A strange being whom Sasami meets at a pond in the Magical World and teaches her the Magical Girls' Song, which Sasami memorizes very well. Sasami calls him 'Ami-chan'.
He claims to have three names, but only two are known “Amitav” and “Keura”. The third name he was alluding to is unknown, but he might be referring to how the witches refer to him as “The Great Cauldron”.
Despite his appearance as an ordinary, if magically gifted, young man, Amitav is the Witches' deepest and darkest secret. He is, in fact, merely a dream projection of his true self, "Keura." Keura is trapped in a state of perpetual pain and torture, serving as a vessel for the Witches' negative emotions and the key to their supposed "paradise." Upon his release from imprisonment by The Chief Sorceress, he becomes the show's greatest magical threat, only barely contained by Sasami's light magic.
He is also notably Sasami’s main love interest.
Background
Little is known about Keura's previous life except for his connection to the witches' banishment to "The World of Witches." When the witches were forced to leave the human realm, they used an innocent young man named Keura to absorb their negative emotions, likely in an attempt to overcome any resentment they might have held towards humanity. Keura was chosen and imprisoned against his will due to his kind and compassionate nature.
Keura, now known as the Great Cauldron, was imbued with immense dark magical powers and he has not aged since his imprisonment, in contrast, several witches who have died of old age. While he became a repository of powerful dark magic, the price was his eternal confinement and the corruption of a part of his being by evil magic, leaving him in a state of excruciating pain. Essentially, his suffering is what enabled the seemingly utopian World of Witches to exist.
Luckily he had some relief as his dream self “Amitav” was able to roam freely while his true body was imprisoned.
Keura's existence remained a closely guarded secret to almost everyone except the witches. Occasionally, one of the storytellers was chosen to guard him, the most recent being Ginji Iwakura. This however was also a closely guarded secret. Amitav, the dream projection self of Keura, became obsessed with Ginji due to his kindness and compassion during his time guarding him. However, Amitav's true self became a corrupted an malevolent being as he had been transformed into a powerful source of dark magic
Keura ended up having a big role in the story as he secretly empowered Ginji Iwakura as a by product of the vast magical energy that leaked through him. Albeit unwillingly, He also ended up empowering and corrupting Misao Shinohara due to the chief sorceress manipulations. His imprisonment had also twisted him into an evil entity that nearly destroyed the world if not for the intervention Sasami who managed to stop him without harming him or sealing him again.
The series ended with him in a comma state leaving the question if Sasami had indeed healed his mind, and if he would recover, unanswered.
Personality
Amitav, though seemingly a stoic, reserved, and mysterious young man, possessed a charm that captivated Sasami. However, beneath this enigmatic exterior lay a deeply troubled mind, scarred by years of confinement that had warped his perception and led to erratic behavior. For example, he displayed a blatant disregard for privacy by intruding on Sasami and the other magical girls while they were bathing.
Despite the evident deterioration of his mental state, vestiges of his former compassionate nature still flickered within him. The part of his being that could freely traverse the outside world as an “astral projection” still displayed some of his kind and benevolent nature. However, the prolonged torment he had endured at the hands of the witches had taken a devastating toll on his sanity, manifesting in episodes of unhinged, albeit harmless, behavior.
Amitav developed an intense fascination with Ginji Iwakura, possibly rooted in romantic sentiments, stemming from Ginji's kindness during his imprisonment. However, the insidious influence of dark magic had pushed Amitav’s true self, Keura, to the precipice of madness, transforming him into a malevolent entity that posed a threat to the very existence of the world. Fortunately, the combined forces of Amitav's lingering goodness and Sasami's potent light magic managed to restore his sanity, and stopping him from ending the world.
Voice credits
- JAPANESE - Mitsuki Saiga (斎賀 みつき)
- ENGLISH - J. Michael Tatum
Trivia
- Given Tenchi’s absence in this continuity, and the fact that Ryo-Ohki is not secretly a male humanoid either, he is Sasami’s sole romantic interest. Ironically, however, Amitav doesn’t reciprocate given he is completely infatuated with Sasami’s father Ginji Iwakura. In fact his obsession with Ginji is so strong, it can be interpreted as him having romantic feelings for him.
- Makoto, as boy crazy as she is, thinks he is cute, but weird. A fact that made Sasami Jealous.
- Ironically while Sasami is the one most attracted to him, a then evil and deranged , Misao Shinohara ended up kissing him, mouth to mouth, first in order to absorb some of his dark magical powers.