Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice

Cover of the first volume.

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~) is the first spin-off in the Puella Magi franchise, written by Masaki Hiramatsu and illustrated by Takashi Tensugi.

Kazumi Magica was originally serialized in Manga Time Kirara Forward starting January 24, 2011, and with serialization finishing on November 24th, 2012. The story was then collected into five volumes, with volume 1 collecting chapters 1 to 3, volume 2 collecting chapters 4 to 8, volume 3 collecting chapters 9 to 13, volume 4 collecting chapters 14 to 18, and volume 5 collecting chapters 19 to 23.

Blurb

Volume 1: Kidnapped and stuffed into a trunk by an unknown assailant, teenager Kazumi bursts forth from the confines of the case to discover that she has been stripped not only of her clothes, but also of the memories of her life before the kidnapping. When she is recovered by a pair of schoolgirls, she doesn’t recognize them as her best friends and roommates, Umika and Kaoru. As Kazumi tries to settle back into her normal life, she quickly realizes that her former “normal” was anything but!

Volume 2: Just as Kazumi is starting to get the hang of life as one of the Pleiades Saints, a group of magical girls who were her companions before she lost her memory, she is captured right from their midst! Her abductor, Yuuri, bears a grudge against the Pleiades Saints and means to kill Kazumi as payback. Yuuri’s powers allow her to artificially create witches — and she intends to use her magic on Kazumi! Why destroy the Pleiades Saints herself when she can have one of the Saints do it for her?!

Volume 3: As her teammates look on in horror, Niko succumbs to the taint that has overwhelmed her soul gem and she transforms into a terrifying witch. But there is little time for the Pleiades Saints to grieve — this new witch has gone on the attack! Left with no alternative, Mirai strikes down her friend to save the rest of the girls. Is there any power that can save the magical girls from their fate?

Volume 4: From the very start, it was Kazumi who drew the girls of the Pleiades Saints together. But no magical girl, however beloved by her friends, is exempt from the fate that awaits them all. Fearing that the evil nut may be accelerating Kazumi’s transformation, the girls are divided — can the process be delayed, or should they take out Kazumi while they still can?

Volume 5: Trapped inside the witch’s barrier with the vengeful Kanna, Umika and Kaoru struggle to protect Kazumi as their beloved friend slowly succumbs to her darkening soul gem. If the girls can rally, the witch’s grief seed could be used to purify all of their gems, but even that would be only a temporary solution. Facing cruel fate and questions of her own identity, Kazumi will make the ultimate choice whether or not to join her friends in their vendetta against destiny in the final volume of The Innocent Malice!

Series information

Characters — List of all original Kazumi characters.
Witches — List of all original Kazumi witches and their familiars.
Locations — List of all original Kazumi locations.

Chapters

Volume 1

Volume 2

Chapter 4: Evil Nuts
Chapter 5: Magica Arrabbiata
Chapter 6: Bucket Parfait
Chapter 7: Picking Gems
Chapter 8: Fried Ice Cream
Extra Chapter: Dream-Colored Spoon (Extra included in a special preorder)

Volume 3

Volume 4

Volume 5

Extra

Special Chapter: Rosetta Meteora

Collected volume changes

One of the many changes made between the magazine and volume versions of Kazumi Magica.

Volume 1

The dust jackets have a silly two page comic with Kazumi, Umika, and Kaoru.
In the last page of chapter 1, the evil nut next to the defeated detective is missing. After that there is an additional page with Kazumi and Souichirou Tachibana.
Chapter 2 changes:
- In the second page, the evil nut is redrawn to be consistent with it's changed appearance in later chapters. The same thing happens in the forty-second page.
- In the third and fourth pages, Kazumi is holding her earring-bell instead of a blank white stone.
- In the thirteenth page, the white stone has been redrawn as a soul gem.
- In the fourteenth page, the white stone has been replaced with Kazumi's soul gem turning into her earring - this reveals that the earring is Kazumi's soul gem.
- In the eighteenth page, Umika and Kaoru's soul gems have been redrawn to be consistent with the appearance of soul gems in future chapters and the anime.
- In the nineteenth page, Kaoru's magical girl outfit has been slightly altered. This alteration is also present on the twenty-eighth page. In addition, Umika's soul gem is now visible on her forehead in magical girl form, making it consistent with future chapters. The forehead gem is present on the twenty-third, twenty-fifth through twenty-eighth, thirty-seventh, thirty-ninth, fortieth, and forty-second pages.
- In the twenty-seventh page, Kazumi is holding her earring bell instead of looking at her cross weapon. This changes the serialized version's implication that Kazumi's soul gem was on her cross.
- An extra page is added at the end of chapter 2.
The end of chapter 3 adds a page with design notes for the witch from the chapter.
The end of the manga has a silly three page omake with Saki, Umika, and Kazumi. It features a single panel appearance of Kaoru, a single panel appearance of Niko, Satomi and Mirai together, and a single panel appearance of Madoka.
There is also a one-page Q&A with the author.

