Umika Misaki
| Umika Misaki | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Japanese Name | 御崎 海香 (Misaki Umika) |
| Weapon | Magic book |
"What I wanted was not talent, but only to be famous." - Umika Misaki, Chapter 2.
Umika Misaki (御崎 海香 Misaki Umika) is a major character in Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice.
An accomplished novelist, she lives lives with her two friends, Kazumi and Kaoru while their parents are working overseas. She provides for them financially with the money earned from her books. She is a magical girl, and a member of the Pleiades Saints. She wished for the chance to meet an editor that would recognize her works.
Personality
Umika is the brains of the three, and also seems to fill that role with the Pleiades. Although a rather cheery person and far from cold, she keeps her cool most of the time, carefully analyzing situations.
As a writer, she often has episodes of writer's block. When this happens, her personality changes dramatically: she becomes extremely frustrated and grows visible horns, going on a cooking frenzy. Her cooking is rather good, and eating it generally solves her block. When this does not work, she goes on a shopping spree with her friends: given her wealth, money is not an issue. Still, she can be quite stingy: it is said she will go anywhere to save one Yen in groceries.
She wished for an editor who would recognize her works because once she wrote a draft for a novel that was taken by her editor and released under the authorship of a top idol to rave reviews. When asked why she didn't simply wish to be a best-selling author, she states she did not want talent, but fame. This may mean she either believes in her own talent, or simply wants to be famous. Either way, she uses the money she earns to give herself and her friends a comfortable life.
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.
Umika has so far only appeared in Kazumi Magica.
Her first appearance was at the mall where Kazumi was being traded for a bomb. After getting reacquainted with Kazumi, she and Kaoru led her to their house. While she was out, Kazumi met and fought the police detective from earlier. Umika and Kaoru arrived just after the end of the battle, picking up what a Grief Seed like object (later revealed to be an Evil Nut) that appeared when the detective was defeated.
The next day, she suffers from writer's block, acting awkwardly towards the other girls, growing horns and cooking maniacally. This almost worked, had it not been for an untimely comment by Kazumi. She then used her second trick to overcome her block: shopping. This apparently worked. While leaving the mall, Kazumi's "witch detector" sensed something in a nearby alley, leading her to a pseudo-witch. In the resulting battle, the monster gets the upper hand, prompting Umika and Kaoru to show their own powers to Kazumi and awakening some of her lost memories. However, Kazumi's attempt to follow those memories causes her to nearly hit Umika and allows the pseudo-witch get away. Umika and Kaoru "punish" Kazumi by giving her a new (and rather messy) haircut while telling her about magic and their own wishes. Afterwards, they meet and defeat the same pseudo-witch, who is briefly seen with a mysterious magical girl.
Sometime later, the three fight a "real" witch. Kazumi hesitates at a critical moment, causing Kaoru to nearly be devoured by it. Umika jumped inside the witch just in time to summon a protective barrier around the two of them, but the witch flees with both of them trapped inside. Kazumi meets the remaining Pleiades, and they engage in a mad rush to save the two before Umika's barrier collapses. They arrive just in time to save them both and defeat the witch.
While they celebrate their victory, they are attacked by the mysterious magical girl from earlier, Yuuri. She kidnaps Kazumi, and orders them to go to the Asunaro Dome if they want Kazumi back. They head there, but due to a force barrier, they can do nothing but watch.
However, Kazumi is able to free herself, and engages Yuuri. However, over the course of the battle, Yuuri becomes a witch. Along with the other Pleaides, Umika is trapped on a cross in the witch's barrier, and is enveloped in thorny vines.
The magical girls are then shown a vision of the witch's past as Airi. After that, Kazumi falls under the influence of the Evil Nut and breaks free. However, she is unwilling to fight the witch and even attempts to change her back. Saki then shoots the witch, freeing Umika and the other Saints. They then attack the witch as they explain to Kazumi that they have no choice but to kill her. Umika is seen crying during this sequence. Finally Kazumi delivers the final blow, saying she wishes to share this burden with her friends. She then collapses crying into Umika's arms.
