Sadist

sunflower trio omg I love them so bad, I wanna make an edit of them 😳😳

Back when this header was first published, I posted a picture of an "old-timer" who, I thought, looked like Tsukasa and nothing more. Now I think there are some Ophelia references in Tsukasa, or maybe he just happened to resemble this rather common character type. Because this happens more often than should.

In any case, Ophelia is a political pawn, everyone has their own plans for her, no one asks her what she wants, a bride in a patriarchal world, she goes crazy or stages it, knowing full well, her only way out is death (or she gets killed), the only way she gets any freedom. How is that not Tsukasa? No one ever asked him what he wants, only Tsukasa fulfilled other people's wishes, everyone wants to bring back the "old Tsukasa" and not "save this one from his suffering," no one thinks about how Tsukasa feels. Well, probably because he's insane and it's a subversion of the system (though it's obvious that these are either Tsukasa's repressed feelings or a staged image). Kannagi is literally a sacrificial bride of a god, the pinnacle of patriarchy. Tsukasa is also in close contact with water; he literally committed suicide in a well when he sacrificed himself; the hole demon is a water deity. Tsukasa is also completely tired of everything that happens around him, which he can't influence. He can't escape his role as the hole demon's lapdog, yorishiro, and can't stop people from betraying him over and over again. His world was also destroyed when he didn't know what to do (the death of Ophelia's father). In theory, Tsukasa could have gone mad under the circumstances. How great it would have been to see Femkasa, it's a huge theft that Aidairo never showed anything like this. It's like there's something wrong with how the normal boy Tsukasa is placed in such a role, although that's also important, but if we were shown Femkasa at least once, things would become even more obvious (and that's important because people don't like to understand Tsukasa, lol)

Actually, this same text is on AO3, but it's not in English. I'm posting it here mainly for this reason, because it will be a translation with pictures.

Warning: The text will be long and divided into several posts.

Well, it's time for me to do a detailed analysis of Tsukasa. Of course, it will partially correlate with analyses already written, but I've done it myself, and I'd like to explore Tsukasa from my own perspective. Basically, my opinion. Remember these words, because I'll try to substantiate my arguments, but some things will likely be taken for granted, and some will remain purely my perspective. I don't want this analysis to force anyone to believe what I think, but perhaps it will shed some light on how I think Aidairo is revealing Tsukasa Yugi.

I also want to take it on faith that Tsukasa is still himself, because that's the cause of all the drama (Amane trying to bring back the one who's been by his side all this time). It gives Tsukasa depth as an emotional character, because if he were just a cold, cynical demon with no morals but immense power, it would be incredibly boring. We're in shounen, but not that much, after all. So I'll focus more on his personality than on the lore aspects; that's a different matter altogether.

In general, Tsukasa's entire problematic and complex nature revolves around the fact that it's not always clear when he realizes himself and when he doesn't. He's a combination of a fairly intelligent young man and an ill-mannered, neglected child, which influences his behavior. Plus, a hundred years of isolation and family hatred would have an impact on anyone. Basically, Tsukasa is strange, of course. But surprisingly, he's still understandable in certain situations. To do this, we need to know what kind of person he is.

Tsukasa first appears in the story shrouded in mysterious dark smoke, behaving eccentrically. Hanako is very tense at the sight of him. They clearly wanted to present Tsukasa as a mysterious villain or something similar. But the fact that Amane is crying out of guilt, not specifically fear of his brother, and that Tsukasa isn't all that mysterious and terrifying, becomes clear later in the story if you look at the Yugi twins. Amane's feelings of guilt and timidity towards his brother are immense, but that's a topic for another day; we'll talk about Tsukasa now. This scene was simply an introduction to Tsukasa's character, designed to attract attention, which, for some reason, is the only thing that shaped many people's opinions of Tsukasa for a long time. Although Aidairo loves to play up situations, much is later revealed from a completely different perspective, and it's time to move on from Chapter 15.

As of today, the characteristics of Tsukasa that have been revealed to us include the following, which I will analyze further.

I want to start with Tsukasa's positive qualities, because his flaws already get a lot of attention in the fandom, and I'll get to them later. Tsukasa's good side can be unexpected, it can manifest itself in strange ways, but nevertheless, it's rightfully present in him. After all, remember that Tsukasa is still a human being with his own behavior, and not just a dead vessel for the demon.

1) Compassion.

Tsukasa is, at his core, a kind child. He's been like that since childhood, and some of that quality remains to this day. Three-year-old Tsukasa is very compassionate — despite being at an age when he'd rather just play, when children don't usually think too much about things like self-sacrifice and need to be specifically taught similar qualities — we know what happened in the end. Of course, I'm not saying children lack empathy; on the contrary, they're very sensitive to many things and are quite capable of being upset by someone else's misfortune and wanting to help. It's just that children aren't omnipotent in this regard, especially young ones, and Amane's illness was very severe and prolonged. It's easy to get tired and start paying less attention to your sick brother when you're healthy and free to do whatever you want. However, Tsukasa constantly supported Amane, often bringing him gifts, worrying about his brother, and looking for ways to help him — if he brings him this toy, will Amane be happier? If he finds a way to cure him, will Amane be happier? Tsukasa took part in taking care of Amane.

After all, it all started with Tsukasa not wanting Amane to cry over a lost ball, and while it could very well be a matter of not wanting Amane to get angry at him and call him names, he, as a perfectly regular sibling, could have let it slide. So, I lost your toy, that's how it is, leave me alone. However, Tsukasa is never averse to helping. Amane is already in a bad way, why bother him unnecessarily?

Even today, having changed after everything he's been through, Tsukasa is capable of empathy. Sometimes it's something quite peculiar, with some traces of a spectrum, perhaps, like when he thinks the best solution is to smash the last teapot so it won't be different from the rest of the tea set. Poor thing, Tsukasa says, it can't be with his friends anymore. He also worries about Mitsuba when he panics after gaining the Third's powers and smashes everything around him. Mitsuba is interfering with Tsukasa's communication with Amane, and we know how much this means to Tsukasa. Nevertheless, he prioritizes Mitsuba's well-being. He doesn't simply aim to get rid of someone who's essentially a nuisance to everyone around him, but he takes Mitsuba's condition into account, seeing that Mitsuba is weak-willed and genuinely frightened. Tsukasa doesn't force him to calm down. Instead, he shows incredible tenderness, stroking Mitsuba and calling him a good boy. And it works.

2) Others' Capabilities.

As you can see, compassion can also include understanding the limitations of others. After all, with Mitsuba, he later begins to act rather familiarly — simply telling him to shut up and stop crying, which contrasts with this hug scene.

But is this really about how Tsukasa suddenly treats Mitsuba? He continues to care for his charge, bringing him evil spirits to eat and not abandoning him in difficult situations. But Mitsuba must do the "other half of the job" himself, because that's what he can do, right?

Tsukasa always treats him based on what Mitsuba is capable of and what he can't. It's entirely possible that Mitsuba's whining, which prompts him to shut up, doesn't threaten Mitsuba's safety. We know how tender and unstable Mitsuba is, and he could easily cry over what Tsukasa considers trivial matters, as Tsukasa has his own views on emotional expression. The same power reading applies to Amane, or rather, Hanako. Tsukasa knew full well how gravely ill his brother was, that he clearly wasn't particularly strong physically in life, yet he constantly (for his own reasons) sets Mitsuba and Nene on him, simply because he knows Hanako, as the school's mystery, is capable of handling it. And so it is. Hanako easily captured Mitsuba; he wouldn't have died at Nene's hands in the film, since he was still a mystery, not some clone.

Tsukasa assesses the situation and won't force someone to do something they clearly can't or won't handle. Of course, this minimum doesn't make Tsukasa a particularly gentle person (after all, if a person has strength, they will be expected to fulfill their duties), but in any case, Tsukasa doesn't overdo it with the harshness of his demands.

3) Against violence against the weak.

Tsukasa also demonstrates his kindness by always siding with the weak. His family had a history of child abuse at the hands of their mother, and he clearly detested it. He doesn't consider such treatment normal: when, in the clock keeper's boundary, with a crying Nene, Tsukasa began to recall "what mom did" to calm the child, he switched from memories to the mechanical owls caring for their chicks.

