Our first introduction to yorishiro is Hanako in Ch. 6, where he explains that the divine yorishiro are like batteries to the school mysteries. If you get rid of them, they power down! Easy to understand.

He also makes mention of the fact that this yorishiro should be located in the innermost reaches of Yako's boundary. Obviously, the best offense is a good defense, so keeping your yorishiro in the safest, least accessible part of your boundary is a no-brainer. Still worth mentioning, though.

Finally, Hanako states that it's something that "has the most value" to No. 2, and something that "means a lot to her." These are very positive connotations. Nene then equates this to the scissors Yako received from Misaki, a token from her first love.

Much later, Tsuchigomori explains to Yashiro that yorishiro are objects with the strongest feelings connected to them. This is veeery interesting, because this is vague enough that it could mean any type of feeling.

A page later, Tsuchigomori says that the reason the moon rock is his yorishiro is because Amane changing his future surprised him. So it seems like the primary emotion behind this yorishiro could have been surprise. However, considering Tsuchigomori cared a lot for Amane, it's hard to say it didn't also come from a place of love.

...anyways I am skipping No. 3 because it doesn't matter yet...

Briefly touching upon Shijima Mei, it makes sense why the sketchbook is her yorishiro. It's a memento from her creator, and the place she originally sprung to life. I can't say exactly what emotion or feeling could be tied to it, but all that matters is that it's obvious she cares deeply for the original Shijima Mei.

Mei even says so herself!

Very touching.

And now, we are finally getting to the reason I made this post!!

THIS HOT MESS

See, in Ch. 94, Hakubo makes it clear that he is not able to feel love in a traditional sense. It is, apparently, too foreign an emotion for a demon, and even more so for a demon that lacks desire like he does. So naturally, he eats her.

The thing about Sumire is, I think she woke up that desire within him. This is the closest thing to love he can feel, but he can never truly love her as he is. Not in the right way.

A bit tragically, Sumire actually directly quotes Tsuchigomori's quote from the 4 PM Bookstacks, which is that a yorishiro is an object that the school mystery has the strongest emotional attachment to. Ignoring the fact she is literally calling herself an object, she interprets this as him returning her same feelings. Oh, my poor girl...

Still, No. 6 is a school mystery, and his connection to Sumire is the most powerful emotion he has ever felt. He even openly admits he would fall in love with her if he was human, proving this is just a demon’s version of “love.”

Thus, in the end, I would say that every yorishiro so far has had a theme of love behind it. And isn't that sweet? Isn't love the strongest emotion of all? Love is always said to overcome every odd, isn't it?

But what about loss? Can we not say that these yorishiro didn't emerge from feelings of anguish? After all, the loss of a loved one is so powerful,

it can even take another's life.

How sad.

...The thing about Tsukasa and Amane is, I can't say what the primary emotion behind him being his yorishiro is. Amane is all over the place when he comes to Tsukasa.

One emotion I see is fear.

Not necessarily of Tsukasa himself, but what Tsukasa reminds Amane of. Of what Amane became. Out of control, and capable of taking the life of his own brother. He is his own brother's murderer, and it terrifies him.

His greatest fear in the Hell of Mirrors is his brother's dead body, after all. A reminder of what Amane really sees himself as: a killer.

But one could also say guilt is a powerful emotion for Amane. Not only did he commit murder, a crime, but he did it towards his own flesh and blood. His little brother. As the elder sibling, it was his duty to protect him, not kill him.

Tsukasa even uses this against him, being shown to manipulate Amane's feelings about murdering him for his own purposes.

But would guilt really be enough? What about sorrow?

I already alluded to Amane taking his own life shortly after killing his brother, but he was also very close to his brother as a young child, and at least up until they entered middle school.

The loss of anyone in your life can hurt, no matter who they are. What makes it most painful, though, is that they’re close to you. Dear to you. Loved by you.

A loved one dying is terrifying.

The guilt is overwhelming.

You’re filled with unbearable sorrow.

Because you love them.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

...

I must admit, while originally typing up this post, I wanted to end it on a theory that maybe a yorishiro doesn’t have to be selected out of a feeling of love. And I think that can still be true; Hakubo’s feelings towards Sumire aren’t true love, after all, and Tsuchigomori’s feelings towards the moon rock could just be simple surprise.

Even so, I can’t believe that Amane doesn’t truly care for Tsukasa, or that love is not the driving force behind his emotional attachment to him. It is a toxic love, for sure, and one that brings him intense pain and sorrow, but one he cannot help but feel. I only hope that they may one day mend things between them.

Anyways, thank you for reading all the way to the end! I’ve been wanting to make a few other posts lately, so hopefully I can get those out soon.

Take care of yourselves, and remember, go tell someone you love them today! You never know when they could disappear or fall into a hole, so make every moment count, guys.

But somehow seeing it now made it almost heartbreaking? Like the added visuals made the Yugi sibling bond seem more tragic, they were so together before they broke apart. The deja vu from the panels and knowing Tsukasa really is his Yorishiro and that Amane may have to kill him again really made the feelings train crash over me.

Which begs the question: does Tsukasa know that he's Amane's Yorishiro?

If he does, then, doesn't he realise that destroying all the Yorishiro means bad things for him? So why is he telling Amane to destroy the yorishiros? Either way, it's sad knowing Amane will probably lose Tuskasa again.

And poor Sumire and Hakubo, it really hit hard after Sakura's speech about yorishiro being the most important thing to the wonders.

At least Aoi, Kou, Akane and Teru seem to be out of the boundary and hopefully okay. Now that nene's back in the living world and Hanako is back, I wonder what they'll do next, and how Sakura and Natsuhiko are planning to get Nene to "do their bidding"