Pleiades Saints

"Those seven stars up there! We're named after the seven sisters of myth."
— Niko Kanna, Kazumi Magica Chapter 3.

The Pleiades Saints (プレイアデス聖団, Pureiadesu Seidan) is a team of Magical Girls featured in Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The innocent malice. Together, they fight Witches in Asunaro City and do their best to oppose the cruel Magical Girl system.

Their name is taken from the Pleiades star cluster (プレイアデス星団, the same pronunciation), whose stars are named after the Pleiades of Greek mythology (a.k.a the Seven Sisters).

Members

Michiru Kazusa (Original leader; deceased)

A cheerful girl that brought everyone together to form the Pleiades Saints, acting as the leader. Before the story of Kazumi Magica starts, she has turned into a Witch.

Kaoru Maki

An athletic football player living with Umika and Kazumi.

Umika Misaki

A popular novelist who bought the trio's house with her earnings.

Saki Asami (Second leader; Deceased)

A mature and intelligent girl, she effectively acts as the Pleiades' leader after Michiru's death.

Mirai Wakaba (Deceased)

A hotheaded girl with long, puffy hair.

Satomi Usagi (Deceased)

A polite girl who loves animals, and wants to become a veterinarian when she grows up.

Niko Kanna (Deceased)

A tech expert and arguably the most intelligent of the group.

Juubey (Deceased)

An artificial Incubator who works alongside the Pleiades Saints, cleaning their Soul Gems.

Kazumi Subaru

A cheerful girl that has lost her memories, she is created by the Pleiades Saints, being a clone of Michiru Kazusa made with their magic and the flesh of her Witch.

Teamwork

Given that none of the Saints appear to be overwhelmingly powerful, their strength comes from a number of joint tactics and attacks they have developed to make their numeric advantage as effective as possible.

Their main strategy appear to be to take advantage of Kazumi's powerful magic beams. The six remaining girls engage the enemy, wearing it down and immobilizing it by casting a joint sealing spell, Episodio Incrocio (English: Crossover Episode). This makes it a sitting duck for Kazumi to finish off.

That is not their only joint attack. For situations that require a quick strike, Figli Del Toano is an option. It is a powerful attack that creates a large explosion on the target, aimed by laser beams fired from the girl's staffs.

Outside of battle, they coordinate their search patterns to improve their chances of finding a witch. Along with Niko's app, this allows them to cover a wide area in just a few hours. The group can also communicate with each other telepathically using their soul gems.

Attacks

The Pleiades often use phrase in Italian to refer to things of a magical nature, most notably their attack names. Michiru herself was inspired to do so after being rescued by Mami Tomoe, who herself named and yelled out her attacks in Italian.

Michiru's book where she documented all the Pleiades' attacks is called Pleiades Ultimate Attacks Complete.

