Puella Magi Madoka Magica

[swan_tower]

I’ve heard about this anime for a couple of years now, but only recently got around to watching it.

Dude. It’s amazing.

The name in Japanese translates to “Magical Girl Madoka Magica”; I’m not sure why they decided to translate the title to Latin* for the English release. It probably works best if you have at least a basic awareness of the “magical girl” genre, as exemplified by things like Sailor Moon: young girls get supernatural powers so they can fight evil. Usually this involves some kind of flashy “by the power of Greyskull”-type transformation from their ordinary, unassuming persona to their more wondrous selves. Madoka is a deconstruction of the genre, one where being a magical girl is not all it’s cracked up to be — but I think it would be good even if you don’t have any familiarity with specific genre under discussion. “You get magic powers to fight evil” is a broad enough concept that anything problematizing it will still be comprehensible.

It’s hard to say much about the show without giving stuff away. Madoka and her friend Sayaka encounter a creature called Kyubey, which offers to make them magical girls: if they make a wish, Kyubey will grant it, and that creates a contract wherein they get powers but have to fight witches to protect the people around them. But right from the start, a magical girl named Akemi Homura is trying to prevent them from signing up; eventually, of course, you find out why. It probably isn’t what you expect, though.

Right from the start, I liked the way the show approached the whole “witches” concept. Apparently the original plan was to make them basically kaiju, but instead they’re much more abstract: a witch is basically a hidden pocket realm a magical girl must enter, and only by defeating what she finds in there can she destroy the witch. The realms are surreal, trippy places, each one usually on a theme (one looked like “craving” or “addiction” to me), and so the battles proceed along less-predictable lines.

One of the nice things about the series is that it’s short and self-contained: twelve episodes and you’re done, though the franchise as a whole contains other components. This isn’t the kind of story that could support a much larger structure. Before long everything is spiraling wildly out of control for the characters; if the tale kept going, you’d lose that sense of genuine desperation.

I won’t call it a happy show. But if you’re looking for something dramatic, I highly recommend it.

*I bought the soundtrack, and discovered that most of the song titles are in Latin. One of them caught my eye: “Numquam vincar.” Hmmm,, I thought to myself, that’s an odd form. They’re probably just making up dog Latin, like most people do. But wait a sec — “vincere” is a third-conjugation verb, so the A would make that subjunctive. Why an R, though? That’s an bizarre ending. <a wind stirs, shifting the dust that has accumulated atop my knowledge of Latin grammar> Hang on. “Loquor.” That’s an R ending. What the heck is that? It’s, uh. Passive? Passive. First person singular passive. “Vincar” is first person singular present subjunctive passive. HOLY SHIT IT’S ACTUAL GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT LATIN. Yayyyyyyy!

For those who never studied Latin, if I’ve blown enough dust off my Latin knowledge to translate it correctly, “Numquam vincar” means “May I never be defeated.” EDIT: Sovay reminds me in LJ comments that the tense marker falls out of third conjugation verbs in the future tense, so while I could be correct in my translation — the two forms are the same — it probably means “I will never be defeated” instead.

Originally published at Swan Tower. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the cult!

Thanks for the translation. I've mostly forgotten my Latin, and wondered; with word-root research I'd guessed "Never give in/up", "never fold".

"Sis puella magica!" looked odd at first too, but I think is more subjunctive: "Be a magical girl!" The rest looked solid, except for "Credens Justitiam", I didn't try parsing that.


"It’s hard to say much about the show without giving stuff away."

Haha yeah. Evangelizing for this show tends to consist of "WATCH THIS YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS TRUST ME. THREE FOUR EPISODES. TRUST ME." But hey, it almost always pays off!


Of the spinoffs: I haven't read the mangas (which AIUI are alternate, in a way) or seen the first two movies, which are recaps. A friend finally made me seen Rebellion, which I'd resisted for possibly 'ruining' the ending. It is a cool movie in its own right, whether one wants to think of it as a canon extension or an alternate ending; even the producers seem split on that. It kind of calls for another movie, but no word on that yet.


I've only seen his Anime Boston talks, but Jed Blue aka "Froborr" has really delved into the literary analysis of the series, there's even a book. He's certainly an interesting panelist, even when he's the only panelist.

[sovay]

"Sis puella magica!" looked odd at first too, but I think is more subjective: "Be a magical girl!"

It is the present subjunctive, second person singular: "May you be a magical girl." The imperative singular of sum is usually esto (technically future imperative rather than present, but more commonly used than es because languages are like that). I can see I'll have to look up the rest of these songs!

< / drive-by classicist >

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

https://wiki.puella-magi.net/Madoka_Magica_Soundtrack#Anime_OST

Right hand column has someone's translations of the titles, which I mention in case you want to block off the screen to avoid contamination.

[sovay]

Right hand column has someone's translations of the titles, which I mention in case you want to block off the screen to avoid contamination.

I am totally cool with other people reading Latin.

Thank you!

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

I just meant if you wanted to translate on your own first, without preconceptions from others. Not that it it's complicated Latin.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I assumed you mean "if you want to protect yourself from the sight of bad translations." <g> I can't vet them all, but there's at least a couple of things being translated as imperatives that I'm pretty sure aren't.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

What sovay said about "Sis puella magica." I think "Credens justitiam" would be "Believing in justice" -- I presume "credo" would still take the accusative even when it's a participle instead of a straight-up verb.

