Madoka Kaname

"If someone tells me that it's wrong to hope, I'll tell them they're wrong every time." - Madoka Kaname, Episode 12.

Madoka Kaname
Japanese Name	鹿目 まどか (Kaname Madoka)
Voiced by	Japanese: Aoi Yuuki English: Christine Marie Cabanos Italian: Joy Saltarelli Spanish: Carmen Ambrós
Age	12
Weapon	Bow

Madoka Kaname, the protagonist and title character, is a gentle and friendly 14 year old girl. Living an ordinary life, Madoka has a loving family and is surrounded by good friends. One day she has a dream of a mysterious girl fighting an ominous creature. The next day, Akemi Homura, the girl from her dream, comes to her class as a transfer student.

General Info

• A good-natured and ordinary eighth-grader. She is the health coordinator in her class.
• In the pre-broadcast November promotional video, she is described as, "A gentle 2nd year middle school girl who thinks of friends before herself."

Physical features

• Birthday: October 3
• Blood Type: A
• Height: Slightly less than 150cm (4'11"). Production Note shows a height revision to 152cm (5'0").
• Shoe size: 22 JP (Women's 5.5 US, Children's 4 US, 36 EU, 3 UK)
• For further details, a 100 Question Survey has been published revealing details about Madoka such as her likes, dislikes, hobbies, and physical attributes.

Design

• Ms. Aoki’s design notes
  • "Even her bow-wielding magical girl form projects an air of kind friendliness. Her choker bears a pink gem."
  • "Of the heroines shown here, Madoka has the most childish body. Her legs are clad in pure, virginal white over-knee socks."
  • "I drew her keeping in mind that as the main character she needs to be average, but also an exceptionally good girl. Hence her puffy, high-placed twin tails. The design and color of her ribbons took a lot of work, but in the end calmed down to something simple."
  • "Magical girl outfit: Madoka was drawn to be the very image of a magical girl. I added an almost fairy tale-ish hints, so hopefully female viewers will be charmed by her as well."
    • "Full of tiny frills, with ribbons arranged at the neck, waist, and on the shoes. It’s perfectly 'cute', and seemingly unsuited for combat, but…"
  • "School uniform: Designed to convey the classy image of a private girls’ school, while not being -too- normal. Its distinguishing point is the small hole at the nape of the neck."
• Color theme: Pink.
• Soul Gem shape: Teardrop.

Concept

• According to a interview with Gen Urobuchi, the character Madoka was based on Yunocchi from Hidamari Sketch (An Aoki Ume creation), to the extent that he was prepared for seiyuu Asumi (Kana)-san (Yuno's seiyuu) to voice Madoka.
• He commented that Madoka, the protagonist, is a pretty unusual character for his writing style - "A foreign character that did not exist inside myself."
• "I imagined all the other characters by starting from “Madoka = Yuno”."
• "And every time I got Yunocchi to cry I got hated by the Hidamari fans more."

Other details
From the anime:

• Madoka's mother, Junko, commented that she has always been a good child and never lies.
• Kyubey, Homura and Mami confirmed that Madoka has great magical potential.
• Madoka is the only one without a transformation sequence as a magical girl within the Anime series.
• Madoka became the Embodiment of Hope in the finale.

Personality

Madoka first appears to a naive, gentle girl from a kind family. Though sometimes shy, she makes friends without much difficulty and treats others gently and with respect.

She has low self-confidence, and she believes she does not have much to offer the world unless she is helping people, which makes becoming a magical girl appealing to her. She has been known to become flustered easily, and in certain circumstances, she can be easily manipulated by others playing on her insecurity and desire to help. As a magical girl, she is more obviously confident in herself than before her wish.

She calls most girls she knows by their given name with the suffix "-chan" or "-san" at the end, and boys by their family name with the suffix "-kun", showing that she is closer to the girls than boys.

History

Madoka in the Anime and Drama CDs

After Mami's death, Madoka changed her mind about becoming a magical girl.

In episode 10, it is revealed that this Madoka is one of many, each one before her having died in their respective timelines.

From Drama CD 1 "Memories of you", the reason Madoka became a Magical Girl in the first timeline is to save a cat which had been run over by a car. Madoka also treated Homura very nicely from the beginning, who at that time was being bullied. We also learn that whenever Madoka made a contract and become a Magical Girl, she would act much more confident since it gave her a sense of purpose. Madoka's kindness in this first timeline towards Homura is one of the major reasons why Homura is so drawn to her. Homura's interventions during the course of the anime prevented this change.

