Kanna Hijiri

Kanna Hijiri
Japanese Name	聖　カンナ (Hijiri Kanna)
Weapon	Magical strings / Evil Nuts

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

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

Kanna Hijiri (聖　カンナ, Hijiri Kanna) is a character in Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice.

She is a magical girl created as a result of Nico Kanna's wish. She is a duplicate of Nico, with several key differences. Her life and personality were what Nico's would have been like, were it not for the the shooting incident that killed her friends when she was a child.

Her own wish was to have the power to "connect" to other people without them knowing, in order to take revenge on Nico and the other Pleiades Saints.

Personality

Kanna is highly vengeful and manipulative, and will stop at nothing to crush the Pleiades. She deeply resents the fact that she is an artificial being, and feels a degree of camaraderie towards Kazumi, who is similarily artificial. She plans to wipe out humanity with the magical girls stored in the Freezer, as once all the real humans are gone, her artifical magical girls will be the "real" ones.

History

Kanna was created as the result of Nico's wish. Her life was perfectly normal, with no knowledge of Nico or the Pleiades Saints, until she witnessed them fighting Yuuri Asuka's witch. She met Juubey soon after, and was enraged to discover that her life and memories were fabricated. She made a contract with Juubey, wishing to "connect" to the Pleiades without their knowledge and take revenge on them. In doing so, she gained Nico's knowledge of Kazumi and the Freezer, as well as the Pleiades' abilities. She used the Pleiades' magic to create Evil Nuts, distributed them to Yuuri and Ayase, and sent the two girls to attack the Pleiades and kidnap Kazumi.

In Chapter 9, she introduces herself to the Pleiades as Nico after the real Nico turns into a witch, and is believed to be Nico throughout the following chapters. 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.

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. 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 are all displaying a witch's kiss on their necks. Nico's despair is from her childhood. As a little kid, Nico played with her neighbors and a loaded gun. The gun goes off, the bullet bouncing off a vase and killing her neighbors and injuring her arm, revealing her to be the Japanese kid from the news article in Chapter 7. Nico cries.

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!"

Kazumi opens up a witch's barrier around herself and the girls. Familiars appear and start attacking the normal girls while Kazumi 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 Kazumi isn't helping. Kazumi 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 Nico musing she can't run away from guns. They fire at the witch, deflating it like a balloon. It re-inflates itself and charges. Kazumi stops the witch with her cross, saying that "As long as you keep trying to live, you won't fall into despair" and that there's always hope. She then fires "Limit Esterni", destroying the witch.

As the barrier disappears, 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. A loud growling noise is heard, which turns out to be Kazumi being hungry. It's revealed that her ahoge was absent in the past (though the symbol is still on her hat and earring-bell). The scene changes to Kazumi's house, where she eats with the Pleiades. 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, Kazumi says that her grandmother would be happy to hear that. Saki asks where her grandmother is now, prompting Kazumi to reveal that she had passed away. She tells them not to worry.

Kazumi point to a book with Umika, asking her if that's the book that plagiarized her story. After reading the book Kazumi says it's bad because the main character wastes food like "The Girl who Trod on the Loaf" (a fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen). 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. Kazumi 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 Kazumi goes to get desert, Saki asks her how she became a magical girl.

Kazumi explains she became a magical girl the day her grandmother died. The story flashes back again to Kazumi's past. She narrates that 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 with "Tiro Finale". 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 that he can grant her wish if she makes a contract and becomes a magical girl.

Jubey tells Kazumi being a magical girl is difficult. Kazumi is fine with that and wishes for her grandmother to return to her normal self as long as she remains alive. Jubey asks if she's fine with not curing her grandmother's illness. Kazumi says she wants to, but it wouldn't be respecting her way of life. The contract is established. Kazumi's grandmother wakes up, asking if it's a dream. Kazumi says it's her last dream, and asks her grandmother if she can teach her how to make strawberry risotto. Kazumi spends the day learning cooking skills and advice from her grandmother. She tells Kazumi that people can't fall into dispair as she gives Kazumi her earring-bell; the same earring-bell Kazumi has worn throughout the series. The flashback in a flashback ends as Kazumi says her grandmother went to heaven the next day.

Saki asks why Kazumi didn't just wish her grandmother to be healthy, saying Kazumi is now all alone. Kazumi says her grandmother will always be in her heart, just like Miyuki will be in Saki's heart (Miyuki here is revealed to be Saki's sister). Mriai asks if she can be a magical girl. Jubey tells her she can if she accepts her fate of fighting witches. Mirai says she can accept anything. Umika, Kaoru, Satomi, Nico and Saki quickly chime in agreement. Kazumi cheers over having new friends. Mirai questions the fact that she's a friend, prompting Saki to thank Mirai for protecting her. Jubey 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. Kazumi suggests calling it "Angelica Bears" which is a pun on Mirai's name and the Ashitaba plant (Mirai's name means "Future Young Leaf", Ashitaba means "Tomorrow's Leaf" and is in the Angelica genus).