Volume 2

The front dust jacket has a parody of the cover, with Tachibana in Kazumi's place and Slice Akiyama (the chef from Yuuri's flashback) in Yuuri's place. The back one has an image of the policewoman in Yuuri's outfit.
On the ninth page in chapter 5, a panel of Jubey has the circular mark on Jubey's head that previously did not.
On the tenth page in chapter 5, the runes flying around as Yuuri becomes a witch are more clearly visible.
On the first page of chapter 6, Kazumi is very slightly redrawn.
A page with Kazumi and Niko is added after chapter 7.
Design sketches for all new characters introduced in the volume are included.
- Notes on Yuuri are added after chapter 4.
- Notes on Yuuri Asuka's witch are added after chapter 5.
- Notes on Airi's witch are added after chapter 6.
- Notes on Ayase and Luca are added after chapter 8.
The end of the manga has a one-page omake with Saki reading one of her romance novels.
There is also a one-page Q&A with the author.
Volumes purchased from Toranoana also included a two page short story about Yuuri and Airi, called Puella Magi Kazumi Magica Special Edition ~ A Dream-Colored Spoon. It can be read here.

Volume 3

The dust jackets have a two-page comic with Yuuri, Airi, Tachibana and Slice Akiyama.
The first two pages of chapter 9 are in black and white instead of color. The text surrounding Niko on the second page is now gone.
A page for the witch from chapter 9 is added after the chapter.
Several lines of text were slightly edited in chapter 10.
A page with each of the Pleiades's mementos is added after chapter 10.
A page with Kazumi and Niko is added after chapter 11, along with a page for that chapter's witch.
A page with Kazumi's grandmother is added after chapter 12.
Volumes purchased from Toranoana include a four page short story about the Pleiades Saints titled Puella Magi Kazumi Magica Special Edition ~ Rosetta Meteora. Volumes purchased at Wondergoo, Melonbooks and Gamers also received special cards with different illustrations on them for each vendor.
There is also a one-page Q&A with the author.

Volume 4

The dust jackets have a two-page comic with Umika, Niko, Mirai, Satomi and Saki.
A color page with the same art from the April 2012 cover of Manga Time Kirara Forward sans text is added before chapter 14.
The first four pages of chapter 14 are in black and white instead of color. The text surrounding the Pleiades Saints on the second and third pages is now gone.
A page for the enemy clones from chapter 14 is added after the chapter.
A page for the witch from chapter 15 is added after the chapter.
In chapter 17, a silhouette of Kanna has been added behind the witch as Saki attacks, confirming that to be the moment when Kanna switches Kazumi with a duplicate.
A page for the witch from chapter 18 is added after the chapter.
Two 4koma-style comics appearing between the chapters. One features Misako Ishijima and Souichirou Tachibana and is placed after chapter 16. The other features the Pleiades Saints and is placed after chapter 17.
A page with Saki and Kaoru speaking about Niko, Mirai and Satomi is added after chapter 18.
There is also a one-page Q&A with the author.
Volumes purchased from Toranoana include a four page short story. Volumes purchased at Wondergoo, Melonbooks, COMIC ZIN, Animate and Gamers also received special cards with different illustrations on them for each vendor.

Volume 5

The dust jackets have a two-page comic with Tachibana and Slice Akiyama.
A color page featuring all 7 original Pleiades and Kazumi has been added before chapter 19.
A page for the witches from chapter 19 is added after the chapter.
The first four pages of chapter 20 are in black and white instead of color. The text surrounding the Pleiades Saints on the second and third pages is now gone.
A page with the Kyubey is added after chapter 20.
A page with the Souju twins is added after chapter 21.
A page for the witch from chapter 22 is added after the chapter.
A page with Tachibana is added after chapter 23.
A one-page omake featuring all magical girls in the manga is added.
There is also a one-page Q&A with the author.
Volumes purchased at Wondergoo, Melonbooks, COMIC ZIN, Animate and Gamers also received special cards with different illustrations on them for each vendor.

