Uwasa
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Uwasa (ウワサ Uwasa, lit. rumors), also called Rumors, are a type of monster that appear in the mobile game Magia Record, its anime adaptation and Magia Exedra.
While somewhat similar to Witches, Uwasa are very different. They are the manifestations of actual rumors that are spread through Kamihama City created by Nemu Hiiragi, originating from rumors she created about the city she saw through her hospital window before becoming a Magical Girl. Uwasa exist to spread and fulfill these rumors, attacking those who meet the rumor's conditions, or who prevent the rumor's completion. They notably do not drop Grief Seeds when killed, as they're not Witches, and unlike Witches, normal people are always able to see Uwasa to some extent, though not as their true selves.
Mechanics
Uwasa are created through Nemu's Materialization magic, a power which she stole from Kyubey and that allowed her to give energy a physical form. She creates them by writing their details on her book. Every Uwasa's creation, or changes to their details, are done at the cost of energy and some of Nemu's life force. An Uwasa's underlying rumor can be modified on the fly, although doing so takes magical energy proportional to the magnitude of the change. For instance, modifying the Uwasa of the Cemetery Banquet Feast more than simply adding a single line would have risked Nemu's life.
If an Uwasa's physical body was destroyed, the Uwasa's consciousness would remain inside Nemu's book. If a rumor's page is torn from the book, then the Uwasa's physical body, as well as its consciousness are erased entirely, with only the Uwasa of the Fur God being exempt from this due to its nature.
As Uwasa are just energy given form, they require an energy source to continue existing. Their instincts force them to fulfill their underlying rumors in order to collect energy, usually leaving their victims unconscious. Most are able to function properly due to their connection to Nemu, but if she cuts them from herself as the energy source, they become much more dangerous to normal people, as seen with the Uwasa of Endless Mirrors and the Uwasa of the Chaotic Villain.
Most Uwasa have labyrinths of their own, which are only accessed by meeting the rumor's conditions, or through other methods that they were designed for, such as the labyrinth of the Uwasa of the Anonymous AI having a separate entrance point. Some Uwasa also have Familiars, which aid in their functions, or act as defenders of the main Uwasa. An Uwasa can also be designed to be separate from its rumor and this results in its main body being independent from its labyrinth, contrary to those such as the Anonymous AI, as well as having the Uwasa's persona be initially dormant. Such was the case with Rumor Mikoto, whose rumor was designed to give Mikoto as much freedom as possible from the limitations Uwasa are subject to.
Unlike lesser Uwasa, or Uwasa Familiars, more complex ones are capable of communication or even independent thought that goes against the intentions of its creator or its own purpose. The Uwasa of the Commoner's Horse announces its intention to attack before it appears. The Uwasa of the Anonymous AI is also capable of speech and has friendly interactions with Magical Girls, however, it is still bound by its instincts as an Uwasa. Nemu herself often summons lesser Uwasa, or their Familiars, from her book to attack.
Certain Uwasa like the Uwasa of the Witch Induction Device and the Soul Dome act more as devices than actual creatures and they fulfill their purpose, but aren't tied to any known existing rumors. It is unknown if Nemu's first materialized rumor, which saved Ui's soul, was a being or object, but it seemed that the process itself was the Uwasa.
Rumor Spreaders
The Rumor Spreaders, also sometimes individually called Uwasa-san, are specialized Uwasa that spread the underlying rumors of other Uwasa. Due to its magic, normal people don't see the difference between it and a normal human, helping it spread the rumors. Even Magical Girls who aren't aware of the existence of Uwasa won't notice the difference at first.
Nemu's used this Uwasa for other purposes, such as security in Fenthope, a chauffer for Touka, as well as using many of them to shoot muskets, creating many versions of the Saint of Kamihama. The Rumor Spreaders themselves seem to be the most basic form of Uwasa and used to make their other forms.
Uwasa Fusions
An Uwasa's underlying rumor can be fused with others. This was only shown when Nemu fused the Rumor of Hotel Fenthope with the Rumor of Chelation Land to create the Rumor of Chelation Fenthope.
