Yui's Musings

Updated 10 November 2012 15:30PM - Added some images

Link to My Post on Madoka Magica Movie - Beginnings

First, let me apologize for the delay in getting this completed. Work and whatnot has prevented me from sitting down and getting this done until this weekend (27 October).

Okay, so in a similar fashion to my post for the first movie, I sat down and rewatched episodes 9-12 of the animation series on Blu-Ray. As I was doing so, I was recalling what I remember from the events that occurred in the second Madoka Magica movie.

I was fortunately able to see the second movie twice in a row on opening day on 13 October, so I felt I had a lot of the details fresh in my mind. The details written out here are mostly differences or comparisons between what was shown in the movie and the corresponding episode in the series.

That being said, I went into detail. A LOT of detail. Meaning, this post is text heavy and extremely long. The events that played out in series are generally the same as in the movie, so there are no spoilers, unless you count the preview at the end. You have been warned.

So, without further delay—

*Curtain Rise*

Episode 9:

- Again, as in the first movie, we are greeted with an open-curtain scene with another countdown. The style of the visuals in this sequence is different from the first movie.

- In the movie, we see a recap of what happened just before the end of the first one, with Sayaka saying farewell to her humanity and turning into a Grief Seed.

• What is different in the movie is that we see the entire scene again as from the first movie, complete with Sayaka’s transformation and Kyoko screaming Sayaka’s name.
  
  
• In the series, after Sayaka’s “I was so stupid” line, the scene immediately changes to inside Oktavia’s barrier.

-  In the movie, we don’t hear Oktavia scream at Kyoko when she is floating in front of her holding onto Sayaka’s body.

- The BGM after Kyoko catches Sayaka matches the same in the series.

- After Homura, takes Kyoko out of the barrier and it vanishes, the shot with their silhouettes is at a wider angle.

- Just as in the series, we go to the OP sequence, but in the movie, we hear the Luminous theme again.

Opening Animation:

-  The opening is very much the same from the first movie with a couple notable exceptions.

• Before the first verse starts, we see a sequence of lights and colors fly by as if we were in a tunnel heading towards the center. I believe the center was a bright light.
  
  
• When we see the solitary scenes near the end of the OP, the scene with Homura and the time gears is replaced with Homura sitting on her bed in the hospital. It then cuts to a wide view of this scene.

Episode 9 (continued):

-  We still see the bugs form a pattern on the lamp which resemble a skull.

- During the next scene when Madoka is walking on the train tracks and runs into Homura and Kyoko, there is no BGM.

- When Madoka asks about Sayaka, Homura immediately tells how Sayaka’s Soul Gem turned into a Grief Seed.

- After the train runs by them and Madoka cries about how this could happen to Sayaka, someone who wanted to protect people from witches, her voice is full of grief.

• In the series, her voice was more in a state of shock and unbelief.
  
  
• A dramatic and sad BGM plays during this scene.

-  After Kyoko grabs Homura’s collar and yells at her about how she can just stand there talking like this to Sayaka’s best friend, Kyoko’s voice is much more furious and dramatic. This matches the BGM very well.

•  In the series, her voice was much mellower and just a quiet-type of threatening.

- In the next scene, where Kyuubey talks to a depressed Madoka in her room, there is no BGM when they first start talking.When the BGM does start, it is different from the series version.

• I believe Madoka was not in her pajamas in the movie, but in her school uniform.
• Madoka’s voice is much more emotional.
• Her room was much darker in the movie.
• There are no cuts to views of the sun rising during this discussion.
• The cuts where Kyuubey is seen in different parts of the room are redrawn.       
• When Kyuubey finally leaves, Madoka’s crying is extended and more sorrowful.

- In the scene where Kyoko is hiding Sayaka’s body in a hotel room, we see a table full of bags of different kinds of food.

• Kyoko’s voice has more determination in her discussion with Kyuubey.
• The Pocky box in the movie was misspelled as “Rokcy” instead of “Rocky” as in the series.

