Up Close Archives | Page 2 of 3

Up Close With Reiko

Posted on June 10, 2019June 8, 2019 by Karandi

For a character who has been mentioned in Natsume Yuujinchou since season one, Reiko remains the character most shrouded in mystery. For every flash back or memory Natsume has of Reiko dealing with yokai we’re presented with just one more puzzling piece of a complex character who died a long time ago. Yet she remains a driving factor behind so many of the interactions in Natsume’s Book of Friends and so I wanted to take a moment to look at her a bit more closely.

Not that we have all that much to go off of. With few exceptions, all the information the audience gathers about Reiko comes second hand and is heavily interpreted by the one conveying the information. For yokai, Reiko was a human they either feared or held in awe. Some yokai developed a fierce attachment to her whereas others would flee at the very mention of her name.

It is difficult to tell how Reiko felt about yokai. The story that she was frustrated and so picked fights seems likely given she did in fact force a large number of yokai to write their names in her book, and yet there’s much more to it. The young and naive yokai she met who wanted to see the ocean was given the chance to do so many years later due to his encounter with Reiko. While on the surface it looked like she was being horrible to him, she ultimately gave him the chance to fulfil his wish. Admittedly she could have gone about it in a nicer manner but it was still kind of helpful.

Plenty of other yokai were also helped by their encounters with her. However, some were not. Others were beaten and then abandoned and left with a helpless feeling of being abandoned. At various points Reiko might have been able to have become friends with one yokai or another, much as Natsume has, and yet she continued to hold herself aloof.

We also know Reiko had dealings with the Matoba exorcists, though again, other than brief glimpses we don’t know exactly to what extent those dealings went.

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What we do know about Reiko is that she was someone who refused to compromise who she was. She was different from other people and they shunned her because of it but she didn’t try to hide her nature. She was fierce and strong and seemed whimsical but there was kindness in many of her actions. We also know that at some point she had to have had a child or else Natsume wouldn’t exist today for us to enjoy his adventures.

I’d love to learn more about Reiko as she is a truly fascinating figure whose actions have had far reaching consequences as she left her mark firmly in the yokai world.

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Karandi James

Up Close With Haruitsuki Abeno

Posted on June 3, 2019June 1, 2019 by Karandi

This week I’ve decided to look at one half of the duo that make up the centre of The Morose Mononokean, Haruitsuki Abeno who is the human master of the Mononokean. I’m assuming at some point we’ll find out how Abeno came to meet Aoi and why a human was raised by a yokai and has been given such a position of power but until then, let’s look at what we do know from the two seasons of the anime.

Abeno isn’t exactly the sharing kind however, so particularly during the first season a large amount of his character and story were pretty ambiguous. He came across as cold and detached toward Hanae and while there were moments when his cold exterior softened, he very much held himself aloof. However, that was also more true of his interactions with human characters. A lot of the time Abeno wears a robe that makes him essentially invisible to normal humans anyway and he seems far more at ease when hidden and only visible to the yokai.

The Morose Mononokean Episode 6 Abeno and Ashiya

Meanwhile the yokai have a mix of views about him. Some revere him as the Master of the Mononokean, others share rumours of what happened to the previous master, and still others fear him. Regardless, Abeno carries out his duties as the master, returning yokai to the underworld and taking care of other problems concerning the yokai.

His relationship with the Legislator was an interesting tease during season one, but season two saw that fleshed out enormously. The Legislator is definitely fond of teasing him and prodding him into action, though his goals remain entirely concealed.

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Which might be where Abeno shares more in common with the Legislator than he’d like to admit. As much as Abeno continues to speak harshly to Hanae and pick fights over petty things, at the end of the day Abeno has his employee’s back. Even at great expense to himself, Abeno will protect Hanae and he’s gone to great lengths to find more information out about the mysteries of Hanae’s family and past.