Satomi then wishes to talk to animals. Nico whispers her wish to Jubey, 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. Kazumi asks her about her injuries, but Kaoru says she'll just return to the field with her current legs. The contracts are completed, and Kazumi names their team the Pleiades Saints. The scene cuts to the girls fighting a witch. Kaoru destroys it with her spiked shoes. Jubey asks about her strengthened magical girl body. Kaoru is very happy about it. Kazumi calls Kaoru's attack Capitano Potenza ("Captain Power"), and reveals she wants everyone to call their attacks, even recording them in a book. Kazumi 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 Kazumi's earrings are missing. Kazumi guesses she lost them in the battle, but admits it's okay because her grandmother won't disappear from her heart. Later on Kazumi receives a new pair of the earrings. Kaoru explains that Saki asked her dad to get them while he was on a business trip. Kazumi thanks Saki, while Mirai has a sad or angry expression on her face.

Later, Kaoru and the other Pleiades (except Kazumi) wonder why Kazumi is late, having been told Kazumi was bringing a new friend. Jubey appears, saying a witch's barrier is nearby. They run to Asunaro Dome, where they see Yuuri Asuka transform into a witch. After the battle the girls are stunned. Satomi asks if magical girls turn into witches. Jubey explains how witches are created, and says his job is to gather the energy form the conversion of hope to despair. Kaoru grabs Jubey while he explains that immature witches should be called magical girls. Suddenly Umika grabs Jubey and slams her head against him. A laser fires from her eye into his. Jubey falls down and asks why Umika is looking scary. Umika explains to Kaoru that she rewrote Jubey's memories, preventing him from making contracts. The story then returns to the present. Kazumi 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. We then find Satomi is walking up behind her. Saki asks why Satomi is there. Satomi pulls her hand to her mouth and says, "Saki, let's kill Kazumi." The last panel has Satomi giving a sinister grin. After Satomi reveals Kazumi the truth of Michiru and her clones, Nico is seen along Juubey, commenting that Satomi finally told it to Kazumi, revealing that she knew Satomi's plans all along. Nico collects Satomi's body and Grief Seed after Kazumi kills her witch and flees.

The Pleiades reconvene at Umika's house. Nico attempts to locate the runaway Kazumi and fails, as she is unconsciously using cloaking magic. Nico asks the others what to do about Satomi's remains and Kazumi. The consensus is that they'll kill Kazumi before she becomes a witch, and revive her and Satomi as many times as necessary. Kaoru alone objects.

Later on, Nico arrives with the other Pleiades at the Freezer, in response to Kazumi's ultimatum. Kazumi begins to transform into a monster and engulfs the room in a barrier. Nico is struck with energy blasts almost immediately and incapacitated. As Umika, Mirai and Saki battle Kazumi, Kaoru realizes that she has not actually become a witch, and is simply creating an illusion so that they'd have no choice but to kill her. As the other Pleiades stand before Kazumi in shock, Mirai cleaves her in two. Surprisingly, Kazumi's corpse turns into a balloon-like doll of Nico, as does the Nico that she incapacitated. The real Nico steps into view, with the real Kazumi safely stowed in her collection tube. As Mirai stares, shocked, Nico directs her attention to Saki, whose Soul Gem is about to break open. Nico creates a clone of herself, which then generates an Evil Nut and presses it into her forehead. The clone is vaporized as a beam of lightning shoots up around Saki. The remaining Nico says that she can't allow "you humans" to kill Kazumi. She reveals herself to them later, taking Kazumi hostage and turning Saki into a witch with an Evil Nut, before preparing to attack them directly.

Powers, Weapons & Abilities

Kanna can tap into the powers of each Pleiades Saint and "connect" them to make new effects. One example is her ability to create Evil Nuts, which are a combination of Umika's analysis magic and Nico's regeneration magic. She can also use Nico's magic even after Nico herself dies; it is unknown whether this extends to others as well or is unique to Nico.

She can also create lengths of magical string from her hands, to directly attack and restrain enemies. They are somewhat reminiscent of a puppeteer's strings.

Trivia

• Kanna refers to artificial magical girls like herself as "Hyades" (ヒューアデス), as they are the half-sisters of the Pleiades (プレイアデス) and will take over from the humans (ヒューマン).
• The marking on her Soul Gem is a pair of hexagons, identical to the one hexagon present on Nico's Gem. It also resembles the figure-eight markings on the Evil Nuts. It can also be thought of as a symbol of mitosis, pointing to her nature as a clone derived from Nico.
• For all Kanna's origins angst, the fact that Nico called herself ニ子 (possibly "Second Child") could mean that she viewed her clone as the original, as in "how it should have been", and herself as the "fake" or "second one"

Gallery

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  It would be troublesome if "you humans" killed Kazumi!

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  Kanna prepares to implant Saki with an Evil Nut

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  Kanna Hijiri and Nico Kanna

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  Kanna ready to exact revenge

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  Kanna's Soul Gem.

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  Kanna's magical strings

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  Kanna with her family and friends

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  Kanna started to imagine an "if I hadn't done that" self, and daydreamed about how her life would be if she were that self...The "reality" self, and the "fantasy" self... Two selves came to coexist, and she became "Nico" (Nico as in ニ子, meaning "Two Childs" or "Second Child")

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  What did I feel?... Not being human, but a doll created by that kid's thoughts... How could I feel happy?

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  Art by Ushiki Yoshitaka, author of Dream Eater Merry