What immediately came to mind was clearly inappropriate. I don't mean that the mother in this frame is comforting the child — no, she's angry about the fakery. But if she had become so bad with her children, would she have comforted them tenderly? It would likely have been ignorance or even violence. Thus, Tsukasa abhors such violence, as demonstrated in the episode in the Third mystery boundary, where he directly accuses a crow of torturing the weak Nene and Mitsuba. Tsukasa beats him with an inscrutable expression, similar to the one he later uses to destroy the owls that were pecking at Nene.

Even if he's pursuing his own goals in every situation, he doesn't let Mitsuba and Nene remain in trouble, always responding to their cries for help and eliminating the offender. (Because accusing him of leaving them at a disadvantage from the start would, in my opinion, be nitpicking, as Tsukasa can't be with them every minute of the day. And in Nene's case, it was her desire to hide from him, which Tsukasa simply allowed her to fulfill.)

4) Patient in care.

In the Twitter AU "Kamome Monster Kindergarten," Tsukasa is described as a teacher, "Researcher T," whose arrival dramatically improved the school's business by introducing new methods of caring for the monsters.

In this AU, he cares for little Nene, which later, remarkably, parallels the canon chapters in which he cares for her again! Whatever you think of Tsukasa, he and child Nene ultimately get along well in both cases. Tsukasa comes up with ways to cheer her up, joins in the game with her, and Nene actually becomes cheerful in the AU and calms down in the canon. Tsukasa assumes he'd like it too: "All children love heights!" But who is everyone? He's a child himself, which is why he understands them so well, or at least those who are similar to him (Nene really does have as strong a character as Tsukasa, and, as it turns out, also loves wild fun). No matter how much he says he "still doesn't understand these children."

Sure, he's inexperienced, but nevertheless, he does something, even though he could literally throw up his hands in disbelief, because when you genuinely don't understand how to behave with children, it can be difficult to come up with something suitable. The cunning Tsukasa also glances sideways at Nene, expecting her to pick up the lyrics, sing along with him, and calm down.

He understands perfectly well what would be appropriate in this situation. He acts like a true older brother to her. All the time he was fussing over Nene, Tsukasa showed remarkable patience. Tsukasa endures Nene's long and loud tantrums, makes a sling for her, carries her on his back, and then plays with her. Of course, at first he wasn't such a caregiver, resorting to forcibly putting Nene to sleep, but it didn't work. Nene not only dodges his hand, she also bites him, hits him, and calls him all sorts of names (this is simply a statement of fact, and is understandable, of course).

So, when this apparently easy method fails, Tsukasa doesn't push his own agenda any further, doesn't silence Nene by force, and doesn't fight back against a small, weak child. Instead, Tsukasa chooses to calm Nene in a way appropriate for a child, trying to find examples in his memory or his surroundings — since he has to take her condition into account. In these chapters, he also speaks with an elusive, lyrical gaze, a calm half-smile, different from his usual eccentricity. It's easy to see.

Perhaps he's unintentionally relaxed a little due to communicating with a child, someone simpler, someone with whom he can be more open. In any case, many IRL adults would get angry at a child's tantrum, and many teenagers in the fandom wouldn't be able to stand a minute with Nene without getting irritated, especially at that age. Tsukasa, on the other hand, is thirteen, and he accepts the fact that Nene, who was his equal, has suddenly become in need of special care with a certain stoicism. Although it's clearly difficult for him — he's been taking a breather — Tsukasa still doesn't give up on caring for the weakling.

He also cared for Mitsuba, literally doing everything to ensure his comfortable existence as a mystery, giving him powers, teaching him how to use them, restoring his body, and bringing him the necessary food (plus the aforementioned scene of calming a panicked Mitsuba). He also doesn't scold Mitsuba, specifically because he's ill, gently asking if he can retrieve the heart from the loot himself. Perhaps Tsukasa's patience with special needs stems from how, as a child, he grew accustomed to living with Amane, who needed constant care, and learned his patience from there. Similarly, he could have gotten used to people with a similar personality to Amane (insufficient in themselves, easily moved to tears; as we know from the last chapters, Amane cried a lot as a child, and it wasn't even because of thieves, which is logical, of course — he was also scared to the point of screaming even by woodlice. Tsukasa isn't exactly timid in this regard, but he accepts his brother's behavior simply because, yes, they are different).

Therefore, he also understands the reasons for Mitsuba's behavior. This remarkably plays on the parallel between Mitsuba and Amane (both outcasts, vulgar, and insecure), which is mostly created by the fandom, but in my opinion, is quite interesting.

However, Tsukasa's patience has another side, which I will discuss further. This particular side manifests itself in his ability to care for those in need. Ultimately, this also results in the fact that Tsukasa is good with children and acts as a cheerful older brother to them, who, however, will not allow danger, knowing how fragile children can be (after all, Tsukasa knows other people's limits).

5) Sacrifice.

Tsukasa knows how to put others' happiness above his own. This is clearly revealed in his decision to exchange himself for Amane's life. Even if it's not easy for him to do so, even if he believes he is also hated, Tsukasa is willing to leave if it will benefit those close to him. This also parallels Hanako's behavior during the severance, who believed that no matter how hard it was, if Nene was better off without him, he was willing to leave and be alone. Tsukasa's reasons for this are similar.

He was also willing to sacrifice his time at the festival, which he'd spent so much time preparing for, if Amane would be happy to spend time with him. Ultimately, however, we see Tsukasa among the crowd, which means that Amane continued fixing his clock, not paying much attention to Tsukasa, and he eventually left. Tsukasa's self-sacrifice manifests itself in other ways, but this section has examined his qualities purely from the standpoint of their "goodness," so the last paragraph is quite short.

In any case, these are the aspects of him that are canonically inherent, revealing an unexpected, almost softer side to Tsukasa. So, he's compassionate, caring, patient, self-sacrificing. This isn't his entire character, of course, but it's a significant part of it.

In the first part, I described Tsukasa's positive character traits. Here I'll touch on the characteristics I've categorized as character traits inherent to Tsukasa, which influence how he interacts with people. Again, I'll focus on their manifestations rather than their causes, as much of Tsukasa's personality is tied to his trauma and will be explored later.

1) Spontaneity.

Tsukasa is an open child. As a child, he's not afraid of things that are objectively problematic, and he's willing to calmly talk to something beneath his house, eager to explore the unknown.

Tsukasa truly does take seemingly frightening things too lightly; he's not afraid of insects, chthonic creatures, or strangers, and he behaves calmly, as if simply exploring what's happening. In the final chapter, older Amane notices this and asks why little Tsukasa is so calm, despite having just escaped being swallowed by the black entity possessing their home, and having been saved from that fate by two people who were essentially strangers.

Tsukasa isn't timid around things, and perhaps this is part of his explorer nature. It's precisely these kinds of people who are pioneers, while others, even more sane ones, don't risk taking risks. Such is his stability in this regard; he can afford not to be so afraid as to be able to at least hide it. Someone once said that Amane is essentially a theoretician, an observer of the stars, while Tsukasa is a test cosmonaut, and perhaps that's true.

2) Curiosity.

As a researcher, Tsukasa has been curious since childhood, not only due to boredom from isolation, but also because he was a naturally active child. This is noticeable in contrast to Amane, who wouldn't dream of looking for bugs under rocks in the middle of winter, and who certainly wouldn't crawl under a house to figure out how it works. This trait persists in him later in life; he needs to try everything, even taste it (in the character review, Sakura complains about Tsukasa putting everything in his mouth, although it's pretty obvious, haha), asks questions about everything, and is curious about the world around him.

This trait clearly underlies why Researcher T achieved his success and why Tsukasa chose this creative work in that AU in the first place. Years of confinement make Tsukasa even more surprised by many things he encounters. Even if he had once lived his ten years of life between imprisonments, if a person does not leave the house for a week, it will already have some effect on him, but Tsukasa sat in a confined space for much longer.

3) Answers.

