The Rebellion Story/Q&A

Note: DISCLAIMER: I may have to watch the movie a few more times, and possibly even with subs so that I can fully grasp the context of the movie. So the answers below are based on how much I can understand by watching it the first time.

Q&A

Q: Was it good?
A: It depends on how you want to watch it. Shinbo mentioned that "You should be totally ready before watching this movie", He's not lying; Chiwa Saito mentioned that "This movie will totally cause people to have mixed reactions", and she's not lying. I for one see the movie as "Magica Quartet 's own take of End of Evangelion". Note: This is not meant to be a comparision between Madoka and Eva.
Q: How many people died and how many were resurrected (if only in an alternative scenario/universe)?
A: In a very strict sense of speaking: No one died. Homura basically defy "The Law of Cycle" by taking out all the mahou shoujo (more like every single person) that are dead or disappeared at the previous series (taken away by Godoka) and reshaped the universe by putting them in, resurrecting them.
Q: Were there any new contracts? If so, who and with what wish(es)?
A: There is no new contract whatsoever in this movie.
Q: What's the deal with Nagisa Momoe?
A: Her real name is Bebe. Her existence basically confirmed that she is Charlotte in the previous universe.
Q: Is there a post ED scene?
A: Yep. It's mostly a symbolism (like how the moon is literally cut 90 degrees into half). QB pops up, Homura danced around QB and QB turned into a corpse, followed by Homura jumping off the ledge, making it look like she suicided.
Q: How much Yuri is there in the movie?
A: Basically EVERYONE YURI EVERYONE. Though, Kyouko and Sayaka had a proper closure on their relationship.
Q: did the japanese like it or hate it?
A: So far, they loved it. From what I read of course.
Q: Was there any preview information about further material coming anytime soon?
A: There is no post credit trailer or whatsoever that indicates a sequel or anything, but everyone who watched the movie will definitely think there will be a sequel. There HAS to be. They can't just end the story like that.
Q: Were more questions raised than answered?
A: Yep. I found three: a) When Homura realized that she is the one that actually shaped the world (the Fake Mitakihara) and herself lived in a world "full of lies", and that she is actually the witch that created the world, QB and Homura had a full blown bickering conversation: Witches are not supposed to appear (hell, the concept of Witches itself is a foreign one) in the new world anymore, how is it even possible for Homura to TURN INTO ONE? Supposedly, from what I understand, QB preserved Homura and Homura went into a suspended vegetable state and in order to prevent herself from turning into a witch (in the outside world, do note that Homura is the one that created the world, so she probably reached her limits and became half witch at this point) YET prevent her from being taken away by Godoka before she turns into one. Apparently QB's motive, or plan, is to lure Godoka to her, take Godoka's The Law of Cycle powers and conquer the universe. But the question remains. Witches are not supposed to appear anymore in the new universe, so how can Homura still turn into a witch is not properly explained. b) When Homura's soul is supposedly "cleansed" after the whole battle, Godoka (also referred by Mami as the The Law of Cycle) came from another dimension to take Homura away, Homura suddenly turned evil and her attitude basically changed 180 degrees. The movie NEVER explained why she turned that way or how. She just, turned that way. However, one can assume that it's the side effect of what happens when one turned into a witch then turned back into human. Keep in mind that Homura really, really doesn't approve of Madoka putting the happiness of others above her own (see the conversation in Homura's new world). She's clearly been twisted by everything she's been through but it's a pretty logical continuation of Homura always trying to save Madoka from herself. True, Hence I have to believe that the whole obsession towards Madoka, plus the burden that has accumulated up till now, has taken a toll on her...it's either Homura is corrupted, posessed...or probably just acting not herself anymore. c) How would Homura's new powers affect the new world, the existence of witches, entropy itself remains unexplained. Whether will there be witches or new enemies are not explained. What will happen to the new world, the fate of entropy and all that is implied that it will be left for Homura to decide. She's basically a god now. However one thing's confirmed: Homura is currently confining Godoka into her own, rewritten universe. ( based on some speculation, Homura merely took over madoka post as the Goddess as her main aim is to let Madoka have a happy life instead of burdening herself with the task of goddess. SO everything is the same as whn Godoka is still in charge. however 1 interesting question arise, Homura told Madoka that they will be enemies. Is that signalling a sequel? or simply Angel Vs Demon concept?)