Ultimately though, season two made it very clear to the audience that any gruff and stern front Abeno has been putting on is crumbling rapidly. Between his protection of Hanae against the yokai, his consideration for Hanae when he was scared, helping Hanae train his power, and his response to the yokai bird who couldn’t fly, his cool facade is all but gone and what we are seeing instead is the very human Abeno who is operating in a role that has some fairly big implications and has to make decisions between completing his duty and doing what he believes is right.

The Morose Mononokean Season 2 Episode 10

I really hope we get another season of the Morose Mononokean because I’d love to know what is next for Haruitsuki Abeno in his journey. He’s great fun to watch and as we’ve slowly seen his shell cracking over two seasons it would be great to see what is next for his character journey.

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Karandi James

Up Close with Hestia

Posted on May 27, 2019May 24, 2019 by Karandi

She’s the feisty goddess who looked long and hard before choosing Bell to become a part of her familia. Fiercely loyal but also not really one to plan ahead, Hestia has a lot more going for her as a character than you might think from her generic loli appearance. Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon would definitely not be the same without Hestia.

When we first meet Hestia she seems as generic as they come. She’s the loli/little sister type character who is way too fixated on the boy she lives with and very hands on. She crawls into his blanket and sulks when she doesn’t get her way. With her bouncing breasts taking centre stage in a lot of her screen time, and even other gods mocking her for being so small accept in her boobs, it would be very easy to dismiss Hestia as a one note character that we’ve all seen before.

That however overlooks a lot of Hestia’s most wonderful character traits. Her genuine affection for Bell, whether that of a goddess or something more not withstanding, she’s fiercely protective of her familia (which in the anime initially consists of only Bell). Hestia may be largely powerless in the mortal world but she still isn’t going to let those she deems a danger near him. And yet, her jealousy and protectiveness doesn’t make her stupid. When Lily comes along, despite Hestia not trusting her initially and those misgivings turn out to be true, once Lily commits to following Bell, Hestia accepts the logic in Bell having assistance in the dungeon. She may not like it but she does what is right for Bell’s protection.

This willingness to compromise her own position in order to protect Bell is a reoccurring theme and something that sets Hestia apart from other possessive characters who put their own needs first at almost all times. Hestia incurs a massive debt to another goddess early on in order to buy Bell a knife that will guard him in the dungeon. However, rather than using the money earned by Bell in the dungeon to pay for it, Hestia takes on a range of part-time jobs and continues to work to pay the debt herself.

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However, the surest sign of Hestia’s feelings and her strength as a character, as well as her impulsive nature, is her decision to enter the dungeon after Bell and his party don’t return. Despite being a goddess she is completely helpless in the dungeon and she knows it. She knows she can’t do any good, she knows that her presence won’t change anything, and yet she cannot simply sit and wait for Bell to return. Then, when push comes to shove and Hestia sees Bell in real danger she breaks a significant taboo and unleashes her power within the dungeon.

While Hestia definitely falls in with a lot of generic tropes she is very much her own character and she is fun and delightful. Her love for her familia is admirable and the effort she goes to in order to protect them is extraordinary. I can’t wait to see more of Hestia in the upcoming second season as I love her in the books.

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Karandi James

Up Close With Haruhi Fujioka

Posted on May 20, 2019May 20, 2019 by Karandi

Haruhi Fujioka is a pretty well known character. The protagonist of a reverse harem, she isn’t the usual bland or blank slate centre around each of the bishounen cast revolve. Instead, she’s smart, sassy, at times vulnerable, and incredibly well rounded character with her own goals, history, hang ups, and motives. While credit does need to be given to the male cast for holding up their end as well, it is fairly easy to say that Haruhi is the beating heart of Ouran High School Host Club and the reason so many people love it.

We first meet Haruhi when she’s looking for a place to study. At the time, due to her appearance, she’s largely mistaken for a male student, and it takes the first episode before all the members of the host club realises that Haruhi is a girl.

The idea of gender identity isn’t deeply explored by Ouran, but nor is this facet of Haruhi ignored. She doesn’t mind in the slightest that people mistake her for male and doesn’t really feel like it makes a difference. However, what the audience sees is the way the attitudes of the boys in the club change toward Haruhi as they realise her gender and how gender roles comes up again and again.

