Hitomi Shizuki

Hitomi Shizuki
Japanese Name	志筑仁美; (Shizuki Hitomi）
Voiced by	Japanese: Ryouko Shintani; English: Shelby Lindley; Italian: Debora Morese

Hitomi Shizuki (志筑仁美, Shizuki Hitomi) is a supporting character and a classmate of Madoka and Sayaka. She is also a second-year student at Mitakihara Middle School and hails from a rich family. Later in the series, she is revealed to have Kyousuke Kamijou as a love interest, much to the anguish of Sayaka.

General Info

Physical Features
Age	13-14 (estimated)
Eye colour	Green
Hair colour	Dark Green
Other
Japanese pronoun	Watashi (わたし)
Known relatives	Unnamed parents
Origins	Mitakihara City
School	Mitakihara Middle School, Second Year

Official Info

Hitomi is a close friend of Madoka and Sayaka.
She attends after-school classes in Piano, Japanese dance and Tea ceremony, feeling obliged to make time for them even when she might reasonably be expected to focus on her studies.
She is able to learn a lot.
She is quite rich.
Hitomi is the class monitor in Madoka's class.

Story

In Episode 4, Hitomi was among the persons who got a witch's kiss and were driven into a suicidal trance. She spends her appearance talking about going to a better place and attempting to join the others, who then stage a collective suicide. Madoka manages to save Hitomi and the others by tossing their supplies away, but is swallowed into a the witch Elly's barrier and Sayaka, now a Magical Girl, saves her.
Having noticed Sayaka's crush on Kamijou, Hitomi confronts Sayaka and tells her that she will tell her feelings to him if Sayaka doesn't do it first. This act, unbeknownst to her, contributes to Sayaka's despair. She is still apparently unaware of such a fact in Episode 9, since she tries to ask Madoka if something has happened but Madoka doesn't tell her anything.
According to Kazuko and Junko's conversation in Episode 11, Hitomi took Sayaka's fate (or better said, the little bits that normal people know about) rather hard. They say "Sayaka was having some problems with a friend over a boy," and then added "Her friend is taking this pretty hard too. This is something that usually passes after a little heartache. But instead it turned out this way." ^[1]
- [Some planning sketches] [and the episode itself] strongly imply that a wavy-haired girl seen sobbing uncontrollably during Sayaka's funeral was Hitomi.
Hitomi is last seen in Episode 12, anxiously waiting behind a stage curtain for Kyousuke who is about to go through a very important music audition.

Hitomi in Oriko Magica

"I don't care anymore! I'd rather die than go through any more of this..." - Hitomi, Puella Magi Oriko Magica, Chapter 6.

Hitomi is mentioned in Chapter 3 but does not appear until late chapter 4. Although she is never a candidate to be a Puella Magi, she is still in Homura's protection circle.
In Chapter 5 and 6, she went with Sayaka to escape the familiars' attack after they get separated from Madoka. When she saw a dead body, she cried and could not bear any more. But Sayaka then found a door to a safe place where they met Madoka later.
In Chapter 7, when the dying Oriko used her last bits of life to murder Madoka via impaling her in the chest, Hitomi was seen next to Madoka's blood-covered and lifeless body in the real world, mourning for her death alongside Sayaka.

Hitomi in Madoka Magica Portable

During the gag bonus scenario, Madoka and Sayaka recognize Homura as a strangely strict magical girl and are surprised when Homura transfers to their class. When they try to describe Homura's personality to Hitomi, she fawns over Homura and admires her.

Hitomi later asks Sayaka to confess her feelings for Kyousuke like the anime. Homura wants to prevent Sayaka's despair by convincing Sayaka to issue a duel with Hitomi over their feelings for Kyousuke. When Hitomi protests to Homura over the affair, Homura accuses her of being too unfair to her muffled friend by allowing her one day to confess. Sayaka hasn't even admitted her infatuation to herself, and it would be cruel to expect her to say them to Kyousuke. Hitomi is surprised to hear her opinion and admits she may have been mistaken. She then accepts the duel with the hopes to prove her own affections and to instill Sayaka with the courage to confess.

When Sayaka is reluctant to hurt her during their duel, Hitomi strikes the first blow to invigorate her friend. Sayaka retaliates with a stronger punch. Hitomi concedes defeat after the blow, sensing her friend's passion for Kyousuke when she is hit. After Sayaka runs off to Kyousuke with her friend's blessings, Hitomi cries in Homura's arms over her loss. She feels thankful to Homura for comforting her and considers her a close friend afterwards, although it is a one-sided acknowledgement. Hitomi frequently invites Homura to outings or sleepovers, sometimes interrupting Homura's plans to be closer to Madoka. She even serves the magical girls beverages as they plan for the fight against Walpurgis Night in Homura's apartment. Homura apologizes to them since she couldn't convince Hitomi to leave before their meeting.

Hitomi in The Different Story

In The Different Story, Hitomi plays a similar role to the anime. The main difference, however, is that Sayaka has already become a magical girl and knows that Hitomi has a Witches Kiss, yet ignores it. After Hitomi is saved, Sayaka blames herself for not being a "hero of justice", eventually leading to Sayaka becoming a witch after Madoka unintentionally pushes her along.

