fun fact: kyoko doesn't know how to swim, so it's really interesting that her labyrinth has an underwater theme.

I always interpreted Kyoko's power being chains because her wish chained people's attention to her dad

I’m surprised you didn’t mention how madoka’s 1st witch form bottom part looks like a bird cage and sheltering those beneath it but also trapping like being a witch has corrupted her wish.

I've heard that in dream psychology, losing teeth is a sign of anxiety or lack of control. I'd double-check it, but if that's true, then Homura's nutcracker witch and her teeth imagery could represent how she had no control over Madoka's fates and the stress that built up with time

My personal theory is that the flags on ocktavia symbolize the most important people in Sayaka's life as a magical girl Yellow for Mami, Gold for Kyosuuke, Green for Hitomi, Red for Kyoko and the Pink bow is for Madoka

I usually take the placement of the soul gems to represent what that part of the body is associated with. Sayaka's soul gem is on her stomach because she goes with her gut feelings. Kyoko and Madoka follow their hearts. Mami's soul gem is on her head as she's smart and when she got overconfident in her battle with Charlotte she both literally and figuratively lost her head. Homura's soul gem is on her left hand which is considered to be associated with the devil and other bad things which fits her for multiple reasons of course. Octavia is also The Little Mermaid. in the story, mermaids don't have souls and turn into sea foam when they die. The titular character falls in love with a prince she saved so she trades away her voice to a sea witch in exchange for legs so she can get with the prince and get a soul but if the prince marries someone else then she dies at dawn. The prince falls in love with someone else and marries the woman and the mermaid dies. as you can guess, a lot of the story matches up with Sayaka. Gretchen is named after a character in the German tale of Faust which mirrors several aspects of Madoka Magica's themes and such and is probably the reason there's a lot of German in the show/movie. Here's a fun fact. If you notice, Homura's magical girl outfit is very similar to the school outfit down to the triangles on the shirt tail (both front and back) and the placements of the bows. Homulily's connection with the Nutcracker is also pretty symbolize. The nutcracker in the ballet has a broken jaw and therefore can't fulfill it's purpose. Similarly, Homura feels like she has lost her purpose. This is also likely why teeth are a prominent feature with Homulily. Another thing to note is Homura's connection to flames as fire can represent her determination and drive. Flames are also prominent in her witch transformation as the blimps on fire fall from the sky. Her realizing she's a witch causes her to start signaling for her execution. Literally burning the witch. Another thing to note is that right before she fully transforms, the last part of her to not be a witch takes the form of a salamander which are connected to fire.

I love that Homura's shield is on the same arm that her soul gem is located because a shield is used to block attacks and her soul gem is in the back of her hand so everytime she uses her shield, she leave her soul gem wide open to getting shattered. Kind of taking on the meaning that she's going to protect Madoka even if it means her own demise...

Personally, I think Homura's Nutcracker motif symbolizes her idolization of Madoka. In the story and the ballet, Marie/Clara is very attached to and protective of her Nutcracker. She keeps him close and sees him as her prince. This to me seems similar to how Homura puts Madoka on a pedestal and feels it's her duty to protect her. Heck, there's even some story parallels if you really think hard about it; in the original German Nutcracker story, Marie's brother Fritz breaks the Nutcracker which causes Marie to lash out at him and wrap a ribbon around her Nutcracker's broken teeth, which represents Homura's hatred of Kyubey and what he's done to her Nutcracker, Madoka. It could also explain the ribbon on the door at the end of Rebellion. Also, Kyubey's somewhat rodent-like appearance being attacked by Homura's familiars with Nutcracker-based designs could be a reference to the Nutcracker and his toy soldiers battling the Mouse King. To add to that, Homura's other familiars are called Clara dolls, who are said to be in a constant state of mourning, like how Clara mourns for her Nutcracker and how Homura mourns for Madoka. That's my personal theory anyways. Yours is really cool too.

Another things with mami and her flower soul gem. I always assumed it hinted towards her being very fragile as a person

I think Madoka's ribbons being yellow at the the end of rebellion is because at the beginning of the movie AND the beginning of the very first episode of the show, Madoka can't decide wether to take the the pink or the yellow ribbons. The reason she has the yellow ones in Rebellion is because the one who had the pink ribbons at that time was Homura, as we can see her wearing it after re-writing the universe. So, Madoka had to wear the yellow ribbons, due to Homura having the pink ones lol

Funfact: Under Octavia’s armor is a melting and giant mermaid sayaka Another idea: Flowers are fragile. Like Mami’s sanity