Madoka In Oriko Magica

"How can you act so calm about all this? Why? Why am I the only one you're saving? You've got so much power Homura-chan!!"
"If you plan to let all the others die...then it'd be better if you didn't save me...!" - Madoka, Puella Magi Oriko Magica, Chapter 5.

• Madoka appears in Chapter 3, asking Homura to go home with her, along with Sayaka and Hitomi. She is well protected by Homura and isn't aware of Magical Girl system.
• She appears in Chapter 4 for one page. She is shown with her friends Homura, Sayaka and Hitomi going out for snacks after school.
• In chapters 5 through 7, Mitakihara Junior High was attacked by Oriko and Kirika. Oriko spoke to the school through the school's broadcast system, and seemed to give a threatening look to Madoka as she claimed she defeat a creature of ultimate despair that will descend upon them. As a witch's barrier forms over the school, Madoka is separated from her friends attacked by familiars. Homura saves her in time, but Madoka demands to know why she does not help the other students. Homura knows she cannot save everyone, and wanted to try to save Madoka anyway. Madoka apologized as Homura puts her in a protective barrier so familiars cannot attack her and left to defeat the perpetrators. Madoka escaped from the protective barrier created by Homura, and tried to help Homura with Sayaka and Hitomi. Madoka was Oriko's real target. The white magical girl wanted to kill her before she could contract and become a magical girl herself, and then the most powerful witch ever. She was killed by Oriko at the very end, when they were dying Oriko used a shard of Kirika's witch body to impale Madoka through the torso. Once Oriko died and the witch barrier was lifted, Hitomi and Sayaka mourning for the dead Madoka became visible.

Madoka in The Different Story

"Mami-san, does that mean to save yourself, you have to give up on all the magical girls who aren't your friends...?" - Madoka, Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Different Story, Chapter 5.

Madoka first appears at the very end of volume 1, waking Mami up in her apartment in order to get her help intervening on Kyoko and Sayaka's fight. She is has not contracted yet in this timeline, but accompanies Mami and Sayaka on their witch hunts.

• Madoka is worried about Sayaka, and always thinks how to help her. She tells Kyousuke about how his waist is healed. This doesn't help Sayaka, however.
• Madoka makes her wish to help Sayaka and becomes a magical girl at the very end of this story, so Homura gives up this timeline.
  • Madoka doesn't know the truth about Puella Magi System. She thinks Sayaka is killed by witches because Homura tells her so.
  • Madoka meets Kyoko after being helped by her and Homura. They becomes friends and tells each other about another side of Sayaka and Mami.

Madoka In Kazumi Magica

Madoka's silhouette appeared once during Juubey's explanation about Magical Girl system. She also makes a single-panel cameo in the extra pages in the first volume of the collected edition.

Madoka in Madoka Magica Portable

Warning, this section contains spoilers on game endings.

Wish

Due to the changing timeline, Madoka's wish that makes her into a magical girl is different depending on which timeline she is from. However wishes have always stemmed from her kindness.

From what we know until now, she contracted with Kyubey in order to:

• Save a cat whom had just died in front of her in the first timeline.
• Save Homura from Walpurgisnacht in the fourth timeline.
• Save Sayaka in the new timeline from The Different Story.
• Release Magical Girls in the past and future from their cursed fate of becoming witches in the penultimate timeline before the New World.

She also asked to accompany Sayaka on her witch hunt just so that if the latter was ever in danger, she could make a wish and rescue Sayaka. She nearly made this wish in Episode 8, but was stopped by Homura.

