Kyouko Sakura

Kyouko Sakura
	File:RedHairedGirl.jpg
Japanese Name	佐倉杏子 (Sakura Kyouko)
Seiyū	Ai Nonaka
Age	14-15 (estimated)
Weapon	Spear

"Don't waste food. I'll kill you." ~ Kyouko Sakura in Episode 7

As of Episode 3, Kyouko Sakura only appears in a shot in the opening and as a silhouette in the ending. She appears first at the end of Episode 4.

Official Info

This section may contain major spoilers!

Please refrain from reading if you are not yet familiar with all the latest media released.

A Puella Magi who came from another town, going after Mami's turf after hearing of her death, only to learn from Kyubey upon arrival that Sayaka has taken over.
She's always eating something.
She is a callous Puella Magi who doesn't even mind sacrifices, no matter how much, if it's to gain a Grief Seed.
An egoist who doesn't take heed of damage to her surroundings.
A Puella Magi who simply has supernatural powers and abandoned the premise of justice and benevolence. In short, she doesn't hesitate in any sense in using her magic powers for her own selfish benefit and desires. Kyouko debuts as an ultra selfish character
Her regular clothes are the active type and leave a delinquent impression somewhere. She seems to be the type who doesn't mind her navel peeking out.
She seems to have a rather sadistic side. This is shown in episode 6 when she approaches Sayaka when Sayaka is about to visit her friend Kyousuke. Kyouko scoffs at Sayaka's wish, then says that if she wanted him that badly, she should just go in and break his hand and legs, leaving him crippled and they could be together.
Kyouko was the daughter of a preacher. Her father started to deviate from regular doctrine and was excommunicated for it - Kyouko used her wish to get her father more followers; however, upon finding this out, her father went insane and killed the entire family but Kyouko, then commiting suicide. From there on, Kyouko only uses her magical powers for herself.
Kyouko values food and chastises those who waste it. After her father lost supporters, Kyouko and her family (parents, Kyouko herself, an unnamed little sister) nearly starved.
While Kyouko was initially cold toward Sayaka, she grows to like her. This is because Kyouko sees Sayaka making the same mistakes as her. During the end of episode 7, Kyouko even monitors Sayaka's witch hunt. While it is unknown if Sayaka needed her help, Kyouko does protect Sayaka against one of the witch's attacks.
Kyouko, as revealed in episode 9, liked Sayaka because Sayaka reminded her why she became a magical girl: Kyouko loved stories where love and courage prevail.
Kyouko tries to help return Sayaka to normal by using Madoka to reach her. However, after sustaining many blows in the battle with the Witch Sayaka and seeing Madoka's failure to reach her humanity, Kyouko sacrifices herself to not only kill Sayaka, but make sure Sayaka didn't die alone. Also allowing Homura and Madoka to leave safely.
In a previous timeline, Kyouko is killed by a mentally broken Mami after the fight with Octavia. Having gone mad after learning what happens to Puella Magi with time, Mami shot and destroyed Kyouko's Soul Gem, killing her in what she saw as a mercy kill that would save Kyouko from becoming a witch.
She is brought back to life by Madoka's wish in Episode 12

Trivia

Before her name was officially revealed, she was nicknamed Condom-chan by Western fans because of the suggestive-looking ice lolly she had flapping in her mouth in the Opening animation. She is nicknamed Anko by Japanese fans due to an initial misreading of her name when she was first revealed in a magazine.
Her last name can also be used as a first name.
Her first name Kyouko (杏子) can also be read as Anzu (あんず)–apricot. Apricot+ is Ume's circle name [1].
The first character of her name (杏) is the implied real first name (An) of Kafuka Fuura from Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. Both characters are voiced by Ai Nonaka
According to some fans, her somewhat tomboyish nature, reddish hair tied in a pony-tail and sporty style of clothing (when not transformed) which includes shorts and exposes her navel make her look rather like Yoko Littner from Tengan Toppa Gurren Lagann (a mecha anime from Gainax)
Yuuki Aoi (VA of Madoka) confessed that she was in love with the Kyouko character in the Magical Girls Tea Party bonus CD.
- Ok, "in love" would be putting it lightly considering Yuuki Aoi claims Kyouko to be her waifu with extreme infatuation.