The scene at the beach where Haruhi puts herself in danger and incurs the anger of the other club members is a prominent moment where the theme takes centre stage, as are the moments where we meet Haruhi’s father or the members of the rival club from another school that try to recruit Haruhi. Then there’s the medical examination episode which mostly uses Haruhi’s hidden gender for amusement purposes.

Ultimately the anime manages to look at gender without making too many judgements or preaching at the audience allowing consideration of an idea without taking away from the entertainment of the story, and all of it centres around Haruhi’s character. It makes her fairly memorable.

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But that isn’t all there is to Haruhi. In a more heavy handed fashion the anime also explores social class and wealth division with Haruhi being a ‘commoner’ and being at the school on scholarship. This theme is less nuanced and is largely played for laughs throughout the series, but again is a clear part of Haruhi’s identity within the story.

While it would be easy to define Haruhi by the themes and issues that are centred on her, that isn’t really fair to her character. What makes Haruhi interesting isn’t that she is poor or that she doesn’t see gender roles in black an white terms. What makes Haruhi interesting is the way she interacts with the other cast members. Her commentary on the antics of the club, her determination to succeed at her goals, the way she refused to pick up social cues from others when she doesn’t agree with them.

While watching Ouran High School Host Club it is really easy to rally behind Haruhi. She’s just such a fun and entertaining character to spend time with and even though she starts as an interesting character she still grows and changes through her interactions with the members of the host club. All and all, she’s a character I remember fondly and enjoy going back and spending time with.

What about you? What did you think of Haruhi Fujioka?

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Karandi James

Up Close with Xianming Lin

Posted on May 13, 2019May 10, 2019 by Karandi

From the moment we are introduced to Lin in Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens we know a few things about him. He has zero attachment to anyone, will do whatever he has to do, and for some reason he likes to cross dress. As the series continues to weave its tale of assassins, betrayals, and baseball Lin remains in the midst of a crazy story and along the way makes some progress as a person and the audience is given a little insight into how he got to where he was at the beginning of the series.

And yes, there are some spoilers ahead.

Hakata Tonktsu Ramens Episode 1 Lin — You have to admit – he knows how to make an entrance even if he isn’t aware of practical shoes.

At the beginning of the series we meet Lin. In one episode he takes out one target as an assassin, claims payment on another hit even though he didn’t actually kill the guy, and after his employer withholds payment we see Lin turn his back on him and actually protect his next target so that no one else can kill him until his boss pays him. It’s cold, fairly audacious, and done with a matter-of-fact manner from someone who has come to not expect much else from their day.

However, Lin is not a cold and hard killer. Nor is he an emotionless puppet. Even in the first episode of Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens we see a character driven firmly by his emotions. At first the motivation is paying money to save his family and then it shifts to revenge.

Lin isn’t disconnected from others because he lacks emotion. As we learn more about him, and see the flash back to when he was trained to become an assassin, it becomes clear that Lin is disconnected because he feels too much and is scared of trusting others because of the hurt of previous betrayals and losses.

He sold himself in order to save his mother and sister from poverty. Making the best of a poor situation, he befriended his roommate in the training camp only to learn that the final test was that they had to try to kill each other and his roommate knew this all along and intended to kill him. Even working as an assassin for a boss he knew was scum, he felt betrayed when the boss first wouldn’t pay him, then tried to kill him, and finally that same boss sold his sister to someone he knew would kill her in a horrible manner. It is no wonder that Lin recoils from others and as he starts feeling comfortable in Hakata he begins making plans to flee.

Despite that, Lin ultimately stays. While Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens is not the kind of anime where the power of friendship overcomes the big evil and they all go back to their normal lives, the connections Lin makes after meeting Banba in Hakata are what allow him to be saved toward the end and while things might not be normal they do go back to playing baseball (even if Lin still really doesn’t get the sport at all).

