Mami Tomoe

One of the principal characters for the anime series, Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Contents [hide]

1 Introduction

2 Mami Tomoe (巴　マミ Tomoe Mami)

2.1 Character History

3 Trivia

4 Appeared Works

5 Other information

6 Related illustrations

7 Related tags

8 Categories of this article

Introduction

Mami Tomoe(巴マミ, Tomoe Mami) is one of the Puella Magi in the anime, Puella Magi Madoka Magica. In the story, she is often potrayed as the "big sister", or "upperclassman (senpai) to the characters.

Left : Her normal attire

Right : Her Puella Magi form

Mami Tomoe (巴　マミ Tomoe Mami)

Character History

SPOILERS below : Contains spoilers for the whole series

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Mami Tomoe is a senior to both Madoka and Sayaka (also to an extent, Homura). She first makes an appearance, already a Puella Magi contracted with Kyubey in episode 1, where she saved both Madoka and Sayaka from the witch's attack. While on the outside she looks full of confidence, but actually, she feels an anxiety and deeply alone since she had always fought witches alone. In the manga rendition of said scene she even says that she cries a lot when on her own, thus declaring that she is no real role model for anyone before Madoka tells her she's not alone.

Mami also served as a mentor for both Madoka and Sayaka, which she explains the basis of a Puella Magi, although not to the darkest details, which she herself doesn't even know yet. She is kind, elegant, as well as calm and disciplined. However she also had an unexplained feud with Homura, which they both aren't in good terms.

Mami's wish was to save her own life from the accident and feels guilty for forgetting about her parents in that moment of desperation. However she does not regret making her wish, preferring life as a lonely magical girl to death. What she does seem to regret, however, is not having had more time to think over it. She tells Madoka to think carefully of her wish, as she wasn't able to; she also chastises Sayaka when she asks if the wish has to be for herself or someone else, asking her outright if she truly wants to help her male friend, Kyousuke or wants him to be in debt with her instead.

However, in episode 3 she seemingly dies a gruesome death in the battle against the witch Charlotte. During the original timeline before Homura became a Puella Magi, Mami's death was portrayed differently, where she died fighting Walpurgis Night (which she knew that she will appear beforehand). During the third timeline, Mami binds Homura and kills Kyoko in order to prevent all Puella Magis there (likely including herself) from turning into witches (As she does this, Mami's expression takes on a look of insanity). Series director Yukihiro Miyamoto later clarified that Mami binds Homura and kills Kyoko "in calm judgment" ("Key Animation Note Volume 5," p.194). However, she was killed by Madoka in order to protect Homura. killed by Mami, since her whole view of the world is shattered.

After episode 12, she is seen alive (brought back to life by Madoka's wish) and fights the demons alongside Homura and Kyouko.

Trivia

The character for her last name (巴) literally means "comma design," a Japanese swirl pattern.

Her last name can also be used as a first name.

Her first name is written in katakana, which has no particular meaning. When written in kanji, it can be read as: graceful jewel (雅珠), light of love (愛光), true heart (真心), truth （真実), sea of the heavens (天海), dancing beauty (舞美), dancing light (舞光), polished beauty (磨美), sparkling purple (晶紫), magical beauty (魔美), magical charm (魔魅), intense hemp (麻深)

She is the only character whose first name is written in katakana (contrasting with Madoka, Sayaka and Homura, whose names are written in Hiragana). This can be implicated where Mami has foreign origins.

The finishing move Mami used on the witch Gertrud and later Charlotte voiced out as "tiro finale" which means "final shot" in Italian.

Her fighting style while fighting Charlotte's minions resembles the gun kata from the movie Equilibrium. Urobuchi Gen is a fan of the movie and has written a fanfic about it, called Jouka no Monshou.

Her reasons of death at episode 3 became popular amongst the fans, and many have made fanarts, jokes, parody, or even tried to script a scenario where she is saved by characters from other anime series, effectively making it the most suitable crossover material.

Due to her death at episode 3 where she got her head bitten off by the witch Charlotte, many western fans made joke on the wordplay. And it is common to associate the character with the word "head". Which it has became a staple black joke since then.

Her apartment has experienced radical redesigns. At first her apartment looked quite spartan reinforcing the idea that she is by herself with no one to support her. Later revisions instead fill up her room with several items, beautifully decorated with nice furniture; the reason for this may be to display that she may come from a wealthy background. It is also implied that she inherited her family's assets and probably insurance money. The way she dresses and talks indicates that she comes from a wealthy family. The decorations at her place are consistent with that image.

She is the only Puella Magi in the anime series that is not commonly seen paired, which is consistent to her lonely image. However, she is sometimes seen paired with Madoka, but she is also seen paired with Charlotte, the very witch itself that killed her, mostly innocent sometimes sexual. The impact from episode 3 might be the reason for this pairing.

The pairing relationship of Mami and Charlotte is usually portrayed in a "girl-with-a-plushie" kind. Some fan mangas depicted Charlotte as a very lonely witch who actually needs someone to play with, and Mami is the one she found. Whatever the portrayal is, fanarts and fan mangas drawn by artists usually pair Mami with Charlotte.

Due to her being headless after being killed, she is also depicted as a "same-kind" with Celty Sturluson, in other words, a Dullahan (See "Mamimimi!!")