Q: Why would QB want to take over the universe?
A: This is not explained either. The biggest possibility is pure curiosity. Edit: Now I remember, Homura did explain about the concept of witches and all the experiences Homura faced before the universe has rewritten to QB in the new world. And in the movie...QB went lengths to preserve Homura into an in-between state in order to test her theory.... Edit: In the movie Kyubei mentioned that he wanted to harvest energies more efficiently utilizing witches that Homura previously explained. Homura, you really shouldn't have done that...
Q: How do the fake and real Mitakihara co-exist?
A: This is probably related to her witch powers. In the movie, her real body is seen sleeping on top of the pillar (in the real world) with her soul gem at the roof of the pillar (half broken) - She has the power to seal her consciousness and reshaped the universe within her own consciousness. Hence she formed the fake Mitakihara.
Q: Was there another memorable line comparable to the one at the end of ep 12?
A: Take what you watched during the end of the second movie (especially the trailer to movie 3) and there you go.
Q: <Kazumi> Why is Sayaka breakdancing?
A: That's her transformation scene. Wait, she did dance in the opening of the movie, with Kyouko, beside a crying Homura...
Q: How did Homura become a witch? I heard it involves disturbing imagery.
A: Basically, QB snapped her, hard. Too bad QB, you probably played with fire far too much on this one. If QB didn't mention something about taking Godoka's power for it's own, Homura would not turn into full witch.
Q: If Godoka is on a higher plane of existence, how can she "come" to get Homura if Godoka literally exists in every location at every point of time?
A: The only explanation I can give is that she is a Goddess, she can basically do anything. In the movie, a dimension is basically opened (in the real world, not fake Mitakihara world) and Godoka descended in that particular space to bring Homura away.
Q: Is there a new set of Runes to decipher or did they stick to the old text and musical ones?
A: Too many. If you know Runes to begin with. That's great, but if you haven't by now, do so.
Q:How many times did Mami's mammies appear on screen?
A: Lost count. There is however at least one full cut that has Mami's boobs shown...no...no nudity, of course.
Q: Was there any new chair metaphors?
A: Yes, remember the cuddling scene in the Movie opening? Think of an extremely screwed/gory version of it. One of it, shows Madoka standing up, doing a cross, Jesus crucified-like post and fall down, motionless and lifeless.
Q:What happened to the megucas after the Homucifer rebuild? Do they continue hunting witches/wraith or Homucifer took care of them all?
A: Witches do not seem to appear in that rewritten world. Everyone sort of living normal lives. Nagisa turned into a normal school girl and is seen going to school with her friends, Madoka turned from a cheerful happy girl into a rather timid, shy, yet soft and normal spoken girl...until Homura offers to guide her around the school that Madoka is shown her eyes turned golden, signifying that the Godoka powers still reside within her. It's a direct reversal of the start of the series, with Madoka returning to Japan after three years in America and Homura showing her to the nurse's office. Sayaka's memories are somewhat altered, thanks to Homura. but whether Sayaka's memories are fully altered or not, remains unknown for now. Note the irony of Sayaka remembering things from the previous worlds but anybody she told about it would just think she's a weirdo.
Q: Speaking of 'gory', how violent/disturbing is the imagery in the movie?
A: Personally it's not so traumatizing/disturbing actually, but I'd say they brought out that eerie mood quite well. It's rather subjective, though.
Q: What is the context for this Cake Song [1] which was extracted from the audiorip?
A: The cake song is basically the 5 of them captured the Nightmare (Shizuku Nightmare to be exact), and did a somewhat "Are you the cake? No it's someone else, are you the cake?" kind of guessing game. Maybe there is a reference behind that.
Q: Did you feel that everyone was in character, or was the characterization poor? How about the overall plot? Did it feel like it was well-written, or cheesy grimderp a la psycho-pass?