Magical Girl	Attack Name	Translation	Reference	Description
Michiru Kazusa	Chi-chin Purin	Magical Pudding (a pun on the Japanese magic phrase "Chichin Puipui" and the word for "pudding")	The Japanese magical incantation "Chichin Puipui" (ちちんぷいぷい), a common charm used to soothe pain or make things disappear, combined with "Purin" (プリン), the Japanese word for pudding.	Michiru utters this phrase when she extends six black ribbons to catch and save the other girls, who were about to jump off a building under the influence of a Witch. The ribbons are inspired by Mami Tomoe, who saved Michiru before she became a Magical Girl.
Michiru Kazusa	Open Sesame Oil	Open Sesame Oil	In Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, "Open Sesame" was used as a command to open the entrance to the thieves' secret cave. The phrase is now a popular idiom in English. The addition of the word "oil" is likely an added playful twist by Michiru.	Michiru uses this spell to take the girls she'd just rescued to the Labyrinth of the Witch they were under the influence of. Kazumi also utters this phrase when she tries to use magic, but it doesn't do anything.
Michiru Kazusa / Kazumi Subaru	Limiti Esterni	Outer Limits	American TV Series The Outer Limits, a classic science-fiction anthology show renowned for its thought-provoking and often chilling tales that explore the unknown. It is famously introduced by the ominous narration, "There is nothing wrong with your television set."	The user unleashes a powerful destructive, purple magical beam which is able to often completely destroy all parts of its target.
Umika Misaki	X File	X File	The American TV Series, The X-Files, is a science-fiction drama renowned for its intricate mythology and chilling "monster-of-the-week" stories that explore the paranormal and governmental conspiracies. It is famously defined by the credo, "The Truth Is Out There," and the tense dynamic between its two main characters. Notably, the word "file" in this case refers to a collection of incident reports, while the Italian file refers specifically to a computer's file, thus a more accurate name would be X Archivio.	Umika usually uses this attack to read the target's thoughts, which are then projected as writing into her book. When applied on Witches, the writing seems to be in runes and Umika can also use this to analyze materials or other objects.
Umika Misaki	Mezzanote Chiamante	Midnight Call	Midnight Caller, the 1988–1991 American TV drama about a former cop who hosts a late‑night radio talk show and gets drawn into his listeners' troubles.	Umika utters this phrase when she hands the other Pleiades whistle pops to signal Kazumi outside the Witch's Labyrinth. It is possible it increased the sound the pops were able to make so that they'd be heard even outside the Barrier.
Umika Misaki	Carcere Pausa	Prison Break	Prison Break, the 2005–2017 Fox TV series about a man who deliberately gets himself imprisoned to help his brother escape death row.	Umika uses this phrase to break Kaoru out of Kazumi's Witch's Kiss/trance.
Umika Misaki	Rosso Fantasma	Red Phantom	This is the same technique that Kyoko Sakura originally used to make clones of herself, simply meaning that Umika had encountered Kyoko previously and copied this ability from her. Notably, Umika didn't utter any phrase when using this spell.	Umika creates a magic circle in midair, which Kaoru passes through, creating up to 13 magic clones of her. Unlike clones created by Niko, these clones aren't made of biological matter and are fully magical.
Kaoru Maki	Palla di Cannone	Cannonball	Possibly a simple translation of the word, there's a TV series with the name Cannonball. It is a 1958 British/Canadian adventure drama series following the exploits of a truck driver.	Kaoru empowers a football that she kicks with magic, shooting it with much more force and energy.
Kaoru Maki	Capitano Potenza	Captain Strength	Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future – the 1987–1988 sci‑fi TV series that used interactive laser‑tag technology and followed a squad of post‑apocalyptic warriors fighting a tyrannical computer intelligence.	Kaoru uses this move to fortify parts of her body, turning them metallic and incredibly durable.
Saki Asami	Pietra di Tuono	Thunder Stone	Thunderstone is an Australian children's science fiction adventure television series set in a post-apocalyptic future where Earth has been devastated by a comet called Nemesis. The story follows a teenage boy who, after accidentally traveling through time to the year 2085, joins a group of survivors strive to control a powerful mineral called thunderstone, which can power vehicles, grant longevity, and alter the future.	TBD
Niko Kanna	Rendere O Romperlo	To Give Back or to Break It, with the proverbial meaning being much closer to the saying "Make or Break"	Make It or Break It, the 2009 American drama series that focused on the lives of elite teenage gymnasts training to make the US Olympic team.	Niko uses this phrase when she generally applies her magic of rebuilding and reforming, which allows her to alter the chemical and physical structure of things. Her specialty is clones, but this also applies to inorganic materials and even things like Grief Seeds.
Niko Kanna	Prolungare	To Prolong	Likely a direct translation. There are many series or movies with similar names to prolong, or lengthen, such as the 1996 film with the same name, it could also refer to the cinema practice of making movies longer.	Niko turns her fingers into small missiles which are then launched towards a target. Each of the missiles can then grow into a fully mobile biological clone of her.
Niko Kanna and Kanna Hijiri	Prodotto Secondario	By-Product / Secondary Product	Possibly a play on the television term "spin‑off" (a secondary product derived from a main series); also the title of a 1989 Canadian short film, The By‑Product	The user quickly creates and sends a fully-realized clone to a nearby location.
Mirai Wakaba and Kazumi Subaru	La Bestia	The Beast	The Beast, a 2001 American drama series featuring a specialized team of agents working for a secret government organization called "The Beast," dedicated to tracking down and containing dangerous, genetically engineered creatures that threatened the public. However, Mirai's last teddy bear before she attempted suicide was number 666, the number of the Beast from the Book of Revelation in the Bible, a common symbol for a fearsome monster or the Antichrist.	Mirai summons and animates her teddy bears to fight for her by biting and clawing at the target. This ability seems to extend to Familiars or smaller "beasts" in general, as Kazumi was able to use it to control a horde of cat-like familiars.
Mirai Wakaba	La Bestia Refare	The Beast Remake	As the Beast hasn't gotten a remake, it is possible the movie term for remakes or remasters was applied to "La Bestia."	Mirai's bears hug each other, proceeding to fuse into a giant teddy bear form which attacks a target as Mirai sits on the construct's head. Mirai then usually proceeds to turn her staff into a great sword and attack separately.
Satomi Usagi	Fantasma Bisbiglio	Ghost Whisper	Ghost Whisperer, a 2005 American supernatural drama that featured a woman who can communicate with earthbound spirits and helps them resolve their unfinished business to cross over into the light.	Satomi is able to control someone else's body akin to possessing it. She is also able to perceive through the target's senses and either controlling part of their body, or its entirety. The victim is aware of the things they're doing and can even fight against the control in certain cases. She has been shown to control up to 13 targets at once to varying degrees.
All the Pleiades	Tocco Del Male	Touch of Evil	Likely a direct translation, but there's also Touch of Evil, a 1958 American film noir written and directed by Orson Welles. The film explores themes of police corruption, racism, and moral compromise on the border, and is widely considered one of the last great classic film noirs. Its troubled production history saw the studio heavily re-edit Welles's vision, though a restored version closer to his original intentions was released in 1998, and it remains a landmark work in cinema history.	An ability that every Magical Girl seems capable of learning with relative ease. A Magical Girl makes contact with a Soul Gem, breaking its connection to the body of the owner even within a 100-meter distance. It is unknown if this can be used on one's own Soul Gem.
Saki Asami, Mirai Wakaba and Niko Kanna	Figli Del Toano	Sons of Toano. However "Toano" is not a standard Italian word, so it is possible "toano" is a misspelling or a dialect-influenced version of the word "tuono," which means "thunder," thus meaning the translation is "Sons of Thunder."	If we continue off the "Sons of Thunder" translation, the term comes from the New Testament of the Bible, in the Gospel of Mark (3:17). It refers to two of Jesus's twelve apostles, the brothers James and John. The story goes that Jesus gave them this nickname, and while the reason isn't entirely clear, scholars generally point to their fiery and impulsive personalities.	TBD
Any combination of the Pleiades	Episodio Incrocio	Crossover Episode	A direct reference to the television term for when characters from different shows or storylines meet in a "crossover episode."	There are different applications of the girls' weapons and powers, however it is often a synchronized attack of their individual energy beams from their respective magic circles. While this combination doesn't seemingly quickly destroy a target, unless Kazumi or Michiru join in, it is effective in dealing slow damage while keeping them in place.
Kazumi Subaru	Scala A Paradiso	Stairway to Paradise	While the name is likely original, the movie Stairway to Heaven (1946) – also known as A Matter of Life and Death, is a British fantasy‑romance about a WWII pilot who argues for his life before a celestial court.	Kazumi creates a long platform reaching forward up from her staff.
Kazumi Subaru, Umika Misaki and Kaoru Maki	Meteora Finale	Final Meteor	Similar to Mami's Tiro Finale, meaning Final Shot. There is also the area of Greece called Meteora, and a few pieces of media named after it. The title "Meteora" comes from the Byzantine monastery complex in Thessaly and means "lifted into the heights" or "afloat."	Kazumi, and potentially Umika and Kaoru, position themselves on a magic circle aimed at the target. Their bodies are then shot in a straight line and engulfed in a golden aura as they pierce through.

