Madoka Kaname

Madoka Kaname
Puella Magi Madoka Magica character
Madoka as portrayed in her school uniform in Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
Created by	Akiyuki Shinbo, Gen Urobuchi, and Ume Aoki[1]
Voiced by	Aoi Yūki (Japanese),[2] Christine Marie Cabanos (English)[3]

Madoka Kaname (鹿目 まどか, Kaname Madoka) is the titular protagonist of the 2011 anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica and its related media. In the anime, she initially lives a normal and happy life, but is then faced with the decision of becoming a magical girl. Created by Akiyuki Shinbo and Gen Urobuchi, and designed by Ume Aoki, the character plays an important role in Madoka Magica media and merchandise.

Character

Madoka is a kind and gentle 14-year-old girl who comes from a loving family. A second-year at middle school, her life changes when she encounters the incubator Kyubey, who offers to transform her into a magical girl. She sees herself as a person without special qualities or talents, and after seeing Mami fighting against witches, aspires to become a magical girl like her. She is a kind and gentle person that is averse to fighting. She hopes that the magical girls will support each other, sometimes even putting her own life at risk to help them. After witnessing Mami's death, she grows uncertain about becoming a magical girl, growing ever more hesitant as the true cost of the role is revealed to her.

In previous timelines, Madoka became a magical girl in a pink dress wielding a rose branch bow and arrow. In the drama CD, "Memories of You", it is revealed that the wish in the first timeline was to save a cat named Amy from death. However, every time, she was either killed or transformed into a witch named Kriemhild Gretchen, the Witch of Salvation, one that became ever more powerful with each time reset, as Madoka's power also increased and if created would, by the end of that same week, consume all life on Earth in order to create a paradise where there is no free will or individuality to cause strife or conflict. In the current timeline before the final episode, Kyubey claims that Madoka has an impossibly large amount of potential for magic, going so far as to claim that she could become god. The reason for this is unclear, since her life so far has been relatively average and free of tragedies. This is later revealed to be due to her accumulated misfortune, which was caused as a result of Homura repeatedly resetting time, with Madoka's fate getting worse with each timeline, making her magic power grow exponentially with each reset. In the first timeline, she still possesses a high amount of power, being able to defeat Walpurgisnacht (ワルプルギスの夜, Warupurugisu no Yoru), though dying in the process. Subsequently, by the current timeline, she has the potential to be the most powerful magical girl to date. Towards the end, she learns of this and Homura's efforts to save her.

After seeing the suffering of magical girls throughout history, Madoka decides to make her wish: to prevent all magical girls from the past, present, future and all other timelines, from ever becoming witches. The laws of the universe are rewritten such that at the moment that a soul gem becomes black with anguish, Madoka appears and purifies it before the magical girl passes on. As a result of this wish, she becomes an omnipotent being, named Ultimate Madoka (アルティメット・まどか, Arutimetto Madoka), that exists for all time, erasing her pre-ascension existence from the world; leaving only Homura – and to some extent her little brother – with the memory of her. Madoka becomes only a concept in the new world, one named the Law of Cycles (円環の理, Enkan no Kotowari). Magical girls absorbed into the Law of Cycles regain knowledge of their lives in previous timelines.

At the end of Rebellion, Ultimate Madoka was usurped by Homura and had her human and goddess selves split, with her role as a martyr being forced onto the Incubators. Homura places human Madoka in a new universe where she and her friends can live normal lives unaware of their pasts, though Madoka regains her memories at the last second and her final conversation with Homura implies that it is only a matter of time before Madoka merges with her goddess self once more and must face her friend in battle.^[4]

Development

Cosplay of Madoka Kaname

Madoka is an unusual character for Gen Urobuchi's writing style, but fits more closely to character designer Ume Aoki's worldview. In order to incorporate a "foreign character that did not exist inside [himself]," Urobuchi wrote the initial script as if Yuno, the main character of Hidamari Sketch, was the protagonist. During this phase, Urobuchi even intended Asumi Kana to take on the voice acting role for Madoka. The personality of Madoka was specifically designed as an "Ume Aoki character", while other characters of the cast, such as Homura and Sayaka, are more typical for Urobachi's style.^[5][6]

In the English dub of Madoka Magica, Madoka is portrayed by Christine Marie Cabanos. During the recording process, Cabanos had trouble not overthinking her role, but she learned to "let go" as the dubbing process continued.^[3]

Media

Being the protagonist of the franchise, Madoka has played a large role in all Madoka Magica media, including the original anime series, the subsequent feature-length films, and the main Madoka Magica manga series. She also takes on a major role in most spin-off media, such as a mobile app by Namco Bandai,^[7] a PlayStation Vita game by Artdink^[8] and Weiß Schwarz trading cards.^[9]

A large amount of merchandise related to Madoka has been created, such as a nendoroid figure by the Good Smile Company^[10] and a 48 cm high, $600 USD doll.^[11] 2 PM Works created two sets of high heels, inspired by Madoka and Homura respectively.^[12]

Reception

Aoi Yuuki won a Seiyu Award in 2012 for her portrayal of Madoka.^[13] In 2011, Madoka won second place in the Best Female Character category at the annual Newtype Anime award. In 2013, Madoka Kaname won the Saimoe Tournament poll for being the "most moe" anime character.^[14] In 2014, Akihabara fans voted Madoka as their 1st favorite pink-haired heroine.^[15] In 2016, Madoka was ranked fifth for top 10 shaft heroines.^[16] Again in 2016, WatchMojo.com ranked her at number two on its list of the "Top 10 Magical Girls In Anime".^[17]

Andy Hanley from UK Anime Network initially described her as "a distinctly average schoolgirl with a normal, loving family and an everyday school-life punctuated only by spending some time with her most precious friends."^[18] Zac Bertschy from Anime News Network said that in the middle of the series, Madoka is "standing on the sidelines watching all these horrible things happen while Kyubey reminds her over and over again that if she decides to take the plunge, she could totally put a stop to all of this and will become the most powerful magical girl in the world." He still thought Madoka would play a big role in the finale.^[19] Bertschy noted in the finale of the series, Madoka's transformation was "quite intense" despite not transforming into an actual magical girl.^[20] T.H.E.M. Anime reviewer Tim Jones criticized the lack of character traits like "constantly eating food even during battle" making it as "practically the only comedy in the remainder of the series".^[21] For the series' last film, Jacob Hope Chapman from Anime News Network noted how more powerful became Madoka and Homura's relationship which he also considered one of the film's greatest strengths.^[22] Kory Cerjak from The Fandom Post praised the work of Christine Marie Cabanos, Madoka's voice actress, noting that while it felt like "an adult playing a junior high school student" in the series' beginning, by the movies, it had become more appealing and suitable.^[23]

References