Speculations & Observations

File:The savior of a new world.jpg

his heresy

Certain comments from Mami in Episode 2 and 3 seem to be referring to Kyouko, indicating that they had encountered each other in the past. She mentions Mami by name in Episode 4. In Episode 5, when Sayaka says that she blames Mami's death on people like Kyouko, Kyouko tells her to "Shut up. Just shut up", further implying some connection between the two. The prequel manga Oriko Magica, which will star Kyouko and Mami, is likely to explain this in detail.
Her behavior and character hint to next possible past of hers. In episode seven, it is revealed that she too made a selfless wish for her father, and ended up losing her entire family due to her wish's repercussions. Thus, she eats gratuitously because her family never had enough to eat before she made her wish. Kyouko states that she has learned from this experience that using magic to help others is a mistake, and that magic should only be used to make one's own wishes come true.
- It is possible that Kyouko is suffering from an eating disorder brought by the traumatic death of her family. Kyouko uses food as a way to comfort her loneliness or any sorrowful events.
  - It may be possible that Kyouko eats excessively to erase the memories of hunger, as those emotions are tied to her traumatic past.
Kyouko's father was a priest who was responsible for the overseeing of a large cathedral. As a result of preaching new ideas and deviating from church doctrine he was excommunicated from the order, he was also alienated from his congregation as a result of preaching heresy (?).
- Kyouko's father could be an Anglican priest since he is married with children, also his clergy outfit is similar to their style. Another evidence is that his cathedral shares some architectural similarities to the Canterbury Cathedral.
- According to Kyouko, her father was an extremely kind and sensitive man. So sensitive that he was in constant worry due to the state of the world's affairs. In her own words: "He was too honest. Too kind. Every morning reading the paper, the worries of the world brought him to tears". As a result of this he started preaching new ideas born more from his convoluted (idealistic) emotions rather than continue to preach the acceptable doctrine, which got him and his family to become destitute and hungry. Driven by hunger and pity, Kyouko made her wish to help his father find new followers by making anyone who listened to him to believe his words. But Kyouko's father soon learned the truth behind the miracle that he experienced, that his preaching was only accepted as a result of magic and not by real devotion to his radical ideas. The fact that his followers' hearts and minds were manipulated by magic shattered his mind and worldview. Once Kyouko's father is confronted with the awful truth, probably driven by madness, he decides to kill his wife and Kyouko's little sister, after murdering his family in cold blood he commits suicide. It is unknown how or why Kyouko survived or if her father tried to take her life. It is assumed that she most likely survived as a result of her being a Puella Magi who cannot die unless her Soul Gem is destroyed.
  - It is possible to say that Kyouko's father would have never been able to trust anyone as a result of the spell that was cast upon him. Not only did he saw his daughter as a sort of monster (witch) but he probably saw himself to be an abomination, which is why he decided death was the only viable option.
It's speculated by some fans that her unnamed younger sister may have secretly been turned into a Magical Girl, only to become the witch Elsa Maria in the end.