I also wanna point out few things missing here. 1. Candelora's familiars in game were Madoka and Kyoko. If you look closer to Kyoko familiar, her hands are wrapped with a ribbon. And in a card, it says "Because she keeps running away, Candelora makes sure she never run away." Since Kyoko also rebelled on Mami before leaving her, this is kinda sad. Mami actually never wanted to lose Kyoko even after they left each other. 2. Kriemhild Gretchen actually had a familiar in concept art, but never used for unknown reason. That familiar is a measuring scale with a pink wing. And in a bio, "This familiar measures one's heart on its scale, and see how much that person was guilty. If it's heavy, the witch gives a person even more mercy." It kinda makes sense, since Madoka is always kind and thoughtful. 3. Madoka's grief seed actuslly has a diamond shape, instead of teardrop like her soul gem. And the diamond refers to Homura's soul gem. 4. Homulilly final ver also has some Marie Antoinette vibes. Large fancy dress giving rococo inspiration, the theme music is also French like because of accordian, and a guillotine. Marie Antoinette also thought herself as a true failure as a queen, and accepted her fate. Homura also described herself as useless trash. Poor Homura 😭😭😭

I disagree, I think the Chakra dealing with the head has a lot to do with Mami. When the Crown Chakra is in Balance is it represents intelligence, understanding, strong faith and connection to the divine, while in unbalance it represents cynicism and closed mindedness. This relates to Mami because she doesn't have intelligence or understanding when I comes to the truth of what magical girls become and she has strong faith in Kyubey, her supposed divine savior, and remains close to him throughout the show. When she finds out the truth she freaks out, loses her joy and becomes cynical and close-minded choosing to go full murder suicide on the quintet. Regardless, I really liked the video!!

Something I don't think you mentioned is that Homulilly's motif is that of a traditional witch. Long pointed nose, witches hat and long black dress like something out of a Grimm fairy tale. I believe this symbolizes her comprehensive knowledge of what a witch is. She has lived as a magical girl for so long, learned the secret of how witches are born, and seen countless magical girls turn into witches. She knows exactly what a witch is, and therefore her witch form is a witch. Her walk through the city is not just a funeral procession, it is also an execution. She's shackled and her familiars are not just guarding homura because she needs to be buried, but also guarding homura to make sure she doesn't escape. The funeral procession is going toward a huge guillotine, and maybe she would have gone into another transformation if she had reached the guillotine. My intepretation has two parts. One is that she is already dead but still dying. Like how all witches are dead magical girls but still need to be killed. Second, she loathes herself. She knows her love of madoka is unhealthy and dangerous, and believes it would be best to die as a witch rather than be saved. The ribbons on her back look like hands reaching for something. I interpret it as reaching for madoka, or reaching for a happy future. I vaguely remember other reaching hands in the movie, but i don't recall exactly. Right before homura transforms into a witch she is wearing a dress that looks like Victorian goth girl attire. Its very frilly and imo its her best outfit. The music we hear during her initial walk (which i think is Homulilly's main theme) is actually coming from the phonograph on her back. Her most powerful familiars are the clara dolls. They are mourners for homulilly and they each represent an emotion, with love absent. They carry what looks like sewing needles as their weapons, and you mention some of her other witch forms also have sewing needles. I think its probably the threads of fate? Later on in the fight homulilly starts projecting clockwork out of her back, referencing her time stop weapon as a magical girl and her time magic

I always figured Homulily was the nutcracker witch because of her uselessness. In the same way that a nutcracker without teeth no longer has its intended function, she feels devalued by Madoka's disappeance from the world since her purpose for so long (basically her entire Magical girlhood) was to protect her, change her fate, and save her life. While she did achieve this, it became warped by Madoka no longer being in her life and that's why I think she went nuts

