Kazumi Subaru

Kazumi Subaru
Japanese Name	昴 かずみ
Voiced by	Japanese (Magia Record): Sakura Tange

"They may not all be good memories, you know. You may have a lot of memories... of things you would regret having done."

"That's okay too. I'd take those all together... and see what made me who I am."

— Niko Kanna and Kazumi Subaru, chapter 7.

Kazumi (かずみ), known as Kazumi Subaru (昴 かずみ) during the ending, is the eponymous main character of Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice. She is an amnesiac middle-school girl with long, black hair, and a noticeable ahoge. She wakes up naked inside a large suitcase at the start of the story, having no recollection of her previous life, other than her name.

Kazumi also appears in Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story: Magia Record, being her first animated and voice acted appearance.

General info

Physical features

• Eye colour: Red
• Hair colour: Black

Other

• Soul Gem: Silver colored earring-bell with a swirl design (Fake Soul Gem) / White colored S-shaped swirl located on her chest.
• Weapon: Cross-shaped staff (Old weapon) / Star-ended staff
• Wish: "Make me a real human!"
• Witch form: Carola (spinoff exclusive)
• Japanese pronoun: watashi (わたし)
• Known relatives: Unnamed grandmother (Deceased)

Personality

Kazumi is rather hotheaded, yet lighthearted, her mood is very unstable at times, and can swing between extremes in a couple of seconds. Still, she is cheerful most of the time. Her reactions are very spontaneous: while rediscovering her old life, she is often seen with a very surprised expression and her facial expressions are quite expressive themselves.

She is somewhat ditzy, especially — but understandably so — in situations she is only now rediscovering; for example, forgetting her skirt while transforming. Nonetheless, she is more than capable of rising up to the situation when it is required.

While getting reacquainted with her old life, she realizes she can't, or doesn't want to be, the "old" Kazumi. Instead, she decides to become a "new" Kazumi, starting with a new, and very sloppy, short haircut. However, she keeps her ahoge, claiming — apparently correctly — that it is a witch sensor and it usually changes with her mood.

While she is only getting to know her friends again, she cares deeply for them. She goes to great lengths to protect them, to the point that she lost a battle with a witch out of fear that her attack might hurt Kaoru, which almost happened in a previous battle.

Besides her cooking skills, she is also quite the glutton. Even after waking up naked in a briefcase after being kidnapped, her main concern is her empty stomach. Her tastes are quite open, eating most things happily. When hungry, she can be messy while eating. She also claims to be able to identify bad people from how they eat. According to to an advice she once received from Umika, a bad guy never finishes anything: therefore, a bad guy will never finish his food. Kazumi is particularly fond of Umika's cooking.

Kazumi's earrings are very dear to her. They were a gift, and touching them can trigger her rage.

History

Backstory

Warning, this section contains spoilers! Expand to read.

Main Article: Michiru Kazusa Originally Umika gives Kazumi fake memories of her being Michiru Kazusa, showing how Michiru met the other 6 girls. Later, Satomi reveales to her that Kazumi is a clone of Michiru, who has turned into a witch and died. The Pleiades Saints used their magic to create clones, prominently Umika, who figured it out after collecting information from witches the group killed. Niko created the body for Kazumi, while Umika created the "heart" fueled by the power of witches, called "Cor Maleficus". The group then use their magic to create the clones, with Kazumi being the 13th clone of her. Originally the clones were given the same memories as Michiru, but all of them turned back into witches during battles. Shortly after she was created, Someone known as "Hyades" told Yuuri to kidnap and bring Kazumi to her.

Kazumi in Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice

Volume 1

One day, Kazumi woke up naked inside a briefcase, with no memory other than her name. She had been kidnapped and locked in there by an unknown party. While being carried, the briefcase she was locked in was accidentally switched with another man's briefcase, which was carrying a bomb.

