#episode 3. daleks. the doctor is a soldier. these are his age old enemies. he wants them dead and he will stop at nothing

[greencarnation]

eleven is fascinating to me because he came right off the back of tens horrible traumatic breakdown after he lost everything and he immediately tried to establish himself as the opposite of that. he is funny and goofy and almost childlike, and he bulldozes on in his adventures with amy like nothing happened at all. but then something happens and his masks slips and it's like oh! the core of this man is still anger. he is so so angry all of the time and this façade is the only thing stopping him from being consumed by it. he isn't over any of it and he hasn't moved on. he is wearing a fez and laughing but under that all that exists is age old anger and grief and it is going to consume him

[yeonchi]

Kisekae Insights #19: Madoka Magica Part 2 (Yuki Magica)

(Art by アスカール)

In the last instalment, I talked about Takumi Kamijō and Madoka Magica’s involvement in my project, but I stopped after Gokaiger because things are about to get complicated; there is another story thread that I need to cover before we can continue.

In this instalment, I’ll be talking about another magical boy who became a GARO-esque Kamen Rider. He and his powers have their own backstories which would normally be impossible in the eyes of other Madoka fans (if Takumi’s story wasn’t crazy enough). Basically, I’m the Australian Shinichiro Shirakura and I’m breaking all the rules. Wait, was I supposed to save that joke for the Decade instalments? Oh well, anyway…

One man’s trash, another man’s treasure

In the sixth block of the 50th Anniversary Series, I made an adaptation of The Name of the Doctor but with Hiroki instead of the Doctor. When Hiroki’s timeline gets invaded by a vexatious villain (not the Great Intelligence), he makes a contract with Kyubey to save his past, present and future. He meets Goddess Madoka and becomes a magical boy similar to that of Madoka’s magical girl form. Calling himself the Loveshy Boy, Hiroki enters his own timeline and sends out splinters of himself across his timeline to repair the damage. Zhuge Shu and Nodoka Manabe were among those echoes, along with five individuals whose syllables of their names spelled the syllables of “Nodoka Manabe” and “Madoka Kaname”.

The only other time Hiroki used his magical boy form was in the ninth block when he fought Girl Power and his other enemies in Koshi Castle. He is shot and sent flying in a desperate attempt to save Akari and that is the last we see of Hiroki’s magical boy form – though Walpurgisnacht would influence his next (female) incarnation, he would no longer be a magical boy by the time he moved into his final incarnation.

But by some miracle, Hiroki’s magical boy powers would show up again in 2018, albeit utilised by someone else. How did that happen and why? You’ll find out very soon…

Yuki Yamaki: Secret Inside

Yuki’s timeline is a bit complicated to pinpoint, but it doesn’t matter since this project runs on wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff.

A note before I go on – Yuki’s name would usually be written as Yūki given his Japanese name and my usual habit of denoting long vowels with macrons as per Hepburn romanisation, however I only found his Japanese name recently in an old document I wrote ten years ago, with that same document denoting Takumi’s surname as “Kamijou”. Then again, I didn’t know much about the rules surrounding romanisation back then, so I’ll continue to write Yuki’s name as I have and not bother changing it for the sake of consistency.

Naisho no Tsubomi (Secret Tsubomi) is a manga series that covers topics centred around female puberty and sex education, with a different girl (named Tsubomi) featured in each volume. The first volume was adapted into a three-episode OVA in 2008 and was released in North America by Sentai Filmworks in 2018. Spoilers if you haven’t seen it (but given the premise of Kisekae Insights, you shouldn’t be surprised by now), but based from what I’ve read about in reviews and my own observations, it seems that the character of Saya Endō is likely to be the spirit of a dead girl who reincarnates as Tsubomi’s little sister, or Tsubomi’s little sister who died and came back into the past as a spirit or something. But that doesn’t really matter because this is Doctor Who, what did you expect?

