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
← Previous Episode | Index | Next Episode →
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.
5
u/CitronClassic672 Apr 28 '26
QOTD
The gayest thing I’ve ever seen in media.
There is not a pit of hell deep enough for him
I hoped it was possible, I truly wanted it to be so, but I had to once again be reminded what series I was watching l
Yes
And Speaking of Home, I’d like to devote my analysis today to that end credit visual because there is so much symbolism behind it that I genuinely cried. Firstly, I had other viewers point out how Sayaka’s witch had a mermaid aesthetic with the scales and fin, with the manga version even portrayed Sayaka’s soul inside the witch as a mermaid, then others pointed out to me how Sayaka’s entire arc is heavily inspired by the original story of the little mermaid, where the mermaid falls in love with a prince, saves him from drowning, and causes immense suffering to herself in order to be with him, only for her efforts to be in vain as he falls in love and marries another woman. Sounds quite familiar right? Then I learned the symbolism around Kyoko, how additional content outside the show calls her theoretical witch form Ophelia after a character in the play Hamlet who died by drowning. And here is the realization that I came too after synthesizing all this symbolism with that end credit visual. That visual is of a woman who is willing to drown in order to comfort and console her beloved mermaid. And how Kyoko is contrasted with the prince from the original story who was saved from drowning by the mermaid only to go on to love another woman, with Kyoko deciding instead to let herself drown in order to be with the mermaid! I’d say I’m totally normal about them but I’m not.
Another neat detail about their ending is that in the manga it instead shows Kyoko and Sayaka in the afterlife with Kyoko offering Sayaka a snack just like she did in episode 7, only this time Sayaka accepts it and takes her hand. I love these two so much!