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The one question we don’t get answered about Lin is why he likes to cross-dress. The anime never once addresses it and the only time it even comes up is when he’s mistaken for a woman or deliberately uses his appearance as part of a plan. But the why never comes up and we know he hasn’t just done it his whole life because he wasn’t cross-dressing in any of the flash backs.

It is a mystery and one of many reasons why I’d love a second season of Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens. The main reason though is that these characters, assassins and flawed human beings that they are, were a lot of fun to watch and I could definitely watch them face and overcome some more challenges and be entertained.

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Karandi James

Up Close With Subaru

Posted on May 6, 2019May 4, 2019 by Karandi

This week I’m turning my attention to the human half of the fabulous duo that made up the very sweet My Roommate is a Cat, Subaru. Admittedly, individually, and particularly at the start of the season, Subaru’s personality is a little bit abrasive and hard to take. I still found him interesting to watch but didn’t necessarily like him. However, the fantastic, emotional journey he goes on throughout the series and the growth he makes as a person just made him really shine by the end of the series and I think he is a character well worth spending some more time on.

There will be some spoilers for the series.

My Roommate is a Cat Episode 1 Subaru and Cat

If you only watched the first episode or two of My Roommate is a Cat, your impression of Subaru, other than the fact that we have yet another anime protagonist starting a show with the funeral of his parents, is that he’s a bit rude and abrupt. I kind of understood why though because in the cases where he was being rude to his editor, the editor had taken him out of his comfort zone seemingly for no reason. If you know someone doesn’t like going to cafes and the like and there’s no reason to meet them there, then why drag them out. Still, Subaru doesn’t make the best first impression on the audience.

However, in these first episodes, Subaru comes across Haru, who despite being a cat very much deserves her own character post, and Subaru, seemingly on a whim, takes her home with the intention of using a cat as a muse for a new character in a story he is writing. it’s an on the spot decision made without a lot of forethought and it becomes obvious fairly quickly that Subaru doesn’t have a clue how to deal with the new addition to his household.

Over the course of the series, we see that Haru’s presence in Subaru’s life begins to help him reconnect with others and makes him remember his parents and the many lost opportunities to connect with them. While this show doesn’t have a dramatic change of character, Subaru begins to subtly grow, seeking out small interactions with people building up until he agrees to a book signing.

That doesn’t mean he’s actually good at interacting with others. He’s still awkward, gets flustered, at times wants to run away, but he’s more and more committed to trying to deal with those in his life. He also begins to appreciate what each of the others brings into his life and tries to show that he appreciates it.

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However, the final push comes at the end of the series where he goes on the last holiday his parents planned. While this is an emotional enough development given the course of the story, what really shows the change in Subaru is his reaction when he realises he can’t get home to Haru as planned. Then, Haru manages to get out of the house and Subaru needs to search for her.

From a character who blatantly refused to leave the house and if forced outside was cold and cut-off, to one who actively searched for another and called on those he’d made connections with to help, Subaru’s character grew in leaps and bounds and while his basic personality hadn’t changed at all, something shown through the clever use of flash backs, his ability to deal with others and his acceptance of them had developed tremendously.

Ultimately, I really enjoyed watching Subaru grow as a character and found his story delightful.

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Karandi James

Up Close With Emma

Posted on April 29, 2019April 26, 2019 by Karandi

She’s one of a trio of precocious eleven year olds who learn her whole life is a lie. Emma from The Promised Neverland shines and today I want to take a closer look at her. I am however only looking at the first season of the anime and what we’ve seen of Emma so far there.

There will however be some spoilers for the anime.

Fortunately, Emma is one shining character who carries every scene she is in. She’s the glue that holds the central trio together and drives the narrative in The Promised Neverland, and while she might not be as smart as Ray or Norman it is safe to say that without Emma the story would have been dead in the water. While they think and plan, Emma is the one puts things into action.

What is so great about Emma?

