Yu
| Yu | |
|---|---|
| |
| Japanese Name | 夢乃夕作 Yumeno Yusa a.k.a. ユゥ Yuu |
| Voiced by | Japanese: Kotono Mitsuishi |
| ID No: | 3901 |
| Release Date (JP): | April 22, 2024 |
Yu (real name Yusa Yumeno), also known as the Sleepwalking Ghost, is one of the original characters of the 2017 mobile game Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story: Magia Record. She was revealed to be released as a playable character on F4Samurai's fanfest stream alongside Shi, releasing on April 22nd, 2024. She has a magically updating list of "bad people", who she kills.
General Info
| Physical Features | |
|---|---|
| Age | Unknown |
| Eye colour | Grey |
| Hair colour | Orange |
| Height | Unknown (though described as being tall). |
| Magic | |
| Soul Gem | Presumably gray oval (Hidden in the lining of her stomach) |
| Weapon | Unicorn's horn; and Propulsion Gauntlets and Greaves (in hoove shapes) |
| Witch Form | Morfine |
| Powers and Abilities | Mental Pollution |
| Wish | “I want to lose my sanity, to the point of no longer remembering myself. ” |
| Other | |
| Japanese pronoun | watashi (ワタシ) |
| Known relatives | Unnamed mother, unnamed father |
| Origins | Unknown |
| School | Not attending |
Game Info
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Summary
A hollow magical girl who has lost her memory and personality. Although she has no malicious intent, she lacks a sense of ethics and has no hesitation in crossing the line. She thinks positively due to the influence of magic affecting her mind.
Doppel Description
The Doppel of madness. Its form is a unicorn. The master of this emotion is proud of herself for continually vanquishing evildoers, and also quite forgetful. As such, every time she summons her Doppel, it feels like both a fresh experience and a personal reward. Her Doppel’s sleek and pure body is in conflict with the curses that it harbors under its flesh. Their influence renders the Doppel unconscious from the moment it’s born, as the curses spill forth in rivulets from its mouth and eyes. When the Doppel awakens from the sharp pain of its master’s careless treatment of it, it roars and scatters curses all around, and the curses melt holes into those who touch them. The master’s voice can allegedly be heard from inside the Doppel, as she nonchalantly remarks on what’s left of her adversaries.
Personality
Because of her wish, Yu has lost all the memories of the period prior to the time she became a Magical Girl. She is also completely unable to distinguish the morality of others on her own, relying solely on whether or not someone's name is on her list to judge whether a person is good or bad - if a person's name is written on her list, then they are bad, and if it isn't, then they are good. Her judgement in this manner is thus entirely black and white, to the point that Yu possesses no compunctions regarding seeking out and murdering the people who do appear on her list, nor of extracting their organs after the fact to sell for money.
Towards those that she has judged as good, Yu appears relatively affable. She is kind to Nagisa, though claims when asked by her that she would not make a good teacher for other magical girls, on account of her lost memories. She later also claims that she will always be on Nagisa's side, and will help her if there is ever the need.
Backstory
Yusa Yumeno was childhood friends with a girl named Kei Seto, "Yu" being a nickname that Kei gave her. Yu comes from an affluent family, and is very intelligent, which led her mother to tell Yu not to be friends with Kei any longer, as she believed that Kei was holding her daughter back. However, Yu was obsessed with her friend Kei. When they eventually went to different high schools, Yu would walk the long distance to Kei's school every day in order to walk her home, despite Kei showing visible annoyance at this. Yu could seemingly only think of Kei in terms of their childhood, doing such things as bringing Kei a popsicle after school most days, even though Kei had previously explained to her that she hadn't liked popsicles since she was a kid.
When Yu told Kei that she was thinking of transferring to the same college as her, Kei replied that she would most likely not be attending college, due to having to get a job to help support her family instead. Yu then offered to attend whatever college was nearby in order to remain close to Kei, but Kei declined, telling Yu not to hold herself back for her sake. However, Yu herself believed that Kei was the only one that could understand her, thinking herself to be an extremely warped person, and could not bring herself to let Kei go.
One day, Yu placed her hands on Kei's neck as if to strangle her, though she stopped herself before she could actually complete the action. Rather than be upset however, Kei smiled and grabbed Yu's hands tightly, encouraging her to continue. Thereafter, the two girls would practice strangling each other, covering their necks with bandages afterwards to hide the bruises.
Soon, the pair grew tired of having to live up to everyone else's expectations, leading Kei to make a plan for the two of them to commit suicide together. She and Yu met up on a cape over the ocean. Kei had dressed in her best outfit, and brought a colorful ribbon for them to tie around themselves. Yu proceeded to express concern over their plan, asking Kei if her family wouldn't care what happens to her, only for Kei to hit her in response and reply that she doesn't care what her family thinks - she only cares what Yu thinks about her.