When she woke up in the would-be-bomber's house she had a fit of anger, but ultimately calmed down when she found the man didn't kidnap her. After she ate a meal, the kidnapper called-the-would-be the bomber, whose name is Souichirou Tachibana, offering to exchange the bomb for Kazumi. Kazumi agreed to go along with it in order to find any clues about her past. At the mall, the police appears to arrest the bomber, but Kazumi jumps in his defense. She recollects a piece of advice once given to her and claims that someone who cleans his plate can't be a bad guy. Neither party backs down, and when explosion is imminent, Kazumi concentrates her mind on the bomb, attempting to make it stop somehow. Meanwhile, an unknown girl kicks the bomb to the ceiling, where it explodes harmlessly: it was a fake bomb, but it is implied it might have turned into a fake bomb by Kazumi's action.

The unknown girl, and a friend of hers, identify themselves as being Kaoru Maki and Umika Misaki, friends and roommates of Kazumi. They take her back to their house, where Kazumi quickly find her room and falls asleep. The other girls go out, and leave Kazumi a card warning her that the police detective from before will visit.

She takes the time until her arrival to reacquaint herself with cooking, preparing a Strogonoff. Upon the detective's arrival, she offers her a dish. Kazumi then accuses the detective of setting up the entire incident with the bomb, and then coming to her house to kill Kazumi. This prompts the detective to break her plate in a fit of rage, therefore proving, according to Kazumi's rules, that she was a bad person. Infuriated, the detective attacks her, and transforms into a hideous praying mantis-like figure.

In the heat of the moment, Kazumi, much to her own surprise, reacts instinctively and dodges her attacks. She is eventually caught, but when the monster attempts to rip off her earrings, Kazumi suddenly has a series of flashbacks and she then kicks the monster away and transforms into a magical girl (again, to her own surprise). She then strikes back, finishing the fight with a powerful beam attack just as Umika and Kaoru — who had heard the battle over the phone — arrive.

Shortly after telling her friends she can use magic, Kazumi falls asleep from exhaustion and hunger. When she wakes up the next morning she attempts to transform, but all it does is cause a black cat to come inside. Going downstairs, she finds Umika making food and acting in a scary manner. Kaoru explains to Kazumi that Umika has writer's block, which causes her to act oddly. After eating, Umika takes them to the mall. During the trip Kazumi decides that she is different from the "old" Kazumi Umika and Kaoru know.

Suddenly, a strange feeling comes over Kazumi. Investigating an alley, she finds another monster attacking people. As her friends run up, Kazumi tells them to stay back as she transforms.

Kazumi is having trouble against the monsters, which prompts Umika and Kaoru to reveal themselves as magical girls. They incapacitate the monster, which causes Kazumi to remember how they used to fight together. However, trying to re-enact this memory causes her to accidentally fire a shot at Umika. Kaoru saves her in time, but the monster gets away. Kazumi feels horrible for almost hurting one of her friends, though they tell her she shouldn't feel bad. When she insists upon being punished, they take her to a hair salon.

As they cut Kazumi's hair, Umika and Kaoru explain magic to her. Magical girls are contracted by fairies (yousei) who grant wishes. Kazumi asks what her wish was, but she never told Umika or Kaoru. They then explain that magical girls have to fight witches, and that the monsters she fought previously were a new type of witch. At this point, Kazumi's haircut is finished, and it's all messy. Kazumi says it's just fine for the "new" Kazumi. However, she rejects Umika and Kaoru's attempts to cut off her ahoge, as she calls it a witch detector. The three of them then track down the witch, a cosmetic saleswoman. During the battle, they briefly encounter a mysterious magical girl, who quickly flees.

They defeat the witch, turning her back into a human. Kazumi mentions that those who become witches aren't always bad people. Umika and Kaoru say that there is the possibility that anyone can turn into a witch.

Some time later, Kazumi, Umika and Kaoru are fighting another witch, but this one is dramatically different from the previous two, having the same properties as the witches from the anime. During the fight, Kazumi hesitates, not wanting to hit her friends again. This allows the witch devour her friends and escape. At this point four other magical girls appear: Saki Asami, Niko Kanna, Satomi Usagi, and Mirai Wakaba. They introduce themselves as the Pleiades Saints, and reveal that Kazumi, Umika, and Kaoru are members. Kazumi then gets a phone call from Umika and Kaoru, who are being protected by Umika's barrier. The Pleiades have five hours to find the witch before Umika's barrier runs out. As they search for the witch using their soul gems, Kazumi notices that her "witch detector" isn't working.

