Michiru Kazusa

Michiru Kazusa
Japanese Name	和紗 ミチル (Kazusa Michiru)

"As long as a human tries to survive, then that human's not in despair! It means there's hope! Some hope is certain to be out there!!" - Michiru Kazusa, Chapter 11.

Michiru Kazusa (和紗 ミチル), nicknamed Kazumi, is a character appearing in Puella Magi Kazumi Magica. She is a magical girl and the leader of the Pleiades Saints, who convinced them and Yuuri Asuka to contract and become magical girls.

She is a posthumous character who eventually turned into a witch and died. The Pleiades are currently trying to revive her, and the current Kazumi is actually the 13th clone of her.

General info

Physical features

• Eye colour: Red
• Hair colour: Black

Other

• Soul Gem: Earring-bell with a swirl design
• Weapon: Cross-shaped staff
• Wish: "Turn Grandma back to her normal self, until her lifespan runs out."
• Known relatives: Grandmother (name unknown)

Story

Michiru in Kazumi Magica

Michiru only appears in the backstory.

Michiru became a magical girl the day her grandmother died. 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. At Michiru'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. Michiru says that her grandmother would never want to go on life support. Jubey appears on the windowsill, saying that he can grant her wish if she makes a contract and becomes a magical girl. Michiru wishes for her grandmother to return to her normal self as long as she remains alive.

Michiru spends the day learning cooking skills and advice from her grandmother. She tells Michiru that people can't fall into despair as she gives Michiru her earring-bell; the same earring-bell Kazumi has worn throughout the series. Her grandmother passed away the next day.

Some time later, she met six girls that were victims of witch's kisses and saved them. She convinces them to make a contract with Jubey. Later they became the Pleiades Saints.

She saved Yuuri Asuka from a witch and convinced her to become a magical girl to cure Airi. By doing so, Yuuri became a witch some time later.

Michiru transformed into a witch while cooking strawberry risotto with the Pleiades. Desperate to revive her, the Pleiades Saints utilized Niko's powers of regeneration and began cloning her from the witch's body. Thirteen of the clones were made; twelve failed clones were hidden inside the Freezer, while the thirteenth — the current Kazumi — stayed with the Pleiades Saints. After being exposed to an evil nut, Kazumi begins to turn back into a witch like the previous attempts.

Saki later reveals that some of her previous clones had lived with Michiru's real memories, but they eventually became berserk and reverted back to witches. The Pleiades' accepted the rejection as "Michiru's will" which led to the decision to give Kazumi fake memories.

Abilities

Michiru had the same outfit and abilities of the current Kazumi. However, in chapter 11, Michiru can summon rifles from her hat, likely learned from watching Mami Tomoe perform the same spell while saving her. She can extend the ribbons on her outfit to save people from falls, also in the same way as Mami. Michiru also has a spell that directly transports her to a witch's barrier using the incantation, "Open Sesame Oil".

Trivia

• Kazumi learned to cook strawberry risotto from her grandmother.
  • Risotto is a class of Italian dishes of rice cooked in broth to a creamy consistency. Risotto can be made using many kinds of vegetable, meat, fish, seafood and legumes, and different types of wine and cheese may be used. There is even, exceptionally, an Italian strawberry risotto. It is one of the most common ways of cooking rice in Italy.
  • Carnaroli rice is a medium-grained rice native to the Vercelli province of northern Italy. Carnaroli is traditionally used for making risotto due to its higher starch content and firmer texture, as well as having a longer grain. Carnaroli rice keeps its shape better than other forms of rice during the slow cooking required for making risotto due to higher quantities of amylose present within. It is often described as being a "superfino" rice or as "the king of rices".
• Michiru makes a cameo in Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Different Story, briefly appearing in the scene where Mami rescued her.
• It was Michiru who came up with all of the Pleiades Saints' attack names. Inspired by Mami's "Tiro Finale"she threatened that she wouldn't cook for them if they didn't use them.

Etymology

• Her nickname, Kazumi, comes from Kazusa Michiru. It can be read as "one three", meaning 13.
• Her first name is written in hiragana and has no particular meaning.
• The characters in her last name mean "和" (harmony) and "紗" (silk gauze) respectively.

Gallery

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  Notice that Michiru's ahoge has a much smaller and less emotive appearance compared to the current Kazumi.

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  A color image of Michiru.

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  Michiru becomes a magical girl.

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  Michiru's soul gem

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  Michiru summoning rifles from her hat in a flashback, which she probably learned from seeing Mami Tomoe perform the same move.

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  Michiru's clones

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  Possibly one of Michiru's clones in a fetal state.

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  Michiru's Limiti Esterni.

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  Michiru was greatly loved by her friends.

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  Michiru becoming a witch.

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  Michiru's grandmother in her youth.

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  Kazumi beginning to turn back into a witch, in chapter 15.

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  Michiru's cameo appearance in The Different Story.