Mahou Shoujo Madoka - ep6

So I finally found time to watch Mahou Shoujo Madoka Ep6 and it's again a very good Ep.  Ep4 and Ep5 weren't bad either but as they came immediately after the climatic Ep3, it was necessary to use those two eps to bring the intensity down in order to build up to the next high.

Anyway, there will be SPOILERS in this post and if you are like me and you hate spoilers, please stop reading NOW.

I'm not really going to go into too much detail since I really need to try and sleep before 1am.  I can feel myself falling ill again and I don't want to, hence, I will need to sleep as soon as I finish this post.

Ep6 isn't quite as impactful as Ep3 but no less important as Kyubey reveals that the contract that the girls enter into with him is really not simple at all.  A new character called Sakura Kyoko was introduced in Ep5 and even she didn't know the significance of the Soul Gems.  Interestingly enough, Akemi Homura seems to know much, much more than the other characters.

Sakura Kyoko in action

I like her already cuz she's into Pocky like snacks, like me. :D

Sayaka became a Mahou Shoujo in either Ep4 or 5, I can't quite remember and am too lazy to check right now.  :)  Anyway, she isn't quite as powerful, experienced or as skilled as Akemi Homura and Sakura Kyoko.  Sakura Kyoko is after Sayaka because she's really ticked that Sayaka took Mami Tomoe's place before she was able to come to town to take over this prime piece of turf.  So in order to try and protect Sayaka and prevent her from getting into a fight with Sakura Kyoko, Madoka takes Sayaka's Soul Gem before she can became a Mahou Shoujo and flings it off the bridge.

The Soul Gems take on a much bigger significance

 in Ep6

Sayaka promptly collapses, Sakura Kyoko is left completely bewildered and Madoka is besides herself in panic.  Homura, however, has immediately gone after Sayaka's Soul Gem.  And the reason for this is revealed by Kyubey himself.  Apparently, when the girls make a contract with Kyubey, Kyubey magically transforms their souls into the Soul Gem and their physical bodies become just empty vessels.  Kyubey says that this is so as they can fight more efficiently.  So when Madoka throws Sayaka's Soul Gem off the bridge, she is actually throwing Sayaka's soul away.  The Soul Gem needs to be within 100m of their body for the Mahou Shoujo's to control their bodies and as long as the Soul Gem isn't broken, the magical girls are virtually invincible.  WOW... now that's some revelation!!! :)

The other things that struck me as interesting is that the landscape seems to be getting quite industrial.  I noticed that in Ep4 and 5 too.  I'm not sure if the landscape was quite as industrial looking in Ep1-3, I don't remember it being so but that may be because the dominant, or at the very least the one you'll remember best, visual style used was the collage and cut-out styled backdrops used in the battle scenes.



Note how industrial the background is.  Also, very interesting use of space again.  The same visual motif where the character is made to be very small within is surrounds has so far been quite consistently used in all episodes.

Visual Motif - enclosed space

More strange shadows.

Mahou Shoujo Madoka is still a strikingly visual series and I like that very much.  But I have no time to go into it as it's 5 mins to 1am. :)

Let me leave you with this.

Hello... :D

Akemi Homura is by far my favourite character in this series and has been so from Ep1.  She has the Kuga Natsuki feel from Mai Hime and Natsuki was my favourite character then.  Also, a weird thought always pops into my head each time I see her... if I had to cast the Kalafina girls in a live action Mahou Shoujo Madoka series, I would definitely give Akemi Homura to Keiko.  :)  I don't know why, it's not the long hair, it's the whole feel of this character. :)

Lastly, I really like Madoka's relationship with her very cool mother and I'm beginning to wonder when Madoka decides to make a contract to became a Mahou Shoujo, will it have a lot to do with her mother and/or her family?

Okay.. that's it.. off to bed... oyasumi. :)