The immediacy also applies to how little Tsukasa immediately gives a similar answer to Amane's questions in the new timeline. Isn't it personal, a dangerous secret, so easy to reveal to strangers? But he was asked. And this always happens: whenever Tsukasa is asked about something, he gives a very exhaustive answer. He constantly explains in detail the mechanics of how things work (what and why he did with Sousuke's ghost, then with the mystery Mitsuba, why they drowned Nene at the tea party, why Nene was dragged away by the demons of the red house, why they met at the festival due to a time shift, and other minor details). The reasons for Tsukasa's love of explanations are interesting. Does his researcher nature push him to be clever? Did a complex of insufficient information once hit him, and now Tsukasa doesn't want to allow himself or others to be in the dark? I think it's something in between, since Tsukasa, as we see in the new world, explained it from childhood, but there could also be some traumatic reasons. After all, as we know, he expects the same honesty from others.

4) Lack of extreme shyness.

Perhaps it's because Tsukasa isn't shy. He's not shy around people, unlike Amane. Amane himself admitted this, complaining that Tsukasa is much easier to get along with: he has many acquaintances and actively helps with the festival preparations, even though he won't be participating in the performance itself (the "Omen" chapters and the Volume 21 bonus). Amane recognized the difference between them even while Tsukasa was still alive, which is perhaps why Aidairo, in the picture perfect, gives him the line comparing Tsukasa to the star Antares, so bright that its twin star is invisible in its light. This is a well-known metaphor for Yugi's twins, because the stars are also twins, one eclipsing the other, yet being brighter, long dead. Antares is Tsukasa.

Another part of Tsukasa's lack of shyness is his clothing style. Clothes can say a lot about a person, and Aidairo is always working on character designs, and the Yugi twins are no exception. Amane always dresses as modestly as possible (as a ghost, he wears a full uniform, and in the extracurricular story chapter, he wears an extra beach shirt; he's mostly depicted wearing pants in AU art and merchandise), his shirt always carefully tucked in and buttoned up. Tsukasa, on the other hand, wears an untucked shirt, both in life and in death, always missing a button on his chest, creating an open gap. After death, for some reason, he switched to a looser outfit (most likely, the explanation for Tsukasa's motive is comfort, as the main purpose of Tsukasa's traditional clothing is a reference to kannagi attire, meaning Aidairo simply wanted him to look that way).

Buttons and shirts.

In AU art and merchandise, Tsukasa wears shorts much more often than his brother, revealing his legs and allowing him to move freely. I could joke about boob window and Tsukasa's slay, but a perfectly acceptable explanation is that he simply doesn't care how he appears to others. Whether his shirt is sloppily buttoned or whether his shorts are appropriate for business situations — as long as he doesn't look unbearably bad — Tsukasa doesn't care, and this is important for his self-confidence. As a result, he isn't shy about others' stares, questions, or conversations.

5) Directness bordering on tactlessness.

This trait of Tsukasa's stems from his lack of shyness. He won't be afraid of questions if he's ready to answer them. But he will also expect others to answer, so he will often ask directly, no matter how awkward or triggering the topic might be for someone.

Tsukasa asks Nene if she loves Amane, if they've kissed, right in the middle of their tea party, when they essentially first met. He asks Sakura if he can kiss her, just because it occurred to him. He responds to Kou's accusations by asking if he should have created Mitsuba back then. He bluntly asks if Nene is ready to kill Amane in a perfect picture. He discards unnecessary talk about how he ended up in an abandoned building on a far shore and immediately gets to the point. He also asks Amane what he expects from Nene, if she's already agreed to die. He asks Sakura if it bothers her that people got hurt while fulfilling her wish. He asks Amane if he wants Tsukasa to stay or not. He asks someone what do they want, and always directly identifies what constitutes someone's wish. Beyond questions, Tsukasa also directly communicates things that aren't personal to him, but are offensive or intimate to others, such as the fact that Kou seems strange to him, that he's a cheater and that's bad, that Natsuhiko smells good, and that it's no wonder Amane has no friends because he's tone deaf at reading atmosphere.

The reasons for this behavior most likely lie in Tsukasa's aforementioned open nature and his upbringing, when adults didn't pay enough attention to him and, as a result, he may not have learned to respect other people's personal boundaries sufficiently, as well as his isolation, which leads him to overexplore the world.

6) Playfulness.

Tsukasa violates these physical, personal boundaries in the same way Hanako does. The difference between them is that Hanako only hits on those he likes, those with whom he feels a connection, mostly Nene and sometimes Kou. Tsukasa, on the other hand, climbs on the heads of Sakura, Nene, and Amane, presses his whole body against Mitsuba — for him, there's no real difference. But I don't think it's because he genuinely doesn't care who's in front of him; he simply craves closeness, including physical intimacy, so much that he violates someone's space if he's even remotely interested in them. As we know, after his mother recognized him as a fake, she stopped paying attention to him.

When they go to the shrine, she doesn't touch him, while Tsukasa holds onto her clothes. He also offers Kou and Nene to hold hands in the red house. Even in life, Tsukasa repeatedly jumps on Amane as a greeting. Tsukasa is very tactile in one way or another.

Playfulness also includes his genuine desire to play. Tsukasa finger paints using lesser demons, digs up a summer demon, plays out a school mysteries meeting with the members of the radio club, keeps fireworks, and builds houses of cards. He also enjoys playing tag with intimidation, as he did as a child with bugs and Amane and later with lesser demons and Mitsuba. Tsukasa even offers tag to Nene as an option if she doesn't want to destroy the clockkeeper's yorishiro, but for him, it's largely just a game. Tsukasa laughs loudly when chasing Nene, enjoying himself despite the fact that Nene takes it seriously and fights off Tsukasa, who ends up getting painfully hit in the face by gears. And he continues to have fun, perhaps because Nene is more skilled at resisting than Mitsuba, with whom he usually plays like this, and that's interesting.

Tsukasa doesn't see their pursuit as anything sinister; when Nene asks him not to come closer, he seems sincere in asking why.

If he had only malicious intentions, it wouldn't seem that way. Ultimately, Tsukasa leaves Nene alone, probably waiting for her to tire of hiding and come out on her own. This scene is reminiscent of how a cat (and there's no animal scarier than a cat; despite all their fluffiness, they chase bears and crocodiles. Doesn't it remind you of Tsukasa, who is canonically compared to a cat?) simply allows a small kitten to attack him without seriously responding. In the balance of their strengths, Nene is truly a kitten compared to Tsukasa, and then, when she even turning into a baby, Tsukasa can't do anything against her, because he knows the difference between them. In general, Tsukasa often plays tag with intimidation, perhaps he likes to slightly scare his opponent (in his hands are mostly live bugs and ghostly ones, all sorts of harmless nastiness, like a game that's like "don't touch that stuff" or something like that, I don't know what to call it in English), Tsukasa, like Yugi, likes to tease.

Because he's also a subtle troll. Tsukasa knows how to interject. When Natsuhiko laments how sad it is that Sakura's broken tea set is, Tsukasa innocently says that's true, so Natsuhiko should apologize. But he's the one to blame for the incident, and he knows it. The same thing happens in court — Tsukasa bluntly replies that he ordered the watch broken, but beforehand, he looks innocently at Teru and declares that he could have done it; it would have been typical of the president. Tsukasa also recalls the words spoken by Sousuke's first ghost, "just like in a porn." He ironically asks mystery Mitsuba', who no longer even remembers saying such a thing. Tsukasa literally returns the favor. All this indicates that Tsukasa often fully understands what's going on and acts according to his own motives.

Tsukasa's playfulness, like his ability to pretend, also has a dark side, and I still ask you to wait until it comes to that.

7) Stubbornness.

Tsukasa can be stubborn, like a child who does things purely out of spite. When Natsuhiko demanded the love potion back, Tsukasa clearly didn't want to give it up. He reluctantly gave in, but not very politely, throwing the cup in Natsuhiko's face. He was probably offended that he wasn't allowed to try the potion, so he took his revenge in a simple way.

When Tsukasa does something wrong and feels it's true, he starts arguing, as in the aforementioned example of blaming Natsuhiko for the tea set, or when he clearly made a mess of the birthday table by falling from the high chairs with Amane onto the floor, while telling his father he didn't do anything wrong. While this is a typical reaction for a child his age and not a specific trait, Tsukasa also argues with Nene about how he's not a little boy and is actually four years old. His stubbornness also manifests itself in violations of personal space, such as when he refuses to get off Sakura's shoulders for a long time, and similar things. I view this trait as a minor, everyday thing, rather than a deep-seated one; in it, Tsukasa just behaves like a child.