History

In Kazumi Magica

The Pleaides before making their contracts

Umika, Kaoru, Satomi, Mirai, Niko, and Saki are standing on a catwalk. They are all displaying a Witch's Kiss on their necks. Each girl had some "despair" in her life, which caused them to be vulnerable. The six girls jump off, as a voice says "Everyone should just die." The voice is cut-off by ribbons that wrap around the girls, stopping their fall. Their savior is none other than Michiru, saying, "Ciao! You suicidal girls!"

Michiru opens up a Witch's barrier around herself and the girls. Familiars appear and start attacking the normal girls while Michiru watches. Kaoru tries to use her crutch to fight them off, but falls down. Umika shields her with her body. Mirai does something similar for Saki. Satomi asks why Michiru isn't helping. Michiru responds by asking why they don't want to be eaten if they want to die. She then pulls six firearms from her hat and drops them on the ground. The familiars combine, revealing that they were actually a Witch. The girls pick up the weapons, Satomi saying she doesn't want to die and Niko musing she can't run away from guns. They fire at the Witch, deflating it like a balloon. It re-inflates itself and charges. Michiru stops the Witch with her cross, firing her "Limit Esterni" and destroying the Witch.

As the barrier disappears a silhouette appears behind Saki. It turns out to be Kyubey (In the manga he appears as Juubey, due to Umika's memory rewriting), who says that was Magical Girl Michiru, who hunts Witches. The scene changes to Michiru's house, where she eats with the girls. She talks about how her grandmother said that people eat plants and animals to live, and so they have a duty to them to keep living. She asks the girls about her strawberry risotto, which was passed down from her grandmother. When they respond positively, Michiru says that her grandmother would be happy to hear that. Saki asks where her grandmother is now, prompting Michiru to reveal that she had passed away. She tells them not to worry.

Michiru point to a book with Umika, asking her if that's the book that plagiarized her story. After reading the book Michiru says it's bad because the main character wastes food. Umika suddenly becomes animated and agrees, saying the scene wasn't in her draft. She then explains that the rule of villains is that the one who wastes food is a villain and can't be left alive (revealing the source of the brief flashback Kazumi had in Chapter 1). Michiru says she never heard of that, but agrees. She tells Umika to keep writing, because other than the main character the story was good. As Michiru goes to get desert, Saki asks her how she became a Magical Girl.

Michiru explains she became a Magical Girl the day her grandmother died, wishing to turn her grandma back to her normal self until her lifespan runs out. Saki asks why Michiru didn't just wish her grandmother to be healthy, saying Kazumi is now all alone. Michiru says her grandmother will always be in her heart, just like Miyuki (Saki's dead sister) will be in Saki's heart. Mirai asks if she can be a Magical Girl. Kyubey tells her she can if she accepts her fate of fighting Witches. Mirai says she can accept anything. Umika, Kaoru, Satomi, Niko and Saki quickly chime in agreement. Michiru cheers over having new friends. Mirai questions the fact that she's a friend, prompting Saki to thank Mirai for protecting her. Kyubey tells the girls to give him their wishes. Mirai says her wish was already granted by having friends. Saki suggests wishing for the friends that have always protected her - Mirai's teddy bears. She points to a number on it, asking Mirai if it's her 666th friends. When Mirai asks how Saki knew, Saki explains that her sister did the same thing. Mirai decides to wish for a museum for all her teddy bears. Michiru suggests calling it "Angelica Bears".

Satomi then wishes to talk to animals. Niko whispers her wish to Kyubey, embarrassed to say it aloud. Saki wishes for her sister's flower to bloom forever. Umika wishes for an editor to recognize and handle her works preciously. Kaoru wants to help the people that were hurt in the match where she had her injury. Michiru asks her about her injuries, but Kaoru says she'll just return to the field with her current legs. The contracts are completed, and Michiru names their team the Pleiades Saints. The scene cuts to the girls fighting a Witch, Kaoru destroys it with her spiked shoes. Kyubey asks about her strengthened Magical Girl body. Kaoru is very happy about it. Michiru calls Kaoru's attack Capitano Potenza ("Captain Power"), and reveals she wants everyone to call their attacks, even recording them in a book. Michiru reveals that she's following the lead of Mami Tomoe and says she won't cook for the girls if they don't do it. Saki then notices Michiru's earrings are missing. Michiru guesses she lost them in the battle, but admits it's okay because her grandmother won't disappear from her heart. Later on Michiru receives a new pair of the earrings. Kaoru explains that Saki asked her dad to get them while he was on a business trip. Michiru thanks Saki, while Mirai has a sad or angry expression on her face.

