Kyoko Sakura (Soul Magica)

Kyoko Sakura is a major character in Puella Magi Madoka Magica IF and the Soul Magica series as a whole. She is a Magical Girl from Kazamino and an old friend of Mami Tomoe. She comes to Mitakihara to discuss the upcoming "Walpurgisnacht" event in place of her hometown's Magical Girl ambassador, Oriko Mikuni, who has mysteriously disappeared.

Appearance
Kyoko has long red hair done up in a ponytail with a black ribbon and scarlet eyes. She wears a black tank top and jean shorts (that don't seem to fit her anymore) with a blue-green jacket over the top and brown boots.

As a Magical Girl, she wears a black and pink waist-high skirt under a red overcoat with white trim. She has gray detached sleeves with brown cuffs on the ends, black thigh-highs, and red knee-high boots with white accents. There is cutout in her overcoat that shows her Soul Gem on her chest, which takes the form of an eye when transformed.

Personality
Kyoko is very hot-headed, often butting heads with other Magical Girls who get in her way. She has been shown to humble herself, however, as seen in her talk with Madoka in chapter 6.

Etymology

 * Kyoko's first name contains the character for "apricot,"(杏子) a symbol of strength achieved through struggles with adversity.
 * Her surname, Sakura (桜), means "cherry blossom", which, according to Buddhist tradition, symbolizes the transience of life.
 * The first character for Sakura (佐) means "to help" while the second (倉) means "warehouse."

History
Kyoko was the eldest daughter of a priest. Her father started to deviate from the community's traditional doctrine and was excommunicated for it - Kyoko used her wish to get her father more followers; however, upon finding this out, her father went insane and killed the entire family except Kyoko, then committed suicide by hanging himself from the church ceiling. After her family's death, Kyoko was introduced to the principles of "Dog eat dog world", "you get what you pay for" and "Kill or be killed/Eat or be eaten" and started to live by them. She uses her magic and other abilities mainly for herself due to the belief that helping somebody else will only result in something bad.

Due to her experience, Kyoko begins to subconsciously reject her wish. This causes her to lose her illusion magic. On the brink of despair, she is rescued by Mami, and the two work together for a short time.

Songs

 * Hope Now

Duets

 * Ophelia (Along with Sayaka Miki)
 * Take Me As I Am (Along with Madoka Kaname)