Publishers

Language	Publisher	Country	Release date
Japanese	Houbunsha	Japan	October 12, 2011 March 12, 2012 September 12, 2012 January 12, 2013
English	Yen Press	United States	June 25, 2013 August 20, 2013 December 17, 2013 February 18, 2014 May 27, 2014
Korean	Haksan Publishing	South Korea	April 25, 2012 October 31, 2012 December 26, 2012 September 10, 2018 September 10, 2018
Chinese	Tong-Li Publishing Co., Ltd	Taiwan, Hong Kong	2012 (1,2), 2013 (3, 4), 2014 (5)
Italian	Panini Comics/Planet Manga	Italy	2013 (1, 2, 3, 4), 2014 (5)
French	Doki Doki	France	2014
German	Carlsen Verlag GmbH	Germany	2014 (1, 2, 3) 2015 (4, 5)
Portuguese	Editora NewPOP	Brazil	June 30, 2015 March 1, 2016 July 11, 2016 September 20, 2016 December 20, 2016
Thai	Siam Inter Comics	Thailand	September 28, 2012 July 29, 2013 October 24, 2013 December 17, 2013 August 14, 2014
Indonesian	Elex Media Komputindo	Indonesia	December 24, 2014 March 25, 2015 April 1, 2015 April 8, 2015 May 6, 2015

Observations

Although initially Kazumi Magica appeared to have no connection to the anime, it developed a greater connection to the anime over time, culminating in nearly all of the inconsistencies being explained in chapter 4.
Kazumi is not set after the events of the anime.
Food seems to play a major role in Kazumi Magica. Nearly every chapter is titled after something food-related that is mentioned in that chapter (the exception, "Gem Picking", can still be thought of as food related a la "cherry picking"), three of the magical girls are good cooks, and almost all of the magical girls enjoy eating.
The author's Q&A in volume one shows that the series subtitle "Innocent malice" is translated in Japanese as "sinless spite". He also acknowledges his use of food as chapter titles, saying he has no better ideas.
The author of Kazumi Magica, as revealed in the Tiro Finale Book, wrote the screenplays for the Madoka Magica Drama CDs "Memories of you" and "Farewell Story".
- Like Mami, all of the magical girls in Kazumi Magica use Italian names for their attacks and spells. Interestingly, this seems to have carried over to the Drama CDs that the author wrote the screenplays for - "Farewell Story" has Kyoko use an Italian name for one attack, and the author has stated that in "Memories of you" there was a cut scene where Madoka used an Italian named attack.
Each of the first three chapters of Kazumi Magica are forty-four pages long. Subsequent chapters are twenty-six pages.
The Yen Press translation misses the "Ashitaba/Angelica" pun and transliterates the name as "Asuna", possibly due to the name of Asunaro City.
Kanna's and Nico's eye colors are inconsistent across illustrations. Nico's is alternatively shown as gre en, blue, yellow and brown. Meanwhile Kanna's eyes are at times yellow, brown or blue.

Gallery

Covers

Full cover of the first volume.
Alternate cover of volume 1, exclusive to copies bought through Gamers.
Full cover of the second volume.
Alternate cover of volume 2, exclusive to copies bought through Gamers.
Full cover of the third volume.
Full cover of the fourth volume.
Full cover of the final volume.

Extras

Melon Books volume 1 extra
Melon Books volume 2 extra
Melon Books volume 3 extra
Melon Books volume 4 extra
Melon Books volume 5 extra
Toranoana volume 1 extra
The inside shows preliminary designs for Kaoru, Umika and Kazumi.
Toranoana volume 2 extra. The back side contains the short story Dream-colored Spoon (ユメイロスプーン)
Toranoana volume 3 extra. The back side contains the short story Rosetta Meteora (ロゼッタメテオーラ)
Rosetta Meteora
Toranoana volume 4 extra. The back side contains the short story Pancakes (ホットケーンキ)
Toranoana volume 4 extra. The back side contains the short story Nico Risotto (ニコリゾット)
A Gamers extra.
Gamers' extra for volume 4
Gamers' extra for volume 5
Volume 4's extras
Volume 5's extras