Verily, I jest. I do support the idea that people are entitled to their own interpretations of different scenes. As I'm currently lack all the facts needed to make a correct judgment, I admit that my own opinion can be wrong.
Fear not, that was a more or less playful reposte. But yeah, there are definitely a lot of ways to take that aspect of Hitomi's character. I'm sure you'll look at it with an unbiased manner, so I'm curious where on the scale you'll lean. But that's true with the series as a whole. ^.^
Also, I suppose I can post here my theory regarding the further development of this anime. Let it be assured that I have not even an soupçon of an idea about what will happen next, so this is pure speculation.
So, based on a number of facts like the fact that this is series is considered to be a "deconstruction," the name of the item heroes received after defeating the witch and Homura's behaviour so far, I think that the main conflict will be between a rogue group of magical girls affiliated with witches, who are creatures that need negative energy to survive and reproduce, and the mainstream magical girl community.
Based on the name - as both "seed" and "egg" are words associated with reproduction - I assume witches are a species that require predating on humans to survive and give birth to more witches, while magical girls essentially parasitize on witches in their pseudo-larval form to keep their powers. In short, to keep using magic, magical girls absorb witches' embryos.
In this equation, Kyubey might be some kind of a witch subspecies or just an individual proto-witch that sided with humans to survive and prosper by absorbing portions of energy from magical girls it recruits.
This all can be used to humanize otherwise inhuman monsters magical girls typically slay on the daily basis while also making the entire situation less black and white.
Also, I suppose I can post here my theory regarding the further development of this anime. Let it be assured that I have not even an soupçon of an idea about what will happen next, so this is pure speculation.
So, based on a number of facts like the fact that this is series is considered to be a "deconstruction," the name of the item heroes received after defeating the witch and Homura's behaviour so far, I think that the main conflict will be between a rogue group of magical girls affiliated with witches, who are creatures that need negative energy to survive and reproduce, and the mainstream magical girl community.
Based on the name - as both "seed" and "egg" are words associated with reproduction - I assume witches are a species that require predating on humans to survive and give birth to more witches, while magical girls essentially parasitize on witches in their pseudo-larval form to keep their powers. In short, to keep using magic, magical girls absorb witches' embryos.
In this equation, Kyubey might be some kind of a witch subspecies or just an individual proto-witch that sided with humans to survive and prosper by absorbing portions of energy from magical girls it recruits.
This all can be used to humanize otherwise inhuman monsters magical girls typically slay on the daily basis while also making the entire situation less black and white.
Without saying anything specific, I find it interesting to compare your theory to canon.
(Let this not be a floodgate to start saying specific things. I'd be saying this for any in depth theory whether it was exactly right or completely off base.)
If I recall correctly, Mami calls it a 'Witch's Egg' in that episode. There is a decent amount of characters falling things by multiple names in general.
And she definitely says "Grief Seed," followed by (what I think is) 'Majo no tamago' (' a witch egg'). So she does say 'witch egg,' but she still calls it a Grief Seed first, and when she demonstrates its utility she calls it a Grief Seed. Her saying 'witch egg' sounds like she's describing what it is, rather than giving it another name.
I've woken up with an incredibly good mood today which happens to be something extremely atypical for me. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming and I even managed to force my face into something resembling something between a smile and a man suffering from constipation. If you looked from behind, that is.
Felling all jovial and happy and devoid of all misanthropy, I've started the third episode of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, unaware of the world outside my apartments.
The third episode starts quite peacefully as Sayaka visits someone in a hospital. I naturally surmise them to be that backward person that doesn't realize how digitalized music works. Kamijo is their name, I remind myself, totally not searching for the name in my previous posts, and they're voiced by a woman, which means they can either a girl or a young boy.
The entire scene is a rather good example of telling and not showing as the character's body language – Sayaka's, in this case – serves as a good indication of what they feel: nervousness, embarrassment and what I assume to be love. Kamijo, on the other hand, doesn't express that many emotions, but the direction in this scene tells me exactly what I need to know to understand their particular situation.
