Manga/Anime You Read/Watch

[quote=YayaFTW]Sup guys! I finished watching Madoka. [quote=Searz] Yeah.. no. I would never trust the ratings on myanimelist. I've seen complete garbage have above 8/10 and mainstream crap is often highly overrated. [/quote] I think we can cut myanimelist some slack this time. Maybe 8.6/10 isn't really accurate, but I would say that Madoka deserves a 8.0/10 at least. And I made sure I don't let my bias get in the way like it usually does. Lifebaka's quote below kinda backs up my statement aswell :D [quote=lifebaka] It's got one of the best anime endings I've ever seen, honestly. Although I personally feel like an 8.6/10 is lower than it actually ought to be, compared to some of the anime above it. (I'm looking at you, Code Geass R2 and Fate/Zero Second Season.) [/quote] If I could describe Madoka's ending, I would say it was satisfying. The only thing that bothers me though is the following: [spoiler=I don't understand this particular point] The existence of Witches was in favor of Kyubey (Incubator), right? And the main reason behind the creation of magical girls was to create huge sources of energy without being hindered by the entropy, if I am correct. In other words, a gigantic source of energy is released when a magical girl becomes a witch, to satisfy the energy needs of the universe. The question is, why would Kyubey approve and grant Madoka's wish, knowing that it will drastically reduce the amount of energy created in the future, which goes against his ambitions? Is he forced to grant the wish? I mean it's a contract, and if Kyubey doesn't like the terms of the contract, I don't see why he is forced to complete it. [/spoiler] Anyway, I enjoyed it overall, and I think I can call it a good anime with confidence. The art was great, which isn't a surprise when you have an idea on the parties and studios involved in the production. I quite liked the plot. I wouldn't say it's good or bad because I believe some people just don't get along with this kind of plot. A perfect example would be Stein's Gate. It's a hit or miss for some people. The soundtrack was awesome. Once again it's not a surprise due to the production values :P The feels though, were top-notch. I'm not a big fan of that kind of atmosphere, I mean I'm a guy so the drama of a friendship between girls isn't something I'd really enjoy. Still, it was good. I'd recommend watching it, but I think Cuddowls has like 5 pages worth of posts about Madoka. I think he mentionned it in every single one of his suggestions, so I thought I'd spare you guys the trouble :P [quote=bioalchemist] Started "Steins;Gate" Pretty quirky so far and nerdy. I can see potential, but it hasn't exactly hooked me yet. [/quote] It starts slow, give it some time :P I don't wanna say anything else fearing that I end up spoiling :P[/quote]

[quote=Bioalchemist][quote=YayaFTW] It starts slow, give me some time :P I don't wanna say anything else fearing that I end up spoiling :P [/quote] will do :)[/quote]

[quote=Searz][quote=Bioalchemist] Started "Steins;Gate" Pretty quirky so far and nerdy. I can see potential, but it hasn't exactly hooked me yet.[/quote] It will. And then it will possibly end in disappointment. There's a pretty big plot hole at the end, but one that isn't apparent to most people, seeing as one has to understand the concept of time travel that they use in the anime to find it. I'll let you in on it once you finish. [quote=YayaFTW] I'd recommend watching it, but I think Cuddowls has like 5 pages worth of posts about Madoka. I think he mentionned it in every single one of his suggestions, so I thought I'd spare you guys the trouble :P[/quote] Your single recommendation weighs heavier than 5 pages of recommendations from Cuddles.[/quote]

[quote=lifebaka][quote=Searz] Your single recommendation weighs heavier than 5 pages of recommendations from Cuddles. [/quote] Besides, I think I'm actually the one with a ton of recommendations for Madoka. Cudd might have mentioned it a lot, but I wax on it at some length, given the chance. I also seem to recall that he didn't watch it until after I'd talked about it a couple of times. [quote=YayaFTW] [spoiler=I don't understand this particular point] The existence of Witches was in favor of Kyubey (Incubator), right? And the main reason behind the creation of magical girls was to create huge sources of energy without being hindered by the entropy, if I am correct. In other words, a gigantic source of energy is released when a magical girl becomes a witch, to satisfy the energy needs of the universe. The question is, why would Kyubey approve and grant Madoka's wish, knowing that it will drastically reduce the amount of energy created in the future, which goes against his ambitions? Is he forced to grant the wish? I mean it's a contract, and if Kyubey doesn't like the terms of the contract, I don't see why he is forced to complete it. [/spoiler] [/quote] [spoiler=On Mephistophelian contracts]One thing to keep in mind is that Kyubey isn't human, or even strictly sentient. It really doesn't have any real power except as a middleman. And those on the other side of the contract are, really, divergent enough from the mahou shojou that it doesn't even matter if one of the latter breaks the system. There are other universes for them to generate energy from. To make the parallel a little more clear, Madoka has very Faustian influences. This is very deliberate; in one of the middle episodes there are some quotes from Faust written on the walls of a building as graffiti. So Kyubey is the Mephistopheles-figure. Mephistopheles is traditionally viewed as a demon, which in the Japanese imagination would make Kyubey some kind of yokai. Yokai behavior is very frequently standardized, nearly the point of seeming kind of mechanical/robotic. Using the rules of a yokai's behavior against it is a fairly common theme in Japanese folklore, as far as I'm aware, which would make using Kyubey's rules against it fairly standard. The existence of the witches, from a different perspective, is necessary actually because Kyubey offers a Mephistophelian contract. Sure, you get exactly what you want, but it screws everything up [b]and[b] condemns you to ultimate damnation. Without the existence of witches, there's no typical enemy for the mahou shojou to fight, and the mahou shojou turn into witches as the damnation part of the Melphistophelian contract, so it's necessary on both points. Looking at it from the perspective of the science-fictional overlay misses a lot of the literary elements, which are a major part of what's going on.[/spoiler][/quote]