When the Pleiades split up to search for the witch, the mysterious magical girl from before disguises herself as Satomi and separates Kazumi from the others. She then reveals herself, which causes Kazumi to recognize her as the magical girl who locked her in the suitcase. In the resulting battle, Kazumi is incapacitated but is saved by the other Pleiades Saints, who realized they were tricked. The magical girl holds Kazumi at gunpoint, but Kazumi tells her teammates to attack anyway. The magical girl is driven away and Kazumi is unharmed.

Eventually, they finally track down the witch (after Kazumi makes everyone a meal; apparently her cooking hasn't changed). Kazumi is told to wait outside the witch's barrier while the other magical girls rescue Umika and Kaoru and then incapacitate the witch. At a signal from a communicator, Kazumi will fire into the barrier, destroying the witch. Though the plan hits a snag when Niko's communicator is broken, they manage to give Kazumi the needed signal via candy flutes, which were a bag of candy that Kazumi brought with her for Umika and Kaoru. Kazumi fires her Limiti Esterni at the source of the sound, and, defeating the witch, reunites with Umika and Kaoru. While the Saints celebrate their victory, an unknown figure overlooks the 7 girls.

Volume 2

Starting from where the last chapter ended, Kazumi is introduced to Jubey, the fairy that made the Pleiades into magical girls. Jubey cleans up their soul gems and then takes the grief seed from the recently-defeated witch. However, it is then revealed that the previous two witches Kazumi fought were actually "pseudo-witches", created by imitation grief seeds known as "evil nuts". It's then deduced that the mysterious magical girl from before created them.

As Kazumi asks why magical girls aren't working together, the mysterious magical girl attacks, incapacitating the entire team. Introducing herself as Yuuri, the magical girl captures Kazumi, telling the others to meet her at Asunaro Dome at midnight. As she's being taken away, Kazumi asks Yuuri why she's doing all of this. Yuuri refuses to answer her. A small battle breaks out, causing Yuuri to flash back to another girl. Yuuri then ties Kazumi up.

When the Pleiades come to rescue her, Kazumi is tied to a chair on the other end of an impenetrable force-field. Yuuri then tells them that she will implant one of her evil nuts into Kazumi. Kazumi begs Yuuri to stop, telling her that they're comrades. Yuuri then laughs at her, hinting at some dark secret the Pleiades have. She takes off her hat, causing Umika to recognize her, announces she came back to get vengeance on the Pleiades, and shoves an evil nut into Kazumi's forehead.

However, the evil nut empowers Kazumi and lets her break out of the chair. Kazumi fights with Yuuri again, but is still overpowered. Yuuri claims that the other Pleiades had killed her, and says that they're a group that kills magical girls. She explains that she targeted Kazumi because she believes she was their most precious thing. At this point, Yuuri's blackened soul gem begins to crack and Jubey's fails to purify it. As it falls into Kazumi's hand, it turns into a grief seed. In shock, Kazumi asks why witches come out of soul gems as Yuuri transforms into a heart-shaped witch. Kazumi and the Pleiades Saints become trapped on crosses in the witch's barrier. Vines begin surrounding the Pleiades causing them to scream out in pain.

At this point, the witch shows to the magical girls a vision of her past as Airi. The witch then attacks Kazumi, seemingly crushing her head. In fact, the evil nut triggered a transformation in Kazumi, and she caught the attack with a row of sharp teeth. Biting that part of the witch off, she attacks with elongated limbs and breaks free from the cross. Her earring bell rings, turning her back to normal. Kazumi says that she thinks Airi wasn't a bad a person and actually tries to use her magic to turn her back to normal. The result is horrific: Yuuri's body bursts from the witch while still being merged with it. Speaking entirely in runes, she repeats the last spell she used on Kazumi.

At that point, the witch is shot by Saki, which frees the other Saints. As they prepare to attack the witch, Kazumi protests. Jubey appears and explains that nothing can change Yuuri back - the only thing they can do is kill her. Kazumi says she can't do it. Saki says she doesn't have to dirty her hands. One by one, the Pleiades attack the witch as Kazumi begs them to stop. However, seeing that her friends are as pained by this as she is, she fires Limiti Esterni on the witch, destroying it. As the witch's barrier disappears, Kazumi picks up Yuuri's spoon, saying that she'll share this burden with her friends. She then collapses crying in Umika's arms.

