Sayaka's Tragedy | Madoka Magica Anime Discussion 

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Sayaka is probably the most relatable character of Madoka.

I disagree that the boy is an unsympathetic character - he's so deeply isolated in his tragedy that he cannot be expected to show grace towards people around him, until his situation is miraculously changed and he's tasting back his life - with all the seemingly lost future rushing back to him. We shouldn't fault him for not being omniscient or a mind reader - even if the situation is tragic.

You know, in the Madoka Mágica Anthology Manga, there is a chapter? dedicated to Kyouske, where he actually recognizes and values Sayaka, but chooses Hitomi because he can see the latter as an equal. He feels he is unworthy of Sayaka, which honestly makes this all the more tragic. I don't think the Anthology has any canonicity, but I still want to point it out

Sayaka ended up becoming my favourite character in the anime. Her character arc is sad but also my favourite kind of character arc

The series is 10 years old, and yet here we are, with new interpretations of the series and its characters. That's what you call a great series in almost every way.

I think part of the reason why she punishes herself and spirals is because she hates herself for having selfish desires and originally suppresses them, and then feels the need to hurt herself as punishment for mistakes she only blames herself for in the end. Which is partially what makes her so tragic. She wants to be this noble hero that in the real world doesn’t exist, but when she comes face to face with the cruelty of how the world really works, and the darkness inside her own self, she can’t handle it because her entire world view and personality is shattered in front of her. Being simply kind wasn’t enough. Which honestly, is completely understandable. It’s natural to want to be acknowledged for good action, to have rewards for good behavior, but she can’t stand when she realizes she wants this in herself, so she spirals in a fit of self destruction and rage. She hates herself and she hates the world for making her this way. She has no real self love or acceptance which is her ultimate weakness. She placed her entire value on what she could do for others, without acknowledging her own true feelings and broke when she realizes the ideals she believed in with every ounce of her being are fiction. So in the end, she goes to the grave mindlessly pursing her original goal even if it makes her utterly miserable because if she did anything else it would be a direct betrayal to what she once said she believed in... I also think in her relationship with Kyousuke, if she had the confidence to confess her feelings to him things could have turned out differently, but she felt ashamed of the fact she was a ‘zombie’ and did not feel that he could love her this way. She lets Kyousuke go, because it’s the ‘right thing to do’, again living by her altruistic ideals, and plays the part of the hero, but she does have selfish intentions. She does want to be with him, and she can’t stand that about herself. She hates herself for being jealous of Hitomi and having a thought of wishing she had let her die, because a hero isn’t supposed to think things like that, right? In the end, she destroys herself because she can’t stand who she’s become which is just so utterly sad. Her feelings were natural and normal and she crucified herself for simply being human.

I honestly see Sayakas story arch as a kin to the little mermaid.. It almost mirrors the story completely acceptance instead of sacrificing a voice she sacrificed her body

Hi! In Rebellion, during the transformation into a witch, Homura says something to the effect of - "I cannot even remember anything, and all I can remember is overwhelming grief..." It makes sense then, that when Sayaka was turning into a witch, she would say that she does not remember what was ever worth fighting for in the first place. As a witch, you seem to gain amnesia, which would explain why Octavia was unable to be turned back into a human.

I love Sayaka so much while many consider her the worst character of the main girls. Ironically I think it´s because she is the most human and most realistic, acting like a mirror in showing us the ugly truth we dont want to see. We all want to be strong and good and ideallistic but most would crumble just like her and things that seem silly and simple to outsiders like heartbreak feel like the end of the world to us. Really amazing video!

