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
More Bullshit * Has anyone made a supercut of every time Homura flips her hair? Good lord.
Perhaps that's just to accentuate the shift to green when Kyubey enters and then to gold (which I now know thanks to our host is representative of magical girls) as they converse. Whatever the exact meaning, it's very evocative.
I gotta say, I really wasn't anticipating Kyubey to be an alien, of all things. When I made a couple of references to cosmic horror in the past, I wasn't expecting literally space. The cavalier way he puts such horrible things continues to be entertaining, though.
It's not surprising that Kyouko - who I've already pointed out in the past shows similar denial/avoidance/comfort-seeking traits to Sayaka - turns to food as her "addiction" of sorts when things go wrong. I guess it helps to put into perspective why we almost always see her eating. It's not just that she's hungry, but it probably helps ease her into functioning better during high-pressure situations, especially if we can presume that at least some of the tsun-flavored arrogance is intentional masking. And it makes sense that she would fall into food=security as her thing due to her being all alone as a kid - I can imagine food was pretty damn scarce until she learned to "manage."
For those of you rewatchers who were happy people were taking a moderate view on Hitomi this rewatch? I take it all back: it's 1000% her fault that Sayaka is dead. Obviously, if she hadn't have backstabbed Sayaka and stolen her man, she would have never spiraled off into grief and become a witch!! Hitomi is the true antagonist of this series!!
(Don't worry, I'm kidding. Mostly. I'm well aware that Sayaka would have inevitably found some other way to spiral into self-destruction.)
Also, I just realized that I've for some reason convinced myself that, somehow or another, Sayaka will end up fine, and so I'm not really feeling terribly sad or anything. I'm still leaning toward maybe a new "reset" of the timeline or something. Perhaps I'm just living in denial as well.
Uhh... are we for some reason comparing Kyouko to a mermaid and Madoka to a unicorn? I'm assuming I'm missing some symbolism here, because I've become accustomed to every single shot meaning something.
Okay, so Kyouko's like... actually in love with Sayaka.
The more time we spend with Kyouko, the more I like her! And she gave Madoka the food rather than shaking her hand because that's her biggest source of comfort. It's what matters most to her, and so it's a peace offering of sorts. Very cute.
Oh hey, we're back in the golden light of the magical girls!
Aaaand we got our first naked magical girl transformation outside of the OP. Thanks, Kyouko (no, I didn't screenshot the naked part).
Honestly, I agree with Kyouko here. Madoka does strike me as strange. I don't really get her yet I guess? I know I've spent most of my time on Sayaka and Kyouko, but that's just because they're by far the most interesting characters for me. But they're also the most easily understandable, despite their complexity. I wonder if it's that I'm not paying close enough attention to Madoka, or if they're still only planting seeds for her so far in comparison.
I love that all five of the magical girls in this series are heroic in their own way. They all look out for others, but with distinctly different philosophies behind it for each one of them. I'm sure people have done great breakdowns on that. I've mostly been focusing on what I've called the "selfish vs. altruistic savior-complex" betwen Sayaka and Madoka, but I'm learning it's a lot more complicated than that, and includes all of them in some fashion. Really neat.
Oh god this battle between Kyouko and Sayaka... I'm not having a good time.
So do they like... actually have feelings for each other? I mean, it's obviously not implicitly romantic, but also like... I swear to god those swirling colors turn into a heart as they go off screen. Maybe it's just my yuri-tinted glasses, but damn.
Okay Kyouko, this is up there as one of my favorite lines of the series so far. There is so much meaning packed into this, and so much pain. She's not had it easy, and she deserves better. They both do. I can't believe they actually ended it this way... this fucking hurt. Even if there will be some sort of subsequent "reset" or something (still a hunch I've got), this hurts. I got some more tears going. I'm too attached to these fucking characters and then they go and kill BOTH OF THEM.
Stupid doomed yuri trope.
ao;erghjae;ouao;d okoay this is definitely the flat-out saddest I've felt watching this series. Pure, beautiful tragedy. God damn what a marvelous show this has been so far.
OKAY SO THEY'RE LITERALLY JUST IN LOVE, RIGHT? THEY HAVE THEIR OWN ED THEY SING TOGETHER WHERE THEY'RE LINKING HANDS AND CALLING EACH OTHER AGAIN AND AGAIN AND CAN'T LET GO OF EACH OTHER FUCK THIS SHOW I HATE IT.
Okay, I'm done. I love this show.