She discovers what true friendship and selflessness means (which is another reflection of the original series). But at the end of her journey as a Magical Girl, Mami finally stops bottling up her feelings and accepts help when it's offered to her by the people she can call her friends, not the other way round. Twists, turns, trust handling, battle strategies, mind tricks (Kyouko's illusion magic comes to play an important role in the plot), and the destruction of the layers of sanity aplenty. Mami receives the justice she deserves, and nothing - no lingering potential - is gone to waste. It is dark, heavy, heartbreaking and devastating, yet like the anime, it ends on a beautiful and somewhat bittersweet note. She is an amazing and flawed character, and I'm happy her own story got to be told. Her loneliness and path towards self-ruin are shown brilliantly, I felt deeply sorry for her.

I love every panel she is in, every thought balloon and dialogue she has. 'The Different Story' develops Mami with a vast grandeur that the anime series could not, for reasons obvious to those who have seen it. It is not just failing her friends that she feels guilty for, but for not wishing to save the lives of her parents as well as herself in the tragedy which started her transformation into a Magical Girl - changing her life in so many ways. She believes her sacrifice will save more lives than when she did so before by persevering after a near-death experience. Now, realising she is in fact a curse on the world and has no reason to exist, the suicidal Mami chooses to fight to the death. She is more than a seeker of doing what's right, for the finale has her finally giving up hope upon learning the truth about Magical Girls. No MG is overlooked - especially not Madoka - but the focus is sorely on Mami Tomoe's own quest and inner demons as a Magical Girl. Every decision made by the other Magical Girls - even those of the one-off Girls in the first volume - they all come right back to Mami. Is it embarrassing for me to admit that it was through reading this final volume that I fully realised the series is indeed one of the many alternate timelines of 'Madoka Magica', the original series?Īnd upon completing this majestic, magnificent manga, I also realised that, despite saying in my previous review that Mami, Kyouko and Sayaka are the stars, in truth this story is and always has been about Mami, and Mami alone.

Puella magi madoka magica vol 2