Hitomi in Wraith Arc

In the first chapter, Hitomi is walking home from school with Sayaka as she talks about Kyoko. Hitomi is glad she's made a new friend when they notice Kyosuke walking nearby. Hitomi turns to Sayaka and confesses her feelings bout Kyosuke to her, giving her one day to sort out her feelings and decide on a course of action. In the second chapter, their conversation is shown in further detail. As Hitomi is walking home from their conversation, a wraith targets her but Sayaka is able to save her on time. After the battle, Hitomi notices Kyosuke is nearby and walks over to chit-chat with him, Sayaka watching from close by but she cannot hear any of their conversation.

Hitomi doesn't appear again until chapter 4 when, a month after Sayaka's disappearance, she runs into Kyoko at the station after her conversation with Mami. Having overheard their conversation, she has questions for Kyoko concerning what really happened to Sayaka. She tells Kyoko that Sayaka always spoke of her cheerfully, and she blames herself for her disappearance. While Kyoko is initially hesitant, she tells her as much of the truth as she can, telling Hitomi that Sayaka would never despair, give up hope, and disappear due to someone's betrayal and was smiling until her last moments. Hitomi promises to keep this all a secret and turns to go, but not before a wraith disguising itself as Sayaka appears. In chapter 5, Hitomi apologizes to her believing her to be the real Sayaka. She explains her feelings at having talked with Kyosuke the other day despite promising her the day to make up her feelings about him. The fake Sayaka blames her for everything and asks her to choose between keeping Kyosuke for herself or keeping Sayaka as a friend. She strikes at the two girls and Kyoko protects Hitomi, allowing her to walk away unscathed.

Hitomi in The Rebellion Story

In the beginning of the movie it's revealed that Hitomi is still going out with Kyosuke. However, their relationship has been undergoing difficulties.

Warning, this section contains spoilers about the movie.
Hitomi's frustrations with Kyosuke causes her to become a Nightmare. The magical girls incapacitate the Nightmare and Sayaka purifies Hitomi, returning her to normal. It's eventually revealed the movie takes place in a witch barrier, and that Kyosuke and Hitomi were abducted from the real world. They return from the barrier unharmed, and at the end of the movie they greet a resurrected Sayaka.

Etymology

The first character in her last name (志) means "purpose" or "will." The last character (筑) means "architecture."
Her first name is written using a combination of the kanji 仁 (meaning "charity" or "benevolence") and 美 (meaning "beauty").

Trivia

Ryouko Shintani (Hitomi) states in the audio commentary for Episode 7 Blu-ray, that she too loves Kyoko. She also said although Hitomi looks weak, she is mentally strong, in contrast to Sayaka. Although Sayaka looks bright, she actually has little self confidence, and won't seek help from others by saying it, so she in fact is mentally weak.
- Both Aoi Yuuki and Chiwa Saitou agree her view. Saito thinks that girls like Hitomi are probably the only ones who could be able to get hold happiness for themselves.
Shintani explains that she didn't originally auditioned for the character of Hitomi but since she wasn't good enough for the other roles, she went with Hitomi instead. When asked which characters she wanted to try first for the audition, she asked for Sayaka and Homura.
In the Audio Commentary for Episode 8, Junichiro Taniguchi (Chief Animation Director) states that Hitomi was the hardest character to draw in regards to facial expressions, since she has the largest rate of change, obtaining uniformity was difficult. In contrast, Homura was the easiest to draw, as a cool character she has a lot of outside influence which helps to decide how to draw her facial expressions.
"Girls cant love girls!" scene and line was not included on the movie version.

Gallery

Official Art

Art from the Art book
Art of Hitomi and Kyubey by Ume Aoki
Art of Hitomi, Kyosuke and Kazuko by Ume Aoki
Oktavia von Seckendorff's familiar Klarissa highly resembles Hitomi, even more so in the concept art
Art of Hitomi's Nightmare (right)
Character height chart
Nitro+ Novel illustration
Hitomi card from the Precious Memories TCG

Collaboration Art

Girl Friend Beta
Uchi no Hime-sama ga Ichiban Kawaii

Screenshots

Original Anime

Hitomi, Sayaka and Madoka in the opening
A young Hitomi in the Beginnings Movie opening. She can be seen facing away here
BD ending image by Ume Aoki
Hitomi in Episode 1
Hitomi coughs
Hitomi is curious of Madoka and Sayaka in Episode 2
Forbidden love
Hitomi in a trance once Elly's witch kiss was placed on her in Episode 4
Hitomi punches Madoka to stop her from interfering
Hitomi preaches that if they die they'll move to a much better world
Movie version
Hitomi in Episode 5
Hitomi talks to Sayaka about Kyosuke in Episode 7
Hitomi confessing her feeling to Kyosuke in Episode 8

Rebellion

Hitomi in The Rebellion Story
Hitomi's phone
Hitomi's Nightmare
It resembles Hitomi more once defeated
Hitomi, Kyosuke and Sayaka in the new world

Concept Movie

Hitomi in the Concept Movie

Walpurgisnacht:Rising

Manga

Hitomi in the manga
Hitomi with Elly's witch kiss
Hitomi from the reprint manga
Hitomi in the Wraith Arc
Hitomi's bedroom in the Rebellion Manga
Hitomi's Nightmare
Hitomi and Kyosuke in the new world
Hitomi in The Different Story
Hitomi in Oriko Magica
Sute Ma! cover, volume 3
With Mami
Hitomi in Welcome to Café Grief Seed!
Hitomi in The Veranda of Madoka

Madoka Magica Portable

Hitomi's profile from Madoka Magica Portable
Hitomi slaps Sayaka to show her passion for Kyosuke from the Bonus route
Homura comforts a crying Hitomi after she lets Sayaka confess to Kyosuke in the Bonus Route