Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part 3: Rebellion - Reviews

Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Rebellion

After a very comprehensible and pleasant end of the anime series, I found out that there are 3 movies about it. 2 movies are just a summary and the third movie should be the sequel.

Excited and curious I started watching the movie and my curiosity stayed until the end, even now my curiosity is still there. But it changed its form. In the sense of. "What did I just watch?" Was this just a pitiful attempt to cannibalize the franchise? Was that it? Is there more to come? No, the answer is no.

The Madoka Magica series is complete with this film. While the ending was individual and suited my taste, the film was something else.

The studio did an excellent job, of course, in terms of animation, art style, and my beloved visuals. Honestly, just for that, I would watch the movie again.

Given what the film was going for and the results of this would make the first season practically unnecessary.

So what is the conclusion in the film? Madoka is not the true protagonist, but only a sidekick of Homura. Homura herself doesn't know what role she plays in the series and the author probably doesn't either. But Homura is popular and I like her too, so we shouldn't care, right?
The rest of the characters in the movie were irrelevant anyway, it was all about Homura, Madoka. And besides, we had Kyuubei, who has already been a relatively bad antagonist in the anime series. And in this movie, it was practically just confirmed that this series has no antagonist. The story writing itself is the antagonist.

Conclusion

I came to see the sequel, what I saw was just fan service cannibalization of this franchise with a mediocre ending. I disappointed I definitely am, but it wasn't disastrous either. At least a lot of standards were met with a plot that was illogical but still present. The animation and music were top notch and Homura was Homura. Unfortunately, I wish I hadn't seen this FIlm and kept the ending from the anime in mind.

Enjoyment - 5

What I Liked: Amazing set designs and world designs. (Seriously, I can't praise Gekidan Inu Curry enough for their contributions.) Interesting plot that takes some of the franchise's existing ideas and switches them around. Character animation is somewhere between the quality of Eternal and Beginnings. Brilliant soundtrack helps bring life and colour to already lively visuals.

What I Didn't: Mami in a towel. Plot derails dramatically and collects an important character's development in the process (or does it? the jury's still out on this one). So, what's the significance of Nagisa / Bebe in the whole scheme of things? Mami in a towel. The transformation sequences, while pretty, somewhat detracted from the viewing experience.

Final Verdict: This feature-length sequel to the popular Magical Girl franchise feels like a massive banquet on a half-full stomach. It's a feast for the senses filled with self-referential moments, strange and infuriating directorial decisions, brilliant composite animation and a plot that leaves a strange undescribable taste in the mouth. All in all, Rebellion is a behemoth of a movie - just not in an entirely satisfying way.

This movie... I loved the first two-thirds, but I HATE the last third.

The first two-thirds was a really interesting idea, and while it was very confusing at first, I liked being in the same shoes as Homura with her not really knowing what was going on either. I was trying to solve the mystery of the setting with her.

Also, can I just say how much I LOVED how the Magical Girls fought in this movie? It was so creative and quite beautiful to watch. Once the mystery of the setting was cleared up, it made sense why their powers were more elaborate, and that just made it all the better, that there was an explanation for it, rather than the producers randomly changing things.

Then there's Kyubey... This movie made me HATE him all the more. I just... How could he want to do such things? How could he do such things to Homura? I hate him so much.

Then there's the last third of the movie... It ruins Homura for me. I can see where people can argue it's something she would do, but it felt like such odds with the first two-thirds of the movie. Also, you know there's something wrong when the last third of the movie can cause me to hate my favorite character of the series. But I'll leave the rest of this discussion for the spoiler section.

So, I loved the first two-thirds of the movie. It was a great setup, the fight scenes were amazing, it was great seeing all of the characters together and I loved their relationships with one another, and when the truth of everything is revealed, it really raises the stakes and feels like a natural progression to the anime. Then, with the last third, I just felt extremely confused and betrayed and I'm just going to pretend that it didn't happen.

SPOILERS BELOW!!!!

The ending to the anime itself was extremely bittersweet (more bitter than sweet), and it makes sense why Homura would want to change Madoka's fate. HOWEVER, in this movie, when Madoka comes to save Homura from turning into a witch, it's easy to see that Madoka is quite happy with her current role in life. Also, she is not alone, but has two companions, one of which is Sayaka, who also appears happy. Seeing Madoka happy and not alone in her role as a god/Hope made me feel okay with the anime's ending. Also, it showed that the only person suffering because of Madoka's decision is Homura.

Now, I know Homura has spent every day since Madoka's choice dwelling on what has happened and all of the things Madoka has missed out on and how nobody even realizes she's there. Homura has a lot of bitter feelings about this, and everything she's done in her life has been to protect Madoka. I get that, I really do.

When I saw how happy Madoka was, I thought about how Homura's already outside the normal universe because of her time powers, and I was thinking the actual end to the movie (after dealing with Kyubey's decision to undo everything) would be Homura stepping into a role similar to Sayaka's, so that she could be with Madoka again through the rest of time, and she would be able to share in Madoka's happiness at saving others.

