Masamichi Yaga

Masamichi Yaga (夜や蛾が正まさ道みち, Yaga Masamichi?) is a character in Jujutsu Kaisen. He was the Principal of Tokyo Jujutsu High and a grade 1 jujutsu sorcerer. He was a cursed corpse user as well as Panda's creator and father. Prior to becoming Principal sometime after 2006, Masamichi was a second-year teacher to Satoru Gojo, Suguru Geto, and Shoko Ieiri.

Masamichi was a tall man with a muscular frame and tan skin. He had short, spiky, black hair on top with the rest of his head shaved. He has thick eyebrows and his facial hair consists of a mustache and goatee combination.

Like many other sorcerers, Masamichi always sports sunglasses. In 2017 he wore a white dress shirt underneath a black jacket with matching pants and shoes. In 2018 he began wearing a fully zipped-up long-sleeved black jacket with similar shoes and pants.

Masamichi was always a stern, thoughtful, and earnest man who served as a positive role model for all his staff and students at Jujutsu High. He had a strong moral center and a lot of patience, especially compared to the higher-ups. He was the primary mentor for Satoru and Suguru, who were particularly difficult individuals to deal with when they were students. Satoru once left a manager behind and then forgot to put up a curtain during a mission. Unsure of who did it, Masamichi spoke to all his students and gave them the chance to come clean. Satoru didn't own up to it properly so Masamichi punished him physically.[3]

Satoru and Suguru often clashed over their conflicting views on sorcery but Masamichi's authoritative presence got them to stop squabbling as soon as he entered the room.[4] As students with spirited personalities, Satoru and Suguru messed with Masamichi all the time. When Masamichi assigned the duo the escort mission for the Star Plasma Vessel, they said that he finally lost it and had gotten carried away after being named the next principal. This annoyed Masamichi as usual but he was willing to put it aside after telling them he would decide whether they were joking or not.

Masamichi is still constantly irritated by Satoru even after he grew up. Satoru is constantly late to their meetings even after Masamichi repeatedly reminds him not to do so[6] and Masamichi is the one responsible for reigning him in whenever he pulls one of his stunts like publically taunting Principal Gakuganji. Despite the contrast in their personalities, Masamichi shares the same progressive attitude that Satoru does toward the students of Jujutsu High. On at least two occasions, the higher-ups have sentenced potential young sorcerers to death. Masamichi and Satoru decided to make Yuta and Yuji students rather than stick to tradition or the decisions made by the higher-ups. Suguru's betrayal devastated Masamichi as much as it did Satoru. Neither of them could make sense of what happened or Suguru's motivations at the time and were distraught that their comrade would suddenly go completely rogue. Masamichi didn't blame Satoru for not executing Suguru and even apologized for even asking why he didn't.

When interviewing Yuji, he initially refused to allow him to become a student because Yuji's motivation was a dying request from his grandfather. However, becoming a sorcerer for someone else for any reason is unacceptable in Masamichi's opinion, even if it comes at the request of a family member. He asked Yuji if it would be his grandfather's fault if he were killed by a curse, a very harsh question. Yuji pointed out the horrible nature of the statement but Masamichi clarified that it's a teacher's job to make their students have realizations. His methods are unorthodox, but Masamichi prides himself on developing his students. Masamichi used one of his cursed corpses to attack Yuji, pressuring him to give a better answer. Masamichi claimed that no jujutsu sorcerer dies without regret but Yuji told him he didn't want to live with regrets either, which was a satisfactory response.

Masamichi tests the convictions of his students due to what happened with Suguru, which is likely Masamichi's biggest regret. While Gakuganji believed Yuji should've been executed because of the threat Sukuna presents, Masamichi argued on his behalf. Masamichi pointed out the lives Yuji has saved and his potential to be a great sorcerer. He knew regrets aren't limited to just the students and that Yuji will experience a lot of it. However, Masamichi believed that they should try and guide Yuji and put their regrets as adults to the side. They comedically agreed they needed to do something about Satoru first anyway.