I may look up Rebellion, since it doesn't "ruin" the ending. (I know exactly the kind of fear you mean, there.)

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

I will say that I think Rebellion was even more confusing for having been partially spoiled. I had expectations and they kept not matching up in the first half. I'm told it's a pretty trippy movie even watching it for the third time.

I also approached it from an odd angle: months before watching, I'd read a surprisingly well-done fanfic crossover of Mike Carey's Lucifer and the post-Rebellion Madoka. Good enough that I had to remind myself in discussions that the fic wasn't canon, despite the facts that I resisted thinking of Rebellion itself as canon, and that Lucifer/Madoka "canon" is a crazy concept.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Heh. Do you have a link to the fic? I might save it for after I've watched Rebellion.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

I really need to organize my fic links (scattered between my diary file, mostly read; a fanfic file, largely unread; and favorites on FF and AO3) but that one's easy to find: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10157591/1/Speak-of-the-Devil

(Edit: whoops, not that easy; that link stops at chapter 5. http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/vertigo-pmmm-rebellion-speak-of-the-devil.281117/ has the whole thing, scattered through a thread of posts. I can't find a consolidated version.)

Have you read Carey's _Lucifer_?

(Speaking of fics, http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6255031/1/Ready_Sette_Go seems to be one that people can find funny without knowing anything about the source material, which I'd guess is a rare accomplishment, if it holds up past my limited sample.)

[maladaptive.livejournal.com]

Aaaaah that makes me so happy, thank you!

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

So, on re-reading, I don't know if I want to stand by "can't tell it's canon". But, I think it definitely ends well, and extends and blends Madoka/Rebellion and Lucifer successfully. I also got annoyed by how it's 'published', and at least collected the links:

https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/15387033/
https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/12760459/
https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/12766841/
https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/13301001/
https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/13373001/
https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/13429029/
https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/13640871/
https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/13904848/
https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/14166365/
https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/14220462/
https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/14288635/
https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/14400144/
https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/14427383/
https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/14450096/
https://forums.spacebattles.com/posts/14488860/

So, just save this comment, I guess.

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the links; this concept has the catnip nature for me.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

Cool, hope you like it.

I actually approached the fic itself backwards: someone on RPG.net had pushed the fic as awesome. I didn't believe him, but I was morbidly curious about the possible trainwrekc and I do like both source materials even if I hadn't seen Rebellion. Then it turned out to be cool. Particularly in addressing all the continuity problems I thought of from the Lucifer/Sandman side of things.

I realized last night that I don't think the fic hints at the existence of Elaine, which is more self-control than I would have had.

Oh, and if there's interest in AMVs, the first half of my Madoka section has some cool ones. http://mindstalk.net/amv.html
I don't think any have Rebellion spoilers. Main series spoilers, yes...

[sovay]

For those who never studied Latin, if I’ve blown enough dust off my Latin knowledge to translate it correctly, “Numquam vincar” means “May I never be defeated.”

It could also be first person singular future indicative passive: "I will never be defeated." Either way, points for real grammar rather than handwavy fantasy Latin J.K. ROWLING I'M LOOKING AT YOU.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

It could also be first person singular future indicative passive: "I will never be defeated."

Ah, I forgot that the tense marker basically falls out of the third conjugation -- I would have expected the future form to be vincebor or something like that. It's been seventeen years since I studied Latin. :-P "I will never be defeated" is probably what they meant.

Either way, points for real grammar rather than handwavy fantasy Latin J.K. ROWLING I'M LOOKING AT YOU.

I cope with that one by telling myself it's the fault of the wizarding world: they just made shit up over the last five hundred years or so.

[sovay]

I cope with that one by telling myself it's the fault of the wizarding world: they just made shit up over the last five hundred years or so.

Honestly, I go back and forth on being fine with it as exactly the kind of dog-Latin and semi-Greek that comprised spells in our own medieval and Renaissance world and just wishing she could have conjugated the plural of "Horcrux" correctly, holy blap.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Heee. Yeah, I hear you. HORCRUCES GODDAMMIT

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Have you read steepholm's remarkable essays on this anime? If you haven't, do not miss them.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the kind words, and for alerting me to this post by your mentioning my name, sartorias. I have a madoka tag (http://steepholm.livejournal.com/tag/madoka), which will make my Madoka-related posts easy to find should swan_tower wish to do so, but the ones I think you're talking about are the "The Mahou Shoujo Must Go On" series.

I've really enjoyed the comments on the Latin (of which I have less than small)!

[maladaptive.livejournal.com]

IIRC Yuki Kajiura knows her Latin--and she invented the language so it sounds like a Romance language... but isn't (which I noticed after finally seeing the lyrics for Credens Justitiam. Given that I had that for a ringtone for the longest time, that's a bit embarrassing that I didn't notice before).

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

Heh heh. For reference: https://canta-per-me.net/lyrics/credens-justitiam/

Or annotated AMV (comments or side links may contain spoilers, for the uninitiated) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqQ3hP_q7Ns