Shizuki Ryouko

Shizuki Ryouko

Name	Shizuki Ryouko (♀)
Star-name	⁠⊃⁠Humanity‐preserving
Kanji	志筑涼子
Age	Ch. 1-36: 14 Ch. 36-?: 15
Occupation	Ch. 1: Student Ch. 2-21: Magical Girl, Training (Rank: 2LT) Ch. 21-29: Magical Girl, Active Service (Rank: 1LT) Ch. 30-??: Magical Girl, Active Service (Rank: CPT)
Special Comments	Main Protagonist
Soul Gem Placement	Base of the neck
Soul Gem Color	Green (same shade as Cephalopod blood)
Weapon	Arbalest
Classification	Teleporter
Mentor	Tomoe Mami (Primary) Sakura Kyouko (Secondary)

Shizuki Ryouko is the protagonist of To the Stars and a recently-contracted magical girl. Having spent most of her life in Mitakihara City, she has grown weary of Earth's monoculture and hopes to find her place among the stars, whether it be in the colonies, the ongoing war with the Cephalopods, or perhaps something else entirely. Her opportunity to do so finally arrives when she and her friend Simona del Mago are saved from a demon attack in the nick of time by Tomoe Mami, famous magical girl and a leader of the Mahou Shoujo Youkai.

She is notable for her status as the product of both the Shizuki and Kuroi Matriarchies (albeit through estranged branches); her tutelage under both Tomoe Mami and Sakura Kyouko, two of the Mitakihara Four; and her record-breaking teleportation range of approximately 200 kilometers.

Although she considers herself rational to the point of cynicism, especially with regard to the military and Governance, she is rather less insightful when it comes to her own life and relationships.

Story

Thinker/Ahimsa-extending conference

Background

Born on Earth

Appearance

For some reason everyone thinks her hair and eyes are green. I have no objections to that. Her hair is long and wavy (think Hitomi’s hair) but a bit more tentacular (if that makes sense). Remember, the hair is mildly self-mobile (and has a drone hanging off of it).

Her face resembles Hitomi (never said explicitly), but slightly sharper-edged, since instead of wearing that 24/7 ojou-sama look, she has a constant serious look to her. It also appears more childish than Hitomi (think Madoka, for example).

As for her figure, she’s short and flat-chested, but otherwise quite physically fit (with implants, this just sort of automatically happens). Casual clothing wise, she favors the kind of things you saw at the party (white dress, modest shirt top), with maybe pants if she’s not feeling too formal. Costume wise, it’s green, it’s frilly, and it has buttons. It resembles Madoka’s, actually, if you read the description, though it’s not quite as girlish. Dress is a lot less poofy and more practical, among other things. Soul gem is five-pointed star at base of neck. When not transformed, five-pointed star on the appropriate finger (middle finger of left hand, if episode 5 is to be believed). Of course, her weapon is an arbalest mounted on one arm, and she is a teleporter.

(The green of her costume matches the green of the aliens quite well.)

Personality

The protagonist Shizuki Ryouko is by all appearances an ordinary girl. Shorter than average, she is constantly worried that her schoolmates don’t take her seriously, and she has consequently learned to conceal whatever girlish tendencies she may have under a cynical outer layer.This is reflective of an overall tendency to worry about her insignificance in the grand scheme of things, and the desire to prove herself. She is frustrated by the seeming banality of life on Earth, and wishes to travel the universe, where she can have meaningful adventures, like her childhood hero Clarisse van Rossum.

More emotional than she admits, she tries to be as rational whenever possible, with mixed success. She is, however, a thoughtful protagonist. When she is engaged, she is unusually focused, to the point of having tunnel vision. When she is unengaged, a part of her is always drifting far away, causing her to pay suboptimal attention to her surroundings. She has little interest in romance, simply because it doesn’t fall into her current set of goals.

In acute crises, she is unlikely to go into hysterics, and indeed may seem level-headed or even cold; this is not indicative of lack of empathy, but simply a core practicality, even in the most extreme cases. In some cases, she can be shockingly blunt-spoken. It is only when her worldview is shaken that she is truly bothered, but she is extremely resilient. These are excellent qualities for a magical girl.

After discovering the existence of her Empathy Organ, she has become wary of even her own intent, beliefs, and of her relationship to Asami, as the latter probably started as a result of rewriting her own pref-spec.

