Kyoko Sakura

Personality:   Kyoko Sakura (佐倉杏子, Kyoko Sakura?) is one of the five main Magical Girls in Puella Magi Madoka☆Magica anime and manga series. She serves as a protagonist alongside Mami Tomoe in The Different Story. BIO APPEARANCE As a civilian, Kyoko has long, raspberry red hair which is always seen up in a high ponytail tied by a black ribbon. She has a set of risen bangs which frame her equally as her sharp red eyes. Her signature outfit consists of a black crop-top under a dark teal hoodie which is unzipped at the bottom, leaving her belly button exposed. She wears dark blue denim shorts with fur around the bottom edges and black below-the-knee boots. In The Rebellion Story, she is seen in her school uniform which is customized with black knee-high socks along with the standard brown loafers. As a Magical Girl, she wears a maroon dress with an opening for her soul gem and a mandarin collar attached to it. Her soul gem is at her upper chest. The borders of her dress are covered with thick white frills that cover the opening of her dress and the back. She wears white bicep length sleeves with black buttoned cuffs around her wrists. Underneath, she wears a pleated magenta skirt and a black corset with white detailing. She wears tall red boots with white cuffs and white symbols just underneath which match the opening on her top, and black thigh-high socks. PERSONALITY Kyoko can be somewhat stubborn and she has a fiery/tomboyish personality. She can be self-centered when she wants to be, though this is just a facade she made to herself and to others. In reality, Kyoko is kind and sympathetic when she sees those who are close to her in trouble. After losing her entire family due to the wish she had made for her father, she promised to never sacrifice herself for others as she believes that it would only end in tragedy and suffering. It is thought that she was afraid of getting herself hurt again, as well as the people she cared for the most. After Kyoko's father lost supporters, she and her family almost starved to death many times, which is the reason she loves eating food so much and hates those who waste it. She also threatens to kill anyone who wastes food, seen when she threatens to kill Sayaka for throwing an apple she gave her too the floor. Kyoko appeared to be very rude at first, and would often get into fights, almost killing Sayaka during a battle due to her own rage. However she proved she was actually someone with good intentions. Kyoko is initially threatening and vicious towards Sayaka, however this is later because Kyoko has made the same mistake Sayaka had made and is unable to watch her suffer any longer. Kyoko is very good at masking and internalizing her feelings to come off as a strong Magical Girl. She also sacrificed her life to kill Sayaka's Witch and make sure Sayaka is not alone. According to Sayaka, Kyoko has a child-ish taste when it comes to food. ETYMOLOGY Kyoko (杏子, Kyoko?): A name written in kanji and means "Apricot tree".[1] Sakura (佐倉, Sakura?): Sa (佐, Sa?) means "help"[2] and kura (倉, kura?) translates to "warehouse"[3]. Alternatively, it can be written with the kanji 桜 which means "Cherry Blossoms".[4] BACKSTORY Kyoko's family used to be poor because no one would go to listen to her father's teachings at the church they owned. This was because of his 'radical' ideas on religion. Her wish was for people to listen to her father's teachings. However, this wish led to her downfall when her father learned of her magical girl activities. Believing his daughter to be a witch who sold her soul to the devil, he drank his worries away with alcohol. One day, he snapped and murdered Kyoko's mother and little sister (Momo) then proceeded to kill himself, leaving Kyoko as the sole survivor. Kyoko was also Mami Tomoe's magical girl apprentice at the time, as shown in "The Different Story" spin-off. They were a great team and friends that fought both familiars and witches, until the death of Kyoko's family. After the event, Kyoko decided that she and Mami should just go after witches and leave the familiars since it takes too much energy to kill them. (This decision was also brought on by the fact that she lost her enchantment magic and probably wouldn't be as strong as she was before and drag Mami down.) Due to Kyoko's sudden change in morals, her and Mami got into a fight that led them to break up their team and go their separate ways. In the anime Kyoko moves back to Mitakihara City after Mami's death. She forms a rivalry with Sayaka and they fight over if familiars are worth the effort to kill or not. RELATIONSHIPS Madoka: Madoka Kaname and Kyoko have a weird relationship, they seem to get along more than the others do with the latter, but they don't seem to agree on most things. While Kyoko likes to battle things out, Madoka talks things out, making them contradicting opposites. Madoka has nothing to wish for, but she sees becoming a Magical Girl as her destiny, which will allow her to