Yuuri
| Yuuri | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Japanese Name | ユウリ (Yuuri) |
| Weapon | Pistols and SMGs, summoned bull |
"Do I have to listen to someone who's about to die?" - Yuuri, Chapter 3.
Yuuri (ユウリ) is an enigmatic character appearing in Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice.
A magical girl with a mysterious past, she repeatedly clashes with members of the Pleiades Saints. Kazumi is her primary target. As part of her disruptive actions, she can also create pseudo-witches from common humans by embedding them with Evil Nuts, "imitation" Grief Seeds.
Her real name is Airi Anri and her wish was to become the real Yuuri. She blames the Pleaides for the death of the real Yuuri, who turned into a witch and was killed by the Pleiades.
Personality
Her life is consumed by a single objective: revenge. Due to the death of her friend, she developed a great animosity towards the Pleiades Saints and now lives to exact vengeance on them. She is ruthless, not only fighting the Pleiades directly, but in also spawning pseudo-witches from innocent humans. They not only attack the Pleiades but also other humans, thus leaving a trail of blood in her path of retribution.
She has a particular interest in Kazumi, as she believes hurting Kazumi will hurt the Pleiades the most.
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.
Yuuri has so far only appeared in Kazumi Magica. See "Airi's History" for her history before she became Yuuri.
Yuuri first appears in Chapter 1, having kidnapped and locked Kazumi away in a briefcase. (Chapter 18 implies that this was doing this on behalf of Kanna Hijiri) She accidentally exchanges the briefcase with a would-be-bomber carrying a similar one. Realizing her mistake, she called the bomber to arrange an exchange at a local mall, threatening to call the police on him. The bomber showed up and picked up the bomb (left behind a pillar), but the police appeared nonetheless: it is likely she planned to use the unexpected event to eliminate everyone. The bomb is activated, but eventually explodes harmlessly. This is to her own surprise, as she was sure it was a real bomb.
She is briefly seen twice in Chapter 2. The first time is after Kazumi collapses after defeating the first pseudo-witch and Umika picks up the Evil Nut left behind. It is implied that she was watching the whole battle, as she is looking very annoyed. She is later seen accompanying another pseudo-witch. When Kazumi, Kaoru and Umika arrive she wordlessly escapes before the battle ensues. The pseudo-witch is eventually defeated.
In Chapter 3, while the Pleiades Saints are searching for Kaoru and Umika, she disguises herself as Satomi, one of the Saints. She then is able to lure Kazumi away from her teammates, at which point she reveals herself and attacks her. Kazumi attempts to fight back, but is completely overwhelmed. At the last moment, the remaining Pleiades come to her rescue. Yuuri holds Kazumi at gunpoint, making them hesitate, but after Kazumi reassures them they fire a powerful attack at her, Figli Del Toano. Yuuri is forced to flee.
In Chapter 4, after the Pleiades rescue Kaoru and Umika, she takes advantage of her celebration and incapacitates them with a large explosion and several arrow strikes. She escapes with Kazumi and leaves a message embedded in one of the arrows ordering the Pleiades to appear at Asunaro Dome at midnight. While fleeing, Kazumi wakes up and pins her down. This triggers a flashback of another girl, at which point Yuuri, visibly disturbed, ties up Kazumi completely.
The Pleiades meet at Umika's house, agreeing to go to Kazumi's rescue despite their wounds. Umika wondered why Yuuri left a message instead of telling them her intentions directly, while Niko states that the mysterious girl is near her limit.
At the dome, Yuuri reveals her diabolical plan: to embed Kazumi with an Evil Nut, an "imitation" Grief Seed which can turn an individual into a pseudo-witch. She admits to have done the same to the policewoman and the cosmetics salesman, the two previous pseudo-witches.
She sadistically enjoys the Pleiades' screams of pain and anger. In desperation, Kazumi asks why Yuuri's is doing all these, saying that magical girls are supposed to be "comrades". This causes Yuuri to explode in rage, screaming at Kazumi and insinuating that the Pleiades have a dark secret. When asked Satomi asks why she has such a grudge, Yuuri removes her hat. Stating that they did not recognize her by her name or message, Yuuri says she was "insignificant to you girls". Seeing her face, a shocked Umika recognizes her, but before any of them can say anything, Yuuri screams that she "came back in order to seek vengeance" against the Pleiades, and shoves an Evil Nut into Kazumi's forehead.
