Kazumi Subaru (Puella Magi) Chibi Papercraft Model by Seisakudiary

28 Oct, 2021

Kazumi Subaru (昴かずみ Subaru Kazumi?) is the eponymous main character of Puella Magi Kazumi Magica. She is an amnesiac middle-school girl with long, black hair, and a noticeable ahoge. She wakes up inside a large suitcase at the start of the story, having no recollection of her previous life, other than her name.

She goes only by "Kazumi" for the majority of the story. During the ending, she adopts the surname "Subaru".

Personality

Kazumi is rather hotheaded. Her mood is very unstable and can swing between extremes in a couple of seconds. Still, she is cheerful most of the time. Her reactions are very spontaneous: while rediscovering her old life, she is often seen with a very surprised expression. She is somewhat ditzy, especially — but understandably so — in situations she is only now rediscovering; for example, forgetting her skirt while transforming. Nonetheless, she is more than capable of rising up to the situation when it is required.

While getting reacquainted with her old life, she realizes she can't, or doesn't want to be, the "old" Kazumi. Instead, she decides to become a "new" Kazumi, starting with a new, and very sloppy, short haircut. However, she keeps her ahoge, claiming — apparently correctly — that it is a witch sensor.

While she is only getting to know her friends again, she cares deeply for them. She goes to great lengths to protect them, to the point that she lost a battle with a witch out of fear that her attack might hurt Kaoru, which almost happened in a previous battle.

Besides her cooking skills, she is also quite the glutton. Even after waking up naked in a briefcase after being kidnapped, her main concern is her empty stomach. Her tastes are quite open, eating most things happily. When hungry, she can be messy while eating. She also claims to be able to identify bad people from how they eat. According to advice she once received from Umika, a bad guy never finishes anything: therefore, a bad guy will never finish his food. Kazumi is particularly fond of Umika's cooking.

Kazumi's earrings are very dear to her. They were a gift, and touching them can trigger her rage.
Backstory

One day, Kazumi woke up inside a briefcase, with no memory other than her name. She had been kidnapped and locked in there by an unknown party. While being carried by Yuuri, the briefcase she was locked in was accidentally switched with another man's briefcase, which was carrying a bomb.

When she woke up in the would-be-bomber's house she had a fit of anger, but ultimately calmed down when she found the man didn't kidnap her. After she ate a meal, the kidnapper called-the-would-be the bomber, whose name is Souichirou Tachibana, offering to exchange the bomb for Kazumi. Kazumi agreed to go along with it in order to find any clues about her past. At the mall, the police appear to arrest the bomber, but Kazumi jumps in his defense. She recollects a piece of advice once given to her and claims that someone who cleans his plate can't be a bad guy. Neither party backs down, and when the explosion is imminent, Kazumi concentrates her mind on the bomb, attempting to make it stop somehow. Meanwhile, an unknown girl kicks the bomb to the ceiling, where it explodes harmlessly: it was a fake bomb, but it is implied it might have turned into a fake bomb by Kazumi's action.

The unknown girl and a friend of hers identify themselves as being Kaoru Maki and Umika Misaki, friends and roommates of Kazumi. They take her back to their house, where Kazumi quickly finds her room and falls asleep. The other girls go out and leave Kazumi a card warning her that the police detective from before will visit.

She takes the time until her arrival to reacquaint herself with cooking, preparing some Stroganoff. Upon the detective's arrival, she offers her a dish. Kazumi then accuses the detective of setting up the entire incident with the bomb, and then coming to her house to kill Kazumi. This prompts the detective to break her plate in a fit of rage, therefore proving, according to Kazumi's rules, that she was a bad person. Infuriated, the detective attacks her, and transforms into a hideous praying mantis-like figure.

In the heat of the moment, Kazumi, much to her own surprise, reacts instinctively and dodges her attacks. She is eventually caught, but when the monster attempts to rip off her earrings, Kazumi suddenly has a series of flashbacks and she then kicks the monster away and transforms into a magical girl (again, to her own surprise). She then strikes back, finishing the fight with a powerful beam attack just as Umika and Kaoru — who had heard the battle over the phone — arrive.

Shortly after telling her friends she can use magic, Kazumi falls asleep from exhaustion and hunger. When she wakes up the next morning she attempts to transform, but all it does is cause a black cat to come inside. Going downstairs, she finds Umika making food and acting in a scary manner. Kaoru explains to Kazumi that Umika has writer's block, which causes her to act oddly. After eating, Umika takes them to the mall. During the trip, Kazumi decides that she is different from the "old" Kazumi Umika and Kaoru know.

Suddenly, a strange feeling comes over Kazumi. Investigating an alley, she finds another monster attacking people. As her friends run up, Kazumi tells them to stay back as she transforms.

