This entire entry is actually part of a project in my film and fiction class, in which every two weeks we choose a film that falls under one of the 8 approved genres, watch it, take a scene from it and analyze it in terms of how it's edited and what not. I decided to work ahead for my next one and for my Animation genre, I chose The Rebellion Story. I figured I may as well put it on MAL as well since it relates to anime and I'm kinda proud of it. Obvious spoilers for the movie and the series too.
Putting the whole thing under a spoiler button due to the image sizes causing lag.
Title: The Secret of Sakuga in The Rebellion Story
The first question one may ask is what the word “sakuga” refers to in the title, and in its simplest form, it’s a Japanese word which in a literal sense means “drawing” or “illustration”, but is often used to describe scenes in Japanese animation which specifically stick out due to the fluidity and high quality in said scene. It’s important to know this term since sakuga is what makes much of the editing in the film Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica: The Rebellion Story (now to be shortened to The Rebellion Story) so impressive, and of course, the animation in an animated feature is what can make or break it.
The scene in question that most excels with, quite literally, all of its editing, is the scene where our main character, Homura Akemi (voiced by Chiwa Saitou) mentally breaks in the world that she had fabricated herself in order to achieve a lost happiness. Whilst it could be very easy for our director, Akiyuki Shinbou, to simply state that she was breaking down, the scene makes use of the “show, don’t tell” technique, and with absolutely marvelous results.
This particular scene is actually quite long, but the most significant part of it begins 1:21:53, where Homura’s eyes widen in a very quick shot.
Despite the quickness of the shot, the art very clearly shows a look of anxiety and a lack of sanity in her eyes. This is shown in the small size of her iris compared to the actual shape of her eyes and in the slight black lines shown below her eyes, which are commonly used to signify anger, distress, and insanity.
The scene then cuts to a large, green field with flowers and two chairs in the distance, in which you can slightly make out Homura and her close friend, Madoka Kaname (voiced by Aoi Yuuki) sitting in.
It should be noted that the scene directly before this was one filled with much low-key lighting, especially on Homura whom was clad in a dark black dress, and made use of darker, more demonic colors such as reds and blacks, causing a large contrast between these two scenes. It’s also recognizable from the initial shot of Homura’s eyes opening that we’re looking at the “old” Homura, as in, the former shy and secluded personality that she had prior to her development within the movie. This is apparent in her glasses and braided hair, which is what signifies her past self.
We’re then cut to a closer shot of Homura and Madoka. Despite the high-key lighting and seemingly positive mood set from the warm colors and field of grass, Homura’s eyes are drawn without any light in them. They’re dark, which can be seen to signify how much of a lost cause she is. Madoka then stands up on the chair and extends her arms, only for her body to slowly fall towards the right. Madoka’s eyes are not at all visible in this shot and are covered by her bangs, which is done by Shinbou using a dutch angle technique on Madoka to logically shield her eyes away.
As her body sitfly falls towards the ground, Homura rushes out of her own chair and extends her hand towards Madoka.
It’s during this sequence, which is specifically at 1:22:05, that Shinbou creates a scene in which Homura, quite literally, breaks out of her previous persona and is then seen reaching out towards Madoka with her glasses-less, braidless appearance.
The editing technique used in that scene is important when it comes to applying symbolism, as the idea of Homura “breaking out” from her previous self and into the current her, the her that desperately wants to save Madoka, is a key factor in the film’s plot. The camera itself pans swiftly to the right with Homura, and such speed is a key identifier in Homura’s desperateness in the scene.
We then transition back to Madoka’s body at 1:22:07, or rather, we transition to an extreme zoom that showcases her arm being sucked into the fielded grass.
The scene moves quickly and the zoom is consistent as we watch her entire body fall into the grass. To the left, the camera shows a shot of Homura’s fingers just missing Madoka’s fallen body. The zoom used is able to accurately direct the viewers to exactly what Shinbou wants us to see - which is Homura just barely missing her chance to potentially save Madoka.