Trivia

• The characters of her last name mean "deer" (鹿) and "eye"(目), respectively.
• Her last name can also be used as a first name.
• Her last name sounds the same as (要), a word which means "keystone" or "hub".
• Her first name is written in hiragana which has no particular meaning. However, when written in kanji, it can mean "round" or "tranquil" (円).
• Madoka owns many stuffed animals in her room.
  • One of Madoka's stuffed animals resembles Lady from Disney's movie "Lady and the Tramp".
• Madoka and Mami are the only Magical Girls known who are never seen having a mark on any of their fingernails. Homura, Kyoko and Sayaka all have marks on their left middle fingers, matching the shape of the emblem of their respective Soul Gem.
• Madoka is never seen with her Soul Gem in a ring form.
• Madoka loves cats like Homura.
• Aoi Yuuki (Madoka's VA) really likes Kyoko and she claimed that Kyoko is her wife. You can hear her confession in the Magical Girls Tea Party bonus CD.
  • In the commentary for Episode 5 Aoi Yuki declares her love for Kyoko and desires to marry her. Ai Nonaka questions her choice and informs her all she ever does is eat. Aoi Yuki is ok with this and declares she would just adjust.
    • In same comentary Chiwa Saitou sounds annoyed, some suggested perhaps she is jealous. But the question is, jealous of whom?
  • Aoi Yuuki goes even more gaga for Kyoko in the audio commentaries for Episode 7: "The one I love, it's Kyoko-tan." "Kyoko-tan is the absolute best!" "it's like she isn't trying to be cool, but she's still REALLY cool."
  • In the "C81 Aniplex Madoka Special Talk CD", not even two minutes has passed and Aoi Yuki's already fangirling over Kyoko-tan~
• Aoi Yuuki (Madoka) is trying to form her own harem
• Urobuchi in his audio commentary on BD/DVD 3 explains that he felt like Aoi Yuki was born for the role of Madoka. What he means is that she doesn't force herself into the role of becoming her character and she leaves the impression of being a natural airhead, but in a good way.
• Madoka's last form is known as Ultimate Madoka. Prior to this information, fans called her form "MadoKami", Godoka, or Goddess Madoka.
  • In one of the original artwork designs, it is noted that Madoka is holding a shinai sword or a bow.
• Madoka is a Grade A Zettai Ryouiki in her school uniform
• Official information indicates that Madoka was born in October 3, making her a Libra.
• Wehihihi ♥ "ウェヒヒヒヒ" is an onomatopoeia for Madoka's trademark laughter. You can hear it here. (Or here.)
• Gen Urobuchi tweeted that he chose October 3 as Madoka's birthday, because that was the day when the ‘Mahou Shoujo Apocalypse Madoka☆Magica Project’ document was created[1].
  • The project was developed under the working title "Mahō Shōjo Mokushiroku Madoka☆Magica", ("Magical Girl Revelation Madoka☆Magica" or "Maho Shojo Apocalypse Madoka☆Magica"), a reference to the Bible.
    • 黙示録 specifically refers to the Book of Revelation.
• There is a petition to change the official name of the NGC 6357 nebula to the "Madokami nebula".

Observation

Characterization

"Madoka, you have grown to be a good girl. You don't lie and you dont do anything bad. You always try to do what is right. You are a wonderful child." - Junko, Episode 6.

• Madoka is a nice kid, somewhat naive due to being a teenager.
  • Friendly and gentle toward Homura, a new transfer student no matter which timeline.
  • Wanted to be helpful to other people.
  • Admired Mami and was severely affected by her. death
  • Constantly worried about Sayaka's safety and willing to face danger for her friend.
• Madoka always tries to call other main characters their first names with postfix (-chan or -san) if possible. It may indicate that she is eager to get close to others. The only exception is Kamijou. Madoka might think it is not a good idea to get too close to him since she believes he could potentially become Sayaka's boyfriend.
  • This is confirmed in the PSP, when Madoka finally calls him by his first name, after Sayaka made advances with him in one of the endings.
• A level-headed person, capable of making decisions on her own.
  • Didn't believe Homura is "totally evil" as she was told, and tried to understand her better based on what she observed.
  • Didn't wish to revive Mami, who is just a new acquaintance, but was ready to sacrifice herself for her best friend Sayaka. This added to the realistic aspect of Madoka's character.
  • Tried to prevent Sayaka and Kyoko's unnecessary fight, and pursued Sayaka to solve conflicts by negotiation instead of violence.
  • Looked for advise from her mother without mentioning magic.
  • Can answer immediately to Kyubey that even if the Incubators have good reason to collect energy, they are still humanity's enemy. This is demonstrates her understanding of humanity.
  • Kept calm toward Homura's revelation and reminded Sayaka not to stir conflicts between teammates (TL3).
  • Acted fast to take out Mami and saved Homura (TL3).
  • Used the last grief seed to save Homura because she wanted the latter to prevent a tragic outcome (TL3).
  • Thought of a wish that would bring the most benefits to other people based on the info she had.
• The difference between the character of Madoka and the character of Sayaka: While both are good-hearted girls, Madoka never judges based on first impressions, never makes rash assumptions, and has the mentality to deal with truth.
• According with Urobuchi, he made Junko a strong woman so Madoka would want to emulate her strength and courage.
  • It is possible that the reason Madoka feels so useless prior to becoming a magical girl, is that she consciously fails to measure to her own mother.
    • It is suggested that the reason Madoka is so miserable is that she wishes for power in order to be selfless so that she won't be miserable any more. Kyubey uses this to manipulate Madoka's thinking into making her wish through her guilt. He tries to manipulate Madoka into a belief that she can be free from her misery by making a selfless wish.
    • Without the wish and the life experience as a magical girl, Madoka's character never grows and develops into a courageous heroine. However, her life experience as a scared teenage girl, constantly crying and mourning the death of so many, always wanting to do what's right yet feeling powerless, the failure of attempting to save friends and strangers, and the sorrow she feels for the victims of innocent girls deceived by a calculating cold alien allows Madoka to finally develops the courage to confront her fears to save Homura and the world, instead of succumbing to despair and running away, Madoka finally grows up. The scene with her mother in Episode 11 leaves that impression.
• In Episode 6, Junko and Madoka had a conversation on how difficult it is to do the right thing, even when no one is in the wrong (per say). Junko's advice was for Madoka to be on the wrong against her friend to solve the problem, even if it means that her friend would hate her for it. In Episode 11 Junko confronts Madoka to stop her from getting into the danger of the storm, Madoka reminds her mother that she is a good girl and never does anything wrong but she tells her she needs to do this, a throwback to their earlier conversation. Madoka knows that what she is doing will worry her family, but she also knows that she must disobey her mother to save her family and her town. This conversation between Junko and Madoka earns her mother's trust.
• In the Drama CD "Sunny Day Life" Madoka used to get good grades, but her duties as a magical girl are interfering with her studies.
  • For what is worth, Madoka's grades are still better than Sayaka's.
• Character Development: Fans have complained that the Madoka character is weak, powerless, and useless. That her inaction caused many of her friends die. However, we later learn that this version of Madoka is complete different from the Timeline in Episode 10 or from the Drama CD Memories of You. This radical alteration is the result of Homura's interference that caused a role reversal. Making Homura, not Madoka, the main character until we see a transition or shift taking place during the later part of the series where Madoka truly becomes the main character by trying to change the fate of magical girls.