be useful to someone. Even after seeing on her own the terror of being a Magical Girl, she really wishes to become one to be proud of herself. Mami: Mami Tomoe and Kyoko are seen to be very close in the "The Different Story" spin-off, but they then got into a fight which led to the breakdown of their team and their separation, although the conflict was never resolved (since Mami dies in the anime and Kyoko instead in "The Different Story"). Kyoko does seem to care a little about her old friend, as seen in "The Different Story", where she manages to conjure a grief seed optical illusion to convince Mami that she has recovered from their second fight, saving Mami from her fall of despair into Candeloro. Mami combines a really strong girl with her posturing - she fights with pathos so that a casual viewer, seeing the grace and the confidence and how she brews tea while fighting, will applaud. At the same time, being a Magical Girl and not having close friends and relatives, she admits that she only wears the mask of a strong and confident mentor, but in reality she feels lonely and cries when no one is around. Sayaka: These two fight a lot since they have completely different morals, ideologies and the ways of doing things, including their personalities. But they seem to resolve their broken relationship later after Homura Akemi and Madoka talked with them. In fact, later in the anime, Kyoko had sacrificed herself after her second encounter with Oktavia (Sayaka Miki's witch) in hopes of reviving her. Kyoko, as revealed in episode 9, liked Sayaka because she reminded her of why she became a magical girl: Kyoko loved stories where love and courage prevail. During The Rebellion movie, her and Sayaka express their regret at not becoming better friends in the show's main timeline, and later appear to become girlfriends at the end of the third movie. Sayaka is very smart, artistic and quick-witted for her age. After learning about the existence of magic, she actually questions the reality and possibility of what is happening, unlike her childhood friend, Madoka. Sayaka, being unrequitedly in love with a boy violinist, for his sake studied and began to listen to classical music, which he really liked. For the sake of her lover, she is ready to do everything, but she also describes those women who give a man everything they can, and he leaves for another, not noticing or not attaching importance to the efforts of hers. Sayaka can be called an altruist: she wants to help everyone and not get a reward, but this is what killed her - while saving people from Witches, she did not think that she could take and use Grief Seeds, and her unrefined SoulGem turned her into the same Witch. The unwillingness to receive a reward appeared after Mami's question about whether Sayaka wants to cure her lover, or she wants gratitude from him. Thinking about this, Sayaka begins to consider herself vile for wanting a reward for her help. She was used to hiding sadness behind a fake smile. Homura: One way or another, these two are close behind their thick walls, with Homura being the first to actually talk some sense into Kyoko after their first actual conversation in the shows main timeline. Their closeness is also hinted upon in the Rebellion movie, where Homura reaches out to Kyoko for help first. Also, before fighting Homulilly, Kyoko gently caresses one of Homura's likeness dolls with a sad expression. Homura can be considered a callous psychopath who has isolated herself from society, but this is far from true. Having experienced one month over a hundred times and watching her friends die, she has simply dulled her reactions, but in reality, Homura is just as kind and sensitive, only holding herself back in this way. She is ready to sacrifice the entire world and the fate of Magical Girls for Madoka. However, this is not stalker love or a desire to possess Madoka - if we recall Kyoko's trolling about kidnapping a boy and breaking his bones, then Homura really loves Madoka and wants her to be truly happy and unharmed. FAMILY Father Her father who is a priest. He was operating at Sakura Church and was a cheerful and hopeful person who wished to change the world. He ended up killing his family after learning the truth about Kyoko's secret occupation as a Magical Girl. Mother Not much is known about her mother. She died because of her husband setting the house in fire. She is a caring mother as she didn't want to show her pain and abuse she was receiving from her husband after he learned the truth about Kyoko being a Magical Girl. Momo Sakura Kyoko's younger sister. They get along together and they care for each other. Kyoko became a Magical Girl for her father's sake but Momo died because of Kyoko's wish. POWERS AND ABILITIES ABILITIES Prior to the series' events, Kyoko had an illusory powers, used mostly to distract Witches. After losing her family and friendship with Mami, she no longer possess that ability. Her spear can become a chain which she can