Masamichi Yaga

Masamichi Yaga is a character in Jujutsu Kaisen. He was a grade 1 jujutsu sorcerer and second-year class teacher at Tokyo Jujutsu High in 2006 when he instructed Satoru Gojo, Suguru Geto, and Shoko Ieiri. Prior to 2017, Masamichi became principal and created Panda.

Appearance
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 worse 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. In 2006, Masamichi's hair wasn't spiky yet and he had two straight parts wrapped around his head. He also didn't sport sunglasses as much back before he became principal.

Personality
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.

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. 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 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. 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. 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. 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".

Abilities and Powers
Overall Skill Level: 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.

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.

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.

Battles & Events
Cursed Child Arc
 * Night Parade of a Hundred Demons

Shibuya Incident Arc
 * Shibuya Incident

Perfect Preparation Arc
 * Masamichi Yaga vs. Yoshinobu Gakuganji (Offscreen)

Trivia

 * Masamichi ranked 40th place in the manga's 1st Character Popularity Poll with 233 votes.
 * He owns a lot of glasses.
 * His catchphrase is "Goddamn!".
 * Although he likes cute things, it's not his intention to make his cursed corpses cute.
 * He taught Geto, Gojo, and Shoko.
 * When Yuji first saw him, Masamichi was making a new doll via felting.
 * According to Jujutsu Kaisen Official Fanbook:
 * His hobby is collecting sunglasses and liking cute things.
 * Favorite dish: Smoked daikon pickles.
 * Least Favorite dish: Sweet liquor.
 * Masamichi is one of the few people that can understand Satoru Gojo and they get along well.
 * Masamichi was once married and is currently a one-time divorcee.
 * He's been wearing sunglasses since he became the principal.
 * The relationship he has with Panda is like that of a parent and a child.
 * His challenge for Yuji was a unique case, usually that process is done after the students enroll into the school.

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Masamichi Yaga