12 Days of Anime #1: Twas the Night of Walpurgis

Posted in Twelve Days

Twas the night of Walpurgis, and all through fandom
people were waiting all in tandem
Downloads were watched, F5’s were pressed
[gg] fansubs was repeatedly refreshed

While those not interested were snug in their beds,
No interest in blondes that had just lost their heads.
Not knowing of contracts nor a soul gem,
The word ‘incubator’ meant nothing to them.

We were all entranced for 2 months and a week,
But twas the final 2 episodes that we did seek.
We demanded them now, perhaps arrogantly
The earthquake had delayed them indefinitely.

Fund raisers were run and money was raised
Surprisingly few series were delayed
But to think that the good people at Shaft
Would not be delayed indeed was daft

The episode past was the Homura one
A time travelling lesbian who wielded a gun.
The excitement had risen to fever pitch,
As we waited for Walpurgis, the most powerful witch

But delayed regardless the finale had been
Waiting we were to see if Madoka came clean
Would the world be destroyed when Walpurgis attacked
Or would Madoka accept Kyubey’s contract

So on that night in april, the forums were still
imageboards were silent, twitter quiet with thrill
The finale of Madoka had aired in Japan,
We waited for subs to come out of the can.

Forget Morning Rescue, forget Mami’s head
I want to remember something else instead
That night in april when we all waited,
For some asian cartoon to be fan translated

Published by Scamp

35 thoughts on “12 Days of Anime #1: Twas the Night of Walpurgis”

  14. Awesome poem and a surprisingly good summary of that day!

    I’ve had a few people who’ve watched Madoka long after it aired, already knowing that it’s supposed to be awesome but not finding it as gripping as it was hyped to be at the time.

    I think there’s something to be said about being one of the ones who watched it as it aired… the way it seemed to start as a mostly run of the mill Magical Girl anime and then suddenly twist into something epic that no-one saw coming. Without that original feeling of mild disinterest, it seems to me like something is lost from the experience.

    Reply

    1. I’ve never liked that “you had to be there” idea regarding anime. Yes there’s something special about being there as it exploded onto fandom, but I like to think Madoka will have a longer lasting appeal than that

      Reply

      1. Oh I agree, Madoka is undeniably awesome and will hopefully continue to be loved forever. It’s just that many of the people I’ve spoken to who watched it later don’t seem to have understood why it became such a big deal to the fandom.

        I think it’d still be possible to get the same effect anyway, as long as you can avoid all the people screaming at you to at least watch to episode 3 because “something big” happens. That the twists were completely unexpected is one of the things that brought me to love the anime.

      2. lol I did the same when I recommended it to my friend. She kept complaining on how frilly and how it was just another magical girl show aimed at a young audience. She didn’t seem to impressed by Gretchen’s lair either which imo wasn’t the best one.

        I kept trying to get her to watch it without spoiling what would happen in the third episode. Now I wish I had just told her that Mami dies in the third episode. Since that wasn’t the best part of the series anyway just the beginning of something better.

      3. Since the end of the show, I tried to convince some friends to watch it – about 10 or so. I just told them to watch the show. I never told them that it was good, but I did tell them to avoid spoilers.

        All of them loved it.

  20. I knew it would be this one. 😀 IMO Madoka deserves the title of best anime of the year.
    It’s good that even now they still make animes that can (should) be everlasting and can shine for many-many years to come among all the moe, loli, shounen etc.

    Reply

    1. Keep in mind that a good portion of Madoka’s success came from the stuff that would usually cater to your average “Type B” otaku. It wouldn’t be fair to the show if we deny that Madoka’s success wasn’t influenced by moe and yuri subtext.

      Reply

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