Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Cover for first DVD/BD volume of Puella Magi Madoka Magica featuring two characters, Madoka Kaname (right) and Homura Akemi (left)
魔法少女まどか☆マギカ (Mahō Shōjo Madoka Magika)
Genre	Magical girl, Science fantasy
Anime television series
Directed by	Akiyuki Shinbo
Written by	Gen Urobuchi
Music by	Yuki Kajiura
Studio	Shaft
Original network	MBS, TBS, CBC
Original run	January 7, 2011 – present
Episodes	12
Manga
Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice
Written by	Masaki Hiramatsu
Illustrated by	Takashi Tensugi
Published by	Houbunsha
Magazine	Manga Time Kirara Forward
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	January 24, 2011 – present
Manga
Illustrated by	Hanokage
Published by	Houbunsha
Original run	February 12, 2011 – present
Volumes	3
Manga
Puella Magi Oriko Magica
Illustrated by	Kuroe Mura
Published by	Houbunsha
Original run	April 12, 2011 – present
Novel
Written by	Hajime Ninomae
Illustrated by	Yūpon

Puella Magi Madoka Magica (魔法少女まどか☆マギカ, Mahō Shōjo Madoka Magika, "Magical Girl Madoka of the Mage") is a Japanese anime television series produced by Shaft and Aniplex. The series is directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and written by Gen Urobuchi with original character designs by Ume Aoki, character design adaptation by Takahiro Kishida and music by Yuki Kajiura. The anime series began airing in Japan on TBS and MBS from January 6, 2011. Due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the final two episodes were delayed indefinitely. A manga adaptation of the series and a spin-off manga, Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice (魔法少女かずみ☆マギカ〜The innocent malice〜, Mahō Shōjo Kazumi Magika: The Innocent Malice), are currently being published by Houbunsha, with a second spin-off manga series, Puella Magi Oriko Magica (魔法少女おりこ☆マギカ, Mahō Shōjo Oriko Magika), to be released following the anime. A novelisation by Nitroplus is also being produced.

Plot

There exist familiars who have the power to grant one wish to a chosen girl. However, in exchange, that girl must then become a Puella Magi, a girl with magical powers, and fight against witches, evil creatures born from darkness and are responsible for murders and suicides. In the city of Mitakihara, a schoolgirl named Madoka Kaname and her friend Sayaka Miki are approached by a familiar named Kyubey, who offers to grant them each one wish in return for making them Puella Magi. Another Puella Magi named Homura Akemi tries to prevent Madoka from making such a deal, while Kyubey urges Madoka by telling her she will become the most powerful Puella Magi. However unlike the glamorous notions of becoming a magical girl, the Puella Magi find themselves dealing with death, isolation, the value of their wishes, and existential crises. Madoka, following her Puella Magi friends, soon sees the darker side of being a Puella Magi, and despite knowing the truth of the existence of the Puella Magi, still questions if she should become a Puella Magi as well.

The spin-off manga, Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice, takes place in Asunaru City and follows a girl named Kazumi who has lost her memories after being allegedly kidnapped, who fights against witches with her fellow Puella Magi, the Pleiades Saints.

Puella Magi Oriko Magica will take place before the anime series, and features two of the main series' Puella Magi, Mami Tomoe and Kyōko Sakura, encountering a young Puella Magi named Oriko.

Characters

From left to right: Kyōko Sakura, Sayaka Miki, Madoka Kaname, Kyubey (in lap), Homura Akemi and Mami Tomoe

Main characters

Madoka Kaname (鹿目 まどか, Kaname Madoka)

Voiced by: Aoi Yūki

A 14-year-old girl who comes from an extremely loving family. Her life changes when she encounters the Puella Magi Homura and the familiar Kyubey, who offers to transform her into a Puella Magi herself. She sees herself as a person without special qualities or talents, and after seeing Mami fighting against witches, wants to be a wonderful and cool Puella Magi like her. Following Mami's death, she becomes uncertain about becoming a Puella Magi, becoming more so as the dark secrets of the Puella Magi are revealed to her. She is kind, gentle, averse to fighting, and wishes that everyone would get along, sometimes even putting her own life at risk to help others. In previous timelines that Homura had experienced, Madoka had become a Puella Magi, wielding a magic bow and arrow. According to Kyubey, Madoka is capable of becoming the strongest Puella Magi and subsequently most terrible witch, capable of destroying the world and giving him the energy he desires, which is why he is most interested in forming a contract with her. The wishes she made in previous timelines to become a Puella Magi are unknown.

