Jubey

Jubey
Japanese Name	ジュゥべぇ (Jubey)

"Playtime is over." - Jubey, Chapter 4.

Jubey (ジュゥべぇ, Juubee) is a character in Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice.

Described as a fairy (妖精, yōsei), but very likely an Incubator, he was the Pleiades Saints's contractor. He is particularly notable for being able to clean their Soul Gems on his own, relieving the girls of the need to compete for Grief Seeds.

Personality

While he is very likely an Incubator, and should therefore be emotionless, he has displayed more emotional behavior in a few panels than his colleague has in the entire anime. He displays annoyance/embarrassment when violently hugged by Satomi against her breasts, and disgust when he is fed Evil Nuts instead of Grief Seeds. Furthermore, he dislikes being called Bey-chan.

Most importantly, he appears to be able to understand the concept of deception: he says he 'doesn't know' why Soul Gems turn into Grief Seeds, and claims it only happens 'sometimes.' He also appears to look sad when he tells Kazumi that restoring a Grief Seed to Soul Gem is impossible. Also, when describing the difference between Nico and Kazumi's magic, he starts to call Kazumi's power is 'sacrilege' but then corrects himself saying instead 'destruction.' He has also been shown outright lying to Kazumi, something Kyubey never does.

Another thing that strangely separates him from his business partner is that while Kyubey stays completely neutral when Puella Magi turn on each other, Jubey openly speaks with Kazumi and Nico on the best strategy to neutralize the Soujous, and appears worried when Kazumi is clearly outmatched by them alone. This grows even more bizarre when if he had done nothing or given them bad advice leading their deaths or simply refused to purify their Soul Gems, which would have eliminated them and their 'cheating' of the Puella Magi system with The Freezer. His actions seem contradictory to his function of harvesting emotions. This was explained in Chapter 12, that Jubey is actually brainwashed. When the Pleiades found out the truth of witches and magical girls, they confronted him and Umika wipes his memories, removes his ability to make any more contracts and orders him to work for them.

While he behaves normally around the Pleiades, he is shown looking down on them with an evil grin in the company of Kyubey, as well as when describing the details about The Freezer (which he'd have no reason to do so if he was simply play acting emotions). However, it is implied that since Jubey is capable of cleansing Soul Gems without a Grief Seed, he may have more use for the girls alive than dead in any circumstance.

It should be noted, however, that while Incubators may be emotionless (apart from mentally ill ones), the Manga version of Madoka Magica has given Kyubey a lot more facial expressions.

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.

Jubey cleaning house, literally.

Jubey has so far only appeared in Kazumi Magica.

He appeared after the Pleiades rescued Umika and Kaoru from an escaped witch. He stood on a rooftop watching their celebration, alongside Kyubey.

Jumping down, he came to the attention of Kazumi, who was shocked at what seemed to be a talking cat. Satomi introduced him as Jubey, the fairy who had turned them into Puellae Magi. He proceeded to absorb the darkness inside the girls' Soul Gems by gracefully spinning in the air, and then he quite literally ate a Grief Seed given to him by Nico. When he asked for more, he was fed Evil Nuts, the awkward looking Grief Seeds dropped by the pseudo-witches they faced before. He spat them out with apparent disgust, saying they weren't Grief Seeds. 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, a huge blast hit the group. Jubey was next seen sleeping with Kazumi's black cat while the rest of the Pleiades discuss Yuuri's attack and their plan of action at Umika, Kaoru and Kazumi's home.

He accompanies the Pleiades to the Asunaro Dome. At the behest of Saki, he attempts to purify Yuuri's soul gem. However, Yuuri shoots him in mid-spin, and becomes a witch.

Jubey then appears in the next chapter, apparently still bleeding from being shot. He explains to Kazumi that Yuuri had become a witch, and that she has to be killed because nothing can change her back. Interestingly, he claims that he doesn't know why the transformation from a magical girl into a witch happens, and that it only happens "sometimes".

Jubey accompanies Nico on a "witch hunt" soon after, along with Kazumi, to Lavieland Amusement Park. He remains with them during Nico's fight with Ayase Souju, and explains that Nico's wish for "regeneration" allows her to transform already-existing objects into clones of herself.