However, the Evil Nut actually empowers Kazumi, and she fights Yuuri again. The villainous magical girl still has the upper hand, pinning Kazumi on the floor. She then claims that she was killed by the Pleiades, and that they were a gang that kills magical girls. She targeted Kazumi because she believed Kazumi was the most important thing to the Pleaides, and she wanted to take Kazumi away just as they took away her most important thing. As she attacks, her Soul Gem begins to crack. Saki sends Jubey to try and clean Yuuri's Soul Gem, but she shoots him first. Her Soul Gem then becomes a Grief Seed and she transforms into a witch.
As a witch, Yuuri sticks the Pleiades Saints on crosses. Vines then crawl over the Saints, causing them enormous pain. The Pleiades are then shown a vision of her past. Kazumi falls under the influence of the Evil Nut and breaks free from her bonds, fighting the witch. However, she quickly returns to normal and attempts to change Yuuri back with her magic. The result is horrific: In a flash of light Yuuri's twisted body appears to grow out from the witch. Speaking entirely in runes, she tries to use the last spell she used on Kazumi. At this point, Saki shoots her, freeing the Pleiades.
One by one, the Pleaides attack the witch as Kazumi begs them to stop. They explain that they all they can do is stop the witch from hurting anyone, and Kazumi won't have to dirty her hands. Finally, Kazumi decides to share the burden with her friends and delivers the final shot to the witch. Just before she dies, she speaks Yuuri's name.
Powers, Weapons & Abilities
Yuuri has demonstrated a wide array of abilities, perhaps more than any character in the Puella Magi franchise.
Her primary means of attack is Corno Forte (English: Strong Horn), which summons a giant bull, named "Cole". It possesses two wing-shaped horns and a nose ring, and is capable of powerful, fast charges. Cole is quite agile: it can jump around town at Yuuri's side and even stand atop power cables.
However, that is not her only ability. She is also able to summon various close-range firearms, such as submachine guns and pistols. In contrast with Homura from the main series, her weapons are of a magical nature. In particular, the SMG's bullets have binding properties (similar to Mami's muskets), summoning shackles on impact and making the target a sitting duck for Cole's charge. She is also able to fire large arrows from her pistols. The fletchings of the arrows can be used by her to store messages, that appear as ghastly holograms when the arrow is removed from where it struck. She has a spell called, Il Triangolo ('The Triangle'), an attack spell.
In chapter 4, she caused a large explosion which disabled most of the Pleiades. How this was done is unknown, but a "beep" sound was audible beforehand, and a magic circle was faintly visible on the ground. A similar magic circle was visible as the Pleiades arrived in the Asunaro Dome, before the baseball field was replaced by a large dais.
Force barriers are also part of her abilities. She was able to isolate Kazumi inside one at Asunaro Dome, and despite their desperate attempts, none of the Pleiades were able to break it. These barriers damage anyone who touches them.
Outside of battle, she is also able to disguise herself as other people, having used this power to isolate Kazumi from the group by disguising herself as Satomi. The disguises are perfectly accurate, and she was even able to emulate Satomi's typical speech patterns (overuse of the -chan honorific). However, she does not appear able to use her other powers while disguised as she broke it to engage in battle. This power is likely derived from her wish, which was to become another person.
However, her most terrifying asset is the ability to use Evil Nuts, objects that imitate the power of Grief Seeds, and turn common humans into pseudo-witches. The humans embedded with them appear to maintain some level of control, as they are able to stay in human form and transform into witches at will. It is likely Yuuri has some way of controlling them, however.
Trivia
- Her pistol and submachine gun's magazines possess a ring on the outer end, similar to Cole's nose ring. The pistol she holds Kazumi at gunpoint with has two smaller rings inside the larger ring.
- According to a design sketch included in volume 2, her handgun is named Revenger.
- It's easy to miss, but Yuuri wears a spoon around her neck. Chapter 5 revealed it's importance to her.
- Although there were unusual circumstances, Yuuri's witch form is technically the first instance in the franchise of the runic language being spoken aloud.
- It is ironic that just as Yuuri's magic was trying to turn Kazumi into a pseudo-witch, Kazumi's magic was trying to turn Yuuri into a pseudo-magical girl.
- Chapter 7 indicates that Yuuri did not erase Kazumi's memories, as they would have returned to Kazumi when she died. Curiously, the Evil Nuts did not vanish when she died - they still remained active even when Yuuri became a witch.
- Yuuri's outfit as a magical girl has the same color scheme and general aesthetic as the original Yuuri's (though it's far more revealing). This can be seen in bonus artwork from Kazumi Magica volume 2.
- Her Soul Gem is amber-colored, also visible in said artwork.
Speculation
This section may contain major spoilers for the anime!
Please refrain from reading if you haven't watched Episode 8 yet.Current Speculation
- While she uses them, it is unknown if Yuuri actually creates Evil Nuts. Given their huge power, it is possible she is obtaining them from a third party.
