While the outside world was still arguing over Mu Suxing's words, Madoka Magica still maintained its frequency of one episode per week and was steadily broadcast on all video websites. It also kicked off the depressing prelude to what many people later hailed as "a dark curtain in each episode."
At this moment, the audience following the show is no longer limited to those who are originally interested in magical girl themes. Many viewers who have no interest in magical girl animation but were aroused by Mu Suxing's remarks also heard the news and clicked on Madoka Magica with the intention of giving it a try.
Shen Tongfang is one of them.
As a famous comic critic on Blue Star, Shen Tongfang has always been extremely picky. Perhaps literary young people all have a bit of self-righteousness. For example, Shen Tongfang just laughed off the animations such as "IS" produced by Huaying before, and never had any interest in watching them.
In his opinion, writing reviews for such meaningless animations is a waste of time.
If Shen Tongfang had not been moved by Mu Suxing's words and had not become curious about this animation that made the other party so confident, he would never have watched the online animation that he had always looked down upon.
As for the magic circle...
"I'm free anyway, so I want to see what the depth and connotation the director talks about lies." Half expectant and half curious, after quickly catching up on the first three episodes, Shen Tongfang clicked on the fourth episode.
Under the pressure and fear of witnessing the tragic death of her senior Mami Tomoe, Madoka finally gave up the idea of becoming a magical girl. At the same time, Sayaka, who was in pain because her childhood sweetheart had lost the feeling in his right hand and could no longer play music, made an exchange with Kyubey after firmly telling him that "miracles and magic do exist."
At the end of the animation, another magical girl who came because of Mami's death, after learning that the city has been protected by another newly born magical girl, a cold smile appeared on her lips: "I am also very upset to see such a great place handed over to a rookie who just debuted."
Kyubey: "What are you going to do, Kyoko?"
"Do you even need to ask this?" The red-haired girl called Apricot bit off the delicious stick in her hand nonchalantly: "The key is, just solve it, right?"
— "Take the girl."
The plot of the fourth episode ends here. Shen Tongfang narrowed his eyes, thinking about something.
After experiencing the tragedy of the senior's death in the third episode, the magical girls would kill each other because of conflicts of interest - this is no longer an unexpected setting, but a natural plot.
What concerned him was not the main plot of Madoka Magica, which was still unclear, but the meaningful lines of the characters. If the images in front of him were not cartoon characters, Shen Tongfang would almost suspect that he was watching a movie with a hidden plot. To put it in a literary way, "If there is a gun on the wall in the first act of a play, then in the third act the wooden warehouse will definitely open fire."
Shen Tongfang vaguely felt that these lines that made him feel that there was something else in the words might be a hint for the sequel of Madoka Magica. And when he finished watching Madoka Magica and went back to watch it from the first episode, he would inevitably find that the key information in the animation might have been answered at the very beginning.
"interesting!"
Shen Tongfang immediately became interested.
He suddenly realized that although the name of this animation sounds childish and clichéd, it is actually most likely the exact opposite. You can hardly find even one minute of useless plot in this animation. Every word, every animation, and every picture in the animation is full of profound meaning.
And all these details will point to the final "knot" of the animation.
The animation has been broadcast to the fifth episode, and the killing between magical girls has become a real scene in this episode. In a narrow alley, Sayaka has a fierce fight with the red-haired girl who appeared at the end of the previous episode.
"Don't you understand after reading this? That's not a witch but a familiar. It's impossible for her to have the Seed of Sorrow."
In the dimly lit alley, the red-haired girl held the long wooden cannon across Sayaka's neck. Sayaka gritted her teeth and retorted, "But if we leave it alone, someone will get killed!"
The girl in question lowered her head and took a bite of the Taiyaki in her hand. Her tone was as calm as if she was talking about the weather: "So, wait until it eats four or five people and turns into a witch. Then you can get the Seed of Sorrow. How can you kill the chicken before it lays eggs?"
A fighting concept that is completely opposite to traditional magical girl animation.
Although Shen Tongfang has never watched any magical girl anime, he is very familiar with the common plot routines of such animations. In this regard, Madoka Magica is more cruel and realistic.
The so-called battle is no longer a personal show of magical girls wearing beautiful dresses, but a real game of life and death where danger may occur at any time.
Sayaka, who upholds the concepts of love and justice and fights to protect others, is beaten by Sakura Kyoko, who is cold-hearted and sees "witches kill humans, magical girls hunt witches" as the food chain, and is left without any chance to fight back.
How can this be called a magical girl anime? It's clearly an anti-magical girl anime!
Shen Tongfang secretly complained in his heart, but he had to admit that compared to the magical girls of love and justice that are now prevalent, he is more interested in magical girl animations like Madoka Magica that have a deeper meaning, and he is more curious about the subsequent plot of the animation.
How will the anime develop in the future? Why did Kyubey keep trying to lure Madoka into becoming a magical girl? What does Homura Akemi know? Why did she ask Madoka to give up Sayaka after she learned that she had become a magical girl
Is the dark fate that magical girls bear really just brutal battles
With such questions in mind, the animation came to the sixth episode.