When Nico asks him if a magical girl can have multiple transformations, he denies it and says that there are two magical girls inside of Ayase's body.

As she confronts the other magical girl in Ayase's body, Luca Soujou, Kazumi asks Juubey what happens when a Soul Gem is taken away. Jubey says that the magical girl loses her magic and may even die "depending on the situation".

He later helps Nico translate the name of the Soujous combined attack, and is seen covering his eyes while Kazumi is getting hit by hit. He also identifies Kazumi's magic as "sacrilege", but then seems to correct himself and says it's "destruction". He then helps Kazumi and Nico use their own counterattack by biting their hands at the correct moment, allowing them to use a synchronized attack that defeats the Soujous.

While speaking with the Pleiades, Nico'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." 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 (which notably looks different than Nico's Soul Gem).

Mirai asks Saki if she's alright, but she's still processing Nico'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. Jubey and Umika look at the Grief Seed, as Umika wonders how did things turn out like this. Kazumi takes the hand of Nico's body and finds it's cold. As she shouts Nico's name, a voice says "You called?" Everyone is shocked to see another Nico standing behind them. As Kazumi asks what's going on, the other Nico walks up to the first Nico'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. Jubey, a disturbing grin on his face, says that the body was Nico's "spare" and "compensation for Nico's contract". Kaoru asks why Nico didn't tell them. Nico says that to deceive an enemy, you have to deceive your allies. Kaoru punches her, then gives her a hug. Nico 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. Jubey says that it's their response to the magical girl system, which is full of contradictions: Rejection.

Picking up from the end of the last chapter, Umika explains that witches are the end state of magical girls. (While she's speaking Oktavia is briefly seen, as is Sayaka in silhouette). Umika tells Kazumi that they lied to her when they said that sometimes the Soul Gems of magical girls go out of control. Jubey, 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. Jubey 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. This is their "rejection" of the magical girl system. Nico 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. Nico 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.

The story flashes back into the past. Umika, Kaoru, Satomi, Mirai, Nico, and Saki are standing on a catwalk. They all display a witch's kiss on their necks. It then shows the "despair" of each Pleiade, which references each girl's wish and contract made with Jubey. The girls standing on the catwalk jump off, as a voice says, "Everyone should just die." The voice is cut-off by a familiar spell with ribbons wrapping around the girls, stopping their fall. Their savior is none other than Kazumi, who says, "Ciao! You suicidal girls!"

After Kazumi forces the girls to fight a witch's familiars in order to make them realize they want to live, Kazumi destroys the witch. As Saki asks, "What was that?" A silhouette appears behind her, looking similar to Kyubey. It turns out to be Jubey, who says that was Magical Girl Kazumi, who hunts witches, proving that Kazumi is the first girl who made a contract with Jubey out of the seven Pleiades. When Kazumi's stomach growls, they all go to her house, where Kazumi makes her grandmother's strawberry risotto. When they all respond positively to the taste, Kazumi says that her grandmother would be happy to hear that. She reveals that her grandmother has passed away, and that she became a magical girl the same day.

Jubey with Mami Tomoe, when he first spots Kazumi.

She was studying abroad when she learned that her grandmother's condition became critical. While hurrying home, she ran straight into a witch's barrier. Fortunately, she's saved by a surprise appearance from Mami Tomoe, who muses that she can't take it easy even on a trip. Mami destroys the witch, and when Kazumi thanks her, Mami tells her to get going and be careful. As Kazumi leaves, Jubey is strangely seen by Mami's feet. At Kazumi's home, a doctor explains that her grandmother only has a few days left unless she's hooked up to a respiratory machine and it's unlikely that she'll wake up. Kazumi says that her grandmother would never want to go on life support. Later and alone with her grandmother, Kazumi starts crying and says that she wants her grandmother to open her eyes, just once more. Jubey appears on the windowsill, saying (wording it "Make a contract with me and become a magical girl!" (ボクと契約して、魔法少女になってよ！, boku to keiyaku shite, mahou shoujo ni natte yo!), which is exactly the same famous phrase used by Kyubey) that he can grant her wish if she makes a contract and becomes a magical girl.

