For Yosuganosora Animation Studio, 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' was already a completed anime. But outside the company, the impact left by its conclusion had never faded.
In October, 'Fate/Zero' reached the end of its first season, and Yosuganosora Animation Studio entered a lull in production. Meanwhile, 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' was licensed for a rebroadcast on the NICENICE video website. Considering that the anime ran for twenty-four episodes, the rebroadcast would last a full twenty-four hours, from midnight on the sixth until midnight the following day.
"Dong~ Dong~ Dong!"
An imaginary tolling of bells heralded the world's passage from one day into the next.
Yet those bells also seemed to ring in the hearts of every viewer who loved 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica'. The instant the seconds on their computers ticked over to the next minute, the playback page for 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' on NICENICE came alive, and the video became available to play.
"Don't forget the promises we exchanged,
Close your eyes and reaffirm them,
Brush aside the darkness closing in and move forward,
How long will it be before I,
Standing here, can once again see the future I've lost?
..."
The anime's opening theme began to play, heavy and sorrowful yet carrying an undercurrent of brightness. Countless viewers sitting in front of their computers felt their noses sting when they heard that familiar song.
The lyrics seemed fairly ordinary at first, yet they were the greatest irony of all when placed against the magical girls' destinies. In the end, Kaname Madoka truly did break free from the shackles of fate described by the lyrics, but there was no longer a tomorrow that belonged to her.
Whether it was Kaname Madoka, Akemi Homura, Sakura Kyōko, or the others, every one of them struggled desperately against her own fate. Through Akemi Homura's countless time loops, the audience could see just how long they had struggled within this spiral of sorrow.
Mami-senpai's innocent wish to have companions—the experiences and ending it brought her were enough to inspire despair.
Sakura Kyōko's stubbornness and her complicated feelings toward Miki Sayaka—the tougher she acted, the softer her heart truly was.
Miki Sayaka gave everything and received nothing in return. Hers had been a tragedy from the very beginning.
Akemi Homura, corrupted and fallen through countless loops, continued praying for that faint trace of salvation until the very end of the repeating worlds she created.
And Kaname Madoka, the goddess who finally ended the spiral of fate, was kinder and purer than anyone else, yet suffered a fate more tragic than anyone's. She became a law of the universe protecting magical girls and was forgotten by the entire world.
As the viewers watched Kaname Madoka, who was still only an ordinary girl at this point in the anime, they instinctively remembered the sacred and gentle, goddess-like figure she would become when she made her wish and transformed into Ultimate Madoka.
The stark contrast made the emptiness in their hearts even more painful, leaving them grieving for the future awaiting this kindhearted girl.
Within the video, the sheer number of comments had become so great that NICENICE was limiting how many could appear at once to prevent them from obstructing the screen.
The comments drifting past were filled with the viewers' complicated emotions. Rewatching the first episode while already knowing the sorrowful conclusion of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' made those emotions even stronger, and everyone wanted to share what they were feeling with someone else. Almost every comment resonated with something deep inside the audience.
[If I could, I really wish the anime could just stop right here. I really don't want Madoka to face what's waiting for her. In the end, she only made that choice because there was no other way.]
[My feelings are so complicated! I cried my eyes out the first time I watched the ending. I didn't even dare watch it a second time...]
[Me too. Since it was late at night, I hid under my blanket and cried my eyes out. It was the first time I'd ever cried because of an anime, but I didn't even know exactly what I was crying about. Maybe this anime really does have some kind of mysterious magic.]
[Kyōko-chan is my one true love!]
[I've got chips, cola, and instant noodles ready. I'm planning to stay up all night and relive everything Madoka made me feel.]
[Just thinking that a million people are watching this anime together with me is strangely exciting. All of you sitting in front of your computers—what are you feeling while watching it?]
[Just seeing this anime again fills me with complicated feelings. I'm usually so exhausted after work that I go to sleep before ten, but once I heard Madoka was being rebroadcast tonight, there was no way I could fall asleep.]
On the left side of NICENICE's video playback page, the number of viewers currently watching was skyrocketing.
Concurrent viewers: 1,382.
One minute later, concurrent viewers: 12,872.
Ten minutes later, concurrent viewers: 362,731.
Twenty minutes later, concurrent viewers: 891,027.
Thirty minutes later, concurrent viewers: 1,029,837!
October 7, 2018, 12:32 a.m.
That moment became a memory shared by countless people. It also became a historic moment for both the anime industry and the NICENICE video website.
At that instant, the internet's first anime to be watched simultaneously by more than one million viewers was born!
From the moment the concurrent audience surpassed one million until midnight that night, the number of viewers watching simultaneously never once fell below one million.
...
The following day, the effects of Madoka Magica Syndrome seemed to emerge once again.
On the sixth, when the rebroadcast officially began, the number of concurrent viewers had effortlessly surpassed one million even in the middle of the night.
On that day, people once again remembered the terror of being dominated by Madoka Magica Syndrome.
Countless companies saw multiple employees requesting leave, while the number of students absent from school that day nearly equaled the total number of absences accumulated throughout an entire year.
Yosuganosora Animation Studio's operations department was still relatively immature. The number of commercial collaborations it had secured for 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' during this period was merely comparable to what an ordinary hit anime might receive, nowhere near enough to exploit the commercial potential of a true cultural phenomenon.
Even so, after 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' concluded, the magical-girl craze only continued to intensify.
The remake of 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' consisted of twenty-four episodes. Compared with the original, its story, animation, music, and overall presentation had all been elevated by far more than a single level.
For such a work to appear in this world's still-immature Japanese anime industry was like unveiling a AAA single-player title in an era dominated by pixel games, or having a steel cruise liner suddenly appear in an age of wooden ships.
The sensation it created transcended the limitations of its genre, and its influence continued to reshape the entire industry.
It could all be summarized in a single sentence:
"In Japan today, more people know the name 'Puella Magi Madoka Magica' than there are people who actually watch anime."