Yu

Yu
Japanese Name	夢乃夕作 Yumeno Yusa a.k.a. ユゥ Yuu
ID No:	8022

Yu (real name Yusa Yumeno), also known as the Sleepwalking Ghost, is one of the original characters of the 2017 mobile game Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story: Magia Record. She is an NPC of ambiguous moral alignment, who seeks out and kills all "bad people" whose names appear on her magically updating list.

General info

Physical features

• Age: Unknown.
• Height: Unknown (though described as being tall).
• Eye colour: Unknown.
• Hair colour: Unknown.

Other

• Soul gem: (Presumably) golden medallion in the center of her forehead.
• Weapon: Unknown, beyond that it is capable of impaling people.
• Wish: Unknown.
• Japanese pronoun: watashi (ワタシ)
• School None.

Personality

For unknown reasons, Yu has lost all the memories of the period prior to the time she became a Magical Girl. She is also completely unable to distinguish the morality of others on her own, relying solely on whether or not someone's name is on her list to judge whether a person is good or bad - if a person's name is written on her list, then they are bad, and if it isn't, then they are good. Her judgement is this manner is thus entirely black and white, to the point that Yu possesses no compunctions regarding seeking out and murdering the people who do appear on her list, nor of extracting their organs after the fact to sell for money.

Towards those that she has judged as good, Yu appears relatively affable. She is kind to Nagisa, though claims when asked by her that she would not make a good teacher for other magical girls, on account of her lost memories. She later also claims that she will always be on Nagisa's side, and will help her if there is ever the need.

Backstory

Yusa Yumeno was childhood friends with a girl named Kei; Yu being the nickname that Kei gave her. Yu comes from an affluent family and is very intelligent which caused her mother to tell Yu not to be friends with Kei any longer since she believes that Kei is holding her daughter back. However, Yu is obsessed with her friend Kei. When they eventually went to different high schools, Yu would walk the long distance to Kei's school everyday in order to walk her home despite Kei showing visible annoyance. Yu only thinks of Kei in terms of their childhood, as pointed out by Kei. For example, Yu would bring Kei a popsicle after school most times even though Kei told her she hasn't liked popsicles since she was a kid.

When Yu told Kei she was thinking of transferring to the same college as Kei, Kei told her she would most likely not be attending college due to having to get a job to help support her family. Yu then offered to attend whatever college is nearby in order to remain close to Kei. Kei declined, telling Yu not to hold herself back for her sake.

Yu believes that Kei is the only one that can understand her, even though Yu believes herself to be a warped person. One day, Yu placed her hands on Kei as if to strangle her and immediately stopped herself. Rather than be upset, Kei smiles and grabs Yu's hands tightly. Thereafter, the two girls would practice strangling each other and covering their necks with bandages to hide the bruises.

Soon, the two girls grew tired of having to live up to everyone else's expectations and Kei made a plan for them to commit suicide together. Kei and Yu met up on a cape. Kei had dressed in her best outfit and had brought a colorful ribbon to tie around themselves. Yu expressed concern over their plan, asking Kei if her family wouldn't care what happens to her only for Kei to hit her and tell her she doesn't care what her family thinks. Kei only cares what Yu thinks about her.

Together the two vowed to follow each other throughout their reincarnations and to kill each other should they ever meet. They used the ribbon to tie their arms and legs together and, with their hands on each other's throats, leaped into the sea. However, due to the waves pulling them apart, Kei drowned only for Yu to survive.

Kei's spirit ended up merging with the Witch Paola that resides near the cliff. Yu had survived and made a contract with Kyubey in order to become a Magical Girl. Some believe that Yu had already become a Witch and was hunted down by Magical Girls. Because of this, Kei's spirit believes that Madoka and the others were the ones to have hunted Yu the Witch down due to the smell of blood and curses on them as a result of killing Witches. Kei begs Homura to kill Yu next time before Yu can become a Witch so they can be reunited, no matter what world or time Homura jumps to.

An unknown time after Kei's death, but prior to the events of Magia Record, Yu awakens in the hospital. The bruises on both their necks are dismissed as some sort of game they had while Kei's death was ruled as drowning. Yu's father had told everyone that the two girls had simply lost their footing while on the cliff, which is why only Kei had died. Yu soon returned to school, disgusted by the pity everyone was giving her, and feeling as if her old self had died with Kei. As the days went on, Yu couldn't bear the trauma of having to live her life without Kei in it, and her sense of self was succumbing to others' perceptions of her. It is then that Kyubey appears and makes a contract with Yu. What it is that Yu wished for is unknown.

Event Appearances

• The Ribbon at the Brink Where the Waves Break (NA: Beachside Bonds)
• Nagisa Momoe's Wish Comes True

Abilities

Yu is regarded as a relatively powerful magical girl, able to defeat fellow magical girl Inui Itsumi with ease, as well as her witch form, which Nagisa previously fell against. Though her weapon is never officially stated, it is presumably something sharp, as she is known to use it to stab and impale people.

Yu's magical list constantly updates and populates itself with the names of "bad" people. It is possible this list also assists in locating the individuals whose names it states, but the extent of this, if any, is unknown.

Etymology

• "Yu" is simply a nickname based on a shortening of her full name, Yusa Yumeno. It is unknown if she herself remains aware of this any longer, due to her memory loss.
• The characters in her last name mean "dream" (夢) and "belonging to" (乃) respectively.
• The characters in her first name mean "evening" (夕) and "harvest" (作) respectively.

Trivia

• Along with Pernelle, Yu is the only magical girl in any Magia Record event to possess a unique "costumed" NPC sprite. From this, it can be seen that her magical girl form possesses a large pointed horn, a stitched (or heavily scarred) mouth and hairline, an extremely large furred collar with a matching choker, similarly furred leg warmers worn over her knees, and two "tails" emerging from the back of her outfit that are decorated with three bows each.
  • A similar horn has been seen on Yuna Kureha.

Gallery

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  Past Yu

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  Past Yu with her friend Kei

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  Present day Yu

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  Yu as a Magical Girl