|
|
Post by megamaramon on Sept 16, 2015 22:10:32 GMT -5
Talking Shojo is taking you through the beautiful anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica. You can find subtitled and dubbed episodes on Netflix!
Watch do you think of the series so far? Is it what you expect of a shojo anime? What shojo tropes do you see so far?
If this is your first shojo anime or anime in general, we'd love to hear your opinions on the storytelling and style as well.
|
|
|
|
Post by spartan0325 on Sept 17, 2015 12:04:03 GMT -5
Hey! I watched the first 3 and despite not being the target audience for the show(by a long shot) i enjoyed it. My only issues were that the labyrinth screens were a bit too trippy for me and I wish Mami's abilities were a bit better defined but thats not a huge problem
|
|
|
|
Post by sailormarvel on Sept 18, 2015 8:25:37 GMT -5
Hey! I watched the first 3 and despite not being the target audience for the show(by a long shot) i enjoyed it. My only issues were that the labyrinth screens were a bit too trippy for me and I wish Mami's abilities were a bit better defined but thats not a huge problem The labyrinth scenes are crazy. But try to see them as an inner look into the Witch's personality. Mami's abilities are vague, involving both guns and belts, but I do love her Tiro Finale move! Will you continue watching it? Things get very real after ep3. |
|
|
|
Post by magnettios on Sept 19, 2015 1:44:11 GMT -5
This is the first shojo that I have watched (from the beginning). It started off a little slow for me, but the more I watch the more I am interested. I like that the audience is finding things out along with the characters. There seems to be more going on then what it seems like at first.
Yes, the labyrinth parts are a little crazy, but I do think it is an interesting idea to have the art style change in those scenes.
I'm waiting for Kyubey to turn out to be a really scary monster...
|
|
|
|
Post by sailormarvel on Sept 19, 2015 8:44:01 GMT -5
I'm waiting for Kyubey to turn out to be a really scary monster... HIS EYES HIS EYES!! Kyubey is ridiculously creepy. And I agree with you, Madoka starts quite slowly, but there is quite a shift in tone at the end of episode 3. that's why we tell people to watch the first 3 episodes before they make up their minds about the show. |
|
|
|
Post by catheaven on Sept 19, 2015 11:52:30 GMT -5
While I've watched PMMM before, I thought it would be worth going through it again slowly. When I first watched it, the sound did not work on my computer. Had I been hearing Kalafina as I watched it, maybe I wouldn't have been quite as taken aback at Mami's fate. That moment will stay with me foreverrrrr.
Annnd I'm going to go there-- isn't PMMM for a seinen audience despite being a magical girl anime?
|
|
|
|
Post by megamaramon on Sept 20, 2015 13:37:21 GMT -5
While I've watched PMMM before, I thought it would be worth going through it again slowly. When I first watched it, the sound did not work on my computer. Had I been hearing Kalafina as I watched it, maybe I wouldn't have been quite as taken aback at Mami's fate. That moment will stay with me foreverrrrr. Annnd I'm going to go there-- isn't PMMM for a seinen audience despite being a magical girl anime? PMMM definitely has a wider appeal than other magical girl shows; you bring up a very good point by mentioning seinen audiences. It's more violent, more twisted, and more complex than a lot of other shojo action shows, which makes it a good gateway for male viewers. I don't know if I would call it seinen right off the bat, but PMMM is a grey-area series that doesn't easily fit a category. |
|
|
|
Post by spartan0325 on Sept 21, 2015 12:48:26 GMT -5
Oh I'm very into it and after the podcast I'm ready for the next batch. What really got me into it was what happened with Mami in the 3rd episode. Didn't see that coming at all
|
|
|
|
Post by nopushpins on Sept 23, 2015 19:15:21 GMT -5
Great podcast and what a fun idea for audience engagement! This will be my second viewing of Madoka and the first time I'm rewatching anything in quite a while. Lately I feel like there's so much great new stuff out there, so I tend to worry I'll be missing out on something if I spend too much time revisiting older things. But this is a nice excuse to do so, thanks Talking Shojo! I'm not sure when you two record so I hope I'm making it in time. I remember the first time watching Madoka very well because a friend of mine had been hassling me to watch it for weeks. I can't remember why I didn't watch it right away, it wasn't that I had no interest I think I was just busy. Anyway, I think she felt like she had to justify the show to me so that I would watch it and she said over and over that it's so much more than a magical girl show (although I love those anyway), and that no matter what I had to watch at least 3 episodes before deciding if I would stick with it or drop it. After the first episode I was hooked, the art and music was so cool, dripping with dramatic atmosphere, I liked the witch world art change up a lot! But the whole time I kind of had a feeling for the direction