Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Paving the Way for Future Anime Girls
In anime, there are numerous different genres ranging from shoujo, shounen, seinen, mecha, and mahou shoujo. The magical girl genre has always been consistent ever since Sailor Moon broadcasted in 1995. However, when Puella Magi Madoka Magica, most commonly known as PMMM6, premiered in 2011 the anime community was shocked by the jarring differences this anime possessed compared to its girlier counterparts. PMMM redefined the anime girl genre in numerous ways. First, by fighting against the schoolgirl archetype created by mahou shoujo by treating their main characters as heroes instead of innocent girls, and allowing them to grow as characters when they received their magic. Second, by presenting a more complex idea of morality in the show itself by challenging the idea of what is good and bad in the way that they present their antagonists’ and protagonists’ backgrounds.
PMMM made the main protagonists more than one-dimensional school girls, and more on par with superheroes by the ways the girls develop throughout the show and how that growth is attributed to the magic the girls receive.
Normally in mahou shoujo, the girls are made out to be one-dimensional school girls that fit certain stereotypes such as the tomboy, mature, stoic, quirky, brash, and so on. Animes such as Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and Yuki Yuna is a Hero all embrace this archetype of school girls, making a girl’s primarly feature be one of the stereotypes that come with being a school girl and then add on the fact that they are a magical girl. In fact, magical girls are rarely seen as heroes, but a separate category of individuals that possess color-coded outfits and magical powers with a magical sidekick that granted them their powers. PMMM embraces all of these stereotypes and turns them on its head. The girls at first glance fit the stereotypes mentioned beforehand. Madoka is quirky, Sayaka is a tomboy, Kyoko is brash, Homura is stoic, and Mami is the mature one that the other girls look up to. They all have color coordinated clothing and have a magical sidekick named Kyubey, further completing the trope. However, it is throughout the series that we see that these girls go beyond the schoolgirl archetype. This change is caused by the acquisition of their magical powers, which elevate them above the societal norms that they are placed in. Madoka becomes more thoughtful of her actions due to her realizing the consequences magic has, contrasting against her quirky stereotype. Sayaka uses her magic as a way to get the boy she likes to reciprocate her feelings, going against her tomboy persona. Kyoko’s magic becomes the way she saves and defends her friends, showing a softer side to her brashness. Homura uses her magic as a way to save Madoka no matter the cost, showcasing how emotional she really is. And Mami has gotten so dependent on the goodness of magic that when she finds out the truth about witches she has a mental breakdown, despite being the veteran amongst the girls. There is a similarity with how magic allows an individual to rise against societal norms with other forms of mediums. The Harry Potter series has Harry Potter go from the society classification of him being a delinquent and an orphan to a hero when he awakens his magic. Tommy from The Ballad of Black Tom elevates himself from a black man that is oppressed by the institutions that make up society, to an individual who takes charge against those who have hurt him. Magic then is seen as a tool people can use to combat against the situation they are placed in unwillingly and showcase who they really are, which in PMMM is being a hero.
When the girls are given their magic, they have the opportunity to experience character development. All of the girls have to rapidly mature throughout the series and question topics such as suicide, death, and sacrifice. For example, Kyoko sacrifices herself to save Sayaka from her suffering as a witch explaining that it is the right thing to do, when in previous episodes she would have left Sayaka to role in her stupidity. Similar character development is seen with the main heroes of Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man who all fight a certain stereotype at the start of the film. Thor is a cocky disrespectful prince, Steve Rogers a naive optimistic soldier, and Tony Stark a narcissistic weapons manufacture. However, it is throughout their movies that they begin to change when they are placed in specific situations that challenge them. Thor becomes respectful of humanity and wishes to protect them, as seen in Thor, and eventually loses his eye trying to save his people as seen in Thor Ragnarok. Steve Rogers changes from being the physical embodiment of U.S. morals to a more selfish person when he caves to his selfish desires of saving Bucky which causes him to go against the law, seen in Captain America: Civil War. Tony Stark changes from being a selfish weapons manufacturer who does not understand the pain he is causing, and becomes a self-sacrificing hero seen in Avengers. The fact that the main cast of PMMM go through the same level of trauma and pain that heroes in American film go through showcases how the show treats these girls as heroes, understanding that they are not innocent little girls that can go home after fighting evil. Instead, they are traumatized, seeing death and violence in their everyday lives causing them to fall into despair and disillusionment. This challenges the notion society has on teenage girls, which is that they are not capable of handling situations that are difficult and challenging. This is seen in our society with how many people didn’t believe Hillary Clinton could handle being president because she was a female or how it is seen as wrong for there to be a professional women boxing team at the Olympics due to the high level of violence portrayed.
PMMM presents the audience with a complex idea of what is good and bad, which is accomplished in two specific ways. First, they combat the idea of the greater good and how that ideology creates conflict in the story with the way they present the show’s true antagonist. Second, by embracing the archetype of good becoming evil but tweaking it, which is seen with the witches and magicals girls and the roles that they play with each other.
