The sorta-official alternative title for Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica is “Puella Magi Madoka Magica.” Grrr. “Puella” (“girl,” nominative singular) is a feminine noun in Latin, so the proper form of the adjective “magus” (“magic”) is “maga,” not “magi.” I suppose whoever is responsible was trying to avoid calling the show “Magical Girl Magical Madoka.” I’d suggest either sticking with “Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica” or just calling the series “Magical Madoka.”
Update: Maureen interprets the title differently in the comments below. She may well be right, but I’m not convinced that it’s what the SHAFT staff had in mind.
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Irresponsible speculation: between whom will the final battle be?
Duncan McLeod vs. Madoka.
I think one obvious question is, who is the witch’s equivalent of Kyubey?
Or is he himself playing both sides?
Obviously, Puella Magica is one phrase, and Magi is the other. Madoka, the Magi’s Magical Girl. Kyubey is probably a magus or magum; either way, the collective term for magi is apt to be a masculine plural.
Erk. Lemme correct that. Madoka, Magical Girl of the Magus/Magum.
Steven: It would not surprise me at all, since he is perfectly happy to let magical girls try to kill each other.
Maureen: Perhaps. It might make better sense grammatically, but it changes the meaning of the title, and I’m not convinced that whoever devised the alternative title had that in mind. Also, as of the fifth episode, Madoka still hasn’t made a contract with Kyubey and cannot be said to belong to him (or it) in any sense yet.