I might think your vid is better than mine but ur still lame

Moral of the story, Homura and Madoka should get a relationship counselor and teenage girls shouldn't be making deals with Intergalactic mephistopheles wannabes

"the road to hell is paved with good intentions"

The entire show is based on a simple logic, all action is reaction. The universe tends to equalize itself to 0, so if you create happiness, an equal amount of despair will comeback to you.

You said that all of these girls' problem was that they didn't love themselves. You 're right. That left me with a thought though. Why would someone who loved themselves as they were make a wish to change? The answer is they wouldn't. And that is the true evil of the incubators' plot, of their apathy. The system is set up so the only ones who fall prey to it are those who are already vulnerable

Imagine if Homura and Madoka could love themselves

Everyone: love conquers all. Homura: allow me to introduce myself.

They both love each other so much more than they love themselves that they both feel unworthy of the other. I loved the comment about how Homura would be perfectly fine with death if she was still together with Madoka. In that scene shown, Homura just flat out argues in favour of becoming witches, but only if both of them do. The only reason Madoka wasn't on board was because she loved everyone else as strongly as they each loved each other and couldn't risk sacrificing anyone other than herself.

"When neither of them loved themselves, how could either of them understand the feelings and wishes of the other..." Holy shit... Hoooly shit... That's it. Their whole dynamic makes sense now! But... Damn that's heartbreaking...

People often skip over the fact that without homura there is no God madoka her reseting the timeline over and over is what gave madoka the karma to have her wish granted while madoka's name is in the title it's always been homura's story

In regards to Homura's decision in Rebellion, I think you're forgetting about two crucial points. First is that the Incubators we're still a threat and there was absolutely nothing stopping them from trying their stunt over and over again until they successfully take control of the Law of Cycles. My second point is at Homura wasn't in the right state of mind, remember, the experience of being a Witch is pretty much mind rape. Absolutely no one could go through something like that without being affected. It's also pretty clear that Homura isn't really happy with what she's done. The Clara Dolls (familiars that are representations of her self hatred) are throwing Tomatoes at her and killing themselves, and the film ends with Homura dancing off a cliff. I think there's more than enough evidence that she's out right suicidal.

Madoka content in 2019... thank you.

Mania, in it's original Greek form, was known as a form of love, but not a positive one (unlike eros, philia, or agape). Mania was a consuming, obsessive love, a love that sought to control and/or own a person, to keep them close and never let them go, regardless of the other person's desires, and even dismissive of their thoughts and feelings. With that definition of mania, Homura fits it to a T.

“The power of love can only corrupt if it is never directed inward” I had to stop and re-hear this three times a great work.

That's incredible. If Madoka did what her mother said in the first episode, _none of this would have happened!_

The conclusion: You need to love yourself first before you can love others. Otherwise, the love you want to give isn´t grounded. Interestedly my master thesis about ppl with borderline deals with the same kind of topic. :)

Sure Homura hated herself, but she was the only one to never regret her wish. She knew exactly what the deal is, when she made the wish and judged, that it was still worth it. She loved Madoka in the first palce, because of her selflessness, decided to protect her and just never backed away She hated herself for not being good enough. At "It's all right, Homura-chan" she was proven right, that all she did was worth it, but her wish was not yet fulfilled. The exact moment Homura decided to take Madoka's powers is the flower field scene (just watch it again). My interpretation is that despite hating herself for it, Homura accepted her role (devil) as long as it saved Madoka. She just centered her morality around it and said fuck you to The World, Good and Evil

I think Homura's actions in Rebellion also make sense if you consider what EXACTLY it means for one to become a witch, and that is the loss of their purpose/wish. We only really get a look into Sayaka's and Homura's magical girl to witch cycles, but they both lose the things they truly wished for. Sayaka wished for Kyosuke to be healed, not because she truly wanted him to be happy but because she wanted him to return her feelings, and when he continued to shut her out instead of being indebted to her, she lost her purpose and fell into despair. The same happened with Homura: when Madoka wished to save the world and disappeared from it, Homura could no longer go back to meet and protect her, and thus her purpose was lost. She also began to lose sight of her wish just before Madoka made hers in the series finale, when Homura began to realize she would never save her and that it was pointless to try. Sayaka, when Madoka becomes the Law of Cycles, sees the error of her ways in the end: how not only was her wish at its core selfish, but how it was foolish and naive of her to expect Kyosuke to ever have feelings for her when she never spoke up. Despite how she rags on him a little bit for his density, she still wishes him and Hitomi real, unconditional happiness. Homura never makes this revelation. Ironically, by saving Homura, Madoka ultimately condemns her. By erasing herself from the world, Madoka contradicts Homura's entire reason for ever becoming a magical girl in the first place, and in so doing paves the way for Homura to inescapably fall into despair. Homura's turn in Rebellion, however, is also ironic--she splits up the Law of Cycles to keep Madoka for herself, driving an even bigger wedge between them, but if she had simply surrendered herself to the Law of Cycles, she could have been with Madoka as she desired. The Law of Cycles, through Sayaka and Bebe, is implied to be a sort of paradise for magical girls where Madoka can manifest, and Homura could have met her in that place again. But this series doesn't hinge on happiness. :^)