So, Tsukasa is playful, curious, and spontaneous. However, Tsukasa's openness to certain aspects of this world and his lack of tact don't mean he's truly an open book. The same thing was said in front of Kou, but now we know how much he's holding inside (the third part of the sleepover at school, where Yokoo and Satou discuss it, the ghosts of the red house, which revealed how much Kou truly desires and desperately suppresses). The same applies to Tsukasa. He's still quite an ambiguous character.

Here I'll touch on the circumstances of Tsukasa's upbringing that weren't entirely related to his trauma, but only partially, indirectly and as a consequence. Trauma is definitely the icing on the cake; so far, I've limited myself to a general description of his traits.

Tsukasa had a fairly decent upbringing until he was four. He was taught many concepts and, overall, wasn't a clueless child. He always took off his shoes when entering the house and wouldn't enter a room where adult guests were without permission (after all, Tsukasa isn't shy; it wouldn't have cost him anything). However, he then had to spend half a century in a ruined house, where desperate people with problems, suicidal people, and religious fanatics come, to whom the house reveals their desires, which can be quite dark and wild. And Tsukasa observed all of this.

This somewhat shaped his worldview. I think it's because he's witnessed so many deaths that he constantly refers to Nene's faintings as death, just as in Soul Eater, the inhabitants of the city of death use the word in similar everyday contexts for comic effect. Tsukasa would fit right in.

It's worth noting that Tsukasa has a very good memory. I don't know if this is due to the influence of demon on his mind or if he's just naturally like that. But Tsukasa remembers many things well. As a hostage at home, he remembered his life up until that point: how Amane was sick and lived in this room, how he brought him a ball, how they had an argument — he recounts all of this to Nene quite coherently. As Hanako's yorishiro, he recalls watching the Frankenstein movie together, when they were roughly four to six years old, judging by their appearance (the little Yugi are wearing their shorts with suspenders).

It was a long time ago, but Tsukasa recalls this fact and even briefly recounts the plot of the movie. He also remembers Amane's face at the moment of the murder, and ghosts can forget the details of their death, as happened with Sousuke. Tsukasa carries his habits from childhood (just like Amane, who still uses his signature gesture of stroking his head and cheeks) — his father once asked him to feed himself with a spoon, and now Tsukasa offers Sakura a spoon with the same gesture at the tea party.

So, Tsukasa has a good memory, which means he should retain the rules of behavior. But that's the problem.

The norms were only adequately instilled in him between the ages of birth and four years. Then he was in the cursed house, and when he returned, his mother soon considered him a fake (Tsukasa at the temple doesn’t look too grown up, being the same appearance and wearing the same clothes as the child who is beaten by his mother (that is, whether it’s he or Amane, it doesn’t matter, the main thing is that the mother beats a very small child) and stopped caring for the children, instead starting to terrorize them. And so it went on until Yugi’s thirteenth birthday, the atmosphere in their home getting worse every day (his father abandoned them, Amane began to be subjected to further violence by someone unknown), until the brothers died. And then Tsukasa again sat locked up in Hanako’s verge for another fifty years until 2015. This entire period, doubled due to time loops, from 1960, the summer of which he returned, to 2015, he was not properly looked after. Tsukasa, of course, managed to master the basics of behavior, because at the festival in 1968, he seemed like a perfectly reasonable boy; he helped the class prepare for the play, and Amane envied his sociability. And yet, despite all this, Tsukasa was a bit more talkative than he should have been. I described his tactlessness in the part two. It's not that he has absolutely no idea how to behave; he simply could do better.

Because otherwise he wouldn't continue to treat small animals like expendable material. I don't have enough evidence to believe Tsukasa would intentionally abuse them; it's not specifically shown in the plot, but he does gut the mermaid's messenger fish. The fish is weaker than him, so why doesn't he spare it? But it's a spy for some other evil spirit, so he can easily dispose of it, as if it were no big deal. Tsukasa is curious about what's inside, a cruel childish curiosity, as if it were just a toy that can be broken. This is a dubious paragraph, but Tsukasa sacrificed various animals: frogs, chickens, hens, and finally that very kitten he wanted to give to Amane.

His priority was simply helping Amane over the lives of the animals. Children are usually touched by animals if they aren't afraid of them. Tsukasa wasn't afraid, but he didn't treat them too warmly either. This still somehow influences him, although, I repeat, I do not have enough data to draw a normal conclusion on this paragraph.

So, Tsukasa could have done better, otherwise he wouldn't have remembered to treat girls kindly and not to slam their foreheads into the stone floor just a few centimeters above it.

.It's lucky for Nene that Natsuhiko had already managed to tell Tsukasa how to treat girls. Tsukasa is too used to acting boldly. Since childhood, he's miscalculated the force he applies, jumping on Amane with all his might, sometimes on his bed, sometimes on his chair.

This continues to this day, when Tsukasa has become much more powerful than an ordinary child, crushing other people's bones with those hands. He needs to deliberately remember when to stop. But at least he remembers. A good memory preserves lessons learned from others — Tsukasa might have forgotten Natsuhiko's words, or even considered them unnecessary, but no, he clearly recalls those words and has since tried not to hurt Nene, finally realizing that she is a living person and weaker than him. Tsukasa didn't get enough lessons, and some things from life he didn't exactly forget, but rather forgot how to perceive adequately (because I doubt he was as unbridled in life, the isolation affected him, causing him to become confused about how much force he can apply to the world around him when you are now a new, overly powerful ghost), without having the opportunity to practice communication for a total of a hundred years of isolation, but he continues to learn.

Natsuhiko acts as a kind of authority figure for him; Tsukasa doesn't obey him unquestioningly, but he listens from time to time. Ultimately, he remembers his instructions about handling Nene, gives him the cup he asked for, and, at his prompting, apologizes to Sakura for firing the Summer Demon ray. Tsukasa mostly listens to Natsuhiko. When Sakura asks him not to kill the spy fish, Natsuhiko remains silent, and Tsukasa does things his own way. I suspect that if Natsuhiko had insisted on this request, Tsukasa would have agreed. Perhaps Natsuhiko had his own reasons for wanting to get rid of someone else's spy. In any case, as they like to say in the fandom, Sakura and Natsuhiko resemble Tsukasa's parents, and I would agree with that, but only partially. In terms of authority, Tsukasa treats Sakura as an assistant, climbing on her head, ordering her to drown Nene, and grabbing her face to ask questions. He's quite familiar, even though Sakura seems mentally more mature than Tsukasa. Natsuhiko holds more authority in this house, and he uses it wisely, mentoring the runt.

Tsukasa's opinion on expressing affection also relates to the issue of socialization. He clearly confuses types of love a bit. When he didn't receive proper explanations from his parents, who didn't communicate with him, when he grew up isolated from his fixation on Amane, clearly preferring his company to his peers, when he perceived the desire to help loved ones as something fundamental to his identity, when he didn't receive the most basic care from his family, Tsukasa could easily have become confused about his feelings.

In the red house, he asks Nene if she likes Amane, and when she answers affirmatively, he says that in that case, they are similar. Similar in that they both like Amane. However, Nene is Amane's age and is romantically in love with him, while Tsukasa is four and he is his brother.

Tsukasa confused Nene's positive attitude and interest in Amane's life with his own similar feelings. After the trauma of learning of his murder and his fixation on Amane (Tsukasa is clearly fixated on his brother, eager to find out how he'll kill him, still helps Amane, constantly talks about his brother, and in the author's character questionnaires, he only answers with the word "Amane," and I won't delve into their relationship), Tsukasa has become even more attached to his brother. And his brother likes Nene. And Tsukasa, a child at heart who constantly asks about kisses like a kindergartener, even decides to kiss Nene, his brother's girlfriend. The only reason for such frivolous behavior can only be a problem with Tsukasa's socialization: he either thinks it's normal since he also likes Nene a little (as a good friend, but he likes how much he likes Amane), or he's trying to figure out what kissing is really like, what it's like to "date" or something like that, or he wants to anger Amane with this, which is even more unsightly. Or maybe all three at once. Tsukasa may be able to fit in with society at large, but in many subtle connotations, he loses out by acting like the ill-mannered child he is.

