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Behind Magical Girls Series: Beautiful Dark Turn of Magical Girls. Madoka Magica :I Love You, so I Become a Literal God. A Story of Love, Hope, Obsession, and Desperation

  
  It’s been such a long time since the last time we met, hasn’t it? Hi there, are you guys still following me on this Behind Magical Girls Series? I hope you do, because it is such an interesting and unique topic. However, this will be our last discussion about Magical Girls, at least for now. All of the Magical Girls franchises that I have mentioned are all about glitter, sugar, and rainbow. Most of its premise revolves around some groups of girls who encounter an animal-like being who turns out to be a magical creature that can give them power. However, they do not really talk about the catch or must I say, the dark truth behind being magical girls.

    Have you ever thought about being a magical girl? What if you could get any of your wishes granted, no matter how unrealistic it is. Just like how every present comes with strings, for something that you get, you will lose something. It is how the karmic rule of this world work. I will talk about the most amazing Magical Girls Franchise that I have ever experienced, and I’m not joking. It is truly a masterpiece. The story follows Madoka Kaname, a pink-haired girl who’s been having a weird dream for the past few months. Somehow, there would always be a black-haired girl silhouette in her dreams, fighting a strange creature. Not so long after that, there is a new girl at Madoka’s class. She is Homura Akemi, the black haired girl that has been appearing in Madoka’s dream.

    Madoka can not understand why Homura feels so familiar to her, like she’s known her for a lifetime. Is it fate? Trying to brush it off, Madoka and Sayaka try to have fun at the mall by going to the cafe and music store, because Sayaka had to buy a CD for a special someone. While strolling at the music store, Madoka hears a distinct call for help. “Help me, Madoka.” says the voice that appears in her head, and just like a guide, she knows exactly where the voice comes from – the basement of the mall. She rushes to the voice, leaving Sayaka confused at the music store.

    Upon arriving, Madoka finds a rabbit-like creature jumping to her; the one who’s been asking for help. It calls itself Kyuubey. Kyuubey turns out to be chased by the black-haired girl, Homura, the new girl from her class. However, she is in a weird dress while carrying several weapons. Homura says some confusing things such as not to make a contract with Kyuubey no matter what happens. Confused, Madoka rushes to save Kyuubey, until another girl with a weird dress comes to save both Madoka and Kyuubey. This girl is Mami, a magical girl. 

    Kyuubey turns out to be a being from another planet who claims to have a job of granting teenage girls wishes in exchange of them being magical girls and fighting off the dark creatures called Witch. On the surface level, all of this checks the list on what we call tropes and cliche traits of Magical Girls anime, right? That is what most people think before they get to the episode where Mami’s head was chopped off by a Witch. Again, acting like she already knows what will happen, she warns Mami that this Witch is different, and that she should let Homura handle this one. However, not trusting Homura because of her attempt to always kill Kyuubey, Mami traps Homura in her magic.

    I won’t go too deep on the plot, the point that I want to make here is that this is how it’s like behind magical girls: some dark truths are left untold. Madoka Magica captured this perfectly, it made you think that it is just a classic girly and all flowery Magical Girls franchise, and when you think it couldn’t get worse, it gets worse. In exchange for becoming a magical girl, a wish of yours will be granted. Mark those words in your head. Kyuubey turned out to have fooled all of the magical girls, it left some truth untold that when you became a magical girl, your soul will be pulled out of your body, creating your soul gem, the source of your power. Imagine how depressing it is to find out that your physical body is no more than just a living corpse.

    The thing about being magical girls in Madoka Magica universe is that overtime, your soul gem will be stained, and you can’t let it become dark. You can only clean the stain with Grief Seed, the seed of Witches. In other words, in exchange for your wish, you have to fight Witches for all of your life. Everything comes with a price. The magical girls find out the dark truth about Witches. Why do you think that they are named magical girls? Because that’s what you call a teenage Witch, yes, if your Soul Gem gets stained and becomes dark. It became a grief seed, the seed of a witch. 

    There are five main girls in Madoka Magica: Homura, Madoka, Sayaka, Kyoko, and Mami. In Madoka Magica, we see how each of these girls fight for their love, hope and desperation in exchange for their wish – they have to suffer. 

    Homura has tried to stop every chance of Kyuubey trying to trick Madoka into becoming a magical girl. Kyuubey's real intention, a being from another planet also known as Incubator, is to collect energy and emotions of teenage girls. The transition of a magical girl to a witch gives so much energy, and this is what the Incubator wants. On the other hand, Walpurgistnacht, a strong witch who has been the fear of Magical Girls, is coming to their city in less than a month. Homura has tried everything to stop it.

    It turns out that this isn't the original timeline. Homura's wish is to save Madoka and in every timeline, Madoka always dies. Homura’s love and obsession to Madoka is so pure to the point that she spends 20 years in a time loop just to save Madoka, while the ending would always be the same. She has been trapped in agony trying to save Madoka, her one and only love. Her love and desperation for Madoka are the things that keep her going. However, all of this time loop has created a karmic bond to Madoka. If she becomes a magical girl, she will be the strongest magical girl. However, if she becomes a witch, she will also be the strongest witch who can end the world in one attack.

    Knowing how much Homura has tried to save her, and all of the desperation from other magical girls, Madoka wishes to become a literal God. She becomes a concept called “The Law of Cycle”. She becomes an omniscience and omnipresence being of Magical Girls, The God of Magical Girls who stopped all magical girls from everywhere beyond space and time from turning into witches, becoming the saviour that ends the pain of Magical Girls, including Homura’s pain. From just her wish, the world gets rewritten and Madoka loses her physical body. She becomes a concept that only Homura remembers.

    Imagine loving someone so much that you spend years in an endless time loop trying to save them. Even though you know that it won’t end well, you still try everything to save them, and in order to answer that dedication of Love, Hope, Obsession, and Desperation you became a literal concept to end their suffering. How romantic, isn’t it?

Content Writer: Steven Andrew Santoso
Editor: Manohara Diwasasri

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