For Sayaka's soul gem: the "C" shape immediately makes me think of a piano, where "C" is the most important note. Most instruments' music is written in one clef; however, piano music is written in two clefs (bass/lower notes for left hands and treble/higher notes for right hands). The "middle C" is the one note that is written the same no matter which clef you are in, and it's the key in the center of the piano. Since Sayaka's gem is in her "middle", it makes sense that it's shaped like a C. Pianos also accompany violins a lot (they accompany a lot of instruments a lot lmao.....) which might reference how Sayaka wanted to "accompany" Kyousuke. Speaking of Kyousuke, Kyouko and Kyousuke are basically the same name, only one has a feminine ending and the other has a masculine ending. Kyousuke/ko can also be spelled with the kanji for "help" which might also be what the name Ophelia is referencing. One thing I noticed about Gretchen's mouth: it has a half-moon between her teeth. After Homura splits Madoka, the moon is once again cut in half. As for Homura: first with the diamonds, I saw in 28:59 that the bottom part of Madoka's bow looks like it's carved into the shape of a chain of diamonds, and Homura's tights/boots have the diamond chain pattern. Also, I've seen people mention how Homura's magical girl outfit looks pretty similar to her school uniform, which makes sense as that is not only where she met Madoka, but also shows that Homura is disillusioned with the concept of magical girls. She doesn't care about the flashy finishing moves or pretty magic (which is usually the honey that invites girls into Kyubey's trap), she only cares about the utility. And finally, her gem being on her left hand might reference two things. First, while a "right hand man" is a trusted, close friend someone goes to if they need help, a "left hand man" is a person who that someone goes to if they need something... "taken care of". Homura spends a lot of her timelines working in the shadows for Madoka: she deals with Oriko and Kirika, hunts down Kyubeys before they can make a contract with Madoka, and she defeats witches/sets up the battle with Walpurgisnaught. She is doing the dirty work to help Madoka. Second, the left hand is also where the wedding ring goes. Homura's magical girl contract was supposed to be a promise to protect Madoka; wedding vows often include stuff like "promise to love and cherish, in sickness and in health." Wedding rings are also stereotypicly diamonds; so it's a diamond gem that serves as a symbol of two people's love and affection for each other. And even when Homura becomes a "widow" (Madoka becomes a god), she still wears her gem there, like how some widow/ers wear their wedding rings. Next, for how different her witch forms are, I think it shows the progression of Homura from a regular magical girl into a demon. You can see how her psyche changes, but despite the seemingly huge difference between Homulily 1 and 2 and Rebellion Homulily, there's a lot of connections you can make. Besides the record motif, there's also the connection between Homulily 2's glasses Homura ribbons and the Clara dolls/solider familiars. The solider familiars in rebellion are glasses Homuras holding staffs; similar to the needles Homulily 2's glasses Homuras are holding. The Clara dolls are familiars that follow Homulily around, reminding her of her failure; Homura sees her glasses self as a failure because she was too weak to save Madoka. Also, the teeth motif for Rebellion Homulily might also be referencing how the movie is a dream/nightmare. A common nightmare is someone's teeth falling out, which symbolizes an abrupt change or loss. Homura willingly turned into a witch specifically to stop Kyubey from hurting Madoka; but she knows that that would also mean that she will never see Madoka again. Even though Madokami wasn't with Homura, before that point, Homura had the comfort of knowing she would eventually be with Madoka again--she's losing Madoka all over again.

I still think that the witches designs are gorgeous and incredibly unique. Every design is carefully thought out, and it just goes to show how much the creators and designers actually love and care about the franchise.

I like to think the hourglass thing symbolizes the gruesume duality that Gretchen and Walpurgis have, in the sense that, if one is defeated the other will rise, just like when the sand of an hourglass ends, it will go to the other side, and it will go on and on until someone decides to break the cycle, which is basically what madoka does at the end of the series

Mami is a Japanese name associated with beauty and tea. Not sure if it has anything to do with the English word "Mommy" but maybe it was supposed to be a double entendre

If there is some symbology in the deck of cards, Madoka is a heart, Mami the club, Kyoko could be the diamond from her soul gem shape, and maybe Sayaka is the spade with how her witch form appears. Maybe Homura represents the Joker card, a wild card that can be helpful or harmful

Homura's diamond soul gem on her left hand always rang as a wedding ring to me. She's tied to Madoka, until death do us part, in an infinite vow to protect her. Wedding rings are worn on the left hand as well, and the diamonds is reminiscent of a diamond ring. It's a promise of protection out of love.

Devil-Homura's Soul Gem looks like a Queen Chess piece to me. Which is fitting since the Queen is the most powerful piece on the board and is set next to the King, the weakest yet most important piece on the board, with the game ending and being reset if it's lost (like how Homura resets the timeline if she fails to protect Madoka, who she keeps powerless).

Another translation for "Madoka" is "Window", which is played on a lot in the Rebellion Movie, especially during the scene where Madoka's scarred arm reaches Homura through a window, essentially making the line both Homura calling out Madoka's name and mentioning a window opening, revealing new hope. It's also tied up with ribbons in the last few seconds of the movie before the end credits.

Interestingly enough Sayaka believed she wasn't being selfish by using her wish on someone else but she can only heal herself not others

Kyoko's wish 'Chained' those people to follow her father. They didn't just listen to him, they became brainwashed. You can see it during the backstory when they people are wearing the symbol. Their eyes start glowing. That means magic was influencing their choices and continued choices. A similar power is shown in Magia Record. (SPOILERS!) A Rumor is created that can make people lose their inhibitions so long as they wear it, that being the Wings of Magius Pendent. We see in Kyoko's back story that the ones who start wearing the pendent associated with Kyoko's father have something of a similar effect: It influenced their behavior. When someone is brainwashed in shows like this, their behaviors change and they can do or will do things that, had they been of sound mind and uninfluenced, they wouldn't have done. They are trapped and bound to this hypnosis, or CHAINED to it, since chains on a symbolic level represent being bound to something.

