One of the most famous legends to emerge from the Early Modern period is that of Dr. Faustus, a downtrodden alchemist who made a deal with a devil for knowledge, for which he was ultimately damned. There have been numerous reinterpretations of this myth over time, but one of the most unique and cross-cultural is Shaft/Aniplex’s 2011 Anime, “Puella Magi Madoka Magica.” From the first horrific frame to the blisteringly hopeful cresendo, the anime attempts to revitialize both the German legend and the “mahou shoujo” or “magical girl” genre through an inspired confluence of both. By playing on the harsh discordance between the harsh psychological terror inflicted on the adorably cute or “moe” central cast. Playing off of “cuteness” as Sianne Ngai has elaborated on in Our Aesthetic Catagories, Madoka Magica uses the topos of “moe,” traditional to any anime aimed at girls like “mahou shoujo” to inject intense discomfort within the viewer when the true arc of the show is revealed. By focusing on the discord between the art direction and story, inherently abjects the characters, and as the show’s universe unfolds to disclose the horrifying cost of becoming a magical girl the power of this abjection and its “cuteness” becomes the central thread. By tracing both the Faustian elements and theoretical underpinnings within this playful adaptation, this paper will demonstrate how an injection of “cuteness” can actually amplify the horror of a well-trod story.
About the presenterWilliam Arguelles
A Current Graduate Student at the City University of New York in their English department, my work primarily focuses on gendered expectations and anxieties around governmentality in the medieval period, with a particular affinity for the ways in which queens intercede into and recede from the functions of monarchy and political life. Prior to CUNY, attended and graduated from Seton Hall University’s Master’s Program in English Literature.