In Episode 9, she stores Sayaka's soulless body in an expensively decorated room. Some viewers believe that this is her true home, but there has been speculation that it is merely a hotel room that she managed to somehow commandeer using her magic.
- Episode 11 reveals that Sayaka's body was found in a hotel room with no leads to what happened. It is unlikely that was Kyouko's residency.
- The Oriko manga reinforces the idea that Kyouko lacks a permanent residency, instead she takes shelter at a fancy hotel (it is never stated how is she able to afford it or what trick she used to obtain a room).
  - Rumor has it that there is a magazine article that states that Kyouko has mind trick powers that she gained when she made her wish (similar to her Father's ability to make people believe him) but she lost those powers due to the trauma caused by seeing her father killing her family and hanging himself. The same article indicates that Kyouko gets her monetary income by breaking and busting ATM machines, she uses the stolen money to buy food and pay rent on expensive hotel rooms.
    - This magazine article confirms the suspicion in regards to Kyouko's income, it also supports the idea that Kyouko has the ability from her wish to charm others "mind trick" but doesn't use them as she suppresses them subconsciously because of the trauma with her family. Her powers had been described as persuasion/hallucination.
      - Same article illustrates that Kyouko's bad behavior and mischief is due to her attempt to cope with reality to survive her ordeal. It is thanks to this survival mechanism that she was able to avoid despair. Same article indicates that while Kyouko is no stranger to robbery, she would never harm anyone who was innocent in the process. Instead, she would commit her crimes without harming anyone physically by committing them at night.
Her spear could be a reference to the scorpion's spear.
- The spear appears as linked pieces during combat, like the scorpion's tail.
- She uses a warding spell in battle. Scorpions often associated with protection/warding spells, in Egypt and Tibet the Scorpion is made into an amulet - signifying protection and warding off evil.
- The scorpion character who appears in Goethe's Faust is caught between the extremes of heaven or hell. Kyouko commits sins like letting people die and (likely) steals food, but in the same time she's seen as praying and she never allows wasting food.
  - Kyouko offers an apple to Sayaka while she advises her to live a life of selfishness but Sayaka refuses both of them. Sayaka believes that Kyouko's self-centered philosophy is just wrong and also rejects the fruit because she apparently believes it was stolen. Her attempt to tempt Sayaka with an apple and her suggestion to follow a path of selfish survivalism could be interpreted as Kyouko acting as the snake advising Sayaka to abandon the path of justice.
  - Kyouko refuses to abandon Sayaka's soulless body in Episode 9 even after Homura told her it was hopeless, she even sacrifices some of her Soul Gem's purity to keep Sayaka's body warm at her own expense. Kyouko even admits to Madoka that one time she used to be an idealist just like Sayaka, that she used to believe in stories where love and courage could overcome anything.
Her spear could be a reference to a Snake in it's elongated form or the Lance of Longinus.
Kyouko is the only character who is the most affected by Sakaya's death in the both the previous timeline and the new world created by Madoka, even though she described her relationship with Sayaka as "finally being able to become friends". This lends credence to speculation that Kyouko's feelings for Sakaya go beyond that of normal friendship.
The "Sunny Day Life" Drama CD is the first time that points out that Kyouko doesn't go to school.