Michiru Kazusa cooks strawberry risotto for a special occasion. In this case, it was for Umika's novel debut titled, The Sky of the Seven Stars. Saki begins to think back to the past and says how a special day reminds her of the day all six formed a contract with Kyubey. Umika thanks Michiru for changing her fate and is really glad to have met her. Michiru began shaking and Kaoru assumed she was crying, but then the former's Soul Gem fell to the floor - it had become black and tainted. Michiru's eyes changed to black, the irises changing to spirals. Her gem explodes and Michiru becomes a witch, tearing up Umika's novel and punching a hole in the roof. The girls collapse onto the ground in shock of this revelation, with Satomi saying, "Magical girls... turn into Witches?"

They eventually found her Grief Seed. Saki says, "Killing our friend for our own good... Is that what Magical Girls are?" Kyubey says that it has nothing to do with that, and it's the same as animals eating plants to survive. It's just a system. Saki wants to reject that system, so the girls do not use her Grief Seed to clean their Gems, but hide it inside one of Michiru's earrings with a spell called, "Suoneria (Ringtone)".

In rage, Umika smashes Kyubey into the wall and stabs him with her spear. When Satomi says she didn't have to kill him, Umika responds that without him around, they won't become Witches. Kyubey, in a new body, appears behind them, saying killing him is futile. He explains that Incubators are of one mind and have many "terminals" to replace broken ones. Niko then says, "Then, we can take this one, right?". She places the broken body in her container.

Niko does research on the body, using a computer and her Soul Gem to create a new kind of Incubator. She introduces him to the other Pleiades, calling him "INCUBATOR VER. DEPENDENT" or "Juubey" for short. Mirai thinks the name needs some work, but that this is amazing and they no longer need Kyubey.

The next time they meet Kyubey, they bring Juubey along. Juubey tells Kyubey that they don't need him for Grief Seed disposal anymore. He also demonstrates his Gem-cleaning ability. Kyubey says they don't need to do all this and should just use Grief Seeds, but Saki tells him that no one wants to use the remains of a friend to live. Kyubey doesn't understand, but Niko responds that they don't expect him to. Umika says she will not let him make another contract in this city ever again. Kyubey asks that they not waste resources by killing him over and over, and Umika agrees. They will just erase his existence instead. The Pleiades cast a spell that will make all Kyubeys invisible and change the memories of all the girls in the city to Juubey instead of Kyubey. Their memories of casting the magic will also be forgotten. Kyubey compliments her on the well-though plan and Umika responds, "Ciao, Kyubey."

Saki holds a witch in place while Umika collects data on it using Ex File. She then has Saki destroy it without explanation. Soon after, Umika is on the computer, doing some sort of research. She discovers a way to bring Michiru back from the dead, using a Witch's heart, called "Cuore Maleficus". She leaves the choice of whether to go through with it up to the Pleiades. Saki agrees to the idea, telling the others that Michiru had saved them more than once by getting their Soul Gems cleaned first to keep them from becoming Witches. Umika repeats that it will be their way of fighting the Magical Girl system, but it will also be their way of battling "them", despite breaking a law of nature. Unfortunately, they kept failing.

The Pleiades wondered what Kazumi, the 13th clone of Michiru, would be like. Umika said she would be a blank slate, but she would certainly be as radiant and good as Michiru. Mirai wonders if she will look like Michiru as well, but decides that she will win Saki over anyway with her own charm and make Kazumi her apprentice. She made a special teddy bear with a cat charm necklace displaying Kazumi's name for the occasion. Satomi plans to give Toto the cat to Kazumi, as she has begun to like humans despite scratching Satomi's hands all over. Umika plans to let Kazumi read her next novel first, and Kaoru wants to give her an All-Japan soccer uniform. Niko says she'll take them all to America and watch the Pleiades Star Cluster with them at the Grand Canyon, and maybe she'll finally tell them her story. Saki says she wants to give Michiru's earrings to Kazumi, not to make her more like the original, but to give her Michiru's wishes so that the earrings will become Kazumi's alone.

Volume 1

Umika and Kaoru did not tell Saki or the others they had found Kazumi because they wanted to be sure she wasn't another failure that would end up hurting Saki's feelings. They tell Saki that Kazumi seems stable and doesn't show any abnormalities, but she can cook the same way Michiru did. They suspect she might be their first success.

Volume 2

Though Kazumi, Kaoru and Umika were present since the start, the Pleiades were properly introduced in chapter 3. After a Witch traps Kaoru and Umika inside itself and takes off, four mysterious girl come to Kazumi's aid. They introduce themselves as the Pleiades Saints, a seven-girl Witch-hunting team of which Kazumi and her abducted friends are also a part of. Together, they search for Kaoru and Umika across town. While they search, the mysterious girl from previous chapters, Yuuri, attacks Kazumi, having disguised herself as Satomi to separate her from the rest of the team. Overwhelmed, Kazumi is on the verge of defeat, but her four companions intervene. Kazumi is then held at gunpoint, causing them to hesitate, but she screams out to them to attack anyway. They do so, and fire a joint attack at the mysterious girl: Figli Del Toano. It causes a large explosion, but the magical girl gets away. Kazumi is only lightly wounded.

They reunite at Umika's house for a strategy meeting. While analyzing the situation, Saki, their presumed leader, makes a breakthrough. She discovers the symbol the Witch left across town was also on the back of a book, leading her to conclude the Witch has possessed a bookmobile. After filling up on Kazumi's delicious food, they head out to the last stop on the bookmobile schedule to intercept it. They successfully do so, and, leaving Kazumi on the outside to strike at command, rescue Kaoru and Umika just in time. Together, the six of them bind the witch with Episodio Incrocio. However, Niko's GPS/com unit breaks, leaving them unable to give Kazumi the needed signal. Umika, thinking quickly, commands them to use candy flutes given to them by Kazumi. The sound reaches her, and the witch is destroyed by Limiti Esterni.