Later, Kazumi tells Umika and Kaoru to walk home without her, wishing to be alone. As Kaoru protests, Kazumi stumbles across Souchirou Tachibana, the would-be-bomber from the first chapter. He has become the manager of a new restaurant, and he gives Kazumi a bucket of parfait. As she eats it, Kazumi has a vision of Yuuri and Airi eating the same meal. She asks Souchirou to put the parfait on the menu. He declines, saying it's not profitable. As she continues to eat, Kazumi again sees a vision of Yuuri and Airi and starts crying, wondering why they couldn't get a chance to eat the parfait. Finally, she falls asleep, still holding the spoon.

The next morning, Kazumi thanks Souchirou for breakfast and is overjoyed to see the parfait on the menu. She then leaves when she sees Niko and Jubey walking out of the store. After talking for a bit, they head for the amusement park. Kazumi says she understands that the Pleiades hid the truth about witches from her so she wouldn't have any painful memories. Niko comments that Kazumi still doesn't have her memories back. Kazumi agrees, knowing that if Airi had erased her memories they would have come back. She asks Niko if there's any way to restore her lost memories. Niko tells Kazumi that she might have had plenty of regrets, but Kazumi says that all of it has made her what she is now, and she doesn't want to run away from her old self. Niko says they'll talk about it later as she suddenly confronts Ayase Souju.

Ayase introduces herself, and reveals she collects the soul gems of magical girls. She insinuates the Pleiades are doing the same thing, something Kazumi doesn't understand. She then reveals her intent to add Niko and Kazumi to her collection, prompting a fight between Ayase and Niko. Kazumi watches and asks Jubey how Niko was able to copy herself, prompting him to explain to her Niko's wish and powers. The battle culminates with Niko using a mysterious spell on Ayase. Ayase abruptly destransforms and her soul gem appears in Niko's hand. Kazumi asks Niko if she killed her, but Niko responds that Ayase is only stunned. Suddenly Ayase's body begins talking and hits Niko with an attack that leaves her flying and wounded. She then transforms into a different costume. Kazumi asks Jubey if a magical girl could transform twice, but it's revealed that the girl is actually Luca Souju, and she shares a body with Ayase.

Kazumi and Luca proceed to battle one another. Luca is able to freeze Kazumi, but as she touches Kazumi's bell it starts ringing, which frees Kazumi. She then punches Luca right in the soul gem. Luca then uses both her gems to be Ayase and Luca at the same time, revealing her ultimate attack Picchi Gemellati. After being knocked about a few times, Jubey and Niko come up with a plan to defeat the Soujus' attack. Jubey reveals that Kazumi's magic is "sacrilege", then seems to correct himself and say it's destruction. By combining it with Niko's magic of reconstruction, they can create an attack that can defeat the Soujus. After some fits and starts, Kazumi, Niko, and Jubey are vitorious. However, the Soujus pull out a box of evil nuts and throws them at Kauzmi and Niko. Saki and the other Pleiades arrive just in time to save both of them. 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 Niko used earlier, 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 is interrupted by Niko's soul gem glowing. As she falls over, a witch appears.

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. Umika encases herself, Kazumi, and Satomi in a barrier. Mirai uses her attack La Bestia ("The Beast") causing an army of teddy-bears to appear and chew on the witch. 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 Niko's soul gem).

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. Jubey, 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. 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. 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.

The story flashes back into the past. Umika, Kaoru, Satomi, Mirai, Niko, and Saki are standing on a catwalk. They are all displaying a witch's kiss on their necks. Kazumi sees a vision of each girl's past and their despair. The girls 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 then opens up a witch's barrier around herself and the girls. Familiars appear and start attacking the normal girls while Kazumi watches. After the girls show desire to live, Kazumi gives them rifles to right back, but then helps them out herself once she sees that they are fighting a witch, not a familiar.