Sayaka’s arc can be interpreted in many ways I feel. It could be about the balance of karma, it could be about growing up, to me it’s about a downward spiral into depression. A spiral that feels so real and scary it’s actually a bit relatable, especially to someone like myself. Sayaka may have had good intentions but her true desire was a selfish one deep down, and to have it taken away from her, all she felt was anger, hatred, and despair. Taking it out on everyone she knew and most of all, herself. She wasn’t stupid... she was just a kid. That is why Sayaka Miki is my favorite character of all time... 😌 (Also, the writers confirmed that she didn’t kill the two men on the train. However she actually did in the manga adaptation)

Her character and this show in general made me feel a type of "dirty" sadness. It felt murky, tainted, stained, and dull. Idk why though :/

One of the themes I see in Madoka is the inability to see how hardships can help you later on. Hardships teach us to avoid future failures, help us to learn lessons we can only learn through failing. Sayaka’s wish, and even Homura’s as well, were based on the inability to see a way to work THROUGH the hardship because it hurt too much in the moment. They’re basically looking for immediate and quick gratification, rather than being able to understand that holding out would make for a stronger character and will at the end of it

Poor Sayaka. The show did an amazing job of portraying that devastating self hatred one feels when you realize most of your motivations are selfish in nature- and then the self destruction that tends to follow. This was a brilliant video essay!

Sayaka's story is really the one that hurts the most imo, her death really gave me chills and her descent to inhumanity

i dont really get why sayaka gets hate ,shes one of the most human characters in anime. shes definitely my favourite

I disagree that the boy was unlikable. As someone who tends to lash out sometimes due to my own mental issues, I can tell you that neither of them were in a situation to understand what he was going through and how to approach it. So, the problem never gets brought up in a healthy way or addressed in a healthy way either. Hitomi crossed the line though, she's the unlikable one imo 🗿

I relate to Sayaka in a very scary and frustrating way.

I don't think Kyousuke is unsympathetic. Just like with everyone else's story lines there's a lot going on. You can actually kinda see him as a bit of a micro of Homura (and Sayaka). When you lose everything you get lost in that loss, when you can get that back you get lost in having it back. He didn't owe Sayaka a return on that emotion, but it's hinted he did return it. Hitomi even saw that and gave her an opening which, just like a grief seed, she refused. Kyousuke was not obligated to chase her and since she did not come for him when he was healed he did was most kids would do and assumed she had enough and he missed his chance. Instead of having to dwell in it though, Hitomi showed up 🤷🏾‍♂️

When sayaka beats her self up for not living up to the ideal image mami sets... I felt that .

When I watch a show, sometimes I think “what would I have done if I was in that world?” And Sayaka’s character followed my thoughts eerily closely. Her dreams, hopes, and flaws were so real and so was her downfall. She holds a dear part in my heart.

I'm so glad that someone else sees that Sayaka is a good and likeable character.

The philosophy of when kindness and selflessness crosses into selfishness is the kind of stressful paradox thinking that always got under my skin, especially with my foster parents. It's this notion that it is impossible to not be selfish and greedy 24/7 and thus one is always a bad person, but then it makes you wonder when it's possible to be a good person or if selflessness is actually possible. I've been told by such people that my kind are incapable of it, so who knows for sure, I just know it's a philosophy that has always haunted me and that it's something Sayaka embodies and that maybe this is why I'm so iffy on her and why I wonder if Madoka's desire to do the right thing is in turn the most selfish act of them all.

Even if the world is very magical and fictional, I think Sayaka was the most realistic character from them all. Her desires are very realistic and honestly I would've done the same things as her as a teenager

the saddest part in all of this is that sayaka was too focused in her ideals to see the reality of the world , because unlike the previous magical girl shows where girls like sayaka have the same ideals they get rewarded for it , but sayaka on the other hand got nothing in return , which is what made her fate tragic .

I've always love the tragic story of Sayaka. A true sacrifice that didn't do anything more than bring pain to a lot of people and how, and, at the end, even when Madoka tried to gave her the opportunity to start again, she didn't regret her sacrifice, making her last sacrifice for Kiosuke, this time making it for his happines, not for her own. Amazing video as always, amazing analysis and writing. ¡Thank you so much!

