The Imagery in Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Part I: Homura Akemi)
One of the most tragic things about the Puella Magi Madoka Magica series — and that’s saying a lot about a series that is already pretty tragic to begin with — is that we wind up learning the most about the characters only after it’s too late to save them.
As awful as it may be to see your favorite character lose herself to becoming yet another witch, however, the sheer amount of nuanced details we can garner from their inhuman form can help color our perception of who they were.
If nothing else, that at least makes re-watching the series all the more interesting… right?
Today we’ll be taking a deeper look into the character of Homura Akemi, the dark haired loner and first magical girl we see in the series.
Witch of the Mortal World, Homulilly
As I mentioned earlier, we get some of the best details about the characters and their motivations by taking a deeper dive into their witch forms, which is what I’ll be spending most of the time here doing.
While the translation, “mortal world” is easy, not necessarily wrong, and sounds pleasing to the ear, it doesn’t exactly get across the whole story.
此岸 (shigan; this shore, the mortal world) carries with it something of a negative nuance, especially as it relates to Buddhism — and why shouldn’t it, considering your goal is to get to Nirvana and let go of your humanly connections?
It carries with it the implication of wants, desires, and the worries we carry with us through our lives.
This lies in contrast with 彼岸 (higan; the other shore, Nirvana), the crossing of a metaphorical river into a real where you’re relieved of all these humanly woes.
A picture is worth a thousand words
If you spend an absurd amount of time staring at the Witch Homulilly, you’ll see that there are three major themes consistent through her character:
● records
● red spider lily
● gallows
Records
Homulilly wears a hat reminiscent of a stereotypical witch’s hat, though the wide, round brim of the hat is actually a record. On the front of the brim near the front of the record is also a record arm and, ostensibly, a record needle as well. Completing the image, Homulilly has a speaker coming out of her back.
You could probably make a reasonable argument that there’s some deeper meaning to the records here: unlike live musical performances, records (or cassettes, or CDs, or MDs…) allow you to play back your favorite part over and over.
You could probably also make a good argument for the speaker being on her back, as if she didn’t want the people she faces to know what she’s thinking of feeling. But that’s neither nor there.
Once her hat comes off, however, we see…
Red spider lily
Her head is covered with a wild red spider lily plant, which partially explains where she gets her name from (Homulilly… spider lily. Get it?). I suppose you could call it hair, but I digress.
What’s the relevance? Glad you asked!
The red spider lily is known in Japanese as the 彼岸花 (higanbana). Those of you taking notes at home may notice that this shares a name with the term for the “other shore” (Nirvana) — a nice contrast with the darkness that fills Homulilly.
Gallows
Homulilly’s endless procession toward the gallows probably isn’t too surprising thematically speaking considering that she’s, well, a witch.
Witches, as I’m sure you may have heard, haven’t historically had a good working relationship with the gallows.
What makes this all the more fascinating, however, is the connection between all this imagery (music, witch, gallows) and French composer Hector Berlioz’s 1830 “Fantastical Symphony: An Episode in the Life of an Artist, in Five Parts.”
Particularly, her slow march to the gallows calls on images in Parts IV and V of the Symphony:
Part IV: Marche au Supplice (March Into Torture)
Convinced that his love is spurned, the artist poisons himself with opium. He dreams that he has killed his beloved, that he is condemned, led to the scaffold and is witnessing his own execution. […]
Part V: Songe D’une Nuit De Sabbat (Dreams of a Witches’ Sabbath)
He sees himself at a witches’ sabbath, in the midst of a hideous gathering […] who have come together for his funeral. Strange sounds, groans, outbursts of laughter; distant shouts which seem to be answered by more shouts. […] The funeral knell tolls, burlesque parody of the Dies irae, the dance of the witches. […]
Alas, no matter how many times the witch Homulilly may approach the gallows in a desperate attempt to atone for her sins, she’s doomed to continue to repeat her endless procession over and over, almost like a skipping record, and forever live on in this mortal world.
I hope this provided you with just a little more insight into Homura Akemi and her motivations, especially in the context of who she became when she lost it all. Tragedy, as they say, can show you a lot about who a person really is.
Stay tuned as we take a look at the other characters in the series. Next up, Madoka Kaname!
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