Platonic or Yuri Love?

It is common to find yuri subtext on the Mahou Shoujo genre, sometimes it develops into shippings or pairings created by fans, even if it was not part of the creators original intention. The creators of the show may have been aware of this phenomenon so they decided to exploit the same yuri subtext phenomenon when it came to the relationship between Kyouko and Sayaka. However, the yuri subtext mostly comes from Kyouko making it one-sided; while it is officially recognized that Kyouko has feelings for Sayaka, it is uncertain what types of feelings they are. Fans would argue that Sayaka just never had the chance to return these feelings, and Kyouko was never really good in articulating them. Fans have also noticed that the feminine form of Kyousuke could be Kyouko.

You can find more details here.

Kyouko in Oriko Magica

This section may contain major spoilers!

Please refrain from reading if you are not yet familiar with all the latest media released.

Kyouko appears in the first three chapters of Oriko Magica.

In Chapter 1, Kyouko takes in Yuma, a young girl orphaned when her parents are killed by a witch shortly before Kyouko kills it. Yuma has no one to go back to, and together they break into bathhouses and share a hotel room. Kyouko tries to instill her own morals into Yuma, and tells her to never disrespect and waste food. Yuma accompanies Kyouko to fight Witches, and when checking for wounds on Yuma after she has a close call with a witch, Kyouko learns of Yuma's abusive past, and sympathizes with her even more. Kyubey appears and tells Kyouko about the murders of Puella Magi. He attempts to contract with Yuma, but Kyouko gets stops him and tells Yuma to never become a Puella Magi.
In Chapter 2, Kyouko leaves Yuma in their hotel room and goes out to fight a witch alone. Kyouko nearly dies from having her legs and arms torn off by the witch. Yuma, who has just contracted with Kyubey, uses her new healing powers to save her. Kyouko is incredibly angry that the girl didn't heed her warnings about contracting, but after Yuma cries about fearing that she's useless and that she had been pushed to the edge by a girl named Oriko, Kyouko subsides. She does, however, promise to make Oriko pay for what she did.
In Chapter 3, Kyouko appears only once, and speaks with Mami about the recent murders of Puella Magi. Mami is looking for a "black Puella Magi", but Kyouko knows only as much as Mami does. Yuma then flips Mami's skirt in defense of Kyouko, thinking that Mami was bullying her caretaker. Kyouko tells her that she is mistaken about Mami, but thanks her for trying to be helpful. She asks Mami about Oriko, but Mami doesn't know anything and Kyouko will tell her no more about it.
In Chapter 6, Kyouko and Yuma fight together with Mami against Kirika. The fact that a Puella Magi will become a witch made her despair, but Yuma's words unite them again and together with Mami, they defeat the witch Kirika.

Gallery

Official art

Official character art (from the official website).
Official art of Kyouko's family (depiction of her father and younger sister)
Ume Aoki doujin "RKGKMDK" from COMIC1☆5, under Apricot+ alias
Ume shipping Kyouko and Sayaka in her doujin
Fan translation of Kyouko x Sayaka page 1
Fan translation of Kyouko x Sayaka page 2
Ume Aoki's 4koma from the Madoka BD 3 fanbook

Screenshots

Kyouko as a Puella Magi

Kyouko's soul gem.
Kyouko's transformation sequence
Another transformation sequence
Prayer and kiss.png

Kyouko prays and then kisses her soul gem (It is customary for Catholics to kiss their rosary beads as a part of their prayer).
Kyouko's ultimate attack looks snake-like, could also be interpreted as a scorpion's tail
Kyouko's final battle with Oktavia
Kyouko in prayer
never change, Kyouko.

Location

Sakura Cathedral: Kyouko's father was a priest, and his cathedral could house a large congregation.
Kyouko's hotel room sketch design.
another sketch of the same hotel room.

Observations

Comparison of Kyouko's chain barrier emblem and a print of the Gojū-no-tō at Kōfuku-ji.
Kyouko's binoculars seem to be based on the High Eight Chocolate by Furuta Confectionary Co.
Transcription of the package label on the instant ramen Kyouko eats at Homura's home, according to 2ch. Accuracy unconfirmed, but the label says that the manufacturer is SHAFT.
Evidence that Puella Magi do age.

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.

Kyouko little sis.jpg

Fan depiction of Kyouko and her little sister.
Kyouko lil sis flying.jpg

Kyouko being an awesome sister.
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The cute sisters.
The Sakura Sisters.jpg

The Sakura Sisters.
Kyouko nun.jpg

Kyouko Sakura as an Anglican nun.
How popular is Kyouko with fans? You tell me.
Kyouko just wants friends.jpg
Fan coloring of Ume's work
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Fan creation of Kyouko's jewelry.
Fan creation Kyouko Soul Gem Jewelry.jpg

Fan jewelry creation of Kyouko's Soul Gem with a crucifix.
She is not bad, she just wanted friends.
Xenu.jpg

Mr. Sakura's new doctrine wasn't too popular...
Puella Magi Kyouko Magika.jpg

"Puella Magi Kyouko Magica". All am saying is that she should get her own spinoff...
Kyouko alt hairstyle.jpg
(Ootsuka Rei) Whether you're a zombie or not.png

Puellae Magi are basically interns that you pay only once.

External links

Kyouko Sakura

Contents

Official Info

Trivia