Important Plot Points

• Episode 8: Kyubey claimed Madoka's power to be godlike, to the point where she could even change the laws of the universe if she wished for it.
• Episode 10: In the first timeline, Madoka along with Mami saved Homura from a familiar. She died during the fight with Walpurgis Night. In the second timeline, Madoka turned into a witch for the first time, revealing to Homura the link between Magical Girls and Witches. In a later timeline, Madoka killed Mami in order to save Homura, as Mami lost control of herself and had just killed Kyoko. This is also the timeline in which Madoka asked Homura to go back in time to prevent her from becoming a Magical Girl. Madoka's power increased exponentially after every timeline. The first time showed she was an ordinary magical girl. In later timeline she had enough power to defeat Walpurgis in one shot, was capable of destroying the entire planet within 10 days in her witch form, and satisfied all Kyubey's energy quotas of the Earth.
• Episode 11: Homura's time repeats had linked multiple parallel universes together with Madoka's fate as their center. With every reset, Homura would force yet another parallel universe to be centered around Madoka. The accumulated karma is the reason why Madoka's potential power is so great. Hearing the revelations from Kyubey regarding the history of Magical Girls, Madoka was deeply hurt and thus wanted to save these girls from despair.
• Episode 12: Madoka wished to erase all witches in every dimension, in every timeline, with her own hands. This created a paradox because Madoka would eventually erase her own witch self, while she must continue to exist and destroy other witches. This paradox resulted in Madoka escaping the bounds of reality and ascending to godhood. Since Madoka never existed as a human in this new reality, she is no longer remembered by anyone, except for Homura. It has been suggested that Sayaka also remembers her in the new timeline as well, as Sayaka confesses to her in Episode 12 that she has caused her best friend a lot of trouble; this could be interpreted as Sayaka having learnt of her unfortunate fate of turning into a witch in the other timelines, an outcome which clearly inflicted a great deal of emotional hurt on Madoka.