Homura Akemi (暁美 ほむら, Akemi Homura)

Voiced by: Chiwa Saitō

A Puella Magi who first appears in Madoka's dream, and then transfers into her school the day after the dream causing Madoka to question if she has met Homura at some point before but does not remember it. A beautiful yet mysterious individual who performs exceptionally well in school, be it academically or athletically, making her popular at school despite her awkward personality. She is in fact from another timeline where she was a shy and weak transfer student who befriended Madoka and eventually discovered that she was a Puella Magi. When Madoka was killed by Walpurgisnacht, Homura made a contract with Kyubey and became a Puella Magi in exchange for being allowed to travel back in time and relive her first meeting with Madoka so she can protect her. With each time loop, Homura grows more skilled and confident, and learns more about Kyubey and the nature of the Puella Magi. However, each time her attempts to work with the other Puella Magi or reveal the truth to them backfire, and she ultimately fails to prevent Madoka's death or transformation into a Witch, triggering another time loop. Her experiences have left Homura cold and withdrawn and, after she is asked by Madoka to save her from being tricked by Kyubey, she tries to prevent her from becoming a Puella Magi in the first place. Her only objective is to protect Madoka, who she views as her one true friend, though she will also protect others to spare Madoka the trauma of their deaths. Her actions to keep Madoka fom becoming a Puella Magi often confuse Madoka, ranging from coldly "killing" Kyubey or telling her to forget or give up on Sayaka after becoming a Puella Magi, actions that seem cruel beyond Madoka's comprehension, to crying and begging Madoka not to belittle herself into thinking that her life is average and to not disregard the people that care for her, which unbeknownst to Madoka includes Homura herself. Her Puella Magi weapon is a shield, which allows her to freeze time for a short duration, allowing her to move and attack at impossible speeds. However, this power becomes useless if she is physically restrained, because time would also stop for the person touching her. She can also use the shield to block various projectiles and store an infinite amount of various weapons she carries. Because her shield has no offensive capability, she instead attacks using stolen firearms and homemade explosives. None of the characters actually know of the weapon that she keeps as she only uses them during the moments she freezes time.

Sayaka Miki (美樹 さやか, Miki Sayaka)

Voiced by: Eri Kitamura

Madoka's classmate who, after helping Madoka rescue Kyubey, ends up getting an offer to become a Puella Magi herself. She cares deeply for her friends, and wants to help an ill boy named Kyōsuke Kamijō, whom she has a crush on. Before becoming a Puella Magi, Sayaka wields a baseball bat that Mami can enhance with magic to defend herself with while on witch hunts. She becomes a Puella Magi after using her wish to cure Kyōsuke's hand, which was damaged in an accident which robbed him of his ability to play the violin. Sayaka's weapon of choice is a cutlass and, like Mami, she can produce multiple cutlasses at a time. She also has regenerative powers stronger than anyone else due to the healing nature of her wish. Sayaka hates people who think only of themselves while hurting others and believes all Puella Magi besides Mami to be selfish, leading her to become incredibly distrustful and even hateful towards others. When she learns from Kyubey that her Soul Gem, like all others, is a container for her soul, leaving her body without one and restructured to be able to sustain the injuries that come from being a Puella Magi, she falls deep into despair and feels unworthy to be near Kyōsuke, since she isn't truly human and just a shell of her former self. After her friend Hitomi confesses she also has feelings for Kyōsuke, Sayaka gives up her human life and disregards everything but her duties as a Puella Magi. Disheartened, she comes to believe that the meaning of being a Puella Magi is that her wishes to make someone happy will make someone else equally unhappy in return. Sayaka disregards the Grief Seeds she obtains, thinking of them as the only goal for "selfish" Puella Magi and often giving them away. By doing so, she never cleanses her Soul Gem, not even when one is freely offered to her by Homura, thinking it a gesture of pity rather than of help. This causes her Soul Gem to transform into a Grief Seed and herself into a witch, the exact opposite of her desire to fight witches for the good of others. Although Kyōko and Madoka attempt to save her by calling out to her humanity while in Witch form, their efforts are unrewarded and Kyōko sacrifices herself in order to stop her. It seems to be her destiny to turn to a witch quickly if she becomes a Puella Magi as in one time line she turned into a witch.