While they reunite and celebrate their victory, they are approached by Juubey, the "fairy" that turned them into Magical Girls. He cleans up their Soul Gems, and gladly accepts the last Witch's Grief Seed, but refuses a couple of weird looking seeds, obtained from the pseudo-witches of Chapters 1 and 2, saying they were not real. Umika theorized they imitated the Grief Seed's power and were created by the mysterious girl from before, but before they could draw further conclusions, they are attacked by that very girl, Yuuri. She kidnaps Kazumi, and orders them to go to the Asunaro Dome at midnight if they want Kazumi back. While waiting for the deadline, they speculate on Yuuri's motivations. At the right time, they head to the dome, but due to a force barrier they can do nothing but watch as Yuuri enacts her plane. Yuuri states her objective is to seek revenge on them. She interprets the Pleiades' failure to recognize her as having been "just that insignificant" to the girls. She then removes her hat, causing a shocked Umika to recognize her as Yuuri Asuka, the girl they saw turn into a Witch and defeated her, and proceeds to shove an Evil Nut into Kazumi's forehead, while the Pleiades scream in horror.

However, the Evil Nut seems to empower Kazumi instead, and she fights Yuuri again. Despite her efforts, Yuuri still comes out ahead in the battle. She shockingly claims that the Pleiades Saints are a gang that kills Magical Girls, and had killed her in the past. The Pleiades adopt guilt-filled expressions. She says that she went after Kazumi because she was their most precious possession. At this point, overuse of her magic causes her Soul Gem to crack. Saki tells Juubey to purify Yuuri's Soul Gem, but she shoots him before he can do so. Niko realizes it's too late, and announces that Yuuri's Soul Gem has hatched as Yuuri became a Witch. In her barrier, Yuuri's Witch form traps the Pleiades Saints on crosses and wraps vines around them, inflicting them great pain.

The Witch shares a vision of her past as Airi, and how she saw the Pleiades Saints kill Yuuri Asuka's Witch form. The Witch attacks Kazumi, but she falls under the influence of the Evil Nut and begins transforming, breaking of her cross. Suddenly returning to normal, Kazumi tries to Yuuri/Airi back into a human, with horrific results. At this point, Saki shoots the Witch, freeing the rest of the Pleiades. One by they attack the Witch as Kazumi begs them to stop. They explain they have no choice but to stop the Witch from hurting anyone, and they won't let Kazumi dirty her hands. Realizing that her friends are as pained by this as she is, Kazumi delivers the final blow to the witch, saying she'll bear this burden with them.

Later that night, we see Kaoru, Saki, Mirai, and Satomi confront a Magical Girl named Sumire Akane (It's unclear if Niko or Umika are present). Kaoru uses a mysterious spell named Tocco del Male (English: Touch of Evil), causing Sumire to scream. We then cut to a Magical Girl that is watching the Pleiades, and seems to want them for something. Through her binoculars, we see the Pleiades turn back to their civilian outfits as they hold out their Soul Gems. Sumire also untransforms and seems to be unconscious or dead. Later in the chapter it is learned that Tocco del Male is used on a Magical Girl's Soul Gem, and it stuns their body.

The other Pleiades Saints then appear to rescue Kazumi and Niko from Ayase and Luca Souju. Kaoru says they'll be taking the Soujus' gems. Saki tells Kaoru not to do it in front of Kazumi, but Niko says Kazumi already saw her doing it. Kaoru pulls out both Ayase and Luca's gems with the spell Tocco del Male. Kazumi angrily asks the others why they're taking the Soul Gems of other Magical Girls, saying that she said earlier she would bear the burden with her friends. Against Saki's objections, Umika says she'll tell Kazumi the truth about the Pleiades Saints, but while she's saying that Satomi watches Niko's Soul Gem glowing. Niko falls over on her knees, and then the Pleiades turn to see a Witch has appeared with Niko's body floating in front of it.

Volume 3

As Niko's Soul Gem cracks, we see background text of her thinking that that she'll die without a trace, and she wants everyone to remember. She thinks she doesn't want to kill anyone anymore. The runes coming out of her Soul Gem read "We have no future as long as he's around." The Pleiades are shocked to discover Niko has become a Witch. Repeatedly shouting "Cut", the Witch turns her hands into a single pair of scissors. Kaoru transforms and blocks the attack using Capitano Potenza ("Captain Power"), which encases her arms in a black metallic substance. The Witch fires projectiles from its body. Kaoru turns to the others and tells them to not just stand there. Umika encases herself, Kazumi, and Satomi in a barrier. Saki pushes Mirai in, but is wounded. Mirai flips out and uses her attack La Bestia ("The Beasts") causing an army of teddy-bears to appear and chew on the witch. When the witch throws them off, Mirai uses La Bestia Refare ("Remake the Beast"). The bears start hugging each other and turn into a giant bear that Mirai jumps on. The bear pounces on the Witch and pulls it into a bear hug. Mirai leaps into the air, turns her wand into a giant sword, and cuts both the bear and the witch in half. The witch dies, yelling "Cut" one last time. She drops a Grief Seed.

Mirai asks Saki if she's alright, but she's still processing Niko's death. Mirai tells her she had to do it, but is interrupted by Satomi screaming that she doesn't want to die or turn into a witch. Juubey and Umika look at the Grief Seed, as Umika wonders how did things turn out like this. Kazumi takes the hand of Niko's body and finds it's cold. As she shouts Niko's name, a voice says "You called?" Everyone is shocked to see another Niko standing behind them. As Kazumi asks what's going on, the other Niko walks up to the first Niko's body, puts her arm around her neck, and with a disturbing expression says "Switch". She then touches the hair of the body, and it's face suddenly vanishes. Juubey, a disturbing grin on his face, says that the body was Niko's "spare" and "compensation for Niko's contract". Kaoru asks why Niko didn't tell them. Niko says that to deceive an enemy, you have to deceive your allies. Kaoru punches her, then gives her a hug. Niko then says they should cut to the chase. Kaoru tells Saki Kazumi can handle it.