They are passionate about playing violin, but won't do so because of an arm injury… and are incredibly sad about it.
"Talk with less words and more meaning," are words I heard somewhere in the past, and this scene expresses this sentiment pretty nicely. This is some direction and a good start, even though I presume this scene will have nothing to do with the rest of the episode… Moving on.
Next scene involves Mami, her giant gun and what looks like modern art. Once again, Madoka and Sayaka are shadowing Mami while she destroys what we are soon told to be a witch's familiar… It was vaguely cat-shaped, so there's that. Also, familiar don't carry Grief Seeds, which makes me wonder why. Perhaps, this answer will be answered later down the line…
Well, here goes my theory about witches and Grief Seeds and whatnot. Then again, maybe familiar are simply extensions of a singular being, while true reproduction is achieved through the Grief Seeds. He said, trying to save his ass from the consequences. Still, that's another piece of exposition delivered in an organic manner.
On their way back, the girls talk about what they can possibly wish for and the topic switches to the wish Mami made, and we're shown the flashback of what looks like a car accident. The implications are obvious: something-something, "I don't want to die," something-something. I know this sounds a bit harsh, but the sheer amount of suchlike events in the media made me pretty desensitized to the concept. Her wish was not to die in a car crash, got it.
The conversation shifts about Sayaka's "hypothetical" desire to use her wish to help someone else. No, wait, that's not quite right. Let me try again. Her "hypothetical" desire to use her wish to help "someone else."
Much better. The topic moves to a different subject, though. Whether Sayaka herself sincerely desires to save "someone else" merely for their own sake or because they wish this "someone else" to be grateful to her. Now then, I realize "altruism" isn't a topic that can be regarded as an objective one. People have different reason to help each other, and being completely honest, I act nice towards other people simply because that makes me feel nice inside in turn. Mami, then, advices the girls to think more about their wish before they make it, which sound pretty reasonable.
The next scene involves Madoka pondering about what kind of wish she can possibly make, during which the show establishes that Kyubey itself cannot possibly suggest or force someone into making a wish. Now, this is an interesting set of rules and I'm curious about who exactly made it. Is there some kind of a deity enforcing them? Is this simply how magic works?
Also, we gain more insight into Madoka's self-image:
As someone who grew up with a pretty clear idea about what they want to do in the future as well as being constantly praised by people around me – perhaps even too much, as I've learned later in life – themes of trying to find your place in the world eludes me, but it can be found quite often in all kinds of media, no matter what country they were produced in. Let's hope this anime will find a way to make it feel fresh again.
In addition, Kyubey tells Madoka she has the potential to become even more powerful than Mami. Because of course she is. The show is called Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Not Puella Magi Will Never Be As Good As Mami… Magica. Again, protagonists are typically exceptional people, yadda-yadda-yadda.
These musings are interrupted by Madoka's mother coming home. Drunk. You know, I don't find the "drunk people act stupid because they're drunk" jokes to be that funny, but I do realize some people might enjoy them. Personally, I find the reason for my inability to appreciate them to be the incident from my childhood when I was assaulted by a sentient mug of beer.
… Moving on! What we see next is a moment of daughter-father bonding as they talk about what kind of a woman the Kaname matriarch is. A very determined one. The one willing to face challenges.
And while two-fifths of the Kaname family is having hot chocolate, Mami and Homura are having particularly passive-aggressive conversation. Once again, the topic switches to Madoka and Madoka in particular. I wonder what is wrong with Sayaka that makes her so uninteresting. Must be her blue hair. Everyone knows people with blue hair don't have a soul. The dirty sea-tops they are. Also, Mami promises Homura that their next meeting will probably, most likely, assuredly, undoubtedly involve violence, guns and what I assume are strings made out of tinier guns.
In the next scene, I finally realize that Kamijo is a boy. Of course. Because all teenaged boys sound like middle-aged women. But I digress. And jest, mostly. Since Kamijo can't meet Sayaka today, two girls depart, but on their way out of the hospital, they notice something else.
