Elsa Maria
Elsa Maria (ELSAMARIA) is a witch who battles Sayaka at the end of Episode 7. She reappears in Madoka Magica Portable and Madoka Magica Mobage. Her familiars make an appearance in The Rebellion Story and Magia Record
Witch Card
影の魔女。その性質は独善。全ての生命のために祈り続ける魔女。祈りの姿勢を崩さぬまま、その影の中へとあらゆる命を平等に引きずり込む。この魔女を倒したくば、黒色の苦痛を知らなくてはならない。
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The witch of shadow with a self-righteous nature. She continually prays for all of creation and drags all life equally into her shadow without breaking her posture. One hoping to defeat her must know the blackest anguish. | ||||||||||
Minions
影の魔女の手下。その役割は妄信。 影の魔女によって平等に救われてしまった命達の集合体。 彼らは同胞を求めている。
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The shadow witch's minions, whose duty is to blindly believe. They are an aggregate of the lives that were granted salvation equally by the shadow witch. They continually seek out companions. | ||||||||||
History
Original Anime
Elsa Maria appears at the end of Episode 7 where she fights Sayaka. Madoka accompanies her and Kyoko arrives to help. Elsa Maria uses an attack where a thick tree grows out of her back to stop Sayaka growing close to her. She is swiftly defeated due to Sayaka's emotional state, she hacks at her mercilessly with blood spurting out of the witch. Her Grief Seed is shown after the fight. Sayaka rejects it and gives it to Kyoko.
The Rebellion Story
While Elsa Maria doesn't make a reappearance in The Rebellion Story, her familiars do. Nagisa rides on them during the fight against Homulilly.
Madogatari
Song
The Witch's Hymn (魔女の賛美歌)
| Original text | Translation |
|---|---|
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光よ 祈りよ ビン底よ 主なる力よ 罪 沈め給え 舐め取り給え 誰も等しく |
O light, o prayer, o bottle-base O Lordly power, submerge our sins Lick them up equally, one and all |
Observations
- Her name is possibly a reference to the song Ave Maria which Kyousuke Kamijou is known to play
- She could also be a reference to Jeanne d'Arc, another magical girl (as shown in episode 12.) Jeanne said she was hearing the voices of saints, angels and God, and prayed very often
- Elsa Maria may be linked to Kakure Kirishitan (or "Hidden Christians") which were a group of practicing Christians that existed in hiding from the mid 1600's and on. Freedom of Religion was finally granted to Japanese citizens in 1871, which may have been the result of a wish. This would explain the heavily religious nature of the witch.
- This can be an accurate theory because witches can not only live forever if never killed, which in this case would be difficult because of how she can only be defeated by a magical girl "with the blackest anguish," but they can also live on as familiars that break away and grow back into witches. Not all witches are necessarily new, they can survive for a very long time and duplicate if a part is broken off.
- On the other hand, Elsa Maria could be a modern Japanese Christian, possibly a descendant of the Kakure Kirishitan and/or just very influenced by their history and martyrdom (like real life writer Shusaku Endo, who was Catholic). She might be from either Nagasaki (the city with the biggest historical connection with Japanese Catholicism, and one of the places where the Kakure Kirishitan came from), Akita (the prefecture where the Marian apparitions known as Our Lady of Akita took place) or the Madoka world's equivalent to Nagasaki and Akita.
- The tree growing from Elsa Maria's back may be a reference to the Biblical tale of Adam & Eve. The familiars could be a reference to the animals in The Garden of Eden
- There is possibility that Elsa Maria is praying for America to end World War II, given the Statue of Liberty-like image in her labyrinth. The dead tree look of her attacks may reference the effect of the fallout radiation from the nuclear bomb that was dropped on Japan. Her minions also are representative of the twelve zodiac, which may imply the transition after World War II from Eastern thought to the Western thought that happened after World War II
Trivia
- The Guidebook indicates that Elsa Maria's labyrinth design is a church that's "a mix of a (Christian) church and Buddhism", and calls it or the witch "like Amakusa Shiro", an Edo period Christian and leader of an oppressed Japanese Roman Catholics uprising against the shogunate; his rebellion failed and he was executed at 17, with his head being publicly displayed on a pike as a warning to other Christians. It also says that the circles on the background should spin and rotate, and that within them there should be "images of God and angels in the style of [[wikipedia:Ukiyo-e|ukiyo-e] "
- According to the storyboards:
- Elsa Maria was originally the daughter of an aristocratic family, back in the day when people wore kimonos. Kimonos originated around the Heian period (794-1185) "when Japan's nobility embraced a distinctive style of clothing".
- Whether she originated from the Heian or Edo period, this would make Elsa Maria among the oldest Magical Girls and/or Witches in the franchise (such as Pernelle, Roberta, and presumably Walpurgisnacht).
- There's a name written in witch runes on the cross held up by the giant statue, but it doesn't explain exactly which one. Instead, it says it's "Princess ___ (German name)". The notes also show that "while it's not shown", beneath the statue there's a field covered in grass and the skulls of all the people Elsa Maria "saved" since she became a witch.
- Elsa Maria was originally the daughter of an aristocratic family, back in the day when people wore kimonos. Kimonos originated around the Heian period (794-1185) "when Japan's nobility embraced a distinctive style of clothing".