A: Personally I find the whole plot intriguing. Urobuchi basically take that bittersweet ending and broke it, and I think he did it splendidly, and managed to actually leave spaces for a sequel, even. Not many script writters can actually do what he did. As for how you think about the movie...it's either you like it, or you hate it. SHAFT is at least honest with their work this time.
Q:How did the other megucas, including the supposedly dead Sayaka end up in Homura's soul gem world?
A: It's not really "dead", more like it's how Homura envisoned her perfect world is like. So in her "dream world" or "envisioned world" (or whatever you call it) - Everyone lives, fighting like a sentai team, and live normally without any repercussions. Until Homura started to question that something is wrong with it... It's like what QB said (along the lines of, need exact quote of this though) "What a paradox, You actually questioned the world you have actually created with your own two hands"
Q: But then how did the team save Homura from becoming a witch? It was all in her mind?
A: What it was shown, is that the dream world characters realized the truth behind themselves, and band up to save Homura by destroying her witch form. At this stage, Homura is a witch, but retained conciousness. Madoka banded up with the real world Homura (Remember the Magia CD cover that depicts both Homura and Madoka pulling the bow string together? that was actually evoked in the movie) to break the witch world and thus restore everything to normal. And since it happens too fast, I need to watch the movie again to make sure.
Q:There was a dialog between Homura and Sayaka in the dream world, along the lines of "Mami did not know the existence of Witches (because she is from the current timeline, and only know about Nightmares? Wraiths?), but you do. What are you?" I assumed that it's the real Mami stuck in the dream world and Sayaka might be just the imagination of Homura. What do you think?
A: Wraths do not appear in Homura's world. And yes, since in the rewritten world, wtiches do not exist, thus Mami and Kyouko do not have any knowledge of that, hence it's heavily implied that Mami and Kyouko are the real one living in the real world but trapped inside Homura's dream world (though it doesn't explain how Bebe comes into the picture being Mami's best friend). And Sayaka is the Sayaka that Homura envisioned her as throughout the previous universe, which is why she can freely transform or even utilize Oktavia's powers. Hence Sayaka being Homura's imagination wouldn't be too far of a stretch.
Q: Bottom line: Does this ruin the franchise? Should I be happy or upset?
A: It definitely leave spaces to expand the story, without a doubt, even the post credit ED ends the whole thing abruptly. As of whether you should be happy or upset...well, that's totally up to you.
Q: Besides Madoka and Homura, who are the most relevant characters in Rebellion?
A: Nagisa. It at least confirmed who Charlotte REALLY is before she turned into a witch and mogu mogu'd Mami. To add, I said Nagisa because Homura began to struggle and go against, while questioning Bebe's validity of existence, thus making both Mami and Homura fight to the death, kickstarting the entire journey to truth (even though Homura started with Kyouko first). Bebe = Nagisa. Nagisa is also the one who informed Mami about the truth behind the world they're living in. And aside from Nagisa...real world QB, because.....well it's QB.
Q: Expanding upon the last question, how relevant is Sayaka in this movie? How much screentime does she gets compared to the other characters?
A: Let's see, what did Sayaka do in the movie. She definitely acts a lot more like her original personality without the despair she went through. She's also gotten a lot stronger, acting as a offensive attacker to the Nightmares, along with Kyouko. She was the one that saved Homura from being chained by Mami after the death battle between the both. She is shown, or implied to be stronger than Homura in the dream world, probably because she can utilize Oktavia's powers. She, and Kyouko had a heartwarming reconcilation scene when banding up with others to save Witch Homura Please, tell us more! - Basically it's a what-if thing enacted if Kyouko's voice were to actually reach Sayaka when she turned into Oktavia in the previous universe. It's almost to the point of love confession. She appears, along with Bebe and Godoka when Godoka descended from an open dimensional space to get Homura (though that ended disastrously) She is the first to question Homucifer after she reestablished the entire universe, which ended up her memories altered. That's all I remember so far. You'll decide whether she's significant from then on. P/S: This is a rather personal observation, but I think Kyouko gets a tiny little bit more screen time than Sayaka.
Q: Do Madoka and Homura have a final battle in the movie?
A: The answer is no. For now.
