Uwasa of the Memory Curator

Uwasa of Memory Curator is an Uwasa that appeared in Chapter 6 of the mobile game Magia Record. It later re-appeared in Episode 11, 12 and 13 of the anime.

Underlying Rumor

Rumor of the Memory Museum

Official Translation: Have you heard? Has anyone told you? The Rumor of the Memory Museum! Do you have memories you wanna change? Or erase? Maybe some you want to…recall? If memories have got you down, come to the Memory Museum! Ring the bell and oh my! All the memories you can think of are on display for research purposes in the exhibition space! You can discover all sorts of hidden truths through the memories stored there! But if you see someone else's memory, it might influence you… That's the big Rumor in Sakae Ward! How fascinating!

Anime Version

Oh, have you heard yet? Who told you that? The rumor of the Memory Museum. A memory that you want to change? A memory you want to forget? Or a memory you want to remember? If you are bothered by any memory, come to the Memory Museum! Just ring the bell and all the memories will be put on display. It is a museum that advances in research. If you take a look through the memories, you will be able to see several truths discovered! If you look at a memory that is stored there, that memory will influence you. That's according to the Rumor that spreads among the people of the Sakae Ward. Oh what is this?

Major Uwasa

アラもう聞いた？誰から聞いた？記憶キュレーターのそのウワサ書庫にいっぱい並んだ本を、ヒトリで全部刷り上げた記憧を熟知する専門家！今もどこかでヒトリでひっそり、記憶を印刷しているけれど、記憶を見たのに、記憶をくれない者は、おうちに絶対帰してくれない！根こそぎ記憶を取られるかもって、栄区の人の間ではもっぱらのウワサココカラダシテー！

Uwasa of the Memory Curator (記憶キュレーターのウワサ, lit. Rumor of the Memory Curator)
Episodes	Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story: Magia Record, Magia Record Episode 13

Fan Translation: “My, have you heard? Who’d you hear it from? The Rumor of the Memory Curator! An extra-special expert on memory, who printed an entire archive full of books by himself! He’s probably working away in some quiet corner, printing out memories even now… But if you take a peek at those memory books, you’d better give some memories back in exchange, or else you’ll NEVER make it back home! He might even pluck out every last memory you have! It’s a rumor that ALL the people in Ei Ward are talking about. Lemme outta heeeeere!”

Official Translation: Have you heard? Has anyone told you? The Rumor of the Memory Curator! It printed all the books in its archive by itself. It's a total memory master! It can print all kinds of memories, but beware! If you ask to see its work but don't give your memory in return, it won't let you go anytime soon! People in Sakae Ward are saying it can even steal your whole past! Get me out of here!

Minor Uwasa

アラもう聞いた？誰から聞いた？記憶スタッフのそウワサ書庫に並んだ本をパッと開いて覗いてしまうと、記憶スタッフの仕事がハジマル！タイプアームで頭を叩かれ、記憶をカタカタ書き換えられチャウ！もしも記憶が溢れてしまって、自分の記憶が漏れ出しちゃうと、可愛いリップで記憶を吸われちゃうって、栄区の人の間ではもっぱらのウワサカタカタカタチーン！

Uwasa of the Memory Staff (記憶スタッフのウワサ, lit. Rumor of the Memory Staff)
Episodes	Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story: Magia Record

Fan Translation: “My, have you heard? Who’d you hear it from? The Rumor of the Memory Staff! Once you flip open and take a peek at one of the archives’ books, it’ll be time for the Memory Staff to swoop in and go to work! They’ll tap its text into your head with their typewriter arms, rewriting your memories with a 'clickety-clack!’ And if your head gets too full, and your own memories spill out, they’ll suck up the excess with their adorable lil’ lips! It’s a rumor that ALL the people in Ei Ward are talking about. Clickety-clickety-clack! Ka-CHING!”

Official Translation: Have you heard? Has anyone told you? The Rumor of the Memory Staff! Its duty is to find anyone who reads the books from the archive. If it catches you opening any of them, it will hit you on the head with its typewriter arms and rewrite your memory! People in Sakae Ward are saying if you're overflowing with memories, it'll suck them out with its cute lips. Click-Clack-Click-Clack-DING!

In the Anime

Unlike the other Rumors in the anime, the content of the underlying Rumor is almost unchanged (with only one change in wording in Japanese).
The interior decoration of the Memory Museum was changed from the game. The Museum in the anime is a building with a huge facial sculpture at the façade. There is a great wall formed by shelves at the entrance, a huge hall with a suspension bridge over many giant bookshelves, a big centrifuge or rotator-like structure, a gondola lift, many books and glass cases inside.
- There are many strange humanoids in the Museum, like the Lucky Owl Water deliverers. For example, there are persons coalesced with clocks, a humanoid who looks like an experimental body in a glass case, and a man who plays a saxophone and a goat. However, when Iroha's group visit the museum, they don't see them, unlike the Lucky Water deliverers who they interacted with.
- These were designed by J. A. Seazer.
It seems there is no differences between the Uwasa's barrier and the original interior decoration of the Museum, except for fog, special effects of the Uwasa with floating Japanese characters, and some objects derived from the Rumor, such as the fence. Iroha fought the Curator Uwasa in a huge hall with many giant bookshelves, and then fights another opponent in a room with the same interior. The disappearance of other objects, for example the gondola lift is unknown, as they were not described.
- The sound effect of the Uwasa collapsing sounds to be different from the one of the Witches.
The design of the Curator Uwasa was significantly changed, and the Staff Uwasa do not appear in the anime.
- The form of the Curator Uwasa has been changed from a printing press to a large fish-like creature. The only part that remained the same visually is the image of a face which is now reflected in the creature's eyes.
- The Curator Uwasa seems to have the ability to show remorse and trauma to the victim who was swallowed by it.
- The whale vocalization sounds to be used for the sound effect of Uwasa's crying voice.

Trivia

It is currently unidentified that whose face in the Curator Uwasa's design is.
The design of Curator Uwasa seems to be based on a letterpress printing machine, probably the platen press of the Excelsior model, developed in the 1870s and had used for a long time, or a successor or copy product.
- The Curator Uwasa in the anime is shaped like a big fish. The shape of it's body may be a reference to the offset paper rolls or the cylinders, used for the rotary printing press.
The Staff Uwasa's design seems to be based on a typewriter.
The appearance of the Memory Museum in the anime, a building with a giant facial sculpture at the facade, looks similar to the Palazzo Braschi in Rome, Italy, during the elections of 1934, which was used by Benito Mussolini's Italian Fascist Party with a propagandistic billboard. However, the face of the sculpture in the Museum of Memory is not Mussolini's one, but appears to be the same face used in the Curator Uwasa's design.