It's sad, because Tsukasa is intelligent, potentially. Otherwise, he wouldn't have become a researcher. He may have learned to read later than Amane, but he has a knack for singing, and his intelligence is mostly natural, not academic. After all, Tsukasa is an adventurer, as I said. Tsukasa really is a smart guy; he wasn't afraid to explore the depths of the red house, the caves with the dead kannagi, and somehow managed to figure out how to get back home. He figured out the house was afraid of fire, so Nene and Kou were surprised to praise him for his resourcefulness. Not every four-year-old can notice things like that.

If Tsukasa had been cared for, if he hadn't had to endure all those horrors with his brother (Amane is in the same situation; his favorite subject is physical education, not astronomy (volume 3 bonuses), and he's not particularly good at school because of his situation at home), he might have become much more well-mannered and succeeded in his studies and social life in general. Tsukasa clearly didn't have a girlfriend; he was only interested in Amane.

Tsukasa isn't stupid or hopeless; he's learning, but he's fallen far behind the curve, wasting years in isolation, along with his patience for exploring the world. His lack of opportunity to realize himself and gain experience shouldn't be underestimated, because while Amane grew up unimpeded by half a century of isolation between 1959 and 1960 and, being a school mystery, interacted with others throughout that time between 1969 and 2015, Tsukasa, for his part, languished in a sealed room for another fifty years. He's simply stunned by finally emerging into the light; at first, he behaves much more eccentrically than toward the end of the manga, where he's already somewhat acclimated to this world.

In the end, he's a bit of a wild, tactless, difficult child, and it's dangerous to interact with him; only with luck, everything will go well. But this circumstance alone does not make him a monster inside, when Tsukasa is precisely an abandoned child, somewhat naive and inexperienced.

So why is Tsukasa so difficult? The answer is obvious. He was simply overwhelmed by circumstances.

1) What happened with Amane.

Everything that happened to Tsukasa affected his psyche. Starting with Amane yelling at him, which Tsukasa interpreted as hatred. But was that really true? Amane hardly hated Tsukasa at that moment; he was simply too tired and snapped at someone close to him, not implying that Tsukasa was bad for being healthy. However, Tsukasa took it as a personal insult. He remembered this, and at his birthday party, he asked if Amane loved him. If he was so sure she didn't, why would he ask again? Wasn't it to make sure that since they were now equals, Amane had no reason to hate him? After all, when Tsukasa answered "of course," she smiled and replied, "Good!" As if that would make him feel any better. It hurt him, after all, that Amane could hate him. As if he could sink to the bottom of a well with peace of mind.

But in captivity, the problems with this approach became apparent. It seemed easier for Tsukasa to believe that Amane actually hated him, because that would make it easier to not miss home. If he wasn't welcome, he wouldn't want to return. It's as if Tsukasa convinces himself that Amane is angry with him. Because when he's alone in the burning house, he recalls that same scene of the question, the answer to which was "of course I love you." It's as if Tsukasa still wanted to believe it deep down, and now, after the news of Amane's betrayal, the image of that belief is crumbling before his eyes.

Amane doesn't love him after all. Yes, that's obvious. When Amane killed him, "his face was the face of a man who didn't hold back." Tsukasa is now certain that these are Amane's true feelings for him. And he's partly right to believe this, because although Amane loves his brother, he loves the image of the "real Tsukasa," and blames the one in front of him for everything that happened to their family.

Amane is still attached to the "fake Tsukasa," but as if projecting it, clinging to the remnants of his brother's image, constantly separating the two Tsukasas.

But Tsukasa continues to strive for his love, even though he's certain he won't receive it.

Tsukasa asks Amane how he feels at his birthday party, and his vision of the desired answer is shattered. Tsukasa lies to Sakura that Amane was happy to see him when he first appeared on the roof in chapter 17. Obviously, it's not quite that simple. He still calls Amane with his lips as he falls from the keepers' cage. He doesn't believe it, but he wants to. He tries every time to get his brother's attention, even though he's long since given up, simply because he still reaches out to Amane. Even if Amane doesn't respond. "You're weird," he says, "you hate me, but somehow you still miss me." Tsukasa refuses to accept that Amane's longing is connected to warm feelings for him; no, it's just Amane being weird. And Tsukasa doesn't understand him. Just as Amane doesn't understand his brother either, something he tells Nene and Kou, and Tsukasa himself, constantly asking why he acts the way he does.

The twins are so separated by circumstances that they literally exist in different timelines — young Tsukasa learns of events that haven't yet happened or have already happened, but in the distant future and later, he acts according to his knowledge, even though the other characters have no idea what's destined to happen. Unsurprisingly, Tsukasa is misunderstood by both his own brother and the rest of the cast.

Tsukasa also speaks directly of his incomprehension of his brother's actions. "I have no idea what you're thinking," he says to Nene and Hanako, frozen on the boundary of the First mystery. Tsukasa hasn't understood his brother since the moment he trampled his victim. After all, Amane assured him that if he were given health, he would be happy and would need nothing more. And so he gets it, and what happens? Amane rejects the path to happiness, choosing the strange behavior that leads to Tsukasa's murder. "Why did Amane do this?" is Tsukasa's main question, and it seems he still hasn't found an answer, since Amane does it to get rid of the counterfeit. We don't have precise data about 1969, so I'm not sure whether Tsukasa knew exactly why Amane was repairing the clock. Because if he had known, he wouldn't have been so confused by the emotional roller coaster of Amane never visiting him while locked in the boundary, yet suddenly becoming incredibly anxious and worried whenever they were together, somehow missing him. Tsukasa likely has little understanding of the gamut of guilt, attachment, and hatred for the counterfeit that the secretive Amane experiences.

Sumire, similarly disregarded in her imprisonment in the Sixth boundary, experienced similar confusion, convincing herself that since she was Hakubo's yorishiro, he must at least care a little bit about her. When Hakubo tells her he's ready to be with her, the despairing Sumire doesn't believe him and becomes angry, tired of hoping for it, afraid of being rejected and treated coldly again.

It's probably easier for Tsukasa now to believe only that Amane hates him, because, coupled with how much he still craves Amane's warmth, it would be too difficult for him to deal with a brother who continues to push him away. Tsukasa could probably accept Amane's love, but it's too late. He deliberately avoids his feelings if they seem too strong at any given moment. This is ironic, given how he expects directness and honesty from others. Tsukasa is actually very ambivalent. This isn't revealed right away, but with each new fact about him, it becomes more and more apparent. So what's going on?

2) How what happened to Amane affected Tsukasa.

The most traumatic moment in Tsukasa's life isn't the confinement, or even the domestic violence, but the way Amane cruelly devalued his entire sacrifice in one moment. He lied about loving him, lied about being happy, about how it was all worth it.

From that very moment, Tsukasa began to dislike certain things.

Because Amane lied to him, Tsukasa now hates lies. He constantly demands the truth from everyone, as discussed in the section on straightforwardness, the roots of which are partly linked to Tsukasa's trauma. Amane's lies were extremely painful because they robbed Tsukasa of the belief that he had truly helped him. Tsukasa no longer wants to be told anything when they actually think otherwise, only to somehow deceive him and perhaps painfully betray him again. Tsukasa demands the truth when he asks questions. Because he wants to know exactly what the other person wants. "Is this what you want? If so, I'll grant it," he asks ghost Mitsuba, Kou in the red house, hoping for an answer. And this is also connected to Amane, because it turns out he no longer desired health, but something else. Tsukasa always wants to clear everything up on the shore, so there won't be a set-up later; this is directly related to how he sacrificed himself in vain. Tsukasa is ready to see the most vile desires of others (like Amane's decision to kill him, or Kou's secret wish that Mitsuba ask him to commit suicide — a difficult scene, but Tsukasa only clarifies — so is this what you want? What do you want, Kou-kun, who tries to refuse everything the house offers, reveal your intentions already). After all, this allows him to better understand a person who doesn't pretend in front of him, but honestly states their position.

