Puella Magi Production Note

Production Note

Puella Magi Madoka Magica Production Note are a set of 496 pages in two volumes that were first sold in a limited edition version at Comic Market 80 from August 12, 2011 to August 14 2011. It is currently on sale to the general public. SHAFT, collaborating with graphics designer Milky Isobe, compiled and edited 352 pages of production materials and 144 pages of art by Gekidan Inu Curry. The book set measures 268 x 195 x 47 millimeters (about 10.5 x 7.6 x 1.9 inches) and 1.629 kilograms (3.59 pounds).

Each set contains a B5-sized illustration sheet of Madoka by character designer Takahiro Kishida.

The limited first edition sold at Comic Market 80 also has:

Gekidan Inu Curry designed postcard
Charlotte bookmark
Kyubey bookmark

This, along with other Madoka-related merchandise, was reportedly sold out at the Aniplex booth around 11:15 am on the first day of Comic Market. Additional merchandise was added for sale the last two days of Comic Market 80.

A sequel was released in late 2014 for The Rebellion Story titled "Rebellion Production Note."

Key Animation Note

A follow-up to the Production Note, please go here for more information. There are seven volumes of the Key Animation Note.

Translations of Select Pages

Witch of cheesecake (early concept that later became Charlotte)

Translation courtesy of Neuchadjinys

Sketch	English	Japanese
	Full scan page here Topmost left lines: Weak witch One-whole cheesecake Upper middle: "It's really a delicious cheesecake. My dying mother wanted to eat it. But, perhaps, I should have cured her disease instead. However, that surely wasn't appropriate." Right, top-to-bottom: A witch-space that became the basis for the witch of dessert from ep. 3 and the minion of the witch of scribbles from ep. 5. She became a magical girl for one-whole cheesecake, and after becoming a witch, clings to that cheesecake. The witch of dessert in the main series is the reverse of this; she obtained "one single cheesecake" in strict accordance with her wish. After turning into a witch, the only thing her magic cannot make is cheese, and she became a very strong witch. Left diagram: It feels as if the scrambled-street parts keep having yellow paint dumped on them. Fork A single cheesecake floats in the air. The weird-looking witch stands atop it. Middle, with diagrams: Light source: Dim yellow light from the center They leer inward from under cover. Minions: Mouse-looking things that scurry around underfoot (small) Bottom diagram: When the witch escapes, its space moves with it. Aaa-h Spwohn After being caught up in it, the people who were in the previously-scrambled streets pop out into the normal streets. Bottom Right: Upon the witch's death Crushed into gooey-looking cheese There's a small, high, mouse-like 'kiii-' or 'chiii-' noise.	Topmost left lines: ヨワイマジョワンホール・チーズケーキ Upper middle: 「とてもおいしいチーズケーキ。死にかけのお母さんが食べたがっていたの。でも、もしかすると、お母さんの病気でも治してあげたらよかったカスラ。けれど、きっとそれはそおいうことでもないのダワ。」 Right, top-to-bottom: ３話お菓子の魔女と５話落書きの魔女の使い魔の元になった魔女空間です。ワンホールのチーズケーキで魔法少女になり、魔女化した後もチーズケーキにしがみついています。本編お菓子の魔女はこれとは逆に、厳密にその願い通り「ひとつきりのチーズケーキ」を手に入れ、魔女化した後もチーズだけは魔法を使って出すことが出来なくなりとても強い魔女になりました。 Left diagram: ゴチャゴチャ街部分に黄色いペンキをぶっかけまくってるカンジフォークチーズケーキがひとつ浮いてて。その上に変なマジョがのってる Middle, with diagrams: 光源ぼんやり中心部から黄色ライト物陰からコソコソ見てるだけ手下ねずみみたいなの足元チョロチョロしてる・小さき Bottom diagram: マジョ逃げると空間ごと移動するわースポン中にいた人は一度ゴチャゴチャ街へまきこまれてからスポンと普通の街へ Bottom Right: マジョ死ぬときべちゃとチーズみたいにつぶれる「キー」とか「チー」とか小さくカン高いネズミみたいな音。

Anja

Translation courtesy of Neuchadjinys Note: She was originally designed as the witch, then Albertine replaced Anja as the witch and Anja became the familiar.