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 worry. 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 Mami Tomoe, who destroys the witch with "Tiro Finale". When Kazumi thanks her, Mami tells her to get going and be careful. 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. (She incidentally reveals the name of her cat, Toto.)

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, Niko 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. Niko 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 an unhappy 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 stays behind.

After Kazumi is back home Umika and Kaoru put her to bed. Saki comes to visit, soaking wet from the rain. After a short conversation Umika reveals that Saki isn't actually Saki, which prompts Satomi, who was controlling Saki using her magic, to kick Umika. After a short battle Saki runs to Kazumi's room and Satomi attempts to stab Kazumi, but Saki stops herself by stabbing herself in the leg. Satomi then changes her plans and tells Saki to bring Kazumi to her.

After Saki escapes with Kazumi, they are back in the freezer. Satomi greets Kazumi and tells her that she is going to kill her. Satomi then also reveals the truth about Kazumi to her: That Kazumi used to be a girl named Michiru Kazusa who has turned into a witch. Satomi says she trully wishes to get Michiru back, but she is afraid to be with someone who is made from the flesh of witches, after that the wall next to them breaks open, revealing 12 other Kazumi's, Satomi telling her that she is the 13th Kazumi.

Volume 4

After that Satomi tells Kazumi what actually happened: One day while Michiru was cooking strawberry risotto and talking to her fellow teammates, her soul gem turned black and she turned into a witch, subsequently destroying the house they were in. Satomi then reveals that the previous clones were failures: having parts of witches all over them. Satomi then commands all 13 Kazumi's to attack each other. Kazumi then finds out that due to being made out of others magic she is able to use their abilities too. During the bloodshed, Kazumi consumes the others to regenerate herself, leaving only two Kazumi's standing: Our Protagonist and one with a roman number 4 on her cheek. The two fight and the 4th Kazumi begs our Kazumi to kill her. After that Satomi inpales both of them with a staff and rejoices when they both fall down, presumably dead. She says that she killed Kazumi, seemingly happy with herself.

Kazumi then surprises her as she consumes the 4th Kazumi to regenerate. Satomi says that witches are tough as her soul gem begins cracking. Kazumi tries to help her, but Satomi pishes her away, saying that witches aren't allowed to touch her. Satomi then turns into a witch and fights Kazumi. Kazumi begins turning back into a witch and defeats Satomi's witch. Saki then screams at Kazumi. After the black magicla girl gets back to her sences, she sees that she was beating Satomi's corpse into the wall. Kazumi breaks down, saying that she just killed her friend, but the remaining Saints tell her that's it's okay. Kazumi then begs them to tell her that what Satomi said wasn't true, but everyone don't deny her. This causes Kazumi to run away.

Kazumi is then found by Misako Ishijima, the police officer from before. Kazumi finds out that many girls have went missing these past months, including Airi Anri. Kazumi begins reading the logs, and finds out that many girls have been sent messages by someone named "Hyades". Misako asks Kazumi is she got sent messages by someone like that, but she says no. Remembering what happened today, Kazumi begins crying, leading to Misako driving to Souichirou's house. The two talk about Misako's clasmate and friend Remi Shiina, being a magical girl and then dissapearing, which fuelled Misako's desire to help girls in need. Kazumi wakes up the other day to find that Kaoru came in and left Michiru's diary to her, with a letter telling her to run away.

Despite the warnings, Kazumi decides to confront her friends and tells them to meet her in the freezer, and threatens to release all of the soul gems they are stored in the freezer and let them turn into witches. The girls come and Kazumi asks a few questions before changing herself to look like a witch, telling them to kill her. Kaoru tries to stop her, but Kazumi hits her with a spell that knocked her out. During the fight Umika removes the spell and Kaoru tries to stop everyone from doing this, but Mirai comes in from behind and, while saying that Kazumi is in her way, slices her in half. Is is then revealed that the Kazumi they were fighting was nothing but a fake, revealing that Niko has grabbed Kazumi and put her into a container. Niko then tells everyone that they shouldn't be worried about her, revealing that Saki's Soul Gem has turned black.