Just a correction, Madoka's wish for saving the universe (yes, universe, alien maho shoujos exist too) was also a selfless wish with selfish intent, she admited that she felt worthless/useless and wanted to be important, and being the savior, well... guess what? she got her *Selfish* wish after all. everyone is selfish, it's better to assume than pretend. Holy sheet these likes. Thanks.

I wonder if the show was an allegory for heroes in real life. Not many heroes get recognized, often losing themselves to the work, in pursuit of an unattainable goal. Modoka would be a representation of the self-doubter who rises to the top, and Homura being the follower, who only leads herself more astray, witches as the disheartened former heroes who became so disheartened, only others can salvage their work to improve, moving the cycle. Just a theory.

Madoka made many wishes. It seems the first one was "to not be shy anymore",then save a cat's life,then turn Sayaka into a magical girl again,then help out other magical girls. The result was always the same,she either died or became a witch. Just one wish was for herself. Changing her personality a tiny bit,she was still kind and cheerful,she was just less shy. And then all her wishes have no benefit for her. Save an unknown's cat life,having Sayaka back but how sure she is it won't happen again?,sometimes she didn't even KNOW the magical girls she helped. All her wishes,so selfless... And it seems it was all because she didn't loved herself,and she thought *she didn't **_deserve_** a wish for **_HER_*

I'd say Homura didn't necessarily want to "possess" Madoka. Rather, Homura wanted Madoka to be happy (as in have a happy life happy not being satisfied with sacrificing everything happy) and would have hypothetically been okay with something like sacrificing herself or otherwise being separated from Madoka, but since Madoka's own wish is to save everyone even at the expense of her own happiness, then Homura can only achieve her own wish by restraining Madoka or by keeping the shitty parts of the world hidden from her. But yeah, this conflict is ultimately "I'll sacrifice myself to save you (and everyone else)" "no I'll sacrifice myself to save you (because fuck everyone else they're delusional pkers)" "no I'll..." and the only satisfactory solution I could see was maybe some sort of compromise or working together to find a solution that doesn't require sacrifice.

You hit the nail on the head with this one... this is probably one of the best interpretations of the series I’ve seen bravo

I think you kind of got to it in an indirect way near the end, but I always find it troublesome when people frame Madoka's wish in such a simplistic black and white way, especially when they in the next breath deeply analyze another character. Madoka's wish wasn't selfless, and she didn't *really* save anyone. Yes of course not turning into witches is a marked improvement, but they're still children duped into a contract that 100% guarantees an early if not gruesome death, on top of trauma from fighting literal nightmares. I liked the conclusion you reached, however.

Moral of the story: Don't give reality-warping powers to goddamn teenagers.

In the beginning Homara was a shy girl when you remember the scene is framed that madoka is standing on the left and Homara to the right but after all she is been through in the future, Homara is now standing on the left and madoka to the right therefore creating The mirror effect. Slyness = confidence Confidence = slyness

Homura's story is so depressing but so interesting, imagine loving someone so deeply that you would pass several lifetimes trying to save them but at the end you know you will never be together, like it was impossible for you two to exist at the same time, so now that deep love becomes an obsession and that obsession could destroy the person you love the most...sounds horrifying if you ask me

Love, like any emotion, left uncontrolled, & unchecked is a dangerous force of desctruction just awaiting the right opportunity to express itself. In some cases, with deadly consequences.

I think that Homura IS a god, but just a demon-god, and her case is the exact opposite of Modoka's, with the same ending: Becomes a god, effects world forever.

It insane how someone adolescent allows since extreme thoughts of absolute. There passion they drive us our youth doesn't exactly feel the same older. Watthewut video really does speak the distance people will go to without understand how to love. Congrats on 10k

It is not enough to love another, if you cannot first love yourself.