[quote=MrCuddowls]I saw Madoka Magica early 2012. Way before you mentioned it. I just never partook in any discussion about it.[/quote]

[quote=Yukimaru]Still wondering how they reunite Madoka and Homura in Madoka Rebellion[/quote]

[quote=lifebaka][quote=MrCuddowls] I saw Madoka Magica early 2012. Way before you mentioned it. I just never partook in any discussion about it. [/quote] Apparently I misremember events. You did mention Madoka at least once before I joined this thread (both a mention and what looks like my first post can be found on [url=http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/forum/off-topic/manga-anime-you-read-watch-2453?page=54]page 54[/url]). Regardless, I've spent substantially more time talking about the series, which was really the meat of my statement. [quote=Yukimaru] Still wondering how they reunite Madoka and Homura in Madoka Rebellion [/quote] I haven't gotten around to watching any of the Madoka movies yet. Are the first two up to par with the series? I can think of a few ways they could reunite Madoka and Homura. Any of which could be satisfying, if executed well. But the plot snippet on Wikipedia for Rebellion doesn't suggest that Madoka and Homura actually do reunite, which is probably the best way to handle things.[/quote]

[quote=IShouldGetALife]Just rewatched Elfen Lied looking at it from a different perspective altogether, instead of looking at the violence like I did the first time I watched it when I didn't appreciate storylines as much this time I looked at the actual story. I still don't get why people say there is a twist in it, but I actually was amazed at what I missed the first time I watched it, who else wanted to kill the bullies in the puppy scene?[/quote]

[quote=Joxuu]Can't wait for the Madoka Rebellion.[/quote]

[quote=Searz][quote=lifebaka] [quote=YayaFTW] [spoiler=I don't understand this particular point] The existence of Witches was in favor of Kyubey (Incubator), right? And the main reason behind the creation of magical girls was to create huge sources of energy without being hindered by the entropy, if I am correct. In other words, a gigantic source of energy is released when a magical girl becomes a witch, to satisfy the energy needs of the universe. The question is, why would Kyubey approve and grant Madoka's wish, knowing that it will drastically reduce the amount of energy created in the future, which goes against his ambitions? Is he forced to grant the wish? I mean it's a contract, and if Kyubey doesn't like the terms of the contract, I don't see why he is forced to complete it. [/spoiler][/quote] [spoiler=On Mephistophelian contracts]One thing to keep in mind is that Kyubey isn't human, or even strictly sentient. It really doesn't have any real power except as a middleman. And those on the other side of the contract are, really, divergent enough from the mahou shojou that it doesn't even matter if one of the latter breaks the system. There are other universes for them to generate energy from. To make the parallel a little more clear, Madoka has very Faustian influences. This is very deliberate; in one of the middle episodes there are some quotes from Faust written on the walls of a building as graffiti. So Kyubey is the Mephistopheles-figure. Mephistopheles is traditionally viewed as a demon, which in the Japanese imagination would make Kyubey some kind of yokai. Yokai behavior is very frequently standardized, nearly the point of seeming kind of mechanical/robotic. Using the rules of a yokai's behavior against it is a fairly common theme in Japanese folklore, as far as I'm aware, which would make using Kyubey's rules against it fairly standard. The existence of the witches, from a different perspective, is necessary actually because Kyubey offers a Mephistophelian contract. Sure, you get exactly what you want, but it screws everything up [b]and[b] condemns you to ultimate damnation. Without the existence of witches, there's no typical enemy for the mahou shojou to fight, and the mahou shojou turn into witches as the damnation part of the Melphistophelian contract, so it's necessary on both points. Looking at it from the perspective of the science-fictional overlay misses a lot of the literary elements, which are a major part of what's going on.[/spoiler][/quote] Wellp, Madoka just rose to the top of my list for the sole reason of curiosity. #spoilersOP #nerfplox[/quote]