Kazumi is having trouble against the monsters, which prompts Umika and Kaoru to reveal themselves as magical girls. They incapacitate the monster, which causes Kazumi to remember how they used to fight together. However, trying to re-enact this memory causes her to accidentally fire a shot at Umika. Kaoru saves her in time, but the monster gets away. Kazumi feels horrible for almost hurting one of her friends, though they tell her she shouldn't feel bad. When she insists upon being punished, they take her to a hair salon. As they cut Kazumi's hair, Umika and Kaoru explain magic to her. Magical girls are contracted by fairies (yousei) who grant wishes. Kazumi asks what her wish was, but she never told Umika or Kaoru. They then explain that magical girls have to fight witches, and that the monsters she fought previously were a new type of witch. At this point, Kazumi's haircut is finished, and it's all messy. Kazumi says it's just fine for the "new" Kazumi. However, she rejects Umika and Kaoru's attempts to cut off her ahoge, as she calls it a witch detector. The three of them then track down the witch, a cosmetic saleswoman. During the battle, they briefly encounter a mysterious magical girl, who quickly flees.

They defeat the witch, turning her back into a human. Kazumi mentions that those who become witches aren't always bad people. Umika and Kaoru say that there is the possibility that anyone can turn into a witch...

Sometime later, Kazumi, Umika and Kaoru are fighting another witch, but this one is dramatically different from the previous two, having the same properties as the witches from the anime. During the fight, Kazumi hesitates, not wanting to hit her friends again. This allows the witch to devour her friends and escape. At this point, four other magical girls appear: Saki Asami, Niko Kanna, Satomi Usagi, and Mirai Wakaba. They introduce themselves as the Pleiades Saints, and reveal that Kazumi, Umika, and Kaoru are members. Kazumi then gets a phone call from Umika and Kaoru, who are being protected by Umika's barrier. The Pleiades have five hours to find the witch before Umika's barrier runs out. As they search for the witch using their soul gems, Kazumi notices that her "witch detector" isn't working.

When the Pleiades split up to search for the witch, the mysterious magical girl from before disguises herself as Satomi and separates Kazumi from the others. She then reveals herself, which causes Kazumi to recognize her as the magical girl who locked her in the suitcase. In the resulting battle, Kazumi is incapacitated but is saved by the other Pleiades Saints, who realized they were tricked. The magical girl holds Kazumi at gunpoint, but Kazumi tells her teammates to attack anyway. The magical girl is driven away and Kazumi is unharmed.

Eventually, they finally track down the witch (after Kazumi makes everyone a meal; apparently her cooking hasn't changed). Kazumi is told to wait outside the witch's barrier while the other magical girls rescue Umika and Kaoru and then incapacitate the witch. At a signal from a communicator, Kazumi will fire into the barrier, destroying the witch. Though the plan hits a snag when Niko's communicator is broken, they manage to give Kazumi the needed signal via candy flutes, which were a bag of candy that Kazumi brought with her for Umika and Kaoru. Kazumi fires her Limiti Esterni at the source of the sound, and, defeating the witch, reunites with Umika and Kaoru, and the Saints all celebrate their victory.

But not for long. Kazumi is introduced to Jubey, the fairy that made the Pleiades into magical girls. Jubey cleans up their soul gems and then takes the grief seed from the recently-defeated witch. However, it is then revealed that the previous two witches Kazumi fought were actually "pseudo-witches", created by imitation grief seeds known as "evil nuts". It's then deduced that the mysterious magical girl from before created them.

As Kazumi asks why magical girls aren't working together, the mysterious magical girl attacks, incapacitating the entire team. Introducing herself as Yuuri, the magical girl captures Kazumi, telling the others to meet her at Asunaro Dome at midnight. As she's being taken away, Kazumi asks Yuuri why she's doing all of this. Yuuri refuses to answer her. A small battle breaks out, causing Yuuri to flash back to another girl. Yuuri then ties Kazumi up.

When the Pleiades come to rescue her, Kazumi is tied to a chair on the other end of an impenetrable force-field. Yuuri then tells them that she will implant one of her evil nuts into Kazumi. Kazumi begs Yuuri to stop, telling her that they're comrades. Yuuri then laughs at her, hinting at some dark secret the Pleiades have. She takes off her hat, causing Umika to recognize her, announces she came back to get vengeance on the Pleiades, and shoves an evil nut into Kazumi's forehead.

