyubei is from another universe then, otherwise they’re both in the same boat. You can’t have just Kyubei’s planet hurtling towards destruction, as you said, the entire universe would have to collapse together.

              Very true. Let’s hope the series doesn’t end in a giant explosion.

  2. LoliHat says:

    “Incubator, in this world we OBEY the laws of thermodynamics!”

    Seriously though, the QB alien(s) remind me of the Strangers from “Dark City.” They may be from another one of the multiverses/timelines to suck the energy from this one via Magical Girls…kind of like Asimov’s “The Gods Themselves.”

    This series has turned into the Magical Girl version of “To Serve Man.” Aliens promise and deliver wonderful things and then use humans like cattle…all with out lying outright. If I were Madoka, I’d be screaming all over the place “IT’S A COOKBOOK!!!”

    • Overcooled says:

      I wish I knew the things you were referencing. *notes to look them up later* Kyubei is probably from an alternate universe where they’re getting really close to having no usable energy anymore. You really can’t blame him for wanting energy to save his universe, we’d do the same if we could. And he didn’t lie either. BUT I STILL HATE HIM.

    • YazzyDream says:

      Hahaha, Twilight Zone reference ftw!

      Thanks for the explanation guys, I’m still a bit baffled, but I’m just going to go with it.

  3. Gunny says:

    KYOKOOOOOOOOO D::::::::: God dammit. This episode almost brought me tears… Oh shit, everyone will die in the end… I can’t stand it!!

    Kyoko really turned out to be an enjoyable character. The way she starts to lust after sayaka care for the others and actually sacrifice herself to save then was so… omg. She was a good person. And poor Sayaka… just thinking about her make me want to cry… seriously. Her story is so sad, she wasn’t able to accept herself cuz of the same thing that made she become a “zombie”…

    Madoka’s break downs are getting serious. She needs to talk to a psychologist like now. And Kamijou image out of nowhere was disturbing as hell. omg.

    Now is time for sleep. oh God. they killed two of my fave chars for my birthday lol
    at least gimme an heart-warming ending plz and moar satsuya-tan. Oh. Forget it. It is Urobuchi Gen after all. D8

    Kyuubey… shit shit D:::

    RIP Sayaka, Kyoko

    • Overcooled says:

      This time saying “spoiler: everyone dies” is gonna be true TT.TT Oh, and Happy Birthday, Gunny! XD Sorry this had to happen on your celebratory day…go wash away your sorrow in partying!

      I really liked Kyoko and Sayaka…Sayaka for her maturity (before she went crazy) and Kyoko for her brazen personality. Now I’m stuck with whiny Madoka and her emotionless waifu Homura. -_-

      Oh God, a Bokurano reference…so true…(Funny how I just watched it fairly recently too). No heart-warming ending for us qq…

  4. feal87 says:

    We will have an happy ending!!!
    I’m hoping for some Deus Ex Madoka to appear and do a “Mass Resurrect” on the party. 😛

    • amado says:

      yeah, im hoping for kyoko and sayaka, maybe even mami(this last one is just blissful thinking) to show up and save them.

      well at least I was right about sayaka not being the witch from ep 1. I wished they were able to change her back, if not, at least give her senses back.

      I was hoping there was gonna be a sayakaXmadoka part but I guess kyoko is fine.

      • amado says:

        and im wondering if you guys are gonna blog durarara ep 25.

        finally mairu and kururi appear!

        • MikADo says:

          hallelujah~

          • Overcooled says:

            This show is pretty brutal, so I don’t think anyone is coming back D= An ending where everyone dies would be so AMAZING, i hope they go through with it.

            As for DRRR!! 25, I will consult Kyokai-sama! I’ve seen quite a few people asking about it, afterall. It WAS a pretty badass episode.

  5. MikADo says:

    This episode’s rune translations were so heart breaking…
    “look at me look at me look at me look at me look at me”
    and “Kyosuke Classic Concert ‘Con Amore’ March 3, 25:25” con amore means “with love” and since the concert is on 25:25, it means its impossible too…… enuf with sad stuff
    As I predicted, Kyoko died XP and the key point from now on is the decision Madoka will make once she knows that she has to become a Mahou Shoujo in order to save her village, her friends, and her family…

    • MikADo says:

      Also funny how I had a very intense discussion on Buddhism and Hinduism’s relations from the make ups of the universe to the Second law of Thermodynamics: Entropy always increases, since one way contradicts one another, during my chemistry class today……science and magic huh, sounds like a certain city’s imagine breaker XD

    • South says:

      The runes. ;_; Thanks for the info, didn’t notice.