Madoka: I think the world is precious! Homura: I think you are precious

Your channel name is exactly my reaction to the Madoka Magica plot

God, I love this show. The apathy of the incubators, the plot, the story, the feeling of love that is both power and corruption, the value of love, the layers are all too perfect. It's a beautifully presented show. Having a wish come true does not mean it will come true and you will have to learn the hard way. It's such a good show.

Madoka: I wanna die so everyone else can be saved Homura: I want to be with Madoka whether we live or die

Love is Destruction Did not expect the Evangelion route on this film. Thank you to you and Craftsdwarf for finally getting me to watch it. Im astounded fans did not like it. I never felt the original was an exactly happy or conclusive ending. My biggest thought after the original was "Well, what about Homura?" And this film followed it up in a very satisfying manner, as you both have so eloquently put. Besides, it has some of the coolest art direction and audio/visual presentation I have ever seen. It was a very intense cinematic experience!

When the video ended I just leaned back, let out an elongated "DAAAAMN" and clicked like. This is SO good, I honestly dont have the vocabulary to describe how this video made me feel. This was amazing, thank you so much for you work.

RuPaul: *”If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love anybody else? CAN I GET AN AMEN?”*

Comprise huh, I think Homura just presented that at the end of rebellion everyone was alive and happy, Mami not alone anymore, Sayaka and Kyouko finding happiness from each other, Madoka technically still keeps every magical girl from becoming witches and Homura gets what she wants to be with Madoka, So does that mean it technically ended in happy one? Everyone gets what they want? I think? This reeeeeally needs a sequel that will answer everyone prayers or just destroy them

This video is really something you know? I love how you address selfworth and selflove as the cause and confliction that moved everything, and that's so important because for the things that you mentioned and described, I love this show so much. The path to self love is so convoluted and complicated even if you're not a teenager. Sometimes we're stuck in this mindset for so long that we can't tell anymore what love and hate really are, and this is depicted in the show and the video oh so well! Thank you so much for sharing this!!

This vid is rlly good! This helped contextualize why Rebellion was needed; to tell that selfless love without self-love will end in despair.

Parts of this video could almost read like a bible reading lol. Spreading the good word of Godoka amiright? But bringing up that none of the girls loved themselves hit different, damn :( it was a great point and overall I really loved the analysis you gave

Amazing essay, I knew the writing of Madoka Magica was genius but I never viewed it this symbolistically and didn't thought about the adults' speeches that much.

This is such a fantastic analysis of their wishes and the series as a whole. Great job!

Wow. That was amazing. Every time u watch a video of yours, a new thought about an anime enters my mind. I learn new possible aspects to a show and my appreciation for an anime grows. I never thought about how powerful the power of love is, amazing job.

This is the most beautiful thing to come out of MM, and that's saying a lot. That's truly and deeply profound. I was one of those who said Homura did nothing wrong, and technically, I still am, but the singular argument that Madoka is reckless and suicidal and Horuma is right to rescue her from it doesn't hit the thematic head on the head, where NONE of the magical girls truly loves themselves. Not only do I think it's true, I wish there wasn't this sense of lingering that needs a comment on this. I wish Urobatchi would have come out after Rebellion and said: Consider this. None of the magical girls love themselves, Madoka is only the most visible. This story is important, like deeply spiritually important. It's one thing to like something, it's another to know it's a reflection of truth. And for that, I thank you, I really do.

Its incredible how much despair an anime can bestow on you. And although it was quite a horrible time as I watched it, I cant let it go and still yearn to find something else that will have such a meaning to me

I so hope that the spin-off anime in the works is enough of a success that they'll FINALLY make the movie that the "concept movie" hinted at.

Homura clearly never heard that song "If you love me let me go"

I hope the FBI person that's seeing what I'm watching learns to love themselves. And is also emotionally broken after making them watch all of Madoka Magica and Rebellion.

Your reading of this, imo, was so dramatic and entertaining that I felt the experience could only have been better if I were watching this in a theater with a bag of popcorn and a soda. 10/10, will share with all my friends

This videos makes so much sense! But I must admit because you’re talking so fast it made a little confusing. However, I love the passion behind it! It was amazing! This video was beautiful!!!

I always wonder why the girls did not make wishes that both helped others and themselves.

Been thinking about rewatching the series, and now Crafts and Wat do a video. Guess now's a good time.

Holy moly this was incredible.

