Highlights
- Masamichi Yaga’s unique cursed corpse technique granted dolls sentience and the ability to produce their own cursed energy after three months.
- Yaga’s ability to create independent cursed corpses concerned superiors due to the potential of creating an unstoppable army.
- Yaga’s most complex creation, Panda, was the first Mutated Cursed Corpse, showcasing the potential of his technique and granting him his own cursed energy.
In the popular shonen manga and anime series Jujutsu Kaisen, sorcerers have the ability to manipulate cursed energy and utilize both innate and learned jujutsu techniques to fight against curses. While many sorcerers specialize in combat skills or domain expansions, one of the most unique pioneers was Masamichi Yaga, the former principal of Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Through private research, Yaga innovated a cursed corpse method unlike any other. By placing souls and body information into doll cores, he granted dolls sentience and the ability to produce their own cursed energy without external influence after three months. Yaga’s technique truly pushed boundaries in the linking of life, death, and cursed energy applications.
Who is Yaga?
Masamichi Yaga was a respected figure in the jujutsu community for many years. As a grade 1 sorcerer and former teacher, he mentored prominent students like Gojo and Geto at Jujutsu High. Yaga was described as stern but caring, pushing students to reach their potential.
As principal, Yaga continued to guide new generations with discipline and care. His true passion lay in cursed energy research and innovating cursed corpse applications. Through his unique method of placing souls and physical information into doll cores, Yaga discovered how to grant inanimate objects sentience and the ability to produce their own cursed energy after three months.
While Masamichi Yaga’s ability to create independent cursed corpses concerned his superiors, it was not out of a desire for military use. Rather, they feared he could create an unstoppable army that requires no external support, which nearly led to his being promoted to Special Grade and indefinitely restricted. However, Masamichi did secretly continue perfecting his techniques for decades. He maintained a private forest protected by Tengen that was home to some of his fully autonomous cursed corpses. Only those he deeply trusted, like his friend Atsuya Kusakabe, knew of this place.
Masamichi used one of his creatures to help Kusakabe cope with the loss of his nephew by imbuing it with the boy’s soul information. Overall, Masamichi was a thoughtful man and a principled teacher. His talent for puppetry matched his scholarly interest in understanding the connection between the soul and physical form. He was devoted to his students’ well-being above all else.
Cursed Corpses and Puppet Jujutsu
At the heart of Yaga’s technique was his ability to replicate a person’s soul information by using their physical information. He could create cursed corpses by placing three compatible souls, along with physical information, into the core of the doll. This allowed him to create sentient cursed corpses like Panda, with three cores that gave him abilities like changing shape.
Yaga also replicated the soul information of Atsuya’s nephew, Takeru, in the form of a small dog-like puppet. He created other dolls, like Cathy and Tsukamoto, for training purposes. Yaga took soul data from deceased individuals, like creating a doll with the soul information of Kusakabe’s nephew, to help relatives cope with loss.
Through his technique, Yaga achieved unprecedented control over his cursed corpses. He created sentient, cursed corpses that could produce their own cursed energy after three months, no longer needing energy from their creator. These independent dolls could move solely on their cursed energy cores. Yaga was a highly skilled Jujutsu sorcerer through his unique and powerful cursed corpse manipulation abilities.
Panda Turned Out to be the Perfect Puppet
It was in his private research that Yaga created Panda, the first Mutated Cursed Corpse. Panda was born when Yaga placed the soul information and physical information of three compatible souls into the core of a cursed corpse. With each soul able to observe the others over three months, they stabilized into a coherent sentience. Amazingly, this also granted Panda the ability to generate his own cursed energy without relying on Yaga’s power.
Panda served as proof of Yaga’s unique technique and what was possible. His three independent core souls allowed for unmatched mutability. Yaga raised Panda as his own child, showing his care extended beyond just humans. Their bond highlighted Yaga’s dedication as a father figure who brought Panda to life as an individual.
While Panda stood alone as Masamichi Yaga’s most complex and sentient creation, he also developed other cursed corpses to serve various purposes. Cathy and Tsukamoto were used to train students to maintain their cursed energy output. Yaga kept the full details of some of his techniques secret, as evidenced by his willingly sacrificing himself rather than revealing how he created independent cursed corpses.
The higher-ups were concerned about Yaga’s talent for crafting sentient puppets due to the potential threat it could pose if exploited with ill intent. However, all accounts showed that Yaga used his abilities responsibly and for the purpose of aiding jujutsu education. Yaga was a respected teacher and leader who cared deeply for his students. He seemed content applying his skills to help others rather than for any malicious goals.
The Mastery of this Cursed Technique Came With a High Price
Tragically, Yaga’s unique cursed corpse technique would prove both a blessing and a curse. After the Shibuya Incident, higher-ups saw him as a threat and wanted his execution to obtain his secrets, rather than true justice. Faced with revealing what was entrusted only to a few or dying needlessly, Yaga engaged Principal Gakuganji in battle as a final stand. Despite valiant efforts, injuries overtook the aged sorcerer.
In his last moments, Yaga conveyed to Gakuganji how he created sentient, cursed corpses like Panda by placing souls and information into a core. But stating it was “a curse from me to you” implied the great responsibility his abilities held. With Yaga’s passing, the creator of independent cursed corpses was lost, as was his progressive perspective opposing toxic bureaucracy. However, his legacy lives on through the self-aware dolls from his research and lessons given to devoted students like Gojo at Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Through his mastery of puppet jujutsu, Masamichi Yaga pushed the boundaries of what was possible with cursed energy manipulation. As principal of Tokyo Jujutsu High, he mentored generations of students, including the prodigious Satoru Gojo. While leading the school, Masamichi continued refining his techniques for implanting cursed energies into inanimate objects.
More than a combat-focused Grade 1 sorcerer, he was an intellectual who aimed to better understand the relationships between souls, bodies, and curses. Through patience and compassion, Masamichi guided his pupils with the goal of helping them apply their skills responsibly and for the benefit of humanity. His curious and open-minded approach expanded practitioners’ views on life, death, and the profound forces that connect them all.
His explorations gave sentience to souls and unlocked autonomous potentials that could make him humanity’s greatest ally or most terrifying foe. Even after his death, Yaga continues to inspire new heights in other talents through his unfinished work. Few have approached Yaga’s level of mastery over cursed corpses and the lines between physical and spiritual essence. His legacy as the premier creator of independent cursed corpses will endure as long as the art of Jujutsu itself.
Jujutsu Kaisen is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
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