I always thought homuras outfit was reminiscent of a jester (square patterns and her cape. That and her hair splits like a jester hat) possibly being a “fool” for her wish to protect madoka

I swear I love this show the amount of detail in the characters, their outfits, the witches, the music and so on makes it a treat to watch For this kind of stuff It still remains as my favorite show ever

22:45 one other fun little translation of Madoka's name is if you read it as "Mado, ka?" which basically means "Is that a window?" or something to that effect (mado being the word for window) the only reason I bring it up is because of how often window imagery was associated with madoka in the rebellion movie. it shows a window breaking in her transformation sequence, she's constantly showing up in windows for flashback sequences, and windows feature prominently in homura's breakdown sequence around the end (like when a giant madoka is reaching her hand down through one)

I think Madoka wearing her yellow ribbons at the end of Rebellion is supposed to symbolize her going back to her meek and un-confident self that Homura saw her as. At the beginning of the series, she asks her mom for advice, and her mom says to wear the pink ribbons because they're flashier and more daring. Her going with yellow ribbons in Homura's world shows the idealized version of Madoka that Homura wants to protect and keep to herself. Homura giving Madoka the pink ribbons back was her acknowledging that even in her perfect world, Madoka won't stay that way forever.

I'll just throw this out here. I think Madoka's soul gem when transformed also resembles the general silhouette of soul gems when untransformed. If you look closely, it has that little circle on top to resemble the unique topper on all other girls' soul gems. Madoka has the most generic cute magical girl design, and her destiny of becoming God of magical girls could foreshadow into the shape of her soul gem. This also translates to her doppel and witch forms. The big shadowy figure of KG looks a lot like a soul gem to me, which is a projection of that soul gem "core" we see in the portable game and Madoka's doppel. That or Madoka's witch form is an onion.

I thought tulips symbolize elegance and grace and are also a flower given at funerals to the grieving. So I always saw that as either one of her death flags, it's a symbol of her grieving for the others that died around her as well as why she staying so positive or it's a sign to the other girls not to grieve for her. Weird thought that came to mind for Mami's death effecting one of her forms is that the animation looked like someone hanging, which was another ( I think more common way) to execute witches and that label is the tea bag string that you use to pull the tea bag out. But that might be a stretch. The pins could be representing where she pulled the pin on the time lines or how she used the events in the time or reseting the pin in her record hat to start over again. Again another stretch but who knows eh?

I think Octavias ribbon is like her school outfit and how school played a big part in sayakas magical girl life EDIT also when kyoko fights octavia you can hear sayakas screams so maybe that's like cursed opra singing

Incredible video, I've waited so, so long for this one. A few notes while watching: Sayaka: -I personally interpreted Sayaka's soul gem shape to be a crescent moon, as the moon & water are very closely tied to each other. The moon also (if I recall correctly) plays a role in healing in pagan/Wiccan arts -One thing you didn't mention is how revealing Sayaka's outfit is compared to the other girls. Her shoulders are bare, her soul gem is located on her navel (which is slightly exposed), and she wears a short asymmetrical skirt. It further fuels the connection that Sakaya, for all of her talk of justice, made this wish to get a boy's attention (Kyousuke) Kyoko: -If you clasp your hands together to pray, they end up in the center of your chest - right here Kyoko's soul gem is placed -To be honest, whenever I see Kyoko's outfit, I think of a traditional Christian priest's robe. (especially the collar) Makes sense since her father was a preacher -There is more to the reference to Shakespeare's Hamlet than just the witch's name. Ophelia committed suicide because she was caught in a conflict between the one she loved (Hamlet) and her father. This could be symbolism for how Kyoko rejected Sakaya's view of "a virtuous magical girl" in favor of her father's view: that she (and all other magical girls) are nothing more than evil beings -The portable game states that Ophelia's horse used to be a unicorn. This can be interpreted as loss of innocence Mami -I kind of thought that the abundance of flower symbolism in Mami's design is a subtle nod to her actually being a very delicate person. Flowers in the wild can look tough & thriving but cut them and they will soon wither away -One really cruel fact about Candeloro is it's size - it's "bite-sized" Madoka -I always interpreted her power as "aways being able to protect others." She cat create arrows out of pure magic and use them to fight enemies, unlike a lot of other magical girls that are instantly rendered powerless once they lose their weapon. Even if she has nothing - Madoka can always protect others! -I interpreted Gretchen's "legs/bottom half" as reminiscent of a cage. As if Madoka herself was "caged in"/trapped in the same, ever repeating timeline. It could also represent Madoka's seemingly restricted freedom since she is always being watched over by Homura Homura -One thing that you overlooked was how solemn and gloomy her magical girl outfit was. When she made her wish, she was in mourning -Homulily having strong ties to a nutcracker could be interpreted as how "saving Madoka by herself" was the one task she was never able to accomplish - the one nut that she could never crack

The bodies surrounding Homura's doppel are most likely a reference to the Clara Dolls or Children of the lost city from Rebellion, being both 14 in number. Also the official description for the doppel in game calls them emotions without a form yet and the Clara dolls represented Homura's different emotions.

The shape of Homura's devil dress almost looks like a chest scar that usually is there after heart surgery.

A very fun fact is that “selfless” coded wishes, or wishes that do not impact the user at all aside from side effects, have that centre soul gem placement like Madoka and Kyoko. It’s selflessness like Kyoko’s wish for her father and Madoka’s selfless wishes in nearly all timelines that makes their wishes selfless. It’s a really cool concept!

