Homulilly
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Please refrain from reading if you are not yet familiar with all the latest media released."Despite her appearance, she's the most hurt." ~ Sayaka
Homulilly (HOMULILLY) is the witch form of Homura Akemi. She is the Witch of Mortal World (此岸の魔女 Shigan no Majō)[1]. Homulilly first appeared in the bonus material and special game over of Madoka Magica Portable.
In The Rebellion Story Homulilly reappears, now known as the Nutcracker Witch. The movie takes place in her barrier and Homura transforms into Homulilly once she discovers the truth. Her appearance has been altered from Madoka Magica Portable. Homulilly also reappears in Magia Record as Homura's doppel.
Witch Cards
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くるみ割りの魔女。その性質は自己完結。かつて数多くの種を砕いたその勇姿も壊れてしまっては仕様がない。他に価値など持たないこの魔女が最後に望むは自身の処刑。だが、首を刎ねる程度で魔女の罪は消えない。この愚かな魔女は永遠にこの此岸で処刑までの葬列を繰り返す。
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The Nutcracker Witch. Its nature is self-sufficiency. Its gallant form, which once split many nuts, is now useless. Without any other purpose, this witch's last wish is her own execution. However, a mere decapitation will not clear away the witch's sins. This foolish witch will forever remain in this realm, repeating the procession to her execution. | ||||||||||
くるみ割りの魔女。その性質は自己完結。歯はこぼれ頭蓋はとろけ目玉も落ちた。もう種を砕けない頭には約束だけがみじめに植わるが、殻の中で目覚めた魔女はそれでもまだ魔法少女の姿を色濃く残す。手下達はその姿をデキソコナイと呼び恥ずかしく思っている。
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The Nutcracker Witch. Her nature is self-sufficiency. Her teeth are showing, her skull is melted, and her eyeballs have fallen out. A promise is the only thing that pitifully planted in that head which can no longer crack any nuts, but within the husk of the awakened witch is the distinct form of a magical girl. Her servants shamefully refer to that thing as a good-for-nothing. | ||||||||||
Minions
偽街の子供達。その役割は泣き屋。葬列を盛り上げるために涙の芝居をする着せ替え少女人形。やってきた人形どもはイバリ、ネクラ、ウソツキ、レイケツ、ワガママ、ワルクチ、ノロマ、ヤキモチ、ナマケ、ミエ、オクビョウ、マヌケ、ヒガミ、ガンコ、最後のアイはまだ来ない。「色から生まれ空にはあらず、此岸の淵こそ我らが舞台」そのちからは魔法少女にも劣らない。
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The children of the false city. They play the role of mourners. These dress-up dolls fake crying in order to liven up the funeral procession. The dolls present are Pride, Pessimism, Liar, Coldheartedness, Selfishness, Slander, Blockhead, Jealousy, Laziness, Vanity, Cowardice, Stupid-Looking, Inferiority, and Stubbornness, while the last one, Love, has yet to arrive. "The depths of this world, born of form and without void, are our stage," and their power is a match for Magical Girls. (Additional details here) | ||||||||||
くるみ割りの魔女の手下。その役割は刑の執行。ギロチン台へ送られる魔女の葬列を務めるブリキの兵隊。愚か者を憎み愚か者を断罪する。その重たい頭は真面目で融通が利かないため、魔女の言葉に耳を貸すことはない。人間サイズの他、巨大なブロッケン級が存在。白いネズミが大嫌い。
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The Nutcracker Witch's servant. Its duty is to mete out punishment. These tin soldiers organize the procession for the witch sent to the guillotine. They loathe and execute fools. Their bulky heads are serious and unyielding, and do not heed anything the witch says. There are gigantic Brocken-types in addition to the human sized ones. They hate white rats. | ||||||||||
くるみ割りの魔女の手下。その役割はネズミの駆除。白いネズミどもを狩り立てる虫歯の騎兵。他にもブリキの兵隊達を手伝い葬列の進行を邪魔する不届き者を排除したりする。
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A minion of the Nutcracker Witch. Her duty is to eliminate rats. She hunts the wretched white rats on her mount, a decaying tooth. She also helps the other tin warriors get rid of those who would dare to interrupt their funeral procession. | ||||||||||
くるみ割りの魔女の手下。その役割は凶報。魔女の葬列の始まりを告げるキグルミ鳥。偽街の子供達から餌付けされているらしく、彼女らの言うことにはいくらか従うものの基本的に知能は鳥並み。群れを成して飛び回るが、被り物のせいで視界が悪くとりあえず動くものに突っ込む習性がある。通常サイズの他に巨大なブロッケン級が存在。