Mami Tomoe (巴 マミ, Tomoe Mami)

Voiced by: Kaori Mizuhashi

A Puella Magi contracted to Kyubey and a third year student at Madoka's school, living alone in a penthouse after her parents' deaths. She has the ability to produce a near-infinite amount of flintlock rifles which look like Tanegashima, she can also use ribbons to suspend her enemies, and is also able to perform healing magic. Kyubey approaches her after being involved in a serious car accident, which claimed the lives of her parents, so she was forced to use her wish to save her own life. Unlike other Puella Magi, who mostly focus on obtaining valuable Grief Seeds, Mami is particularly focused on saving those around her. Distrustful of Homura, she threatens her and possibly willingness to kill if needed be. Though her outward disposition is cheery and friendly, she is aware of the dangerous aspects and possibility of losing her life as a Puella Magi and feels isolated and alone with no one to turn to that will understand her problems and offer comfort. When Madoka offers to become her partner and save her from her loneliness, she cries tears of joy. However, she is killed immediately after during a battle with a witch, a fact that weighs heavily on both Madoka and Sayaka and disillusions the glamorous notions of being a Puella Magi. According to Kyubey, she never knew the truth concerning the Soul Gems and origins of Witches. In a previous timeline erased from memory by Homura, learning these truths drove Mami insane and she attempted to murder all other Puella Magi, regardless of their friendships, to prevent them from becoming Witches, only to be killed by Madoka.

Kyōko Sakura (佐倉 杏子, Sakura Kyōko)

Voiced by: Ai Nonaka

A veteran Puella Magi who comes to the city following Mami's death. Her distinguishing features include long red hair, twin fangs and a voracious appetite, almost never being seen without food. She came from a poor church family and used her wish so that people would listen to her father's preaching; however, when her father learned of this, he went mad and killed his entire family. As such, Kyōko decided only to use her magic for herself, since using it for others will only cause despair. Having grown up in a poor family, she often has to steal food and hates people who waste it, a logic she also applies to Grief Seeds, as she only goes after fully grown witches. Kyōko has been a Puella Magi much longer than the others, and thus is more skillful; she wields a spear which can extend itself, split into multiple sections, and produce a ball at the end of a chain, which can constrict and hit others at the same time. She also has the ability to put up barriers to protect others or keep them from interfering. She initially clashes with Sayaka for allegedly taking claim to the area Mami looked after, but after learning the truth about Soul Gems, she sympathizes with her and tries to help her. After Sayaka becomes a witch, she becomes determined to save her but ultimately sacrifices herself in order to stop her, overloading her soul gem to create a massive explosion that kills them both. While doing so, Kyōko shows little regret for her decision, smiling while talking to Sayaka and telling her that she understands the pain of being alone and that everything will be okay since she will be with her. In a previous timeline she was killed by Mami in despair after Mami learned the truth about Witches.

Kyubey (キュゥべえ, Kyūbē) / Incubator (インキュベーター, Inkyubētā)

