SkunkyArt | WTFBOOOMSH — Homura Akemi vs Kurumi Tokisaki

Both Homura and Kurumi are supernatural, anime gunslingers with chronokinesis (a.k.a time manipulation).

These powers are symbolized by a circular object (a shield for Homura and Zaphkiel for Kurumi), as well as a gem that serves as their life force, and the source of their powers (Soul Gems for magical girls and Sephira Crystal for Date A Live spirits). Shattering it will cost them their lives.

As powerful as their abilities seem, it runs on a limited resource and both must also replenish their lifeforce via draining it through others (Homura must drain a witch’s grief seed to replenish her soul gem and Kurumi must refill her “time” by draining it through others).

They are among the scariest of their kind who put on cold fronts and act as outcasts but this is to hide the burdens they place on their shoulders as they believe they’re the only ones who can, which is difficult to do when giving in to despair can bring about disaster to not only themselves but everyone else around them (Magical Girls in MM turn into witches when their soul gem is corrupted and Kurumi risks going Inverse), and they almost do so.

They both find themselves living as regular school students before being tricked by higher powers into becoming what they are (Kyubei and Mio) and this leads them on a revenge plot relating to traveling back in time to kill those responsible for their predicaments (Walpurgisnacht and Mio/The Spirit of Origin) which in turn, would spare the fates of many potential future victims.

They also have gone through countless death loops for the sake of protecting the protagonist (Madoka and Shido) from their deaths who both have an infatuation for (albeit for different personal reasons).

They fail countless times, over and over again until the very person they’ve sworn to protect becomes the very reason they succeed (Madoka had beaten the Walpurgisnacht and took the suffering of all future magical girls/witches while Shido fought DEM industries headon with the help of Ratatoskr and the spirits).

Both also gain new abilities as a result of this (Homura gains the ability to manipulate the memories of others in the new timeline Madokami creates, as well as becoming Devil Homura when she steals Madokami’s power, and Kurumi gains Nia’s angel when she steals it from Westcott).

Both also come from series that serve as deconstructions to the genres they are a part of (The Magical Girl genre for Madoka Magica and The Harem genre for Date A Live).