Yuuri

Yuuri
Japanese Name	ユウリ (Yuuri)

Not to be confused with Yuuri Asuka.

"Do I have to listen to someone who's about to die?" - Yuuri, Chapter 3.

Yuuri (ユウリ) is an enigmatic character appearing in Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice.

A magical girl with a mysterious past, she repeatedly clashes with members of the Pleiades Saints. Kazumi is her primary target. As part of her disruptive actions, she can also create pseudo-witches from common humans by embedding them with Evil Nuts, "imitation" Grief Seeds.

Her real name is Airi Anri and her wish was to become the real Yuuri Asuka. She blames the Pleaides for the death of the real Yuuri, who turned into a witch and was killed by the Pleiades Saints.

General Info

Physical Features
Age	Unknown
Eye colour	Yellow
Hair colour	Yellow
Magic
Soul Gem	Amber circle located on front torso
Weapon	Pistols and SMGs, summoned bull, arrow
Witch Form	Nie Blühen Herzen
Powers and Abilities	Disguise (Can turn into other people)
Wish	“I'll take over Yuuri's life. Turn me... turn me... into Yuuri!!”
Other
Japanese pronoun	Atashi (アタシ), Atashi-tachi (アタシたち), Kono Yuuri-sama (このユウリ様)
Known relatives	None known
Origins	Asunaro City
School	Not attending

Personality

Her life is consumed by a single objective: revenge. Due to the death of her friend, she developed a great animosity towards the Pleiades Saints and now lives to exact vengeance on them. She is ruthless, not only fighting the Pleiades directly, but in also spawning pseudo-witches from innocent humans. They not only attack the Pleiades but also other humans, thus leaving a trail of blood in her path of retribution.

She has a particular interest in Kazumi, as she believes hurting Kazumi will hurt the Pleiades the most.

History

This section may contain major spoilers for the Kazumi Magica manga!

Please refrain from reading if you haven't read the latest chapter yet.

Yuuri has so far only appeared in Kazumi Magica. See "Airi's History" for her history before she became Yuuri.

Cole, Yuuri's giant bull, summoned by Corno Forte.

Yuuri holding Kazumi at gunpoint.

Yuuri first appears in Chapter 1, having kidnapped and locked Kazumi away in a briefcase. (Chapter 18 implies that this was doing this on behalf of Kanna Hijiri) She accidentally exchanges the briefcase with a would-be-bomber carrying a similar one. Realizing her mistake, she called the bomber to arrange an exchange at a local mall, threatening to call the police on him. The bomber showed up and picked up the bomb (left behind a pillar), but the police appeared nonetheless: it is likely she planned to use the unexpected event to eliminate everyone. The bomb is activated, but eventually explodes harmlessly. This is to her own surprise, as she was sure it was a real bomb.

She is briefly seen twice in Chapter 2. The first time is after Kazumi collapses after defeating the first pseudo-witch and Umika picks up the Evil Nut left behind. It is implied that she was watching the whole battle, as she is looking very annoyed. She is later seen accompanying another pseudo-witch. When Kazumi, Kaoru and Umika arrive she wordlessly escapes before the battle ensues. The pseudo-witch is eventually defeated.

In Chapter 3, while the Pleiades Saints are searching for Kaoru and Umika, she disguises herself as Satomi, one of the Saints. She then is able to lure Kazumi away from her teammates, at which point she reveals herself and attacks her. Kazumi attempts to fight back, but is completely overwhelmed. At the last moment, the remaining Pleiades come to her rescue. Yuuri holds Kazumi at gunpoint, making them hesitate, but after Kazumi reassures them they fire a powerful attack at her, Figli Del Toano. Yuuri is forced to flee.

In Chapter 4, after the Pleiades rescue Kaoru and Umika, she takes advantage of her celebration and incapacitates them with a large explosion and several arrow strikes. She escapes with Kazumi and leaves a message embedded in one of the arrows ordering the Pleiades to appear at Asunaro Dome at midnight. While fleeing, Kazumi wakes up and pins her down. This triggers a flashback of another girl, at which point Yuuri, visibly disturbed, ties up Kazumi completely.

The Pleiades meet at Umika's house, agreeing to go to Kazumi's rescue despite their wounds. Umika wondered why Yuuri left a message instead of telling them her intentions directly, while Niko states that the mysterious girl is near her limit.
At the dome, Yuuri reveals her diabolical plan: to embed Kazumi with an Evil Nut, an "imitation" Grief Seed which can turn an individual into a pseudo-witch. She admits to have done the same to the policewoman and the cosmetics salesman, the two previous pseudo-witches.
She sadistically enjoys the Pleiades' screams of pain and anger. In desperation, Kazumi asks why Yuuri's is doing all these, saying that magical girls are supposed to be "comrades". This causes Yuuri to explode in rage, screaming at Kazumi and insinuating that the Pleiades have a dark secret. When asked Satomi asks why she has such a grudge, Yuuri removes her hat. Stating that they did not recognize her by her name or message, Yuuri says she was "insignificant to you girls". Seeing her face, a shocked Umika recognizes her, but before any of them can say anything, Yuuri screams that she "came back in order to seek vengeance" against the Pleiades, and shoves an Evil Nut into Kazumi's forehead.

