Not an otaku, and rarely watch anime, especially anime series. Recently, I was recommended by a certain Zhengtai to watch the hit Magical Girl Madoka 1-9, and then I followed 10. Today, I finally waited for the ending of 11-12. I didn't cry, but I was really moved. After watching 1-9, I began to recommend it to a few friends who were almost insulated from anime; after the 10th episode aired, I made a prediction with a friend about the ending - she tends to Faustian style Redemption and I lean toward Ragnarok-style destruction, and I lose a meal as a result.
At the beginning of the plot, the seemingly incomparably cute QB threw out a Faustian deal to the girls to sell themselves in exchange for strength to realize their wishes. The innocent and childish characters, the bright and amiable style of painting and the history of literature are always linked to fate and contradiction. It formed a strong contrast with the heavy proposition of tragedy, which initially set the tone of tragedy for "Madoka", and also began to expect the author to manage this contradiction and weave a girly version of Faust.
The following plot development is compact and natural. After Mami appeared on the stage and completed the explanation of the basic background and the guidance of the protagonist into the plot, the screenwriter generously arranged a character collision, giving Mami the hope of healing from loneliness, and getting Madoka to rely on each other. After the promise, he sacrificed happily, and this is the first climax of the plot.
After that, there is a warm and pure love chapter. Sayaka, who realizes the dangerous side of magical girls fighting, witnessed the despair and self-defeating of her sweetheart Kyousuke Kamijou, and resolutely signed a contract to become a magical girl in order to heal her sweetheart. Knowing is far more cruel, cruel enough to change a person's worldview, and also lays the groundwork for future collapse. Then another magical girl Kyoko appeared. Kyoko, who believed in the law of the jungle, and Sayaka, who was determined to protect justice and use magic for others, were incompatible with each other. The conflict of behaviors and concepts became the main line of the conflict at this stage, and then told the story of making a wish for his father to seek believers. The tragic experience of losing a loved one in the end reveals the formation of Kyoko's values. At this time, on the one hand, Sayaka and Kyoko realized the truth of the magical girl in the conflict, and they suffered the collapse of their friend's inner belief over love and finally became a witch in despair. On the one hand, Kyoko saw her previous self in the conflict with Sayaka Under the influence of "projection psychology", she rescued Sayaka for the purpose of not wanting Sayaka to follow her own mistakes. After discovering that the magical girl would lose her normal life and eventually become a witch in despair, Kyoko's worldview is the same. suffered a huge impact. At this time, for her, saving Sayaka was also saving herself. After failing to save Sayaka and witnessing Sayaka turning into a witch in despair, Kyoko also despaired of her destiny as a magical girl. She chose to die with Sayaka who became a witch. , as the final struggle against fate.
As the protagonist, Madoka, due to her cowardly character and Xiaomeiyan's protection everywhere, has been tempted by QB but never signed a contract to become a magical girl. Under the apparent contradiction of the battle between magical girls and witches, the essence of magical girls' struggle with their own destiny gradually emerges. "When you stare at the abyss, the abyss is staring at you" - the magical girl who symbolizes hope fights the witch who symbolizes despair, and when hope becomes despair, magical girls will also become witches. The design of this contradictory proposition makes The realm of this play has risen from the simple black or white battle of good and evil to the level of human nature and destiny.
By the 10th episode, the main storyline did not progress, but went back and flashed. The mystery of Xiao Meiyan was gradually revealed, she made a wish to protect Madoka and became a magical girl with the ability to travel through time. She fought to save Madoka's fate in reincarnations, and suffered the taunts of fate again and again. The journey of the first 9 episodes ushered in the eternal calamity. The introduction of time-travel has enriched Xiao Meiyan's image immediately, and it has also raised the realm of the whole play to a higher level, from the conflict of the plot to the thinking and search for the origin of tragedy. After watching 1-9, the expectation of the ending is still at the level of "justice defeats evil" or "set foot on the journey again after a difficult victory", but after watching 10, the prediction of the ending has emerged Ragnarok A level of philosophical tragedy - in fact, my prediction of Ragnarok's ending is not entirely wrong.
After a month of waiting, the 11-12 consecutive broadcast finally ushered in. I am very fortunate that at the end of episode 11, Xiaomeiyan's soul gem turned black, and the moment the subtitles appeared, I turned off the computer with great determination and went out to relax - that's all for the whole drama. The ending is also good. On the one hand, I enjoy the tragedy that ends in despair, but on the other hand, I am afraid that Xiaoyuan will jump out and make a magic wish for a happy reunion. After 5 hours, I watched the finale. Although it was inevitable, it was not too outrageous. Madoka's sacrifice changed the fate of the magical girl's degeneration into a witch. Xiaomeiyan carried all her memories and continued to fight. The Faustian redemption, where Madoka becomes God and saves all magical girls, is equally exciting and intriguing.
I have never heard of Xu Yuanxuan as a writer before, nor have I come into contact with his works. After watching Magical Girl Madoka, a heartfelt tribute to the supposedly warrior of love - thanks to him for creating such a wonderful script, and being able to feel his pre-Socratic tragedy in such a 12-episode anime Views can also experience the admiration of humanism and the criticism of blind rationality. "Madoka" can be regarded as the interpretation and interpretation of "Faust" in the way of girl animation. Without profound humanistic care and philosophical literacy, it is impossible to tap such depth of thought by writing skills alone.
