Mami Tomoe is an anime character from the 2011 anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica. In the series, she sacrifices herself for the sake of saving another magical girl, Kyoko Sakura, and becomes a Mahou shoujo (魔法少女 or まほうしょうじょ), or magical girl in English.
Is Mami Tomoe still alive?
The plot of Madoka Magica tells a story of magical girls and witches, where Mami Tomoe’s past serves as a key plot element in both. Mami was a friend and mentor to Madoka Kaname before she became a magical girl; in fact, it was Mami who inspired Madoka to make her wish for saving others. After some time, Madoka comes to face with evil forces which lead her to discover something about magical girls which she did not know at first. This eventually leads her and her friend Sayaka Miki into severe despair and depression that eventually causes Sayaka’s death.
Meanwhile, Homura Akemi tries to stop Madoka from making a contract with Kyubey because she believes that Kyubey will take advantage of her kindness and use her powers for his own selfish purposes. She then reveals to Mami Tomoe that Mami has been killed by Charlotte (one of Kyubey’s other creations) while fighting another witch. In episode 10, Homura shows Madoka what happened after Mami made her contract: instead of becoming a witch, she becomes trapped in a dark labyrinthine prison known as Kamihama City. There, Kyoko Sakura finds and rescues her from being trapped there forever by taking over her body until they can find someone capable enough to take over their body permanently.
What did Mami Tomoe wish for?
Mami’s wish was that she would become a magical girl and fight witches, to protect Madoka. This is revealed in episode 5 of Puella Magi Mami Tomoe text reads my wish is to change fate. She also stated in episode 3 that she had nothing left to protect except for Madoka and then made her contract with Kyubey. Mami’s wish seems to have been similar in its goals to those of Sayaka (see below). Both girls wished so they could save someone dear to them; however, while Sayaka wanted only herself to be saved, Mami wished for not only herself but also others (namely Madoka) to be saved from despair.
In addition, unlike Sayaka, who became a magical girl mainly because she was unable to accept what happened to her friend Kyousuke Kamijou (and subsequently tried desperately to change his fate), Mami knew full well what becoming a magical girl entailed. Nevertheless, despite knowing about magic and witches beforehand, it appears that even Mami wasn’t prepared for how cruel reality turned out to be. It’s worth noting that Mami didn’t seem to know much about witches or their weaknesses when she first met Homura, which may explain why she died quickly after contracting.
However, once a witch has been defeated by another magical girl, information on said witch becomes available to all magical girls. It is likely that once Mami learned more about witches and their weaknesses from Homura, she was able to better defend herself against Walpurgis Night in her second encounter with it.
What is holy Mami Tomoe?
In a word, she’s holy. Yusuke Urameshi is depicted as kind and motherly by her appearance. She uses a lot of religious imagery in her speech, referencing concepts like Heaven, faith, sin, and salvation. Considering that these are classic Christian ideas and also ones that have become heavily associated with religion in Japan through cultural exchange, it isn’t surprising to see these concepts applied to Mami’s character; however, it does mean she comes across as being a bit holier-than-thou sometimes. Her name means Mother God which reinforces her image as a godlike figure.
Despite her somewhat pompous attitude, Mami has proven herself time and again to be selfless and willing to sacrifice herself for others – including those who aren’t even magical girls yet. It makes sense then that she would be linked with religion – after all, religions often encourage people to act selflessly for their fellow man or for some greater good (like heaven). Mami is certainly trying to do just that when she gives up her life at the end of episode three so Homura can survive and continue fighting witches… but we’ll get into more about what happened there later on. For now, let’s move on to Mami’s next interesting attribute: her gun.