      • Overcooled says:

        I don’t look up the rune translations usually, so thanks for the info, Mikamika. That’s particularly heartbreaking TT_TT

        And now all that’s left to speculate about is Walpurgis, Homura, and when Madoka will make that contract!

        Wow, what an intense debate for a chemistry class. We don’t have debates in class anymore *sigh*

        • MikADo says:

          our teacher tends to stray off from the topic a lot XD
          which i like and both dislike XP

    • amado says:

      sayaka also has witch name:

      “Sayaka’s witch name is Oktavia von Seckendorff. In real life, Karl Siegmund von Seckendorff was a german poet who wrote a novel called Das Rad des Schicksals = The Wheel of Fate (which explains the wheels, there was also mention of fate in her barrier). He also put ‘The King in Thule’ (a poem by Goethe, part of Faust1) to music.”
      sources here:
      http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Episode_9#Speculations_and_Observations
      http://wiki.puella-magi.net/Runes:Episode_9

      plus notice how sayaka has a mermaid tail? its a reference to the little mermaid, the original and more tragic one to be precise….

      • Overcooled says:

        How diligent of you. Thanks~ As per usual, Madoka is full of the most intricate of references.

        I noticed the Little Mermaid reference, but didn’t know that there was a more tragic version of the Disney movie. o.o

        • MikADo says:

          the tragic version is i believe the original, where little mermaid didn’t get to marry the prince and was it suicide? anyways she died and turned into sea foams…

      • MikADo says:

        i don’t know why, but man shaft sure loves german XP

  6. Rackenspiekle says:

    Kyoko just *sniff* wanted a friend. ;_;

  7. Elyon says:

    RIP Kyouko and Sayaka ;_;
    I hope Hitomi and Kamijou have a wonderful life. =3=

  8. Foshizzel says:

    Wow! Another amazing episode this week, pook Kyoko! She will be missed best character besides Mami of course 😀

    Guess we get a sneak peek into Kyubey! So is he like some alien? lololl guess it makes things more clear. But I think we all already knew he had 0 emotions anyway! Maybe that’s Madoka’s wish! To give emotions to him, then he will go OMG I AM HORRIBLE!

    I sort of knew “talking” wasn’t going to ever work, good try Madoka…good try -tear-

    So basically human emotion = awesome power supply? Er little girls make the best power.

    • Overcooled says:

      Agreed. Kyoko and Mami were severe losses D=

      Kyubey is technically an alien, yeah XD He should show up on Level E and give the Prince a run for his money fufufu. They both exploit small children for fun/energy XD

      • MikADo says:

        I would love to see what would happen if QB comes on Level E XD

  9. MikADo says:

    Just my speculations, maybe the witch from the 1st episode could be Walpurgis? just thoughts, no evidence.. or Walpurgis might be the creepy face thing at the ED

    • Overcooled says:

      I’ve been convinced that’s what Walpurgis is from the beginning. We shall see. =D

      • Anya says:

        I’m pretty sure it is.

        1. The city was in ruins.
        2. Homura was getting her butt whopped.
        3. Madoka has no choice but to contract (Homura saw her and screamed).
        4. That was when Madoka woke up from her dream and met Homura that day. I think in the original timeline, Homura met them when she transferred and became best friends / lovers (please go with lovers >.<). Then when Homura turned back time when Madoka was about to contract, it brought them back to the point that Madoka wakes up.

  10. Jenny says:

    This is ironic cuz a few episodes I wanted more people to die and now when I get my wish I regret it. At least Homura’s still alive. Homura is seriously badass awesome . I don’t get why everyone is upset she one’s of the few left. If only whiny Madoka was left I’d be pissed. And I have a feeling she’s so emotionless because she’s been through this countless times.

    • amado says:

      its not that they’re upset that homura is left, they’re more upset that they lost 2 girls in one ep.

    • Overcooled says:

      Look what you did. You killed Kyoko and Sayaka. I hope you’re ashamed at yourself.

      I would prefer if Homura got the axe over Kyoko or Sayaka to be honest…I just like them more. Why did they BOTH have to die!!!?

      • amado says:

        I agree with you there.
        keep sayaka and kyoko, I at least prefer kyokoXsayaka over homuraXmadoka.

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