- There are also design notes for the prototype version of this witch, with the phrase "I wish happiness to you, who I have not yet seen." （まだ見ないあなたが幸せであるように）written near the top. Not everything matches the witch shown in the anime: for example, the platform in Elsa Maria's barrier was supposed to be mirrored, with another cross underneath it. The real witch would be there, while on the upper side there would be a decoy. There would also be seated, human-like familiars that'd make the sign of the cross when the witch died. This would also cause a 'baaaaaaahn' sound like from a pipe organ to play and the sky would break apart and fall like glass.
- She is named after Elsa Asenijeff, also known as Elsa Maria Packeny. After refusing many proposals, she was forced by her parents to marry a diplomat eleven years her senior; She felt at the mercy of her husband, a theme that influenced her literary works. She eventually divorced the diplomat and remarried an artist, though this marriage too suffered when her second husband took an 18-year-old girl named Gertrude Bock as a model and companion, whom he eventually married shortly before his death after he and Asenijeff also divorced. After this divorce, she lived in poverty as her second ex-husband refused to support her financially; she eventually became isolated from her friends and family and was admitted to a psychiatric clinic
Gallery
Official Art
TL of Upper right corner: "A girl has become a mahou shoujo to save the world. However, Nothing has changed at all. Not even a little. For sure, there is lack of salvation. I must help. I must help. Equally, completely impartially."
Art of Elsa Maria from the Puella Magi Production Note
Art of Elsa Maria's Grief Seed
Storyboards of Sayaka fighting Elsa Maria
Witch Kisses from the Production Note
Art featuring Elsa Maria and Sebastian from the Key Animation Note volume 6
Art of Elsa Maria's Grief Seed from the 10th Anniversary Exhibition
Collaboration Art
Monster Strike
Princess Punt
Screenshots
Original Anime
The labyrinth begins to appear in Episode 7
Runes circling the left and right sides of the screen reveal Elsa Maria's name
The same scene on BD version
Combined images of Elsa Maria's labyrinth
Sebastian
Elsa Maria's tree attack
Sayaka kills Elsa Maria
A shawl floats down as the labyrinth crumbles
Elsa Maria's labyrinth, outside view on BD version
Elsa Maria's Grief Seed
The Rebellion Story
Sebastian in The Rebellion Story
Walpurgisnacht: Rising
Sebastian
Sebastian
Sebastian
Elsa Maria
Elsa Maria
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Manga
Elsa Maria in the manga
Elsa Maria's labyrinth
Elsa Maria's grief seed
Elsa Maria in the reprint manga
Sebastian
Elsa Maria's grief seed
Elsa Maria in The Different Story
Sebastian
Sebastian in the Rebellion Manga
Elsa Maria's cameo
Games
Madoka Magica Portable
Elsa Maria's introduction from Madoka Magica Portable
Elsa Maria's name in Runes
New familiars that resemble hands
They make shapes when idle
Elsa Maria's barrier
Elsa Maria's boss room
The entrance to Elsa Maria's boss room. This part was never seen in the anime
Elsa Maria's witch kiss from the loading screen
Elsa Maria's Witch's Kiss
Elsa Maria's Grief Seed
Madoka Magica Mobage
Elsa Maria in Madoka Magica Mobage
Sebastian
Madoka Magica Online
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Madoka Magica Plus
Art of Elsa Maria from Madoka Magica Plus
Art of Sebastian from Madoka Magica Plus
The Battle Pentagram
Elsa Maria's introduction from The Battle Pentagram
Elsa Maria's name in Runes
The hand shaped Sebastian
A white recolour of Elsa Maria's labyrinth
In this recoloured labyrinth, the red spire resembles art from the Puella Magi Production Note while also having a moon instead of a sun at the centre
Madoka Magica (Flash Game)
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TPS Featuring Tomoe Mami
TPS Featuring Miki Sayaka & Sakura Kyoko
SLOT Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Elsa Maria from SLOT Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Magia Record
Magia Record Sprite
Magia Record Sprite
Witch Kiss
Attack
Single attack
Skill use
Near death sprite
Defeated
Memoria card
Merchandise
Movic Witch Collection 2
Movic Grief Seed Collection
Grief Seed phone strap
Grief Seed pin
Ichiban Kuji G prize art glass
Ichiban Kuji H prize clear file
Puella Magi Madoka Magica Witch's Minion Acrylic Key Chain With Stand Collection Box
Witch's Kiss mini badge collection
Other
A comparison between Elsa Maria's labyrinth and a monstrance
Sebastian from the Movic Madoka Magica Exhibit
Memoria Cards
To edit a memoria's details, click on the specific memoria
| Card | Effect | Cooldown | EN Text | JP Text |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shadow Witch Minion. Role: Blind Follower. A group of lives given grace by their Witch. They seek new brethren. | 影の魔女の手下。その役割は妄信。 影の魔女によって平等に救われてしまった命達の集合体。彼らは同胞を求めている。 |
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| Card | Effect | Cooldown | EN Text | JP Text |
External links
- Elsa Maria card at official website (Japanese)
- Sebastian's card at official website (Japanese)