With firm confidence, she decided to dedicate her life for the sole purpose of fighting for the sake of others.
Now the question is pretty obvious; What caused the demise of such a selfless warrior?
If we were watching/reading another kind of story, such a character would have received all the praise and recognition she deserved for her heroic actions. However, we already know that Urobuchi is a different kind of guy who likes to take a realistic perspective on things. Thus, in order to understand his work, it is required that we think thoroughly about the reasons behind the events that happened.
The bottom line is this: From Urobuchi's pespective, Tomoe Mami was a flawed character who was fated to fall.
With that said, let's dive into Urobuchi's character, Tomoe Mami, and reveal what Urobuchi has to say about such characters.
In order to do this, we should understand Mami as much as possible from the beginning.
Tomoe Mami became a Mahou Shoujo when she wished to be saved from a devestating car accident, which involved herself as well as her parents. It can be said that, at least when the accident occured, Mami was an innocent and slightly selfish character who clung rather tightly on to her own life. This can be seen by the fact that Mami wished to saver her own life, without thinking about her parents' lives as well.
Tomoe Mami became a Mahou Shoujo when she wished to be saved from a devestating car accident, which involved herself as well as her parents. It can be said that, at least when the accident occured, Mami was an innocent and slightly selfish character who clung rather tightly on to her own life. This can be seen by the fact that Mami wished to saver her own life, without thinking about her parents' lives as well.
Later on, Mami claims that she did not have enough time to consider her wish, unlike Madoka and Sayaka, which is why she urges the two to make that amount of time to their advantage, so that they would not make the same mistake with their wish as Mami had.
"But I don't regret my decision. The life I lead now is much better than being dead." - Tomoe Mami, Episode 3.
Even though Mami admits to making a mistake with her wish, she came to terms with her past mistake just like Kyoko. (In fact, Kyoko probably came to terms with her own past mistake partly from the influence of Mami, since it was proven to be most likely that the two had a student-teacher relationship prior to the story.) We can see this to be true because of Mami's highly individualistic characteristics.
Most of all, we see her spectacular individualistic powers when she fights as a Mahou Shoujo. It becomes obvious that Mami, as a fighter for justice, fights both Witches and Familiars, so that the maximum amount of people can be saved. This is extremely important to recognize.
Since fighting causes dirt to build up in a Mahou Shoujo's soul gem, her power will diminish as she continues fighting. Moreover, if fighting a Familiar produces no grief seed to clean up the soul gem, then the more she fights Familiars, the weaker she becomes.
Basically, fighting Familiars only weakens the Mahou Shoujo, for it wastes energy that will not be replenished. The difficulty of such an action is emphasized when we see Sayaka following the same path as Mami.
Of course, Mami believes that fighting Familiars is worth the energy lost, since such an action may save lives, however small the number might be.
Thus, the awesome individualistic power of Tomoe Mami is shown, because she could follow her path of justice without dying. She not only fought Witches, but Familiars as well! Mami played a tough game that can even be said to be close to impossible among other Mahou Shoujo. It's practically suicide!
Yet, we that Mami is completely capable of such a feat. As shown by her first three battles with Witches and Familiars, she fights with a clear mind in such a way that it seems that she is invincible. Her power throughout all these fights doesn't even seem to fade even though she is fighting Familiars!
All of this became possible for Mami because of the will power she has, which is begotten from her selfless cause.
Mami has one goal in mind: Live and fight for the sake of others.
With this in mind, Tomoe Mami fought in the name of justice with the aim of fighting for the rest of her life.
In order to think like Urobuchi, you have to think realistically, so let's do just that.
Mami's decided purpose in life calls for a life of pure loneliness.
But why? This is so because of what we know of Mahou Shoujo. As seen from Kyoko, it is illogical for Mahou Shoujo to work together, since all Mahou Shoujo must survive by consuming grief seeds. This fact of their life will cause them to fight against each other over grief seeds, which obviously represent not only life, but power, since replenishing the light in a soul gem means replenishing one's maximum amount of magical power, which increases one potential to survive.
This leads to the fact that Mahou Shoujo, like animals, mark their territories for themselves. This can be said to be an unspoken code written by the Mahou Shoujo themselves, since it ensures the maximum amount of survival among them.
Thus, Mami, as well as perhaps all other Mahou Shoujo, leads a life of loneliness.
For the rest of her life, she will fight alone. And so, she is fated to die alone.
Does Mami accept this fate?
"I don't deserve anyone's admiration. I'm just forcing myself to man up. Even when I'm frightened of in pain, I have no one to tell. All I can do is hide and cry. Magical Girls aren't as great as you think." - Tomoe Mami, Episode 3.
Up until this point in the plot, it is debatable whether or not Mami accepted this fate.
Even though Mami admitted to bein depressed over this fact and even admitted to sometimes crying when she is alone, it can't be said that she never would have succeeded in living out the rest of her life as a lone warrior. After all, she made it this far in her life being by herself. And judging by the power she shows during her fights, she is one hell of a Mahou Shoujo.
However, whether or not she is capable of leading such an ideal life to the end, it will never come to be. This is because she met someone along the way who would change Mami and set her on a different path.
In Episode 3, Madoka promised Mami a different life; a life not of loneliness, but of friendship and teamwork. Madoka finally agreed that Mami's life is the life she wanted, so she finally decided to make a simple wish and stay by the side of Mami and fight with her... to be with her.
... to be with her.
Mami decided to live and fight for the sake of others. However, the depression of loneliness occasionally picked at her mind. With Madoka's promise however, that depression was suddenly lifted.
