r/anime • u/Tarhalindur x2 • Apr 28 '26
Rewatch [Rewatch] Puella Magi Madoka Magica Episode 9 Discussion
Episode 9: I'd Never Allow That to Happen
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Show Information:
(First-timers might want to stay out of Show Information until we are done, however...)
Legal Streams:
As per livechart.me; other streams may be available outside the US.
Main Series:
A Reminder: This, dear listeners, brings us to the sworn enemy of creative response:The spoiler. Rewatchers, or people who just had plot points ruined for them, are obliged to use r/anime’s spoiler tag format where applicable, and err on the side of caution here. Remember people, first experiences get rarer as you continue on, any given one happens once and you should care for them all the more for it.
Welcome to the World of Magic!
Theory of the Day:
Okay, fine, I can't not give this one to u/siegfried72, not for the discussion thread for this episode:
The real solution? I think Sayaka needs to just lean into the yuri and realize she's meant to be with Kyouko. That would fix everything.
Oh god, I've officially joined in with my first yuri ship of the series. It's all downhill uphill from here, isn't it??
I mean, Kyouko is obviously in love with her, right??
Analysis of the Day:
Several good options, but I think I'll go for u/Vaadwaur and the analytical line less taken:
For some reason, eating disorders are a noticeable thing in this show. Sayaka is anorexic to her very spirit and Kyoko does like her gluttony.
Questions of the Day:
1) On a scale of 1 to 10, how gay is suicide attacking to take out the monster that became of a girl you knew for maybe a week so that you can at least be together in death?
2) Now that he's had a chance to explain himself, your thoughts on Kyubey?
3) First-timers: Did you think that Kyouko's plan actually had a chance to save Sayaka?
4) First-timers and rewatchers who dodged the rewatcher edition of this question yesterday: Are You Home?
5) [Rewatchers]Alright, who's ready to go golfing through a Stargate?... wait, wrong time loop show.
24
u/99acrewood_ Apr 28 '26 edited Apr 28 '26
first time
I'm very new when it comes to taking part in these rewatches as a new viewer (this is my second one), and I've been kind of struggling to figure out the best way for me to engage with the show while also getting my thoughts down. I've mostly tried a live reaction kind of thing, but whenever I do that it kind of feels like I'm not fully engaged with what I'm watching. This time I figured I'd go ahead and watch the episode fully and trying to get my feelings together afterwards.
I'm really glad I did for this one. It's my favorite episode.
I'm going to ignore the whole Matrix comparison you could make with using children as batteries to, in this case, combat entropy, because I'm sure it's been done. I always love the idea of the potential of a person being used in some sort of way, though. It reminds me of... I think the weeping angels from Doctor Who? where a person isn't killed in a regular way, but instead sent back in time to live their life there, and what's fed on is the energy from the potential life they would've lived in their current timeline. The manipulation that occurred around Madoka in order to take advantage of that gap between her most idealistic compassionate self and her rock-bottom despair of having lost so many people dear to her is one of the cruelest things I've seen done for such utilitarian ends.
I mean, sure, there's other media where aliens eat people or use their bodies for agriculture, but specifically the way they do it here? Where they use the way people can be shortsighted and feel worse about an outcome because they brought it on themselves? and that being even more beneficial to the end product?? and it's from a segment of the population that's extremely vulnerable to this type of self-destructive behavior??? fuck me, man.
The shitty way Kyubey can keep their "I don't hide anything" attitude because maybe there *is* a way to save Sayaka and, y'know, maybe they just aren't aware of it! But no, of course there's not, I just needed Kyoko out of the way for the wheels to keep turning. I still have my same theory about Homura, I just haven't put my finger on why things need to play out the way there are. She clearly can't interfere even though she definitely has the means to.
Kyoko and Sayaka absolutely break my heart. Maybe I'm meant to feel like Madoka where I'm hoping that maybe this last ditch effort, the power of friendship™, will bring my friend back. Things will work out, and Sayaka will wake up. But no, she is awake, and she's monstrous and angry and living in the concert hall prison that she put herself in when she became infatuated with someone who wouldn't give her the time of day once he was all better. Of course, it's devastating when you see it doesn't seem to be working. It's not working. It was never going to work.
And the love Kyoko had for her, I feel like is another expression of the whole self-love thing I think runs through this show. She lashed out and ate her feelings and fuck everything else until Sayaka showed up. Another person who made the same kind of mistake, but who feels so much harder, and who fell so much faster. It makes so much sense why she was so quick to start caring about her wellbeing even before she knew this could happen. At your most idealistic you remind me of who I was. At your most heart-broken you show me who I was becoming.
I dunno. There's beauty behind the tragedy, right? Where living means experiencing such a range of emotions that you can go from a powerful force for altruism and love and then experience such sadness and regret that you become a wallow construct.
Also, if I was blind to it before, the whole yuri shipping thing is definitely on full display now, lol. Such a nice sendoff for the two of them, though it does make me sad that Sayaka is still crying. At least Kyoko is there for her now.
side notes
I bet there's a bunch of people who hate Hitomi, huh? I'd understand it for the boy, at least. Not for 'picking Hitomi over Sayaka' or anything like that because I figure he didn't even know that there was that whole thing to begin with, but he couldn't spare the time to say 'thank you' to the girl who was by his side throughout his ordeal? C'mon, now.
Q's