One thing I find interesting is the parallel between Sayaka and Homura. Both girl's wishes are motivated by wating to save someone they love, both fall to despair at least in part because they can't be with that person, and both stories raise questions of whether they truly love that person or just want to possess them. Sayaka is aware that her motives may not have been purely altruistic, and that troubles her throughout the show. This is why she gets so angry when Kyoko suggests she force Kyosuke to love her. Contrast this with Homura, who never questions her own motives or methods. However, unlike Homura, Sayaka redeems herself when she accepts her death and reaffirms her wish. This shows that she genuinely wants her friends to be happy even if she can't be with them. Homura faces a similar these at the end of the Rebellion movie, but ultimatly places her desire to possess Madoka above Madoka's wishes. Fans can disagree over whether Homura's new world was "better" in a practical sense, but her reasons are unquestionably wrong, as even Homura admits. I really hope these parallels get explored further now that they're finally making the next movie and that Homura eventually gets a chance at redemption.

I love your video, but your analysis on Kyousuke a bit harsh. I honestly think everyone is too harsh on this boy. Yes, Sayaka was a great and kind person to Kyousuke, but he doesn't owe her his feelings. He listened to music with her a lot and was obviously appreciative to her actions/efforts. This poor boy lashed out ONCE. ONCE, that we see of. It probably hit him in the moment that he will NEVER be able to play music again. That he will NEVER be able to accomplish or continue his passion or goals. I swear, everyone acts like Kyousuke is a jerk. He's not. He, like Sayaka, like Homura, and Kyoko (sp?), was hurt and traumatized and lashed out. May I mention again, one time! Kyoko has a sad backstory and actively lets innocent people get hurt to get grief seeds and she's somehow more sympathetic than Kyousuke? Homura straight up prioritize Madoka in literally every situation and is willing to let others die, but she's more sympathetic than Kyousuke? Kyousuke was still in the hospital and was still healing. Physical therapy wasn't going well for him. He was coming to terms that he will never be able to play music again. And he lashed out. Again, Kyousuke doesn't owe Sayaka his feelings. She was a great and dear friend to him. Obviously, that wasn't enough for her but that isn't his fault.

OK. While I mostly agree here? One huge thing that I think a lot of fans forget when it comes to koysuke is *he deliberately and intentionally hurts himself and openly lements how he's useless without the ability to play music.* He keeps hearing people talk about how he's a prodigy and was destined for greatness. Not to mention he comes from a rich family that likely had high expectations for him and his music carrer. Now he can't do that and probably feels like he's a failure and at something he loved to do. Listening isn't enough because it was something he loved doing and was really good at. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if he started more severe self-harm or requesting to have his hand amputated so he won't have to deal with an all but actual dead hand. *Sayaka was trying to prevent that*

Regarding kyosuke i have to disagree. He doesnt owe Sayaka anything. She had a crush on him and decided to selflessly care for him while he was lost in his own grief and sorrow for a lost future. while dealing with all that you cant excpect him to be focused on anyone other than himself. She made the choice to be there "selflessly" at first but in reality she began to think that this sould eventually grant her some sort of rights over him. And that is how that selfless love and care becomes selfishness. She wanted him to be well again but eventually also expected that he would somehow see through the effort and be grateful to her when all he cared for was getting his life back. there is nothing wrong with that.

Her tragic end made me almost rage quit the show... I related to her so much and seeing her "friend" Hitomi just backstab her like that made my blood boil. Also Kyousuke... idc if he was sad and depressed, Sayaka was the only consistent support he had and he just forgot her?!?!

Madoka Magika still breaks me everytime I rewatch it, even 11 years later

I watched Madoka Magica when it came out in 2011, I was 11, and just starting anime. I’m 21 now, about to turn 22, and no anime has ever held a greater spot in my heart than this one. Madoka Magica is criminally underrated and yet, I am happy it is seemingly a forgotten hidden gem. Sayaka and Kyoko have always been my favorites, and I also feel these two (alongside Mami) get overshadowed so much by Madoka and Homura. Obviously I understand why it’s the case, but I always appreciate those who also took the time to appreciate the importance and complexities of the other girls, who endured just as much pain and suffering - Sayaka especially. Wonderful video man.

