Madoca Magica is a masterpiece, many people say.

I myself watched it and felt like so.

Here what I introduce you is the Japanese name and the meaning of Madoka Magica.

Japanese Name of Madoka Magica and Meaning

Japanese title of Puella Magi Madoka Magica is 「魔法少女まどか☆マギカ」.

魔法少女(まほうしょうじょ) means “Magical girl”.

まどか is “Madoka”.
まどか is used as a name of Japanese girl.
And it’s the name of the main character, isn’t it.

You can see ☆ after まどか and it is sometimes use in Japanese anime or comic title.
For example, there are 幽☆遊☆白書 (Yu Yu Hakusho) and 星☆のカービィ(Kirby’s Dream Land).

For マギカ, I actually didn’t know this word.

So I checked the meaning and found that it was Latin language.

Magica meant “Magical”.

Magika is the feminine form of the Latin adjective “Magicus”, which means “Magical”.

Japanese Name of Movie Ver. Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Meaning

There are also some movies of Madoka Magica.

I introduce the meanings of the Japanese titles of each movies

Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part 1: Beginnings

Japanese title of Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part 1: Beginnings is 「劇場版 魔法少女まどか☆マギカ[前編] 始まりの物語」.

劇場版(げきじょうばん) means “Theater version”, that is, “Movie ver”. here.

Meaning of 魔法少女まどか☆マギカ is as I explained above.

前編(ぜんぺん) means “First part”, that is, “Part 1”.

始まり(はじまり) means “Beginning”.

物語(ものがたり) is “Story”.
This word story is not reflected in English title.

So 始まりの物語 means “Story of the beginning”.

Actually, 始まりの物語 is a bit strange Japanese.
Usually, we say 物語の始まり which means the beginning of the story.

It swapped the order of the words on purpose and that gives us a certain impression on this movie.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part 2: Eternal

Japanese title of Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie Part 1: Eternal is 「劇場版 魔法少女まどか☆マギカ[後編] 永遠の物語」.

I cut the explanation of 劇場版 魔法少女まどか☆マギカ here as I explained above.

後編(こうへん) means “Latter part”, that is, “Part 2”.

永遠の(えいえんの) means “Eternal”.

物語(ものがたり) means “Story” but not reflected in English title like Part 1

Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie -Rebellion-

Japanese title of Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie -Rebellion- is 「劇場版 魔法少女まどか☆マギカ[新編]叛逆の物語」.

新編(しんぺん) means “New part”.

叛逆(ほんぎゃく) means “Rebellion”.

This word is rare to use and actually I myself didn’t know this Kanji and meaning even though I’m Japanese.

We usually use 反逆(はんぎゃく) but the creator put a special meaning to it and used this rare word 叛逆, I think.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Walpurgisnacht Rising

Japanese title of Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Walpurgisnacht Rising is 「劇場版 魔法少女まどか マギカ〈ワルプルギスの廻天〉」.

ワルプルギス(わるぷるぎす) refers to “the night before Walpurgis (May 1st)” in German folk lore.

On this night, it is said that a meeting of witches is held on the highest peak of the Harz Mountains.
This is particularly famous for its depiction in Goethe’s Faust.

廻天(えんてん) means “To turn the heavens”.
It refers to a major change in circumstances or fate.

This 廻天 is also very rare to use in Japan, rather I myself didn’t know like the word 叛逆.

Simply speaking, it is a revolution, 革命(かくめい) in Japanese, but we can imagine it is not a simple revolution from the story of Madoka Magica.

Summary

Japanese title of Puella Magi Madoka Magica was 「魔法少女まどか☆マギカ」.

Some titles used words even Japanese like me didn’t know such as 叛逆 and 廻天.

When I first saw this Japanese title 魔法少女まどか☆マギカ, I felt this is for a little girl but it was not at all.
Rather, it was for adults.

Walpurgisnacht Rising finally starts in 2025, so I definitely go see the movie!

Tags: Japanese, Meaning, Name, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Title Author : Hiroshi80