Anime Review: Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Rebellion Story

After some spoiler talk on 4chan, I hesitated a bit before watching this. Yes, it's Madoka Magica, so it should be watched. But at the same time, the pieces of information I gathered in the first few days in theaters led me to believe this movie was going to completely throw the story out the window for a quick cash in, so I was not sure what to expect when I finally sat down to watch it.

For now, this review will be infested with nasty spoilers. I warned you, so don't blame me if you find out something you didn't want to know.

For those waiting to read reviews until after you see the film outside of Japan, I'll see you in January!

They should rename this to "Homura the Movie: Being me sucks."

Again, I'd like to remind everyone that there will be spoilers. I will be basically summarizing the film. If you don't want to hear about it, turn back now!

Welp, now that there has been at least two spoiler warnings, and I 've mentioned my hesitation towards the film, let's begin by summarizing the film as quick as possible:

Kyoko, Sayaka, and Madoka (who is now a Magical Girl) fight a nightmare, and the following day at school they meet Homura. They see her ring and freak out, and are told (I'm assuming) after school that Mami had met Homura last night, who had assisted in the fight. They're all suddenly buddy buddy with each other until Homura realizes they are in a witch's barrier. She accuses BB, Mami's "helper" who has taken the form of Charlotte, of being the witch in question, and fights Mami because "OMG UR MISTREATING BB". No biggie. Blah Blah Blah, conversations with Sayaka and Madoka about this, and BAM! Homura finds out it's all an experiment; the movie was taking place in her soul gem, she becomes a witch, the girls save her only to have Madokami show up, being Homura is suffering so she takes the part of Madoka that retains her memories, and goes fucking crazy.

That's the short version. The long version explains that the short version is somewhat full of crap, and slightly exaggerated. It will also explain Nagisa's role, as she wasn't really mentioned in the short version. Oops.

We'll start this by discussing the characters and their roles, along with their development throughout the duration of this story:

Kaname Madoka: At first glance, I can see viewers becoming rather confused with the inclusion of Madoka. Since she rewrote the Laws of the Universe, she shouldn't have been there. However, given later plot information her presence makes sense. She's essentially the same Madoka we knew during the TV show/first 2 movies, but she's a Magical Girl. Just like the previous material, she seems to mature and attempts to bring hope to the other girls, assisting in saving Homura before the whole "being Homura is suffering" situation.

Homura Akemi: Okay, this little shit. She's... well, she's hardly the badass we knew from previous material, sporting the "Moemura" look for a portion of the film. She reverts to her signature style once she finds out they're all in a witch's barrier that reproduced Mitakihara, but from that point on she slowly becomes bat shit crazy. I don't mean this in the School Days sense, but more in the... well, let's just explain the rest of this: once she finds out she's part of an experiment in which the Incubators wish to essentially manipulate Madoka, she flips out, sending herself into grief and becoming a witch. They save her, and they wait for Madokami to take her away. However, when she arrives, Homura decides it's a good idea to take the portion of Madokami that was her best friend from her, rewriting the world and have Madoka return to school after "spending 3 years in America". What... The... Fuck, Homura. I refer to this as the "being Homura is suffering" situation. Afterwards she destroys her soul gem, creating another... I don't want to call it a Soul Gem, since it's designed different, but she tells Kyubey it's created out of her love for Madoka. Huh.

I LOVE MADOKA AND HERES MY PROOF --Akemi Homura 2013

Sayaka and Kyoko: I think these two deserved a little more development, since during "normal" moments they essentially act like Kyoko replaced Hitomi in the original material. However, Kyoko is with Homura when they realize something's not right (they try to go to Kyoko's home town but can't leave Mitakihara), and Sayaka knows about the witches (since Madoka rewrote the laws, Homura should have been the only person who knew of this). They assist in saving Homura in the end, though, and afterwards Homura flat out tells Sayaka that they are enemies from now on. That's... about it, I think.

Nagisa Momoe: Okay, this is still a little confusing to me since Nagisa as a humanoid didn't get much screen time. However, she is BB, who takes on the form as Charlotte. After Homura interrogates her, asking why she created the barrier and manipulated her friends (as mentioned before, that was Homura, not BB) she reverts to what I like to call "normal form" and says something to Mami along the lines of "I'll explain everything". However, you don't get the rest of the conversation, so who knows what she told Mami? Regardless she assists in saving Homura like everyone else, the little shit, after returning to the screen in BB form.

Kyubey/QB/Incubator: This little shit waits until the last half of the movie to say anything inside the barrier (he likes to say "kyu~" a lot, though) but as mentioned before the Incubators' main role in this film is to use Homura as an experiment to summon Madokami, of whom they want to manipulate. Otherwise, not a major role. As usual his plan backfires, and in the end Homura beats the shit out of him.

Now, let's explain some random things, since the general idea of the film is already explained:

• Before the movie starts, it asks viewers not to spoil it (sorry guys...)
• In the barrier, Sayaka is letting Kyoko live with her. (OTP everyone!)
• Hitomi becomes a nightmare that is turned back to human form.
• At the end of the movie, the only Magical Girls who remember anything were Madoka, Homura, and Sayaka.
• Sayaka transforms into her witch form, Oktavia, and is somehow able to control it.
• Homura takes Madoka's powers and responsibilities (only a part, according to her), replacing the Law of Cycles with her own rules. In short, the title "The Rebellion Story" comes from Homura rebelling against the Law of Cycles, effectively dethroning Madokami.

Dammit, being homura is suffering. 

Overall, I did kind of like this movie, but I do have a few issues with it. I mean, Homura reached the point of no return, but the Incubators suddenly had a way to prevent the Law of Cycles to go in effect, essentially putting her in a coma? Homura magically became something more powerful than Madokami? It just screams "here's a BS story ending so you can give us more money when we make a sequel!" I mean, Urobuchi has stated that not only did he want it to end with Madokami coming for Homura, but has also mentioned this is the end of Homura and Madoka's story.

Overall, I think it's good for a watch but... I dunno, I think it's being overhyped.

Reccomend: Yes.