Q: Is Homura a witch by the end of the movie? There seems to be a lot of evidence pointing towards this conclusion, and I hear she transformed because of love, not despair. Is this true?
A: From what I can understand, Homura is, for now, shown as a Puella Magi Goddess at the same level as Godoka (her Soul Gem transformation..Ultimate Soul Gem? is a some sort of proof that she is), and there was never any indication nor nothing was shown that made her evil because of despair, The movie doesn't even address the motive behind her change even so one can assume that she "transforms" neither because of love nor despair. All I can tell right now is that it is currently unknown what really caused her to pull a rebellion (oh god now the subtitle actually made sense). However you can refer to line 41 of this Q&A section for hints and spectulations. Edit: Homura mentioned that she was a devil that rebelled against the Godoka. What made her a devil is also explained by herself... "What darkened my Soul Gem was not despair", "The ultimate emotion of human ... hotter than hope and deeper than despair. Love. You will never understand". According to the explanation in the movie brochure, she is "Akuma Homura" which means "Devil Homura" and her Gem is "Dark Orb".
Q: What do Kyouko and Mami do throughout the movie, and what happens to them in the new universe? -->Anything specific they do? I hear Kyouko drove with Homura to find out they couldn't go to the next city, and then there's the scene with her and Sayaka, and that's all I've heard. I've heard nothing about Mami so far, so I don't get why people are complaining Kyouko is less relevant than her.
A: Kyouko and Mami are two key person in the movie that does not know anything about witches nor their sufferings from the previous universe (even if Homura tried to ask them about it - This actually kickstarted the gradual plot twist). So what they do would depends on which universe you're talking about: If it's Homura's dream world, they are normal Puella Magis acting like themselves just like how they used to be in the previous universe sans the memories of witches and all that. In real world, things don't change much because both of them don't appear much to actually tell the difference... As for what happens to them in the Homura rewritten universe...they go to school normally, but it didn't show them being close to each other as each character acts individually, so I'd assume they don't know each other in this new universe anymore. Don't take that assumption for granted though. At least Sayaka knows both Kyousuke and Hitomi... Let's break down what Mami did in the movie, shall we? She is the leader of Puella Magi Holy Quintet (ahaha oh wow the name) She is the one that introduced Homura to the rest of her peers, Homura is the last one to join. Well she is also the one to be shown realized that a wild Nightmare has appeared. Oh, that was a fanservice scene as she just finished taking her bath... Mami has a friend - and that's Bebe. According to the movie: Bebe is her biggest support when she is lonely and without her she would have broke down a long time ago. Mami cannot agree with what Homura is trying to do to Bebe because Homura knew that Bebe was Charlotte, the one that made Mami lose her head. But since Mami does not have any memories of that, they fought. Mami also fought with the other 4 to save Homura in her witch form. Mami was the one that referred Godoka as "The Law of Cycle" That's about it. Now, let's see what Kyouko did. Kyouko, like Sayaka, is the front line offensive attacker in her group. The first one to be approached by Homura and asked about her lost memories was Kyouko You're right, Kyouko agreed to test Homura's doubts about the world they are living and thus they tried to take a bus and travel to her previous destination, or so called her hometown (Kyouko's base of operations before she declared she was done with the place and join Mami), only to find out that they couldn't reach the place, running in loops. There's a lof of scenes with showing her with Sayaka. Most prominent one is the ones mentioned before - they had a reconcilation scene because of what happened during the previous universe. Kyouko is also with Mami when Homura is saved after her witch transformation and the battle (in real world) and also seen Godoka's advent to retrieve Homura. Regardless, Mami, Sayaka and Kyouko are supporting characters in the movie. The focus is mainly on Madoka and Homura, but the spotlight is definitely Homura.
Q: So is it safe to assume that all the promotional material/clips took place in the fake soul gem universe? I dunno, I see that scene with Madoka, Kyouko, and Sayaka fit in context with Homura's universe, with Kyouko asking Madoka about her stay in America and Sayaka telling her to back off. But then again, I haven't wacthed the movie.