-  In the next scene where Madoka is walking to school with Hitomi:

• The same BGM plays as in the series.
• The scenery and backgrounds are much more vivid. The scene angles are wider as well.
• When Kyoko speaks to Madoka inside her head, it has a more critical tone.
• When Madoka runs off, the shot of the leaf flowing in the stream is longer.

- The scene where Madoka and Kyoko speak to each other about saving Sayaka is nearly identical except for a few wider angles and that the voice acting was re-recorded. Again, Kyoko’s voice is more dynamic.

- Homura’s scene in school of “going to the nurse’s office” is nearly identical save for background enhancements for the school.

- When Kyoko and Madoka are searching for Oktavia’s barrier, the dango that Kyoko is holding is multi-colored (White, Green, Pink, etc.)

• In the series, they were just plain brown dango.
• The BGM is slightly different.
• Kyoko’s lines, again, carry more emotion.
•   In the series, we only see a close up of Kyoko’s Soul Gem glowing once they find the entrance to the barrier. In the movie, we see the entire gem.

- When Kyoko transforms, it is a full transformation, as opposed to the “quickie” in the series.

• As she eats the rest of her dango, her spear appears and becomes segmented, forming a circle around her at her feet.
• The chain for her weapon appears to link the segments with fire.
• Fire surrounds parts of her as they transform into parts of her costume.
• She does a rather cool cartwheel kick as her transformation continues. 
• As her spear reforms into one solid piece, she twirls it with one hand.
• Same as in the series, as Kyoko’s transformation finishes, she throws her dango sticks into the wall where the “Love me Do＼(*´3｀*)／” is written.
• There is no BGM except when Kyoko is transforming.

-  As Kyoko and Madoka go into Oktavia’s barrier, the transition is slightly longer.

- When Kyoko and Madoka are walking along the brick-wall “alley” just inside Oktavia’s barrier:

• Kyoko’s conversation with Madoka is slightly changed.
• Kyoko does not call this a “job”, just simple says “don’t underestimate this sort of thing.”
• Kyoko’s voice is much more critical.
• The walls have much more detail with different kinds of posters and writing.

- Once they are drawn into the main chamber with Oktavia, the orchestra and especially the conductor have more detailed animations and is much smoother.

• The pauses between Kyoko and Madoka’s lines are extended. They really show off the extra detail inside Oktavia’s chamber.
• As the battles starts, Kyoko’s action scenes are extended a bit.
• Whenever Kyoko uses her magic to protect Madoka in her own barriers, their sound effect is much clearer and the detail on how they are rendered is enhanced.
• The voice acting for both characters carries more emotion and desperation.
• When Kyoko is being battered around by Oktavia’s wheels, we get a wide angle shot.

-  As the inner, one-way conversation continues between Kyoko and Sayaka, the scene where we see a representation of Kyoko and Sayaka as red and blue silhouettes is removed, along with how it somewhat represents blood pouring out of Kyoko’s wounds.

• Instead, after Kyoko states that “oh, this is payback isn’t it,” above Kyoko we see projections of the past negative interactions between Kyoko and Sayaka, including their first encounter and subsequent fights.
• One wheel causes a huge gash on Kyoko’s side, which literally seems to pour a gallon of blood from her body.

-  After Kyoko gets knocked down hard by one wheel and into her own protective barrier, the subsequent scenes are extended, showing much more that what was seen in the series:

• We see Madoka running over to Kyoko to see if she is okay.
• We actually see Oktavia’s hand grab Madoka from where she is standing the ground.
• The way Oktavia holds Madoka shows some inner struggle, as it is obvious she could had squeezed the life out of Madoka immediately.
• Kyoko is sitting in a pool of her own blood before realizing that Madoka is in serious trouble.
• Her face expresses more rage as she yells out Sayaka’s name before chopping the hand off to save Madoka.
• After Kyoko frees Madoka, we see the displaced hand fall to the ground and land, releasing Madoka, who falls out and lies motionless next to it.