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The Nutcracker Witch's servant. Its role is to bear bad news. These stuffed birds announce the beginning of the witch's funeral procession. They receive food from the children of the false city, and follow their orders to a certain extent, but their basic intelligence is on par with an average bird. They fly in flocks, but their headgear impairs their vision, and they have a habit of ramming into moving objects. In addition to their usual size, there are also gigantic Brocken-types. | ||||||||||
くるみ割りの魔女の手下。その役割は咀嚼。もう種を噛み砕くことが出来なくなった魔女の代わりに余計な異物を噛み砕くための歯型くるみ割り人形。口の中からくるみ大砲を発射することができる。自慢のエナメル質は硬度10と言っても過言ではないと評判。
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The Nutcracker Witch's servant. Its role is to chew. These nutcracker dolls chew and crush any unwanted foreign substances in place of the witch who can no longer crack any nuts. They can also fire a nut cannon from its mouth. As the rumours go, it is no exaggeration to say that their vaunted enamel has a hardness of 10. | ||||||||||
その役割は配役の周知徹底と舞台管理。偽見滝原の上空に浮かぶ鉄の飛行船。結果内へ連れ込まれた人間達の記憶を書き換え、魔女のための新しい脚本を与える。魔女の手下であることに違いないが、その役割は道具に近く魔女の感情からも直接的な影響を受ける。
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The Nutcracker Witch's servant. Its role is to thoroughly inform the cast of the play and manage the stage. It is an iron airship that floats above the fake Mitakihara. It rewrites the memories of the humans brought into this world by giving them a new script for the sake of the Witch. It is undoubtedly a Witch's minion, although it is closer to a tool that is directly influenced by the Witch's emotions. | ||||||||||
History
Madoka Magica Portable
Unlike all other witches in the game, with the exception of Kriemhild Gretchen, Homulilly doesn't appear in the game or bonus dungeons, nor is any other information provided in the game or bonus materials. She only appears in a Game Over screen in the game if a player loses to Walpurgis Night in Homura's route, under specific conditions. There is a dialogue of Homura losing hope and an illustration of Homulilly before the Game Over screen appears. The dialogue is as follows:
| Japanese | English | Image | ||
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| 暁美ほむら | これだけ準備して
それでも勝てない……。 |
Akemi Homura | I prepared so much, and yet I can't win... | 
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| 暁美ほむら | そうだ……。
また時間を……。 |
Akemi Homura | That's right, time can still be... | 
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| 暁美ほむら | ！！
砂が……。 |
Akemi Homura | !! The sand... | 
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| 暁美ほむら | そうか。
魔法を……。 |
Akemi Homura | So my magic... | 
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| 暁美ほむら | ああ。
ここで終わりなんだ……。 |
Akemi Homura | Ah. This is the end... | 
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| 暁美ほむら | まどか。
あなたを救えなかった……。 |
Akemi Homura | Madoka, I couldn't save you... | 
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| 暁美ほむら | ごめんなさい……。 | Akemi Homura | I'm sorry... | 
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| HOMULILLY
GAME OVER |
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| STANDARD GAME OVER | 
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The Rebellion Story
See Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Rebellion.
Magia Record
Homulilly reappears in Magia Record as Homura's doppel. Her eyeglass version (and swimsuit version) sports Homulilly's appearance from Madoka Magica Portable whereas her normal version is more similar Homulilly's appearance from The Rebellion Story, even having Lotte-like shadows around her.
Eyeglass Version description
The Doppel of closed circuits. Its form is the mortal world. The master of this emotion loops through time in an endless cycle of trial-and-error. Master and Doppel fuse together, her skin becomes glass, and her expression freezes into that of a doll. She launches volley after volley of attacks that only end when her target falls silent. In this way she is more like a Witch than other Magical Girls. Not only can she can manipulate the sands of time, but she can pluck information of low importance from the alien lifeforms on her hat and create anything around the level of an earthly weapon by solidifying the sand.