Voiced by: Emiri Katō

An extra terrestrial being posing as a familiar who can grant any wish to a certain girl, on the condition that she become a Puella Magi and fights against witches. When the chosen girl makes a contract with him, he extracts her soul and places it inside a Soul Gem, reconstructing their body a shell that's more resilient in order to fight witches. Having made contracts with several girls, he constantly tries to get Madoka to make a contract with him, as she allegedly possesses great magical potential within her that would allow her to become the most powerful Puella Magi. It appears he can only be seen or heard by Puella Magi and those with "magical" potential. His true name is Incubator, and comes from a "race" whose goal is to find and gather a form of energy to counter entropy and prevent the impending heat death of the universe, developing a technology to turn emotions into this energy. After evaluating many species throughout the universe, the Incubators find that the souls of humans, specifically girls in their second span of growth, puberty, contain the most powerful form of this energy. This energy is the strongest when a girl raised as a Puella Magi's Soul Gem turns into a Grief Seed, and then can be collected and used towards preventing entropy. He claims his race lacks emotions and has little understanding of human values and morality, not understanding why the death of one human among billions is viewed so catastrophically, instead believing the Incubators' actions are not cruel but utilitarian in nature. Kyubey has an unknown number of bodies; when one is killed, another body appears and eats the destroyed body.

Supporting characters

Hitomi Shizuki (志筑 仁美, Shizuki Hitomi)

Voiced by: Ryōko Shintani

Madoka and Sayaka's classmate and friend, quite popular with the boys. She seems to believe Sayaka and Madoka are in a relationship and often feels she is being left out. It is later revealed that she is also in love with Kyōsuke and her confidence in being able to confess her feelings is one of the key factor's in Sayaka's despair.

Kyōsuke Kamijō (上条 恭介, Kamijō Kyōsuke)

Voiced by: Seiko Yoshida

A disabled boy whom Sayaka constantly visits in hospital. He used to be a violin player, but an accident crippled him and destroyed the feeling in his fingers, making him unable to play an instrument again, which causes him a lot of grief and despair. Sayaka uses her wish to cure his hand, allowing him to play the violin once more.

Junko Kaname (鹿目 詢子, Kaname Junko)

Voiced by: Yūko Gotō

Madoka's mother, an executive who wears a lot of makeup and sometimes comes home drunk, making it hard to wake her up in the morning. Aside from this, she is a caring and gentle person and often gives Madoka advice whenever she is troubled.

Tomohisa Kaname (鹿目 知久, Kaname Tomohisa)

Voiced by: Tetsuya Iwanaga

Madoka's father, who seems to be the one in charge of the house.

Tatsuya Kaname (鹿目 タツヤ, Kaname Tatsuya)

Voiced by: Kaori Mizuhashi

Madoka's younger brother.

Kazuko Saotome (早乙女 和子, Saotome Kazuko)

Voiced by: Junko Iwao

Madoka's teacher, who constantly has trouble keeping a boyfriend.

Puella Magi Kazumi Magica characters

Kazumi (かずみ)

The main protagonist of Puella Magi Kazumi Magica and a Puella Magi with no memories besides her name, though she slowly starts to regain her memories as she fights alongside her friends, Umika and Kaoru. She wears bells on her ears that can sometimes change things according to her wishes, and an ahoge that allegedly can detect witches. She often judges people to be bad or good depending on whether they waste food. When transformed, she dons a black outfit with a witch's hat and fights using a large cross. As a result of her memory loss, she does not remember the wish she made as she never told Umika or Kaoru what is was.

Umika Misaki (御崎 海香, Misaki Umika)

Kazumi's friend and a middle school student who lives in her home with Kazumi and Umika and is also a Puella Magi who is part of a seven girl group known as the Pleiades Cluster. She is a best-selling novelist as a result of using her wish to meet with an editor who would recognize her talent. She uses a magical book which allows her to read a witch's mind, allowing her to determine its weakness. Whenever she has writer's block, she grows horns and enters a fierce cooking phase before going on a shopping spree.

Kaoru (カオル)

Umika and Kazumi's friend, a Puella Magi who lives with them. She enjoys playing soccer and used her wish to get a healthy body, giving her great physical strength.

Mirai Wakaba (若葉 みらい, Wakaba Mirai)

One of the Pleiades Cluster, who often acts like a rich kid and tends to whack Kazumi on the head whenever she doubts herself.

Satomi Usagi (宇佐木 里美, Usagi Satomi)

A polite Puella Magi. She used her wish to gain the ability to talk to animals as she wants to become a vet when she grows up.

Saki Asami (浅海 サキ, Asami Saki)

An intelligent Puella Magi who is usually the brains of the group.

Nico Kanna (神流 ニコ, Kanna Niko)

A slow-witted Puella Magi who often speaks in blunt statements.