- As Oktavia’s next attack breaks the ground, and all three of them fall, Oktavia is seen in the foreground spinning slowly during the fall, blurred out of focus by the perspective of the shot.

• As the room spins to invert itself and Homura arrives to catch Madoka, Kyousuke’s silhouette is more pronounced.
• After Homura calls out Kyoko’s name, and Kyoko weakly greets, Homura does not respond as she did in the series.

Kyoko as she appears when she looks over at Homura and Madoka.

- As Kyoko prepares to use the remainder of her magic, we see more scenes of her.

• Most of the scenes in this last sequence are extended to show more of Kyoko.
• The BGM is a sad melody just as she starts to manifest her final attack.
• The sound from the explosion from her attack is a bit more subtle.

- NEW SCENE: As Homura leaves and speaks Kyoko’s name one last time, it does not cut to Homura’s room as it did in the series. Instead, we get a whole new, different scene:

• Fading from black, we get a view of what seems to be a barren graveyard or ruin.
• It is dimly lit with a red sun from the assumed sunset, given that the last battle happened just before sunset.
• The BGM is a very sorrowful, but beautiful chorus and string piece which seems to be a continuation to the one that just played during Kyoko’s last scene.
• The camera moves from ground level very slowly to the left, pivoting on the sun as its light is blocked periodically from gravestones.
• We slowly zoom into an area that seems to be a crater, perhaps filled with water and a few statues.
• After about a minute or so, we see close ups of a few of the angel statues’ faces.
• With the wind blowing through her hair, Homura is seen sitting on one of the gravestones, and Kyuubey materializes soon after. The BGM changes.

- In the movie, this graveyard is where Homura and Kyuubey had their conversation on if Kyoko really could have saved Sayaka. This conversation took place in Homura’s home in the series.

• There is more conviction in Homura’s voice as she denounces Kyuubey’s reasoning and plan. Perhaps enhanced by the BGM.

- After the conversation ends, the BGM from before plays again and we zoom out of the area in the reverse of what we had seen previously. I am fairly certain it was just the same clip played backwards, but more quickly. Then it fades to black.

- Next, we see Homura walking very slowly through another barren land, covered in a grey fog and a dead forest (I am oddly reminded of the ending to Mass Effect 3…).

• At one point, the camera goes to a static view from Homura’s right side.
• The same sorrowful BGM continues to play as Homura makes to the right side, walking past a line of trees, where the apex is in the center of the screen.
• The scene is enhanced with the howling of the wind.
• Once Homura reaches the right side, the BGM ends and the screen fades to black.

- Next scene, we are greeted with the same type of countdown screen which opened both movies, but this time it counting up from zero.

• As it counts up, the film simulates a bad film gate, where the film appears to be falling out of line with the projector.
• A few times, and just for a split second, the screen is filled with static. I could vaguely see an image of Homura’s head and upper body.
• When the number reaches 10, the film becomes heavily distorted for a second or two, and again I could see another image of Homura. Oddly enough, this is where episode 10 would start.

Episode 10:

Note: Each time there is a time skip to a Walpurgisnacht battle in a timeline, the static that interrupts the scene briefly also has some sort of distorted imagery of Homura.

- After the count up from 0, the BGM changes to something more cheerful.

- In the series, we immediately see Homura being introduced to the class. This was changed as in the following:

• We see several scenes of Madoka on her way to school and meeting up with Sayaka and Hitomi.

• There is an interesting scene where all three of them are standing, overlooking the scenery in a somewhat stoic pose before running off to school. It also suggests that they can sense something.

- As the school bell rings, we hear Saotome-sensei complaining to the class about another food issue.

- The animation sequence is nearly identical to the one seen in the first movie; include Sayaka’s new response to how the transfer student should have been introduced first.

- As Saotome-sensei asks the new student to come in, we see static again as Homura walks into the room. This is the same Homura that has yet to make a contract to become a Puella Magi.

- Once Homura starts introducing herself, the scenes and voices pretty much match up the same as in the series. Some scenes are reanimated, to show off how impressive the school really is, for example.