use to tie people up. She can create walls from red diamonds which are formed like a lattice. In Magia Record, she is shown to be capable to create red staircases as well. ATTACKS Rosso Fantasma (ロッソファンタズマ, Rosso Fantasma?): An attack Kyoko performs in the third audio drama CD. Kugatachi (盟神抉槍, Kugatachi?): Another attack Kyoko performs in Magia Record's timeline. It is also the name of her in-game Magia. Connect (コネクト, Connect?): A technique used by Magical Girls in Magia Record. By joining hands, they are able to fuse their weapons and make a strong variant based on them. TRIVIA She is almost always seen eating something. This leads to a lot of close-ups of her mouth. In the 10th Anniversary Exhibition, there is a list of foods Kyoko was seen eating in the entirety of the original series. She can't swim, as explained in the fourth audio drama CD. She enjoys eating sweet snacks and playing arcade dance games. She hates crowded places. Revealed in the series' guidebook, Ume Aoki almost gave Mami's theme color as red, and Kyoko's theme color as yellow. Her Soul Gem shape appears to form the pupil of an eye on her chest, which could relate to her original illusion magic and her wish. Her voice actress believes her speech-style is Shouwa-ish. Unlike the four other main Magical Girls, she appears to be the most different among them. She doesn't debut in episode 1. She isn't from Mitakihara, but instead from the neighboring city, Kazamino. She doesn't attend a school until The Rebellion Story. Since she doesn't attend school, her main outfit consists of a casual outfit, instead of a school uniform. She writes her name in kanji instead of hiragana (though Mami uses katakana to spell her name). Aniplex USA mistakenly wished Kyoko a happy birthday on May 9, 2024 on their official YouTube channel despite her not having an official birthday; said post was taken down after the error was pointed out. STORY LAST TIMELINE Kyoko's first appearance occurs when she learns of Mami's death and the appearance of a new Magical Girl (Sayaka Miki) in the so-called best territory - Mitakihara City. When Kyubey told her about Sayaka, Kyoko directly said that she would not share anything with the new idiot and was going to kill her.The second appearance occurs a little later, when Kyoko is watching Sayaka and Madoka from an observation tower. At that moment, Kyubey tells her about Homura - a strange and atypical Magical Girl, with whom he does not remember signing a contract, which surprises Kyoko, but only interests her more.When Sayaka is hunting the Familiar, Kyoko appears and says that there is no point in "killing the chicken until it lays an egg", meaning that it is better to wait until the Familiar kills several people and becomes a Witch, from which the reward will appear - Grief Seed. Sayaka is outraged that Kyoko doesn't care about people's lives, and they fight to the death. Being more talented and experienced, Kyoko has almost no difficulty in defeating Sayaka, but she, who wished healing for the boy she loves, heals herself faster, but also holds on to her persistence. When Kyoko almost gets the chance to kill Sayaka, Homura appears and stops them, saying that she is on the side of those who don't get into pointless fights. After this, Kyoko leaves. After some more time, Homura comes to Kyoko with an offer to unite in order to defeat a very powerful Witch who will soon appear in the city - Walpurgis Night, and also offers Kyoko to quietly and secretly take the city for herself, so as not to provoke even more attempts to kill Sayaka. Kyoko agrees and offers Homura an edible stick, wanting to mend their relationship through food. When Sayaka came to the house of the boy she healed and listened to him play the violin, Kyoko appears again and says that Sayaka lost her chance for a miracle and she needed to wish for something for herself, and since the wish has already been fulfilled, then to earn love a boy can be done in a very sophisticated way: “Go in and break his arms and legs so that he will no longer be able to move them in life. Then he will be completely yours, both soul and body. And if you can’t decide on your own, I will gladly help you - Magical Girls should help each other, right?" Sayaka gets angry, after which the girls go away from human eyes to fight again. They are interrupted by Madoka appearing, called by Kyubey, and then by Homura. However, at some point, Madoka grabs Sayaka's Soul Gem and throws it off the bridge and onto the road. Homura disappears and Sayaka falls into Madoka's arms, and as Kyoko gets closer, she realizes that Sayaka is dead. Kyubey explains that if Magical Girl's Soul Gem is further than 100 meters away, then she will not be able to control her body; the soul is enclosed in a gem, and the body is just a lifeless shell, which in this way can be restored with the help of magic in any condition. Kyoko and Madoka are shocked by this information, but then Homura appears with Sayaka's Soul Gem, who