Kazumi makes the contract and becomes a magical girl. Eventually all the Pleiades contracted and made their wishes, unaware of the truth about magical girls. They found it out, eventually, that magical girls become witches, after Yuuri transformed into a witch, right in front of the Pleiades Saints. The Pleiades (minus Kazumi) meet back at Umika's house and interrogate Juubey. Umika shoots Juubey, wipes his memories, removes his ability to make any more contracts and orders him to work for them, thus being brainwashed.

Powers, Weapons & Abilities

This section may contain major spoilers for the anime!

Please refrain from reading if you haven't watched Episode 8 yet.

As an Incubator, he wields the power to grant wishes through contracts and, by removing one's soul and giving it a physical form as a Soul Gem, give a Puella Magi their powers. He also disposes of Grief Seeds by eating them. It is assumed he possesses other powers displayed by his "cousin", Kyubey, such as possessing multiple bodies and being able to show memories inside other's minds.

He has, however, shown an ability of his own, unseen before: the power to clean a Puella Magi's Soul Gem on his own, without requiring the use of a Grief Seed. This could have franchise-wide implications.

Trivia

• Unlike Kyubey, who merely drops Grief Seeds onto a hatch in his back, Jubey literally eats them: the circle in his forehead can be seen clenching just as one's mouth does while eating, and munching sounds can be heard.
• Jubey's name is a pun on Kyubey's name ("kyuu" in Japanese is "nine", while "juu" is "ten"). It likely has nothing to do with the word "Incubator".
• The original series proposal for Madoka Magica referred to the contract-making creature as a fairy. Jubey being called a fairy may be a reference to that.

Speculation

Munch munch.

• It appears that he absorbs the grief from the Soul Gems onto his skin, which is appropriately pitch black. On the other hand, he is seen making a gulping noise and licking his lips afterwards, suggesting some sort of consumption.
• In the anime, magical girls worked alone or in small groups because the Grief Seeds they needed to clean their Soul Gems were a limited resource. Magical girls could easily clash over territory and were just as likely to compete than cooperate. When the Pleiades Saints were revealed to be a seven-member magical girl team, a number of readers wondered how that could be possible in this context. It was considered unlikely that there were enough witches in Asunaro City to support seven magical girls. Chapter 4 explained that Jubey, the fairy they contracted with, can clean their Soul Gems, meaning they don't need to compete for Grief Seeds.
  • What was left unexplained was why this was done. Kyubey has never demonstrated the ability to clean Soul Gems in the anime. In fact, he actively sought to have the girls corrupt their Soul Gems and turn into witches. One probable explanation is that from what we've seen, the Pleiades had fairly minor wishes and were therefore weaker magical girls. Being weak magical girls, they wouldn't become powerful witches, and thus they wouldn't produce a lot of energy when they transformed. It is then more efficient for Jubey to let them hunt Grief Seeds for him than to try and convert them into witches.
    In purely mathematical terms, a team of weak Puellae Magi capturing a more powerful witch than themselves, using team tactics to level the field, is extremely efficient when it comes to energy output.
• It was mentioned in the anime that it was possible for an Incubator to have emotions, but they would be considered mentally ill. Juubey might be one of those Incubators.
  • Jubey claims that he doesn't know the reason why a Puella Magi would transform into a Witch and that it only happens "sometimes". It is unknown if he honestly doesn't know or if he is lying.
    • Chapter 10 reveals that he actually knew the reason why a Puella Magi transforms into a Witch. However, it is still not clear the nature or the reasoning behind hiding this fact from Kazumi. The Pleiades Saints, on the other hand, knew the truth all along.
• It was revealed in Chapter 12 that he was actually brainwashed by the Pleiades Saints.

Gallery

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  Jubey standing alongside Kyubey. Together known as The Legion Of Doom.

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  Maybe not such a good fairy.

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  Just a snack.

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  An "imitation" Grief Seed, a.k.a an Evil Nut. Do not feed them to your Incubator, especially after midnight.

Fanart

This section contains fanart images

Everything in the following fan gallery is created, or the comments accompanying them are created, for entertainment value and should not be confused with actual canon events of the Puella Magi franchise.

• Kyubey and Jubey Fanart.png

  Jubey with his partner in "crime", Kyubey.