- When the students are on the school grounds doing physical activities, some scenes are redrawn and enhanced.

- The scenes from where Homura becomes trapped in Izabel’s barrier and is saved by Madoka and Mami are nearly identical from the series. Some parts may have been redrawn.

- The scene when Homura is talking with Madoka and Mami in Mami’s apartment was redrawn a bit to reflect the extra detail in Mami’s room from the first movie.

- When the scene cuts to the battle with Walpurgisnacht, there is again a brief static interruption before the scene plays out.

• The backgrounds for the ruined landscape for the battle are redrawn to show some more detail.
• The same BGM from the series plays here.
• When Madoka flies off to fight Walpurisnacht, Homura screams “Kaname-san!” This echoes for a bit longer in the movie. Also, the zoom out is reanimated to be more smooth.
• As Homura is crying over Madoka’s dead body and wishing that she remained alive, Kyuubey asks her if she really wishes for that. In the series, Kyuubey slowly appears on a rubble pile over them. In the movie, only is its voice heard and is suddenly there.

Note: Concerning Kyuubey, this is the same way the sequence played out in the TV version of the series.

- When Homura goes back in time, some of the scenes here are redrawn, such as the calendar and the room itself shows more detail.

- After Homura introduces herself to Madoka and Mami in this timeline, she is asked how her power can be used in battle. When Homura is learning to make bombs, the website she is looking says “Bomb Making” in English as it is reflected in her glasses.

• In the series, “Bomb Making” was in shown in Japanese.

- When the three battle Patricia, the sequence is nearly the same. Some scenes may have been redrawn for more detail.

- Before the scene changes to the battle with Walpurgisnacht, again, there is a brief static interruption.

- As Madoka turns into a Grief Seed, and we see the manifestation of her witch form. As the clouds are transformed into her witch form, the animation is much smoother.

- In the next timeline, as Sayaka expresses her distrust and grief about Homura to the Madoka and Mami, the background is redrawn, again for more detail and the lighting is a little more dramatic.

- As the group fights the Oktavia in this timeline, the sequence is nearly the same as in the series. Some parts may have been redrawn for detail.

- After the fight with Oktavia, Mami very emotionally decides it is best for all of them to die right there, the sequence is nearly the same. Some parts may have been redrawn for detail.

- Again, as we go to the Walpurgisnacht fight in this timeline, there is a brief static interruption.

• The backgrounds and ruins are redrawn, as Homura seems to accept their fate.
• Some parts were redrawn, and the scene where Homura pulls out her gun to grant her friend her last wish is from a wider shot. The scream echoes more in the movie too.

- In the next timeline where Homura heals her eyes, (and presumably, her heart), her Soul Gem has more detail.

- Right before Homura goes to talk to Madoka before actually meeting her and after she kills Kyuubey; there is a longer gap between these events in the series.

- The fight with Roberta is slightly extended. Some parts are redrawn and the sound effects for her M249 is enhanced, along with the explosions.

- As we proceed to the Walpurgisnacht sequence that was shown in the start of the series’ timeline, there is yet another brief static interruption.

•  Now, this scene plays out in the same fashion as it did in the very start of the series, but this entire sequence was redrawn and enhanced.
•  In the series, the sequence starts as Madoka watches Homura fly off to battle Walpurgisnacht.
• First, we see some of the red street lights flicker. These were the same street lights that flickered when Madoka covers her ears in the series, but occurred later in the sequence.
• We see Madoka running through the familiar black and white checkered-board style of the pre-Walpurgisnacht barrier.
• As Madoka opens the door on top of the stairs, and sees the landscape that was ruined in the battle, there is a very dramatic zoom outwards, showing the entire landscape.
• Just as this occurs, Magia [Quattro], starts to play as a BGM.
• The entire battle between Homura and Walpurgisnacht is reanimated, but follows a similar sequence.
• The voice acting was completely redone, with Homura’s lines being much more impactful, even though they do not reach Madoka’s ears.
• Most scenes are drawn from wider angles and everyone is reanimated. There is more detail in everything.

