Media mix and character marketing in Madoka Magica

Abstract

This article examines the development of the media franchise Mahō shōjo Madoka magika/Puella Magi Madoka Magica from the perspective of the growth of character media ecologies. Originating as a 2011 anime series, Madoka Magica presented a critically acclaimed narrative featuring a dark, traumatic take on the magical girl genre of media. Outside this narrative context, however, Madoka Magica has developed into a vibrant array of media products, including manga, video games, character merchandising and cross-promotional brand marketing, with little to no reference in these products to the dark context of the chronologically prior characters. Characters who were brutally killed in one context become smiling ambassadors for convenience stores in another; the monsters fought against become cohabiting associates, if not allies, between texts. By focusing on the marketing, proliferation and malleability of the Madoka Magica characters, and the brand’s evident emphasis on the characters’ affective potential outside the narrative context of the original series, this article highlights the multiplicity of characters within the brand’s officially produced media mix. Examining the production of the brand as a totality of products becomes a staging point for future analysis into character marketing more broadly, and the divergent approaches to such marketing across a global context.