Clarity of expression becomes his ideology, and it's crucial in his wish-granting work, where one must truly be prepared to do what one asks for and be willing to face the consequences — Tsukasa demands this of Mitsuba. Fear is remembered best, he says, as does Amane. It's a law of evil spirits that the brothers learned from somewhere. Therefore, if Mitsuba wishes to be remembered, he must evoke strong emotions in people, and so it turns out that the more intense negative impressions do indeed linger quite strongly. When Nene refuses to destroy the clock keepers' yorishiro, Tsukasa agrees with her freedom of choice, but notes that he, too, has his own interests; it's his job to fulfill, so Nene will have to take responsibility for her decision and at least try to escape it.

Tsukasa wants others to take responsibility for their decisions, so they don't ultimately give up and devalue everything that happened while fulfilling their wishes. This is the same thing Amane did to him. He's angry that Amane gave in and "made life easier for himself," as he tells him in chapter 91.

After this conversation, he immediately asks Sakura if she regrets her decision, if she wants to give it all up, and smiles with a strange expression when Sakura replies negatively. He simply needs to process his devaluation trauma by seeking approval from others. Tsukasa craves recognition for his actions; after all, he didn't go through all this for nothing.

Something hurts inside him when he listens to Sakura, whom he deliberately asked if she regrets. When Kou is dissatisfied with Mitsuba's return, Tsukasa bluntly asks if perhaps he shouldn't have done it back then. His face clearly looks disappointed.

Because he's still upset by the fact that he spent his time and effort bringing Mitsuba back, something Kou also wanted, but now he's attacking Tsukasa because he doesn't like the methods he used. Tsukasa acted with such confidence while doing his job, yet he still asked this question, dissatisfied with Kou's attitude. Tsukasa isn't just acting like that, even if he says such things within the Third Mystery.

3) Connection with the hole demon.

"Just because," Tsukasa says, but I have a hard time believing that. The broadcasting club would benefit from gaining the power of the Third Mystery to facilitate their plans. After all, mirrors can show anything useful. Moreover, with this action, Tsukasa continues to fulfill Mitsuba's wish to not disappear. Sousuke's first ghost was exorcised by Hanako and failed. Tsukasa still has a fragment of his soul in his hands; why not finish what he started? Mitsuba gains a presence on the near shore, as he desired, and can now continue to search for his path. In exchange, Tsukasa receives a pawn for the radio club, with which he closely cooperates. (Of course, this is not touched upon in canon, so this is just my theory, as Mitsuba's mystery lore has been largely ignored for the sake of his personal drama, but that's his problem). The thing is, Tsukasa can be chaotic, but when it comes to work, he's always relentless and efficient.

Which is most likely related to the demon's rules of operation. This entity has its own structured processes. It requires a specific formulation, an equivalent payment, and it will fulfill the request precisely, regardless of the methods used to achieve it. These are typical rules of mythical creatures and the rituals associated with them, which is why the demon's wish-granting is so brutal. And here one could say that Tsukasa behaves this way in his work because of the demon's dictates, and I agree that he has to work by its rules. Tsukasa and the demon are inextricably linked from the moment he sacrificed himself to it. The demon takes over his body just like it does with other kannagi, eating him from the inside and driving him mad — though there's a curious twist.

Men can be more resistant to the demon's pernicious effects. We see this in the cave, where all the kannagi have long since lost their minds. Katakuri, though sacrificed later than them, is still quite sane after having been there for quite some time (his death clearly occurred no later than the early to mid-20th century, given the village's isolation).

Tsukasa himself is similarly sane, though he, too, has been imprisoned not for a year or two, but for nearly fifty. He was even still warm. Perhaps this has to do with the peculiarities of human spiritual power, how Minamoto women stand out to her compared to Minamoto men (Teru and Kou's grandmother was very strong, Tiara already surpasses Teru in strength and was the long-awaited daughter of the headman), how the women of the Akane clan also possess certain special qualities that allow them to influence evil spirits and be attractive to them (Teru mentions this in the new timeline), and something similar could very well apply to men and the demon. But just because the Tsukasa of the old timeline didn't become a full shell for the demon, as happened in the new one, doesn't mean he's completely free of it — as we see at the beginning of the fire, the demon has long since settled in his body.

Tsukasa simply resigns himself to this, which is reflected in the way he tells the demon, "Let's go back together." I believe it was only because of Tsukasa's decision that the demon allowed him to nullify its sacrifice. I don't think it would have let him go, leaving Amane healthy. In the new world, we see that the being won't let him break the sacrifice's promise, it curses Amane, "will not forgive" him for breaking the contract.

Tsukasa agrees to let the demon stay with him, sharing his body, thus creating a so-called symbiosis. I believe the reason Tsukasa decided this is because he considers the demon a kind of friend. Judge for yourself, it's the only thing that's been with him constantly throughout his isolation, and later he says, "I think humans and supernaturals should live together," which could very well be a reference to his bonding with the demon.

So, they're connected, and Tsukasa is bound hand and foot by it. Despite all the advantages in terms of immense power that the demon grants him, he, in turn, is obligated to help it "work" with people, identifying their desires, making deals, and fulfilling them. "After I'm summoned, I have no choice but to grant the wish," Tsukasa tells Shijima.

Well, that's how the school mystery works, and the same thing happens with Hanako himself. It's just that Tsukasa has been doing this essentially since childhood, when, in 1960, an entity emerged and actively exploited him, granting wishes left and right (the vicar of the Kunishige Temple is a prime example). And since the demonic rules include the principle "it doesn't matter how, or how many victims it involves," Tsukasa acts accordingly.

Efficiency trumps morality or other people's opinions of how it looks. Tsukasa may look like a maniac to some when he deforms Sousuke into a ghost with a broken neck, but he doesn't do it for any personal amusement — he wants Sousuke to be remembered, which is why he creates such a vivid image of him. Perhaps forcing Mitsuba to eat the Third's heart by force also seems questionable, but Mitsuba is weak and can't last long (which is what ultimately happens; the aquarium arc confirms that Mitsuba needs to replenish his strength, otherwise he will simply collapse back to his original state), so he needs to gain strength. Mitsuba resists (because, again, a piece of meat doesn't seem visually appealing to him), and since this is the case, Tsukasa has no choice but to force him for his own good. If Kou or Nene intervene, dragging him away from Mitsuba, he can slam their heads against the wall. This can be a toxic trait, of course. Violence for the sake of benefit, a questionable ideology, and Hanako's actions like depriving Nene of her freedom or killing her friend Aoi are considered toxic. Tsukasa is not gentle in his actions, but he believes he is doing the right thing.

Because he's well-versed in this ideology: "The methods aren't important, the results are." Tsukasa does this more subtly, but it's still the same when he uses blackmail against Amane and Nene to push them both into actions that will benefit the radio club's plan. In chapter 91, he literally blackmails Amane, first by pitying Nene, whom he can't help, then by pushing him to find a solution (it was literally a bluff on Amane; Tsukasa said, "I'm sure you knew," but when Amane agrees, Tsukasa is surprised: "So you did know"). Tsukasa plays on Amane's desire to save Nene. You want to help her, right? Then you'll have to do it (destroy all the yorishiro, which is also the radio club's goal and necessary for Sakura's wish to be fulfilled).

When the Hananene are frozen in the Clockkeeper's boundary, Tsukasa resorts to blackmail again, telling him that time will only start again if the yorishiro is destroyed. "You want to move on and live, right? Then you'll have to do what I suggest." The same thing happens with Mitsuba, when Tsukasa asks him whether he'll agree to disappear forever or choose to remain a mystery.

A choice without a choice, simply what Mitsuba would choose in this situation — of course, he doesn't want to disappear. Tsukasa pushes him toward the decision he himself would like to see. Verbal blackmail is also a form of violence, and also for some benefit, in Tsukasa's opinion — it will help fulfill the wishes he's committed to, it will help Mitsuba become stronger, it will help Sakura and Amane (it's convenient, of course, that the requirements for their fulfillment somewhat overlap, but that's a matter of lore).