of the show because of my friend's hints about how it was much more than what was on the surface. And since she said the three episodes were a must I would just keep wondering what was going to happen then. One of many hints from her "You know how the opening animation is so cute and happy go lucky? None of that stuff happens in the whole series." *Pause* "Except the crying." I think if I could have changed anything about my first experience of the show, it would have been not having any outside indication as to what was to come and just enjoy the actual foreshadowing within it, and I wonder if that climax in episode 3 might have been more shocking to me that way. I'm really curious to hear from viewers who had no idea what they were getting into. One thing I discovered on this second viewing is that all of those mystical symbols actually mean something, the fandom calls them runes. I noticed the writing in German on the wall in episode 2 and did enough googling to find out it was from Faust. "Oh it's really pulling from that deal with the devil idea, huh?" I thought while nodding to myself, but I did not probe further. I realize now I was really missing out. Those runes are a cipher and they're all over the place with stuff from Faust in the first two episodes. wiki.puella-magi.net/Speculah:Madoka_Magica_and_FaustDid you guys know they were a cipher? I love ciphers so I got really excited when I stumbled on this. It's a shame there's a bit too much body to them for me to write without something like a fountain pen or brush but I might be fun to learn it and write Madoka Messages. Kind of like a decoder ring but with magic! wiki.puella-magi.net/Deciphering_the_runes |
|
|
|
Post by spartan0325 on Sept 24, 2015 21:32:40 GMT -5
Hey should there be a new episode up for talking shojo cuz I don't see one....
|
|
Sarah
Fearless Defender
Higher, further, faster, more.
Posts: 17 
|
Post by Sarah on Sept 25, 2015 5:41:24 GMT -5
This is my first ever experience of anime, shojo or otherwise, and I'm confused, but I *think* I like it. Here are some thoughts:
I've been watching episodes on my breaks at work on my phone, so probably not the best way to dive in, but I'm enjoying the atmosphere that the changes in animation style brings.
I'm not sure that I trust Kyubey (sp?), and I think that Homura Akemi is going to turn out to be much more than she seems so far.
Is it wrong that I liked the ending of episode 3? I thought that Mami was rather shallow and manipulative, and I wasn't sure that I trusted her.
I find some of the costumes a bit jarring, as I'm not sure what age the girls are supposed to be, but I'm assuming that is a cultural thing?
I think that that more violent scenes act as a nice contrast to the hyper-girly scenes for me, which I might find a turn off otherwise.
Anyway, I'll be sticking around for the next few episodes at least. just to see if my theory about Homura plays out!
|
|
|
|
Post by megamaramon on Sept 26, 2015 11:30:14 GMT -5
Hey should there be a new episode up for talking shojo cuz I don't see one.... Episode 3 is up on iTunes now! Since Maria and I are in different time zones, sometimes we get little off in getting the episode out on both iTunes and direct download. iTunes should be updated at 7 am CT on Fridays, and the direct link at some point during the day. |
|
|
|
Post by redeyesarucard on Sept 27, 2015 15:30:35 GMT -5
Ironically enough I first found out about this show from an amv I watched at Otakon a few years back  But this is my second time viewing and there's a few things I found funny/would like to mention in general. Personal note, I love in the first episode when Madoka and her mom are in the bathroom preparing and she has all of her makeup numbered. Adult-coffee= not functional enough for makeup. In the second episode when Sayaka, Madoka, and Kyubey are on the roof talking about becoming magical girls Sayaka starts talking about how isn't it strange that "we" should be the ones chosen for this gift and yet can't think of a wish to be granted while everyone else probably has a million? Makes me wonder why they never questioned how they were chosen (and makes me wonder what Kyubey would have said if Homura didn't interrupt at that moment in time). And in the third episode before Mami's untimely demise it's interesting how she views her life as a magical girl; ie we think of magical girls in general as being perfect since they have the fighting ability, beauty, and great costumes and yet she talks about how sad, frightened, and lonely she is as she can't make any real human connections. Which makes it all the more ironic that she becomes happy bout having friends fight with her only to lose her life from carelessness (or from not listening to Homura because of course the mysterious person who seems to know things that she shouldn't isn't to be trusted). One last thing, doesn't Madoka's fascination with Mami almost remind you of how Usagi (Serena) is in awe of Sailor V? Just saying, magical girl complexes. |
|
But this is my second time viewing and there's a few things I found funny/would like to mention in general.