Mahou Shoujo Madoka - ep7

Mahou Shoujo Madoka ep8 will air in Japan tonight.  I've been wanting to write some random thoughts on ep7 for a while but have been too busy.  So I thought I'll try and squeeze in the post on ep7 before ep8 airs.  I've been very careful to avoid reading anything at all on this series as I want my own reactions to the series to be untainted.  This way, I can document my purest reaction to the series and it makes trying to figure this series out for myself to be kind of fun. :)



Anyway, let's get to ep7.  As usually here is my SPOILER WARNING.  Please do not read on if you hate spoilers.

Sayaka depressed and hiding in bed.  Poor kid. :(

Okie dokies here we go.  In ep7, Sayaka has to face the truth of the bargain she has made with Kyubey and she takes it very hard.  Can anyone blame her?  After all, Sayaka is no longer human.  Her body is an empty case which is controlled by the Soul Gem that houses her soul.  And to top it off, she didn't even know that was going to happen when she made the decision to become a Mahou Shoujo.  It certainly is a pretty raw deal and Sayaka isn't quite as strong mentally as Sakura Kyouko or Akemi Homura are.  I actually think that Sayaka may not even be as mentally strong as Madoka.

Creepy Kyubey gives Sayaka a practical lesson
using her Soul Gem to control her.

What I think won't be surprising to most viewers is that Sayaka will regret her decision.  Most would have seen that coming a mile away since this is no ordinary Mahou Shoujo anime and from ep2 onwards, there have been ominous undertones even in the most ordinary of scenes.  Either Kajiura Yuki's music in the background, or the lighting or a combination of both would somehow give the viewer a sense of unease, a sense of anticipation and a sense that all isn't quite as innocent as Kyubey makes it out to be.

Sayaka completely losing it.

What I'm thinking is, will Sayaka turn into a witch?  I think that there is a very distinct posibility that Sayaka will turn towards the dark side.  After all, it seems like she will be the Magical Girl who will feel the most bitter about her situation.  And at the very end of ep7, she seems to have lost it completely and in an attempt to cope, she seems to want to numb all her emotions except for rage. I've been wondering if this would happen from the moment she entered into a contract with Kyubey.  The introduction of Sakura Kyoko and her retelling of her own bitter experience, coupled with Sayaka's false bravado and hollow insistence that she does not regret her decision seems to be trying to prepare us for a complete break of the facade Sayaka is finding increasingly difficult to upkeep.

Battle scene.  Note that the art style has changed again.
This time, it's not as wild and colourful as the first few battle scenes.

At this point in time, we don't know that much about the witches.  We've never actually seen them in human form.  They only appear as creepy and dangerous graphical designs in the battle scenes but it's not unreasonable to think that if there are young girls who will enter a contract to attain their wish, then there is no reason to believe that witches may not themselves have entered a contract to have their curses come true.  After all, a curse without any magic behind it is simply words and if a person really, really hates someone, then it is after all possible that they would sell their soul to see their curses fulfiled and the person they curse suffer.

Kamijo is back in school and trouble is aboiling.

Now if Sayaka does turn towards the dark side and becomes Madoka's main antagonist in the second half of this series, then what is likely to push her over the edge is the current situation she finds herself in with regards to Kamijo Kyosuke.  Sayaka entered into the contract with Kyubey for Kamijo's sake.  He was injured in an unspecified accident before the beginning of this tale and was unable to play the violin any more.  For a gifted violinist, this was like a living hell.  Sayaka harboured deep but unexpressed feelings for Kamijo and one day, after Kamijo loses his temper at Sayaka, accusing her of taunting him by continuing to bring him cds, she makes the decision to become a Mahou Shoujo.

Hitomi: Sayaka, you've got one day.
Note: Lots of over-head wide shots and
characters famed in fames in this series.

Now in ep7, Sayaka is deeply unhappy and bitter.  She feels that she can no longer be with Kamijo because she is no longer human.  Adding further pressure on her is Madoka's and Sayaka's good friend and classmate Hitomi.  On seeing Kamijo's return to school, Hitomi tells Sayaka that she knows that Sayaka is fond of Kamijo.  Hitomi further adds that she too is fond of Kamijo and so she gives Sayaka one day to confess her love for him before she herself approaches Kamijo.

What is definitely interesting about ep8 would be just exactly what Sayaka will do?  Will Sayaka confess her love for Kamijo, even though she feels that she is no longer suitable for him?  And if Hitomi does go through with it, what will Sayaka do?  There are also two ways to look at what Hitomi did.  One is that Hitomi really likes Kamijo and wants to give Sayaka a fair chance before she makes her move.  Or the other is that Hitomi is trying to help Sayaka by forcing her to say what she has so far been unable to say to Kamijo.  Either way, if Sayaka hurts Hitomi, then I think we'll have our antagonist for the next half of the series.  If the later is true and Hitomi was trying to help Sayaka, the only difference will be that the feelings of regret and guilt will be far more intense.   

If this was just another series, I think I would put bets on Sayaka becoming a witch.  But this series has been quite good at surprising us and spinning the Mahou Shoujo genre round and round till all bets are up.  I really don't know if they want to lead us down one direction and then abruptly turn the other way.  That to me was really the biggest advantage they gained with Tomoe Mami's death in ep3 and the revelation of what the true nature of this contract is in ep6.

And we have this screen cap here only because
I like Akemi Homura best. :D

Ep7 is also really interesting because of what Akemi Homura says about Kyubey.  When Madoka asks Homura why Kyubey would do such horrible things.  Homura says that Kyubey doesn't think they are horrible.  And Homura isn't wrong, Kyubey thinks that it's all very practical and logical to have the soul removed from the body as this makes the Mahou Shoujos much more efficient when they fight.

I'm really curious now as to Kyubey's origins and if he has a master of his own and what are his true intentions.  I'm really curious about those witches.  We still don't know much about them at all and why they do what they do. For all you know the witches are fallen Mahou Shoujos that have turned to the dark side or even Mahou Shoujos that died in the battle field like Tomoe Mami.  I just keep thinking she's going to come back. :)  Hahaha... maybe I just can't let her go. :)  And I really want to know just why Akemi Homura knows so much and just exactly who did she enter into a contract with because even Kyubey doesn't seem to know for sure and all he does is refer to her as an "irregular". Lastly, just why is Madoka so important? Kyubey has tried several times to get Madoka to become a Mahou Shoujo. I think he sacrificed Tomoe Mami for that reason and he also tried to use Sayaka's relationship with Madoka to try and get Madoka to enter into a contract with him in order to save her friend. Akemi Homura's mission also seems to be to prevent Madoka from becoming a Mahou Shoujo, but why just Madoka?

Okay... time to take a break. :)  May write more about the visuals, which are still really interesting, in a later post tonight if I'm not too tired. :)

ps. I forgot I wanted to put this picture in:

Aside from the ring that houses the contracted Soul Gem,
Akemi Homura also has an additional symbol on her finger.
Interesting.