Sketch	English	Japanese
	Topmost left line: ＃05 Back alley. Upper left: Weak witch There isn't a clearly-defined barrier. The green area is the barrier. Painted green, no shadows in the green area. Becomes like a stuck-on 2D poster. The boundary line moves and bounces around. Middle: Yellow balls bounce around only in the green area. The witch continually chases them. Middle left: Witch: A character reminiscent of a Showa-era poster. Stuck on. No shadow. No sense of depth. Her lower body turns into a car and an airplane and such. Lower Left: Zooms around in the green area and chases balls. In the end, it's less like she's fleeing and more like she's just chasing more balls and scooting off somewhere. Right: She changes the humans around her into new balls, and eats the balls if she gets hungry. No matter how many new balls she gets, though, because she isn't that bright, she loses them immediately. She chases after balls throughout her whole life.	Topmost left line: ＃０５　路地裏。 Upper left: 弱いマジョ明確な結界はなし。緑の中が結界。緑色ベタぬり緑の中は影なしベタッと２Dのポスター調になる境界線ぽよんぽよんうごく Middle: ＊緑の中だけで黄色いボールがはねまわってるそれを追いかけつづけるマジョ Middle left: マジョ昭和のポスターみたいなキャラベタッと影なし。立体感無視。下半身、車や飛行機になって Lower Left: 緑の中をとびまわってボールを追う。最後も逃げるというよりボールを追いかけてそのままどこかへ行ってしまう。 Right: 彼女はまわりの人間を新しいボールへと変え、おなかがすいたらボールを食べます。どんなに新しいボールを手に入れても彼女はあまり賢くないのですぐになくしてしまいます。彼女は一生ボールを追いかけています。

Walpurgisnacht, Episode 10 version

Translation courtesy of Neuchadjinys

Sketch	English	Japanese
	Topmost left line: Rainbow light (Brocken spectre) Upper left: Basically the same as episode 1. +Feels like there's bonfires here and there. Episode 1 is "What on earth is going on here?" Episode 10 is "It's like a ceremony" Buildings are piled up Lower left: Bonfires here and there throughout downtown. Tires, debris and dead bodies are piled up. ＊In episode 10, Walpurgis is still only partially visible. The whole thing suddenly snaps into focus in episode 11. Right, top to bottom: She will turn all of fate's misfortune to nothing. She will flood the earth with magic, and take all of humankind into her play. A moving stage construction. If everything is a play, then there's nothing to be sad about. It may be a tragedy, but it'll all be part of the script. The play stops on Walpurgisnacht, and the earth does not turn even once more. The story will not change. Tomorrow, and the day after, is the night of Walpurgis.	Topmost left line: 虹色の光（ブロッケン現象） Upper left: 基本は１話と同じ。＋カガリ火のイメージをあちこちに。１話は「得体の知れない何か」１０話は「儀式っぽい」ビルを積んである Lower left: 街中のあちこちにもカガリ火。車やガレキ死体を積んである＊１０話ではワルプルギスまだ部分的にしか見えない。全体にピント合ってハッキリ見えるのは１１話。 Right, top to bottom: 全ての運命の不幸を無くそうとする。地上をマホウで埋め尽くし、全人類を戯曲の中へ取り込もうとする。動く舞台装置。この全てが戯曲ならば悲しい事など何もない。悲劇ではあるかもしれないけれど、ただ、そおいう脚本を演じただけ。ワルプルギスの夜で芝居は止まってもう地球は１周だって回転しない。物語は転換しない。明日も明後日も、ワルプルギスの夜。

Izabel

Translation courtesy of Neuchadjinys

Sketch	English	Japanese
	Topmost left line: ＃10A - Evening, on the road to the school. Upper left: A sky like a Van Gogh painting. An oil-painting-like taste. Orange and white. (Tomb.) Stone monuments. Incredibly large memorials. The ground. Ash-gray and white. Lower left: Minions. The entire ground. Undulating. Like Picasso's Guernica. Patchwork. ☆The witch's lines are spoken by her minions. Middle: Witch: Part of the relief. (Actually, though, the whole arch is the witch.) While Homura is distracted by the minions, something like a triumphal arch springs up behind her with incredible speed (stop-motion). Upper Right: Streaming out of the gate Since the scene where they appeared in the main part is brief, make them just about to come out... or something like that may be good Middle Right: She joins human parts together to build human statues that greatly resemble some person. She uses them to attack (minion #2).	Topmost left line: ＃10A - 夕方、通学路。 Upper left: ゴッホみたいな空。油絵テイスト。オレンジと白。 [墓]。碑石など。偉大な記念達。地面。灰色と白。 Lower left: 手下。地面のすべて。うねって動くピカソのゲルニカぽい。パッチワーク ☆マジョのセリフは手下がしゃべっている。 Middle: マジョレリーフの一部（実際は門全体がマジョ）手下に気を取られるほむらの背前に、すごいスピードで（コマ撮り）凱旋門的なものが健つ。 Upper Right: 門からぞろぞろ出てくる本編登場シーン短いので出ようとしているとこで・・・くらいでもいいかも Middle Right: 人間の部位を組み合わせた誰かのそっくり彫像人間を練成したりする。それを使って攻撃（手下２）。