The movie immediately cuts to a zoomed out shot of Homura on her hands and knees in the area in which Madoka had fallen.
Right now, Homura is completely alone, with no other figures surrounding her, which is what makes the next cut a bit of a shocker towards the viewers. At 1:22:09, we’re still seeing Homura down on her hands and knees, though this time we’re at a perspective where we can see her face clearly. Whilst the utter horror and shock that’s detailed in her small irises and barely gaping mouth is noticeable, the more notable aspect is the sudden appearance of figures standing directly below Homura, looking down on her.
They aren’t just figures though. Despite the style in which they’re drawn in (the entire body is drawn in a normal style, whilst the faces are darkened with a shadow and contain no nose or mouth, only glasses, and her braids take the form of black dots) it’s especially clear that these figures are the Homura of the past. The camera itself is centered directly on Homura, creating a neutral shot for herself, yet the four surrounding figures are angled in a way that indicated them literally looking down on her.
So why add these figures into this shot? Why design them specifically after past Homura? I personally see it as a metaphor towards Homura’s consistent failures. In the main storyline, Homura is constantly unable to save Madoka from either the fate of death or one worse than death despite gaining time traveling abilities. Her mental state, at this stage in the storyline, is all but completely shattered. The entire sequence of Madoka falling just out of Homura’s reach, to figures that represent her past self staring down her is likely a symbol towards Homura’s guilt and failures. It’s as if Homura’s past is, quite literally, looking down upon yet another failure of hers. Her past self is watching her failure yet again, looking down with absolutely no expression due to growing numb towards Homura’s inability to save Madoka. If anything, it can be seen as Homura looking down dramatically on herself.
This odd little sequence doesn’t just end there though. We’re directly zoomed out of this scene and can now see with context that these figures completely tower over Homura to an unrealistic scale.
Speaking of unrealistic things, at 1:22:12, a giant hand comes and completely smashes over Homura and her figures, then zooms out to show Homura again.
She’s once again on her hands and knees, but now she’s most definitely alone. Her hair flows over her face, hiding her expression, but Shinbou directing a blunt aggressiveness in Homura slamming into the ground (which she does multiple times) is enough to let one know that this girl is breaking more and more by the frame. You can even briefly see a frame in which her mouth is wide open as she lets out grunts whilst slamming the already destroyed mini-Homura and figures.
There’s actually a lot more that can be discussed in this entire scene, especially considering that this all takes place in the middle of her mental breakdown, but to discuss and dissect the sheer amount of symbolism and editing techniques used to show us her mental state crumbling away would be a novel in itself.
Animation, in my opinion, has an advantage over live-action films when it comes to incorporating unique filming angles, editing, symbolism, and even lighting. An odd film angle on an actual person can easily look awkward, though animation can be drawn and modified in a way that makes even the oddest of angles look pleasing.
It’s especially the editing and symbolism though that stick out in this particular animated feature. Shinbou is an editor known in Japan for his unique camera angles and lighting, and he truly excels in The Rebellion Story, especially in this scene. The movie gives us accurate symbolism that would likely be more difficult to portray in a live-action. There’s a scene during Homura’s breakdown at 1:20:47 in which white-silhouetted figures of Homura appear on screen and are then splattered with red and black liquid.
It’s a sequence that can represent Homura’s remaining innocence being tainted away, and is one that would be heavily difficult to accomplish with live actors.
This all relates back to sakuga in the sense that this animation, these strings of illustrations, are fluidly put together in terms of both actual animation fluidity and storyline fluidity. The movie as a whole, thanks to the skills of Shinbou, truly shows how far an animator can take the famed sakuga technique and create a scene that excels in as many areas as an animated feature can. The fact that just this snippet of the breakdown scene, one that can only truly be fully understood if you’ve seen the entire twelve episode franchise, is able to make such use of lighting, camera angles, symbolistic features, and coloring that even someone who is unfamiliar with the franchise can see just how broken this girl is, to me is proof enough that Shinbou did his job correctly with this animated film.