Tsukasa himself agrees with the principles of the demon, which it demands strict adherence to (yes, he must see things through to the end. Tsukasa can't stop; the process has begun, as we see in the new timeline; the demon won't let him change his mind halfway through), but because Tsukasa himself was part of this process. The result justifies the means, and Tsukasa himself is the means. It doesn't matter that he will suffer in captivity; the important thing is that Amane will recover. It doesn't matter that he will disappear if the seal is removed; the important thing is that Sakura will fulfill her wish, which requires the destruction of all the yorishiro. "No matter how much pain you cause to achieve your goal, I will forgive you," Tsukasa repeats the words we previously heard from Amane. It is unknown which brother actually said them first, whether Tsukasa believes this or is simply repeating what his brother says; the important thing is that he keeps them to himself. It doesn't matter that others will suffer (for whom he asks Sakura about compassion), the main thing is achieving the result. He himself suffered greatly in the process of fulfilling his wish, and therefore cannot abandon the ideology of violence for the sake of benefit, thereby admitting that his suffering was in vain. So Tsukasa is unlikely to do something as significant as re-creating Mitsuba just for fun. There is likely a reason, the only question is how acceptable it is for society. Fulfilling wishes is a responsible process, the consequences of which must be paid for if necessary; this is part of Tsukasa's principles, and he is unlikely to decide on it without being prepared for these consequences, without a clear purpose for which he is doing everything. After all, he promised to help Mitsuba, but he was destroyed by Hanako, and although payment was received, the matter was not fully completed, one way or another.

Tsukasa, however, follows through and keeps his word. This is one of his relatively positive principles. Words must be kept, and he constantly demands this of others and strives to uphold the same himself. After all, he promised to heal Amane, make Mitsuba stronger, give him the chance to live with his friends as a normal person, and help fulfill Sakura's wish, and what do we see? Tsukasa only abandons his sacrifice for Amane when he learns it was in vain. And although he longed to return, he only held back for his own personal reasons. He also "remembered his promise" and didn't refuse to dive into the well, even though he might have become frightened and changed his mind. Mitsuba also ultimately becomes quite powerful, earning a place as one of the school's mysteries. If he hadn't decided to reject Shijima's world, he would have continued to successfully imitate the school life Tsukasa generously gave him. Tsukasa could also refuse to disappear just for Sakura's sake, or for that same Amane, who doesn't value him, but he still resigns himself to the fate of a yorishiro who will be destroyed for the sake of others. After all, he promised to fulfill their wishes.

4) Tsukasa's Duality.

However, Tsukasa doesn't always act in accordance with his demands on others. This is the most interesting aspect of his personality, in my opinion, because it's the most subtle of all that can be analyzed.

Tsukasa demands that true emotions be shown to him, yet he hides his own. We know he cried in the red house when Nene and Kou passed by. We know he was lonely, missed his family, and longed to return. Tears well up in Tsukasa's eyes when he exclaims that Amane is acting "selfishly."

However, he holds them all in, always greeting his interlocutors with a wide, seemingly deliberate smile. It's worth noting that almost all the characters hide their negative emotions behind smiles — remember Hanako, Kou, Teru, Mitsuba's mother, Mitsuba himself, Aoi — do images of their carefully crafted "cheerful" smiles ever come to mind? But you remember how they ultimately feel, right?

And if Tsukasa is a person with his own feelings, then the way Aidairo writes his characters doesn't really differ much from them. In an interview with Kikan S magazine, Aida notes the specifics of character designs, and her comment about Tsukasa is that "his pupils are intentionally drawn straight, unlike Amane's, to make it harder to read his emotions, making him more mysterious." So, Tsukasa is meant to be mysterious, but mysteries are meant to be solved.

After all, we know he cried in captivity. He's also hurt by Amane's behavior, offended by his decision to devalue the victim. Tsukasa remarks that while Amane protects Nene, he's decided to kill him, twice: in the donut chapter 15 and in chapter 91. The second time, he even emotionally calls him selfish. It's obvious Tsukasa is unhappy, but when it comes to the situation, in cases where he can control himself better than usual, he opts for the "smile like everything's fine" tactic. At the trial, he chuckles while talking to Amane about how strange he is, as if that's precisely what hasn't bothered him lately (literally the reason he left the red house, the interview card, the last concern—Amane, what he doesn't like about Amane—is that he's acting in his typical manner). Tsukasa even calls Amane strange with a smile on his face more than once. As he burned in the fire, he smiled, though he should have been crying — it was grief, after all — but Tsukasa was so shocked in the moment that he unconsciously resorted again to the "smile is okay" copium. In fact, ever since his self-sacrifice, he's adopted this strategy as a convenient one — the suppression of negative emotions. Recall how Tsukasa convinced himself he didn't miss Amane because Amane hated him, so he wouldn't want to return so much. Then his entire world was destroyed, and what choice did he have but to laugh while everything around him burned, like his former hopes? This is fine, as they say.

So, Tsukasa enjoys seeing others' honest emotions, but he hides his own, preventing anyone from seeing how upset he truly is. Perhaps he also doesn't consider certain events worth crying about, which is why he shuts Mitsuba up, as I mentioned earlier — Tsukasa himself never cried, even when he was burning in the ruined world, and he's accustomed to perceiving almost all events as unworthy of opening up, since he still hasn't done so even after all that's happened. Tsukasa is ambivalent about expressing emotions.Tsukasa also encourages freedom of choice in others and often seems to act of his own free will. But is this true in all cases?

5) Freedom and the Lack of It.

Tsukasa strives for freedom in itself due to the trauma of isolation, and for freedom of decision-making due to the trauma inherent in all kannagi. Sumire had a similar problem: she couldn't influence her own life; someone had decided for her that she would die, so her thirst for control spilled over into her attitude towards animals, about whom she says that they are dependent on her, and it is up to her to decide whether they live or die.

Also, since Amane acted as he wanted, devaluing Tsukasa's help, Tsukasa decides to act as he wants too — "I won't hold back anymore," he says. Finally, Tsukasa finds freedom, escaping the confines of the red house back into the past, having done so because he wanted to return. And so, it seems like Tsukasa is free now, right?

But Tsukasa actually embraces the path of accepting his circumstances. Just as Sumire essentially does, because she doesn't believe she can save herself (that the villagers will find her, order Hakubo to do it, and that he won't defy them, because she's not sure of him inside). So Sumire doesn't ask Hakubo for rescue, which he constantly wonders about. As if it's her fault — what Hakubo himself decided to act a certain way? But he does so too late. The same goes for Yugi's brothers. Amane doesn't change his mind about killing her brother, and Tsukasa becomes dependent on that decision. This murder becomes his obsession; Tsukasa returns with the desire to know why Amane did it, essentially accepting his fate. Tsukasa makes no attempt to escape or resist Amane; he knows where this is heading and simply waits for it to happen (that's how it appears today, until a refutation is published, for example, where Tsukasa would fight Amane). Is Tsukasa truly free in his choice to return to certain death? It's his choice, of course. But it's a choice made under the influence of circumstances, essentially a passion. The news that Amane betrayed him leaves a strong impression on Tsukasa. I've described how it affected him, and the ways in which that moment resonates to this day. Tsukasa essentially faces a choice without a choice. What's left for him to do? Stay in this confinement for some reason, convinced it's pointless, or at least return to his family? Tsukasa simply chooses what he wants, of course, what seems like a good idea to him. But it's not such a good idea; his family didn't welcome him warmly, and everything went awry. And it's not that little Tsukasa is wrong or at fault for getting involved; no, he's simply becoming a victim of these circumstances once again. He chooses to accept them, but because it's an easier path to copium than fighting them, addressing the elephant in the room, the futility of everything he's ever done — people with problems are afraid to acknowledge them, knowing they'll have to deal with them.

Tsukasa accepts that Amane will kill him, that he'll have to disappear as a yorishiro, that Amane pays more attention to Nene, that he's now bound by a contract with the demon, for whom he's now a errand boy, a prisoner of existence as a wish-fulfiller. Tsukasa accepts many hardships, such as the fact that Mirai has locked him in truly strong shackles and that he'll now have to lie in this cage. It's clear he's not very happy, and Nene tries to rouse him while Tsukasa once again goes through the process of coming to terms with the circumstances and perhaps even searching for solutions. This trait of his is the very flip side of his straightforwardness and passive statement of facts.