Suleika

Translation courtesy of Neuchadjinys

Sketch	English	Japanese
	Topmost line: #03A - Night Park ☆The witch is weak, so priority is given to the [barrier's] surroundings. Dies quickly. Upper left: Jungle gym Witch: A shooting star caught in a jungle gym. Dummy. Upper right: Feels like they're fighting in the night sky. It's pretty. Sparkly There's Book-layer stars up front, too. [TN: The word 'Book', written in English, refers to a background layer placed above the character animation layer.] Lots of shooting stars. Bottom: The minions are (whitish) shadows projected on the night sky. They're always dancing repetitively. Lower right: Barrier. The surrounding-wall section: Actually soil or concrete. It's not like everything is floating. It's as if a starlit sky was packed up inside it.	Topmost line: ＃０３ A 夜の公園 ☆マジョ弱いので環境優先。すぐ死ぬ。 Upper left: ジャングルジムマジョジャングルジムにひっかかった流れ星。バカ Upper right: 夜空の中で戦ってるカンジ。キレイ。キラキラ手前にも Bookで星。流れ星たくさん。 Bottom: 手下たちは夜空に映る影（白っぽい）ずっとリピートダンスしている。 Lower right: 結界周囲カベ部分。実際は地面とかコンクリ。みんな浮いてる訳ではない。内側に星空がとじこめてある。

Roberta

Translation courtesy of Neuchadjinys

Sketch	English	Japanese
	(1) Smashed-up doll parts fall like snow (2) Music box springs and doll parts (3) Birdmen flying around the cage (4) Clock face. Also gears. (5) Dead birdmen, trampled by the witch (6) A hysterically thrashing pair of legs in a cage. The chain it's tied to makes an annoying smashing sound. (7) A witch who lived for a long time as a magical girl. She is weak, as she was no longer a girl when she became a witch (mid-20s to 30s?). The form she takes in her barrier is how she would've turned out in the future (around 40s). What she desires is life. Enjoys alcohol and books. (8) The witch, post-explosion. Stuff drifting down around Homura: Burning book pages Sparkly bottle shards Doll and bird parts Witch blood (9) Rough background (far-off): Sparkly curtains. Shelves lined with books and liquor bottles. One layer. Feels a bit like a bar.	(1) 雪みたいにバラバラの人形パーツ降ってる。 (2) オルゴールのゼンマイと人形のパーツ (3) かごのまゆりを飛んでる鳥人間 (4) 時計の盤面。歯車とか。 (5) 魔女踏まれて死んだ鳥人間 (6) かごの中でヒステリックにあばれる足。つながれている鎖ガチャガチャうるさい。 (7) 魔法少女としてけっこう長く生きた魔女。魔女化する頃はもう少女でもなかったので魔女としては弱い。（２０代中盤～３０代くらい？）結界の中の姿は来るハズだった未来の姿。（４０代くらい）欲しかった物は人生。お酒と本が好き。 (8) 魔女、爆破後ほむらの周りにゆっくり降りそそいでいる・燃える本のページ・キラキラビンの破片・人形と鳥のパーツ・魔女の血。 (9) 背景ボケ（遠い）キラキラ暖簾。本と酒ビンの並んだ棚。一面に。ちょっとバーみたいなイメージ。

Oktavia von Seckendorff, Timeline 3 Version

Translation courtesy of Neuchadjinys

Sketch	English	Japanese
	(1) A thumping laser light show in a dark concert hall. (2) Monitor (3) Empty seats (4) Lights (5) Homura and co. (6) [Translator note (TN): Unsure about this part] This time only the top half appears. The bottom half is like the hanamichi stage from an enka performace. [TN: this might refer to a TV show from the 70s called Enka no Hanamichi (演歌の花道)] (7) Backup dancers (8) There's actually a band around here. There's no need to display it, though. (9) Overhead view (10) Witch Sayaka. Colors are different from episode 8. The basic colors are Sayaka's colors, the same as in episode 8, but the parts aside from those are different. (11) ☆ In the past, before the loops happened, Kyousuke was a guitarist.	(1) 暗い会場にレーザーライトバシバシ。 (2) モニター (3) 空の客席 (4) ライト (5)ほむら達 (6) 今回は上半分しか出ない。下半分は演歌の花道ステージ。 (7) バックダンサーズ (8) 本当はこのへんにバンド。映らなくても良い。 (9) 上から見た図 (10) さやか魔女＃８と色違い。基本色はさやかの色。8話と同じ。それ以外の部分の色がちがう。 (11) ☆ くり返し前の過去では恭介はギタリスト。