A: Bingo. Everything you see in Mezamashi TV (the show which introduces some new clips of the movie) all took place in Homura's dream world/fake soul gem universe. As for Kyouko asking Madoka about her stay in America...Was there a scene on that? The only one I remember that Madoka came back from America is during the end of the movie after Homura re-established the entire universe. It's rather obvious by now: Don't you think Homura's appearance throughout the promotional clips being weird? Ponytail, glasses, then her shield... In the real world she no longer uses the shield nor her time stopping powers anymore.
Q: Sorry I've been asking so many questions, I just have a lot to ponder about the film. So, context for multiple Incubators? Are they all Kyubey's bodies, or separate Incubators?
A: No problem. As it is shown in the movie - yes, multiple Incubators are shown, As far as it's shown, each incubators are different as well. And they are all massacred...apparently. It is still unknown if all of them are dead. Some Japanese fans even joked that the next movie would be "The Counterattack of the Incubators".
Q: New theory’s popped up on /a/ saying the Homura plans to play villain a la Code Geass’s Zero Requiem. It would make sense, considering that Devil Homura would fit as a lord to the Majuu/Wraiths/Demons, not to mention that Homura says to Sayaka that she expects to become a new threat after all the Majuu are finished and that it gives an excuse for Incubators (sans Kyubey) and Puella Magi to exist in a potential Season 2. What are your thoughts?
A: This will most likely happen. I for one still believe that the Homura I know all the time is still there somewhere...She probably need a wake up slap from Madoka, but as of now nothing can be said because I'm not the guy who likes to spectulate 1000 different possibilities of what's going to happen in the future. But based on observation and what I understand from the movie so far (and clearly shown): Madoka is shown to actually still contain her powers and is actually struggling to break free (the background of the hallway of her school is shown distorted with a background of galaxies, and her eyes turned gold) but Homura hugged her and things went back to "normal". Considering Homura can freely juggle one's memories. It is likely that she is controlling her right now. So to break the excpetion, I'd say that Madoka will be the one that will change things again and play an extremely important role in the future. As for Sayaka...as her memories are now controlled, she is probably powerless to do anything now, but who knows what can she do in the future? I'll be looking foward to that as well.
Q: What's up with the Homuarmy? A cake tank and nuke I can understand, but every previous incarnation of Homura through the timelines wha? Any other parties involved in World War Witch besides the Puella Magi, Godoka, the witches from the TV series, Homulily, and the Incubators? Alright, thanks for clearing some things up. :)
A: There is only one Incubator in that so called World War Witch...Oh, interestingly, no one listens to that QB either. The ones who fought in that battle would be the main 4 Puella Magis + Bebe/Nagisa. Sayaka is particular helpful in this one as she can utilize Oktavia's powers. Well considering it's established that each Witch will have her own minions, the so called Homuarmy are Homura Witch's minions. The ones that destroy these minions are Nagisa and Sayaka. And no, it's not Homulily. If anything, it reminds me more of Walpurgis Nacht (Homura witch is damn huge). There is also one particular symbolism in her witch form: Her upper face is cut off, leaving only her mouth.
Q: Any Nightmares beside Hitomi's in the film? Also, any details on what causes her to turn into a Nightmare, beside Kyousuke dumping her for his violin?
A: Strangely, The Nightmare at the very, very beginning of the movie and Hitomi Nightmare were the only Nightmare shown...The reason that turned her into a Nightmare? Hitomi tried to ask Kyousuke out for a date on Sunday, but Kyousuke said he'll be busy on Sunday due to violin practice (as his recital is coming up soon)...that made Hitomi rant about how she like Kyousuke that works hard but he didn't work hard to pay more attention to her, then...well we all know what happens next.
Q: How exactly does Homura go about trying to turn herself into a witch?
