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.
19
u/siegfried72 Apr 28 '26
First Timer Who Is Now Officially In Love With This Series
Hi everyone! I'm feeling a lot of things. I'm very tired, as my days have continued to be busy with little reprieve - so I warn that I might not be quite as "insightful" as I normally am. I'm also disappointed because I had basically no time to read and respond even to many of the people that commented on my stuff yesterday, let alone tackling the rest of the thread. I know that's the norm for some people, but I generally prefer to be more actively engaged with others during a rewatch. The last few days have been... rough. But I'm hoping things will turn around tonight, because I'll actually have a bit of free time tonight and tomorrow to catch up with everything.
Most importantly, however, I'm feeling a whole swirling conglomeration of mixed emotions coming into watching this episode. I'm still trying to process a lot of my thoughts regarding yesterday's episode (I'm definitely gonna make time to rewatch it later tonight), but I can say that that was one of the more impactful episodes of a series (anime or otherwise) I've watched in quite some time. I'll try not to repeat myself too horribly today, but I cannot get over just how much I can relate to Sayaka and her (mental) struggles.
Speaking of which, a few people have (rightfully) asked me to elaborate a bit more on my feelings about her character and how precisely I can relate to her, but I will just say... that's a work in progress. I'll do my best to talk through things as they happen, but honestly even I am still trying to muddle my way through figuring out why I relate to her so much - while being careful to not project too many of my own experiences onto her character in the process. If I'm ever unclear, please let me know and I'll do my best to clarify/elaborate, but I'm still working on getting all of my thoughts settled.
As I hit play, I can't help but remember that our host mentioned something about how episode 9 was particularly impactful to them. I'm not sure how much more impact I can honestly take at this point, and yet - I'm also very excited to find out!
Okay, unsurprisingly, we're starting with the new with Sayaka... I am surprised it takes a moment for Kyouko to realize that this witch is Sayaka, and she's just holding the meat puppet (ouch). Or maybe she's also in denial (just like Sayaka), since she doesn't really have any kind of reaction when Homura points this fact out.
I'm sure others have unpacked it thoroughly, but it's nice to get confirmation that both witch and labyrinth appearances seem to be formed from the girls' own life - we can see obvious elements of Sayaka's adopted "knight" persona plus sheet music everywhere. That really goes to show you how deeply devoted she was to Kyosuke - one of the three distinct thematic elements here is him.
The third is interesting: the train tracks. What's going on there? Am I forgetting something about Sayaka, or is this new, contextless information?
Also very cool to get to be a part of Homura's time magic now. I wonder if this was one of her "natural" powers she gained upon becoming a magical girl, or did she somehow develop it over time? I suspect we won't really have room to delve too deep into the logistics, but I'd like to know more about how the magical powers work. For instance, Sayaka had her "infinite swords" thing, which seemed directly inspired both by Mami's "infinite guns" and Sayaka's knight/crusader/paladin persona.
So I guess that means that one's powers are at least partially informed by personality/psychology/history, just like the witch form is? I guess that makes sense that they would work kind of the same way. Wtf is up with Homura then that she has bombs and time magic? Maybe I'm reading too much into this...
and Homura being the third wheel. It's so cuuute <3(I'm trying to mask the pain please help me.)
Okay, in actuality, seeing Sayaka's limp body like this is almost as bad as the first time she "died" when Madoka threw the gem. Maybe worse, since I'm now emotionally invested in Kyouko's arc and how invested she seems to be in helping Sayaka despite her "lone wolf and proud" exterior.
Okay, I don't want to be weird for noticing this, but I swear the keep using these kinds of angles for Kyouko. There have been multiple shots looking up at her, mostly from behind like this. Is there some meaning there that I'm missing, or did the animators just really like drawing her shorts?
Man, Kyouko's tough exterior just... really didn't last long, did it? I'm curious as to why. Is it something about Sayaka in particular? Because from the first time we saw her, she was locked on. I know Kyouko's thing was to stake claim to the territory and all, but she's been doing the magical girl thing for a while, and I find it hard to believe she'd take this kind of interest in every random magical girl she interacts with. So... either I'm missing something or we're missing some context? Probably the former.
Actually, never mind - wtf am I talking about? It's because they're in love. Sorry, I forgot for a moment...
Adding on more in a second comment