Kriemhild Gretchen, Timeline 2 Version

Translation courtesy of symbv of evageeks forum

Sketch	English	Japanese
	Full scan page here - [Editor's Note: Because of the placement on the same page as Patricia, this is likely to refer to Kriemhild Gretchen of timeline 2.] Top Left: Giant Madoka Witch (Sky) Gold color - awe-inspiring Size reference - Walpurgis Bottom Left: Witch Madoka While Walpurgis looks like the upper half of a sand timer [Madoka Witch] looks like the lower half Right Side, Upper Left: Besides the few kilometers around Madoka not being affected (location where Sayaka lies) everything else is sucked in quickly on a continental scale Far Right: Madoka Witch sucks in the whole Earth into her bewitched space in preparation of creating a new heaven Lower Left: The bewitched space is so large that it pulls and sucks in the whole Earth	Top Left: 巨大まどかマジョ（空）黄金色　神々しいサイズ　もと　ワルプルギス Bottom Left: マジョまどかワルプルギス　砂時計の上半分に対して下半分みたいな Right Side, Upper Left: まどかの周囲数km だけのこして（さやかの居る所）他は、大陸規模でどんどん吸われてる Far Right: まどかマジョ結界へ地球をまるっと吸い込んで新しい天国を作る予定 Lower Left: 結界が巨大すぎて地球ごと吸い上げようとしている

Elsa Maria Storyboard 7

Translation courtesy of symbv of evageeks forum

Sketch	English	Japanese
	(1) Sayaka just falls on top of the witch (2) Cross PAN　DOWN (3) In a position mounting the witch (4) pass the sword underhand to another hand (5) witch gradually falls down (6) color of blood compared with ep. 3 (7) more florescent spots (with feels of xx) [TN: not readable] when they are scattered in air, they turn immediately into black silhouettes (8) Sword, Fr (frame?), backlight (9) blood that look like a design decoration (to some extent, disregard any feel of depth) (10) very sticky blood (11) "A ha ha ha ha... it is true...." (12) like filled up with viscous red and black paint (13) eye in trance (14) witch arms frightened in spasms (15) (omitted) sword stab with crunching noise, rattling sound (16) witch in silhouette (17) keep chopping off (18) sound graphic (19) with hallelujah BGM (20) and graphic sounds of cutting flesh (21) to next episode	(1) そのままマジョの上へ落下, (2) 十字架 (3) マジョにマウントポジション (4) 剣逆手に持ちかえてる (5) マジョゆっくりたおれてく (6) 血の色３話と比べて (7) 蛍光寄り（？）　光ってるカンジ空中に飛び散るとすぐ黒いシルエットに (8) 剣, Fr, 逆光 (9) 血デザイン的に（ある程度　立体感無視） (10) 血すごいねっとり (11) 「あはは、本当だあ・・・・～」 (12) ドロドロ赤と黒い絵の具でぬりつぶしたような (13) 目うっとり (14) マジョうでビクビクけいれん (15) （中略）剣　ザクザクさして (16) シルエットでマジョ (17) 切りきざみ続ける (18) 音　生々しい (19) ハレルヤBGMと (20) 生々しい肉切り音の中 (21) 次回へ

Madoka Early Character Design

Translation courtesy of symbv of evageeks forum

Sketch	English	Japanese
	(1) Main heroine (2) cheerful and idealistic girl (3) of good pedigree (4) genius girl (5) "Ring" as an example design of item for transformation (6) ...is it a bit plain?	(1) メインヒロイン (2) 明るく理想主義のコ (3) 血統の良い (4) 天才肌少女 (5) 変身アイテム案「指輪」 (6) ・・地味でしょうか、、

Trivia

The Production Note, sometimes described as some variation of "Official Production Notes" is incorrectly cited as a source of false biographical information on the characters, such as birthdays, incorrect heights and blood types. There is no such information in the Production Note except for the height ranges provided in the height comparison chart.