"Love is the world's infinite mutability; lies, hatred, murder even, are all knit up in it; it is the inevitable blossoming of its opposites, a magnificent rose smelling faintly of blood"

Once you make a wish you’re already a witch. Homura is able to become a demon not just because she took a piece of the law of cycles but because she was able to embrace herself as a witch

I...finally understand the story of madoka magical! Thank you so much WattheWut I loved this amime but it was so confusing beforehand. Now I know and love it even more because of how beautiful it truly is

I’d love for Homura and Madoka to fight while screaming their ideologies at each other kinda like Sasuke and Naruto

Thanks for this. I die a little inside whenever somebody says Homura went yandere at the end of Rebellion.

Thank you so much for making this, it really opened my eyes to the true gravity of the theme of love in this series and how Homura isn’t as wonderful as I thought she was, none of them are fully good but they also can’t be considered villains, and the self love was something that was covered really well Thank you so much for making this!

Madoka Magica was a messed up but hopeful anime. Really messed me up but made me see things in another light (or dark).

This video was... amazing. None of the girls were good people, but none of them were bad. I’ve been trying to learn to love myself, and to accept myself for who I am, but it’s hard. I appreciate this video, to many people search for love as if it’s the only cure to their sadness, and forget that self love is the most important thing. It’s okay to be selfish sometimes, it’s good to put others above yourself as long as your not doing it all the time. Care and respect yourself, be yourself and make sure to step back and put meaning in yourself. If you are nothing without others then you need to work on that. Self love is more important then your love for another, just as long as it doesn’t get out of hand.

♡︎ This was amazing. I really feel like this show taught me to love myself more, and appreciate what I have. This will forever be one of my favorite animes.

I dunno man, between Homura's initial willingness to die in the labyrinth to protect Madoka, the clara dolls, the flower scene, the epilogue, and listening to Homura's final words again, I can't help but feel like you're making homura's actions out to be a little more selfish than I think they really are. Edit: I also believe that Homura giving Madoka her red ribbons back at the end of the movie signified Homura accepting the real Madoka for who she is and not just an idealized copy that she can be possessive of, even if that means they'll eventually be at odds with each other in the future.

Moral of the story: You can't love someone in a healthy way if you don't love yourself

This is by far the best analysis video of this series that I've watched. Bravo.

Loved both Craftsdwarf video and yours. Those final thoughts about the characters needing to appreciate themselves really make a lot of sense... Hope the series ends like that. Thank you.

Man, great work!! I re-watched Madoka recently with my younger brother - I first time watched when I was 15 - and I must say, Great analysis. I would take it in a little bit diffrent direction, but reasoning was strong and understanding of underlying rules of the show makes it a great watch. Keep up the great work, man. I will be subscribing to your channel for sure. Godspeed, brother!

If there could be a sequal to rebellion, I would love the idea of it being about madoka and homura learning to love themselves and using that power to defeat kyubey and turn everything to normal.

This is just an Intense Lesbian Yuri anime.

Still better love story than Twilight.

Thank you! I wonder why these points weren't clear for everyone!

This is hands down the best Madoka analysis I've ever seen

Its pretty much an ancient symbolism or mythological phenomenon that is based on a Good book. Madoka came first a God, Representing Order/Good/Negentropy Then remember when homura grabbed goddess madoka and rip A part of her? to absorb her to become equal to god. Now Homura came second a Demon, Representing Chaos/Evil/Entropy and when joined together they become "Harmony". Such a great way of reconciling homura and madoka and also a great way of concluding the show. A Masterpiece 👌 of a Show.

Madoka Magica brilliantly exposes just how meaningless the distinction between selfish and selfless is. And yet people still go on and on and on about it. How trite. I wish for once someone familiar with the underlying philosophy would attempt to discuss this work.

Both yours and Crafts videos are amazing and further cement my frustration at not actually being able to watch Rebellion in any convenient fashion.

What a great video, finally someone who seems to understand Homura and to me what seems to be the theme of the story.

That moment when your waifu becomes a goddess so you turn yourself into satan to stop her from suffering like a mad boss.

Wow. Just wow. The power of the show to make you see in an indirect that love is all is amazing. I think the meaning of the magical girls is to express love to others and fulfill the wishes and desires. But with out knowing your corrupting your soul. People with the wish of loving others with out loving their selfs and making an equal force will fell onto despair. Either you die trying to make others feel good or make your on wish of selfishness relying on other people to make you feel good. Selfish is the only think we people rely on. But one day you will find happiness on something that will make you. Have a great day.

WE'RE GETTING A NEW MOVIE EVERYONE! ITS HAPPENING!