Terminology

Puella Magi (魔法少女, Mahō Shōjo)

A Puella Magi, or magical girl, is a girl gifted with powers granted from making a contract with a familiar. This contract lets the familiar grant the girl any single wish she desires, but in exchange, she must become a Puella Magi and fight against witches. The powers she receives are often related to the kind of wish she asked for; for example, a wish to cure someone will grant enhanced regenerative abilities. They can also use their magic to enhance real world objects. However, her soul is encased in a Soul Gem with her body becoming a mere shell which is more resilient to fighting witches. When a Puella Magi dies in a barrier fighting against a witch, her body remains within the barrier and, since no body can be found, they are just considered a missing person by normal people. When a Puella Magi falls into despair or corruption and fails to replenish her Soul Gem, she eventually "matures" and becomes a Witch herself. The Puella Magi will also die if her Soul Gem is destroyed by other means.

Soul Gem (ソウルジェム, Sōru Jemu)

A gem that holds a Puella Magi's power, which its user can use to transform. The size is relevant to the amount of magical power residing in the girl, and the gem glows whenever a witch or one of its familiars is nearby. When not in gem form, it takes the form of a ring on the user's finger, accompanied by a small symbol on her fingernail. When a Puella Magi transforms, her soul gem is located somewhere on her outfit. It is later revealed that the Soul Gem literally contains a Puella Magi's soul, leaving her body as mere "hardware" that they control remotely and can take any amount of damage without threat to life. The ability to control the body is somewhat limited, so if she is more than 100 meters away from her respective Soul Gem, her body will become limp and lifeless, and if the gem is destroyed, the Puella Magi will die. The gem becomes cloudier with use and needs to be replenished with Grief Seeds, otherwise it will become weak and fragile. If a gem becomes too corrupted, it will in turn become a Grief Seed, transforming the Puella Magi into a witch herself.

Witches (魔女, Majo)

Witches are evil entities that are born from Magical Girls who have fallen into despair, and failed to purify her Soul Gem. Witches reside in special areas that only Puella Magi and those with magical potential can enter. Left alone, these witches can affect humans in the real world by giving them marks known as 'Witch's Kisses' (魔女の口づけ, Majo no Kuchizuke), which either give them diseases or force them into committing suicide. These witches often spawn familiars that can mature into witches if left alone. The most powerful witches are called Walpurgisnacht (ワルプルギスの夜, Waruparugisu no Yoru). In Kazumi Magica, witches take control of humans to take advantage of their hateful desires.

Grief Seed (グリーフシード, Gurīfu Shīdo)

Grief Seeds are black thorns from which witches are born. Once planted, they soon form barriers hidden from normal sight while the witches mature. When a witch is defeated, the remaining Grief Seed may be used to restore magical power to a Soul Gem, which becomes dirtied as magic is used up; hence, it is considered a valuable item by rival magical girls. Kyubey is also shown to consume used Grief Seeds. Soul Gems may themselves become Grief Seeds if they become too clouded and the Puella Magi falls into despair.

Incubator (インキュベーター, Inkyubētā)

Incubators are extra-terrestrial beings that seek a thermodynamic energy to counter the effects of entropy on the universe. Discovering energy could be derived from emotions, but lacking emotions themselves, they soon discovered humans. Noticing that the most powerful energy comes from teenaged girls during their transitions between hope and despair, they started granting certain girls' wishes and making them into Puella Magi so they could soon mature into witches, providing the energy needed. There are two known Incubators in the franchise; Kyubey, and a second yet-to-be-named one which appears in Kazumi Magica.

