Homura Akemi(暁美ほむら,Akemi Homura) is one of the main protagonists of the anime, Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
Left : Her normal attire
Right : Her Puella Magi form
Homura Akemi (暁美 ほむら Akemi Homura)
Character History
SPOILERS below : Contains spoilers for the whole series
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Homura Akemi first makes her appearance, already a Puella Magi(Mahou Shoujo, or Magical Girl) in Madoka Kaname's dream, where she is seemingly fighting a large monster(known to be Walpurgis Night) by herself, in a losing effort. Later, Homura goes to Madoka's class as a transfer student. Her goal is to prevent Madoka from ever forming a contract with Kyuubey and becoming a Puella Magi, but keeps the reason why a secret. While her seemingly cold demeanor and apathetic attitude towards everyone makes her initially suspicious of Madoka and her friends, the true reason is that Homura is a time traveler from an alternate timeline.
Homura first formed a contract with Kyuubey when Madoka was already a Puella Magi in her timeline. She considered Madoka to be her best friend, and was devastated when she died. Her wish was to go back in time to protect Madoka, be it help her defeat Walpurgis Night or prevent her from becoming a Puella Magi altogether. With this, she has the ability to temporarily freeze time, and even time travel with the assistance of a special shield. Her shield offers no offensive capabilities, but it can hold an unlimited amount of items, which she uses to stockpile numerous stolen weaponry and homemade explosives.
Although initially shy, timid and physically fragile, through each timeline traveled her confidence and even powers grow stronger. She is eventually able to use her powers to fix her eyesight and perhaps her weak heart that made her bed-ridden before transferring to Madoka's school. The constant time traveling also causes Madoka to be potentially stronger each timeline.
Trivia
- Homura is frequently referred to as "Homerun-chan" amongst Western fans, due to the similarity of the two names in Japanese, however she is frequently referred as "Homuhomu" (ほむほむ) within Japanese community. Homuhomu likely originated from the runes in Episode 3, one of which translates to "Homuhomu".
- "Homuhomu" can be used as a verb as "do Homuhomu" (ほむほむする) which means to caress, console or take care of. The action of "do Homuhomu" is not defined exactly.
- The first character for Akemi (暁) means "daybreak", while the second one (美) means beauty which is a famous letter in girl's name.
- When her full name is written vertically in hiragana (あけみほむら) and with left half covered in certain angle, it could be read as カナメまどか which is Kaname written in katakana and Madoka written in hiragana.
- Her last name can also be used as a first name.
- Her first name is written in hiragana, which has no special meaning. However, when written in kanji, it can mean: 1. inflammation, blaze (炎 or 焔), 2.heart on fire (心火), 3.mass of flame (炎叢), 4.village protector (保村)
- It was revealed that Homura's main ability is to stop time. However, anyone she touches while the ability is under effect will not be stopped.
- She is visibly upset when Madoka uses her last name or honorifics instead of the more intimate "Homura".
- She appears to live by herself; her residence only has her name on the nameplate, much like Mami's. In episode 10, when she wakes up in the hospital, no-one is there with her, and she seems to have been filling out the school transfer forms on her own.
- Some folks in 2ch nicknamed Homura's Residence "Homuhōmu," (ほむホーム) since Homu is a nickname for Homura, and Hōmu is "home" rendered in the Japanese syllabary. It should be noted that "homu" is more often used for dog houses and similar structures, with the English word "home" expressed using "uchi" (うち, which refers to one's own house or household), "ie" (いえ, which can refer to a physical house or a family lineage), or the honorific "otaku" (お宅, which refers to someone else's house or household).
- The Homura of previous timelines is, due to her personality and actions, often referred to as "Moemura" amongst Western fans.
- Due to her stalking nature (which is commented even by the voice actress who voiced her, Chiwa Saito), There are many fanarts depicting her stalking acts - sometimes to the point of sexual, which gives Madoka trouble sometimes. This act is called Hentai Homura(変態ほむら) and it's currently famous amongst the fans. Thanks to that, She is often depicted wearing panties on head. Which the panties are of course, belong to Madoka.
Appeared Works
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Other information
Voice Actress
Chiwa Saitou (斎藤 千和, Saitou Chiwa)
Birthday
March 12, 1981
Related illustrations
