MGNQ CAT#2

#MGNQ, Critical Analysis, Thread 2.

Wow guys, didn't think anyone was gonna bother to read the first one. We'll see where this goes, eh? Also, @RootofWoot, nice use of the 'Murderface Experience' for the cover art lol.

Thread 2 is the start of many things, the first is the establishment of the now familiar 'Do Not Cross' cover pic and the 'You are a magical girl' intro lines. Like a proper action show, thread 1 is the pilot episode, and now we move onto the main opening. It's worth noting here that, until Kharn specifically mentions it later, I believed that the fact that Chiaki's glasses were black in this pic was suppose to be a 'under the radar' hint that were aren't quite Moemura with her red rims. :/

While this intro paragraph takes many forms, normally a recap, this one is our first introduction of Pinky. We'll see her in a little bit, but the 'Shoot her in face while she tears out your heart' line is importantly specific and repeated almost verbatim each time it's mentioned.

Is Charles a reference? Without a proper bar name it's hard to pin, but his description is oddly familiar, so who knows. And the Yakuza cleanup job still remains a nice fanfic hook I should look into some time. It's also never really cleared up how the girls, despite being only a few years older then their show versions, are getting all this booze and cigs.

Entrance Kyoko. She actually tells us a lot about the setting, though you might not notice at first blush. Its nice to see she and Sayaka are a couple, always a fan favorite, and allows for a rather interesting play between our Red and Blue girls. We seem to get along MUCH better with Kyoko, she's even in our cellphone next to Mami and QB. It's worth noting that even the player base picked up on this, sliding Kyoko firmly into 'best bro' category.

The more subtle though... The exact nature of PMMM's Meguca has had some questions over the years, one of which is what the effects of Lichedom do to a girl. Kyoko proves that their bodies DO still live in a sense, getting fat from sweets and lungs growing dry from too much cigarette abuse. Of more interest is the eye; Kyoko is the only PMMM girl (other then us, and we may well not actually be Homura, after all) to have any major cosmetic differences, in both eye and costume. Despite this however, she has the least changed personality of the cast. Just what happened is cleared up later, but the fact that permanent harm can come to our bodies is... an interesting fact with QB's abilities and, well, MAGIC in the setting.

Moving forward... Iori Minase <3! My waifu preference is well established, but the thing worth noting is the QB Heavy Industries introduction here. Not by name yet, but this is the biggest difference between QB's PMMM incarnation. I'll get into my thoughts on QBHI at the end of the Iori arc, but suffice to say, I've always thought QB in the show had set up the entirety of Mitakihara Town (as a side note, fuck that spelling. Gotta look it up EVERY time...) as some sort of witch farming device, so this fits.

And onto Pinky! Who is not yet named, and outside evidence suggests the name was going to be Faust. Or still is? But is most defintily NOT Madoka, nor Gretchen. Probubly? Either way, it's clear our pink haired lady is no ghost from our past. In her introduction, she lays out a lot of the rules she'll follow later.

She calls us Homura pretty consistantly, even though she straight tells us that we're a fake Homura, and knows we go by both Murderface and Chiaki. It's clear she has a much better view of the big picture, but isn't letting her hand show. The fake line is of importance, clearly, but its still unclear just HOW important, or what that actually means for the real Madoka and Homura. Also, the fact she speaks directly into our mind, like QB but NOT like the witch earlier, shows their repective power levels over everything else in the setting.

She also quickly esblishes her sole 'right' of her being the only one allowed to kill us, and her fondness for us in a deadly fashion. This is important; she's NOT our enemy, dispite it being very likely she'll be the final 'boss'. No, instead she's the most dangerous ally imaginable.

She also exhibits a particular odor worth noting, that of 'decay and corruption'. This is one of the very few times scent is called upon in the story, but is one of Pinky's signature discriptors. In a story that mostly seems to follow a 40k Khornate path, our lady in pink seems to be the sole Nurgle character.

The chapter ends with 'the Flesh of Fallen Angels', a phrase so loaded in meaning that... we know nothing about it. Assumed to later be part of Golden Weapon Corruption, this early mention shows that not to be the case. We don't HAVE the DEagle yet, but here we are, spouting off the phrase. Instead, I think we must consider this being a sign of Pinky's corruption itself, and the further you fall to her power the harder it is to resist.

Poor Yayoi. :(