I've always opposed the idea that Homura was planning on betraying Madoka at any time before she was rescued from despair. A lot of people I see seem to think that it was her plan all along ever since that flower field scene, but that scene ends with Homura telling Madoka that she's strong and brave enough to make the sacrifice she did at the end of the original series and basically being okay with it while she goes off to willingly turn into a Witch to stop the Incubators. But this interpretation here is one I really like. I can 100% see the idea that only upon that last unintentional trampling of her wish thanks to the kindness of Madoka did she decide to force her wish upon the world, because as she says she "won't hesitate anymore."

Its the selflessness that made them a witch in the first place. So love turning her into a demon shouldnt be shocking

You are one of the few people I've seen make a video on this show and not blow it waaaaay out of proportion

I really enjoyed this video and the Mistaken Burden video. I love the Madoka Magica series, but these analytical videos just INCREASED my appreciation for the series even more!

The narration in this video is so good

Great video. A bit different from other Madoka Magica video essays, and that's nice.with Walpurgisnacht Rising coming, I'm in a tizzy for more and more of this series.

This video is so good my god! This is exactly my thoughts! As a kid watching, i felt like Madoka was an angel and a hero. But now as an adult I can see so many issues with the whole casts‘s ideology and decitions. You can see that this is way too much responsibility for some teenage kids and it really reminds me of eva as well.

I know this is an old video but WOW! I was BLOWN away by this analysis! I feel like it's exactly right! What's so great about this show is the philosophical questions and implications it raises. When you said at 3:30 Love grants you power But is always destroying Because without love directed inward Love only has the potential to corrupt That really resonated with me because I have seen it again and again in my life and the lives of people around me. It's always those you love the most that you hurt the most. And always those who love you the most that hurt you the most. When you love someone you give them power over you. Far greater power than anyone else can have over you. A bad relationship can permanently ruin your life and permanently scar and traumatize you for life. While some rando you don't even care about can't hurt you the way someone you love can. If someone rando said you're ugly who cares you might upset for a day but ultimately it has no effect on your life. But if someone you deeply love tells you that your ugly.....that wound is permanent.

I have seen this video 3 times now and I think it's one of my top10 favorite youtube videos. Fitting, for a video about my all time favorite anime.

I may be a year late but I genuinely do appreciate how much thought was put into this amazingly put together video and after reading/watching other peoples views and interpretations on the show, this was the video that was the final nail that gave me the proper closure that I wanted to hear! :)

Your review deserves a billion views. Seriously, not only did you go into depth that everyone, including someone who did not watch the show(me),but to all madoka fans. Beautiful, just beautiful

How I see it: The cup is always full of air and Water. Compromises are the reason why I see the world as it is.

“... but merely indifference. Apathy.” APATHY IS DEATH

Huh, so basically, it’s the same message about love as that of Evangelion. Heck, I’d go so far as to say it does it in an even more subtle and thought-provoking manner.

Very interesting take on the Madoka-Homura relationship, and one that gives me a lot of food for thought. Just one question: do you think that your thesis of a midpoint ('golden mean') between Madoka's selfless love and Homura's selfish love is a new idea introduced by Rebellion? At the end of the TV series, the impression I had was that Madoka's selfless love seemed to be the show's answer to how to break the magical girl cycle. Madoka's sacrifice was framed as good, she was wiser and more powerful than Homura (see e.g. their final conversation), and Homura appeared to be moving on ('...and that is why... I keep fighting!" were her -- and the show's -- final words). As if the original intended message was that selfless love is better, and that sacrificing oneself for others is a good thing (a very Japanese thing at least). Then came Rebellion, and the yin-yang of selfish-selfless raised its head. What do you think?

I just realized that Homura's world is an opportunity. I hope in Homura's world, the girls get a chance to actually solve their own problems. Talk about them. Put them behind. Not...sacrifice their lives because they can't handle it anymore but they don't want to hurt people. P.S: I'm starting to understand the mindset behind the theory saying Madoka was actually planning to take her own life for a time now, and becoming a Goddess simply presented itself as an opportunity to do it and still be useful.

This video really shed light on Madoka's character, i found her a bit boring at first at the start of the series because i felt like she had no personality, but i liked how you pointed out how Madoka never loved herself, she thought of herself as somehing worthless and I never paid attention to her dialouges, watching this video, i start to realise there's more to Madoka and I remember her dialouges.

Thank you for the explanation for the movie when I watched it felt contradicting but sfter seeing this video actually made the series make sense

Lots of dope words, mate. I didn't understand a thing.