Volume 5

Mirai runs to save Saki, but Niko gets in front og her and inserts an evil nut into her head. Mirai grabs Saki and begs Jubey to clean her Soul Gem, but Jubey tells her that it's too late. As Mirai recalls the happy moments she had with Saki, Saki turns into a witch. Mirai confesses her love for Saki as the witch bites off her head, killing her. After that Niko uses magic to stop Saki's witch from moving. She says that there are only 2 girls left to complete her revenge.

Niko reveals herself to be Kanna Hijiri, the clone that was made as a result of Niko's wish. After finding out the truth behind her existance, she made a wish to connect to others without drawing attention, with her goal being to watch Niko's death, as well as "Hyades" the one behind the creation of Evil Nuts. She was happy to hear that the Saints were making a clone of Michiru, as she isn't the only artificial magicla girl anymore, but this also made her despise the entire group. Kazumi then protests to Kanna, saying that what shes's going isn't right. This causes Kanna to break down and attack the girls. The 3 Saints all have their Soul Gem turns dark while fighting and Jubey tries to clean them, but then breaks appart and dies.

While Kanna talks to Kazumi about creating a new world, Umika and Kaoru remember that Grief Seeds can be used to clean Soul Gems. Kazumi begins passing out, which promts Saki's witch to fight back. She attacks the other witches and it killed by them, basically commiting suicide. Umika and Kaoru tke it as Saki's will and use her Grief Seed to clean Kazumi's Soul Gem. Kanna mocks the two girls, but Kazumi, who wakes up after having her Soul Gem cleaned tells her to shut up. She then transforms into a magical girl and attacks Kanna. While Umika cries that she is going to leave Kazumi alone again, Saki's Grief Seed begins hatching again. The Spell that Umika put on the city breaks down and the girls then remember of Kyubey's existance, and calls him to eat the seed. Kyubey then reveals that Umika rewrote everyones memories in the city using a spell, which made Kyubey invisible to everyone, so that he couldn't make any more wishes.

Back in the past, Umika is seen killing Kyubey (who was seen as Jubey in memories before), the group then learns that Kyubey isn't a singular being, which promts Niko to collect Kyubey's corpse and use to to create Jubey. Back in the present. Kyubey proclaims that Umika and Kaoru will turn into witches soon, which prompts Kazumi to looks for a grief seed. She defeats Ayase and Luca's witch form, which doesn't drop a grief seed. Kazumi runs back to the girls and begins crying, which makes Michiru's Grief Seed, hidden inside of Kazumi's earrings, to act up, being Michiru's will to save her friends. Kanna, in the last ditch efford, combines all of the witches into one, creating the Dawn of Hyades. Kazumi uses the grief seed to clean the soul gems and then decides to make a new contract with Kyubey to defeat Kanna and save everyone. She wishes to become a real person and is granted a new form. Her magic and gave her two friends upgraded powers. The three then attack the new witch and defeat her. Kanna is seen with her soul gem about to break on top of a tower, but Kazumi walks up and cleans it. She explains that Niko never wished harm for you, she just wanted for her to have a happy life, which makes Kanna realise her mistakes. Kanna uses the last strengh she had to jump off the roof of the tower and blow up her soul gem, dying.

Unknown time later, Kazumi is seen attending school, now known as Kazumi Subaru. Kaoru and Umika say that they will continue to fight against the magical girl system, but not right now. Kyubey proclaims that a new witch is born, so Kazumi runs out of the classroom and meets up with her two teammates as they set off to fight the witch.

Kazumi in Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story: Magia Record

Main Article: Kazumi Subaru in Magia Record

Kazumi appears as one of the unlockable magical girls in Magia Record, along with Umika and Kaoru.

Abilities

Limiti Esterni, Kazumi's finisher

Her weapon of choice is a large cross-shaped staff. She can use the cross as a melee weapon at close range, but it's most effectively used to fire magic beams from a distance. Her attacks have a large range, enough to hit the target with pinpoint accuracy even when fired from outside a witch's barrier. Her final attack is "Limiti Esterni" (English: "Outer Limit"), a very powerful beam, larger than the cross' width.

Therefore, she's best employed as a sharpshooter in a team: maintaining some distance from the target, and firing away when the opportunity arises while the other girls weaken and distract the target. To take advantage of this, the other six Saints can cast a joint binding spell, "Episodio Incrocio" (English: "Crossover Episode"), powerful enough to hold down a witch, making the target a sitting duck for Kazumi's blasts.