Sayaka showing everyone the power of love isn’t always a good thing.

To think that every time Homura creates a new timeline, a new sayaka is born to suffer the same unavoidable fate in each timeline. It really makes it sadder to think about. I’d like to elaborate, but I am sure those who understand time travel and who have seen the anime will get the idea.

Mercy implies the existence of Justice. If Justice were a lie, mercy would be as well.

I love Sayaka's character. She truly is the "best girl". I was at a identic situation to her's in the past, also at basicaly the same age, so I resonate a lot with her and kinda understand her struggle.

I'm surprised how many others there are who relate to Sayaka the same way I do. She always felt like a dark mirtor to me and her arc was one of the most impactful I have seen in any anime. Nice to see her analyzed

I feel like she just wanted Kyosuke to be happy but only with her and she thought giving him his hands back would make him love her but it was not true and once she realizes it was kind of selfish which is what mami warned her about she realizes that it wasn’t worth it and it feels wasted even thought she was always being a good person The comments gave me more insight thank you

Sayaka the Human... She is probably the one most like myself in the pack, so she is also the one I can relate to most directly. She is the kind of character that makes you think that being human has a certain nobility to it, even when everything turns to ashes in your hands. I don't think I will ever forget her.

"Is kindness a form of selfishness? [...] SHE couldn't handle HIS pain anymore. Is this selfless?" Supposedly, this is the problem with altruistic behavior in general: if you do it "for someone else's sake", then you shouldn't be doing it "because it makes you feel good," but then again even if you do it for someone else's sake you do feel good about it precisely because we see kindness as something good and admirable. So how can this be avoided? Ultimately, the fact that we do everything "selfishly" (= "because we feel good about doing it, or at least better than we would if we didn't do it") is not what matters to me when deciding if an action is good or bad, altruistic or selfish, kind or unkind; doing 'what makes us feel good' is simply what humans always do. Rather, what is it that makes us feel good about doing it -- is it the recognition of others? The prestige we'll gain? Or is it the fact that this person will actually be happier, better off in life, because of what we did? If the latter is what makes us feel good, then even though we're still doing it 'in order to feel good', I'd say this is a kind action done for selfless reasons. It's at least the best we humans, wired the way we are and with the brains and emotions we have, can do. So I don't think Sayaka is wrong in wanting to lessen Kyōsuke's pain 'because SHE couldn't handle his pain' (= 'she would feel better if he felt no pain'). I think whenever we decide we have found the right course of action, it is ultimately because it is the one we feel better following. It's... part of what it means to act as a human, to have a set of emotions in your heart that affects you. I think where she was wrong was the lack of acknowledgment of this fact. She herself thought that doing the right thing solely because it is the right thing -- my own personal feelings be damned -- was the true definition of ... nobility perhaps? Or ethical behavior? So she despised that in herself which felt good when she did the right thing, because it would make it seem like she is doing it ultimately for herself; and despising it, she pushed it aside, shoving it into her unconscious, where, as unconscious things are wont to do, it ended up slowly eroding her self-esteem, bit by bit. The logical ending of such a perception -- based on the belief that feeling good about it as at least part of the reason why we do the right thing kind of makes it all selfish and is thus 'wrong' -- is suicide, at least for humans with emotions. She would have to either accept feeling good about it as a valid reason, or then become a robot (like Kyūbē) and do the right thing without feeling anything about it, or... she'd end up killing herself. Noblesse oblige.

Just remember she is only 14

Sayak Miki probably has the most sad arc. She destroyed herself over something as foolish as a teenage crush. She's actually very relateable though and that makes me enjoy her as a character.