- After the battle is over, and Madoka transformed into Kriemhild Gretchen, the animations of the clouds, backgrounds, even Homura’s hair blowing in the wind, is redone and enhanced.

- The scenes where Homura is trying to kill off Kyuubey before it runs into Madoka in the current timeline are slightly redrawn. Enhanced backgrounds and all that.

- After Homura says her line about doing whatever it takes to save Madoka, we get the opening animation sequence from the series.

• The song that plays here is Connect by ClariS.
• The sequence plays very much the same way as in the animation version with a few exceptions.
• After we see the solitary Madoka stand up and fade away, there is no title plate for the series shown. 
•   Instead we see more of the spheres on the screen become colored.
• After this part, we see a close up of Homura acting depressed and lonely, instead of Madoka
• We see various scenes of the Episode 10 Homura doing various activities such as reading and studying. We see her hair down with her glasses on as well.
• Next, similar to how we saw Madoka sitting at her desk with multiple scenes of her as a Puella Magi, we see multiple Homuras, looking around frantically as if she is searching for something.
• The sequence then continues as in the series, with Madoka rolling around in her bed with her stuffed animals. The rain is a yellow color this time, instead of blue.

Note: I believe this is how the rain was in the TV version.

• The rest plays out as it did in the series. One major difference is that when the song ends and we see the group of five on the top of the tower, we see just Madoka and Homura sitting together on it. Plus, the last note is extended a bit as they leave this scene on the screen for another second.

Episode 11:

- The scene with Kyuubey is conversing with Homura in the current timeline plays out in the same way in Homura’s home. Some scenes may have been redrawn for more detail.

• When we see Madoka bound by the many threads of fate in front of the clock, it is from a wider angle.
• The scene was redrawn with Madoka’s legs tied together, and her feet on top of one another. The pose resembling more closely of an ancient crucifixion. In the series, her legs and feet were about shoulder-width apart.

- The scene with Sayaka’s funeral and when Madoka comes home is nearly identical. The water droplet may have been reanimated.

- When Kyuubey shows Madoka the history between Incubators and humans, some of the scenes with Inucurry’s art are redone with more detail.

Kyuubey tells Madoka the history between humans and Incubators.

• Kyuubey’s voice echoes when it speaks to Madoka in her mind.
• The same BGM from the series plays here.
• When we see Madoka’s body floating in front of Kyuubey’s face, its eyes pulsate several times to become at least twice as large before returning to normal size. Honestly, this was rather creepy in the theater.
•  After showing Madoka this true history, her gasping scene is animated more smoothly.
• Madoka’s voice acting is much more distraught after learning all this.

Note: As with the series, the number of stuffed animals on the shelf above her bed increases from the earlier scene when Kyuubey talks about entropy to Madoka.”

-  The following scene with Junko and Kazuko (Saotome-sensei), plays out the same. Some scenes or backgrounds may have been redrawn for more detail.

• The same BGM from the series plays here.

-  Next scene, when Madoka goes to Homura’s home, Homura has the chain lock engaged. In the movie, she is only able to open the door slightly, with most of the door covering her face. She peers with her right eye at Madoka.

• In the series, she is able to open the door enough for her whole face to be shown.
• After Madoka asks if she can come in, Homura is a little shocked, but doesn’t respond otherwise.

- Homura’s home, again, filled with various information about Walpurgisnacht has more detail in them.

• The BGM is different.
• Madoka’s voice are filled with more concern for Homura as she insists that she is okay to fight Walpurgisnacht on her own.
• When Homura starts to speak about how she really feels, there is more emotion being fought back in her voice.
• Once Homura breaks down and starts to confess the truth about how she is from the future, trying to save Madoka from a fate worse than death, her voice expresses this long hidden pain. It was very heartbreaking to listen to and for me to remember again.
• Most of this scene is from a static view of the two of them in an uneasy embrace, this scene being reflected in three different images. In the movie, each image is tinted a different color.
• In the series, they were all the same reflections of them under a white light.
• Once the scene changes to them in the center with the panels on the wall, there are more panels of them showing various moments between the two of them across all the timelines.

