Cake Song

A nursery rhyme game played in Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Rebellion.

Lyrics

Original Japanese lyrics

Singer	Original	Romaji	English translation
Madoka, Sayaka, Kyoko	ケーキ、ケーキ、まぁるいケーキ まぁるいケーキはだぁれ？	Kēki, kēki, maarui kēki Maarui kēki wa daare?	Cake, cake, a round cake Who is the round cake?
Bebe	ケーキはさやか？	Kēki wa Sayaka?	Is the cake Sayaka?
Sayaka	ちーがーう 私はラズベリー まぁるいケーキは赤い ケーキは杏子？	Chi - ga - u Watashi wa razuberī Maarui kēki wa akai Kēki wa Kyoko?	No, you're wrong. I am the raspberry. The round cake is red. Is the cake Kyoko?
Kyoko	ちーがーう あたしはリンゴ まぁるいケーキはベベが好き ケーキはマミ？	Chi - ga - u Atashi wa ringo Maarui kēki wa Bebe ga suki Kēki wa Mami?	No, you're wrong. I am the apple. Bebe likes the round cake. Is the cake Mami?
Mami	ちーがーう 私はチーズ まぁるいケーキは転がる ケーキは暁美さん？	Chi - ga - u Watashi wa chīzu Maarui kēki wa korogaru Kēki wa Akemi-san?	No, you're wrong. I am the cheese. The round cake goes round in circles. Is the cake Homura?
Homura	ちがっ…います 私はかぼちゃ まぁるいケーキは甘いです ケーキはまどか？	Chiga… imasu Watashi wa kabocha Maarui kēki wa amai desu Kēki wa Madoka?	No, that's... wrong. I am the pumpkin. The round cake is sweet. Is the cake Madoka?
Madoka	ちーがーう 私はメロン メロンが割れたら甘い夢	Chi - ga - u Watashi wa meron Meron ga waretara amai yume	No, you're wrong. I am the melon. When the melon splits, a sweet dream is created.
Madoka, Sayaka, Kyoko	今夜のお夢は苦い夢 お皿の上には猫の夢 丸々太って召し上がれー！	Kon'ya no o yume wa nigai yume O sara no ue ni wa neko no yume Marumaru futotte meshiagare!	But the dream tonight is a bitter one indeed. Atop of the plate is the dream of the cat. Round and plump. Everyone eat up!

English dub lyrics

Singer	Lyrics
Madoka, Sayaka, Kyoko	Big cake, round cake, right in front of me Who do you think this cake could be?
Bebe	Gibberish(?)
Sayaka	No, it's not me. I'm just a little, old, raspberry. That big, round, cake's too red, don't you know? Could the cake be Kyoko?
Kyoko	No, not me. I'm the juicy apple in this story. That big round cake loves Bebe, can't you see? Is the cake Mami?
Mami	No, it's not me. I am the cheese. This big, round, cake is tumbling, you see. Could the cake be Homura?
Homura	No, not me. I'm the pumpkin, full of seeds. This big, round, cake looks sweeter than sweets. Could the cake be Madoka?
Madoka	No, it's not me. I'm the melon, don't you see? When you slice the melon, it will bring you sweet dreams.
Madoka, Sayaka, Kyoko	So why is the dream so bitter all late? 'Cause the kitty's dream is the one on the plate. It's so plump, it's gonna taste great!

Observations

• Why Sayaka used raspberry in particular when blueberry would fit her better is unknown. Perhaps as a lead-in to the "red" trait?
• Mami's line is a reference to Homura's time loops ("goes round in circles"); it could also be a reference to Homura's or Madoka Magica's repetitive nature.
• Madoka's line foreshadows the ending twists of Homura undermining Ultimate Madoka and ripping her in half ("when the melon splits") and rewriting the world so everyone is alive and happy ("a sweet dream is created").
• Bebe apparently likes melons.
• Sayaka uses the pronoun "watashi" when she instead uses "atashi" as her go-to pronoun. Kyoko, however, still uses "atashi", making her the only one to not use "watashi" in the song (minus Bebe, who does not use a self-referring pronoun).
• Homura referring to herself with "pumpkin" could be a hint to her being a witch, since traditionally people link pumpkins to Halloween and traditional witches. Pumpkins have also been a symbol for "the world", which fits, given they're in Homura's barrier — a world of her creation.
• Homura and Mami do not participate much in the song; Madoka, Kyoko and Sayaka combined sing most of the lyrics, whereas the other two do not. Homura could be explained by her not knowing what's going on or not knowing what to do, but Mami's reason is unknown — perhaps she's trying to keep Bebe down due to incidents in the starting sequence where Bebe gets close to a terrified Homura, or during Mami's turn where Bebe turns to Mami, hungry and mouth-gaping at the mention of cheese.
• No one's mouths are shown to actually move during the opening and closing lines.
• The dream is bitter because it is the cat's dream, possibly hinting at Kyubey's involvement.

Rule interpretations

The song is sung in a Sprechgesang sort of style - the words are spoken rhythmically rather than sung melodically, accompanied by background music.

Cumulative description

A game of memory and improvisation, players take turn singing the nursery rhyme. On their turn, a player has to come up with and sing:

1. An object with all the qualities previously mentioned
2. A new quality that the object shares
3. The next player to pass the song to

The player loses when they fail to sing their lines in time. In-universe, Madoka picked "melon" — which is "round", "red", "something Bebe likes", "goes round in circles", and "sweet" — but couldn't come up with a new quality for "melon".

Sequential description

Alternatively, the requirements could be the following:

1. A food object that shares the previous quality.
2. A quality that applies to the next player to pass the song to.

The "round" quality does not describe Sayaka because she comes first and Madoka does not have to supply a new quality because she is the last player. With these rules, the following character observations can be made:

• Sayaka is horrible at improvisation, since "red" is a dirt-simple observation. Or, she could be giving Kyoko an easy turn.
• Kyoko is similarly unimaginative; she uses "something Bebe likes" directed towards Mami, who is yellow like cheese, and good friends with Bebe. On the other hand, Kyoko's line on its own is very unspecific.
• Mami sees Homura as a clumsy child.
• Homura sees Madoka as sweet.

Gallery

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  Cake song lyrics and storyboard from Rebellion Production Note

External links

• Cake Song
• Cake Song (slowed down 800%)
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica Movie 3 Rebellion - Cake Song [English & Japanese Subs + Romaji