places it next to the girl's body and she comes to her senses, not understanding what happened. The day after Sayaka learned the truth, she felt depressed and stayed home instead of going to school. Kyoko appears under the window of her house, who no longer wants to fight and decides to cheer up Sayaka. Walking in a direction unknown to Sayaka, they talk, and Kyoko admits that she has already come to terms with the fact that she is not what she sees, but only a glowing pebble in which her soul is stored, to which Sayaka replies: “You got what you deserved." Kyoko agrees. Meanwhile, they come to an old ruined church, and Kyoko, deciding to tell her story, shares an apple with Sayaka. However, when she threw it to the ground, Kyoko becomes enraged and grabs the other girl by the neck, saying that she will kill her if Sayaka throws food. Kyoko calms down and talks about her father - he was a priest who preached goodness and truth, which sometimes conflicted with the teachings of the official church. Kyoko's family was oppressed, they didn't even have money for food, the family was starving, and Kyoko hated those who did not agree to listen to her father. Eventually wanting to be listened to, she became a Magical Girl, fighting Witches and Familiars while her father saved the world with his words. But when the father found out what really happened, he called Kyoko a witch, went crazy and killed the entire family except Kyoko herself. The girl’s conclusion is that she needs to live for herself, since her desire for someone else destroyed her entire family. It is unknown whether she was telling the truth or just making up the story, and Sayaka's words ("Where did you get the apples?" "..." "Then I have no right to take them.") could mean that Kyoko wished for endless food or a skill on its creation. Kyoko's exact age is also unknown - outwardly and officially she is 14-16 years old, but this does not mean this is her real age. When she first meets Sayaka, she says, “I'll show you how to talk to your elders”, which is unlikely to be said by peers, this is also confirmed by several other factors - if Kyoko lived much earlier than the events taking place, this explains why the church did not find more loyal priest, and the children (Kyoko and Momo) were not sent to a boarding school. After some time, when Sayaka fights the Witch, Kyoko does not look at her as an enemy and even tries to help, but Sayaka refuses and defeats the Witch stronger than herself, giving her Grief Seed to Kyoko - Sayaka says that she will not take rewards for hers attempts to save people, which makes Kyoko angry. After another battle with the Witch, Sayaka's Soul Gem was very dark, and Homura, after initially saying that he wanted to help her, ends up trying to kill Sayaka, which Kyoko stops, allowing Sayaka to leave, but Homura manages to escape. Kyoko searches for Sayaka, but when she finds her, she sees that her Soul Diamond is completely black and needs to be cleansed. Sayaka calls herself stupid, after which her Soul Gem is dismantled and a Witch appears in the same place. Kyoko is shocked and takes Sayaka's body and is surprised to see the Witch appear, but Homura arrives and stops the Witch and allows them to escape. Homura reveals that Sayaka's blackened Soul Gem turned into a Grief Seed and therefore she became a Witch, which is the fate of every Magical Girl at the end of her life. Madoka, who has come running, is shocked by the new information and the death of her best friend, she cries and hugs Sayaka’s dead body, and Kyoko, furious at Homura’s calmness and the way she talks about Sayaka, Madoka’s best friend, to Madoka herself, says that this is impossible and asks: “Are you even human?!” Homura replies, "No. Just like you," and then leaves. Kyoko stores Sayaka's body in an abandoned inn and asks Kyubey if it is possible to transform Sayaka back from a Witch to a Magical Girl. Kyubey says he doesn't know of a way, hinting that there might be one, and Kyoko heads to the Witch to try, taking Madoka with her since she might be able to help since Witches can supposedly remember voices. Madoka agrees, accepting a "gift" of sweets from Kyoko, after which they go to save Sayaka. Madoka admits that she considers herself a burden for still not helping and not becoming a Magical Girl, even considering it her duty. Kyoko says that if Madoka has a great family and life, then she shouldn't become a Magical Girl, threatening that if anyone did that, Kyoko would beat them. Before Madoka can ask about Kyoko's wish, Witch Sayaka appears. While Kyoko defends herself and Madoka, the latter tries to talk to the Witch, but to no avail. Witch Sayaka turns out to be strong enough to harm Kyoko, and she, realizing that there is no other choice, dies in battle, killing Sayaka so that she would not be lonely. Kyoko admits that she has always loved stories in which goodness and love win. Madoka © 2024 @ifoncethenonce

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