However, the evil nut empowers Kazumi and lets her break out of the chair. Kazumi fights with Yuuri again, but is still overpowered. Yuuri claims that the other Pleiades had killed her, and says that they're a group that kills magical girls. She explains that she targeted Kazumi because she believes she was their most precious thing. At this point, Yuuri's blackened soul gem begins to crack and Jubey fails to purify it. As it falls into Kazumi's hand, it turns into a grief seed. In shock, Kazumi asks why witches come out of soul gems as Yuuri transforms into a heart-shaped witch. Kazumi and the Pleiades Saints become trapped on crosses in the witch's barrier. Vines begin surrounding the Pleiades causing them to scream out in pain. At this point, the witch shows to the magical girls a vision of her past as Airi. The witch then attacks Kazumi, seemingly crushing her head. In fact, the evil nut triggered a transformation in Kazumi, and she caught the attack with a row of sharp teeth. Biting that part of the witch off, she attacks with elongated limbs and breaks free from the cross. Her earring bell rings, turning her back to normal. Kazumi says that she thinks Airi wasn't a bad person and actually tries to use her magic to turn her back to normal. The result is horrific: Yuuri's body bursts from the witch while still being merged with it. Speaking entirely in runes, she repeats the last spell she used on Kazumi.

At that point, the witch is shot by Saki, which frees the other Saints. As they prepare to attack the witch, Kazumi protests. Jubey appears and explains that nothing can change Yuuri back - the only thing they can do is kill her. Kazumi says she can't do it. Saki says she doesn't have to dirty her hands. One by one, the Pleiades attack the witch as Kazumi begs them to stop. However, seeing that her friends are as pained by this as she is, she fires Limiti Esterni on the witch, destroying it. As the witch's barrier disappears, Kazumi picks up Yuuri's spoon, saying that she'll share this burden with her friends. She then collapses crying in Umika's arms. (It is revealed in a short story called, "Puella Magi Kazumi Magica Special Edition ~ A Dream-Filled Spoon," that, while in the company of Kyubey, Kazumi saved Yuuri Asuka from a witch in the past. Yuuri asked her to heal Airi, but Kazumi told her to make a contract herself instead.)

Later, Kazumi tells Umika and Kaoru to walk home without her, wishing to be alone. As Kaoru protests, Kazumi stumbles across Souchirou Tachibana, the would-be-bomber from the first chapter. He has become the manager of a new restaurant, and he gives Kazumi a bucket of parfait. As she eats it, Kazumi has a vision of Yuuri and Airi eating the same meal. She asks Souchirou to put the parfait on the menu. He declines, saying it's not profitable. As she continues to eat, Kazumi again sees a vision of Yuuri and Airi and starts crying, wondering why they couldn't get a chance to eat the parfait. Finally, she falls asleep, still holding the spoon.

The next morning, Kazumi thanks Souchirou for breakfast and is overjoyed to see the parfait on the menu. She then leaves when she sees Niko and Jubey walking out of the store. After talking for a bit, they head for the amusement park. Kazumi says she understands that the Pleiades hid the truth about witches from her so she wouldn't have any painful memories. Niko comments that Kazumi still doesn't have her memories back. Kazumi agrees, knowing that if Airi had erased her memories they would have come back. She asks Niko if there's any way to restore her lost memories. Niko tells Kazumi that she might have had plenty of regrets, but Kazumi says that all of it has made her what she is now, and she doesn't want to run away from her old self. Niko says they'll talk about it later as she suddenly confronts Ayase Souju.

Ayase introduces herself and reveals she collects the soul gems of magical girls. She insinuates the Pleiades are doing the same thing, something Kazumi doesn't understand. She then reveals her intent to add Niko and Kazumi to her collection, prompting a fight between Ayase and Niko. Kazumi watches and asks Jubey how Niko was able to copy herself, prompting him to explain to her Niko's wish and powers. The battle culminates with Niko using a mysterious spell on Ayase. Ayase abruptly destransforms and her soul gem appears in Niko's hand. Kazumi asks Niko if she killed her, but Niko responds that Ayase is only stunned. Suddenly Ayase's body begins talking and hits Niko with an attack that leaves her flying and wounded. She then transforms into a different costume. Kazumi asks Jubey if a magical girl could transform twice, but it's revealed that the girl is actually Luca Souju, and she shares a body with Ayase. Kazumi and Luca proceed to battle one another. Luca is able to freeze Kazumi, but as she touches Kazumi's bell it starts ringing, which frees Kazumi. She then punches Luca right in the soul gem. Luca then uses both her gems to be Ayase and Luca at the same time, revealing her ultimate attack Picchi Gemellati. After being knocked about a few times, Jubey and Niko come up with a plan to defeat the Soujus' attack. Jubey reveals that Kazumi's magic is "sacrilege", then seems to correct himself and say it's destruction. By combining it with Niko's magic of reconstruction, they can create an attack that can defeat the Soujus. After some fits and starts, Kazumi, Niko, and Jubey are victorious. However, the Soujus pull out a box of evil nuts and throws them at Kazumi and Niko. Saki and the other Pleiades arrive just in time to save both of them. Kaoru says they'll be taking the Soujus' gems. Saki tells Kaoru not to do it in front of Kazumi, but Niko says Kazumi already saw her doing it. Kaoru pulls out both Ayase and Luca's gems with the spell Niko used earlier, Tocco del Male. 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 Niko's soul gem glowing. As she falls over, a witch appears.