Yuki was born in 2008, the same year as Tsubomi’s little sister, Saya, in a universe where the Third Doctor is the Prime Minister of Australia. In 2018, they joined their universe’s Torchwood at the age of ten and a year later, they were sent on a mission back to the year 2008 to investigate anomalies involving Tsubomi and Yuki’s cousin, Shisei Nagato (長遠志成). During that time, Yuki, Saya, Tsubomi and her friends came to the Doctor’s universe three times over five years from their POV (in our POV, they came once each before, during and after the Salacian Time War). It turned out that Yuki and Shisei are Parker and Hiroki’s counterparts in that universe and that Shisei was taking the place of Futoshi Kuki, who was exterminated by the Daleks. They were unable to find any conclusive evidence regarding the anomalies when they were called back to their time (2023) to fight the Beta Uprising.

Torchwood then sent Yuki and Saya on their second mission in the past, which was to kill Elliot Rodger on his Day of Retribution, 23 May 2014, and prevent the Beta Uprising. Their comrade, Alex Schmidt (played by Alex Williamson) was with them, but he disappeared by the time Yuki and Saya returned to their time. The two had fallen in love during their time together and by 2028, they decided to get married. However, when they were having yum cha with their friends, Alex came in with a group of Chads and revealed his betrayal to everyone; he went back to 2014 and helped Elliot Rodger with his Day of Retribution before spurring Chads and Stacies around the world to fight the incels (nerds basically). He killed Yuki in 2018 because somehow, he was the anomaly surrounding Tsubomi and Shisei that was motivating the incels to continue fighting – Tsubomi and Shisei were never the problem at all.

The 2028 Yuki was killed along with his fiancée and their friends and was taken back to 2018, where he was “fixed up” and prepared to be married to Hideko Kimihara (NOTE: The Kikuchi Clan were not involved in this incident). Kyubey arrives and offers to turn Yuki’s pain into power; Yuki accepts and makes a wish for someone to come and get him out of his mess. It is then that Hiroki, Kayley, Firerose, Narutaki and the Salacian Riders (including a future Yuki and Marcela) were brought to this universe through a dimensional hole. At the same time, Marcela (see #13) arrived to protect Yuki. It is then that Yuki transforms into his magical boy form, which is exactly the same as Hiroki’s Madoka-esque magical boy form (due to interdimensional genetic multiplicity, as Takumi would later speculate), by swinging his Soul Gem necklace in the air similar to how Barago transforms into Dark Knight Kiba in GARO.

(Hiroki and Yuki’s magical boy forms are based on that of Madoka’s magical girl form, albeit genderbent. Art by 黒野ユウ and Makarii)

Hiroki and the Riders from his world help the past Yuki and Marcela out by attempting to hide with one version of them (past or present) for two weeks, but they are captured after four days. While the Stacies brainwash Marcela, Yuki and Hideko are hooked up to the Progenitor, combining their DNA and making super-soldiers from them. Yuki begins to fall into despair, but despite Hiroki telling him not to give up, he transforms into his witch form, Legendorgarc, which is similar to Kamen Rider Arc’s Legend Arc form, freeing himself in the process.

After a few moments however, Yuki manages to change his despair into hope, allowing him to cast away his witch form and combine it with his magical boy powers into a stronger power. Yuki’s rose bow transforms into the bladed Barayumi Rose Bow (バラユミ), which he swings around him to transform into Kamen Rider Magica, similar to how Aguri Kusugami transforms into Sky Bow Knight Gai in GARO: Yami o Terasu Mono. Two of his signature finishers are the Rensha Ranbu/Rapid-Fire Attack (連射乱舞) and the Naginata Ranbu – Gōka Midaresaki/Naginata Attack – Luxurious Bloom (ナギナタ乱舞・豪華乱れさき). Magica’s Rider design takes inspiration from GARO and Kamen Rider Hibiki, particularly the latter as Magica was originally planned to take its place in Decade before being reinstated.

(Kamen Rider Magica logo concept. Art by aqmr)

Hiroki as Decade kills Alex and destroys the universe to get back with to his own universe with his friends and the Salacian Riders, taking the past Yuki and Marcela with them as well. The two, having lost their memories of what happened due to their timelines not being in sync, were left in the past and the only thing that they remembered was that they were enemies; Yuki blamed Marcela for killing his lover and destroying his world, while Marcela blamed Yuki for killing her family.