- In Chapter 8, Ayase Souju suddenly pulls out Evil Nuts, despite the fact that they should have vanished when Yuuri died. Even in Chapter 6, the Evil Nut still activated even when she became a witch (which would have caused them to vanish). It's possible that the Evil Nuts didn't vanish when Yuuri died because of their powerful magic and that Yuuri may have given them to Ayase somehow. However, the third-party theory is very likely - especially since it's implied Kazumi has some sort of connection to the pseudo-witches.
- The fact that Kazumi's ahoge can track pseudo-witches, but not normal witches, hints at some sort of close relationship between her and Yuuri, or at least the pseudo-witches.
- Additionally, both girls' magical girl outfits are revealing and sport a large witch hat, which strengthens the theory.
Past Speculation
- Yuuri holds a grudge against the Pleiades from their shared past, though the girls appear to have no recollection of her until Umika recognizes her face. This past is apparently a very troubled one, and Yuuri believed she was being thought of as "insignificant". Note that Yuuri indicated that her name and the mysterious ghastly letter she sent was somehow related to her identity.
- The arrow that Yuuri used could also be a clue.
- A possible explanation was that she was abandoned or left for dead by the Pleiades in some situation. However, she survived, and now seeks revenge.
- This speculation has been semi-confirmed to be true.
- The arrow that Yuuri used could also be a clue.
- Despite being named after the Seven Sisters of Greek mythology, Sterope, Merope, Electra, Maia, Taygeta, Celaeno, and Alcyone are only part of the nine brightest stars in the cluster. The other two stars are named after their parents, Atlas and Pleione. Given that the current roster of the Saints is composed of seven members, it is speculated that two of them are missing. Since Niko states they are named after the seven sisters, it leaves those two members as the "parents", or the most important (or senior) members of the team.
It is likely those two are Yuuri, who has a past connection to the group, and the mysterious girl in Yuuri's flashbacks, who seemed to be a friend of hers.- This speculation has been proven false.
- Niko mentions that Yuuri is "at her limit" and implies that something bad will happen to Yuuri if she uses any more magic. Based off the way she is acting, it's very likely Yuuri's Soul Gem is almost fully corrupted, and that she will soon become a witch.
- This speculation became true.
- The fact that Yuuri holds a gun to Kazumi's head might imply that Yuuri doesn't know that Soul Gems are actually magical girls' souls. It's also possible that she's unaware witches come from magical girls.
- It's possible that Airi/Yuuri doesn't know about Soul Gems. However, she does know that magical girls become witches, but her poor sanity prevents her from fully understanding it.
- Despite her constant attacks on Kazumi, Saki seems to be the Pleiad Yuuri hates the most. Both of their short conversations ended in one of them yelling. First, Saki accuses Yuuri of being a coward for using Kazumi as a human shield, to which Yuuri responds "Look who's talking!" Later, Saki violently tells her to shut up when asked if Kazumi was "the person you don't want to show your filthy hands to", the meaning of which is still a mystery.
- It seems that Yuuri merely believed that Saki was the leader of the Pleiades.
- Yuuri could have been referring to the Pleiades seizing the Soul Gems of magical girls. She may have been following them around and seen them doing it. To an observer, it might seem that the Pleiades were killing their targets which would further strengthen Yuuri's belief of the Pleiades as magical girl hunters.
Gallery
Manga Pages
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Yuuri on the cover of Kazumi Magica volume 1.
The two Yuuris in artwork from Kazumi Magica volume 2. Note the similarity between their costumes.
Yuuri and the Souju twins in artwork from Kazumi Magica volume 2.
Yuuri in her street clothes.
Yuuri firing her summoned SMGs.
Yuuri explaining how Evil Nuts function.
A comparison between Kazumi and Yuuri's outfit. Notice the similarities.
Yuuri accidentally switching out Kazumi's suitcase with Tachibana's bomb.
Umika recognized Yuuri when she saw her face uncovered.
A large explosion, caused by one of Yuuri's attacks.
The message left by Yuuri to the Pleiades. Note the emblem in the middle.
The arrow that Yuuri used to leave her message.
The force barrier summoned by Yuuri.
A flashback from Yuuri's past.
Yuuri revealing her face.
Yuuri's witch form.
Yuuri's Grief Seed.
Yuuri's Soul Gem.
Yuuri's final words, where she remembers her friend.
Design notes for Yuuri, from Kazumi Magica volume 2.
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Fan Art
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.
Fan-made card of Yuuri's witch form.
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Art by Ushiki Yoshitaka, author of Dream Eater Merry
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