Now I kinda wanna make a witch based on myself lol

I don't like the "theory" that Kyubei keeps Madokas powers the same each time to force the time loops because it's stated in Madoka's first run that Kyubeis didn't even realise that Homura could reverse time. It's why it's such a revelation to them and how they realise Madoka's potential wish has such cosmic energy behind it.

You had trouble with the glasses-versions sourounding Homura's second doppel. The description specifically mentions that there are 14 of them. In Rebellion, there are a set of 14 very special familiars known as the Clara Dolls, with one more that we don't get to see. The Clara Dolls also wield knitting needles as weapons just like the 14... arms? ...of Homura's doppel. While most doppels don't use their familiars, the Clara Dolls do behave very differently from most familiars being extremely powerful on top of each being unique.

Kyoko’s chains could be representative of the fact she “chained” the people into that lifestyle, the reason her father went insane and killed the family was because he found out they weren’t actually listening to him, and they were being forced there by Kyoko’s magic. They were chained to the church.

I always thought Kyoko's chains matched her wish pretty well. Her wish bound people to her father's words. So her power is to bind others, though she uses it in creative ways

HII I KNOW THIS VIDEO IS KINDA OLD BUT I WANNA SHARE A FUN FACT !! Magical girls actually choose what their outfits are when they become magical girls- this is confirmed in the madoka magica Portable game in a conversation with sayaka and kyoko

Homura’s names means flame, one of the songs in rebellion is called “flames of despair”. The song plays at homuras discovery of being a witch. She in that moment was burning in utter despair.

Fun fact: certain tones and of red(by certain extents pink) and blue can give green and yellow as their reverse colors, so maybe the chakra thing is a little more intentional than we think

I was gonna say that for Sayaka's soul gem placement, there could still be a musical connection to be made as musicians can often rely on their diaphragm (which sort of sits around our midsection), to help with controlling the air for singing and for playing instruments(especially woodwind)

Apparently Homura’s new soul gem is actually known as a “Grief singularity” As now even pain has become dear to her because its just a symbol for now much she loves Madoka

I think it's interesting how Sayaka and Kyoko are so deeply connected together that even though Kyoko can't swim she still stays around water even as a witch.

I honestly love the witch and magical girl design as I learned that their designs do sort of reflect from their psyche. Especially homulilly and her rebellion form. As you mentioned she has a broken record in her design as she repeatedly jumps back in time to save madoka. Then your explanation for the nutcracker design is a good one, but from what I learned is that the nutcracker in the fairytale felt useless, much like homura did after failing madoka so many times, added to that the failure to protect her in rebellion as kyubey plotted to use her to get to madoka, being trapped and used by the incubator making her fully feel useless, death being the only way to protect madoka and finally not failing. Then there's also the needles in her original form which is pretty straightforward, it basically represents the different timelines being woven together and create a incredibly powerful being. There's also the red spiderweb tears homura cries before becoming a full witch, further implying the weaving concept, madoka being unintentionally being trapped in a web of fate that she continued to make. Then there's her magical girl design. Her gem and clothes are very much more refined. Her gem is one of the only ones that has been cut into a hard shape, that most likely stems from her knowing exactly what she wants and is dead set on protecting madoka, her will of saving her is strong and unwavering. then her outfit resembles the most the classical school uniform of the school they're going to. She has no time to be fancy and flashy as she needs to be ready and plan out everything to be in her favour, the description of the glasses homura in her second doppel form say that they attack in pinpoint accuracy and timing. (I know this is a long wall of text but I'm just really invested on the whole madoka stuff is it is so dang cool)

The moment you brought up the odd fact Kyoko can make chains I immediately thought “Mami? The first different story?” And than ya said different story! 🤯

Let's not forget that Homura started her month in a hospital, so she physically fragile and " broken", with Madoka taking care of her with her love. Basically Homura was Madoka's "Nutcracker"

Homura’s clock does not automatically reset at the end of the month, ( the amount of time the sand in it clock ) after using up all the sand, all she can do is either reset the clock, sending her back to the start of the month! Or just be used to store stuff. We see this in spin off stories and homura tamura.

one thing that i can't get out of my mind about homura's doppel is that the bottom part of it looks kinda like a grief seed mixed with an hourglass like it's inevitable that at least one of the girls will turn into a witch and it's only a matter of time until that happens plus, the ribbon-hands also make it look like madoka's grief seed

One thought about madoka's early witch forms are like you stated in an early video a broken specter, or interestingly a whiker man. Whicher man where a type of effigy used to sacrifec/ give offerings to a highe power, usualy by burning an animal in the cage.

Fun fact! I looked it up, and apparently nutcrackers represent power and strength and “serves like a trusty watch dog guarding your family from evil spirits and danger. A fierce protector, the nutcracker bares its teeth to the evil spirits and serves as the traditional messenger of good luck and goodwill” Likely a reference to how she acts as a protector to Madoka, and acts as a bit of cruel irony since ravens mean the opposite of good luck, and that she doesn’t even have teeth as a witch so she fails to do her job even in death.