Powers

"I wish I could leave Earth, and explore this world. I want to go where no one else has gone before and find my place in this universe."

Ryouko's main power is that of teleportation by wormhole. Under normal circumstances, she has a (record-setting) maximum range of 200km - enough to get her into low Earth orbit - but as the limiting factor is her ability to warp space, much larger ranges are theoretically possible depending on the situation. (Indeed, she destroyed this range in the Battle of Orpheus).

A weakness of her teleportation is that she must teleport herself along with the targets, though with Ceph-communicated information received during Project Armstrong, she gained further knowledge and observational ability and was able to remove this restriction. Additionally, blink interdictors disable her ability to create wormholes and teleport (ref: Chapter 62).

She also has a climatic attack (ch 2).

Relationships

Asami

After having been brought into the MSY fold, she'd meet a meek magical girl with a great interest in Xenobiology, Nakihara Asami, who had hoped her craft would bring her to the stars. She grows increasingly closer with the girl during the initial training, later assisting during the defence of the HSS Laplace and remaining by Ryouko's side on Acheron. It is there where she makes her affections towards Ryouko known during a visit to hot springs, kissing Ryouko, and leaving it up to Ryouko as to whether she'd reciprocate. Asked to reckon with what she wants, if she could even want to be with anyone, and after some contact with the Goddess, Ryouko attends Asami's resurrection and comes to reckon her wish, how she wanted to find her place away from earth, how she can no longer even return home after the divorce of her parents. She comes to learn that Asami was possessed by similar thoughts, with her unable to stand her altered family. Her worldview shifts, some part of her mind alters, Clarisse is confounded, as Ryouko decides then and there to become Asami's girlfriend.

There is some natural tension between Ryouko's general want to be in "combat-mode" and Asami's worry about the inherent dangers of such situations, but this is discussed rather maturely and the relationship stays solid and stable throughout the story so far (as of Chapter 70).

Clarisse

As part of her induction into the magical military, Ryouko was implanted with the V1.8 TacComp, though this would be upgraded to a V2 by one Joanne Valentin at the request of her father. Unlike the initial model, the V2 TacComp would get a name, with Ryouko deciding to name her Clarisse (after one of her childhood heroes) at the TacComp's suggestion. Clarisse stays by Ryouko's side (and on her spine) for the rest of her life, offering plentiful conversation in all things, from battle tactics to relationships, consoling Ryouko in her many times of need.

Distinctions

The Chitose Yuma Medal for Combat Leadership Exceeding Expectations of Age and Training Level, for leadership during the raid by Cephalopod fighters on the starship HSS Pierre-Simon Laplace
The Akemi Homura Medal for Successful Resolution of a Seemingly Hopeless Situation, for neutralizing the threat of the cloaked alien reinforcements and teleporting her unit to safety during the Second Wormhole Stabilizer Raid

Gallery

Ryouko school uniform character design reference
Ryouko costume character design reference
Ryouko weapon design reference
Mami saves Simona and Ryouko
Ryouko makes her wish
Ryouko's first transformation into her magical girl outfit in Chapter 1
Ryouko Fighting Demons in Chapter 2
Ryouko and Kyouko Fighting Demons in Chapter 2
Mami talks to Simona
"Do you know how worried we were?" -- Ryouko's mom to Ryouko during "the Visit" in Chapter 5
Ryouko meets her aunt Kuroi Nana
Colored Ryouko Headshot
Ryouko in her Magical Girl form
In a Magitech Armor for space fight
In a Magitech Armor for space fight
Early concept art of Ryouko Shizuki
Early concept art of Ryouko Shizuki
Early concept art of Ryouko Shizuki
Ryouko embarrassed over her frilly costume
Concept art of Ryouko's Magical Girl costume
Asami feeds Ryouko sushi
With Asaka Shirou in dress uniform. Notices the Chitose Yuma and Akemi Homura medals on Ryuko's chest and the Akemi Homura medal on Asaka's
With several characters in chibi. Notices CubeBot and "Berzerk Ryouko" in Ryouko's hand
On the planet Bismark, notices Priska and Marcus playing in the background
Ryouko in a spacesuit
Drawing of Ryouko
TTS Discord server banner
Ryouko says goodbye to her family in Chapter 16
Ryouko eats a cookie
Sketch portrait of Ryouko