Speculation

• Some fans speculate that Madoka presumably made a wish for a large cake in one of the timelines, under the influence of Mami.
  • However, this is highly debatable. Her original wish to save Amy would still apply if her circumstances to the event remains the same.
• Theoretically there is also the danger that, should Madoka become extremely powerful and turn into a witch, her power may be enough to destroy not only Earth, but the entire universe.
  • INCREDIBLY unlikely. Kyubey's species is (if they can be trusted) trying to save the universe in the first place, not trying to destroy it. They wouldn't create something they can't take down.
    • Then again, Kyubey remarked in the fourth timeline that he didn't know Madoka would turn out to be so powerful. While in this timeline he probably knows (and definitely doesn't care) that the witch form of Madoka could destroy the Earth, he may not know the full extent of her power.
    • Madoka's wish includes a hidden if-then clause to prevent her from ever becoming a witch. Because her wish is to erase all witches before they're born with her own hands, she has the power to erase her own witch from existence. Which is what we see happen.
• It is speculated that any wish Madoka ever made would be twisted because of the nature of the wish, according with Episode 11. Kyubey suspects that as long as the motives are selfish, the wish will always be twisted because the wishers' desire would always fail to meet their expectation.
  • It is speculated that Madoka realized that as long as her thinking was selfish or incorrect, then her wish would also be twisted. It is suspect that Madoka contemplates what to do to save Homura and her town in Episode 11, without being caught into the snare of the wish's trap. It is suspected that Madoka goes from wanting to be selfless for selfish reasons to wanting to be selfless for selflessness itself. By removing Madoka's selfish desire from her wish, she literally removes her self and her physical presence as a consequence.
    • A Philosophical analysis tries to determine Madoka's motive, Talk:Philosophical_Observations#Madoka_and_Minding_her_Motive
• An argument can be said that Madoka has two ways to develop her courage. One is through Kyubey by magic (which is the easiest path); the other way is more difficult and hurtful, the painful life experience and lessons she receives through friends, family members, and from strangers. But the most influential character in Madoka's life would be her mother, her source of wisdom, courage, and strength.
  • The Drama CD "Memories of you", states that Madoka used to have low self-esteem and doubts about herself until she became a magical girl.
• It is suspected that the series is attempting to show the journey of a little girl growing up from a simple life that is then thrown into the realm of magic. From her innocent eyes she perceives the magical world to be good, fantastic, and pleasing. But once Madoka experiences the dark nature of the magic world, she attempts to escape from the dark world of magic and at the same time evade the cynical world of reality. During her scene with her mother, Madoka attempts to move from the hopeless world of reality into the realm of adulthood. However, because Madoka still retains her hopes and dreams some would suggest that Madoka, rather than being regressed into a childish person, is growing into a hopeful adult that dreams for a better future.
  • This is considered incorrect. In the anime, so called "maturity" is metaphorized as, essentially, corruption—this is one of the most important metaphors in the anime (If we were never corrupted, we would never be "mature", our true images, when not corrupted, are images of naive children with pure souls, filled with hope, selfless love and compassion). When one becomes an adult, most likely she becomes a minion, a witch or a person whose true heart is blinded that she cannot resonate with other people and the power of the light side (hope, selfless love...). So it's OK to say Madoka grows up as herself but it's not good to say that she has become an adult, since most adults are called adults only because they're essentially corrupted. In a sense, you can say Madoka's maturity is the maturity of a person with the purist soul, but that wouldn't be necessary, and we should avoid using the words that are associated with "maturity" - "adult" is one of them. Madoka is the avatar of hope, she does everything because of the pure hope and good will, not because of some inferior conscious thoughts of responsibility, but a realization of her heart - the core of her soul, her subconsciousness, which is deep within her.
• I concur. In the anime, Kyubey refers to the magical girls as "puella" (in the title, which should suggest even greater significance). Puella, as he phrased it, referred to an immature girl. He also mentioned that these girls "grow up" into witches, implying that with maturity comes darkness and pain. The "adulthood" that is referenced in this series refers mostly to the dark side of humanity.
  • During the old world, "maturity" is essentially the corruption of a girl's adolescence. Kyubey's process is an attempt to uncover the darkness and selfish nature of the girls by amplifying it during the developing period into a witch. Is not an issue of purity as much as an issue of naivete and inexperience innocence; Kyubey corrupts these girls because they haven't been exposed or experienced the gritty reality of the world. Their lives as magical girls shatter their ideal views of a mahou shoujo, in the case of Kyoko as an example. Even Madoka became a Witch, perhaps as a statement of the flawed nature of humanity. But there was also a message of hope, Ultimate Madoka, a version of hope and sacrifice that defeated her Superwitch counterpart. This new entity born of the same metamorphosis process overcame the corrupting process of the system and developed into a much more mature Madoka. The reason for this new change is because Madoka made her wish that reflected her part as a sensible young adult, with the guidance of self reflection and wise counsel from others. The previous Madoka versions failed because they didn't reach their natural maturity when they made their wishes; they made their wishes with the mental view of an innocent child who didnt fully mature or understood the world. This new Madoka carries with her the hopes of magical girls, not just her own. However, as a responsible adult she must fade from the world and help many girls by taking their impurities with her. Madoka knows that she cannot abandon them, no matter how much she would miss her family and friends. This new Madoka has inhered a new sense of maturity and adult responsibility. The process of maturing into a better person requires Madoka to inherit the traits that comes with adulthood. It doesnt mean that Madoka becomes a better adult automatically nor a corrupt adult either. It just means that Madoka cannot grow into maturity without taking the elements of adulthood with her. In the series, adulthood can much as mean corruption as well as a new sense of guardianship. In this new sense, maturity and adulthood are not exclusive. One can become an adult without maturing (a witch), but one cannot mature without becoming an adult. One great example of Madoka's maturity is respecting the magical girls' wishes and dreams by not undoing their wishes or undoing their deaths. Another example is Madoka's acceptance of the need of a system to repair the damage done to the universe. Madoka's system is not perfect but she attempts to adjust it to make it more fair. Rather than radically alter the world to an "ideal version" (or paradise, as Kriemhild Gretchen tried), Madoka accepts the world as it is and tries to work within it. Madoka is in the process of growing into a fine woman, just like her mother Junko.
