Sayaka Miki

Sayaka Miki
Puella Magi Madoka Magica character
Sayaka Miki in Magia Record.
First Episode Appearance	As If I Met Her in My Dream...
Created by	Akiyuki Shinbo Gen Urobuchi Ume Aoki
Character played by	Eri Kitamura (Japanese), Sarah Anne Williams (English)
In-universe information
Species	Magical girl Witch
Gender	Female
Weapon	Cutlass

Sayaka Miki (Japanese: 美樹 さやか, Hepburn: Miki Sayaka) is a fictional character and one of the main heroines of the 2011 anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica. She is a middle school student who makes a contract with the messenger of magic, Kyubey, to become a magical girl. After she realizes what it means to have a Soul Gem, Sayaka's view of the world is slowly corrupted as she gives up on her own humanity. This culminates in her transformation into a Witch. Sayaka appears in most Puella Magi Madoka Magica media, including the trilogy feature films, print media, and video games such as the smartphone game Magia Record.

Gen Urobuchi stated that he had created Sayaka based on an "Urobuchi character". He referred to her as his favorite character in the series and said her story was the most enjoyable to write. She is voiced by Eri Kitamura in Japanese and Sarah Anne Williams in the English version of the series. Critical reception to Sayaka has been generally positive, as Sayaka has placed high in multiple popularity polls. Many different pieces of merchandise related to her, such as figures, plush dolls, and keychains, have been released.

Appearances

In Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Sayaka is Madoka's classmate and best friend, a second-year at Madoka's school. She is a lively tomboy with strong ideals of love and lawfulness. After helping Madoka rescue Kyubey, she contracts with him to grant her wish to heal the wounded hand of Kyosuke Kamijo, a young violinist that she is infatuated with, visiting him daily in the hospital. As a magical girl, Sayaka's weapon of choice is a cutlass, being able to produce multiples of them at a time. She also has an extraordinary regenerative ability due to the healing nature of her wish. Sayaka insists that her wish is selfless and feels that fighting witches to save people is a bonus, even after witnessing Mami's death. As Sayaka's ideals are put against the reality of her wish's consequences and the stress of fighting, her view of the world is slowly corrupted. She becomes hateful and distrustful towards others, including Madoka, whom she lashes out at and accuses of being selfish.

After learning that her soul is no longer in her body, but in her soul gem, Sayaka starts to believe she is a zombie; and when her friend Hitomi confesses to her about her love of Kyosuke, Sayaka falls into isolation and refuses all help. In her despair, she loses faith in humanity and justice, making her give up on her ideals and herself; thus leading to her soul gem becoming fully corrupted, turning into a grief seed, making her into the armored Mermaid Witch Oktavia von Seckendorff, whose barrier resembles a concert hall with an array of faceless, Kyosuke-like figures playing music for her. Though Kyoko and Madoka attempt to communicate with Sayaka, they realize that she is beyond help. Kyoko then performs a powerful attack to finish off Oktavia at the cost of her life. Despite Madoka's reworking of the world in the final timeline, Sayaka still makes a wish in the new world, and thus ends up disappearing after exhausting her soul gem. Despite this, however, Sayaka does not regret her wish, and hopes that Hitomi will make Kyosuke happy, before leaving with Madoka to the afterlife.

In the 2013 film Rebellion, Sayaka assists Madoka and Nagisa in saving Homura, and has received knowledge of all previous timelines as a result of becoming a part of the Law of Cycles. She shows the power to summon and manipulate witches, with her Oktavia form now an extension of her will she can summon at will. Sayaka states that she became an assistant of Madoka because she "regretted leaving Kyoko behind". At the end of Rebellion, Sayaka and Nagisa were pulled from afterlife by Homura, and given a new life and human forms in the new world. Unlike Madoka and Nagisa, Sayaka retained her memories before being subjected to Homura's power as Sayaka promises to never forget the devil that Homura had become even if she forgets everything else.

Other appearances

Sayaka appears in several Puella Magi Madoka Magica manga published by Houbunsha. She is a supporting character in the Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Different Story (2012) manga, which focuses on the relationship of Mami and Kyoko. She is also a recurring character in the Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Wraith Arc (2015) manga, that takes place between the second film Eternal and the third film Rebellion. Sayaka appears in a novel adaptation of the original series written by Hajime Ninomae, illustrated by Yūpon and published by Nitroplus.

Sayaka is a playable character in most Puella Magi Madoka Magica video games, such as the PlayStation Portable action video game developed by Namco Bandai Games, Puella Magi Madoka Magica Portable (2012), and the PlayStation Vita titled Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Battle Pentagram (2013). She is also present alongside Kyoko in the Third Person Shooter (TPS) titled Puella Magi Madoka Magica TPS Featuring Sayaka Miki & Sakura Kyoko (2012). Sayaka appeared in a pachinko game titled Slot Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2013), and also a second pachinko game titled Slot Puella Magi Madoka Magica 2 (2016), featuring the song "Naturally" by her voice actress Eri Kitamura and Madoka's Aoi Yuki. In January 2018, Aniplex made a debut character commercial for Sayaka for the Smartphone game Magia Record due to her not appearing earlier in the game. For the stage play adaptation of Magia Record, she is portrayed by Miku Kanemura of Keyakizaka46 idol group.