Her ahoge seems to have a mysterious ability to track down pseudo-witches, apparently at a farther distance than a Soul Gem could. However, it has no reaction to common witches.

Additionally, in chapter 1, she was able to transform a time bomb into a dud by concentrating. The same kind of power is seen when she turns a witch into a pseudo-magical girl in chapter 6. It is unknown what kind of power this derives from.

In chapter 8, Jubey says her magic is "sacrilege" but then he quickly corrects himself and says it's "destruction". In Japanese, both are the word "hakai", written in different characters. This is completely removed in the official English translation.

Kazumi can also use her staff as a melee weapon. It can extend to great length and change into other weapons, such as a scythe and a sword.

As she is a product of the other six Saints' magic, Kazumi has access to all of their abilities, including Umika's barrier, Kaoru's iron defense, Mirai's sword and Saki's thunderbolts and teleportation. Her earring-bell rings when using these abilities.

She can also absorb other materials to regenerate her injuries. This ability has only been used on the remains of her fellow clones, and may be limited to them.

Observations

• Like Madoka, both are friendly, gentle and they want to be helpful to other people, and they were both initially average magical girls who died and became "special" as a result of their friends' actions.
• Her outfit, sporting dark, suggestive clothes, a magical cross, and a large witch hat, gives her a "cute witch" look. Given that the same name is used for the creatures they are fighting, this gave birth to a number of theories.
  • She even has a black cat named Toto.
• Apart from functioning as a pseudo-witch detector, her ahoge also seems to respond to emotions: upon reuniting with Kaoru and Umika at the end of chapter 3, it's shaped like a heart.
• Kazumi's magical incantation in Japanese is, "Chichinpurin", which is a pun on “Chichinpui", a stock magical incantation in Japanese. In keeping with the food puns in the chapter titles, “purin” means “pudding”. The official English translation uses "Chi-Chin Pudding".
• "Limiti Esterni" is most likely a reference to the show The Outer Limits.
• Kazumi's personal magic circle has pointed spokes resembling grief seeds, which may be a nod toward her true nature as a witch.
• In Chapter 20, it is stated that Kazumi's cooking is good, just like Michiru, making them closer to their goal of bringing back their Michiru.
  • Food, the preparation of food, and the eating of food seems to be a subtle theme in the storyline.

Etymology

• One of the possible kanji spellings of Kazumi's name is 一三, literally the numbers "one-three". It is speculated that it may be a reference to the current Kazumi being the 13th clone of Michiru, as well as this fact being revealed in the 13th chapter of the manga. While thirteen is a very common unlucky number, one and three also make four, which is an Asian unlucky number.
• 昴 "Subaru" means "Pleiades".

Trivia

• According to a Q&A with the author in volume 2, her cat's name is Toto. This is later revealed in-story in chapter 12.
• The artwork updates in volume 1 of Kazumi Magica reveal that Kazumi's earring-bell is her soul gem. This makes her the first magical girl we've seen who doesn't wear her soul gem as a ring when she's not transformed.
• The symbol on her earrings resembles her ahoge and her witch's hat, and is in two places on her soul gem.

Gallery

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  A comparison between Kazumi and Yuuri's outfit. Notice the similarities.

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  Kazumi receiving her beloved earrings.

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  Assorted flashbacks. Take special note of the six figures dressed as witches.

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  Another look at Limiti Esterni.

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  Umika in a semi-faded memory of Kazumi's. The more detailed version was revealed in chapter 10.

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  Kazumi's earring bell transforming into her soul gem.

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  Kazumi's soul gem

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  Whoopsie.

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  The picture shown to Kazumi to show Umika and Kaoru are her friends.

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  Kazumi and Niko's magic are perfect opposites.

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  Art by Takashi Tensugi of Kazumi, Umika and Kaoru.

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  Artwork by Hanokage, artist of the Madoka Magica manga.

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  Kazumi getting excited over the prospect of going to an amusement park with everyone.

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  Kazumi's closeup from Puella Magi Madoka Magica Online.