What happened, however, was Homura seizing onto the power to change the universe, and changing things so that Madoka was human again. I get that it's within Homura's character, to make a selfish decision like that to "save" Madoka, but it felt very OOC to me.

Homura spent the first two-thirds of the movie fighting again a false reality. Then, in the last third, she creates a false reality.

Okay, I know that reality at the end isn't actual false, but it felt falser than the false reality at the beginning. I know it's just as valid as when Madoka first changed the universe, but it felt too different to be reality (I know that's just me, but it just felt really off for Madoka to be the transfer student). However, it's more than that.

The biggest thing that made this new reality feel false was how fast Madoka was to start to awaken. Her first real meeting with Homura involves her almost remembering she's a god. This then goes to show that Homura's remaking of the universe didn't cancel out Madoka's earlier remaking. As soon as Madoka awakens to her god-self, Homura's reality will disappear. This detail just causes Homura's reality to feel false, and so it ends up feeling like she fought a false reality just to make another false reality.

So, the last third of the movie was ruined for me by Homura choosing the selfish course even when she could see how happy Madoka was in her god role, and by her reality feeling falser than the one she had just been fighting against. Homura just felt so OOC during the last third, and while it was the more unpredictable direction for the movie, I would have been much happier if the enemy had remained Kyubey, rather than it becoming Homura. I don't understand how she thought her becoming evil would help her to be happy with Madoka, as it just pits them against each other.

But I've rambled on enough. I have heard rumors there is another Madoka installment coming, but I haven't looked it up yet. If there is more, I will probably watch it just because the ending of this movie felt unfinished, with it being clear Madoka will reawaken at some point, but as for now, I'm pretending the last third didn't happen. Instead of Homura turning evil, Kyubey tried to undo Madoka's wish, the Magical Girls fought against him and won, and Homura ended up at Madoka's side as a secretary or in some other such role.

Okay, This would be my most first famous review, (My very first Anime review) And to start this off, I thought of a very interesting history behind it (Please note that it's a theory of mine)
Once up on a time there was a guy named Yukihiro Miyamoto Who is Aniplex's best Anime Directors, He was inspired by Richard Williams work on Chuck Jones Christmas Carol, ...That Trippy Raggedy Ann and Andy movie, The Thief and the Cobbler (Recobbled Cut) and his most biggest success, the animation for Who Framed Roger Rabbit, After watching classic Magical girl anime like Sailor Moon and Cutie Honey, This gave them the Idea of Doing there own Magical Girl Anime Movie, Originally calling it Puella Magi Holy Quintet, With plans to release this all over the world in 1993, It was released in 2013 then Dubbed in 2015 (What the Hell happened all that time?) The Project was independently funded by there University of Animation, And Yukihiro went on and on about how it would be there greatest Anime Movie they ever done, Infact some Well known Actors Known about this and kept it a secret till the day they died, That includes Michael Clarke Duncan, Christopher Lee, Even the Guy who Originally played Dumbledore in two of the Harry Potter Movies (Richard Harris), Because the project was taking so long Warner Bros. Pictures decided to come in to the picture and help them with the Project, This wasn't the first time WB was attached to anything that Anime based, I could imagine the Chats Bugs Bunny had with Mickey Mouse? So it was they worked on some parts of the Movie, But WB felt in the 90's there movies are not doing very well, And releasing this might make things worse, So they put the Project in the Storage Volt for when the Time came to return to it, And Gave the Director and the 5 guys more funding for them to work on other Projects, Now Calling it Puella Magi Madoka Magica, First they Did the Manga, Then they Made the Show, With the Success of the Manga and the Show, They Did a Two Part Movie, Calling them Beginning and Eternal (I'll cover them in the Future) Then with some success with all that WB felt, It... Is... Finally...Time!!! to bring this long awaiting story to the light, Now Calling it Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion.

After watching this movie... I was like What alternate timeline did this thing come from when Warner Bros released this? It came clear to me... with all the twists and turning plot points... This is one of them movies that is very good, It has a lot of Mind-F.... moments I can say for sure, This movie wasn't just ment to be the Last Installment in the Madoka Magica 2 movies and the 12 episode show... But it was also ment to drive some Humans and Non-Humans insane... It was a good thing I had Assassin's Creed Syndicate and some Alcohol to keep my Brain from cracking, This is one of the most interestingly impressive Anime Movies I've ever seen in my entire existence, and with other movies and Anime shows I've seen over the years that is saying a lot, I'm not gonna give the Ending away if you haven't seen it yet, I'd recommend it if you are interested in any form of Japanese animation, I give this 9 out of 10 with 5 stars all the way.

It's what the fandome has prayed for. This story is about homura akemi finding out what happened to madoka after she became a god. The sound track is amazing. The song Clara is basted to homura because the both mean flam and passtion and light. My name is clara so it really afected me. Watch it!!