Once again, we reach a typical moment in any kind of fantasy story. The lone warrior finds a friend; a friend who will fight by his or her side forever.
However my friend, to understand Urobuchi, we must break from this fantasy. Let's look at this realistically.
What are the consequences of Madoka's promise?
Madoka filled a hole in Mami's life. Now, since hse is no longer alone, Mami feels extremely happy. We see this exactly in Episode 3, when she is speaking her thoughts to the audience as she fights Charlotte.
"My body feels so light. This is the first time I've felt so happy fighting. There's no longer any need to fear. Because I'm not alone." - Tomoe Mami, Episode 3.
Mami is happy. Typically, such happiness begets determination and therefore additional power in your cliche story, no? In fact, we sort of see this as Mami fights Charlotte and her minions. In this battle scene, we especially see Mami fighting ever so swiftly and beautifully. It seems as if her newly found joy is giving her an additional boost in energy and magical power through the will of determination to swiftly get the battle over with so she can see through Madoka's transformation into a Mahou Shoujo.
There is something we must keep in mind however; Mami, at this point, is no longer thinking of fighting in order to save others. Instead, she is thinking of herself, because of her new happiness.
The joy she has while fighting Charlotte is found not in justice, but in the fact that she is no longer alone. This is a drastic change in plans, because until this point, Mami has always been fighting for the same goal, which is for the sake of others. However, this goal was suddenly replaced.
What are the consequences of this sudden change of thinking within Mami's mind?
The results of this change include an overly-excited and sentimentally filled Mami, who's thoughts are no longer about survival, but of not being alone, not to mention dying alone.
Ironically, it's as if her hidden wish to not be alone has already been fulfilled... as if she could finally die without being alone.
But that's just a hidden irony that may or may not actually mean anything to Urobuchi.
The point is this, that Mami became perhaps slightly careless when fighting Charlotte, because her thoughts were dwelling in a location within her mind where they have never dwelt before. Instead of focusing on survival and fighting for the sake of others, she was focused on how happy she felt to no longer be alone.
But that's not the only way Mami has changed when she met Madoka and Sayaka. There is one other fact that is important to recognize.
When Mami met Madoka and Sayaka, she decided to take on the role of being a perfect teacher and role model.
Mami felt she needed to present herself as a perfect and flawless teacher and role model to
Madoka and Sayaka. This is actually a critical point that needs to be taken into consideration when discerning Mami's fatal mistake when facing Charlotte.
As we see in Mami's final fight, all goes well until the unpredictable move executed by her enemy, Charlotte. The true form of Charlotte, which is hidden within a tiny and non-threatening doll, suddenly materializes within a matter of seconds in front of Mami, revealing itself to be a giant, monstrous enemy.
It is an unexpected move Mami had never predicted before hand. Normally, Mami would have realized the unprecedented danger and executed a quick defensive or counterattack move to save herself. However, we must remember the fact that she changed; Mami's thoughts no longer dwelt on combat and survival.
As stated previously, Mami's thoughts were no longer focused on surviving for the sake of fighting in the name of justice, for her mind was occupied instead by the joy of no longer being alone, and therefore, the role she decided she must take as a perfect teacher and role model.
And a perfect teacher never makes mistakes.
This is the fatal flaw of Tomoe Mami. She understood a teacher/role model as being a flawless person, whom others would look up to for strength and guidance in every situation. And, judging by her personality shown throughout the first three episodes, (specifically the way she treats Akemi Homura, who represents the selfish type of Mahou Shoujo), she is also the type of person who would shun all imperfect role models due to her obssession, (recall how Mami finally resorted to binding Homura).
Prior to this fight, Mami has executed every single Witch with a finishin move known as Tiro Finale! Because of the nature of Charlotte's abilites however, the finishing move will be proven to be a mistake.
And a perfect teacher would never make a mistake... right?
Mami's reality was shattered when she saw that Tiro Finale did not finish off Charlotte.
And so, her hesitation, which was caused by the misplacement of her thoughts while fighting Charlotte, allowed her enemy to execute the finishing move.
This is the realistic way of life presented by Urobuchi Gen.
Even though her acts were of noble valor, she had a great weakness as a result of great misconception, which was her idea of a perfect teacher/role model.
Just like Miki Sayaka, Mami contained a false ideal within her that caused her death.
Uroubchi is reminding us to look to reality; even the most selfless of warriors will reach a terrible fate if they do not correct and recognize their weaknesses.
Urobuchi Gen reminds us that moral valor alone does not equate to survival and perfection in this world.
In fact, moral valor can sometimes make heroes naive and even arrogant. It is a message that requires much thought, and is related directly to our every day lives as human beings.
Overall, Mami is a very respectable character, since she at least knew about her own deepest wishes, unlike Sayaka. Her inability to see the flaw behind her imaginary idea of a "perfect" role model was also a result of having no teacher to lead her herself, which is rather unfortunate. So when she made a mistake in front of Madoka and Sayaka, she was simply thrown into a state of shock.
Unfortunately, she made the mistake in front of one of the most powerful Witches out there. This can be said to be bad luck, but nevertheless, it was Mami's fault alone.
Such is the reason behind the fall of Tomoe Mami.
I hope this article clarifies some misconceptions that can easily come out of watching Mami's death in Episode 3, especially if the viewer refuses to think about the things surrounding her death.
It's easy to throw up your arms in rage and confusion and ask, "Why couldn't she just move?! Stupid Anime!" Now, you don't have to believe the answer that I've presented to you above, but at least it's something you can think about.
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