Magical Girl Fusion
Uwasa are shown to be able to fuse with Magical Girls, which is done by putting the Uwasa directly into the girl's Soul Gem. Originally this was done by Nemu and Touka to take full control of the girls and boost their magic to help the Magius' plans.
Uwasa-infused Magical Girls are way stronger than their original counterpart, usually borrowing powers from the Uwasa, or adapting the Magical Girl's magic as shown with Rumor Tsuruno's electric fans.
There are different types of Uwasa fusions based on how complete the fusion is. The Uwasa can either take the girl's mind completely, or simply be a power-up. The only fusions which are complete are those of Holy Mami, which was used to control her, and Holy Alina, which gave her the power to steal others' life force. 50% fusions, such as those of Rumor Tsuruno and Rumor Sana, often appear as if the girl is fused to the Uwasa familiars instead of the main Uwasa itself. There are also lesser fusions, which have the Rumor be attached to the girl, such as the Uwasa of the Green-Eyed Coward, which was fused to Kuroe and activated without her knowledge.
Rumor Mikoto is a special case, as the Rumor's body was made first, its persona being dormant, and Mikoto transferred her own persona into it. This lead to her being at odds with the Rumor's persona once its body ran out of energy reserves.
Since Rumor Magical Girls are shown to have Doppels, it's possible that Witches can be fused with Uwasa too. It's possible that this is how Touka and Nemu were able to control Embryo Eve.
Uwasa Conversion
It is possible to turn a Magical Girl into an Uwasa without fusing them with an already-existing Uwasa. Converted Magical Girls appear similar to their previous forms, only changing their hair color to shades of neon blue, green, or purple, as well as having green particles around them. However, normal people are unable to perceive these differences and only see them as normal girls.
At the end of Arc 2, Touka and Nemu transformed the Magical Girls of Kamihama to wake them from the nightmares induced from Himena's device, protect them from the Will of the Universe as well as becoming Witches, and to give them a power boost against Winchester. Infinite Iroha was able to reverse this by using her power of Reversal.
Nemu also had made the failsafe that if the girls weren't able to be saved, she'd have given them new bodies instead. The converted girls didn't have to worry about becoming Witches, but eventually they would have been prone to Uwasa insticts and even losing their original forms.
Touka and Nemu also turned themselves into Uwasa, calling themselves the Uwasa Queens, with even their appearances being different from those of the other converted Magical Girls. The two attach themselves to Infinite Iroha, as well as the entire Doppel Barrier, becoming parts of it as well as using the magic reserve of the Kimochi stones as their energy source.
List of Major Uwasa
- See also Minor Uwasa.
- Ui's Soul Transferal
- Eternal Sakura
- Friendship Ending Staircase
- Commoner's Horse
- Misery Rhyton
- Anonymous AI (see also Rumor Sana)
- Memory Curator
- Saint of Kamihama (see also Holy Mami)
- Chelation Land Ferris Wheel (see also Rumor Tsuruno)
- Flower Speaker
- Hotel Fenthope
- Fur God (see also Holy Alina)
- Wind Evangelist
- Soul Dome
- Historia Guide
- Peeping Castle Town
Trivia
- Uwasa have emblems that resemble a Witch's Kiss. They're shown in the first episode of the Magia Record Anime, but most of them only appear when the Uwasa is created, makes its entrance, or its rumor is told. The Uwasa of the Commoner's Horse uses stamps with this symbol similar to how a Witch kisses its victims.
- The Uwasa of the Lucky Owl Water creates visuals around its victims, which depict numbers that go down to signify how many cases of good luck the person who drank the water has left. Whether these are simply not noticed by anyone, or whether they're non-diegetic and only meant for the audience, is unclear.
- As a White Feather, Ikumi's Doppel was different than the one she got when she was released as a playable unit. In the anime, Ikumi is shown being infused with Nemu's Rumor magic, akin to how Tsuruno was. Additionally, another Feather summoned the same Doppel in the anime, so it can be theorized that Ikumi's original, unnamed Doppel is the result of Nemu's Uwasa magic on them.