Together, the two vowed to follow each other throughout their reincarnations, and to kill each other again should they ever meet. They used the ribbon to tie their arms and legs together, and with their hands on each other's throats, leaped into the sea. However, due to the waves pulling them apart, only Kei ended up dying, while Yu ultimately survived.
An unknown time after Kei's death, but prior to the events of Magia Record, Yu awakens in the hospital. Kei's body had already been located, and the bruises on both of their necks dismissed as some sort of game they played with each other, while Kei's death was ruled as an accidental drowning. Yu's father had already told everyone that the two girls had simply lost their footing while on the cliff, which is why only Kei had died.
Yu soon returned to school, only to be disgusted by the pity everyone was giving her, and feeling as though her old self had died with Kei. As the days went on, Yu could no longer bear the trauma of having to live her life without Kei in it, feeling as though her sense of self was beginning to succumb to others' perceptions of her. It is then that Kyubey appeared, and soon made a contract with Yu.
Despite dying, Kei's spirit did not fade away completely, instead merging with a Witch that resided in the ocean near the cape. When she manages to possess Madoka during the event story of Beachside Bonds, she reveals to Homura that she is aware that Yu became a magical girl. However, she also believes that Yu already became a Witch, and was hunted down some time ago. Kei goes on to say that she believes Madoka and the others were the ones to have hunted down and killed Yu's Witch, due to the lingering smell of blood and curses on them from killing other Witches. Before disappearing, Kei begs Homura to kill Yu next time, before Yu can become a Witch, so that the two of them can be reunited no matter what world or timeline Homura jumps to.
Appearances
Event Appearances
- The Ribbon at the Brink Where the Waves Break (NA: Beachside Bonds)
- Nagisa Momoe's Wish Comes True (NA: Nagisa's Wish)
Powers and Abilities
Yu is regarded as a relatively powerful magical girl, able to defeat fellow magical girl Inui Itsumi with ease, as well as her witch form, which Nagisa previously fell against. She is known to use her horn to stab and impale people, though her magia shows her using the rockets in her front "hooves" to propel herself horn first at amazing speeds.
It is stated by Kyubey that Yu has an incredible ability to survive and persevere. Whether this is a magic ability or not is up for debate. In her Magical Girl Story, it is revealed she can "heal" really fast without consuming magic, thus this strange capability seems to be independent of her magic.
Yu's unique magic is called "Mental Pollution", and its effects seem to show people tragic and traumatic events related to their lives, as she did to Nagisa, although it seems her magic is passive and is not used willingly by her. In the case of Nagisa however, as she'd already been taken by the Law of Cycles, Yu's magic showed the Nagisa from the main series' universe the memories of the Nagisa from the Magia Record universe, as the key difference between the two was meeting Yu.
Yu's list is constantly updated with the names of "bad" people. It is possible this list also assists in locating the individuals whose names it states, but the extent of this, if any, is unknown. This then later was revealed to be done by Shi, her colleague.
Etymology
- "Yu" is simply a nickname based on a shortening of her full name, Yusa Yumeno. It is unknown if she herself remains aware of this any longer, due to her memory loss.
- She was probably named after Kyūsaku Yumeno (夢野久作), Japanese novelist in early Shōwa period.
- In the event story, she and Kei talk about Nōzui-Ron (An Inquiry about Encephalon) , a nested story in Dogra Magra, his representative work, and there are also several other homages and quotes from this novel.
- The characters in her last name mean "dream" (夢) and "belonging to" (乃) respectively.
- The characters in her first name mean "evening" (夕) and "harvest" (作) respectively.
Trivia
- With her original Live2D set, Yu was one of a handful of magical girls in any Magia Record event to possess a unique "costumed" NPC sprite. From this, it was seen that her magical girl form possesses a large pointed horn, a stitched (or heavily scarred) mouth and hairline, an extremely large collar with a matching choker, similarly furred leg warmers worn over her knees, and two "tails" emerging from the back of her outfit that are decorated with three bows each. The only others to possess a unique NPC costume sprite are Pernelle (before she was made playable) and Flèche and Lame all from the Tart Magica spin off manga.
- A similar horn has been seen on Yuna Kureha.
- She is the first character with a Live2D model that does not directly face the player
- Her final design was later revealed at f4 Fan fest on December 5, 2023 with many notable changes. Her furred leg warmers have been replaced by purple pants, and although she retains the two "tails" that emerge from the back of her outfit, the tails no longer have bows. She now also sports two pink knotted scarves akin to "pony tails" protruding from her collar.