The ending is a bit tangled. The total extinction that many people (including me) expected did not appear, but the type that seemed to be "warm healing". This ending is bound to cause a lot of discussion and controversy - the controversy itself is a testament to the success of the play. In fact, this seemingly healing ending is aesthetically similar to the Ragnarok-style destruction. The so-called "tragedy is to destroy the valuable things in life for people to see", and the strength and appeal of tragedy come from this destruction. Among them, from the audience's pity for the characters in the play and the fear of the fickle fate. The protagonist has a noble character and unyielding spirit, but always fails in the struggle against fate. So far, the tragedy has two directions: either to show human dignity and the brilliance of human nature in the failure and destruction, or to finally obtain a metaphysical comfort. But what the two have in common is to express: although human beings are short-lived, the destruction of phenomena (body) damages the eternity of will (spirit).
"Madoka" is the latter. Madoka sacrificed herself, and it was a sacrifice that completely wiped out all traces of existence (but it was not so tragic in the way of ascending to the gods). Wishing changed the rules of magical girls, no longer degenerate into witch. This modification does not interfere with the essence of the "law of the universe". Magical girls still have to fight, and will suffer mistakes, betrayals, hardships and sacrifices, but Madoka will come to take away their despair at the end of their lives, such as the Valkyrie of Norse mythology. Kiri usually leads their heroic spirits to the heavens in peace. Are "believe in Madoka Magical Girl and not fall after death" and "believe in God/Allah/Buddha and not go to hell after death" are they very similar? All are metaphysical consolations with idealistic and religious overtones, without direct interference with the real world.
Is spiritual comfort meaningless? On the contrary, what the whole play wants to express is a critique of rationalism. What is QB? It is the devil Mephisto in "Faust", and the difference is that Mephisto is a symbol of primitive desire, because the era in which "Faust" was created in the Renaissance advocates knowledge and reason to guide human beings Overcome the limitations of low-level desires; while the background of "Madoka" is a modern age with highly developed technology and information, the indifferent and numb mechanical rationality has overly suppressed human nature in the social mentality, and Japanese society is even more typical. In this play, QB is a symbol of "absolute rationality" - excluding all emotional factors, the theory and logic are very strict, and even the magical girls who know the truth can't argue. However, it has to draw energy from people's feelings, and it is the devil who lures magical girls into the abyss. Reason frees human beings from the ignorance of animals, promotes the development of human civilization, and gradually leads human civilization to the abyss. , Ironically, the promotion of human progress by rationality is also driven by sensibility. The knowledge and mind of the girls cannot understand how complicated the theory of the universe is, and what they possess is only pure and kind emotion. It can be seen that between Magical Girl and QB, there is a contest between emotion and absolute rationality. The consolation of idealism at the end, and the theme "If others say that it is wrong to have hope, no matter how many times I will deny this sentence" are all criticizing "the blind worship of reason".
Why don't we like magic sticks? To draw an analogy, it is like a child playing chess. When it comes to the dead end, some give up, some are unwilling to regret the chess and start over, and some simply flip the chessboard "I don't care about your rules, I just won." In the face of irreconcilable contradictions in drama conflicts, most audiences hope to resolve them within the rules, some hope to take regret medicine and rely on "if" for comfort, and even fewer people think of breaking the rules. Another example is the Romance of the ancient Chinese novel, which pinned the hopes of society on "honest officials, wise men and knights", and never had the idea of shaking the foundation of the social system. How did this mindset of unconditional obedience to rules come about? Countless knowledge and concepts are solidified in one's thinking in a rational way during one's growth. The more one's thinking becomes rational, the farther away from romance, and the more it resists the supernatural interpretation of the rules - because the subconscious has already The default is "how can such a miracle happen". Most audiences hate QB, but they unknowingly obey the rules and logical thinking of QB. The absolutely rational attitude of rejecting all emotional expressions like QB is popular in life, "I am numb and I am proud, I don't feel I am proud", equating the eradication of feelings with maturity, experience and wisdom, and it has become a mask for countless people to maintain their self-esteem. Anime is the journey of a dream, but Madoka took us through the agonizing joy and the viewers (myself included) who were ready to accept the cruelty of fate and gave up hope for the last ounce of solace - we're all a little desperate Or is it too rational? Actually it's the same.
While human beings have progressed due to reason, they are also imprisoned by the despair brought about by reason. Madoka's wish was not for selfishness that twisted and absurd, nor did it stay within the labyrinth of QB's rules; After fate, Madoka's fraternity has made her perspective and mind reach a height that no other magical girl has ever achieved. She possesses a divine nature that not only surpasses other magical girls' pure human nature, but also surpasses the absolute rationality of QB!
What is divinity? Look at Jesus: He said to love your enemies and bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you, pray for those who abuse you and those who persecute you. Jesus was born among the Jews who were ruled by the Romans, but he wanted to save not only the Jews but also the Romans; he helped countless others without asking for anything in return, and when he suffered for the world on the cross, he was still praying for those who betrayed him, and he had no hatred in his heart. There is only compassion and selfless sacrifice for the world. Let's see if there are similarities in Madoka's personality? Love everyone; pity not only the magical girl but also the witch; when she made a wish to bear the despair and curse of a universe for all the magical girls in the past and the future, and destroyed her witch-like self, did you think of taking the place of the witch on the cross? The suffering Jesus? After Jesus died, he was resurrected and ascended to heaven. After Madoka sacrificed, he became a higher-level existence in the universe. QB was right, Madoka made a wish to subvert the rules, and she became a god at the moment of the wish. Magical girls spread hope, and Madoka became the hope of magical girls, her divine brilliance shone on every magical girl.
This ending may not have the expected shock and appeal, but it is indeed the most consistent with the theme of the whole play. Since Madoka is an animation interpretation of "Faust", the ending is naturally the most suitable way of Faust: God in Faust said that "people are struggling, inevitably lost, and those who keep improving themselves will eventually be redeemed".
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