I'm reaching to mars and back with this one. I've read somewhere that loosing teeth represents spiritual rebirth and to renivent/reborn yourself. At the end of Rebellion, Homura rebirthed herself that is not a witch or a magical girl all in the sake for Madoka, just like how Madakami rebirth an entirely new generation of magical girls at the end of the series.

Another fact about Mami's witch is that in the manga "The Different Story", it shows Sayaka and Kyoko as her minions and not Madoka because Sayaka became Mami's partner along with Kyoko in that timeline/world. You also see Mami's witch but in her human form when Mami starts going into despair. She looks like a younger version of Mami. Her hair is long and straight and is tied up in scrunchies instead of flower accessories. Also, I think the flower on her head is supposed to be a daisy.

The diamond soul gem on the left hand could also symbolize that her wish was one of devotion. Like how a wedding ring (a diamond tradionally) is often worn on the left hand

The little Glasses Homuras in Cool Homura's doppel actually reference the Clara Dolls from Rebellion. They wield the exact same needles, and the doppel description makes it pretty clear that the little homuras are incomplete versions of those Dolls.

Fun fact: The card suits theory makes some sense since the original symbol for spade is actually a kind of spear (Kyoko's weapon), as a matter of fact spade comes from the Italian word "spada" which means "sword" but had some evolution becoming both translatable as "sword" and "pique". Also in some card variations like the southern Italian ones, the symbols are cups instead of hearts (the grail is the most common medieval symbol of Christ), clubs instead of flowers (Mami transforms a club for helping Sayaka protect herself in the labyrinth), coins instead of diamonds (no particular reference to Homura here) and swords instead of spades/spears (Sayaka and Kyoko).

As far as I can tell Madoka is the only magical girl to design her own outfit ahead of time which included her weapon. Yeah it’s because of her dreams at the start but having a solid image in your head might influence what kind of magical girl you become.

Usually teeth falling out symbolizes anxiety and the loss of something important, it also represents unbalance.

I loved all of these little fun facts! The witch designs in Madoka Magica are some of my favourite character designs just in general. They're so unique, it always makes me kind of want to design some myself. I also think it's really fitting that Homura's 'god' form isn't as extravagant as Madoka's? Madoka wanted to protect, well, everyone, and so it's fitting for her design to be an elegant, welcoming, almost angel-like presence. Not only is that NOT Homura's goal (she only desires to keep her promise to protect Madoka really), but we also know that Homura does not view herself very highly, not before meeting Madoka and not after. She's disposable, a secondary presence, something that can be cast aside as long as it means Madoka is happy and safe. Clearly, judging by Madoka's sketch, your magical attire is influenced by your whims/thoughts in some way, so of course the girl who sees herself as unlucky, bad news, and even dead would resemble a scruffy raven instead of adopting a more angelic design like Madoka's.

EVERYTIME YOU POST ABOUT MADOKA I FEEL SO ALIVE I JUST LOVE MADOKA MAGIICA AND YOU CHANNEL SMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

I always thought kyoko's chain symbolized her wish to have people listen to her father. The people listening aren't genuine, they're trapped, forced to believe and listen to kyoko's father, whether they realize it or not. Kyoko made a wish, and in doing so, created a trap for the people who are unfortunate enough to be affected by it. Her wish is essentially manipulating them, luring them in and trapping them in her father's sermons. Like she's pushing them in a cage and locking it, kinda.

Homuras second doppel is based on Homulilly's first form, the shadow Homuras sprouting from her are proto Clara Dolls aka the literal representations of everything of Homura hates about herself.

I like to refer to Devil Homura with the title "The Will of Love". It matches Mado-kami's title of "The Law of Cycles", and ties directly into how she fell in the first place. Her will to save the one she loved at any cost led her down the dark path.

Something about Sayaka- In Poland there is a folklore about a mermaid warrior who protected Warsaw- her name is Syrenka (close to Syrena, which means siren/mermaid.) There are statues of her in Warsaw, which depict her carrying a sword and shield. I thought this fit in well with Sayaka's theme: a mermaid knight. Also, the solar plexus is the chest. I think you meant the sacral chakra, which is located on the navel. Edit: Also, I think Mami's ribbons represent a few things. For one, childhood. Little girls with ribbons in their hair are a trademark of youth in many cultures. It could symbolize Mami's youth being cut short: When her whole family died in that car crash, her youth was stolen from her. She had to become a magical girl and fight for her life, essentially grow up really early in life, and become a mentor for other magical girls. It could also represent the strings of fate, or the red string of fate in particular. Or even more loosely, it could be similar to a car seatbelt, a reminder of why she became a magical girl, and at the same time, a symbol of protection and safety (which she never had). Plus, her hairstyle after the car accident - the twin drills - look sort of like twirled ribbons. For mami's flower theme, I agree with the tea thing, but i think it could be other things, too. Flowers are seen as a beauty in nature, right? Feminine, graceful, delicate. Mami tries to look that way in front of the other girls: elegant in battle, with sophisticated mannerisms, like an adult. This is backed up by her refine nature and European theme, such as the tea she drinks, and her rifleman magical girl outfit. Flowers are also known to be a temporary beauty, as in, they bloom, but then they wither and die. It could foreshadow Mami's short life, since she gets killed by Charlotte very early in the series. Flowers also take time to grow, as they are usually the end stage or one of the end stages of a plant. Mami's childhood was cut short by her near-death experience and becoming a magical girl, and her life also was cut short in the series. Her "growth" was stunted by these things: her emotional growth/childhood, which died when she became a magical girl and had to grow up fast, and her physical growth, since she was physically killed by Charlotte.

