Madoka and the Nature of Sacrifice

I have now seen Madoka episode 10. While watching episode 9, I thought that Madoka was the princess, the Madonna of the group. Sayaka, Homura, and even Mami to some extent are all protecting Madoka, even to the cost of their lives, or in Homura's case, unimaginable pain.* In the best shoujo series, I feel, there is the princess figure, one that everyone is fighting to protect. In Sailor Moon, Usagi is the princess, and the messiah- the one who sacrifices herself to save the world. In Princess Tutu, our titular hero isn't the princess- the prince Mytho is- he is the one sacrificed for. In the end, Ahiru (aka Duck) gives up her human form for him, as he gave up his heart to defeat the raven. Being a princess does mean you're at the center of the shoujo world, but you're also expected to make the ultimate sacrifice.

I find that the whole series has been about sacrifice thus far. Homura is more typical- someone who promises to protect Madoka no matter what, which is a bit of twist considering that the arc from episodes 5 to 9 has been about the sacrificed- Sayaka. Sayaka, like most girls her age, was not able to face her true feelings, and Kyubey manipulated that. Her desire to protect Madoka, her desire to have the love of her upperclassman, her desire to be important and powerful... Sadly, Sayaka was going to be a hero, but it's not that type of story. The girls can either sacrifice themselves like Kyoko, and Homura or become sacrifices like Mami and Sayaka.

Join me next time for 'The Princess is the Witch!"



*How hard must it be for a girl of that age to see the person most valuable to her and many others as well, die over and over again?