rebellion is so absolutely confusing

official_brown said:
I didn’t really view it as confusing. While Homura was timid in the first timeline, she is never outlined to be a good person. While she does somewhat care about the livelihood of her team, it’s mainly so that MC wouldn’t be sad.

Through the countless times of saving Madoka, Homura basically became obsessed with her and became a yandere, she dropped trying to good for Madoka and had forced Madoka to do good for her.

Basically just a yandere situation.

koshiguruma said:
I agree it was pretty confusing, but I think that added to the experience. The only real question I had was who and what the fuck is Bebe. I don’t remember them being in the original timeline and I didn’t get the explanation of who/what they are

koshiguruma said:
I agree it was pretty confusing, but I think that added to the experience. The only real question I had was who and what the fuck is Bebe. I don’t remember them being in the original timeline and I didn’t get the explanation of who/what they are

puppyblood said:
i loved the confusion on initial watch, but i can't still be confused while rewatching i need to get to the bottom of my questions!!!!


and yes bebe is the witch charlotte from the original series and the little girl she turns into at some point in the movie is the magical girl she used to be before she was a witch, her name was nagisa

labcraft59 said:

it's the witch that killed Mami but small version

Benafit said:
First of all, this contains spoilers for all of madoka magica and the movie rebellion, so for any who hasn't seen it don't read this.

Okay to answer your question about Mami and kyoko, at the end of madoka magica we are sent to a new timeline with wraiths instead of witches. We also see that Sayaka dies and madoka stops her from becoming a witch. However both Mami and Kyoko are still alive, and since she is not part of madoka's group it likely just means that they are both still alive and have yet to lose hope. As to how they got there, as the cat said, those who got into the labyrinth were let in, so it's likely that when Homura got trapped the two of them went looking for her and madoka and her group went to stop her from becoming a witch, causing all of them to be trapped in Homura's labyrinth.

I don't know anything about like the runes so I can't help with that, however in terms of why things went this way that I do feel like I understand. Homura cares about madoka more than anyone, she wishes for her to be happy and safe, and while she did let Madoka sacrifice herself it was done with a heavy heart and a lot of guilt. After hearing Madoka in the movie say that she would never want to be forgotten and such, this played on her guilt for never finding a solution where madoka could be happy. This is what causes her actions to steal away the laws of cycles from Madoka and become "the devil". Now in my opinion I believe Homura knows what she's doing is wrong. Her whole "devil" person she is going by is a way to shield herself from the guilt of causing pain to so many others, in short she is disassociating in a way. She even knows she's going to have it fight them and will at one point lose, but Madoka will get to live a normal life for a while and that is what matters to her. I wouldn't say she's evil or bad, she's hurt and wishes for the person she cares for most to not have to sacrifice herself even if it was for the sake of others. Is she being selfish? yeah I'd say so, but she is no devil and no villain. Just a girl who has gone through untold pain to save one friend finally cracking

Kazu-chan-san said:
The Rebellion movie is just fanservice and it makes no sense. Some fans argue that it is even not canon (disputable) Just ignore it and pretend it doesn't exist.

puppyblood said:

i wouldn't say it makes no sense. i just think it's an extension of the original plot and some people are not too happy about the plot being extended. I think it's great, as long as it wellmade. and personally, i think rebellion was the most well made piece of media in the madoka magica series. I think it's pretty amazing, and while the original series kind of lays things out for you while still keeping a lot of strong symbolism in the background, rebellion just gives you some of the bits and pieces and makes you figure shit out. You obviously can't knock the classic, but everything that madoka magic did in it's perfection, rebellion did just as well. and honestly, in a more creative way imo. but to each their own! personally, i live for this movie and would never deny it's existence, and i can't wait for the sequel of this. cuz you have to realize, madoka magica was mainly madoka's story. if we're being technical, it was really the story of homura, but with focus on madoka. by the end of the series, it's almost as if we completely disregard homura's fture- bc everyone KNOWS that homura is not okay with madoka's sacrifice. i just see this as a well-needed continuation, and eventually conclusion of homura's story.

ScionOfCyan said:
Sequels are tricky. Fans of the original love the characters. Seeing the characters in action again gives good vibes. This can get conflated with how good the sequel is itself. “I had a good time, it must be good.” The fan searches for reasons for it to be good and fills in the blanks with speculation.

It looks a lot like you are going through this process. You started your title by saying this show is confusing. Your gut instinct is right. Saying “rebellion gives you bits and pieces and makes you figure it out” is basically a charitable way of saying that Rebellion communicates poorly and its full message is unclear. It needs ardent fans to think up theories and explain them to others. It doesn’t stand on its own. These fans would never do that with a new creation by no-name artists. They’d just say it’s bad and move on. We give Shinbo and Urobuchi the benefit of the doubt (which, admittedly, they have earned).

Here’s the issue with Rebellion. You say it’s a Homura story and I agree with that. Unfortunately, Homura is not a narrative-carrying character. Much of her identity is about being mysterious, guarded from others, and opaque to the audience. This is fine for a side character, but not a main character. A story resonates because of possible lessons, making the reasons behind a character’s choices important. If we don’t understand where they’re coming from, we can’t mentally mirror their psychology and think about how we could emulate their beliefs or avoid their bad thought patterns. In every good story, there’s at least one character that the audience feels they can relate to or understand. Homura is not that character. Shinbo and Urobuchi don’t put in enough effort to reveal her to us. We only see her from the outside, as a mystery. She’s a source of intrigue. She’s cool. She’s a symbolic figure representing The Dark Knight’s Batman or Milton’s Satan, depending on context.

Most of Rebellion is a fever dream in the mind of Homura. The entire ‘world’ is an externalization of her interior mind. Homura’s the only ‘real’ character, and we still don’t understand her well. Then she goes and instigates a giant plot twist that I guarantee you came out of the blue for many viewers. Because we still don’t understand the way she thinks at all. This is what makes Rebellion so confusing. This is why it’s reasonable to say this story doesn’t make sense. Every good story foreshadows. I don’t mean this in the sense that there are symbols that presage every major event. I mean that the story shares the tendencies of the main character, and then that main character goes and acts according to those tendencies. So, why does Homura disregard all the other mahou shoujo who Madoka could save? Is it contempt? Arrogance? Simple-mindedness? Ambition? Is she like Light with the Death Note? Is she more like Sayaka, who believes she is doing good, and is motivated by a desire to save? We have no clue. We have barely any idea what Homura thinks about the world, life, existence in general. It’s good to compare with these other characters (Light, Sayaka). They show you that a good story gives us something to connect with and an identity to relate to the actions. Homura’s pretty much a force of nature here. *That’s* what makes it confusing. We latch onto trajectories of characters, and if we don’t understand the main character well, the trajectory is random, for all we can tell.

“I desperately want to be with Madoka” is brutally insufficient characterization for a centerpiece. I see Rebellion fans try to expand on this one-sentence description, fill in the blanks of Homura’s belief system and thought process with their own speculations. It’s mostly stuff that isn’t in Madoka Magica or Rebellion itself. With good characters like Sayaka or Light or Kamina you don’t have to ‘figure out’ where they stand or how they feel about the world. The story works hard to make damn sure you understand the way they see the world inside and out, because it’s a crucially important step in a story. I can imagine 4 or 5 or 6 different reasons why Homura might regard all those other people as not worth saving.

Most tacked-on sequels aren’t good and Rebellion is no exception. But I don’t begrudge people their enjoyment of it. If you had fun, that’s good 😊

puppyblood said:
and lastly, i always just wondered why it had to be this way in the end with homura. i mean, her only wish in life was to be by madoka's side.