20194


In Episode 9 of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, during Madoka's conversation with
Kyuubei, we see that she has a ton of chairs in her room:

![bunch of chairs](https://i.stack.imgur.com/vfVzfm.png)

At first I thought this was just the usual Shaft weirdness. But I stumbled on
[a blog post](http://kevo.dasaku.net/?p=2108) that attempted to explain all
the symbolism behind the imagery in this scene. According to the author of the
blog, the empty chairs represent fallen Magical Girls. While the author's
interpretation is plausible, I also found it somewhat tenuous--the only
evidence the author gives is the scene in Mami's apartment earlier on, when
Madoka sees Mami's furniture and bursts into tears. I don't have a very clear
memory of the scene, but I don't remember it focusing specifically on the
furniture--it could just as well have been the empty apartment.

Is there any other evidence in the show that supports this blogger's reading?
And is there evidence that supports another meaning for the scores of empty
chairs in Madoka's room?


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2015-02-27T20:29:02.183
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2016-07-29T12:14:34.480
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question
madoka-magica symbolism
What's the meaning behind all the chairs in Madoka's room?


Those chairs are a direct reference to
[Bokurano](http://myanimelist.net/anime/1690/Bokurano), understanding which
actually adds depth to the scene (if you've seen Bokurano).

Bokurano **huge** spoilers:

> Childs sitting on the chairs are actually giving up their lives for the
> privilege of fighting a defence of Earth. Note that chairs appear before the
> big reveal about souls and zombies in Madoka.

![Bokurano chairs](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZGue7.jpg) ![Chairs
comparison](https://i.stack.imgur.com/xhDmA.jpg)


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2015-03-19T20:06:07.593
20194
2015-03-19T21:51:44.530
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answer


I would like to augment the earlier answer by explaining more Bokurano plot
and dropping even more massive spoilers:

> Bokurano features a small white-colored mascot type character representing
> an alien race beyond human comprehension. This alien involves the main
> characters - mere schoolchildren - in a series of battles in which those
> chosen by the alien fight monstrous creatures in order to save ordinary
> people. Halfway through the series, in a shocking twist, it is revealed that
> these 'evil' and 'monstrous' enemies (robots) are in fact piloted by people
> in the same situation as the main characters, that the aliens have
> engineered the battles and the threat themselves, and it's all ultimately
> part of a scheme seeking to use humanity as an energy source. Towards the
> end of the series, this mascot character can be observed pressuring a quiet
> little girl into making an 11th-hour "contract" to give up her life for the
> sake of her universe, even though she has seen friends die in this same
> fight and is quite clear that there is no way out of this contract besides
> her death.

Madoka is in many ways an homage to Bokurano, and besides being clever
foreshadowing for the few who had watched the series, the chairs are there to
acknowledge the fact and pay respect to this earlier series.


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