Later, Kaoru and Umika walk home with Kazumi. Kazumi then tells them to go on ahead, as she wishes to be alone.
Umika and the other Pleiades Saints then appear to rescue Kauzmi and Nico from Ayase and Luca Souju. Kaoru says they'll be taking the Soujus' gems. Saki tells Kaoru not to do it in front of Kazumi, but Nico says Kazumi already saw her doing it. Kaoru pulls out both Ayase and Luca's gems with the spell Tocco del Mare. 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 Nico's Soul Gem glowing. As she falls over, a witch appears.
As 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." The next page has a cover image of a golden-eyed Nico holding a gun, asking to be killed. The Pleiades are shocked to discover Nico 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. Kaoru turns to the others and tells them not to stand there. Umika encases herself, Kazumi, and Satomi in a barrier. Saki pushes Mirai in, but Mirai flips out and uses her attack La Bestia ("The Beasts"), causing an army of teddy-bears to appear and chew on the witch. 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. 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.
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. (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 witches. Umika touches her forehead to Kazumi's, telling her to remember everything.
In her memory, Kazumi sees that Umika, Kaoru, Satomi, Mirai, Nico, and Saki are standing on a catwalk. They are all displaying a witch's kiss on their necks. Umika's despair comes from when she wrote a draft for a novel that was taken by her editor and released under the authorship of a top idol to rave reviews. When the editor calls her to ask if they can look forward to her next work, Umika drops the phone in shock.
The girls standing on the catwalk all jump off together, 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. Kazumi 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 and 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.
Later, in Kazumi's house, where they eat together. she 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.
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.
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-chan." The last panel has Satomi giving a sinister grin.
Powers, Weapons & Abilities
Having made a wish related to writing, her weapon is a magical book. Its main function is to read the opponent's mind with the spell "Ix File", their thoughts being written on its pages. Umika can then use that information to identify the enemy's weakness, and come up with a plan. She can also summon objects from the book, most often a ball for Kaoru's attacks.
For close range attacks, she can transform the book into a double-edged pole, with the covers acting as blades. This pole has the ability to sever the link between humans and pseudo-witches spawned by them.
She can also summon a protective barrier around her, but she can only maintain it for a limited period of time.
Umika can also manipulate people's memories by headbutting them and firing lasers into their eyes. She has used this to brainwash Jubey, restore Kazumi's memories, and remove Tachibana's and Ishijima's memories of the bomb threat they were involved in.
She can also release people who have been immobilized, by using the spell "Carcere Pausa" (Jailbreak).
Trivia
- Her last name means "honorable peninsula".
- Her last name can also be used as a first name.
- Her first name means "sea scent".
- While she has normal eyesight, she wears glasses when transformed possibly due to the nature of her wish and even acquiring common gestures such as adjusting them regularly.
- One of the omake pages in Volume 1 reveals that Umika is embarrassed by her temporarily nude state during her magical girl transformation.
Speculation
- The note that Kaoru and Umika leave to Kazumi states that they're out dating, but there are no boys around them. Some believe this to be evidence of a romantic relationship between Umika and Kaoru.
- Umika was the only girl who so far was seen recognizing Yuuri. Though her name and outfit were mysteries to her, she recognized her face, once she took off her hat.
- It's speculated that Umika will become Izabel. This is because of her wish and artist blocks. However it isn't known whether Kazumi Magica takes place before or during the anime.
Gallery
- UmikaMisakiColorProfile.png
Umika in color, from the first volume cover of Kazumi Magica.
Run. Run now.
Umika recognized Yuuri when she saw her face uncovered.
Umika transforming her book into a double-edged pole.
Her pole has the ability to cut the link between a human and the pseudo-witch spawned by it.
Art by Takashi Tensugi of Kazumi, Umika and Kaoru.
THWACK!
- Screen shot 2012-02-20 at 12.50.23 AM.jpg
Umika in color, from the third volume cover.
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.- Umika misaki by cresento-d4s6x10.jpg
- Umika spear fanart.png