- Next scene, when we see the coming storm, when the men are talking about the storm becoming a supercell, it is seen from a wider angle, and there are no obstructions on the right side of the scene.

- As Homura prepares herself for the coming battle, her hairflip is again reanimated and more dramatic.

- When the curtain rises on Walpurgisnacht’s arrival, it is a different version again, similar to the start of the first movie.

• Once the countdown starts from 5, we see all numbers from 5 to 1.
• In the series, we do not see 3 shown in the countdown.

- At this point, Homura transforms, which is different from her series transformation.

• It is really modest, not showing her naked body at all.
• It is slightly extended from the series version.
• Her costume appears on her body one piece at time.
• The manifestation of her shield is very smooth and honestly, very cool. We see more detail on the gears and inner workings of her shield. Someone is bound to use this to make a super accurate replica later.

- Once the battle against Walpurgisnacht starts, it is very much the same as from the series version. Some scenes or backgrounds may have been redrawn for more detail. Some scenes are shown from a wider angle.

- As Kyuubey talks to Madoka as they gaze upon the storm outside, it is seen from a wider angle.

• Madoka does not recall when Homura confessed the truth about her time travelling.
• The BGM in this part is different.
• As with Madoka earlier in the movie, we see Homura bound in a similar fashion in front of a clock.
• When Homura gives up and becomes a Grief Seed in this imagery, the animations are much smoother, along with how the clocks, gears and time itself break down.
• When Kyuubey reminds Madoka that all Puella Magi have experienced this sort of fate, and Madoka remembers their past conversation and cries again, her shoulders do not shake.

- Once Madoka decides to go off on her own, but is caught by her mom, the flow of the conversation is different from the series.

• Madoka’s voice carries more conviction.
• As Madoka explains why she must go, a fitting BGM plays.
• There was no BGM in the series.
• When Junko reaches her hand out to Madoka, but changes her mind, there is a longer delay between these actions.
• When Junko finally gives in and lets her daughter run off to do what she must, the slap on her shoulder to turn her around makes Madoka squeal and gasp more distinctively in the movie.
• Madoka’s  “Thank you, mom” response suits the situation a lot better than in the series.

-  As we return to Homura’s battle against Walpurgisnacht:

• Some of the minor battle scenes with the familiars are extended.
• The BGM is changed to the same one that played when Walpurgisnacht first arrived.
• Homura is in midair when she realizes the sand has run out on her shield.

- After Homura has her leg crushed by the rubble of having a building thrown at her, she contemplates on going back in time yet again, but as she learned how this directly negatively affects the very person she is trying to save, she gives up.

• Even though the BGM continues on from the previous scene, the way the BGM flows with the events fit perfectly.

- After Homura’s tear falls onto the ground (what would had happened if had hit her Soul Gem…I wonder), Madoka arrives just in time to prevent Homura from completely falling into despair.

• NEW SCENE: After Madoka tells Homura it will be okay, she takes a handkerchief from her uniform pocket and wipes the blood off of Homura’s face.

• It appears to be the same handkerchief that Homura sat on to rest after pummeling a barrel with a golf club in episode 10.
• Before Madoka apologies, we hear the startup portions of Magia at this point in the series.
• There is no BGM in the movie until Madoka apologies.

Episode 12:

- Between episode 11 and 12, they recap a little bit before proceeding with the episode. This gap is bridged in the movie with Madoka immediately stating she will become a Puella Magi.

• A BGM plays in the movie, whereas in the series is just ambient noise from Walpurgisnacht.
• As Madoka had wiped the blood from Homura’s face in the movie, there is no blood on her face in any subsequent scene.
• The pause between where Madoka takes a deep breath before stating her wish is extended slightly.
• When she does proclaim her wish, Madoka’s voice is sharp and critical, as if stating it to defy Kyuubey’s intentions and the history that it stated to her earlier in the movie.
• As Kyuubey realizes the gravity of Madoka’s wish, its voice is full of hesitation and disbelief.
• As the results of this wish make the screen white, we saw the title plate for the series and episode name in the series. This, of course, is not present in the movie.