I’m just now noticing that on madokas god form she actually had 5 gems on her chest. The big one in the middle is hers but the other 4 probably represent the rest of the quintet

Honestly considering Kyoko's whole theme seems mainly tied to her religious upbringing I wouldn't be suprised if the underwater background could be tied in the testing of witches stating if they drowned they were innocent all along.

Oh yah! Didnt think we where going to get a part 4 honestly

i think her chain powers could be like she is trapping people in places they dont want to be similar to how she "trapped" the people in the church

Theory: the bow represents Homura’s influence… after homura become a demon she creates the illusion of mitakihra city where Madoka isn’t a god. In the beginning of the series Madoka’ mom insists she wears the pink ribbons that are “flashy” the fact that she’s wearing the other ones represents Madoka choosing a different path (not the magical route).

FINALLY!!!!! You don't know how long I've waited...for this! *a certain Rebellion scene starts playing* Seriously, great video!!! :D

I know I'm late to this, but when you get to analyzing the Doppels, I hope you eventually get to Karin Misono. She's been my favorite ever since I started playing the game back before the NA server closed, and I hold her very dear to my heart, not to mention that she's overall just a great character in general, so it would be great to see her and her really cool Doppel get more attention!

In the movie rebellion, Mami does mention that she has chamomile tea at home, and that she's almost out. It might be her favorite kind of tea, and chamomile is a white little flower lol

Maybe the placement of the Soul Gems is less a chakra thing and more of a personality thing. Sayaka's is on her stomach because she tends to go with her *gut* instincts, she's "gutsy" (or at least wants to be Kyoko's is on her chest because it's near her *heart* and she follows her emotions rather than thinking things through. She also is more emotional and kind than she pretends to be, or she learns to be compassionate again from her time with the other girls. Mami's is on her head because she tends to be logical, she made a very practical wish ("I would like to not die please") and she acts like a leader, the *head* of the team Madoka, like you said, is very loving and self sacrificing, she gives her *heart* to others Homura's is on her hand because she is always trying to take actions into her own *hands,* so to speak. Also hands like a clock has, she is turning back the hands of time.

Finished the first installment in the series not too long ago and found your content through wanting to know more about the possible magic girls of past, other dimensions/timelines, and the future. Was kind of disappointed to see so many amazing character designs just not be used for larger storytelling, but I really enjoyed your witch series. Keep up the good work.

Fun fact, Madoka's last name, "Kaname" roughly means "vital point", which is a pretty in-your-face reference to how she is a vital character, if not most important.

Idk if someone already commented this but the I heard this theory that the gold flag is kyosuke cuz he was like gold to her, yellow is mami, green is hitomi, the red one is kyoko and as she mentioned the pink bow is for madoka

(I know this is late but oh well) I believe the reason why Kyoko and Sayaka's magical girl forms was directly tied to music and the church was to show how much they obsess over these things. Kyoko put her heart and soul to help her father get followers and the church he so desperately. Meanwhile, Sayaka whole theme of music was because Kyousuke and his violin. I think this showcased how these girls lost themselves and their interests in the pursuit of chasing their wishes. "When you constantly give to others, you lose a piece of yourself" is what I get from all this.

in the original little mermaid by HC andersen, the mermaid makes a wish to become human in order to marry a human and gain a human soul and go to heaven with the usual conditions, and when her crush is about to marry someone else she decides against killing him to save herself from the curse and instead accepts defeat, jumping into the ocean and becoming seafoam and leaving the prince and his bride to live happily ever after

I’m pretty sure the color flags in Octavia’s design are supposed to represent the other people in her life. Yellow is for Mami, Green is Hitomi, Red is Kyoko and I’m guessing Gold is for Kyosuke for her feelings for him. Similar to how the pink ribbons are for madoka

I really hope you analyze the transformations at some point, especially the ones from Rebellion, cause the symbolism in those is so damn interesting!

I’m not sure if you’ll see this, or if it’s been said before, but I believe that Homulily’s name is potentially, in part, inspired by the term homily. A homily is the explanation of a sacred passage, usually from the Bible. This plays into her Christian theming and her relation to Madoka as a God figure; her witch form and desire for execution is a public explanation, a show of her devotion and understanding of what she believes Madoka wants and needs.