The Promised Neverland Episode 1 Emma and friends

Right from episode one, we see that Emma is a character who nurtures those around her. She is fiercely protective of her ‘family’ and when she learns they are in danger and that the world they are in is a lie she is driven to take action. Only, escape isn’t her only goal. She wants to save everyone.

Norman knows this is foolish. Ray doesn’t just know it to be foolish, he openly opposes the idea of trying to save everyone and makes his own deal with Norman behind Emma’s back. But, Emma is resolute.

The Promised Neverland Episode 7 Emma and Norman

That is what makes the ending of season one of The Promised Neverland so incredibly surprising. Emma doesn’t get all of the kids out of the orphanage but not because Ray tricked her or she failed. She makes her own decision that it isn’t time. After refusing to compromise or to give in, Emma makes the only compromise she can and that is to not save everyone just now. She’ll save those she can now, those who are in danger, and resolve to finish the job later.

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It is such an unusual move for a protagonist in this kind of story. They normally take an all or nothing approach sacrificing life and limb for their ideals.

Emma is idealistic. She has a goal so big it will change her whole world. But she won’t lay down her life, or anyone else’s to achieve it, because that defeats the purpose of achieving it.

Emma is a protagonist the likes of which we have never really seen before. She lies at times but feels guilty. She isn’t above underhanded actions or leaning on others, but Emma ultimately is the strength that props everyone else up and encourages them to be more than they thought they could. All of those kids believed in her and helped with the plan because of Emma.

The Promised Neverland Episode 12 - Morning

It was a real joy to spend time with Emma during season one of The Promised Neverland and I look forward to seeing her in action during season two next year.

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Karandi James

Up Close with Yuki Soleil

Posted on March 25, 2019March 23, 2019 by Karandi

Alright, so let’s establish who Yuki Soleil actually is given I’m kind of certain a lot of people decided not to watch The Price of Smiles during the Winter anime season. Which is a fair enough decision. Even though I low-key enjoyed it and still feel it is probably better than some people think, it isn’t exactly great and ends up being a fairly average watch once it concludes (though more on that in the series review that will come out later this week). For now, I just want to look at Yuki, one of the two protagonists that The Price of Smiles splits its time between.

On meeting Yuki we find her to be an exceptionally bubbly and cheery Princess. She does all the usual anime Princess things such as being adored by her subjects, has a childhood friend who also guards her, and she sneaks out of the palace to play. It is all pretty standard and unfortunately, despite Yuki actually being a reasonably interesting character, she ends up grounded in this terribly cliche mould.

The other issue Yuki suffers as a character is that despite being The Princess and technically the ruler of the Kingdom of Soleil given her parents are dead (oh look another anime character with dead parents), those around her actively strive to keep her in the dark. Their excuse is they want to see her smiling and happy, but how can she possibly rule anything when she knows nothing of the reality?

The Price of Smiles Episode 4 Princess Yuuki

Even after the truth confronts her in the horrible shock of the death of a close friend in a war she never knew existed, Yuki remains stubbornly naive looking for quick solutions to solve the conflict including offering herself up to secure a peace deal. And while that path could have been interesting, once again, those around her ignore her wishes and whisk her away sacrificing someone else in her place.

The Price of Smiles Episode 12 Yuki and Layla

It makes you wonder what authority Yuki actually has and unfortunately they never address this. While Yuki keeps making decisions and works with Layla, her closest adviser to ultimately get the outcome she wants, she never does win over the council or the army. She technically goes behind their backs. So it never becomes a story of Yuki growing into her authority because even in the final episodes she seemingly has little sway over anyone outside of her inner-circle.

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That and Yuki never really gets over her childish desire to simply make everyone happy, as if such a state were possible.

Yuki is a character who had huge growth potential but largely didn’t get it. Her periods of grief for those who are lost vary with some deaths hitting her significantly hard and other deaths seemingly being just another drop in the ocean.