When Sayaka faced Kyoko again, in order to avoid a fight between the two, when Sayaka was about to use the Soul Gem to transform into a magical girl, Madoka resolutely snatched it away and threw it under the bridge.
As Sayaka's soul gem fell on the truck that was speeding under the bridge, Homura Akemi seemed to realize something and disappeared, chasing after the speeding truck. At the same time, Sayaka, who had lost her soul gem, also fell forward.
Facing the panic and confusion of Madoka and Kyoko, Kyubey acted extremely calm: "Madoka, that's not Sayaka over there, it's just an empty shell. Didn't you just throw Sayaka away?"
What the hell?!
Even though Shen Tongfang thought he had prepared himself mentally, he was still shocked when faced with such a revelation. Kyoko and Xiaoyuan were also shocked.
It turns out that all the magical girls, from the day they signed the contract with Kyubey, their originally lively bodies had already "died", and their souls were extracted by Kyubey and transformed into Soul Gems. Therefore, as long as the Soul Gems are safe and sound, no matter what kind of damage the magical girl herself suffers, she will not die or feel any pain.
What a devilish setting this is!
Is the screenwriter who came up with this setting a pervert
Shen Tongfang was shocked.
This is not the end yet.
After learning the truth about herself, she realized that there was no possibility for her to be with her lover and she could only watch her friend confess to the boy she liked. Sayaka was almost on the verge of collapse. Thinking "it won't hurt anyway", Sayaka began to use self-destructive fighting methods in the battle with the witch relying on her strong healing ability.
"For me now, killing witches is just a small stone with no other meaning." Heavy rain was pouring outside the huge French window. Half of Sayaka's face was hidden in the darkness, and no expression could be seen clearly: "Let the dead body move, pretend to be alive, who would do anything for someone like me? Just thinking about it makes me feel meaningless."
Just like that, after another battle, her magic power was on the verge of exhaustion and her Soul Gem was completely contaminated by despair. Sayaka, who fought against witches as a magical girl, was reincarnated as a witch.
In the final battle to awaken Sayaka, Madoka was unable to do so, and Kyoko gradually became exhausted in the battle with Sayaka, the witch.
"Why? I should have done this until now." The red-haired girl said this with a wry smile. She pulled down the hair tie on her ponytail with one hand. Her long crimson hair fluttered in the air. She stretched out her hand and grasped her soul gem in her palm, like a nun praying devoutly in the church.
"Don't worry, Sayaka."
In the gradually blurred light, the girl's eyes were tinged with a touch of tenderness, and even her voice seemed to carry a quiet smile: "It's lonely to be alone, right? Okay, I'll be with you."
She closed her eyes, gently kissed the crimson soul gem, and then raised her hand to throw it in front of Sayaka, the witch. The golden Shigaraki appeared in her hand again at this moment, and with the last flaming light, it smashed the gem into pieces.
Crimson fragments scattered all over the sky, followed by an explosion large enough to destroy the entire witch's barrier. Following a loud bang, the streets at night were empty as if nothing had ever happened.
Shen Tongfang suddenly stood up from his seat!
That’s right!
Homura Akemi's indifference, Mami Tomoe's advice, Kyoko's contempt... all the foreshadowing and hints that were gradually laid out at the beginning of the animation have now turned into facts visible to the naked eye. The small and weak streams gather together at this moment, and with an overwhelming force, they crash into the dam of the audience's emotions.
Shen Tongfang closed his eyes and felt his eye sockets slightly warm, but at the same time, a different kind of excitement surged in his heart.
That was the excitement he felt as a comic critic when he found a work that he liked very much!
Yes, this is what he wants to see!
"The story of Sayaka and Kyoko ended beautifully, but there is still one thing that has not been solved..." On the screen, in the afterglow of the setting sun, holding the unconscious Madoka, Homura Akemi slowly walked towards an unknown distance. Shen Tongfang's eyes became brighter and brighter.
Apparently, Homura Akemi had met Madoka Kaname before this world axis.
So what happened between the two of them before this
Thinking of this, Shen Tongfang suddenly had an urge to re-watch the previous episodes of Madoka Magica and study them carefully.
The author has something to say: My right hand used to hurt when I used it, and today it may have worsened, and it also starts to hurt when I don’t use my hand. The doctor said it was tenosynovitis, and this medicine is useless. I can only try to reduce the use of my right hand and wait for it to heal naturally.
In the near future, I may need to check the condition of my right hand. If it gets worse, I may have to rest. So recently I can only rely on my left hand to update daily orz
Thank you to the little angels who cast their votes for me or irrigated me with nutrient solution~
Thanks to the little angel who cast [Bazooka]: 1 soul summoner;
Thanks to the little angels who threw the [grenade]: Yan Tong 1;
Thanks to the little angels who cast [mines]: Sisyphus 2; players Mosilian, Canshang, Menghuiwenxue, Menglvren, Mo Xinjiang, Yongquanquan, Muyanbei, Littlezhen, Chocolate, Shumo 1;
Thanks to the little angel who irrigated [nutrient solution]:
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Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!