Mai Akane
| Mai Akane | |
|---|---|
| |
| Japanese Name | 朱音 麻衣 |
Mai Akane (朱音 麻衣 Akane Mai) is a supporting character appearing in Puella Magi Oriko Magica: Sadness Prayer. She is part of a group of magical girls hailing from Kazamino City, comprised of Lina Hitomi, Miyako Saki, and Mio.
General Info
| Physical Features | |
|---|---|
| Age | Unknown |
| Eye colour | Red |
| Hair colour | Light purple |
| Magic | |
| Soul Gem | Unknown, possibly the circle on her waist |
| Weapon | Katana |
| Witch Form | Unknown |
| Powers and Abilities | Range Expansion (The reach of the slash of her katana can become larger than its actual length)[1] |
| Wish | “I want to fight strong people.”[2] |
| Other | |
| Japanese pronoun | Watashi (私) |
| Known relatives | Unnamed grandfather (deceased) |
| Origins | Kazamino City |
| School | Not attending |
Personality
Mai appears to be the most level-headed of the group, rarely getting angry to the point of an outburst. She is shown to care a lot about her friends such as when she worried about them after taking down Kirika and trying to calm down Miyako when she accuses Lina of using them. She seems to agree and follow Lina's orders without question and shows little hesitation in fighting and killing, especially against other magical girls like Sasa Yuuki who use Witches to harm others.
Backstory
Mai's backstory prior to joining Lina was unknown until it was revealed by Kuroe Mura in her Twitter.
Mai was a sporty girl and used to be in the kendo club. She was really close to her grandfather, but he died due to a battle with a chronic disease. Mai then met Kyubey and made her wish to "fight strong people", as it was her grandfather's wish to see her fighting in her prefecture kendo tournament.
Since then, Mai fights witches to repay the favor of her grandfather's peaceful departure.
Story
During Sadness Prayer
Mai first appears fighting against Sasa with her teammates, though they are forced to flee when Sasa tricks them with a fake soul gem and calls for help from random bystanders mistaking them for muggers. She later appears again with her team when they discover Mio's body and are later confronted by a policewoman in Mitakihara where they learn about the recent murders of two girls before meeting up at their hotel room to hunt for Sasa. Mai asks Lina about her thoughts on the murders and speculates Sasa is to blame for them before being shot down by Lina as the other girl was in Kazamino with them at the time. They later meet up with Kyubey who gives them more info on the murder being a "black magical girl" and decide to regroup and plan out their next move. Mai thinks that Mio might've been a victim of the black magical girl and even thinks that she and Sasa could be working together. When Miyako tries to convince Lina to go back and plan things out in Kazamino, Mai refuses to do so as it would leave the city at Sasa and her Witches' mercy. They are soon attacked by Kirika who is later joined by Sasa and Oriko Mikuni.
As Lina fights Sasa and Miyako confronts Oriko, Mai faces off against Kirika and manages to take her down rather easily by stabbing her in the chest. She then meets back up with Lina and offers to take down Sasa for her since her soul gem was nearly full of impurities. Despite her pleas, Mai refuses to let Sasa go and tries to attack but is stopped by Oriko and Miyako. Miyako accuses Lina of using the group, but Mai tries and fails to calm her down as her teammate points out Lina was trying to get Mai to kill Sasa and blames her for Mio and Futaba's deaths. Those final words pushed Lina into despair and she turned into a Witch before the group. After Miyako is killed by Lina's Witch, Mai blames Sasa for it and almost starts a fight with her before both girls are stopped by Oriko and forced to team up and defeat it. Afterwards Mai tells the other two girls to leave her alone as she takes in what has happened to her friends and wonders if she can continue fighting like this. As Mai wonders what to do next, she is caught off guard and subsequently killed by Kirika.
Powers
Mai's been shown to be able to keep up with Kirika and dodge all of her attacks in despite of her ability to slow others down.
According to Kuroe Mura, her unique magic is "Range Expansion" which allows her "to extend the slashes" of her katana. It was also revealed that this magic is invisible, so it seems to be a form of long range imperceptible attack.
Etymology
The first character in her surname, "朱", means "red" while the second character in her surname, "音", means sound. The character "麻" in her given name can mean "linen", "flax" or "tow". The second character in her given name, "衣", means "clothing".
Trivia
- As revealed in a tweet by Kuroe Mura, Mai made her wish in order to honor her grandfather's final wishes.
Gallery
Official Art
Mai with her team.
Art by the artist
Mai's full magical girl outfit
Manga pages
Mio, Miyako, Mai, and Miyako's doll attacking Sasa's servant Witch
Mai in casual clothing.
Mai's magical girl form in full.
