Homura's Mental State and Motivations...(spoilers)

StormSky92 said:

I think no one can disagree that Homura has gone just a little (or a lot) insane by the end of the movie. It seemed like the whole second half was just her slowly loosing her mind. From becoming a witch, to absorbing/stealing Madoka's power. And thus, creating this new world, as a "demon". Her little happy dance after the credits really showed it.

So, I was wonder what other people here think about her mental state during, and after the movie.
Has she completely gone insane?
Did she steal Madoka's power out of a psychopathic obsession with Madoka? Or is still trying to protect Madoka and wants her to be happy? (the idea that she re-wrote everything because Madoka was in pain from being separated from everyone at the end of the series)
Or perhaps somewhere along the line she stopped being 100% Homura?
Or something else?

"In that dream Madoka went to a place far away, a place that I could never reach. I was the only one who remembered Madoka, I was lonely and in pain. However no else understood my feeling. In the end I doubted whether or not the Madoka I remembered ever existed in the first place or just that something I imagined."

"This world isn't worth saving. Tragedy and sadness will never truly disappear. But even so, it's the place she once tried to protect."

GohanwaOkazu said:
Hmm. Interesting reactions... I've been reading some comments, and although I respect them all (there is no definitively correct reaction or answer to works of fiction; it's no maths), I feel that many of them are opinions of very young people, both pure and naive, who wish a key character to be politically correct, clean, and almost saint-like. Which isn't a bad thing.

But let me be the devil's advocate (literary).

I (as a middle-age guy) personally think that Homura is more "realistic", accessible, interesting, or even likeable character, all the more for what she does. She's like me. She makes mistakes. She deceives. She loves.

Moreover, she selflessly tries to save her best friend. She does not give a damn about herself being doomed forever, or being condemned by others as being selfish, if she could let her best friend regain her human happiness, surrounded by family and friends.

Perhaps viewers have missed the very important Garden of Luminous sequence, with a very touching conversation between Madoka and Homura.
http://wiki.puella-magi.net/The_Rebellion_Story/Transcript

Even despite her sometimes difficult relations with other girls like Mami and Sayaka, she respect them and it's implied that she is actually quite fond of them in her own way. In the world she recreates, she even lets Sayaka regain her human self which she lost in the TV anime series. Even Nagisa/BeBe/Charlotte is in her human self with cheese and Mami !

Did you see in the OP that all the others are merrily dancing, whereas Homura's sunk in despair? And after the ED Homura is dancing alone on the Garden of Luminous? She will be even expecting her best friend, as foe, to turn up and confront her there when she'll eventually regain full memory of what had happened.

Perhaps she's a bit insane. But we are all insane in some way, when it's love.

GohanwaOkazu said:
Hmm. Interesting reactions... I've been reading some comments, and although I respect them all (there is no definitively correct reaction or answer to works of fiction; it's no maths), I feel that many of them are opinions of very young people, both pure and naive, who wish the main character to be politically correct, clean, and almost saint-like. Which isn't a bad thing.

I (as a middle-age guy) personally think that Homura is more "realistic", accessible, interesting, or even likeable character, all the more for what she does. She's like me. She makes mistakes. She deceives. She loves.

On top of that, she selflessly tries to save her best friend. She does not give a damn about herself being doomed forever, or being condemned by others as being selfish, if she could let her best friend regain her human happiness with family and friends.

Perhaps viewers have missed the very important Garden of Luminous sequence, with a very touching conversation between Madoka and Homura.
http://wiki.puella-magi.net/The_Rebellion_Story/Transcript

Even despite her sometimes difficult relations with other girls like Mami and Sayaka, she respect them and it's implied that she is actually quite fond of them in her own way. In the world she recreates, she even lets Sayaka regain her human self which she lost in the TV anime series. Even Nagisa/BeBe/Charlotte is in her human self with cheese and Mami !

The children of the false city. The play the role of mourners. These dress-up dolls fake crying in order to liven up the funeral procession. The dolls present are Arrogance, Sadsack, Liar, Coldheartedness, Selfishness, Badmouther, Dunce, Jealousy, Lazybones, Vanity, Cowardice, Fool, Bias, and Obstinate, while the last one, Love, has yet to arrive

FierceAlchemist said:
I think the reason she call herself a devil is not because she thinks she's evil, but because she dethroned a God, so she must be Madoka's opposite.
Read more at http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=705173#Y8WtEMVEK7E97gBv.99

Shih said:
Can I get some clarification on why Homura did it?
Where was the turning point that made Homura decide that Madoka's happiness is greater that her wish (being with Madoka)?

I believe that this is true (she is the devil because she rebels against god). Is it debatable as to whether her intentions are really evil.
When Sayaka asks her "Do you really want to destroy this universe?"
Homura replies "It might be a good idea after dealing with all the majuu in the universe."
Not sure what she means here. Is she fighting majuu? Or is she serious? Or is that sarcasm (because majuu will never cease to exist)? Is she crazy?