What manages to keep Yuki from becoming a fairly forgettable character are her few moments of tactical brilliance. This is demonstrated in the early episodes when playing a game. She helps her knight fight his way to victory through reading the terrain. Mid-season this brilliance comes back again very briefly, but over and over again she makes poor calls because she allows her emotions to overcome her reasoning. It does however make her final play more believable because Yuki isn’t a dumb character. She’s naive and she didn’t know much about the real state of the world, but with the right information at her disposal, she certainly demonstrates that she can use it creatively and to be effect to achieve her desired results.

I’d have loved for Yuki to have gotten more time to develop and to grow. I would have loved to see her actually earn the authority as a ruler and to see her win over those beneath her. Unfortunately, the story just didn’t have time for it and so we end up with a character who potentially could have been great but will for the most part be forgotten.

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Karandi James

Up Close With Rimuru Tempest

Posted on March 18, 2019March 17, 2019 by Karandi

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Episode 12 Rimuru

Since That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime began in the Autumn 2018 season, Rimuru Tempest has been super popular. Just looking at the sheer number of items that have come out from That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime makes it clear that there’s some appeal. And yet, while I enjoy watching Rimuru’s antics, I can’t say that I find him overly memorable as a protagonist. Which is why his winning the Crunchyroll award for best protagonist last year kind of had me a little stumped. So, since the ‘story’ of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime came to a close last week I decided to take the opportunity to have a bit of a closer look at our reincarnated slime.

Keep in mind, I’m only responding to what I’ve seen in the anime as I have not read any of the source material in any form.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Episode 1

Originally a 37 year old office worker from Japan, Satoru died when a random guy came running down the street with a knife and he protected his co-worker and the co-worker’s girlfriend. I’m still not sure why just pulling them out of the way wouldn’t have worked or why the guy was running with the knife, but clearly there wasn’t a lot of thought put into the way they’d off this character and at least they didn’t hit him with a truck which has become beyond cliche. Whichever way, we establish that even as a human, while Satoru isn’t overly ambitious he is a nice guy, and alas that kind of defines all of Rimuru’s relationships from that point forward.

Now, there is nothing wrong with being nice. Bell Cranel is certainly a ‘nice guy’ protagonist, however in his case it is off-set by his drive and ambition to become a hero like the ones in his grandfather’s stories. Rimuru doesn’t have anything to off-set just being nice other than the fact that he is reincarnated as a blue slime monster, which is novel for about an episode and then you wonder if there’s anything more to the gimmick.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime - Ranga

Probably my biggest complaint about Rimuru Tempest and his character is that it isn’t really defined by anything. He bops along in the cave collecting stuff because why not and then runs into Veldora, who also gives him his name and a few handy hints. After Veldora we meet the goblins, then the wolves, then the dwarves, then the ogres, and then… You see, once a relationship is formed, the characters in question end up more or less in the background and Rimuru just kind of moves on to the next thing.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Episode 8 Rimuru and Shizu

About the only relationship that looked to go a bit deeper was Shizue, but even then she was only in the story for a couple of episodes and Rimuru’s only real connection with her was that she was also born in Japan.

However, I’m not just taking a look at Rimuru to dump on him (well, technically he is gender-less as a slime but he started out as a male human so we’re sticking with that). Rimuru is a fun character to spend time with because of his lack of drive and ambition. While he’s building his city, a lot of it he just kind of stumbled across and most of his actions are the result of him trying to make things easier on himself. He’s almost infectiously relaxing which is kind of great if you are looking for some laid back entertainment.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Episode 10 Rimuru

He also gets two great character designs. As the slime, he’s awesome and I really was eyeing off the pillow version of Rimuru as a slime because it just looked too cute. While as a character that gimmick wore thin pretty quick, as a design for a character it is amazing how cute they managed to make a blue blob. As a human, he’s easily recognised, cute, and not over-designed. There’s a simplicity about him and yet he’s still distinct.

All and all, from a design point of view they kind of hit the jackpot with Rimuru.

