Audio Commentary/Episode 9

I'd Never Allow That to Happen そんなの、あたしが許さない
Commentary	Aoi Yuuki Chiwa Saitou Emiri Katou

The ninth commentary features not just Aoi Yuuki (Madoka) and Chiwa Saitou (Homura), but the seiyuu of our favorite character Kyubey, Emiri Katou. She's also known for Hachikuji Mayoi from the Monogatari franchise.

They start out with auditions again. At the beginning, when she tried Kyubey, she didn't expect him to be such a deceptive character, trying to force people into contracts. She was told to do a cute animal character, with some human-like qualities. Then when she got the role, she was like "Cute mascot character GETTO DAZE!" (pokemon fans might recognize that as the original phrase behind 'Gotta catch'em all!', but it's not exactly the same meaning). And then Mami died, and she was like "Isn't this a bit strange?" Then as a character he started talking a lot more.

At the time, she didn't actually know that he doesn't have emotions. When she found out, she thought "So that's why" [he behaved like he did]. She thought his treatment of Homura was intentional.

They then talk about how uniquely Kyubey talks. It doesn't really come across as well in subs (and I have no clue about the dubs), but it's really weird. He doesn't really say anything really wrong, either. He believes everything is obvious. "Why are you saying that? I don't understand!" One of his lines, wake ga wakaranai yo which means "I don't understand" was kinda popular in the Japanese fandom. Yuuki also noticed that Kyubey was popular among the public too. There would be decorated emails saying "Make a contract with me and go shopping!" or things like that. Her club at college (she was ~19 at the time it was airing) had an entry sign saying "Make a contract with me and join our club." In Akihabara, Kyubey was everywhere, and there were even tours that went around looking for funny examples. For example, Yuuki saw one where there was a mannequin 'dressed up' as Kyubey, with a piece of paper over his crotch labeled 'Soul Gem'.

Then they talk about how in the first episode recording they had lip flaps for Kyubey and Emiri tried hard to match but in airing it turned out his mouth didn't move at all. They next go onto the emotional aspect. Even though he has no emotions, he does project different faces for different people. He's nicer to Madoka, for example. "Madoka" "You really are..." (kimi wa yappari) in a kind voice. On the other hand, he's very curt with Homura. "Akemi Homura" "You really are..." (kimi wa yappari*). (you really have to listen to the commentary yourself, because the words are the same but it sounds COMPLETELY different despite it actually being the same voice... it's sooooo good)

And then for Sayaka and Kyouko, he's very businesslike, since they've contracted with him. They next ask Emiri who she likes most other than Kyubey. Obviously, she likes Kyouko. She has different values for everything, but actually is a really nice person.

Next they mention that the three of them are the only voice actors who were in every episode... In the scene with Kyubey talking to Madoka in her room, Yuuki was talking with the Sound Director Yota Tsuruoka about how to behave. He told her to not regard Kyubey as an enemy, but rather as an internal conflict. The problem was that she personally was getting angry with Kyubey, so Yuuki Aoi (not Madoka) was having her own internal conflict between trying to act and getting angry at the character.

They also talk about how complicated the things that Kyubey says are. Even Emiri herself couldn't understand what she was saying. "I don't get it! What does this mean? Entropy?" It seems that as the series got darker, the atmosphere when recording got more and more fun. Every time they would say "Ok, recording over" the mood would instantly change. They felt like there was a lot of unity among the cast and staff.

They also talk about how you don't really hate anyone in the story, at all. They hate Kyubey, but at the same time they love Kyubey. Kyouko is a rival, but then she's a friend. Nobody is really pointless.

Kyouko always has food, various different things. Always eating. Nonaka Ai is pretty good at pretending to talk with food in her mouth. (I'm not sure whether she actually was eating in the recording booth or not though; they're not very clear about that.) Then they start talking about the backgrounds. Not only are the creatures weird in the witch labyrinths, but the environments. Just like how Gertrud in the second episode contrasted vividly with the Aoki Ume widefaces, the nearly photorealistic backgrounds (though far more intricate and awesome than real life) contrast strongly with the crazy backgrounds in the witch labyrinths.

They also talk about how fun it is trying to imagine what the witch labyrinths are before going in. The "Love me do (-3-)/" really reminded Katou of Sayaka, for example. Yuuki also talks about how the fanbase decoded the witch letter code. She had read the Japanese translations, but apparently online in discussions of the commentary all of the Japanese fans were correcting her by giving credit to the English wiki (You're on it!) for actually doing the decoding into English, though that process was begun on 4Chan.

They really love how the voice of the viewers reached so far; the Western fanbase feeding back into the Japanese fanbase, and into the anime industry. Saitou talks about how whenever she'd be recording for another show, they'd always be asking her what would happen next. Same with Katou: she'd be told "Ahh, Madoka is amazing" and such, and they'd ask Yuuki for spoilers. It's not your everyday show that excites a whole industry so much.

It starts out by normal girls becoming magical girls, and then witches, and now that we know the process, it's really sad. Imagining how every single witch we've seen so far, every single one has also started out as a little girl with big hopes for the future, a wish to be granted... Charlotte for example, (who ate Mami), was a hospitalized girl who just wanted cheese.

At this point, it devolves into all three seiyuu literally crying over how sad it is. Kyouko really believed in justice, and she's trying to save Sayaka who never gave up until the very end but at the expense of her own life... And then Homura shows up to catch Madoka, but they're all like "Ahhh save Kyouko too, not just Madoka..."

And then, all three of them are sitting there actually crying in the booth. It's really cute.

Finally, Katou talks about how the series has a lot of impact for her because when recording as Kyubey, she'd be turning her emotions off but afterward, when watching the show it would all spill out