The scene switches to Mirai's teddy bear museum, "Angelica Bears". Mirai says that in Japanese it's called "Ashitaba" (literally "tomorrow's leaf") and says that Kazumi came up with the name. As they walk inside, they step onto a magic circle. Umika holds out her ring, suddenly transporting them all somewhere else. Umika tells Kazumi that the museum was born from them meeting with her. The walk up to a giant door, which opens into a giant room filled with girls floating in tanks. The middle of the room contains a pile of Soul Gems. Umika explains that after they take Soul Gems, they put the empty shells of the magical girls into "the Freezer". Kazumi says that Ayase was right, and asks why they're doing this. Juubey says that it's their response to the Magical Girl system, which is full of contradictions: Rejection.

Umika explains that Witches are the end state of Magical Girls. Umika tells Kazumi that they lied to her when they said that sometimes the Soul Gems of Magical Girls go out of control. Juubey, grinning, explains that Soul Gems are the extracted souls of Magical Girls. Kaoru admits that they're like zombies, but it's preferable to dying to a Witch in one shot. Juubey then says that the Pleiades refuse to fight without feeling pain. Kaoru responds by saying that if they do that they'll cease being human. Umika explains that the Magical Girls they capture are placed in a barrier that separates them from their Soul Gems and puts them in suspended animation, preventing them from becoming Witches. Kaoru says they hope to find a way to completely clean the gems and turn them back into humans. Until then, they'll keep fighting alone. This is their "rejection" of the Magical Girl system. Niko then takes out a container that has the Soujus, their Soul Gems, and the Soul Gem and body of another Magical Girl. The bodies of the magical girls have been shrunken to the point where they can be picked up by one hand. Niko puts into two new containers, saying they "will keep on waiting for the prince's kiss." Kazumi asks when everyone found out about the connection between magical girls and wishes. Umika touches her forehead to Kazumi's, telling her to remember everything.

Kazumi is shown memories of how the girls met Michiru (being led to believe that it was her instead of Michiru). She says she remembers hunting Magical Girls after Yuuri, but then suddenly falls over. The symbol for the Evil Nuts appears in her eyes. Satomi looks on in shock, as Kaoru says everyone's tired. Umika leads Kazumi out as Kaoru says they should rest for the day. Saki remains in the Freezer, looking at the pile of Soul Gems, they include two Evil Nuts. Satomi walks up behind her, Saki asks why Satomi is there. Satomi pulls her hand to her mouth and says: "Saki, let's kill Kazumi."

Satomi tells Saki that they can't afford to let Kazumi live as long as she's infected by the Evil Nut. Saki refuses, as she loves Kazumi too much to hurt her. Satomi then grabs Saki and brainwashes her with her Fantasma Bisbiglio and sends her to the Misaki residence. Inside, Kazumi is asleep, while Kaoru and Umika discuss her well-being. Kaoru admits that she had Umika lie about her wish in the separate flashbacks Kazumi was given. Saki arrives, asking them if they know how the Evil Nut will affect Kazumi. They don't know, but Umika suspects that someone else created the Evil Nuts for Yuuri and the Souju twins, so tracking them down should reveal everything. Umika and Kaoru tell her that things are going well "this time", but Saki panics at the idea of another "repeat", and points out that Niko's clone became a witch even though its Soul Gem was clear. She thinks that they are all close to becoming Witches themselves.

Umika reveals that she knows something is amiss with Saki, as she referred to Kazumi as Kazumi-chan (an honorific that Satomi, not Saki, uses). Saki kicks Umika across the room. As Kaoru goes to help her, Umika explains that Saki is under Satomi's control. Saki exclaims that they can't keep Kazumi alive in this state, and that it will be easier if Saki kills her. Kaoru attempts to restrain Saki, but she's incapacitated when Saki drops a chandelier on her. She then goes to murder Kazumi, but manages to break free of Satomi's brainwashing and stabs herself in the leg instead. The blood splashes on Kazumi's face, waking her up. Satomi regains control and has Saki grab Kazumi, teleporting the two of them to a building outside.

Saki collapses from heavy blood loss, telling Kazumi to run while she still can. Satomi reveals to Kazumi that her memories from Umika were lies. The Pleiades Saints already knew about the origins of Witches before meeting Yuuri, because Kazumi herself had become one and died. Her real name is Michiru Kazusa. Satomi and the others have been trying to revive Kazusa by cloning the remnants of her witch and stuffing them into clone bodies, and Kazumi is the thirteenth of those clones. She refers to it as Malefica Farce ("Stuffed Witch"). Being exposed to Evil Nuts is causing Kazumi to revert to her Witch form, and Satomi plans to kill her before that happens. She summons the previous twelve clones of Michiru from beneath the Freezer and tells them to destroy Kazumi.

Volume 4

Kazumi continues to watch on in disbelief as Satomi says she will tell her what happened to the real Michiru. It was Michiru's death that led them to find out the secret of Magical Girls. She then goes on to explain the Pleiades Saints tried to use their magic in an attempt to revive Michiru, but this resulted in creating clones with Witch-like features. Satomi had hoped and thought that Kazumi, the current 13th clone, would do well, but it seems like it failed because she isn't human. Niko and Juubey can be seen watching from outside as Satomi speak, and Niko simply says, "...She told her, huh?"