    • Madoka is not becoming someone like her mother, he mother is a good woman, but she's corrupted as well, only the soul of a young girl like Madoka, can be really pure. None of those girls are truly selfish, everyone, including the people who are very selfless, have selfish desires, but that doesn't make them selfish people. All the magical girls in the anime, are the ones whose nature is much more selfless than most people, they have the purest souls. The corruption doesn't just refer to the corruption of girls of adolescence, but of all people. It's not a metaphor of young girls, but of the whole humanity, every single human being on earth. This anime shows us that, the so called "maturity" in our world, is essentially corruption. People were naive children with pure souls, filled with hope, selfless love and compassion at the beginning, but they were eventually corrupted to become the so called "adults", who are essentially minions, witches or people whose true hearts are blinded. The ones with purest souls, like the magical girls in the anime, they're the ones who are taking the greatest damage and corruption(absorbing the greatest darkness) from the evil of the society, and they're the ones who are corrupted into witches (As metaphorized in the Bible, the arch-devils are fallen angels; in the anime, the purer the soul is, the stronger the magical power). The ones whose souls are not so pure, would eventually become the common adults (people whose true heart are blinded) or the minions of the witches. Also, as stated, conscious thoughts of responsibility is inferior, it is only a rough projection of hope and selfless love deep inside our subconsciousness, it is not to be followed. Madoka's heart resonates with hope, that's the power that leads her, not any conscious thoughts - only what's deep inside us is true, in a sense, all words are fake, since they can never completely describe what our true heart (subconsciousness) is like (the last sentence in the ending song Magia, "My feelings alone are all that I live for, what will create my life, is this, wish.", it is the feeling that is to be followed, not any conscicous thoughts).
      • I would like to point out that there is a contradiction. If only the purity of Madoka's soul can save the girls. Then what does one make of the other girls? If Madoka is so pure and the reason she became a Witch was because of the corruption tainting her heart, then what changed in the end? If magical girls are not selfish, does that make them selfless? If so, then why couldn't they overcome their own corruption? One cannot be selfless and selfish at the same time, this in essence is a contradiction. To be selfish does not mean to be a bad person, it means that one has to meet the needs and demands of one self. This observation regarding selflessness is subjective. Mami wanted to live but she regretted her choice because she didn't think of saving her family at the time. Sayaka wanted to heal Kyosuke because she felt sorry for him, but she also admits too late that she also wanted his love. This is why Kyubey knows that any wish will be corrupted, because it gets twisted by its own logic.
        • The taint made them selfish, this means the taint blinds them from seeing hope, and thus they're only controlled by their grief and despair. Madoka has selfish desires, but they vanished so quickly inside Madoka's heart because they're powerless, until Madoka is tainted by the darkness of the witch she had defeated(corruption thus pass from one to the other, and it is non-decreasing, like entropy). It is not the girls are not selfish at all, it is that though they're basically selfless, and they're much more selfless than most people, they have a desire to protect their own hearts. When darkness blinds them, their dark side is magnified while their good side being blinded, thus they become witches(notice that this is not a necessary cause of a magical girl being turned into a witch). One can be selfless and selfish at the same time, we have both the nature of selflessness and selfishness(desire to protect oneself), and when darkness blinds one, the two parts of us would be conflicting, and darkness may(or may not) win at the end. However, I do agree with this "To be selfish does not mean to be a bad person, it means that one has to meet the needs and demands of one self. This observation regarding selflessness is subjective.".
        • Unlike Sayaka, Madoka probably gets corrupted not because her wish gets twisted. It is possible her wish only got twisted after she became a witch, not before it, so perhaps it is not causing her transformation into a witch. As for Kyoko, her wish is totally innocent and the fact that it is twisted has nothing to do with her selfishness, what has twisted her wish is simply, maybe we can say, uncertainty. Sometimes good wishes simply do not help people because of things that are unexpected.
          • This is contradictory, all wishes get twisted according to Kyubey, because it never achieves the results one ever wants or expects. This is part of why girls gent transformed into Witches, it is part of the metamorphosis. This is already stated in Episode 11. Unless a counter-proof is provided, this is highly unlikely. In the case of Kyoko, while her wish was her innocent attempt to help her father, she failed to realized that she did not ask for her father's consent or opinion. Instead he felt he was used without his consent and that the magic spell was forced upon him.
    • This is a very strong, beautiful and heart-touching metaphor. This is, as it has been said, one of the most important metaphors in the anime, which reveals us the corruption of the heart of humanity, and, behind it, a world hurrying to its ruin.
      • An argument can be said that its message is also about the hope of humanity, that even beyond the shadow of corruption there is a veil of hope for those who strife for it. Madoka, instead of turning her back to a corrupt world, decided she wanted to save it. If the world is corrupt, then it is assumed that is beyond saving. Instead, Madoka sacrificed herself to change the world into a better place. The new world is not perfect, it is still plagued with flaws and corruption, but it is also a little bit fair and merciful.
        • When it is said that the world is hurrying to its ruin, it doesn't mean it is hopeless, it simply means that without people's resonance with hope, without any change, the world will surely destroy itself. But there is always hope, as what Madoka has shown to viewers - hope can shatter all the darkness, and change the nature of universe, which is what will save humanity.
    • Madoka's maturity, as it has been stated, is different from the maturity of becoming an adult(which is essentially being corrupted), it is the true maturity. The words associated with "maturity", like "adult", "adulthood", these words are of negative meaning in the anime(and in fact, essentially, in our world as well). We should merely say that she "grows up".
      • This observation is essential to understanding the anime, it underlines that the story is of "coming of age" in an imperfect world. However, the series is not an attempt to attack adulthood, but illuminate the flaws of a cruel world that children are forced to grow into. The series attempts to reveal the serious difficulties and challenges that girls like Madoka, Mami, and Sayaka have to face in this cruel world. What message can one take from the series is up to the viewers.
        • It is suggested that the series is actually revealing the dark truth of the so called "adulthood".

