Puri gets nitpicky about magical girls suffering.

[shamanicshaymin]

So around last week, James and I finished watching Madoka (which I think poor James needs Prozac now. So it'll be his turn to pick the next Anime), and now, there's something that's been bugging me, namely in Sayaka's arc.

Why the hell do we never see Hitomi and Kamijou react to Sayaka's death?

It's understandable why nobody but Madoka and Sayaka mourned for Mami. It's even explained that since her body would never be discovered, Mami would be considered "missing" forever. But on Episode 11, it was clear Sayaka's body had been carried out and there was a funeral held for her, with nobody except Madoka and Homura knowing how she died. You even have a conversation between Madoka's mom and English teacher at the bar saying how unfortunate it was something like that happened to Sayaka and how shitty things have been going lately. But Hitomi, who was Sayaka and Madoka's close (if out-of-the-loop) friend, and Kamijou, whom Sayaka had known since childhood? Completely absent. You never see their reactions.

Let's look at what happened before. Hitomi told Sayaka she would give her a chance to talk to Kamijou about her feelings, and if she didn't, she'd confess herself. The last we ever hear of Hitomi is that she mentioned to Madoka that, "Sayaka and I haven't been on good speaking terms lately..." And then in the finale, we see her peeking out from backstage watching Kamijou. As if Sayaka never existed. No, Kamijou's "Sayaka?" at the end of playing "Ave Maria" doesn't count as acknowledgment. I know he's oblivious to her crush on him, but to her own death? You've got to be fucking kidding me. This is the impression I get:

News: "Sayaka Miki was found dead of unknown causes, and her funeral was sad."
Hitomi & Kamijou: *frolicking in a field* ~*~LA LA LA, WE'RE IN LOVE~*~

I'm not saying "OMG HITOMI IZ A BIIIIIIIITCH FOR STEALING KAMIJOU FROM SAYAKA!111!11!" like the majority of fandom, but dear lord, she could've been handled so much better. From Episode 1, you got the impression that she was important, only for her to not really be much of anything except A. A cardboard cutout Madoka and Sayaka are supposedly best friends with. B. A Plot Device to contribute to Sayaka's downfall before she gets Put on a Bus for the rest of the series. I don't give a damn about her or Kamijou (or them together, for that matter), but what I do care about is consistency, and the fact you never get a word from either of them about Sayaka's death bothers me a lot. She's your goddamn friend.

Is there a scene in the manga or something? If not, please let this be addressed in the two movie "reimaginings" of the series, though I doubt this would happen. :/

Also, it wouldn't have hurt to show a scene of Sayaka trying to purify her Soul Gem with a Grief Seed she earned herself and feeling troubled/apathetic that it was still cloudy. I know she distrusts Homura and Kyouko, but after clearly being told by Kyubey and Mami that she needs the Grief Seeds to replenish her Soul Gem, I couldn't help but scream, "You idiot!" at the screen. I know I'll sound like a cold-hearted jerk, but that hurt my sympathy for Sayaka when she transformed into a witch. I know Kyubey was all, "Her soul is getting darker, and not just because of all that magic she's using!" to Madoka and Kyouko (maybe Homura, I don't remember), but shouldn't he be telling Sayaka that? A scene between him and Sayaka showing this really wouldn't hurt, I promise.

Comments

[mikogalatea]

It's been a while since I saw the show, so I may be misremembering this, but didn't one of the adults say something about Hitomi feeling bad about what happened to Sayaka? If that's right, then while the fact remains that we don't see her reaction, it's not like she didn't react at all. =/

[shamanicshaymin]

I checked the episode and this is what Madoka's English teacher said: "It seems Sayaka had love troubles with one of her friends. She's having a hard time too." So there's a little acknowledgement, but... I dunno. It's one of those "show-don't-tell" things for me, I guess. At least there was a single line to back up Hitomi. Kamijou, on the other hand... :/

[wefeelgroove]

I chalked it up to time constraints being the reason why Hitomi and Kamijou weren't seen much. Outside of Madoka and Homura, everyone else probably saw Sayaka's death as a tragic kidnapping/murder, so I doubt Hitomi would have ever considered she might have had something to do with it. In the final timeline, I was under the impression that Sayaka died/vanished/was saved by Godoka at the same time Kamijou was playing and Hitomi was watching from backstage, so they probably wouldn't have found out about her disappearance until afterwards. Also, apparently in the upcoming PSP game it's revealed that Kamijou doesn't have any feelings for Sayaka at all, and even outright rejects her. :(

As for why Sayaka wouldn't purify her soul gem, well, you're right: it's because she's an idiot. She felt like using the grief seeds would be admitting that she was wrong and Kyouko was right, and she's still stubbornly clinging to the idea that she can be a selfless warrior of justice and didn't need anyone's help up until the bitter end. And Kyuubey is a bastard wanted her to turn into a witch, it helps him get his energy quota plus it served his ultimate goal of snaring Madoka and getting her to turn into a witch, so of course he's not going to help her beyond the bare minimum. bastaaaard.

[shamanicshaymin]

That makes a little sense, and I hope it's something remedied in the movies/game. I'm not saying Hitomi and Kamijou should know absolutely everything that's going on (neither am I asking Hitomi to bear the full blame for Sayaka's death, because she and Kamijou only played a small part in her downfall and it was by no means intentional). In the penultimate timeline (not the final one where Sayaka met Godoka), I expected Hitomi/Kamijou to be shocked/saddened/confused. Not "Oh no, she's dead and it's probably my fault", but "What? Sayaka's dead? How on earth could this happen? D:" Neither do I want Kamijou and Sayaka to live happily ever after (heck, I'm glad they didn't end up together). But there's a difference between being oblivious/not having romantic feelings for your childhood friend, and being oblivious when said childhood friend has mysteriously passed away out of the blue. (Now I'm even more curious about the PCP game, knowing poor Sayaka gets concrete rejection. Ouch.)

But isn't there the matter of keeping herself alive in order to beat Kyouko and Homura and other magical girls like them? The idea that all magical girls will inevitably suffer and transform into witches no matter what they do is hard-hitting and tragic, but I feel like throwing the Idiot Ball at Sayaka damages that point, since I'm thinking less "It's hopeless no matter what she does and it just hits her, and because of that, she feels like she's a failure as a warrior of justice" and keep getting distracted by, "You know, this could've been prevented longer if you took better care of your Soul Gem." I get that the series was trying to express a character flaw of Sayaka's, but the execution just fell flat for me. I like Sayaka, I just feel like her character arc could've been handled better, imo. :o