Masamichi has a few personality quirks that distinguish him from being an overly serious man. He has a comedic catchphrase, "Goddamn!" (in English), that he says whenever he's surprised by something. Masamichi is also known for liking cute stuff, which is in direct contrast to his sternness. His cursed corpses are essentially cute dolls, and Yuji met Masamichi while he was making some, confusing the new student.

Masamichi's responsibility as a role model extends to his cursed corpses. He is essentially Panda's father and raised him throughout his youth. When Panda was still very young, Masamichi encouraged him revealing that he had two siblings inside of him that would lend him strength should he ever need it.[12] Masamichi raised Panda into adolescence and enrolled him into Jujutsu High. The other students are aware of this relationship as Maki has mentioned that Panda is the principal's favorite.

Masamichi considers his own talent as a sorcerer to be a "curse". As the foremost practitioner of puppet jujutsu, Masamichi was able to develop fully independent cursed corpses. Upon creating Panda, Masamichi was restrained and interrogated about raising his own army. Since that point, Masamichi has kept his other creations a secret within a forest protected by Tengen.[14] However, he broke his own rule in order to help Kusakabe's sister deal with the loss of her son. Masamichi is a kind man who invented a cursed corpse with her son Takeru's soul information to help her cope, which Kusakabe is immensely grateful for.[15] When facing execution following the Shibuya Incident, Masamichi was well aware his time was running out and that the higher-ups just wanted his formula for creating independent cursed corpses. Rather than expose his own secret, Masamichi allowed himself to be fatally injured by Gakuganji. Only in his last moments did Masamichi pass on his formula to his executioner, stating that it was "a curse from me to you".

Masamichi was already a veteran grade 1 sorcerer by the time Satoru, Suguru, and Shoko were in their second year of high school. He was the foremost practitioner of puppet jujutsu, making him the most proficient user of cursed corpses of any sorcerer. He was the only one able to develop fully independent cursed corpses that retain their own cursed energy. Panda is Masamichi's finest creation, an abrupt mutated cursed corpse with three self-sustaining cores and emotions.[17]

The potential threat of the creation of sentient cursed corpses proposed nearly lead the higher-ups to promote Masamichi to special grade and place an indefinite restriction on him. They were afraid he could effectively create his own army that requires no external support.[18]

Masamichi developed numerous cursed corpses capable of performing a variety of tasks. Some were for combat and others provided support or training for other sorcerers. While Masamichi's primary talent was crafting puppets, he was capable of exorcising cursed spirits on his own as well. He was likely a capable close range combatant, as he was the one who taught Panda to fight and was willing to fight a fellow sorcerer without the use of his cursed corpses. While he was defeated, Masamichi was able to injure Gakuganji and break his guitar before succumbing to his wounds.

Cursed Energy (呪じゅ力りょく, Juryoku?) is a power source aligned with negative emotions used by sorcerers and cursed spirits to fuel their jujutsu.

Negative emotions such as grief and anger are the foundation of cursed energy. These emotions exist to some degree within most humans and as a result, the vast majority of human beings possess cursed energy. If this amount is higher than a certain degree, it grants the person the ability to see cursed spirits. These individuals are known as jujutsu sorcerers and they are very rare among the human race. Cursed energy leaks from the human body, accumulates, and ferments over time until a cursed spirit manifests.[1] This is only the case with non-sorcerers, as sorcerers are trained to control and channel their cursed energy into jujutsu. Cursed energy is the primary power source for any sorcerer or cursed spirit. Cursed tools, cursed objects, and cursed corpses all contain cursed energy as well. It is ordinarily used to fuel cursed techniques, reinforce the body, or activate talismans, but cursed energy has various uses. The properties of cursed energy vary from person to person and its connection to the human brain is shrouded in mystery. In the anime, most cursed energy is blue in color but there are several exceptions.

Great Cursed Energy: As a sorcerer and the principal of the Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College he has high levels of cursed energy in which he makes use of controlling puppets to attack enemies. His understanding of cursed energy and concepts of "soul" and "body" information allowed him to create self-sufficient cursed corpses.

Cathy (キャシィ, Kyashii?)[21]: A medium sized round doll, with a dog/bear face and kappa-like head top. The doll posses a powerful heavy punch and can bounce off walls.