Satomi asks Kazumi if she likes Saki, because even though Saki said she would destroy the failed clones, she couldn't do it because Saki was in love with Michiru. It was too hard for her to kill the clones that shared Michiru's face. Mirai can then be seen eavesdropping from behind a wall. Kyubey can also be seen, observing from further behind Mirai. Saying that they will release Saki from this burden, Satomi possesses Kazumi using Fantasma Bisbiglio and forces her to attack the clones. Kazumi begs her to stop, but Satomi refuses. Kazumi then begins to use each of the Pleiades' unique magic, such as Umika's barrier, Kaoru's Capitano Potenza and Saki's thunderbolts. This convinces Kazumi that she is truly made of their magic. She is even able to use Niko's regeneration abilities to absorb the remains of the defeated clones and repair her damaged body, which is slowly becoming Witch-like. Satomi responds to this saying that she is "eating" them and declares Kazumi a monster.

Eventually, the only clones remaining are Kazumi and a clone with the roman numerals for the number four on her cheek. As the two clash, the fourth clone asks Kazumi to kill her. Kazumi doesn't want to however, but before she can make a decision, Satomi stabs Kazumi through the back and into the other clone's chest with her staff. She apologizes, and then says to herself that she has finally finished off all of the "Kazumis". She giggles with delight as the rain continues to fall.

Kazumi and the final clone fall to the ground, while Satomi transforms back into her street clothes. Kazumi grabs the clone's hand and absorbs it. Satomi expresses annoyance at this and prepares to attack her again, but her Soul Gem suddenly begins to crack without any visible corruption. It breaks open and Satomi becomes a Witch. Kazumi dodges the Witch's attacks and changes into a tentacled, Witch-like form. Satomi's familiars attack Kazumi, but Kazumi turns them against the witch with Mirai's "La Bestia" attack. The Familiars explode, breaking the Witch open and revealing a smaller form inside of it. Kazumi grabs it and kills it by smashing it against a wall.

The remaining Pleiades run up to see Kazumi now attacking Satomi's corpse. She returns to normal at the sound of Saki's voice and is horrified at what she's done. Saki tells her it wasn't her fault, calling her Michiru. Kazumi shoves her away, asks the others if she really is a clone or not, and is met with silence. She begins to panic, asking "Who am I? What am I?!" and teleports away.

Umika, Kaoru, Saki, Mirai and Niko reconvene at Umika's house. Niko is unable to locate Kazumi, as she is unconsciously using cloaking magic. Saki apologizes for not destroying the clones when she herself volunteered to, though the others don't fault her for it. The five then discuss what to do about Kazumi, now that she's becoming a Witch again and they only have 5/6 of the magic needed to clone her. Niko holds up her container, with Satomi's body and Grief Seed inside of it, calling them the "ingredients" for Satomi. Everyone but Kaoru votes to kill Kazumi and to revive Michiru and Satomi as many times as necessary. Kaoru objects to just killing Kazumi off when they can no longer control her. Saki produces Michiru's diary, saying, "Are you fine with giving this diary a bad ending?!".

Saki and Mirai head out on patrol. Saki thanks Mirai for covering for her. Mirai says that Kazumi isn't the Michiru they knew-- she's just a Witch that looks like a person. Meanwhile, Kazumi hides in a lighthouse on a cliff, tearfully gazing at a photo of the Pleiades, taken after killing the Witch from Chapter 3 on her phone.

After spending time with Tachibana, and reading Michiru's diary, Kazumi at the Freezer telepathically announces her location to the Pleiades. She says that she isn't going to run away, and demands that they meet her at the Freezer to end things, threatening to deactivate the Freezer and let the Soul Gems inside hatch if they do not.

The Pleiades quickly show up after Kazumi's ultimatum. Kazumi welcomes them to her "barrier", telling that if anyone other than her uses magic, it will automatically break the seals on the girls's Soul Gems. Saki calls for Kazumi, but she stops her from talking, demanding them not to talk unless they are answering her questions since she doesn't need to hear any more lies. She then proceeds to tell them she has read Michiru's diary, figured everything out from the memories she was given and the diary, then asks them why they didn't give her Michiru's memories. Saki answers that all the clones that were given her memories lost their minds to their fighting instincts and became murderers. Umika complements that they took it as "Michiru's will" and stopped giving them her memories, then created a Magical Girl with a different personality. Kazumi objects that she isn't Michiru, and that they created a different person with only the same face, to which she replies that they wanted to reject Michiru's death.

Kazumi then announces she won't allow Magical Girls, who were born from hope, to die from despair, demands them to promise her to never give up on reviving Michiru and Satomi, no matter how many times it takes or how tough it is, calling it their responsibility for rejecting the Magical Girl system and creating her, and finally, as she starts turning back into a Witch, urges them to kill her. Kaoru objects, but Kazumi begs them to do so, then asks one last question: "Would they have been friends if she were a normal human, rather than Michiru's clone?" while holding the picture from the end of Chapter 15, to which Kaoru answers that they made friends with ther when she was brand new and had no memories, and that they were always friends, and always would be. Kazumi thanks them, saying that was all she wanted to hear, dropping the picture. She then continues transforming, eats the Evil Nuts in the freezer and asks them once more to hurry up and kill her.

Kazumi, as a Witch, knocks Kaoru into a wall with a tentacle, leaving her paralyzed, and starts engulfing the room with a barrier. Umika tries to get Kaoru back up, but to no avail. Mirai tells a shocked Saki that they have no choice, they must do it to save Kazumi. Niko also asks her what they would do. Saki then transforms, making the decision of keeping on killing the Kazumis, until they get the real Michiru back, no matter how many times she has to do it, and says she will then carve the sins into her mind and body, to which Mirai replies that she will share the burden with her. Kazumi then knocks Niko out with energy blasts. Saki and Mirai then perform a combined Episodio Incrocio, which creates a huge teddy bear of energy that attacks Kazumi.