Decade Episode 7 happened and during the final battle, Decade’s use of the Magica Final Form Ride card allowed Magica to unlock his final form, Loveshy Form, upgrading his weapon into the Ultimate Barayumi Rose Bow in the process. Subsequent transformations only require Magica to squat down and draw a circle on the ground around him similar to how Takeru Jakuzure transforms into Flame Sword Knight Zen. In this form, Magica can split his Ultimate Barayumi in half and use it as a nunchaku or a pair of swords. One of this form’s finishers involves shooting an energy beam from his bow, with the first such usage being aided by Decade using the Magica Final Attack Ride card, breaking Marcela’s brainwashing in the progress.

Following that adventure, Yuki and Marcela reconcile and agree to help each other find the truth about their pasts. By the time they encounter their past selves again in their home universe, they have become a couple. Later, they would thank Hiroki and Narutaki for bringing them together, saying that without their help, they would have kept wandering the land fighting each other without realising their true feelings.

Soulbound and Magia Record

A few days after the last instalment was published, it was announced that there would be a new Madoka Magica film produced as a sequel to The Rebellion Story. This, along with the Magia Record game and anime, means that I can’t have a definitive happy ending for Takumi when my project ends this year, though I might be able to do something for Kamen Rider Zi-O.

Soulbound Series 3 is where Takumi and Yuki’s plot threads converge, with the Madoka Magica tribute being shared with the tribute for Sea Princesses (see Dark Sea Princess in #13).

Following the events of Gokaiger and Decade, Yuki and Marcela begin living in seclusion from humanity, working to protect it from various threats as the “rejected beings of their universe”. Meanwhile, with the rise of magical girls in nearby Kamihama, Takumi started becoming territorial and competitive towards other magical girls, including his own comrades. Despite his efforts to save magical girls from becoming witches, Takumi became frustrated that no matter what he tried to do, the universe seemed to rewrite everything and ruin the work he put in. Unbeknownst to Takumi, the Incubation Cleanser was sabotaged, leading to the continued appearances of witches and other evils; said device was taken out of the equation when the Doppel system came into effect. Takumi’s rivalry with Homura still continued, though they began siding with each other so they could fight warriors (including Kamen Riders and magical girls) for their own enjoyment. Takumi and Homura even attacked Yuki and Marcela, only to be saved by Mami and Hitomi.

At the start of the two-parter, the Barrier Base and SEPTAN crews arrive in Kamihama, where Kyōko and Sayaka, alongside Takumi’s twin sister, Kumiko Hayashi, ask them for their help in saving Takumi. When the Salacian Riders appear along the coast in response to a protest against the human exploitation of marine life, the Barrier Base crew and Torchwood Pleiades fight them. After a while, Takumi and Homura arrive and single-handedly defeat everyone, inviting them to bring more warriors to fight them next time.

Following the battle, the Salacian Riders agree to work with the Barrier Base crew, the SEPTAN crew and Torchwood Pleiades to defeat Takumi and Homura. After Torchwood Pleiades gathered up all the magical girls they could find (technically all the playable Magia Record girls released on the Japanese server up to the end of the Rumors in Disguise event in October 2019, not including Tart Magica or crossover characters), they all confront Takumi and Homura outside of the city. During the battle, a number of magical girls use the power of their Doppels and so do Takumi and Yuki; Takumi’s Doppel resembles Walpurgisnacht to differentiate it from Sayaka’s, namely Oktavia von Seckendorff (but also because he was somehow able to command Walpurgisnacht’s power), while Yuki can only use his Doppel, Legendorgarc, for a maximum of 99.9 seconds (like the Makai Knights in GARO) because he only became a witch for a very short time and as such, is unaccustomed to its power.

