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Magia Day 2019 Features Surprise Guests ClariS, Ume Aoki, More

The Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story (Magia Record: Mahō Shōjo Madoka Magica Gaiden) smartphone role-playing game celebrated its second anniversary on Sunday with an event in the Tokyo Dome City Hall. Not only did the game's main voice cast and staff appear on stage to share their feelings about the series so far, the first episode of the upcoming anime adaptation was screened as a present to the fans. ClariS also made a surprise guest appearance to perform several songs from the game and anime series: "Connect" from the Puella Magi Madoka Magica TV anime opening, "Signal" from part 2 of the smartphone game, and "Colorful" from Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie Part 3: Rebellion.

The event was livestreamed on YouTube and Periscope, but only after the point when the first episode was screened and ClariS held their performance. Even after the stream began, the event still had its surprises, like when the game's main character designer Ume Aoki appeared wearing a Kyubey mask in order to take part in some player vs player battles with other staff members.

After the screening of the first episode and ClariS's performance, the livestreamed part of the event began with a talk segment with the game's main voice actors: Momo Asakura (who plays Iroha Tamaki), Sora Amamiya (who plays Yachiyo Nanami), Shiina Natsukawa (who plays Yui Tsuruno), Yui Ogura (who plays Sana Futaba), Ayaka Ōhashi (who plays Kaede Akino), Kaori Ishihara (who plays Rena Minami), Manaka Iwami (who plays Ui Tamaki), and Ayana Taketatsu (who plays Alina Gray). The voice actors shared their thoughts on part 1 of the mobile game's story with a particular focus on how their characters have developed over time.

This segment was followed by a Mirrors Tournament, where main character designer Ume Aoki, original witch designer Gekidan Inu Curry (Doroinu), and two producers Yūsuke Toyama and Tatsuya Ishikawa pitted their magical girl teams against each other through the game's PvP "Mirrors" battle system. The voice actors had to predict who would win. (Amusingly, none of the eight voice actors thought at first that Toyama would win. He ended up being the overall victor.)

Next, the event released new information about the TV anime adaptation, including the updated air date in January, among other details. Then some new information about the game's part 2 was announced, including design reveals for several new characters and some new gameplay additions. There will be a raid battle system that up to 30 players can take part in and a growth board where players can allocate points towards the skills/stats their characters will earn. A second collaboration with the Puella Magi Suzune Magica manga spinoff was announced, and two new five-star magical girls were teased for release in 2019.

Three voice actors for several part 2 characters appeared on stage, wearing outfits corresponding with the appearances of their designs. Mayu Sagara plays Chiharu Hiroe, Shū Uchida plays Shizuka Tokime, and Aguri Ōnishi plays Sunao Toki. Together, they performed their character song "Sazanka no Ato" (A trace of sasanqua camellia). Finally, most of the voice actors and staff left the stage, leaving only Momo Asakura, Sora Amamiya, and Shiina Natsukawa, the three members of the singing group TrySail. They announced that the theme song of part 2 will be called "Utsuroi" (Vicissitudes) and performed the game's opening theme song "Kakawari" (Involvement).

The event concluded with Asakura performing her character song "Yohaku no Honne" (True feelings of blank space), wrapping up an eventful evening for Puella Magi Madoka Magica fans. The staff and voice actors thanked the fans for showing up even though a typhoon was scheduled to hit Tokyo later the same night. Hopefully, everyone managed to get home safely.