"A magical girl's wish is supposed to be for herself and should never be made for anyone else."
Kyoko Sakura (佐倉 杏子Sakura Kyōko) is a main character in Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
Appearance
Kyoko has long, pale red hair which is always seen up in a high ponytail tied by a black ribbon. She has a set of risen bangs which frame her red eyes.
In her casual clothes, Kyoko wears a black crop-top hidden by a light sea foam hoodie which is unzipped at the bottom, revealing her belly button. She wears denim shorts with fur around the bottom edges, and black below-the-knee boots. In her magical girl form, she wears a dark red dress with an opening for her soul gem and a mandarin collar. The borders of the dress are covered with thick white ruffles that cover the opening of her dress and go down to the back of it. She wears white arm sleeves that go halfway up her bicep, with black buttoned cuffs around her wrists. Underneath, she wears a pleated pink skirt and a black corset with white detailing. She wears tall red boots with white cuffs and white symbols, and black thigh-high tights. Her weapon in her magical girl form is a gold, silver, and red spear.
Personality
Kyoko is fairly stubborn and has a fiery personality. She can be self-centered when she wants to be, though this is just a facade she made to herself and to others, since she's actually really sympathetic and tender. She really does love people and there are many precious to her, but after going through multiple bad experiences, she decided to cover up those feelings and become a totally different person, even though she couldn't transform completely. In the end, she couldn't even handle herself. It is thought she was afraid of getting herself hurt again, as well as the people she cared for the most. Kyoko appeared to be very rude at first, however she proved she was actually someone with good intentions. Kyoko believes that wishes shouldn't be used for someone else, because of what happened to her when she tried to use hers for the good of someone else. She is a more knowledgeable Magical Girl, since she became a magical girl at a young age.
After Kyoko's father lost supporters, she and her family almost starved, which is the believed reason she loves food so much and hates those who waste it.
Plot
Backstory
Kyoko's family used to be poor, due to the fact that no one would go listen to her fathers teachings at the church they owned because of his 'radical' ideas on religion.
Her wish was for people to listen to her father's teachings, however this wish led to her downfall when her father learned of her magical girl activities. Believing his daughter to be a witch who sold her soul to the devil, he drank his worries away with alcohol. One day, he snapped and murdered Kyoko's mother and little sister (Momo) then proceeded to kill himself, leaving Kyoko as the sole survivor.
Kyoko was also Mami's magical girl apprentice at the time, as shown in "The Different Story" spin-off. They were a great team and friends that fought both familiars and witches, until the death of Kyoko's family. After the event Kyoko decided that she and Mami should just go after witches and leave the familiars since it takes too much energy to kill them (This decision was also brought on by the fact that she lost her enchantment magic and probably won't be as strong as she was before and drag Mami down) Due to Kyoko's sudden change in morals Mami and her got into a fight that led them to break up their team and go their separate ways.
Relationships
Madoka : Madoka and Kyoko have a weird relationship, they seem to get along more than the others do with the latter, but they don't seem to agree on most things, while Kyoko likes to battle things out, Madoka talks things out, making them contradicting opposites.
Mami : Mami and Kyoko are seen to be very close in the "The Different Story" spin-off, but they then got into a fight which led to the breakdown of their team and going in separate ways, although the conflict was never resolved (since Mami dies in the anime and Kyoko instead in "The Different Story"). Kyoko does seem to care a little about her old friend, as seen in "The Different Story", where she manages to conjure a grief seed optical illusion to convince Mami that she has recovered from their second fight, saving Mami from her fall of despair into Candeloro.
Sayaka : These two fight a lot since they have completely different morals, ideologies and the ways of doing things, including their personalities. But they seem to resolve their broken relationship later after Homura and Madoka talked with them. In fact, later in the anime, Kyoko had sacrificed herself after her second encounter with Oktavia (Sayaka's witch) in hopes of reviving her. Kyoko, as revealed in episode 9, liked Sayaka because Sayaka reminded her why she became a magical girl: Kyoko loved stories where love and courage prevail.
Homura : One way or another, these two are close behind their thick walls. Homura being the first to actually talk some sense into Kyoko after their first actual conversation in the present timeline.
Trivia
- Her witch form is Ophelia, as shown in the Puella Magi Madoka Magica Portable.
- Her birthday is on May 9, making her a Taurus.
- Kyoko is a callous magical girl who doesn't even mind sacrifices, no matter how much, if it's to gain a Grief Seed.
- The first character for Sakura (佐) means "to help" while the second (倉) means "warehouse." Though, her last name sounds the same as (桜) "cherry blossom."
- Her first name (杏子) means "Apricot tree"