The negative emotions and minus energy gathering above them from the constant fighting manifests into the Despair Monster, Kanaderos, a sight observed by Kyubey as he thanks everyone for providing the universe with more energy. Hikaru Tomokaze transforms into Ultraman X while Yuki and Marcela transform into Gaia and Agul to fight Kanaderos. After Exceed X uses the Exceed X Slash to purge the despair from Kanaderos, he joins Gaia and Agul as they fire the Xlugger Shot, Photon Edge and Photon Crusher, but the monster is still standing because of the sheer amount of despair still powering it. Gaia powers up into Supreme Version while Hikaru switches into Ginga. The three Ultras finally defeat Kanaderos for good with the Sparion Beam, Photon Stream and Agul Stream.

After the battle, Kumiko convinces Takumi and Homura to stop fighting and work together to investigate what is going on in Kamihama. Following the two-parter, Takumi would appear again at the end of Arcs 11 and 12, while Yuki and Marcela would only return at the end of Arc 12 alongside the Salacian Riders.

Takumi gained further development in Soulbound Series 4 when he was featured in a two-parter at the end of Arc 13, which was just recently broadcast at the time of publishing this instalment. Due to an increase in dimensional fluctuations through the Cardiff Rift over the past 18 months (since the end of Series 3), Kamihama and Torchwood Pleiades disappeared from this universe and so did Takumi, however he resurfaced recently with his comrades nowhere to be found; he had been cut off from his friends and the magical girl circle. Whether Kyubey and the Incubators had anything to do with it is unknown, though even if they did, the most they would have done is indirectly manipulate events to achieve this goal.

Upon receiving a message from Torchwood in Cardiff notifying them of Takumi resurfacing, the Barrier Base crew head to Mitakihara to meet with Hiroki, Akari, the Doctor and Captain Jack Harkness. After encountering Yuki and Marcela nearby as well, the group heads to Porthcawl (one of the entrances to Kamihama) upon hearing that police have spotted Takumi there. When they get there however, Takumi had killed the police officers cornering him and it is then that Yuki realises that something is wrong. Takumi asks where his lover, his friends and his comrades are before taking his cutlass and transforming into his magical boy form similar to how the Golden Knight Garo transforms.

In the ensuing fight, Takumi summons another cutlass and uses it with his other cutlass to transform into Kamen Rider Serranon similar to how Rei Suzumura transforms into Silver Fanged Knight Zero. Serranon was created as a secondary Rider for Magica in response to Geiz Majesty (I had to create a Rider whose name rhymed with Zeronos so that I wouldn’t need to change the transformation tune because this wasn’t like Decade where I could just do whatever and get away with it). At the moment, I don’t have any plans for Serranon’s final form and it’s likely that he won’t be getting one. Takumi’s cutlasses transform into a set of twin swords called the Yanagiba Sōken (柳葉双剣) that can combine into the Yanagiba Ryūtō (柳葉流刀). His finishers are the Sōken Ranbu/Twin Sword Attack (双剣乱舞) and the Ryūtō Ranbu – Mugen Shinken Nuketsuki/Cutlass Attack – Blade of Infinity (流刀乱舞・無限真剣抜けつき), the latter being similar to the signature attack of Zodomas/Skatana from Gokaiger/Super Megaforce.

While the others fight the familiars that Takumi summoned, Yuki and Takumi fight in their Rider forms, resulting in the former being defeated. Takumi is later spotted at the Roald Dahl Plass, right above the Hub, with the intent of opening the Rift to find a way back to Kamihama. Though the Doctor, Jack, Hiroki and Akari try to stop him, he is only stopped when another villain, Doctor Wells Moreau, shoots him out of nowhere. Moreau later approaches Takumi and offers him a way to get back to Kamihama. Takumi is given a gun which he uses to transform into Galactron MK2 and attack Cardiff, but is defeated by Ultraman Ginga.

After the battle, Hiroki and the others convince Takumi to use his powers for good and so, he takes up Captain Jack’s offer to join Torchwood for the time being until his friends return. While the magical girls will be featured in Soulbound Series 4, they will have to part ways with Takumi again at the end of the series because of Magia Record and the fourth Madoka Magica film.

So this is it for the involvement of Puella Magi Madoka Magica in my personal project. I’d like to remind everyone not to worry if you’re confused at anything you’ve seen so far in Kisekae Insights; chances are that I will address it eventually.