- Yu's collar may be themed after a Sundial, Her collar acting as the dial plate, and her horn acting as the gnomon.
- Her Doppel's name is Morfine, which is the Dutch and German name of Morphine, a narcotic used to treat severe pain. Morphine in specific is known to also cause addictions and, ironically, can be fatal in a certain dose.
- She is designed by Gekidan Inu Curry, just like Shi.
- It's possible, due to Yu's equine appearance and Shi's pale skin, that the two represent the Pale Rider of the apocalypse, with Yu being the steed and Shi being her rider.
- In the original text of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Pale Rider's horse is described as looking like a corpse, which could allude to Yu's backstory as well as Yu's own doppel.
- Her original release date could be read as March of 2024. However, for one reason or another, this was ultimately inaccurate.
- Monoceros is the Greek word for unicorn, and is therefore the name for the constellation representing the unicorn. Unicorns are associated with healing and cleansing, which could reflect Yu's own 'cleansing of the world' in a twisted form.
- Unicorn horns were believed to detect the presence of poison in food and drink. This would tie into Yu's spirit enhancement ability that grants the chance to poison on attack.
- This could also tie in with her eliminating those she considers "bad guys". Effectively purifying and detecting the metaphorical "poisons" of society with the help of Shii.
- In her transformation, Yu states, “Tell me your name.” and “Are you a bad guy?”, referencing her actions seen in Nagisa's event.
- Her 5 Star Card art shows Yu using her Magia attack.
- Her friend Kei's surname, Seto(世都), is a homonym of Seto(瀬戸) which means "narrow channel ".
- Yu's kill list comes from Shi's dream diary, which comes from her magic ability to experience other people's pain. She writes about the horrific dreams she has of other people being abused, and then Yu goes out to kill the abusers so that Shi can sleep better.
Gallery
Game Gallery
Magia Record Four Star Card
Magia Record Five Star Card
In-Battle Sprite
Doppel
Her original magical girl design.
Her original casual Live2D
Magical Girl Seal 2024
Official Art
Past Yu with her friend Kei
Present day Yu
Her diary
Yu & Shi's casual designs
Yu & Shi's magical girl designs
Memoria Cards
To edit a memoria's details, click on the specific memoria
| Card | Effect | Cooldown | EN Text | JP Text |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Unique to Yu** I will take my precious, precious "work" one by one, pulling them into the darkness. After everything has been cleansed, I cross the names off the list. This is a good thing... both for Shi and for me. | ワタシの大事な大事な“お仕事”は
ひとりずつ、ひとりずつ、暗闇へ引き込んで きれいさっぱりなくしたら、リストの名前を消していく これは良いこと…シィにとっても、ワタシにとっても |
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| There's no boundary between dream and reality that anyone can see,
and there's no certainty to say whether the present is a dream or reality. So, cross over to the present as if you were dreaming, and dream like the present. Eventually, the dream and the present melt into each other, and everything becomes vague. | 夢と現の間には、誰もが見える境界線などない
今が夢なのか、現実なのか、どちらであると言い切れる確証はない だったら、夢見るように現を渡り、現のような夢を見る やがて夢と現は溶け合って、何もかもが曖昧になる |
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| With a smile on her face, the girl spoke to me,
bright and light in her speech, but dark and heavy in its content. Soon I realized that her smile had dried up, and that I would never be able to escape her again. | 微笑をたたえながら少女は話しかけてきた
語り口は明るく軽く、しかしその内容は暗く重く やがて彼女の笑顔が乾ききっていることに気づく そして、彼女からはもう、決して逃れることはできない |
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| "St-stop it please! Stay away from this person!!"
The voices of the girls echo through the platform late at night. Even though they share the same fate and speak the same language, they have a strange relationship where they cannot truly understand each other. | 「や、やめてください！この人に近づかないで!!」
深夜のホームに響き渡るのは、少女たちの声 同じ宿命を背負い、同じ言葉を交わしていても 真には通じ合わない、異様な関係 |
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| Ever since they were brought together by a strange fate,
they had unknowingly become “cogs” in a cruel system that devours life. One of them was unable to resist her fate, while the other simply continued to spin. | ふたりは奇妙な縁で結ばれて以来、知らずと“歯車”となっていた
命を貪り食らう残酷な仕組みの中に取り込まれて ひとりは運命にあらがえず、ひとりは運命にあらがわず ただただ、回り続けていた |
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| Card | Effect | Cooldown | EN Text | JP Text |
External links
Gameplay Videos
- Recording of Yu's Transformation Video on Youtube (JP)
- Recording of Yu's Magia Video on Youtube (JP)
- Recording of Yu's Doppel Video on Youtube (JP)