You did awesome work with this

Great time to discuss witches considering today's Halloween!

I actually do have a theory for the chains, most religious churches have doctrines books etc. that they chained themselves too. Not to mention also the afterlife a lot of people depict the chain concept, maybe even hinting to the idea that she believes her wish was also kind of a curse, because now she's changed her father to the church when he could've been free from it if he just changed his path. It will an interesting concept like the idea that were chained to this world, I mean the church can be a allusion and those allusions of those responsibilities are chains dragging you down.

I'm unsure if you realized it at the time of making the video but on "Coolmura's" Doppel she has 14 of those followers behind her. If you remember the Clara Dolls, the grievers for her funeral, are meant to be 15 but Love never appeared so we've been actually only shown 14 of them. It's my theory that these are just the early forms of the Clara Dolls because Homura hasn't reached the powerlevel she had by the end of Rebellion.

Ophelia candle's design was likely meant to also symbolize Kyoko's sacrifice performed to save Sakaya from suffering of being a witch during the anime. Oktavia as a mermaid is associated with water, thus when such substance establishes contact with flames, both naturally annihilate each other. Additionally, what further supports this is episode 9's finale presenting an official artwork of Kyoko drowning while comforting Sayaka which represents her sacrifice as well.

Something interesting too about red spider lilies is that they are also thought to protect the dead which seems awfully fitting for its usage in homuras funeral procession witch form.

Sayaka’s progression reminds me of the original tale of The Little Mermaid where Ariel completely discards her way of life for the prince only to have another woman take the credit for her sacrifice and she dissolves into sea foam in dispare, which definitely ties in with the mermaid theme

Sayaka's story has some pretty direct parallels with the fairy tale of The Little Mermaid. I honestly thing that's the entire reason for the mermaid & water imagery with her. She makes a wish for both someone else & herself & it ends up causing her a great deal of pain, which is what happens to the mermaid in the fairy tale. When the mermaid dies, because she refuses to kill the prince who is in love with another woman, she becomes a spirit of the air with the express purpose of helping wayward souls so that she can eventually find rest. Sayaka ends up serving a similar role in Rebellion with the Law of Cycles. Gekidan Inu Curry likes to play a lot with fairy tale influences in their works & since they handled the witch design for the first series they probably were pretty intentional with the visual references with Octavia & also with Homura's Nutcracker witch.

28:30 Hold my magical beer, I just realized that I think that Kyoko's spear kinda looks like a spade for some reason when I saw the spinning chibi Sayaka and Kyoko

I like how each of the main magical girls seems to reference a particular fairytale or story. Sayaka is obviously the little mermaid, giving up something important to themselves to be with the one they love only to rejected a fall to despair, Madoka's story has been compared to Faust, and while I'm not familiar with the story I've read about the parallels so it makes sense to me, while I didn't really notice Homura's nutcracker illusion until watching this video I actually think it fits within the show as well as Rebellion, both Homura and the nutcracker meet a girl that display a simple act of kindness towards them and return that kindness by protecting them against danger, and while I think Mami and Kyoko are a bit trickier, to me their stories reference the stories of Hansel and Gretel and Hamlet respectively, much like Hansel and Gretel, Mami has to survive in a harsh world by herself and is ensnared by a witch that wants to eat them, Charlotte's lair could even be a reference to the gingerbread house, and I personally see Kyoko's story as similar to Ophelia's, aside from it being her witch form's name, both witness a loved one go crazy (even though Hamlet's case is bit more complicated, from Ophelia's perspective he basically went crazy) and kill their family and it completely changes them with Kyoko becoming cold and closed off and Ophelia goes mad and eventually die tragically (the credits of episode 9 even features Sayaka and Kyoko underwater which could be a reference to Ophelia and the Little Mermaid's death via the water) I also think it's interesting how Madoka's eyes turn gold when she effectively becomes a god, I could be reaching but gold is a shade of yellow and yellow and purple are compliment colors so it could be acknowledging the strong bond between Madoka and Homura

Now I kind of want a video specificly for the doppels

the muddy rainbow is just an a stylistic choice found throughout gekidan inu curry's work tbh

I like to think of the teeth from Nutcracker Witch’s motif representing their dream representation. If you lose teeth in a dream, it usually refers to guilt or deep regret…sort of like the guilt a certain black-haired magical girl might feel not being able to protect a pink-haired individual~

Let’s goo I rewatched the Madoka playlist yesterday for this video! :DD

I have to point this out, even though this was posted awhile ago. You said for Homura she uses her left hand to draw back the 'bow' but that's her right hand and the left hand is holding said 'bow'. Also she wasn't completely safe from the memory wipe as in rebellion she says near the end she remembered why she suffered through all the time lines, as she had forgotten why which is why until she had remet Madoka she had forgotten why she had suffered

the red ribbon on sayaka might be a reference to her school uniform, as she was in it through most of her wish making, heartbreak, and descent into a witch.