Episode 3 of Madoka Magica is known to be where the series’ potential was realized, but the shock factor isn’t what made it great.
The darkest twist on the hit anime series Madoka Magica it’s not great because it’s shocking as most viewers would think. Madoka Magica is a series that won the hearts of anime fans worldwide due to its unique and dark premise. Taking a page from magical girl stories like Sailor Moon and Card Captor Sakura, the anime follows Madoka and her friend Sayaka as they are given the chance of a lifetime. A small creature called Kyubey offers them the chance to become magical girls and help fight evil witches. It’s a premise that many anime fans have come to know because of how prevalent the magical girl formula is in the medium. However, Madoka Magica is a series that turned out to be very different with a dark twist.
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In the third episode of the series, Madoka and Sayaka shadow a more experienced magical girl named Mami to see how she is in battle. Things take a turn for the worst though when Mami ends up getting killed in front of her trainees by a witch biting off her head. It’s a chilling sight that immediately changes the tone of the show. After Mami’s death, even more shocking revelations would be made as Madoka learns the depressing nature of becoming a magical girl, including the source of witches and her best friend’s doomed parentage. The series has become a fan favorite for its subversive and satirical approach to a common anime trope. It even got a 2013 movie Madoka Magica: Revolution with a sequel on the way. However, the truth is that Mami’s death isn’t the real reason the show’s dark turn worked.
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Madoka Magica It wouldn’t work if his twist fell earlier
What is he doing Madoka Magica So successful is the patience he has, instead of relying on the subversive premise. The first two episodes are pretty standard magical girls. Madoka is a girl who finds life around her frustrating and depressing until Kyubey greets her with their offer. The graphics are even reminiscent of what viewers know from shows like Sailor Moon with their sparkling transformation sequences and colorful battles. By preparing viewers for a show that they believe will follow a standard formula that includes a misleading anime opening that flat out lies to them, it makes the payoff in the third episode when Mami dies that much more exciting. It’s a shock to the system because it took the time to trick the viewer into thinking they were getting something familiar, not because it just randomly went dark.
He had Madoka Magica The series chosen to give its dark twist in the first episode would not have been so memorable. Many shows today are known for wanting to get their twists out in the first episode in order to entice the viewer to come back for more. Because of this, Madoka Magica she would have ended up standing out less as a cliche-busting magical girl. The choice to lure viewers in with false pretenses makes the shocking death of the third episode carry more weight. It makes the audience talk more about it because they had no idea it was coming until it happened.
Mami’s death is still talked about today for how much it changed the game for the magical girl genre. It gave fans something they had never seen before and made a more exciting promise of things to come with the newly invented dark magical girls. However, if it wasn’t for the show’s patience, it probably wouldn’t have hit as hard despite how shocking her death is. If Madoka Magica had it gone with more modern choices by ending its first episode with its dark twist, the series as a whole probably wouldn’t be as widely acclaimed as it is today.
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