"Theorize and Philosophize Together": Voice Actor Aoi Yuki, Who Plays Madoka Kaname Once Again, on the Appeal of Puella Magi Madoka Magica

— I really do share what you're saying, but I also find it frustrating that the growth of social media has produced a mood in which there must be a definite answer and knowing it straight away is the right thing to do.

Yuki: Just as you say, I have a feeling that works that make you think, this is fun to think about, may have become surprisingly rare. Puella Magi Madoka Magica showed how enjoyable it is to think about something together with other people, and I find it very stylish that it takes the position that what the right answer is exists only inside you — and that really is how it is.

What I find so admirable about Puella Magi Madoka Magica is that it holds to the idea, from beginning to end, that the meaning lies not in the truth itself but in how you received it.

In the dubbing sessions too, we would talk things over with Chiwa Saito, who voices Homura Akemi, and the others, saying things like "does this mean this?" and "maybe it's this," and "oh, so that's what it was!" and work out how it all fit together.

— It must also be a work that is hard to decipher from the lines and the stage directions in the script.

Yuki: But I can only see it from Madoka's point of view, so conversely there is a great deal I haven't been able to follow. I imagine there are many other truths to be found depending on whose perspective you take. I really hope people will watch it over and over and arrive at their own truth.

There was once a sense that anime was something children watched, but this has become a work with so much philosophy in it that I find myself wondering the opposite: what would children today think if they watched it, and what kind of people would they grow up to be? And I think even someone who knows nothing at all about anime will at least understand that the visuals and the sound are extraordinary.

— Even if you don't understand it, you do at least understand that you have seen something extraordinary (laughs).

Yuki: I'd say it gives you such an incredible rush of dopamine that short videos won't satisfy you anymore (laughs). You can go on your own and theorize at length, or go with a friend and talk about what each of you thought. And by talking it over, you come to understand better what kind of person that friend is (laughs).

Everyone: (Laughs)

Yuki: In that sense as well, it is packed with the idea that watching a work means looking at yourself and also looking at the other person, so I would love for people to enjoy it in that way.

How will you feel and what will you think as you experience the imagery and the story of Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie -Walpurgisnacht: Rising-? This was an interview that brought home the sense that the meaning lies in that very process. Do head to the cinema and find a truth that is yours alone.

Interview, photography and text / kato
(C)Magica Quartet/Aniplex,Madoka Project