A Witch's Egg!
That's what I said. A Grief Seed. Yes.
Since none of them has Mami's phone number – apparently, the constant threat of running into eldritch monsters is still not enough to make them socialize this much – the girl split, with Sayaka entering the labyrinth together with Kyubey – to make an emergency wish I presume, the kind that goes "I very much do not want to be killed by an arts-and-crafts monster" – and Madoka running away to find Mami. Wait. If she doesn't have her phone, how the hell she's going to find her? By running around the town, shouting "Mami, Mami, Mami!" like a headless chick? (I suddenly remembered Madoka knows where Mami lives, but let's pretend that's not actually the case).
Yes, this is from the same anime.
And, while Kyubey and Sayaka browse through the Labyrinth, Madoka finally brings Mami to show the local witch what I call Power of the Second Amendment. Before you ask, my tongue is currently planted deep within my own cheek.
A few seconds after they enter the Labyrinth, they're interrupted by Homura, who tells them to leave. They have a very short conversation that ends with this.
This is like one of my Japanese anime. Wait, this is one of my Japanese anime.
So, while Mami and Madoka are travelling through the Labyrinth, Sayaka and Kyubey are making sure everyone knows the Grief Seed's position… much like how people whose heads are inside the mouth of a lion know precisely where the lion is.
On their way to the Seed, Madoka tells Mami about her desire to become a magical girl not because she has a particular wish she desires, but because she wants to find a purpose for herself. This is the precise kind of ideology I expect to get completely deconstructed because it's Urobuchi, which means heroism is worthless and you'll probably end up dead. Bleh.
This prompts Mami to tell more about herself. In particular, about the loneliness she feels from fighting for so long by herself and how much she pretends to be cool and relaxed to hide this face. This genuinely makes me feel empathetic towards her, while also solidifying my conviction that something bad in inevitable to happen to her. Something like a dire wound they'd make her retire as a magical girl because cruel irony is the kind of irony I expect from this show.
The two make a promise that if Madoka doesn't decide what her wish is by the end of the fight, they'll wish for a big party with a cake. Because that's what you use an all-powerful wish for. A cake. Now, I do understand this is silly and only half-serious, but I need to be a petty dick from time to time to keep my levels of utter spite and contempt in check. It's a condition.
As soon as they reach the mooks, we're again shown a pretty well-executed and choreographed fight scene. Moreover, Mami finally starts hitting things with bullets smaller than her own head. I consider this a progress. By the time they reach Sayaka, the Witch is finally born.
I should point out that Russian is among the languages I know which makes these writing quite amusing since the first three letters can be read as "ШТО" – "WAT," for my English-speaking audience. The rest, however, looks like gibberish, so I'm quite sure it's not actually Russian.
As newly-hatched Witches appear to be weaker, Mami almost effortlessly pummels this one into submission, leaving me unimpressed. Is there anything more this anime can offer?
… Tune in next week for my new show: "Let's Blind Watch Whiskey." In which you get to watch me drink myself into the state of utter blindness, so I can drive away the horrible images of seeing a schoolgirl getting her head eaten.
I should point out that Russian is among the languages I know which makes these writing quite amusing since the first three letters can be read as "ШТО" – "WAT," for my English-speaking audience. The rest, however, looks like gibberish, so I'm quite sure it's not actually Russian.
As newly-hatched Witches appear to be weaker, Mami almost effortlessly pummels this one into submission, leaving me unimpressed. Is there anything more this anime can offer?
Since none of them has Mami's phone number – apparently, the constant threat of running into eldritch monsters is still not enough to make them socialize this much – the girl split, with Sayaka entering the labyrinth together with Kyubey – to make an emergency wish I presume, the kind that goes "I very much do not want to be killed by an arts-and-crafts monster" – and Madoka running away to find Mami. Wait. If she doesn't have her phone, how the hell she's going to find her? By running around the town, shouting "Mami, Mami, Mami!" like a headless chick? (I suddenly remembered Madoka knows where Mami lives, but let's pretend that's not actually the case).