Gallery

Official art

• 

  Initial design

• 

  Original character design by Ume Aoki

• 
• 

  Madoka having a sleepover with friends

• 

  Translated Ume 4koma from Madoka BD volume 1

• 

  Translated Ume 4koma from Madoka BD volume 4

• 

  Autographed illustration by Ume Aoki

• Ume madoka kyubey.jpg
• 

  Ume Aoki's Dojinshi "RKGKMDK"

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

  Animedia 2011-06

• 

  Megami magazine, April 2011.

• 

  Nyantype magazine, April 2011.

• 

  from the Blu-Ray Volume 1 Booklet.

• 

  Madoka as drawn by Takashi Tensugi, the artist for Kazumi Magica.

• 

  Madoka as she appears in Oriko Magica.

• 
• 

  Early production sketch of Madoka with Homura.

• 
• 

  Goddess Madoka from the production notes.

• 

  Madoka Magica Anthology 1

• 

  Ultimate Madoka by Ume Aoki.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

  Animedia magazine, February 2012. Madoka's ring and fingernail mark as a magical girl are visible.

• 
• 
• 

  Notice how Madoka's Soul Gem ring and fingernail marking are visible.

• 
• Madoka machiasobi taniguchi.jpg
• 
• 
• 
• 

  Weekly SPA special image

• 

  Madoka closeup as in Madoka Magica Online

• Yande.re 231132.jpg

Screenshots

Madoka as a regular girl

• 

  Madoka x Madoka in the opening animation

• 

  Closeup of sleepy-eyed Madoka in the OP

• 

  Sleepy Madoka

• 

  Madoka is shy

• 

  Madoka's family

• 

  Madoka everyday life

• 

  Madoka & friends

• 

  Madoka wakes up

• 

  Madoka Sayaka Hitomi playing

• 

  Madoka Kaname

• Screenshot madoka fascinating.jpg
• 

  Madoka daydreaming about getting a love letter.