"(Sayaka was lost) the moment selfishness bonded with selflessness in her contract." My impression is, as I've already said, that Sayaka's problem was not the bond of selfishness to selflessness (which is unavoidable for beings that have emotions and cherish happiness), but her mistaken view that purity was essential -- that there was no excuse for any element of selfishness in an "ally of Justice," so she had to repress her own less-than-pure motives behind the purer ones in order to be able to act... If she had seen the relation between selfishness and selflessness differently, she could have avoided her fate. Her obsession with ethical purity doomed her (to quote Madoka's mother, "yeah, this [kind of situation] happens all the time [...] it's like they stop thinking rationally"). But here, I'm curious. In the final Madoka-Sayaka scene, Madoka says, "[I brought you here] because I wanted to respect your wish. Because it is not meaningless, not worthless"... Why do you think she's saying that? If what's wrong with Sayaka's wish is that it contained selfishness (rather than Sayaka's belief that selfishness and selflessness can have nothing to do with each other, than only pure selflessness is worthy), then why would Madoka say that? Wasn't Sayaka's wish tainted from the start? Yet Madoka says it wasn't... (To me, it seemed that she was saying Sayaka's wish was perfectly fine, selfless and selfish parts alike; Sayaka only had to outgrow her fascination with purity, and accept the success of her wish -- Kyōsuke again making music -- as good, as worthy, purity or no purity. But what is your impression? I'm honestly curious.)

Thank you so much for this video. I hadn't considered the debate between Bentham and Kant and sort of missed just how deeply Sayaka actually fell not just on an emotional but also moral level. I hope more people see your content!

Another amazing video as always. Also I forgot how crazy the production value on this anime was. It’s very subtle but the animation style complimented the various sceneries/color schemes we would see throughout.

I just finished PMMM today and I'm honestly shocked that people hated Sayaka, especially when she's sort of what sold me on watching the show in its entirety. For context, I started the anime about 10 years ago when my friends gave me the classic "just get to the fourth episode" spiel. After reaching this fabled moment that was supposed to set the whole show apart, all I could say was, "That's it? The best part of this anime is that they kill off a magical girl?" It was essentially being touted as "Sailor Moon but the girls die so it's totally dark and, like, for big kids and stuff." That selling point just sounded so hollow and fake-deep that I dropped the series right there. It was only a few days ago when I saw one of your videos briefly mention Sayaka's character arc that I was actually intrigued enough to give the show a proper second chance, and boy, am I glad I did. Suffice to say, it was leaps and bounds better than I'd previously imagined. And maybe I'm backwards for shrugging off what people loved about it and then loving what people shrugged off, but Sayaka genuinely stuck out to me as one of the most relatable, well-written, and thought-provoking side characters in the show, if not in anime as a whole. And since I know I'm not the only one in my friend group who dropped PMMM for the reasons I did, I'll definitely be citing Sayaka's story and your channel as big parts of what changed my mind the next time anime comes up. Thanks a bunch for convincing me!

Excellent video! I've always really loved Sayaka, always made me sad how a lot of people wrote her off as a terrible person. This is such a great character study that delves into why she is the way she is.

Literally sayaka is the most miserable character I’ve ever seen on TV 😭

i’ve seen madoka twice already, but i really need to watch it again now that my brain is more developed. i think i would be able to see a lot more in the series than i did before.

I never understood why Sayaka was so hated, I adored her from the start.

I feel like what you said around 6:44 kinda goes back to what Sayaka said about how her and Madoka are completely ignorant when it comes to any sort of suffering, because going by my own understanding of that point, she doesn't care how the result of her actions affect the people she loves, as long as she can erase her own pain, being selfish doing so. Also, similar to how Mami hated how imperfect she was as a person, Sayaka couldn't live with the weak person she was, leading her to make the wish to change someone's else fate(changing Kyosuke's suffering which would've never ended until his death into happiness while remaining just as he was before he was in the hospital) instead of trying to change herself by making a wish for her own benefit.

Homura, Sayaka and Kyoko are my favs.