Conception and design

Eri Kitamura is the Japanese voice actress of Sayaka.

Gen Urobuchi created Sayaka's personailty and based it on an "Urobuchi character". Urobuchi stated that Sayaka was his favorite character overall and said her plotline was the most enjoyable to write. Because of her grim fate by the end of the series, a destiny that Shinbo believed was slightly unfair, he asked Urobuchi if it was possible to change the plot so Sayaka could be spared. Urobuchi declined, saying her death was integral to the overarching story. Shinbo then asked if she could be brought back to life, saying he had become very attached to the character. Urobuchi again refused, saying this would be impossible because of the already-established rules governing the story. Shinbo acquiesced to this but said he believed there may have been too large a burden placed on the characters who were young, middle-school girls. In a Newtype interview, Urobuchi said that the train conversation scene was actually based on a real event that he witnessed, saying "I was in a crowded train and right in front of me were two guys making that kind of conversation." According to Urobuchi, Sayaka would never be happy with Kyousuke even if she confesses her love to him. Nevertheless, he defended Sayaka's wish and choices in the finale, saying "You're misunderstanding her. [The final episode] is not about "Sayaka is destined to die anyway" but about "Sayaka gives her own life to help Kyosuke", and continues to say that she wanted "to listen to Kyosuke's music again". Another aspect Urobuchi wanted to develop in the series was the initial clash between Sayaka and her rival magical girl, Kyoko Sakura; where he stated that across the story, Kyoko kills herself with Sayaka because both of their mistakes are "completely the same."

For her role in The Rebellion Story, Urobuchi said that when Sayaka appears in the movie, she knows things "more than Homura does for once". In an interview with manga artist Kazuo Koike, Koike asks if Sayaka might become the new protagonist in the future, and Urobuchi replied that since Sayaka had a special role in Rebellion, there's a possibility of her being a "lone heroine in the future". He also believes that she might be the only person who can stop Homura.

Sayaka is voiced by Eri Kitamura in the Japanese version. Kitamura said that Sayaka is the "most realistic" character she has voiced; describing her as a magical girl with a "strong sense of justice". Shinbo stated that Kitamura's acting as a suffering girl was "really great". Shinbo also said that Kitamura was not convinced with Sayaka's death. In the English dub, Sayaka is voiced by Sarah Anne Williams. Williams characterized Sayaka's personality as "tomboyish, very cheerful and upbeat" and "a bit naive". She stated that she loves Sayaka's character because she feels "a little similar to her", and says "it's very much like kinda taking a part of myself and pulling in a different direction."

Reception

Popularity and merchandise

Sayaka's character has been well received by fans and reviewers. She took second place for "Top 7 Blue-Haired Anime Heroines" voted by Akihabara Fans. In 2012, she was voted as the second most tragic female character in anime, and took eight place in 2015 for the same category. In a BIGLOBE poll, Sayaka ranked 18th in the category "Anime Girl that Attracts the Most Desperate Fanboys". Sayaka was also voted as the eight most popular Shaft heroines in 2016. The same year, a Charapedia poll, which asked fans to list the "best anime magical girls", had Sayaka placed 9th with 226 votes. In an Anime News Network poll, Sayaka's witch form was voted as the second coolest monster form.

Several merchandise items based on Sayaka have been released, including key chains, plush dolls, and figurines produced by Good Smile Company. In 2016, SuperGroupies created lingerie inspired by Sayaka and Kyoko respectively.

Critical response

Critical reception towards Sayaka's character has been generally positive, with reviewers mostly commenting on her mental breakdown. Scott Green of Ain't It Cool News described her as a "decisive" character. Kory Cerjak of The Fandom Post described both Kyoko and Sayaka as "tragedies" and wrote "Not only is Sayaka's love taken from her, but she sees herself as less than human because her soul is detached from her body. Even if Kyosuke loved Sayaka, could she accept herself? She's less than human. She's a magical girl." THEM Anime Reviewer Jacob Churosh commented on her Japanese voice actress, stating "Eri Kitamura [..] provide worthy support as the dangerously brash Sayaka Miki."

"[Sayaka's] tragedy is front-and-center in these episodes, and it's a powerful and fascinating piece of writing. [..] in exchange for her wish and her status as a magical girl, Sayaka has lost her humanity. [..]Sayaka is No Longer Human – the one thing she sacrificed everything for, love, is totally out of her grasp now. [..]the character is punished for her decision. She is literally wasting away, harboring a tainted soul, neither living nor dead but on the verge of total collapse. Sayaka's despair is so effectively portrayed it's almost tough to watch. Seeing her break down emotionally as a result of having her soul torn from its host really brings home the impact of the situation – it wouldn't be anywhere near as powerful a story without having all those pieces fall into place exactly as they do, and it's a real testament to the quality of this show's writing."

Watchmojo.com ranked Sayaka's breakdown at number eight on list of "Top 10 Mental Breakdowns In Anime".

External links

• CHARACTER｜魔法少女まどか☆マギカ

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