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While I’d personally like him more if he had some kind of drive, rather than a vague picking up of Shizue’s legacy and just kind of dealing with stuff as it happens, there’s not a huge amount to actually say is wrong with Rimuru. Though plenty that might have been stronger.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Episode 21 Rimuru reacts

He doesn’t leave a strong impression in terms of his character journey and on thinking about that it seems clear that he isn’t changing very much despite the circumstances he finds himself in. At first that makes no sense and then you remember he was 37 years old when he died. Late thirties, he was going to be pretty set in his personality and attitudes and even applying his thoughts to new situations it is unlikely his character would rapidly change. Certainly over time he might develop slowly in response to the new situation but it isn’t going to happen quickly. This isn’t an impressionable or emotional teenager we’re dealing with.

Also, his lack of ambition is also explained by the same. At 37 he had settled for what life had to offer and then he died in an instant. What would be the point in striving to work toward something when Rimuru knows first hand how quickly it could all just disappear. It makes his go with the flow feeling far more acceptable when you consider that he’s already lived one life where he didn’t really accomplish much and then died without warning.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Episode 9 Rimuru in the cave

While Rimuru isn’t going to rocket up my list of favourite anime characters any time soon, I certainly did have some fun bouncing a long with him on his journey.

What do you think about Rimuru?

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Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James

Up Close With Madoka

Posted on March 11, 2019March 9, 2019 by Karandi

You know, plenty of people want to change the world. Most of us won’t ever be given the chance to. But what if one day a small, white, bunny like creature appeared and told you that you could make a wish, and because of your great potential you could wish for almost anything you wanted and it would come true?

Would you end up like the Rat from Juni Taisen who simply wishes to forget everything that has happened so that he could find some peace? Or would you manage to find a wish worth changing everything for?

This is the question Madoka is confronted with early on in Madoka Magica and it isn’t really surprising that it takes her the full series to finally come to a resolution. Madoka is living an ordinary life. She is an ordinary girl. This wasn’t a case of her being reborn in human form or born into a family of magician or anything along those lines. Madoka is painfully ordinary and she is well aware of the fact.

That said, her family interactions are adorable. She has a career driven mother who still tries to find time to bond with her daughter and to support her through the awkward transition into adulthood sharing small pearls of wisdom while preparing for a day of work/school. The father prepares meals and takes care of the younger brother and again provides that quiet background support within the story. Madoka’s home life is well established and her family feels warm and caring, though also busy with their own concerns. I would have liked to have seen more of hose Madoka’s choices impacted upon her family but realistically in the episode count they had they did a great job with this.

Madoka also has well established friendships with Sayaka Miki and Hitomi. These three are very well grounded and while Hitomi gets sidelined a little from the main action, serving more as a catalyst for Sayaka’s disintegrating mental state, early on it is fun spending time with these characters as they head to school and the like.

So from this very ordinary beginning, Madoka is asked to consider making a wish that might very well change the world. It isn’t that she doesn’t want to become a magical girl. It is clear early on she is interested as even the prospect of it has her daydreaming and drawing potential costume designs while at school. She also jumps at the chance to observe Mami in action so that she knows more about what a magical girl is.

The problem Madoka faces is she doesn’t want to waste her one and only wish and yet she doesn’t want anything badly enough to wish for it. Her life is settled and happy. Good family and friends. It makes sense that while she has things she’d like, none of them seem like something that are worth using such a wish for.

Of course, this is where things get ugly, because being a magical girl isn’t all it is cracked up to be and as Madoka witnesses the tragedies of the other magical girls and ultimately the threat to her family and friends from a witch that is really too powerful to be fought, Madoka finally does find her wish.

For a character who is fairly unassuming and comes from such an ordinary background, Madoka really does think this one through and while there are consequences and implications she couldn’t possibly have imagined, her wish really did change the world.

Madoka is a great character. She truly transforms in response to the circumstances around her and ultimately manages to figure out what it is she wants and uses her one and only wish to ensure it happens. Watching the journey as she tries to figure out what is really worth wishing for is truly a rewarding experience and one I absolutely loved.

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