As Niko's soul gem cracks, we see background text of her thinking 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 Pleiades are shocked to discover Niko 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. Umika encases herself, Kazumi, and Satomi in a barrier. Mirai uses her attack La Bestia ("The Beast") causing an army of teddy-bears to appear and chew on the witch. The bears start hugging each other and turn into a giant bear that Mirai jumps on. The bear pounces on the witch and pulls it into a bear hug. 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 Niko's soul gem).

Kazumi takes the hand of Niko's body and finds it's cold. As she shouts Niko's name, a voice says "You called?" Everyone is shocked to see another Niko standing behind them. As Kazumi asks what's going on, the other Niko walks up to the first Niko's body, puts her arm around her neck, and with a disturbing expression says "Switch". She then touches the hair of the body, and its face suddenly vanishes. Jubey, a disturbing grin on his face, says that the body was Niko's "spare" and "compensation for Niko's contract". Kaoru asks why Niko didn't tell them. Niko says that to deceive an enemy, you have to deceive your allies. Kaoru punches her, then gives her a hug. Niko then says they should cut to the chase. Kaoru tells Saki Kazumi can handle it.

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. 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. Niko 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. Niko 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 wishes. Umika touches Kazumi's forehead, telling her to remember everything.

The story flashes back into the past. Umika, Kaoru, Satomi, Mirai, Niko, and Saki are standing on a catwalk. They are all displaying a witch's kiss on their necks. Kazumi sees a vision of each girl's past and their despair. The girls jump off, 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 then 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. Mirai does something similar for Saki. Satomi asks why Kazumi isn't helping. Kazumi responds by asking why they don't want to be eaten if they want to die. She then 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 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. As the barrier disappears, Saki asks "What was that?" A silhouette appears behind her, looking similar to Kyubey. It turns out to be Jubey, who says that it was magical girl Kazumi, who hunts witches. A loud growling noise is heard, which turns out to be Kazumi being hungry. It's revealed that her ahoge was absent in the past (though the symbol is still on her hat and earring-bell). The scene changes to Kazumi's house, where she eats with the Pleiades. She talks about how her grandmother said that people eat plants and animals to live, and so they have a duty to them to keep living. She asks the girls about her strawberry risotto, which was passed down from her grandmother. When they respond positively, Kazumi says that her grandmother would be happy to hear that. Saki asks where her grandmother is now, prompting Kazumi to reveal that she had passed away. She tells them not to worry. As Kazumi goes to get dessert, Saki asks her how she became a magical girl.

Kazumi explains she became a magical girl the day her grandmother died. The story flashes back again to Kazumi's past. She narrates that she was studying abroad when she learned that her grandmother's condition became critical. While hurrying home, she ran straight into a witch's barrier. Fortunately, she's saved by Mami Tomoe, who destroys the witch with "Tiro Finale". When Kazumi thanks her, Mami tells her to get going and be careful. At Kazumi's home, a doctor explains that her grandmother only has a few days left unless she's hooked up to a respiratory machine and it's unlikely that she'll wake up. Kazumi says that her grandmother would never want to go on life support. Later and alone with her grandmother, Kazumi starts crying and says that she wants her grandmother to open her eyes, just once more. Jubey appears on the windowsill, saying that he can grant her wish if she makes a contract and becomes a magical girl.

Jubey tells Kazumi that 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 despair as she gives Kazumi her earring-bell; the same earring-bell Kazumi has worn throughout the series. The flashback ends as Kazumi says her grandmother went to heaven the next day. (She incidentally reveals the name of her cat, Toto.)

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). Mirai 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, Niko 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 friend. 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. Niko 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. Saki then notices Kazumi's earrings are missing. Kazumi guesses she lost them in the battle, but admits it's okay because her grandmother won't disappear from her heart. Later on, Kazumi receives a new pair of earrings. Kaoru explains that Saki asked her dad to get them while he was on a business trip. Kazumi thanks Saki, while Mirai has an unhappy expression on her face.

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 walking up behind her. Saki asks why Satomi is there. Satomi suggests killing Kazumi.