Principal Yaga and Cathy (Anime) Tsukamoto (ツカモト, Tsukamoto?)[22]: A bear wearing a pair of boxing gloves. The bear is normally asleep but when someone doesn't emit a constant flow of cursed energy, it will wake up and attack the person. This cursed corpse is used in the training to maintain a constant output of cursed energy. Gojo with one of Principal Yaga's dolls

Panda (パンダ, Panda?): A mutated cursed corpse that Masamichi created from a panda. This cursed corpse is special since it has three cores for three different beings.

Takeru (タケル, Takeru?): A dog-like cursed corpse created from Kusakabe's nephew's soul info so that his mother and uncle could see him again.

At some point in the past, Masamichi became the principal and second-year teacher of the Tokyo college. Masamichi had also created Panda, and trained him. Masamichi also explained to Panda that he has an older brother and sister.

After the creation of Panda, Yaga is taken into a cell with his hands bound by seals. He is talking to Yoshinobu Gakuganji about Panda. Gakuganji wants to know how Panda was created, as he works differently from other cursed corpses by having his own cursed energy. Gakuganji believes that Yaga could pose a major threat to society if he was able to create a cursed corpses army that's similar to Panda. Yaga assures Gakuganji that he doesn't know how Panda was made.[2]

At some point, Masamichi created a cursed corpse with Atsuya Kusakabe's nephews information. He is with Takeru when Atsuya brings his sister along who rushes to hugs Takeru the moment he says "aren't I a genius". Kusakabe tells Masamichi that he is truly grateful.

Masamichi meets with Gojo, and talks about how they have to locate Geto. When Geto suddenly shows up at the college for Yuta Okkotsu, Masamichi along with several other sorcerers go to confront Geto. After Geto makes his proclamation about an all-out war and leaves, Masamichi attends a meeting where they discuss their course of action.

Masamichi meets with Gojo and Yuji Itadori for an interview to see if Yuji will attend the school. When Gojo and Yuji arrive at the meeting place, Masamichi says that they are late. When Yuji introduces himself, Masamichi asks him why he is here. Yuji says that he is here to help people because it was the last request from his grandfather, Masamichi doesn't like his response and says that he is disqualified. Masamichi then has more of his corpse dolls attack Yuji and explains what it is and that it will continue to attack until Yuji gives him an answer he likes.

As Yuji is continued to be attacked by the doll and tries to to give another reason, Masamichi explains what a sorcerer does and how most of them die. When Yuji says that he will never regret how he lives, Masamichi accepts this answer and welcomes Yuji to the school. However, he forgets to deactivate his technique.

Days later Masamichi goes to meet with Gojo, but notices that Gojo is late.[13] The next day, Masamichi is to attend a meeting with the Kyoto college principal, Yoshinobu Gakuganji, but is told by Gojo the wrong time of the meeting.

On the day of the Kyoto Goodwill Event, Masamichi is with Yoshinobu when Gojo reveals that Sukuna's host, Yuji, is still alive. Masamichi then explains the rules of the event along with Gojo, while punishing Gojo.

When the event starts, Masamichi is with the other faculty watching the event through monitors. When intruders invade the site, Masamichi heads over to go find Tengen. After the intruders have been dealt with, Masamichi attends a meeting with the other faculty and informed of the casualties and what was stolen from the invasion. After they all discussed about how they should keep what was stolen a secret from the higher-ups, Masamichi suggest that the Kyoto Goodwill Event be over.

After it is decided that the event will continue, Masamichi is surprised that the next day event is baseball.[19] Masamichi then watches the game along with Yoshinobu. During the game, Masamichi talks with Yoshinobu about Yuji.

On October 31, Masamichi has Shoko set up a tent near Shibuya, to help out the wounded sorcerers. As Shoko tells him that she doesn't need him to be around, but Masamichi explains how they need to protect Shoko since she is the only one that can use the reverse technique.[21] When Megumi Fushiguro shows up, Masamichi is surprised by this and wonders about how he thought he saw either Yuji or Sukuna.