- Next scene is when Madoka is in Mami’s apartment after making her wish.

• Some scenes or background of Mami’s apartment were redrawn for more detail. Some scenes are shown from a wider angle.
• Kyoko still shows up the give Madoka support in her wish. While eating cake, of course.

-  During the next scenes when Madoka finalizes her transformation, to when she visits all Puella Magi who died in despair, the animation is a mix of newly redone scenes and reused from the series. I could not remember many details on which were which.

• When Madoka states she “will not let their prayers end in despair”, there was a pause and an emphasis on when she said “-shinai”, in Japanese.
• Madoka’s voice echoes much more in the movie.
• Parts of the sequence when she finalizes her attack on Walpurgisnacht were reanimated for more detail and smoothness.

- In the next scene, when Homura finds herself in a barren land which appears to be the moon, the background lightly pulses between black and gray. It was a rather subtle but cool effect in the movie.

• Once the field of stars appears, there is much more detail and some starts twinkle to give the background more life.
• When Kyuubey speaks to Homura, its voice echoes a lot in the theater.
• The sequence with Ultimate Madoka is very much the same, with the exception of re-recorded voice acting.

- Next, once Madoka destroys the despair created by the equal amount of hope with her wish, and Kyuubey explains that Madoka is no longer an entity with any real existence, we are sent to a rewritten universe with only Homura seemingly to exist within it.

• When Homura cries out that this isn’t what Madoka wanted, her body is enveloped in an Inucurry-like luminous white dress.
• In the series, we see Homura with a featureless naked body.
• There is more color in this scene, other than it being monochrome.

-  Next scene, when Homura thinks this is something worse than death for Madoka, Madoka appears behind Homura to tell her otherwise.

• The backgrounds in the movie were more of a bright nature, filled with white instead of black.
• Both Madoka and Homura are enveloped in the same type of white dress instead of being naked.
• Madoka had faint wings that matched the same ethereal feel of the dresses.
• When Madoka states that she now knows everything that Homura did for her sake, we see scenes as flashbacks.
• In the series, they appear washed out, but they appear more vividly in the movie.
• When Madoka apologizes to Homura for not realizing what she had done, Homura breaks down and cries in Madoka’s chest. 
• Her crying in the movie is much more heartfelt and emotional, as it was a heavy burden on her. This lets it all out. I always cry at this part, movie or series. In fact, I am crying right now as I just rewatched it to write all this.
• When Homura states her fears that Madoka doesn’t have place to call home and no one will remember her, her voice is stricken with panic and sadness. Madoka’s voice counters this by sounding even more calm and optimistic than in the series.
• When Madoka departs and Homura is forced out of this realm, her screaming Madoka’s name is much more heartbreaking as it echoes in the theater.

- As we return to the current world in the movie, we hear a grandiose chorus theme accompanied by a sequence of some very nicely animated landscapes and nature backgrounds by SHAFT. Some appear to be very real and alive.

• One example is a couple scenes with water, streams and waterfalls.

- In the series, we immediately saw Kyousuke walking across the stage to perform Ave Maria after Homura screams Madoka’s name. This scene happens next in movie after the previously mentioned scene.

- The scene where Kyousuke plays Ave Maria in rehearsal and in concert, along with the conversation between Madoka and Sayaka is nearly identical from the series except for some voice acting changes.

- After this, we see the scene where Sayaka vanishes during a fight with a demon. Some scenes or backgrounds may have been redrawn for more detail. Some scenes are shown from a wider angle.

• As Mami and Kyoko are discussing about what happened to Sayaka, Homura is seen from a different angle holding onto Madoka’s ribbons before she starts sobbing.

• As they ask her who Madoka is, we can still hear her crying.
• In the series, we did not hear Homura cry.

