Madoka Magica Episode 4: Miracles and Magic Are Real
"Looking back, I still didn't know anything. Neither the meaning of the miracle that I wished for, nor what it would cost to me." ~ Sayaka Miki
| Both Miracles and Magic Exist 奇跡も、魔法も、あるんだよ | |
|---|---|
| First airing | 27 January 2011 |
| Script | Gen Urobuchi |
| Storyboard | Shinsaku Sasaki |
| Episode director | Shin'ichi Omata |
| Animation Director | Miyabi Ozeki |
Summary
After Mami's death in episode 3, Madoka and Sayaka are both crushed and frightened. Madoka begins holding doubts about becoming a magical girl, and tells Kyubey that she is too scared to become one at that moment. She visits Mami's apartment, crying, only to meet Homura outside as she leaves. Meanwhile, Sayaka continues visiting Kamijou at the hospital. Kamijou learns that he won't be able to use his left arm ever again, and out of frustration, becomes angry with Sayaka.
The same day, after Madoka has gone to Mami's apartment, she runs into Hitomi and discovers that Hitomi has a witch's kiss and is seemingly in a trance. Sensing a dangerous situation incoming, Madoka then agrees to follow her, only to find out that she was meeting others for a collective suicide. After stopping the process at the last second, Madoka then is swallowed by a witch's barrier.
The witch uses mind reading to demoralize Madoka with images of Mami's death, but Sayaka appears in the form of a sword-wielding warrior to rescue Madoka. She apparently used her wish to heal Kamijou, whose hand regained full function. Sayaka is now a magical girl, a fact that doesn't seem to please Homura.
The episode ends with the appearance of Kyoko Sakura, who intends to fight Sayaka for control of Mitakihara City.
Runes
See the Runes of episode 4 page for decryption of the messages the witch and her familiars wrote in runes.
Observations
- An outside view of the hospital is shown which matches a scene from the destroyed city in episode one.
- A group of people attempt to commit suicide by mixing bleach with a toilet cleaner that contains hydrochloric acid to generate chlorine gas, which is toxic and has been used as a chemical weapon.
- The witch said "It was very fun, let's go again. Next time with a Bentou" (今日は本当に楽しかったねえ、また行きたいね。今度はお弁当持って行こう) in reverse speech right before Madoka entered the witch's barrier.
- The Guidebook indicates Elly's labyrinth design as a Snowglobe. It has the line, "I have only one wish. Box up that memory." It states that when the Witch dies, the lights on the Christmas tree and merry-go-round short out. There's a 'basssh!' sound.
- In accordance with her wish to box up a memory, Elly examines Madoka's memories and captures them in her monitors. The screens show images of Mami and her death.
Revisions
Elly's grief seed was not visible in the original TV version, leading to erroneous speculation that she was only a familiar, but it did appear in the AT-X and BD/DVD versions. See the episode revisions page for more changes that were made in the BD version.
The TV version showed detailed labels on the bottles of cleaning chemicals, but they were replaced with blank gray bottles in the BD version.
A bottle of cleaning chemicals visible in the TV version.
Super Wash For toilet cleaning, sterilization, and deodorization!
A similar bottle which was used to fill the bucket for the group suicide.
Powerful Bacteria Killer GET WHITE Danger Do Not Mix
Trivia
Episode 4 first aired on Thursday, January 27 2011 at 25:30 JST (Friday at 1:30AM JST) on MBS.
- A CD box labeled Mahler is a reference to the Austrian composer and conductor Gustav Mahler.
- The CD box beside contains a picture of Johann Sebastian Bach, a German composer from Baroque period.
Speculation
At least one element from the franchise is rendering them valid.
- Since the town is only recently constructed, the hospital's presence in Madoka's dream rules out the possibility that those events happened at some point in the past. This makes it more likely that her dream was either precognitive or the result of a timeloop/world reset.
They are only kept here for the sake of completeness.
- The fact that the hospital in this episode resembles the one at the beginning of episode 1, as well as the fact that a witch can only appear inside a barrier, seems to agree with the theory that the witch from episode 1 might be Sayaka (after all, a barrier takes the form of its owner's mind, and Sayaka is pretty concerned with Kamijou and the whole hospital environment)
Images
Official Art
Episode 4's end card by Jin Kobayashi.
Screenshots and Analysis
Comparison of scenes from the prologue in episode one and the hospital in episode 4.
Kamijou's CD player may have been modeled off this concept/prototype device.
Elly's monitor displays a numerical countdown in runes as she approaches Madoka.
A witch's kiss placed by Elly.
Fan Art
This section contains fanart images
Everything in the following fan gallery is created, or the comments accompanying them are created, for entertainment value and should not be confused with actual canon events of the Puella Magi franchise.- Beware of flying buckets.png
- Elly is going to be my wife.jpg
Sayaka having her way with the witch Elly's human form.
- Sayaka and elly fanart flying away.jpg
Sayaka riding the witch's monitor form.
- Fanart H.N.Elly.jpg
Elly in human and monitor forms.
See also
- Live watching thread featuring reactions to the episode as it aired: [1]
- Elly, the witch who fights Sayaka.
- Translations of the witch runes appearing in this episode.
- Revisions made in the BD version of this episode.
External links
| Episodes | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous episode | Current episode | Next episode |
| Episode 3 I'm Not Afraid Anymore | Madoka Magica Episode 4: Miracles and Magic Are Real Both Miracles and Magic Exist | Episode 5 There's No Way I'd Regret This |