Shih said:
Ah ok, thanks, I found the line that she says her wish. "I became a magical girl with but one wish, 'to save Madoka'." (When Homura starts to increase her curse).

It is just confusing that Homura states that she wants to be with Madoka many times.
She says that she feels this loneliness that no one can understand after Madoka becomes god. (Flower scene). Which leads to the conclusion that her current wish is to be with Madoka. Also when Madoka saves Homura in witch form, Homura says "If it's about betraying my desire to meet you again, I really can hold any sin." Does this not translate into "I'll do anything to be with you"?

Anyway, the conclusion that I have come-up with myself after writing the paragraph above is that Homura believes the following
1) It is better for Madoka to not go through the precess of becoming god.
2) She can still be beside Madoka in the new world.
3) She is willing to fight Madoka and Sayaka in the future for the 2 points above.

Explanation for point 2: Homura says "I'll never be far from you again." when she pulls Madoka from Godoka. And Homura continues to go to school even after she becomes devil.

PS: all quotes translated by Aegisub

FierceAlchemist said:
Well said. Personally, I think Homura's priorities are:

1. Madoka's protection and happiness.
2. Being with Madoka.

She obviously missed Madoka like crazy, to the point of even doubting if Madoka ever truly existed. However, at the end of the movie she says it's okay if she and Madoka one day become enemies as long as Madoka's happy. That post credits sequence (one chair on the green hill, half a moon, etc.) seemed to be emphasizing how Homura was alone and how depressed she was in the new world. But as long as Madoka's happy, it's ok if they can't be together.

Shih said:

Another theory would be that Homura already gone crazy (or lost some emotions), then she doesn't have the need to be with (or be friend with) Madoka any more.

FierceAlchemist said:
I really hope that isn't true. It seems to me that Homura desperately wants to be with Madoka, but she's willing to sacrifice her own happiness for what she believes to be Madoka's happiness, Madoka's protection. If Homura has lost even her desire to be friends with Madoka, then she really has fallen far. I think it's gonna turn to be like the TV show; she acts cold and cruel but is actually very caring and emotional underneath it all. A lot of her devil persona is a mask, in my opinion.

Shih said:
I actually have a theory of Homura not being carzy. If we assume that Homura is still capable of thinking logically at the end of the movie, and all the craziness is just an act. Then I think that protecting Madoka is not her only intention. One, she tells QB to help her to put a end to the curse (didn't specify). Two, she tells Sayaka that she might destroy the world after dealing the all the Majuu. (Destroy is the act, Majuu is the real intention). Homura just might have a bigger plan behind all this.

PS: analysis is too hard when you need to assume that a character is lying or not. Can't take anything serious anymore.

sunofdarkchild said:
Another thing. Homura literally has not felt physical pain in years. She figured out that the body is just a tool relatively early on in her 100 timeline journey, and kept that knowledge after Madoka rewrote the universe. I can't imagine what being unable to feel pain must be like. It probably only makes emotional pain more acute.

FierceAlchemist said:


I'm not certain of that. It's true that being a Magical Girl, Homura experiences less pain than a normal human. However, she definitely screams in pain during her fight with Walpurgisnacht or in the movie when her own bullet grazes her head. It was shown by Sayaka that when you shut out all the pain, there are bad side effects like slowing your reaction time (and just generally making you crazy).

sunofdarkchild said:


Actually, in the movie she makes a small sound in reaction to Mami's pulling her before she shoots. She doesn't react to the bullet at all. The bullet also seems to do a lot more damage than just grazing. Sure a graze would bleed a lot, but not that much in the first instant. All Homura does after shooting herself is breathe hard, which she was already doing because the fight tired her out.

Even in the fight with Walpurgisnacht she only reacts as she is sent flying through buildings and pavement, which is a reaction to shock or surprise.

The 'side effects' are why I bring it up on this thread about her mental health. But in Syaka's case it wasn't blocking out the pain that made her go nuts, but her suicidal tendencies. Someone who is has a reason to live wouldn't have the same problems Syaka had.

skudoops said:
Homura was suicidal before totally snapping, I'm surprised more people didn't mention that. That whole battle within her world was to prevent her from killing herself or so I thought. Considering what she was saying and the fact her witch form was walking to the guillotine that seems like a reasonable assumption to make.

Esclair said:


It's entirely possible she does block out the pain, because as she has her time stop she probably feels like the slower reaction speed isn't that much of a handicap. Hence why she gets ribbon'ed by Mami and can't dodge the building that Walpurgis Night throws at her even though any other magical girl would have no trouble dodging it.

I've been wondering about the meaning of the large number of abandoned shoes on the ground when Homura's familiars jump off to the river. I've read somewhere that it is Japanese custom to take off ones' shoes before suicide. Taking off ones' shoes plus jumping to the river seems to suggest that the familiars, and by extension Homura, are losing the will to live. Not sure if that is true, but if it is, Homura feels horrible about what she has done. Combined with the self-loathing names of her familiars, the fact that her familiars throw tomatos at her, scoring a hit but she doesn't appear to be angry at all, these suggest that Homura's level of guilt is approaching breaking point.