In PMMM, the idea of the ‘greater good’ calls into question the value of an individual life over the many by the way that they present conflict in the show. Kyubey reveals to the girls that the reason why he grants them wishes is that the energy they release while using their magic is adding energy into the universe. Kyubey then goes on to explain how his main goal is to stop the universe from shrinking, so he uses the magical girls as generators to add power to the universe. This ideology references utilitarian consequentialism, which is that actions are ethical if they achieve the most positive outcome as long as they save the most number of people. We see this same ideology present in many movies. In Snowpiercer we are introduced to Wilford, who allows seventy-four percent of the population in the back of the train to die in order to maintain balance. Avengers: Infinity War has Thanos who wants to kill half the universe in order to save the entire universe from starvation. Kingsman: Secret Service has Valentine whose goal is to kill a large amount of the world in order to control the population and prevent worldwide hunger. Finally, Star Trek mentions the food shortage that happened on Tarsus IV, which caused the Governor to commit genocide to ensure that the remaining food would last. In PMMM, there is a conflict against the ideology of Kyubey and the magical girls, specifically Homura, who believes that the magical girls should not be forced to suffer. This reflects the ideology of deontology, which does not focus on the consequences of actions but just the action itself and believes that no action can be justified as morally right if it is evil. Likewise, all the movies mentioned above also have a character that reflects this ideology. Curtis in Snowpiercer, all of the heroes in Avengers: Infinity War, Eggsy in Kingsman: Secret Service, and Captain Kirk in Star Trek.
However, the question of morality around the idea of the ‘greater good’ perpetuates another image beyond just these two conflicting ideas. In all of these mediums, it is important to realize that the individual who is embracing utilitarian consequentialism is presented as the villain and is usually a person in positions of power while the other individual is the person being marginalized and affected by the ideology of the villain. The conflict between these two ideas reflects our own societal struggles with the government. For example, the Patriot Act allows the government to invade the privacy of people in airports and their devices, arguing it is to ensure the safety of all U.S. citizens against terrorist attacks, which reflects the philosophy of utilitarian consequentialism. In reaction to this, Edward Snowden became the nation’s whistleblower, revealing the true scope of the government’s surveillance on the people and how unjust it was. In PMMM, Homura is fighting against the authority and power Kyubey posseses over the other girls as he tries to convince Madoka to become a magical girl. By creating a situation where there is a conflict in ideology, the anime also creates the archetype of the individual against authority. By adding this archetype, PMMM and all the other movies mentioned before are able to make utilitarian consequentialism seem unfair just because it is being associated with people in power who try to limit an individual’s free will.
PMMM embraces the archetype of good becoming evil but also challenges this notion by adding the concept of a person’s willingness to become evil. In the anime, it is discovered that the witches were once magical girls whose magic has either run out or whose emotions have corrupted them into their now disfigured form. This reflects the idea in the Dark Knight which is “you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain,”. In this case, the main cast of PMMM experiences that idea first hand. Mami dies as a hero trying to protect Madoka and Sayaka from a witch, ultimately getting eaten in her fight. Sayaka, however, turns into a witch after falling into despair over her feelings being unrequited, realizing that she is now stuck as a magical girl, a role she was unsure about. However it is important to note that none of the magical girls choose to become witches, in fact, none of them knew that that was a possibility. Throughout the anime, we see that the girls that become witches do so because they can not replenish their magic9 or because the stress and pain are too much for them to handle. They become evil against their will, due to actions outside of their control. This is similar to many movies that also embrace the archetype of good becoming evil. In X-Men First Class, Magneto’s rage is fueled by the pain and suffering he experienced in the concentration camps and then being a target of military forces just because of his powers, causing him to fight against humanity in fear of mutants being oppressed. In Breaking Bad, Walter White makes his journey into drugs due to his fear of his family's financial instability after his death. However the best example is seen in Maleficent, where Maleficent becomes a villain after being betrayed and having her wings stolen by the man she loved. But at the end of the movie, she receives redemption by saving Aurora and ruling the fairy lands peacefully. In PMMM, the girls themselves are not able to save themselves from becoming witches like Maleficent. However, it is Madoka whose wish to save all witches that makes her essentially into a Goddess that saves all the magical girl from the damnation of being a witch. By changing the criteria of the archetype, the anime is able to make the magical girls appear like tragic heroes who are placed in situations that make them into the villains. This reflects our own society and how the Black community has been placed in a situation where they are marginalized and discriminated against. They are less financially stable than most white people and so they have to live in the crime-infested inner city which then feeds the circle of discrimination until someone breaks this circle. In PMMM, the same circle is seen with the birth and death of magical girl, which places all magical girls in an endless loop of suffering. However, Madoka becomes the true hero of the anime and breaks the cycle, by making herself the only individual who is stuck in the cycle, becoming a sort of martyrdom similar to that of Jesus Christ or Jeanne d'arc, which further fulfills the tragic hero image.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica redefines the magical girl genre in three ways. First, by ensuring that the main cast is treated as complex heroes who rise above the societal norms presented by the schoolgirl archetype when they receive their magic. Second, by creating conflict by introducing two conflicting philosophies and separating the values of the two ideas by embracing the archetype of the individual against authority. Lastly, by using the archetype of good becoming evil but making the case that many times people become evil against their will, which in turn makes the ‘villain’ into a tragic hero. The reason why PMMM is so important is that its creation has sparked a re-emergence of mahou shoujo anime that try to emulate the same feel and philosophy presented in PMMM. Animes such as Magical Girl Site, Magical Girl Raising Project, and Yuki Yuna is a Hero all have their characters go through suffering and grief while they have their magical powers, showcasing their growth as characters. However, what these shows fail to accomplish that made PMMM such a breakthrough anime was the ability to challenge preconceived notions of not just mahou shoujo but teenage girls in general. Puella Magi Madoka Magica wasn’t afraid to show the ugliness of humanity in the lives of young girls. All the contradictions that the show presents are also challenges against the anime industry and society, showing them that young girls can be complex and powerful individuals despite what they present to us in movies and shows.