- The next sequence with Homura encountering Madoka’s family, and where Tatsuya seems to remember Madoka, is nearly identical to the series. Even the BGM is the same. Some scenes or backgrounds may have been redrawn for more detail.

- As Homura and Kyuubey have the closing conversation about how this “witch world” might have existed, but there is no real proof of it, the sequence is nearly the same again, except with some new voice acting. Some scenes or backgrounds may have been redrawn for more detail.

- As in the series, we get ending credits after Homura fires her arrow, proclaiming her conviction to keep fighting.

• The song is Connect, but a new orchestral version. I liked it a lot.
• The credits here were not shown on a white background with black text.
• Instead, the credits were displayed within an Inucurry designed frame, showing various character silhouettes.
• All the credits were in runes, 
• We see character silhouettes from the version of the girls’ transformations not shown in the movie.
• Such as Mami’s poses in her quick transformation shown before she fought Charlotte. 
• Also, it showed Sayaka’s pose as she finished her transformation before encountering Kyoko for the first time.
• There were some silhouettes of Witch figures as well.

- After this we see the controversial ending that was played at the very end of the series.

• It still has Homura walking through what seems to be a desert.
• The words “Don’t Forget…etc.” were shown, but shown in a way where none of the words were unreadable due to the background.
• There was no zoom cut to Homura in the movie version.
• When the demons manifest, there is a longer delay before Homura starts to cast her “homu-wing.”
• Overall, still the same scene from the series, and doesn’t answer any questions raised by it either.

- After this, we get a similar “end of the film” effect as we did with the series. It shows the main five girls’ backs, then it zooms out a bit and we see more silhouettes. Are they other Puella Magi? Are they the Puella Magi form of the Witches that were fought in the movie?  This is the same as seen in the series.

-Next, we see the screen go white as Hirakifuru by Kalafina starts to play. It is a vocalized version of Sagitta Luminis, the theme which played when Madoka was saving all Puella Magi from becoming Witches. It is a very beautiful song when sung by Kalafina.

• The credits here were in normal text and were shown in black on a white background, similar to how the credits rolled in the series.

- Next, most expected the movie to be over at this point, but there was more to come.

General Observations:

- The second movie had only a few new or changed scenes in comparison to the additions or changes in the first movie.

- No scenes were completely cut from the second movie when compared to the series. Any scene that was cut was replaced with a new one that retained the same plot elements.

- Many of the scenes were reused directly from the series, or were slightly changed cosmetically for the movie.

- Almost all the lines said by minor characters were not re-recorded.

- Most of all the lines spoken by Kyoko were re-done.

Final Word:

- Despite the lack of anything really new added to the second movie, I believe the reworking of the music and BGMs with their scenes really improved the overall experience for me in comparison with the series, and was enough to outweigh that aspect.

- Also, the fact that they did not cut anything major helped with this. When they did add or change something, it added to the experience rather than cheapened it.

- It was interesting with what they did concerning blood and nudity “censorship”. Considering the fact that the movies were rated G in Japan. The series was rated 13 and Up in in the US version.

• Blood: In the scenes with Kyoko fighting Sayaka in this movie, there was much more blood over all from Kyoko. Whereas when Sayaka fights Elsamaria in the first movie, most hints of blood were removed. Also, while it is a touching scene where Madoka wipes the blood off of Homura’s face, it may had been a way to “clean up” the scene for the audience.
• Nudity: Most of the transformation scenes in the series did not have this issue, except for Homura’s. Her transformation had less of her body exposed than it was shown in the series. Also, in the scenes where Madoka and Homura are shown as featureless nudes, they decided to cover them up with a sort of ethereal dress. I did not mind the changes, either way.

- Overall, I enjoyed both movies, and the preview for the third movie was enough for me to want to see the second movie twice in a row.  There is SO much to look into from the tiny clip they showed at the end.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my In-Depth look into the second Madoka Magica movie! I am currently taking in some detail from some screenshots of the preview and working on an In-Depth look into just the preview! As I have already written most of that review, expect it to come out sometime in the middle of the week, just in time for Halloween!