Mami Tomoe (巴マミ?) is one of the five main Magical Girls in Puella Magi Madoka☆Magica anime and manga series. She serves as a protagonist alongside Kyoko Sakura in The Different Story.
In episode 13 of Magia Record, she transformed into Holy Mami (ホーリーマミ?).
Bio
Appearance
Mami Tomoe is a young girl with a mature physique. She has curly blonde hair,usually in twin drills. She has yellow square-shaped eyes. When in her civilian form, Mami is seen mostly in her school uniform which is customized with transparent black leggings along with white Mary Jane shoes.
As a Magical Girl, she wears a dull yellow ruffled skirt with black brims,and her top is a white blouse with puffy sleeves and white arm warmers.she wears a brown corset. She also has a small brown hat with white fur coming out of it, as well as gray and white striped leggings, black fingerless gloves, and black knee-high socks with white brims and yellow shoes.she also has brown bands on her arms and dons a yellow ribbon on her neck.
Personality
Mami Tomoe appears to be a very kind, gentle, and cheerful girl. Though she reveals to Madoka Kaname that she is lonely and appears to be desperate for having teammates. Mami is very nice to everyone but she seems to dislike Homura Akemi. She takes pride in her actions and saving people due to mentoring other Magical Girls, since she has been fighting Witches for the longest of all.
Etymology
Mami (マミ?): When written in katakana, the name has no particular meaning. However, there are several kanji variations with the most suiting one being "graceful jewel" (雅珠?), due to the fact that Magical Girls store their Soul Gems in accesories or rings. Phonetically, it sound similar to "mommy", referencing to her big sister role to Madoka and Sayaka as well as her close relationship with Nagisa Momoe in The Rebellion Story.
Tomoe (巴?) means "comma design".[1]
History
Before the anime
Mami was an only child who lived with her two parents before they were killed in a car crash. When she was seriously injured in the crash, Kyubey appeared before her and Mami wished to live. As a magical girl she longed to form a team with others like her, however it was hard to find people willing to partner with her. In the manga, The Different Story, it was revealed that she did meet Kyoko and they started to work together. After the death of her family, Kyoko's relationship with Mami turned bitter and they were no longer friends.
Relationships
- Madoka Kaname: She meets Madoka upon saving Kyubey from Homura. They get along very well and Mami acts like a mentor to Madoka, who adores Mami's Magical Girl nature. They care for each other and are good friends or teammates.
- Sayaka Miki: She meets Sayaka upon saving Kyubey from Homura. They get along very well and Mami acts like a mentor to Sayaka, who adores Mami's Magical Girl nature and wishes to become like her someday. They care for each other and are very good friends, closer than Madoka or Kyoko is with Mami.
- Kyoko Sakura: Even though they were never seen interacting in the original anime series, Kyoko and Mami actually used to work together as Magical Girls. They meet through Kyoko chasing a Witch from Kazamino to Mitakihara. They were good friends but Mami was still acting like a mentor to her. Mami was actually the first friend Kyoko ever brought to her house. After Kyoko's family passed away, Kyoko also distanced herself from Mami and ended up fighting frequently. It was shown that Mami still cared for Kyoko even after their friendship partially ended.
- Homura Akemi: In the past timelines, Mami and Homura had a friendly relationship caring for each other and having each other's back. In later timelines however, Homura and Mami are rivals as Homura tried to kill Kyubey, who, was a dear friend of Mami when she was alive. The same is true with Bebe in The Rebellion Story.
- Nagisa Momoe: Mami and Nagisa have been really close ever since The Rebellion Story and they make a pretty good team.
Family
Parents
Mami lived with her parents in her apartment and happily with them. One day, the entire family was involved in a car accident and they died, but Mami survived long enough to form a contract with Kyubey. She misses them and ever since she lost them, she has been very distant from society and takes care of the house by herself. Revealed in Portable, Mami was thinking of how nice and lovely it is to have parents moments before the accident.
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
- She can summon several one-use guns through her hat or with her body.
- When she had transformed into Holy Mami, she had the ability to summon much more of the guns she uses.
- She can use restraint magic.
- Mami has a notable ability that helps her turn ordinary objects like baseball bats into weapons that are able to protect non-Magical Girls.Episode 02
- With her ribbon, tied around her neck, she can cut things or to tie people up, either as a trap or to protect others. The ribbon can also become a giant gun.
- Similarly, she can use wider red ribbons to tie people exclusively, the ribbon will be tighter if the tied person doesn't listen to her.Episode 03
Attacks
- Tiro Finale (ティロ・フィナーレ lit. Final Shot?): Mami's finisher attack. She summons a giant gun and shouts the incantation phrase to slay her enemy Witch.
- Tiro Duet (ティロデュエット lit. Final Duet?): A dual attack Madoka performs with Mami in The Rebellion Story. It is a variant of Mami's Tiro Finale. In Magia Record episode 22, Sayaka also uses the incantation phrase to connect with Holy Mami in order to save her.
- Tiro Finale, Holy Night (ティロ・フィナーレ,ホーリーナイト lit. Final Shot Holy Night?): Holy Mami's attack that she uses when she and Rumor Tsuruno face off the other members of Mikazuki Villa and Holy Quintet.
Trivia
- In episode 4, Homura mentions that Mami has no close relatives and in whichever timeline she would die, it would take long to be announced as "missing".
- Revealed in the series' guidebook, Ume Aoki almost gave Mami's theme color as red, and Kyoko's theme color as yellow.
- In Ume Aoki's design notes, she states that her twisty, curly hair and floral hairpin make her seem like a big sister. She also says that Mami’s Magical Girl design was definitely centered around her image as a gunner.
- Mami loves black tea and hot chocolate during Winter.
- She shares her voice actress with Tatsuya Kaname and Walpurgisnacht.
- Mami is the first Magical Girl to shout a name for her attacks, it being Tiro Finale.
- According to NewType May 2011 issue, Mami's Tiro Finale was almost going to be named Ultimate Shoot (アルティマシユート?) before Urobuchi tried to find a good name in Spanish or Greek before ending up using Tiro Finale.[2]
- Should it be noted that Tiro sounds similar to the greek word for cheese (Τυρί Tirí?). Mami and Nagisa are really close.
References
V • E Puella Magi Madoka☆Magica characters | ||
---|---|---|
Magical Girls | Madoka Kaname • Sayaka Miki • Mami Tomoe • Kyoko Sakura • Homura Akemi • Nagisa Momoe | |
Incubators | Kyubey | |
Witches | Gertrud • Suleika • H.N. Elly (Kirsten) • Albertine • Gisela • Elsa Maria • Uhrmann • Oktavia von Seckendorff • Izabel • Patricia • Kriemhild Gretchen • Roberta • Walpurgisnacht • Homulilly | |
Others | Junko Kaname • Tatsuya Kaname • Tomohisa Kaname • Kazuko Saotome • Hitomi Shizuki • Momo Sakura • Minor Characters |