A: For this question I may have to rewatch the movie. But basically when Homura finally found the answers to her doubts about the fake sould gem/dream world, she delieved a some sort of wham line stating that the one who created the whole world is actually herself (she was already half witch right at the start of the movie), after doing the final experiment: She didn't collapse or turned lifeless after being 100 meters away from her Soul Gem, followed with a scene where she used her gun to shoot her Soul Gem, crushing it. We are then shown scenes of Homura arguing with QB in the real world (This is the part where the conversation gets very long and I couldn't catch everything, but if I'm not mistaken it does tell how she became the state she was in, probably because her time was up). However QB mentioned something that made Homura snap and she basically replied with a "don't mess with our emotions" line, thus completely turned into a witch. In the dream world, a whole load of meteors fell from the sky (You can see that particular scene from the post The Eternal Story ED movie 3 trailer), destroying the whole city. A lot of QBs (the real world QB, not the dream world one) were massacred in the process as well.
Q: Can sombody explain Sayaka stabbing herself in a CM, if she lives? http://wiki.puella-magi.net/File:Sayaka_stabbing_herself.gif
A: She...stabbed herself? I don't remember seeing that, but posting a video link or screenshots would help me remind it back a bit. ...Isn't that the scene where she stabbed herself to summon Oktavia during her fight to save Witch Homura?
Q: Is their any possible way that the main reason Homura has decided to distance herself from the others but keep them and Madoka inside her gem is because the state outside of it is far too unstable but also because she wants Madoka to fall in love with her again 'naturally'? Like basically saying she just wants everyone to end up acting like nothing's wrong until everyone's found their happiness without stuff like fate or predestined love getting in the way? Because from how this sounds, it seems a lot more like she's actually ended up creating a universe much like the one in Evangelion's TV ending version of episode 26 and the spinoff manga where they are living in a kind of highschool AU type thing. So all she wants to do is make sure that allows for closure and she'll be Madoka's enemy until Madoka's able to convince her that she loves her for being Homura and not for constantly saving her. What do you think of this?
A: The reason why Madoka made a wish back in the previous universe is to ensure that no one will have to turn into witches and thus break the cycle, allowing Puella Magi to hold a better hope in fighting for a better future. Homura defying the Law of Cycle and her turning evil basically means Homura does not actually understand what Madoka really wants. You can argue that she actually does but she is against the notion of selfless love so she does things better than what Madoka has pulled for her wish, but let's use this analogy (be it terrible or not): Let's say you fall in love with a girl. But a girl ended up falling in love with another guy and they ended up dating, a happy couple. Would you look aside, forgot about it and wish her happy while sacrificing your own love and feelings, or you're going to force yourself on her and have her on your own, even if it means doing something society would hate you for, like: rape? I personally think Homura knows the consequences of pulling something like this. She personally knows that pulling this is actually going against Madoka's wish and thoughts. Which is why Homura mentioned in the movie that they will become enemies in the future. It's not really like Evangelion where you had OMEDETOU trolling you around, in fact there is a difference: Shinji ACCEPTED everything on his own free will (Instrumentality if I'm not wrong) and thus leading up to that point. But in Rebelion, Nobody expected Homura to actually pull something like this. In fact it's so sudden, if I'm Madoka, I'd have ask Homura why a thousand times before I can even reach for an answer. That's basically what Sayaka is trying to confront Homura about. Things are pulled against their will and thoughts, and Homura basically succeeded in it. If it's not out of despair nor love (which some say it's out of love), I'd say it's out of obsession. I for one don't consider love as obsession, which is why I may this things differently.
Q: So in the new movie, are all the characters except Homu, Kyubey and Godoka just dream-world replicas of the originals?
A: According to Japanese accounts who watched the movie: Mami and Kyouko are real. They are trapped within the dream-world created by Homura. This explains why they don't have memories of the previous universe. To make it easier for you: Mami, Kyouko = Real, Homura = The one who created the world, Madoka, Sayaka, Bebe/Nagisa = Replicas, QB = Depends (The real QB is heavily implied to have actually observed the whole thing from outside) EDIT: Just a little clarification here, but it's said in the movie that Madoka became trapped in Homura's fake world due to Kyubey, so it is the real one, just temporarily deprived of memories and powers (this may even be what gave Homura the idea to do this later as well). Sayaka and Nagisa were with Madoka when it happened; essentially, Madoka brought them with her from where dead Puella Magi reside. Nagisa says that she was just tagging along for fun, but for Sayaka it's probably that she wanted closure with Homura.