Audio Commentary/Episode 1

I First Met Her in a Dream… or Something. 夢の中で逢った、ような…
Commentary	Aoi Yuuki Chiwa Saitou Eri Kitamura

All episodes include Aoi Yuuki, the voice of Madoka, and Chiwa Saitou, the voice of Homura, and usually a guest. The first guest is Eri Kitamura, who voices Sayaka.

The commentary recording happened around the time episode 9 aired, so the seiyuu happen to know some things that the viewers don't. This includes things that they themselves didn't know during the episode recording. Each week, they were given the scripts shortly before recording, and had little idea about the plot or different characters' roles. They didn't even finalize the scripts until the week of, worrying the actresses a bit. It's pretty interesting that they had to act without even knowing why your character is supposed to be feeling one way or another.

They talked about how they got their parts during the auditions. Yuuki said that Madoka felt like a natural fit, and made a big impression on her. Well, a character really ought to make an impression on at least their seiyuu, so you can take it with a grain of salt. Kitamura said that she had tried a bunch of roles during the auditions, but Sayaka felt fairly similar to her.

Saitou actually was trying out for roles other than Homura, though. If you're familiar with her earlier roles in other anime, she often used a high squeaky voice, while her first well-known Homura-type character was Senjougahara from the Monogatari franchise. Her first impression was that it would be a difficult role, but even though she has two different personalities and hidden motivations, she certainly turned out to be a perfect fit.

They next commented on the school: it's a coed school, but the cast was mostly girls so they had to make all sorts of low "uehh"s to fill out the general sound profile of the classroom.

Then, they talked about Homura, who is really quite the enigma in the first episode. They say it seems like she's going to backstab you or something. She turns out alright though. Also, they note how Madoka is really passive and melancholic, rarely smiling. Yuuki was told "always crying" for how to act.

Another aspect of it they talk about is the character writing in general. Although when Hitomi is on screen at the restaurant, they all exclaim 'scary!' but they say that everyone in the series is a nice girl. Madoka, for example, is one of those people who you would say "She's a really nice girl", in a very natural way. Gentle, always thinking of others, but at the same time she runs away (a lot), which is certainly a very realistic thing for a middle school girl to do. Not so much of the "I must fight to protect!" deal from her, which makes her feel very human.

Sayaka is a bit more of that, though, kinda over-confident, cocky, and doesn't like to lose.

Finally, they talk about Mami, who is really cool here but at the same time seems really suspicious. (Also, they comment on how Shaft changed the shading and effects in her entrance scene between the TV airing and the BD version).