Meanwhile, Umika is still calling for Kaoru, until she noticed Kazumi's magic symbol on Kaoru's cheek. She then performs Carcere Pausa on Kaoru, who then wakes up and sees Saki and Mirai fighting Kazumi. Kaoru says she must stop them, while Saki generates a pair of electric yo-yos, preparing to strike Kazumi with Pietra di Tuono, however, Kaoru jumped in and caught her attack. She then pulls Saki toward her, and the two start arguing. Saki demands Kaoru to get out of the way, to which Kaoru replies Kazumi is forcing herself to look like a Witch. Saki asks why, and Kaoru replies that Kazumi knew Saki couldn't bring herself to kill her if she didn't do that. Saki keeps confronting her, and she tells her that Kazumi knocked her away first, because she had promised to protect her. She then urges Saki to stop, which she does.

Kaoru then says that she will be the one to kill her, while Saki breaks down in tears. However, Mirai jumps behind Kazumi and slices her into two. Kazumi's barrier then disappears, while Kazumi turns into a doll-like decoy of Niko. Niko, who was knocked out before, also turns into a decoy. The real Niko then shows up, showing Kazumi locked into her container, much to the others' surprise. Mirai turns around to see Saki with her Soul Gem about to hatch. Niko then uses Prodotto Secondario to create a clone of herself near Saki. Said clone tells Saki she will be putting her to rest, then calls Abra Kadabra, creating an Evil Nut. She says that is the "Secret Ingredient", then presses the Evil Nut into Saki's forehead.

Saki then yells as a pillar of lightning shoots up around her, obliterating the clone. Kaoru asks her why she did that, to which Niko answers with a smile: "I can't let you kill Kazumi", then looks back toward her, with a sinister grin on her face, and comments: "You humans, that is." When Kaoru demands to know the meaning of this, Niko responds by saying that she and Kazumi are the only composite Magical Girls in this world. Both Umika and Kazumi have a shocked face at those words. The girl claiming to be Niko shows sadistic pleasure at their screams.

Mirai rushes over to Saki, who is turning into a Witch as a result of the Evil Nut. Mirai frantically tells Juubey to cleanse her Soul Gem. Juubey says that it's too late and tells Mirai to run away. Mirai refuses. Mirai cries out that Saki is her and she is Saki. Saki, who is turning into a Witch as a result of the Evil Nut, tries to say Mirai's name. Mirai then notices her Soul Gem has completely turned into a Grief Seed, tearfully saying that she can't kill Saki. Just then, Saki completely turns into a Witch. Mirai proclaims her love for Saki. In the next scene, Mirai is quickly decapitated and killed by Saki's Witch form. Kaoru, Umika and Kazumi are all horrified by this.

By this point only Kazumi, Umika and Kaoru are left, they survive until the end of the story, but its unknown whenether they still consider themselves the Pleiades Saints

Gallery

A group shot of all 7 Pleiades
One of Kazumi's flashbacks features the Pleiades. Niko, Kaoru, Saki and Mirai are visible from left to right
Niko explaining how her tracking app works
The Pleiades, sans Kazumi, playing candy flutes. For some reason, this is also an "attack", named Mezzanote Charmante
Limiti Esterni fired at a witch bound by Episodio Incrocio
The Pleiades Saints named after the seven sisters
The combined Magic Seal of the Pleiades Saints, it has Kazumi's Magic Seal inside of it
The Pleiades Saints on a postcard included with Kazumi Magica volume 3
The Saints on the cover of the short story Kazumi Magica Special Edition ~ Rosetta Meteora, included with volume 3
The Pleiades Saints on a card included with Kazumi Magica volume 4
Five of the Pleiades Saints on a card included with Kazumi Magica volume 4
All seven original Pleiades + Kazumi from Kazumi Magica volume 5

Trivia

"Pleiades Saints" is a pun: "Pleiades Saints" and the Pleiades Star Cluster are pronounced the same way in Japanese and, when written, differ by only one character. Being named after a star cluster also produces another Astronomy reference.
- The Pleiades Star Cluster is located in the Taurus constellation. Note that their opponent Yuuri summons a bull to attack them - Taurus is the bull constellation. In the Western zodiac, the constellation after Taurus is Gemini - the twins. All of the Pleaides Saints' opponents have been, in a sense, twin-themed.

Observations

Each of the Pleiades Saints can be loosely connected to one of the Pleiades sisters from Greek mythology.
- Michiru and Kazumi can be connected to Maia, who is the eldest and the leader of the sisters and was associated with growth.
  - Maia is also the name of Michiru's grandmother.
- Umika likely references Merope, who is the faintest star of the cluster, being hard to see without external tools. Merope was the only one of her sisters who married a mortal man, that being Sisyphus. Being ashamed of her actions, Merope would often hide her face in the presence of her sisters, though some other stories would detail her descent into Hades alongside her husband.
- Kaoru references Sterope, who is also the Goddess over the town of Pisa, where the Olympic Games were held. Sterope was the favorite wife of Ares, and the two would birth a child who would end up being the King of Pisa, leading to Sterope herself being celebrated as a Goddess of Pisa's centers, most notably its Colosseum.
- Saki references Electra, who also has an association with electricity.
- Niko references Alcyone, who is associated with flight much like Niko's Magical Girl outfit.
- Mirai references Celaeno, who is associated with beasts. However it is also possible she is referenced by Niko, as she is associated with aviation and is sometimes even depicted as a harpy, matching the theme of Niko's outfit.
- Satomi references Taygete, as they both were known for their love of animals.

Pleiades Saints

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