Well, the fourth (and probably final) Madoka Magica movie is coming out, and I am hyped. I'm always happy for more of my favorite anime of all time. But before it comes out, I thought I'd finally watch the divisive third film once and for all.
Explaining Madoka Rebellion's story is a bit difficult, because it's a wild ride from start to finish. In the grand scheme of things, it's about Homura and Kyubey both dealing with the events of the show's ending, which had Madoka rewrite reality and pretty much erase herself from existence. Kyubey wants to go back to the old system of how the Incubators got energy, and Homura is struggling not to fall despair and wants Madoka back. That doesn't seem too complex... at least until you actually watch the thing. The first half of Rebellion is more of a mystery, starting with the cast in a distorted version of the show's reality. Somehow, Madoka and Sayaka are alive, Charlotte (the witch who killed Mami) is a good guy, the magical girls are fighting nightmares rather than wraiths, and everything seems a bit too happy. Eventually, Homura starts to realize that this isn't how things are supposed to be and decides to investigate. I quite like this first half for a bunch of reasons. First of all, I'm a big fan of the distorted reality that's not as happy as it seems trope (WandaVision being another great example). It also lets us get to see the type of show we were originally expecting Madoka to be pre-Episode 3, and it was packed with character interactions that we wouldn't have seen otherwise. I also generally liked just how bizarre and weird this half was visually, even if some of the scenes felt a bit overly strange, like that bizarre cake song.
Eventually, Homura discovers that this odd world is a witch's labyrinth, and that she became a witch out of despair. The only reason why Madoka hasn't saved her yet is that Kyubey is trying to use Homura to return to the original system, so the rest of the film is about Madoka, Sayaka, Kyoko, Mami, and Nagisa (Charlotte's magical girl form) uniting to save Homura. The stretch between Homura's initial discovery that she's in a labyrinth and this big finale is easily my favorite part of the film, it's packed with great action, insane visuals, and a really intense tone. While the opening is fun and cute, this segment of Rebellion is the Madoka Magica I know and love. However, the movie doesn't end with Madoka saving Homura. Rather, it ends with Homura rejecting Madoka's Law Of Cycles and rewriting reality herself so that magical girls don't exist and the Incubators face the consequences of their actions. While things seem ideal for everyone now, it's immediately apparent, this new reality seems fake. Not to mention it all comes at the cost of Homura taking a villainous role and going through complete and utter misery. It's a pretty dark and sudden ending, and I don't quite love how open-ended this film is. As someone who likes ambiguous endings, this is quite blatantly a cliffhanger, a hook for a sequel movie that wouldn't come out for nearly a decade. I don't think the ending is bad, it's actually a fascinating development that makes Homura even more fascinating and compelling, but it definitely makes the film feel incomplete, especially upon learning that the original version of this ending was supposed to be far more satisfying.
So there's a lot of debate around Homura's actions and whether or not it ruins her character by turning her into a villain. Personally, I don't think that's the case at all, if anything it's another flawed decision that is far more nuanced than good or bad. Homura's hatred for the Incubators and her desire to keep Madoka safe were always established, both of which are noble motivations. However, while a world with these traits might be ideal in theory, that's not quite the case, and Homura knows it. If anything, even with everything Homura did, she's still probably the least happy of the cast. So while I don't think Homura "did nothing wrong" (this was obviously a bad decision and some better communication goes a long way), I also don't think she's a truly bad person either, especially since she's mostly harming herself. I'd also like to point out the similarities between Homura and Madoka, they both rewrote reality in their own attempts at stopping the Incubators, sacrificing themselves for others in the process, driven by their own individual self-esteem issues, with Madoka having low self-confidence and Homura having some serious self-hatred. It lends this interesting question that if neither of their realities are the solution, then what is? Ideally, it might have to be one where neither Madoka nor Homura get the chance for sacrifice. There's really so much more to unpack here, but I don't want this review to take forever. So even if the ending was a bit cheap, it's also far more thought-provoking than the original finale was, and I think that's really cool.
If there's one thing that is unambiguously great about Rebellion, though, it's definitely the presentation. I mean, it's Madoka, of course it's gonna look and sound great. If anything, the fact that this is a movie means that it may look even better than the original series. The visuals are still incredibly inventive, especially the mixed media used for the witch labyrinths. The main cast is still super expressive, and that sketchy look I loved so much in the original series is still here. But the biggest improvement in Madoka Rebellion is easily the action, which is so much more dynamic and visually stunning. I especially loved the fight between Mama and Homura which boasts some of the slickest gun kata I've ever seen. The voice acting, just like the original series, is also really good. Homura's voice actress, Chiwa Saito, is especially great. The music, once again by Yuki Kajiura, is also really great, especially in that aforementioned fight scene. A lot of it is also entirely new, so it never feels like it's just borrowing from the original series.
Overall, I really enjoyed Rebellion, even if I wouldn't call it as perfect as the original series. It's great to see the characters again, the plot is inventive and thought-provoking, the visuals and music are still great, the focus on Homura is welcome, and some of its best moments are the best in the series. However, it's also really confusing at first, and the open ending makes the movie feel a bit incomplete compared to the original series.
4/5 Stars
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