Sure, that stuffed animal may look cute, but if you’ve seen anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica, you know this is the start of a dangerous relationship.
When I was just a month old, my parents bought me a teddy bear and placed it in my crib. It became one of my most treasured childhood possessions, and Jun Miyazawa (@mjun610 on Twitter) is hoping for a similar bond between her infant daughter, Ritsuki, and the plushie she’s given her.
However, unlike my parents, Miyazawa is a hardcore anime fan (in addition to being a DJ at anime music events). So rather than some generic stuffed animal, she’s instead selected the mascot/mentor character from one of the most popular magical girl anime series of all time. But while that description might have you imagining Sailor Moon’s sage and kind talking cat Luna, Miyazawa went quite a bit darker in picking out a baby toy.
In the photos seen here, Ritsuki is cuddling Kyubey, who appeared in the 2011 TV series Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Kyubey looks kind of like a cat or rabbit, but he’s actually an alien. Another way his looks are deceiving? Cute as he may be, he’s actually coldly void of emotion or empathy, and grants powers to magical girls as the first, secret step of a process of turning them into soulless witches, who he then sends other magical girls to exterminate as part of a convoluted, ultimately unnecessary plan to ward off the heat death of the universe.
And it’s not like Miyazawa is unaware of Kyubey’s remorselessly homicidal methods or vile tendency to withhold information in order to coerce junior high school girls to enter into a contract with him. As a matter of fact, that insidious nature is precisely why Miyazawa gave the plushie to her daughter, tweeting:
“One day, when you’re bigger, you’ll watch Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and you’ll burst into tears, screaming ‘Kyubey! You were a bad guy all along! Nooo! You and I were always together! Noooo!’
Mommy is looking forward to watching that happen ❤”
Playtime with Kyubey wasn’t a one-time thing, either. Miyazawa has shared multiple shots of her child smiling and smuggling with the sinister trickster.
▼ “Make a contract with me and become a magical girl!”
▼ “Whether you were laughing or crying, he was always by your side…all so that you’d make a contract with him and become a magical girl.”
In her defense, traumatizing her daughter isn’t the only way in which Miyazawa plans to incorporate her love of Japanese animation into her parenting style. She also says she looks forward to the day when Ritsuki is old enough to go with her to Comiket, and that she hopes they’ll also one day attend anime music events together not just as mother and child, but as fellow fans.
Of course, that’s all assuming Ritsuki forgives her for making her sleep with a monster for all those years. In the meantime, there’s still time to switch tactics and simply indulge in some baby cosplay instead.
Source: Twitter/@mjun610 via Hachima Kiko
Follow Casey on Twitter, where he needs to find a Patlabor Ingram plushie for his future kids.