Ichizo

Not to be confused with Nighthawk.

Ichizo is a Witch appearing in the Magia Record Anime before later appearing in the Magia Record Game as a boss. She is the Witch form of Kuroe.

Witch

ICHIZO Ichizo
Type	Nighthawk Witch
Nature	Escape
Appearances	Magia Record Episode 24, Magia Record
English description Japanese description The Nighthawk Witch. Her nature is to escape. This witch ran away from terrifying darkness. This witch ran away from overly bright hope. This witch ran away from others she couldn't save. This witch ran away from a future where she was supposed to be saved. Until the end, this witch could not accept that she had run away. She continues to fly within the barrier, aiming for the bright star of her barrier, but her wings that melted like mud and self-consciousness erases the both the past and present, and all purpose and meaning has been lost. This witch is both here, and not here. This witch cannot connect with anyone. She engulfs all others with mud, and eliminates all individuals other than herself. No one can ever bring anything to this witch. ヨダカの魔女。その性質は逃避。この魔女は、恐ろしい暗闇から逃げ出した。この魔女は、眩しすぎる希望から逃げ出した。この魔女は救えなかった他者から逃げ出した。この魔女は、救われるべき未来から逃げ出した。この魔女は最後まで、逃げ出した自分を受け入れることが出来なかった。蜃気楼の赤い星をめざし結界内を飛び続けるが、泥のように溶けた翼と自意識は、過去と今を塗り潰し、目的と意味のすべては失われてしまった。この魔女は、そこに有って、そこに無い。この魔女は誰ともつながらない。すべての他者を泥に呑み、自身以外の個を排除する。何者も、この魔女に何かをもたらすことは出来ない。

Trivia

'Ichizo' is derived from Kenji Miyazawa's novel The Nighthawk Star. See also Speculah:Kenji Miyazawa and Magia Record.
In-universe, her form is inspired by a plush nightjar toy that Kuroe owns.
Her design is also based off of a Black Drongo, a bird which has a fish like tail that's ironically a passerine instead of a hawk.
Her labyrinth takes the form of an endless expanse of night sky, where she pursues a bright star that remains forever in the distance. The star is either meant to represent a freedom from the responsibility of being a Magical Girl, or the Magical Girl ideal (embodied by Iroha), either of which she always chased but could never achieve.
- Further, she either keeps her eyes closed or lacks them entirely, so it is questionable whether she is even able to see the star's light at all.
  - Ironically, Ichizo's Doppel form has eyes.
The chained white protrusions from her wings are likely calamuses/calami, the hollow shaft of feathers. Their bareness and being chained up, in addition to stemming from bases made of mud, emphasize her inability to progress forward, let alone reach her destination.
- She similarly lacks hands on her body's arms. This likely refers back to her rejecting Iroha’s pleas that Kuroe connect with her to break free from her Doppel, cutting off her hands so Iroha can’t take them (which is required for Magical Girls to connect).
The inside of her mouth resembles the eye/mouth of Box Wood.
She is the only Witch to speak properly (though with a heavily distorted voice), saying, “Now, no one will save me. Now, I don’t have to save anyone. Now, I can stop being a Magical Girl.”
After her birth, she is shown holding up Kuroe’s body with cloth like material similar to what Giovanna (Iroha’s Doppel/Witch) uses before she uses the cloth to rip apart the body. Whether the cloth has any other function is unknown as it vanishes quickly after.
When added to Magia Record Ingame, she gained a proper description.
- The original description, shown in Gekidan InuCurry's Twitter post, was "An ugly hawk bearing the wings of mud. (泥の翼を持つ醜い鷹。)"
Noticeably, during her battle in the game version of Magia Record, her size is as big as bosses like Crépuscule de La Reine, but only occupies the front middle space, and has a small HP bar used for smaller bosses like Candy.