Swimsuit version description
The Doppel of closed circuits. Its form is the near shore.[2] The master of this emotion wound up on the beach during her trips of trial and error through time. She's got a holiday vibe, maybe due to the summer sun. By absorbing strange skills from the alien she has trapped on her straw hat, she conjures a palm tree that fires rounds of coconuts. No Witch would enjoy being pelted with supersonic coconuts, and the Doppel's attacks are guaranteed to hit due to the game mechanics, so they forfeit the moment it aims. The palm tree boasts high accuracy and it can target and hit a lone enemy repeatedly. Consider it an improvement.
In-Game (Normal version) description
The Doppel of Karma. Its form is the mortal world. The master of this emotion visits many worlds in search of an exit, spinning giant threads of fate. Fourteen incomplete bodies born from emotion trail behind the master's body, which has almost completely transformed into glass. In order to achieve their mission, these 14 bodies work methodically and tirelessly to remove obstacles. Regardless of their master's will, they weave the threads of fate, which become tangled in ever more complex patterns, driving her yet further into a maze, the exit of which can hardly be found. These bodies of emotion have no names.
Haregi version description
The Doppel of karma. Its form is a treasure ship. The master of this emotion thinks of the lost splendor she left behind during the old year. The seven bodies carried by the treasure ship are the remnants of the emotions the master tried to detach at the start of the New Year, but their expressions are painted over by the regret she harbors, making it impossible to read the original emotions. This doppel crushes the enemy when the master cannot bear the weight of her regrets and throws out the entire treasure ship. The more dazzling the first sunrise is, the heavier the master's regrets become, so the seven of them wear glasses so as not to be blinded by the dawn light of the New Year.
Observations
- "Shigan" is the opposite of "Higan" (nirvana). Higanbana (literally "higan flowers") is the Japanese name for red spider lillies. So shiganbana, or Homu lilly, could be a pun.
- All three alternative forms of Homulilly employ a record spinning as a hat. The top part looks like an old vinyl record, and the stylus has an odd shape. If you think about it, it almost makes it look like a stereotypical witches' hat. In Rebellion a wheel turns around revealing runes that refer to Homura's devotion of Madoka
- An endless record that keeps spinning - that could possibly refer back to her timeline reset ability and her ability to manipulate time, or never giving up as she keeps going on and on
- Alternatively, her record hat could symbolize a 'broken-record' considering Homura reset the same span of time over and over, much like a record skipping
- In Homulilly's original appearance, the section where the braided parts meet, there is something that looks like red sticks held by hands formed by the ends of her plaits
- If these are knitting needles, then her design could also be partially based off of the famous old quote "A stitch in time saves nine", meaning good preparation can prevent future hardship (or tragedy)
- Under the red stick, the hair forms the shape of what that looks like the number eight or the infinite symbol
- Homulilly appears to have half of her head cut off, which is a reference to the guillotine in her barrier, guillotines are usually symbols of punishment and shame, which may reflect Homura's guilt for not being able to protect Madoka
- Her familiars, Lotte appear to be based on the English Queens guard due to their uniforms and hats
- The names 'Liese' - meaning 'God is my oath' and 'Lilia' - meaning 'innocence and purity' - could possibly be a reference to how Homura viewed Madoka in such a positive light and looked up to her
- Liese looks like a raven or a crow, crows are usually omens of death or a sign bad luck is about to befall
- The Clara Dolls are most likely named after Clara from the Nutcracker, fitting Homulilly's title being the "Nutcracker Witch"
- In the new world created by Homura, the Clara dolls are seem jumping off an edge covered in discarded school shoes. It is Japanese tradition to remove your shoes before committing suicide
- In Japan the Red Spider Lily signals the arrival of fall. Many Buddhist will use it to celebrate the arrival of fall with a ceremony at the tomb of one of their ancestors. They plant them on graves because it shows a tribute to the dead. People believe that since the Red Spider Lily is mostly associated with death that one should never give a bouquet of these flowers
Stories and Legends Regarding the Red Spider Lily
- Since these scarlet flowers usually bloom near cemeteries around the autumnal equinox, they are described in Chinese and Japanese translations of the Lotus Sutra as ominous flowers that grow in Diyu (also known as Hell), or Huángquán (Simplified Chinese: 黄泉; Traditional Chinese: 黃泉), and guide the dead into the next reincarnation.
