I've been laying around feeling depressed lately, partially because this is my default state of being at the moment but also because I had finished the Anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica. If you have seen it then you may understand why. If you are not aware, then at it's most basic level, Madoka Magica is a prime example of a modern tragedy. When you first look at it you may not think so, but underneath the candy coloured coating lies one of the most explicitly disturbing stories I've ever been exposed to.
I say explicit, I don't mean in a violent way, the series disturbed me on a subconscious level. It corrupted (perhaps aptly) my very soul. May I ask you to take a moment and listen to the first 30 seconds of this song...
Pretty good no? I can make it to about 0:19 without tearing up, this show has affected me that much. I'm at the stage where just hearing the name "Sayaka" can make me sob. The way this show can take your emotions and play them like a violin is both frightening and amazing, it takes certain strains of music, certain symbols, strains of music, characters all become associated with various negative feelings, Melancholia, Depression, Loneliness and general Sadness. That said, I wouldn't use any of the above words to describe the series as a whole, the phrase Blunt Tragedy has lodged itself in my mind for that purpose. And it is blunt, very blunt, this is a show of little opinion and is willing to show you a story that can and will break your heart. It is a true tragedy, it applies to the Grecian use of the term, a character or characters are of high status and of high regard and high emotion at the beginning of the story and by the end of it are brought to the lowest possible point wither by gods hand or their own volition. I use the word blunt because there is very little sugar coating to the series. If we look at a traditional tragedy such as Romeo and Juliet, at the end of the play there is some form of release, some glimmer of hope and some justification and purpose behind the deaths of our eponymous characters. This is not the case for Madoka Magica, at the end there is no hope for things to get better, only what is there on the screen in front of you, there's an ever present sense of inevitability about the whole thing.
If that don't work, Use more gun.
One thing I find interesting about the different Tragedies is their attitude to death. In my opinion death in a tragedy is used as a blessing to the characters, a release from their suffering. They have been tormented for so long that death almost seems sweet. This is also why there is some hope at the end of Romeo and Juliet, the two lovers that could not meet in life are now together in death. One of the ways in which Madoka Magica is so disturbing though is that it brings in the nature of the soul, and corruption of said. Without spoiling, there comes a time in the series where a characters soul becomes corrupt and their fate then becomes uncertain. Even a short scene at the end is purposefully vague as to her ultimate fate. Of course if this series was nice then death would mean peace for a soul even after it's corruption. As Kyoko said "Wouldn't it be great". Yes it would be great, but it won't be, because this series won't allow it to be, because real life isn't like that, it isn't nice. Phoenix tears do not heal cancer, there is no such thing as total good or pure evil and positive emotions are fleeting, puny, useless things compared to the overwhelming size of negativity, depression and sadness.
That said, I'll probably watch it again. I'll probably recommend it to my friends.It's the odd nature of Tragedy. I've said before that you must first rate a piece of media/art on how much entertainment you gained from experiencing it and then on it's actual quality. It can be the most well written book, or best performed play or the finest video game in existence but if it's not entertaining then it's crap to me. Other people disagree, that's fine, this is a purely personal standard measure of quality. Plus entertainment does not have to mean laughter, it can be a wide array of emotions so long as they are enjoyable ones. The amount of pleasure that fans have had slagging off the Star Wars prequels or the Twilight novels far outweighs the amount of enjoyment fans would have had if they had been good, thus as entertainment, they succeed in a strange way. However Madoka Magica does not conform to my normal rules of enjoyment. It's incredibly depressing, just thinking about the opening bars of Magia can send me into a foul mood. I hate this series for making me feel the way I do, but I love it because it's so good at what it does. I may not be entertained, but in some masochistic way I am enjoying myself in watching this series. Inevitability is another word I would associate with Madoka Magica. That if something bad could happen, then it will happen, nothing can go right. However we exist alongside the characters in this world, and yes, tomorrow may be bleak, but in the here and now life goes on, there is humor to be found in the series. But it is that of Blackadder before he is sent to attack the German trenches, the nervous laughter that rings with uncertainty and fright. Throughout the series there is this sense of impending doom that cannot be escaped (Personified in the character of Homura) that no matter how hard we try we cannot change the future. At one point in the series the Universe is destroyed and reborn and yet still, nothing changes. Our heroes are doomed from the moment we start watching. And I dare you not to be enchanted by their world, as you see it crumble before your very eyes.
Such is the nature of tragedy.
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