This was an amazing video, the writing and editing were great and I absolutely adore your analysis of Sayaka and her role in the story ✨

Something that's caught my attention during this video is how similar Sayaka and Kyouske are in their suffering. We see only fragments of him as a character, and while he's not 'sympathetic', he's not the character we're supposed to sympathise with- but that doesn't make him beyond sympathy in of itself. If you just isolate Sayaka's behaviour at the very end of her arc, we'd probably have as much distaste for her actions towards others as we would with how Kyouske treats her. Her anger is unpleasant and directionless and it's hard to watch, but we've seen what she's been through, what she wanted (and what she really wanted) and we wanted that for her too, because she's our girl, and then we saw her lose it all and we grieved with her. But Kyouske doesn't have the same relevance to us. And I think that's just the message of their characters side by side-- grief and trauma is often ugly and unsightly and people deserve our understanding, even if we can't accept their behaviour.

Sayaka: You won't even give up your humanity out of pity for a friend! Madoka, from the Different Story manga: Hold my ribbons

Incredible and thorough analysis. Love hearing you touch on aspects of the show people gloss over. Like how their characters contrast and effect the environment they live in.

Sayaka was my favorite character in the series. The story of her rapid downward spiral moved me the most.

that Sayaka quote is the most important line in the entire series. Glad you shed light on it!

Currently writing my thesis on Madoka Magica, specifically on Sayaka. thank u for this vid, was definitely part of my inspiration :-)

Dude, you did a phenomonal job on this video I've never watched any anime's in my life but recently I decided to look into Madoka Magica after one of my friends recommended it to me. I stumbled across this video and you have me hooked! This weekend I'll definitely watch this series. That aside, your editing and music choices compliment what your talking about so well, I can only dream of being able to make "video essays" like these. Great job on this video and I hope RU-vid takes you somewhere far in the future.

She's so underrated

Definitely onr of the most tragic characters in this series. Loved the video

This earned a sub, I haven't enjoyed such a deep dive into a character in a while; community discussion around her usually falls back to an echo chamber of people calling her stupid for falling the way she did or calling her a bad friend etc etc. This is the first time I feel like her actions were interpreted "correctly" (which I put in quotes because it is all a matter of opinion I guess). I'll be checking out your other vids on the MadoMagi cast for sure :)

He did genuinely love the music and was happy when they listened to it together. What you’re talking about is a moment where he couldn’t properly process his sheer frustration and anger at his situation and lashed out in anger at her because the music right that second was just a cruel reminder of his fate. Was what he did okay? No, but he’s a kid put in a very traumatic situation. He’s reacting in a very understandable way.

Beautifully done, Sayaka is a very tragic character (i mean they all are) but I found her most relatable myself

Wonderfully edited and thought provoking video. You just earned a subscriber.

He is not an unsympathetic character honestly. It is totally understandable that what happenned to him can make him lash out. When people are not ok, you cannot expect them to act normally. His life dream was ruined, and while he likes the old days they are also painful. He can feel a mix of good and bad emotions when he listens to that music and anything can happen during that time. And also... the crush.I mean hell, yes sayaka was always there for him but in the end, sayaka had to express her feelings, and she didn't. You can't expect someone to understand you are doing things like the fact you want a relationship out of them. I am running left and right to help people i know and love that are in pain but that doesn't mean i want to be in any romantic relationship with most of them. He appreciates the help but he just can't read that from a person that was there, and he doesn't know and will never know the sacrifice she made for him. The sacrifice she made now doesn't have any meaning, because she didn't try to get out of her shell for that. She just tried to help him. I don't remember if we see him in sayaka's funeral, but we don't know how he felt about that. He could have been devastated as well. He knew her a lot. Calling him unsympathetic because the kid had what basically amounts to SEVERE TRAUMA, and because he can't read minds, no, just... no

15:04 I find what sayaka said to be so ironic because of what madoka ends up doing at the end of the anime