• 

  Madoka with a ponytail

• 

  Madoka crying

• 

  Madoka received a gift

• Madoka is upset.gif

  Madoka is upset

• 

  A self-portrait. Drawing is one of Madoka's hobbies.

• 

  Closeup of Madoka's hands in Episode 10 (TBS version), Timeline 1, when she is walking Homura to the nurse's office. She is known to be contracted by then. Note no Soul Gem ring or fingernail mark.

• 

  Madoka tied up on the wheel of time

• Kaname Madoka.png
• 
• Ep6 madoka long hair.jpg
• Puella111 000108.jpg
• 464082.jpg
• 
• Puella110 000043.jpg
• Puella111 000292.jpg

Madoka as a Magical Girl

• 

  Madoka dodging wheels

• 

  Madoka dodging wheels

• 

  Madoka hug Homura

• 

  Madoka Kaname, Total Badass.

• 

  Madoka is purifying Homura's Soul Gem in Episode 10's Timeline 3. Again, note no fingernail mark.
  Animated version

• 
• 

  Madoka's soul gem

• Madoka.png
• 
• Puella112 000091.jpg
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Mahou-shoujo-madoka-magica-10-large-06.jpg
• 

  Madoka's transformation in PSP GAME

Madoka as a witch

• 

  Madoka/Kriemhild's grief seed.

• 

  Madoka's witch transformation in the second timeline.

• 

  Madoka's witch form.

• 

  A closeup of the face of the ultimate witch form of Madoka born as a result of her wish in the story timeline.

Fanart

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.

• Giga Drill Break.jpg

  Remember this! This drill will open a hole in space. And that hole will become a road for those that follow! The hopes of the fallen, and the hopes of those to come... combining these feelings into a double-helix, I'll dig a hole to the future! That's Tengen Toppa! That's Madoka Kaname! My drill is the drill that creates the Heavens! (cue Sorairo Days)

• Superfriends.png

  Many experts believe something sort of like this happened after the final episode of Madoka Magica ended

• Meguca is now evangelion.jpg

  Meguca is suffering.

• Madoka fuels the Universe.png
• 

  Fan coloring of Ume's work

• Madokami art front back.jpg

  Madoka as the Goddess/concept of Hope

• Fan creation Madoka Soul Gem.jpg

  Fan jewelry creation of Madoka's Soul Gem with a pink nebula inside (?) or a pink rose bud (?)

• MadoKami gundam.jpg
• Scary madokami.jpg

  You shall have no other gods before Me. That includes that wannabe Haruhi.

• MadoKami and Charlotte.jpg

  Madoka rescues Charlotte.

• Madoka evolution magical girl.jpg

  Madoka has evolved into MadoKami!

• It's tough to be a goddess.gif

  No Mahou Shoujo Predator? But they are practically born into the hunting tradition!

• Madoka learning how to befriend.png

  Madoka learning from the master.

• Meet the time traveler.jpg

  Meet the Goddess

• Namacha I Won't Allow That.png

  MadoKami already abusing her Goddess powers, and we are fine with this.

• Madoprince homuprincess.jpg
• Chibimadokami.jpg

  MadoKami died for our HHHNNNNNGGGGG~!

• Madoka pixel mugen.gif
• MadoKami all powerful fanart.jpg

  Thou Shall Have no Other Anime gods Before Me.

• Madoka ;p fanart.jpg
• Madoka afro op fanart.jpg
• Madoka Ben-to.jpg

  "And thus begins the "that character sounds like Madoka, imagine if she was the one to say that" adventures with Aoi Yuuki's characters.

• Madokami bow arrow aiming posture fanart.jpg
• AeFLl-1.jpg

Miscellaneous

Madoka's bow

• 

  Rendition of Madoka's bow; it looks like a branch with a rose on its end

• 

  Madoka's bow in action

• 

  You're gonna get befriended!
  Animated version

• 

  A close-up of Madoka's arrow

• 

  Madoka using Multi-Shot
  Animated version

• 

  Sketches from production notes.

• 
• 

See also

• Kriemhild Gretchen, Madoka's witch form.
• GetNavi 2011-12
• Magical Girl Magazine (Otona Anime)
• Aoi Yuki's Data file
• July 2011 NewType article concerning Maadoka.

External links

• Madoka Kaname at Pixiv image repository (Japanese)
• Madoka Kaname at Danbooru image repository (NSFW)