Puella Magi Madoka Magica – Eternal (2012)

With Sayaka having turned into a witch in the previous movie after her soul gem darkened into a grief seed, the rest of the magical girls become aware of the threat of a powerful witch named Walpurgisnacht who is capable of destroying the city they live in to rubble. One magical girl isn’t enough to combat this witch alone and even two girls that combine together might not be able to stop Walpurgisnacht. Madoka is still torn between agreeing a contract with Kyubey into becoming a magical girl especially now with this huge threat looming. With everything she holds so dear might very well be destroyed, will Madoka give in to temptation and sacrifice her normality as a human being into becoming a magical girl to save the world?

The 2nd Puella Magi Madoka Magica movie covers the last 4 episodes of the anime series and I thought it was even better than the first movie. It’s certainly more dark and heavy. It carries on directly from where it left off at the end of the first movie. Whilst the previous movie sort of gave away some teasers as to what was really going on, a lot more is revealed in this one especially concerning the characters of Kyubey and Homura. The manipulative Kyubey reveals to Madoka that it is a member of an alien species called the Incubators. The Incubators have been ‘aiding’ mankind for thousands of years. Their ultimate aim is seeing the magical girls turn into witches as when their soul gem goes dark a tremendous energy is released and this is something the Incubators need as the very fabric of the universe is at stake so basically the magical girls are being used (not that we didn’t know that already!). Mankind has been toyed about by the Incubators for centuries. Kyubey explains how superior his race is by comparing human beings to cattle in that we use them as a resource and the Incubators are using humans in the same way. In his arrogance, Kyubey also says that the Incubators treat human beings far better than humans do with livestock.

It is Homura’a arc in the movie that I found to be the most compelling. Naturally the viewer had made an assumption from the first movie that she’s not a nice person, can’t be trusted and is a nemesis to Madoka. Well that couldn’t be further from the truth as the viewer discovers that Madoka and Homura are very good friends. I like how the writers has made the viewer judge Homura without knowing the circumstances of why she’s acting the way she is. Homura uses the powers of time travel that was given to her when she entered into a contract with Kyubey to make sure that Madoka never turns into a magical girl by trying to fight Walpurgisnacht on her own. However, each time she’s defeated she tries once more but with a different tactic but by doing this she drifts further away from Madoka. Homura goes through her own Groundhog Day experience, not giving up until she can come up with a scenario that can save Madoka. In the end, it’s futile as Madoka sacrifices her life to save the other girls despite their pleas as she wishes to transform not just into a magical girl but to a god on a higher plain with the universe shaped into how she wants it to be in which Kyubey has no control over. Part of her powers as a god sees her take away grief seeds from all previous magical girls throughout the ages so that they can return to becoming human beings again and free from the burden placed upon them by Kyubey.

I loved this movie. As I’ve said before in my review for the first movie this is nothing like those cutesy magical girl anime you’ve may have seen before. The story flows at a quick pace with some great action sequences and revelations to keep the viewer glued to the screen. The visuals are incredible with a fantastic soundtrack to accompany the plot. Having not seen the anime series, I’m not sure what’s been lost in trying to condense the series into this and the previous movie (though I’m sure that some things have had to be left out). Everything is set up nicely for the final movie in the trilogy ‘Rebellion’ which I’ll be watching very soon. That story is new, original and goes beyond what takes place in the anime series. I’m totally hooked on the whole storyline at the moment and can’t wait how everything all pans out in Rebellion. If you’ve seen the first movie and have not had a chance to see the second yet, don’t delay and try and watch it at your earliest opportunity. Highly recommended.

Sadako’s Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5