- When the flowers of lycoris bloom, their leaves would have fallen; when their leaves grow, the flowers would have wilted. This habit gave rise to various legends. A famous one is the legend of two elves: Mañju (Simplified Chinese: 曼珠; Traditional Chinese: 曼珠), who guarded the flower, and Saka (Simplified Chinese: 沙华; Traditional Chinese: 沙華), who guarded the leaves. Out of curiosity, they defied their fate of guarding the herb alone, and managed to meet each other. At first sight, they fell in love with each other. Amaterasu, exasperated by their waywardness, separated the miserable couple, and laid a curse on them as a punishment: the flowers of Mañju shall never meet the leaves of Saka again. It was said that when the couple met after death in Diyu, they vowed to meet each other after reincarnation. However, neither of them could keep their words. In commemoration of the couple, some call the herbs 'Mañjusaka' (Simplified Chinese:曼珠沙华; Traditional Chinese: 曼珠沙華), a mixture of 'Mañju' and 'Saka', instead of their scientific name. The same name is used in Japanese, in which it is pronounced manjushage.
- Some other legends have it that when you see someone that you may never meet again, these flowers, also called red spider lilies, would bloom along the path. Perhaps because of these sorrowful legends, Japanese people often used these flowers in funerals. The popular Japanese name Higanbana (彼岸花 Higan bana) for lycoris radiata literally means higan (the other or that shore of Sanzu River) flower, decorate and enjoyable, flower of afterlife in gokuraku jyōdo (極楽浄土 gokuraku jyōdo).
The significance of red lillies is interpreted as the eternal separation of two friends/lovers; a relationship forced to be separated by obstacles, circumstances, and outside forces. This is interpreted as Homura's failure to reunite with Madoka as they are both doomed to fail to break the cycle of despair. The myth about the two lovers never meeting again, despite promising one another, reinforces the idea that to Homura, Madoka means more than just mere friendship.
Broken Tooth Symbolism
In The Rebellion Story the witch has a new appearance, and is clad in an ornate dress resembling Homura's magical girl outfit. While she initially retains her record player-like witch hat from the PSP game, she quickly discards it to reveal a giant spider lily that replaces the top half of her head. Teeth constantly fall from the spider lily, like water droplets or tears.
This relates to the biblical depiction of Bruxism as sinners wailing and gnashing their teeth in hell.
- It also preludes Homura's eventual transformation into a demon since her witch represents a sinner and she is the first magical girl to sin and rebel against goddess Madoka declaring herself to be a force of evil.
It could also relate to the Nutcracker Ballet; in the story the nutcracker was once a human who was transformed into a nut cracker and later given as a gift a Christmas party where he was damaged, the girl felt sad for him and took care of him, then when the mice attacked he came to life and defended the girl. Similarly Homura started out as a normal girl and was held back by her heart condition, then she befriended Madoka and the others and became a Magical Girl and grew stronger with the intent of protecting Madoka; which would be similar to the role reversal in the ballet. However since Madoka died in most of the timelines until she finally ended up as a part of the universe, Homura could see herself as still being the damaged nutcracker doll who can't protect the girl who helped her or even fulfill her most basic purpose.
Trivia
- HOMU is a known nickname for Homura used by Inu Curry, revealed in runes in Episode 3 Charlotte's barrier.
- Although not listed as Homulilly's familiar in the Witches Artwork, the blimps seen around the false Mitakihara city are in fact familiars called Lisa. This was proven true in the Rebellion Production Note.
- Her Witch's Kiss from the Special PlayStation Portable theme bundled with the limited edition of Madoka Magica Portable looks like an hourglass on top of a red spider lily (彼岸花 Higanbana) although it is Homura's character color purple, instead of the usual red color.
Gallery
Notes and references
- ↑ 此岸 (Shigan) is an opposite of 彼岸 (Higan) or the other shore of Sanzu river.
- ↑ This is a pun on "Shigan", which literally means "this shore".