Miki Sayaka kind of finds out the final secret of the soul gem herself, from her quote "For as much happiness as we wish on one person, we can't help but curse someone else". The meaning behind the words were imply her wishes for Kyosuke is "hope" but for him not for herself. After Kyosuke recovered, he accept Hitomi's confession and become lovers, this makes her filled with resentment and hatred. At the final moment she realize that is how magical girls works, that's why she calmed herself being stupid, stupid enough for falling this trap from QB. With a more realistic interpretation way is she regretted that didn't listen to Mami and her wish was not for herself, Sayaka always admire Mami for her purely justice, and want to follow her path, but she didn't see it clear enough that Mami and her were never the same, Mami wish for herself, she fulfilled the desire first, so that she can start given hopes to others, although Mami don't really have another choice when making the wish, but the point still stand, she wish for herself but Sayaka didn't.

great video, I feel like Sayaka is really relatable in a way

Great video! :D I LOVE Madoka Magica!!! :)

I love sayaka so much, she's so tragically written, and I just relate to her a lot

I really hate how Sayaka’s basically the punching bag for this series 😭😭 In the Walpursinacht(I think I spelled it wrong) Rising trailer, during the scene with her, Madoka, and Hitomi her neck was bandaged up, and also how in the trailer her face was almost fully bandaged up 😭😭

This video really is just how I feel huh. I’m a very empathetic person. I feel what others are feeling. So I don’t like people to be sad, because **i** don’t like to be sad. And I often struggle with the selfish part of me. I want to be liked. And I do things for other people to *be* liked. Not for them to be better but for my personal benefit. And I hate that part of myself. I feel guilty for feeling this way. It’s hard to believe I’m a good person when my thoughts are different from my actions. Everyone thinks I’m a good person because they don’t know my thoughts. They don’t know how selfish they are. This is why I love Sayaka. She’s the same age as me and has the same problems as me. We’re objectively good people, but deep down, we’re the most selfish people you’ll ever meet.

though it was a good video , just a little note that might just be me but I felt the text for each portion of the essay was hard to read against the background you chose. other wise still great video. in anime id like you to cover id go with either silver spoon or the garden of sinners

My favorite character Poor girl just wanted to do good, be kind Only to lose herself and bring on madness, depression.

Finally, thank you for this video. Sayaka is my favorite character of all time!!! I hope this shows more people how amazing she is

Sayaka is my favorite character is madoka magica her personality to her choices and lore was done so well I applause gen urobuchi. She has one of the most memorable death of anime characters and definitely a magical girl. Well written believable outcome of her choices and that how life is sometimes you don't always get go back and tell people the moral to your. Sometimes it already too late and you realize you we,re stupid so stupid as your sum of life crashes down.

Love this

Great video!!

Sayaka is probably my favorite character of all time, and i was avoiding watching your videos in general because i didn't wanna alter my feelings in any way towards her, i didn't wanna taint my feelings and mix them with someone else's opinion That being said, after i finally watched this video, i practically agree with everything you said and i also agree that sayaka vs elsa maria is the best scene in the show. It's in fact my favorite scene of all time in all media in general (Strangely enough, a lot of people don't extract the same feeling i do whenever watching it, probably watched 100x+ and still get goosebumps EVERYTIME, decretum is such an insaaaaaane song) I guess we share a lot of similarities in our taste in media Also i finally got around to watching it because im gonna tattoo her grief seed soon, so i stumbled upon the video (already have oktavia's name tattooed) Anyways, amazing video! Gonna be watching more of your analysis from now on!

sounds like someone might write an essay on this

I relate to and love Sayaka SO MUCH

Great video! Can you point me in the direction of the music used in the video? It is lovely

Nice

“I Was Stupid, So Stupid.”

I found your video in recomendations. The video is very interesting but damn when I saw your face I was so fascinated by how beautiful you are so I accidentally missed everything that you said lol. I hope you have your own Sayaka who loves you so much as she does. Sorry if my comment looks strange but I really wanted to make a compliment from the heart to you.

Calling Sayaka's story underrated as if she wasn't my favorite ever since my first time watching the show.

