Yu

Yu
Japanese Name	夢乃夕作 Yumeno Yusa a.k.a. ユゥ Yuu
ID No:	8022
Release Date (JP):	2024

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 a character of ambiguous moral alignment, who seeks out and kills all "bad people" whose names appear on her magically updating list. She was revealed to be released as a playable character on F4Samurai's fanfest stream alongside Shi, and will be released sometime in 2024.

General Info

Physical Features
Age	Unknown
Eye colour	Unknown (possibly grey or gold)
Hair colour	Orange
Height	Unknown (though described as being tall).
Magic
Soul Gem	Unknown
Weapon	Unknown, beyond that it is capable of impaling people.
Witch Form	Unknown
Powers and Abilities	Determining who is a "Bad" person
Wish	Unknown
Other
Japanese pronoun	watashi (ワタシ)
Known relatives	Unnamed mother
Origins	Unknown
School	Not attending

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 in 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 a nickname that Kei gave her. Yu comes from an affluent family, and is very intelligent, which led her mother to tell Yu not to be friends with Kei any longer, as she believed that Kei was holding her daughter back. However, Yu was obsessed with her friend Kei. When they eventually went to different high schools, Yu would walk the long distance to Kei's school every day in order to walk her home, despite Kei showing visible annoyance at this. Yu could seemingly only think of Kei in terms of their childhood, doing such things as bringing Kei a popsicle after school most days, even though Kei had previously explained to her that she hadn't liked popsicles since she was a kid.

When Yu told Kei that she was thinking of transferring to the same college as her, Kei replied that she would most likely not be attending college, due to having to get a job to help support her family instead. Yu then offered to attend whatever college was nearby in order to remain close to Kei, but Kei declined, telling Yu not to hold herself back for her sake. However, Yu herself believed that Kei was the only one that could understand her, thinking herself to be an extremely warped person, and could not bring herself to let Kei go.

One day, Yu placed her hands on Kei's neck as if to strangle her, though she stopped herself before she could actually complete the action. Rather than be upset however, Kei smiled and grabbed Yu's hands tightly, encouraging her to continue. Thereafter, the two girls would practice strangling each other, covering their necks with bandages afterwards to hide the bruises.

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

Together, the two vowed to follow each other throughout their reincarnations, and to kill each other again 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, only Kei ended up dying, while Yu ultimately survived.

An unknown time after Kei's death, but prior to the events of Magia Record, Yu awakens in the hospital. Kei's body had already been located, and the bruises on both of their necks dismissed as some sort of game they played with each other, while Kei's death was ruled as an accidental drowning. Yu's father had already 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, only to be disgusted by the pity everyone was giving her, and feeling as though her old self had died with Kei. As the days went on, Yu could no longer bear the trauma of having to live her life without Kei in it, feeling as though her sense of self was beginning to succumb to others' perceptions of her. It is then that Kyubey appeared, and soon made a contract with Yu. What it is that Yu wished for is unknown.

Despite dying, Kei's spirit did not fade away completely, instead merging with a Witch that resided in the ocean near the cape. When she manages to possess Madoka during the event story of Beachside Bonds, she reveals to Homura that she is aware that Yu became a magical girl. However, she also believes that Yu already became a Witch, and was hunted down some time ago. Kei goes on to say that she believes Madoka and the others were the ones to have hunted down and killed Yu's Witch, due to the lingering smell of blood and curses on them from killing other Witches. Before disappearing, Kei begs Homura to kill Yu next time, before Yu can become a Witch, so that the two of them can be reunited no matter what world or timeline Homura jumps to.

Appearances

Event Appearances

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

Powers and 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

• With her original Live2D set, Yu was one of a handful of magical girls in any Magia Record event to possess a unique "costumed" NPC sprite. From this, it was seen that her magical girl form possesses a large pointed horn, a stitched (or heavily scarred) mouth and hairline, an extremely large 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. The only others to possess a unique NPC costume sprite are Pernelle (before she was made playable) and Flèche and Lame all from the Tart Magica spin off manga.
  • Many of these design elements were changed with her redesign.
  • A similar horn has been seen on Yuna Kureha.
• Her final design was revealed at f4 Fan fest on December 5, 2023. Her furred leg warmers have been replaced by purple pants, though she retains the two "tails" that emerge from the back of her outfit (the bows cannot be discerned). She now also sports two pink knotted scarves akin to "pony tails" protruding from her collar.
• She was probably named after Kyūsaku Yumeno (夢野久作), Japanese novelist in early Shōwa period.
  • In the event story, she and Kei talk about Nōzui-Ron (An Inquiry about Encephalon) , a nested story in Dogra Magra, his representative work, and there are also several other homages and quotes from this novel.
• She is designed by Gekidan Inu Curry, just like Shi.
• In her concept art from Gekidan Inu Curry, Yu's magical girl design shows her wearing armor on her arms and legs. However, in her Live2D, this is not the case.
  • In the same art, it seems like Yu's hands have protrusions protected by the armor. They resemble the legs of horses.
    • This, along with her tails and horn, seems to point to that Yu's design may be based off a horse or unicorn.
      • It's possible, due to Yu and Shi's pale appearance, that the two represent the Pale Rider of the apocalypse, with Yu being the steed and Shi being her rider.
        • In the original text of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Pale Rider's horse is described as looking like a corpse, which could allude to Yu's backstory.
• Her original release date could be read as March of 2024. However, for one reason or another, this was ultimately inaccurate.

Gallery

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  Her original casual Live2D

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  Her original magical girl design.

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  Magical Girl Seal 2024

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  Past Yu with her friend Kei

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  Present day Yu

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  Source

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  Her diary

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  Yu & Shi's casual designs

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  Yu & Shi's magical girl designs

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