However, the Evil Nut actually empowers Kazumi, and she fights Yuuri again. The villainous magical girl still has the upper hand, pinning Kazumi on the floor. She then claims that she was killed by the Pleiades, and that they were a gang that kills magical girls. She targeted Kazumi because she believed Kazumi was the most important thing to the Pleaides, and she wanted to take Kazumi away just as they took away her most important thing. As she attacks, her Soul Gem begins to crack. Saki sends Jubey to try and clean Yuuri's Soul Gem, but she shoots him first. Her Soul Gem then becomes a Grief Seed and she transforms into a witch.

As a witch, Yuuri sticks the Pleiades Saints on crosses. Vines then crawl over the Saints, causing them enormous pain. The Pleiades are then shown a vision of her past. Kazumi falls under the influence of the Evil Nut and breaks free from her bonds, fighting the witch. However, she quickly returns to normal and attempts to change Yuuri back with her magic. The result is horrific: In a flash of light Yuuri's twisted body appears to grow out from the witch. Speaking entirely in runes, she tries to use the last spell she used on Kazumi. At this point, Saki shoots her, freeing the Pleiades.

One by one, the Pleaides attack the witch as Kazumi begs them to stop. They explain that they all they can do is stop the witch from hurting anyone, and Kazumi won't have to dirty her hands. Finally, Kazumi decides to share the burden with her friends and delivers the final shot to the witch. Just before she dies, she speaks Yuuri's name.

Powers and Abilities

Yuuri has demonstrated a wide array of abilities, perhaps more than any character in the Puella Magi franchise.

Her primary means of attack is Corno Forte (English: Strong Horn), which summons a giant bull, named "Cole". It possesses two wing-shaped horns and a nose ring, and is capable of powerful, fast charges. Cole is quite agile: it can jump around town at Yuuri's side and even stand atop power cables.

However, that is not her only ability. She is also able to summon various close-range firearms, such as submachine guns and pistols. In contrast with Homura from the main series, her weapons are of a magical nature. In particular, the SMG's bullets have binding properties (similar to Mami's muskets), summoning shackles on impact and making the target a sitting duck for Cole's charge. She is also able to fire large arrows from her pistols. The fletchings of the arrows can be used by her to store messages, that appear as ghastly holograms when the arrow is removed from where it struck. She has a spell called, Il Triangolo ('The Triangle'), an attack spell.

In chapter 4, she caused a large explosion which disabled most of the Pleiades. How this was done is unknown, but a "beep" sound was audible beforehand, and a magic circle was faintly visible on the ground. A similar magic circle was visible as the Pleiades arrived in the Asunaro Dome, before the baseball field was replaced by a large dais.

Force barriers are also part of her abilities. She was able to isolate Kazumi inside one at Asunaro Dome, and despite their desperate attempts, none of the Pleiades were able to break it. These barriers damage anyone who touches them.

Outside of battle, she is also able to disguise herself as other people, having used this power to isolate Kazumi from the group by disguising herself as Satomi. The disguises are perfectly accurate, and she was even able to emulate Satomi's typical speech patterns (overuse of the -chan honorific). However, she does not appear able to use her other powers while disguised as she broke it to engage in battle. This power is likely derived from her wish, which was to become another person.

However, her most terrifying asset is the ability to use Evil Nuts, objects that imitate the power of Grief Seeds, and turn common humans into pseudo-witches. The humans embedded with them appear to maintain some level of control, as they are able to stay in human form and transform into witches at will. It is likely Yuuri has some way of controlling them, however.

Observations

It's easy to miss, but Yuuri wears a spoon around her neck. It's relevance is revealed in Chapter 5.
It is ironic that just as Yuuri's magic was trying to turn Kazumi into a pseudo-witch, Kazumi's magic was trying to turn Yuuri into a pseudo-magical girl.
Yuuri's outfit as a magical girl has the same color scheme and general aesthetic as the original Yuuri's (though it's far more revealing). This can be seen in bonus artwork from Kazumi Magica volume 2.

Trivia

Her pistol and submachine gun's magazines possess a ring on the outer end, similar to Cole's nose ring. The pistol she holds Kazumi at gunpoint with has two smaller rings inside the larger ring.
- According to a design sketch included in volume 2, her handgun is named Revenger.
Although there were unusual circumstances, Yuuri's witch form is technically the first instance in the franchise of the runic language being spoken aloud.

Gallery

Manga

Kazumi Magica volume 1 full cover
Kazumi Magica volume 2 cover
Alternate volume 2 cover
Bonus manga image
The two Yuuris in artwork from Kazumi Magica volume 2. Note the similarity between their costumes.
Yuuri and the Souju twins in artwork from Kazumi Magica volume 2.
Yuuri in her street clothes.
Yuuri firing her summoned SMGs.
Yuuri explaining how Evil Nuts function.
A comparison between Kazumi and Yuuri's outfit. Notice the similarities.
Yuuri accidentally switching out Kazumi's suitcase with Tachibana's bomb.
Umika recognized Yuuri when she saw her face uncovered.
A large explosion, caused by one of Yuuri's attacks.
The message left by Yuuri to the Pleiades. Note the emblem in the middle.
The arrow that Yuuri used to leave her message.
The force barrier summoned by Yuuri.
A flashback from Yuuri's past.
Yuuri revealing her face
Yuuri's witch form, Nie Blühen Herzen
Despite looking human, she is still a witch
Yuuri's Grief Seed
Yuuri's Soul Gem
Yuuri's final words, where she remembers her friend
Design notes for Yuuri, from Kazumi Magica volume 2