And this is why everyone should make sure their relationships are balanced lol. Or that you're being kind for the right reasons, and not because you want to get something out of it. Otherwise you'll just develop resentment when a relationship is one sided.

6:40 I've literally always thought about this

I'm still in the middle of the video (I love it so far btw), but I kinda wanted to tackle the whole Kyouske basically throwing Sayaka away once he's healthy. (Or Kyousuke in general, I guess?) So, in other media, namely Madoka Magica Portable, we can see that he didn't forget nor he stopped caring about her, as he visits her in one of Sayaka's Bad Ending, as well as there's a SPOILER (moment where Hitomi intends to confess, but once Madoka appears asking for Sayaka, visibly very worried they both put it on hold to help searching for her) END OF SPOILER And here I go, another SPOILER there is at some point a moment (unless it was in a differend PMMM game? It's been a while) where Kyousuke's about to commit unaliving which kinda gives you a bit more perspective regarding his state, aka it was already that bad END OF SPOILER Now, if I remember correctly he was also searching for her in The Different Story (manga), to give her at least a small gift for being with him through all this. I might be wrong about it happening in TDS, but I'm pretty confident it happened at least Somewhere. It took some time, because his life basically changed overnight, too, and it's understandable that he'd need some time to adjust first

"The most Kyōsuke could do was lash out at Sayaka." In his defense, let me say that not only is he forced to face the end of his dreams, but also the lack of hope of ever having anything, even a secondary role, in his beloved area of music ever. In addition, he also apologized to her for having lashed out, which he didn't "have" to do; he did so because he realized he was wrong. So I don't think his reaction to Sayaka makes him less likable, just as Sayaka's lack of understanding for Kyōko's situation also does not make her less likable. He actually makes me think of how we ourselves deal with loss at such a scale as he did. How many of us would have turned into something much worse than Kyōsuke?... So I never really found him "unlikable," but merely "human." "(Sayaka helping Kyōsuke with her wish) was a bandaid that covered the wound, but did nothing to help it heal." Hmmm... But what made it a wound, if not the accident? The fact he cared so much about music is not per se a wound; but the way you put it, it sounds as if he had a wound even before the accident. Is that what you mean? Is that some variation on the theme that an artist that dedicates him/herself entirely to the pursuit of his/her art is "wronging others" -- those who happen to like him/her, because they take second stage to his/her artistic growth?

Sakayka story was like the little mermaid.

Do you know about the new movie madoka magica , can you make a video about it? And magia record season 2

Sayaka is my favourite character from these brillaint series

6:48 That's something that I've talked with several people about it, and usually they don't agree, but I think it's somewhat interesting. No matter how pure an action is, the root of it is selfish, for even charity or any other selfless action is rooted in something as simple as wanting to feel better by following your own moral code (after all, we retaliate at the idea of doing things that go against our moral compass even if it would lead to a more desirable outcome, sometimes imposing our own morals to others, it's beyond selfish, yet we call it selflessness because we have the idea that being selfish is inherently wrong, when being selfish is only wrong when your method to achieve that goal is done through means that ignore the pain that it inflicts on others). To me, Sayaka represents exactly that, someone who is so caught up in the idea that she is doing things to do good, that she is doing them for her own interests, and that denial ends up destroying her, because she wasn't able to see what she was looking for, she spiralled into a self-destructive behaviour that would be her undoing (and even though I say this in a cold way, I'm not gonna act like what she was going through wasn't hard, measuring the pain someone feels is almost impossible. But one should strive to continue living, to overcome what knocked them down, if not, what's left in life? To wallow in their own sorrow? That is not life. That's being dead but remain living)

Madoka magica is my go to recommendation for new anime fans. It occupies a similar space in the pantheon of good anime, to me at least, as something like NGE. It's approachable, creative, gorgeous, and tells a human story. 10/10 perfect anime.

I love her so much

Basically, the Shirou Emiya of Madoka Magica