Media

Anime

Puella Magi Madoka Magica began development after Akiyuki Shinbo expressed his desire to work on a new magical girl series to producer Atsuhiro Iwakami while they were working on Hidamari Sketch and Bakemonogatari. During early planning stage, Iwakami decided to not adapt an existing work in order to give Shinbo more freedom in his direction style. He then contacted Gen Urobuchi to work on the project as a scriptwriter and Ume Aoki as a character designer. The series was announced in a commercial slot during the anime series Togainu no Chi. Since then, more commercials have been shown in the same slot revealing the characters and cast. The anime began airing on Mainichi Broadcasting System (MBS) television network at 1:25 JST from January 7, 2011. Episodes are then made available for streaming on Nico Nico Douga and BIGLOBE's Anime One service a week after broadcast. Due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the broadcast of episodes 11 and 12 have been postponed, though Urobuchi mentioned the delay will allow extra time for the animation studio to improve the drawings for both episodes, with the staff aiming to have the final episode released by the middle of April 2011. The quake has also delayed the series release on DVD and Bluray Disc, which was due to begin release from March 30, 2011, to April 27, 2011. The opening theme is "Connect" (コネクト, Konekuto) by ClariS while the ending theme is "Magia" by Kalafina, both of which were released on February 16, 2011. Kajiura Yuki is responsible for the soundtrack, which does not have a release date. Shinbo has expressed interest in doing a follow-up series that would focus more on a slice of life story.

Episode list

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#	Title	Original airdate

Manga

Houbunsha will be publishing three manga series based on the series. A direct adaptation of the anime series, illustrated by Hanokage, will be published in three volumes, each containing four chapters. The first two volumes were released on February 12, 2011 and March 12, 2011 respectively, while the third volume, originally due to be released on April 12, 2011, has been delayed due to the Tōhoku quake. A side story manga, Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice (魔法少女かずみ☆マギカ〜The innocent malice〜, Mahō Shōjo Kazumi Magika: The Innocent Malice), written by Masaki Hiramatsu and illustrated by Takashi Tensugi, began serialization in Manga Time Kirara Forward magazine from January 24, 2011, featuring a different set of characters. A third manga, Puella Magi Oriko Magica (魔法少女おりこ☆マギカ, Mahō Shōjo Oriko Magika), written by Kuroe Mura, is set to be released on April 12, 2011 and will serve as a prequel to the anime series.

Volume List

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

No.	Release date	ISBN
01	February 12, 2011	978-4-8322-7990-2
"We Sort of Met in a Dream..." (夢の中で会った、ような…, "Yume no Naka de Atta, Yō na...") "That Sounds Wonderful" (それはとっても嬉しいなって, "Sore wa Tottemo Ureshii natte") "I'm Not Afraid of Anything Anymore" (もう何も怖くない, "Mō Nani mo Kowakunai") "Miracles and Magic Both Exist" (奇跡も、魔法も、あるんだよ, "Kiseki mo, Mahō mo, Arun da yo")
02	March 12, 2011	978-4-8322-4003-2
"There's No Way I'd Regret This" (後悔なんて、あるわけない, "Kōkai nante, Aru Wake Nai") "This Just Isn't Right" (こんなの絶対おかしいよ, "Konna no Zettai Okashiiyo") "Can You Face Your True Feelings?" (本当の気持ちと向き合えますか？, "Hontō no Kimochi to Mukiaemasu ka?") "I've Been Such a Fool" (あたしって、ほんとバカ, "Atashitte, Honto Baka")
03	2011	978-4-8322-4014-8
"That, I Will Not Allow" (そんなの、あたしが許さない, "Sonna no, Atashi ga Yurusanai") "I Won't Depend on Anyone Anymore" (もう誰にも頼らない, "Mō Dare ni mo Tayoranai") "The Last Path Left" (最後に残った道しるべ, "Saigo ni Nokotta Michishirube")

Puella Magi Oriko Magica

No.	Release date	ISBN
01	2011	978-4-8322-4016-2

Chapters to be collected into volumes

Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice

1. "Bad - Guy - Reckon Off" (アクトウワカルガノフ, "Akutou Wakaruganofu")
2. "AHA! Dogs" (ポットデルドッグ, "Potto Deru Doggu")
3. "Kazumix" (カズミックス, "Kazumikkusu")

Novel

A novelized adaptation of the series by Nitroplus was announced on March 1, 2011. It will be written by Hajime Ninomae and illustrated by Yūpon. Details on the type of novelisation have yet to be revealed.

External links

• Official website Template:Ja icon
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica at Aniplex Template:Ja icon
• Official Manga Website Template:Ja icon
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica at IMDb.com