On the one hand, such acceptance sounds like willpower, but on the other, it's also conformism for reasons of copium. It would be too difficult for him to fight everything he's long been caught up in; it's easier to pretend he agrees with it. Tsukasa isn't free in the way he's a prisoner of his emotions, repeatedly reaching out to Amane and being rejected; a prisoner of his trauma, which has caused him to develop so many of these strange habits; a prisoner of the demon and Sakura, whose strings he dances to because they don't ask him if he wants to continue working, if he wants to perish forever, only so that some demonic being named Sakura can leave the territory of the Seven Mysteries. Because of the demon, he's also become a stranger to his family, and that wasn't his choice either; he probably didn't expect such a reception at all. Tsukasa suggests to Shijima that she "just stop painting," knowing full well that she can't stop, which is why he came to her for the painting. He himself isn't far behind, unable to stop granting wishes. Tsukasa finds it easier to accept that Amane doesn't love him, but that's okay, that he doesn't mind disappearing, that he doesn't mind fulfilling others' wishes (after all, it so conveniently allows him to try again and again to close the gestalt of granting others happiness), that he chooses what he does. After all, everyone should do what they want!

He says it in the first Sousuke arc, "Everyone should do what they want," and then repeatedly throughout the text. In the Clock keepers' boundary, Tsukasa tells Nene that not destroying yorishiro is also her personal choice. But does Nene have that choice? Tsukasa makes it clear she'll have to go through with it if she's going to refuse, and defeating Tsukasa is truly impossible. Nene ultimately wouldn't have the option to refuse, even if Tsukasa gives her room to maneuver out of respect for her will. And then there's how he just used blackmail on her, but when Nene tries to blackmail Tsukasa, "If you agree to obey me, then," Tsukasa immediately interrupts her.

So he can blackmail other people, but they can't blackmail him, right? But what if Nene does what she wants, why doesn't Tsukasa like that? This runs counter to his plans, and he puts a stop to it, once again demanding Nene be honest in conversation. Although it's still unclear whether he himself will be very honest. Tsukasa talks so much about freedom, but when it comes to truly breaking free from his shackles or agreeing with someone else's opinion that interferes with his plans, it's simply out of the question. It turns out that it's not as simple as someone's true desire, because he forbids that desire, sometimes to himself, sometimes to others, depending on the situation.

6) Copium as a consequence of trauma and the semantic undertones of Tsukasa's behavior.

Tsukasa chooses to accept his circumstances, but inside he still disagrees with them, simply pretending everything is fine. "I want it this way," Amane says in chapter 91, and again, this is Amane's personal will, what he wants. Tsukasa likes to respect others' decisions, right? But he calls his brother selfish. He's still angry that Amane actually does what he wants, sometimes cutting off their lives, sometimes suddenly valuing someone else's. Tsukasa is deeply offended by Amane, but tries to accept everything that comes with it, which results in ambiguous copium methods.

Tsukasa simply subtly taunts Amane. Sometimes he directly says it's strange for him to defend Nene after he's decided to kill himself. Sometimes he constantly suggests someone give Amane a beating. Mitsuba should fight him, not exorcist Kou, no, Amane. This could, of course, be explained by the fact that a test of strength (and it was precisely a test of strength, when Tsukasa assures Mitsuba that he's become strong, he doesn't stop him from expelling the toilet trio from the boundary, which contrasts with how a minute ago he was forcing Mitsuba to fight, and now, that's it, forget it) requires a match with a worthy opponent. But it's as if there's something about a fake person, a false person, a doppelganger, going up against Amane.

This might sound like speculation, coupled with the fact that, as I said, Tsukasa likely doesn't fully understand Amane's motivations, so I won't insist on it. But then we see him encouraging Nene to kill Amane in a perfect scenario. Why would he do that? Nene also started thinking and even came to the conclusion about revenge, which is interesting considering how often her theories about what's going on aren't that far from the truth. "Hanako likes me, Tsukasa and Shijima are in cahoots, Tsukasa is upset with Amane" — which of these is untrue? So, Tsukasa encourages Nene to do this because this way Amane will feel what it's like to be stabbed in the back by the person you love and worked so hard for. Amane won't die in the picture, he's a real mystery, it's purely psychological. Something's hidden in this support for the fight with Amane, one way or another. Tsukasa is also interested in Hananene's relationship, to the point that he interferes in it and ntrs Nene right in front of his brother. He desperately wants to be part of their group, to have some influence there, to receive their attention. Any attention, Tsukasa is glad that Amane is angry about his kiss with Nene, because Tsukasa caused at least such a reaction in him, received at least a drop of attention, took part in their company.

Tsukasa also sublimates his feelings for Mitsuba, constantly repeating Amane's words of forgiveness to him, assuring him that he doesn't hate him even if Mitsuba doesn't ask, caring for Mitsuba tenderly (even if this is only part of the swing in his favor), helping him become strong — because he himself has a control complex, like a kannagi. Tsukasa values strength; he likes to feel it, he revels in it when he goes up against equally strong opponents, like Akane in the boundary of the Firsts, for example. Tsukasa asks him with a certain pleasure, "Show me what you've got, is that all?" And he constantly tries to make the weak Mitsuba able to stand up for himself, teaching Nene the same thing ("you have to try hard yourself to get out," he tells her in the cage). This also ties into how Amane abandoned him, and Tsukasa had to climb out of the boundary again on his own, now as a yorishiro. Tsukasa has learned to rely solely on his own strength and wants to teach his protégé Mitsuba the same, as well as any weaklings he encounters, so they won't be harmed. Ultimately, Tsukasa also agrees that Mitsuba "can become human." It's an impossible dream, but one that Tsukasa nonetheless supports. Perhaps because he himself was half-supernatural, half-human when he returned home and also longed to be able to coexist with ordinary people. Mitsuba wants something similar, and Tsukasa, of course, supports him in this. For his own reasons.

So, what conclusions can we draw from this? Is Tsukasa a chaotic being whose actions cannot be traced back to any pattern? At least partially, that's not true. Tsukasa became who he is not because he was replaced by some fake, but because he himself changed internally after what he experienced. Of course, he now behaves differently, strangely, confusingly, sometimes even unattractively, but there are reasons for this. Tsukasa is a hostage to what he got himself into, and he's still dealing with the consequences. He's a true victim, like the kannagi, but it was this path of acceptance that Tsukasa truly chose himself, the moment he decided to heal Amane. Just as Amane once decided he wouldn't leave and got completely screwed. Yugi are firm in their intentions, but it hardly brings them happiness or any visible results. Nothing changes. Tsukasa, like Amane, is a prisoner of his role, forced to play by someone else's rules, even as he tries to convince himself he's in control. In other words, he's pretending. And this is an important aspect of his personality, revealing who Tsukasa really is. A resentful child, copimg every second of his existence, treating those around him with double standards, having lost his sense of self after the events he's endured. This is Tsukasa now, and we're unlikely to know what he would have been like. Ultimately, Tsukasa is similar to Amane, yet different. And ultimately, he himself isn't ready to transcend his own existence, so we may not see the "solution" to Tsukasa's mystery onscreen for a long time.

So, Tsukasa essentially plays up his image as a cruel, chaotic freak. Due to his disconnect from the cast, caused by his mysterious lore of disappearance and time travel, Tsukasa seems to have realized that it's truly difficult for others to perceive him for who he truly is. He himself is afraid to dwell on the topic too much.

Ever since childhood, his mother imposed a monster image on him, turning the entire family against him. Amane is convinced of some kind of fake only because his mother repeated these words to him every day. Yugi's mother decided this for her own reasons; the returned Tsukasa was truly different from the carefree child he once was; he now shared a body with an entity, which joyfully began to manifest itself at every opportunity. Amane, meanwhile, was four years old; we are shown him carefree playing with his brother until his mother raised the alarm.

In any case, the family decided that Tsukasa wasn't who he claimed to be, that he was behaving inappropriately, that he was bad and terrible. Amane only grew more convinced of this over the years and began pushing Tsukasa on emotional swings, having already stopped paying attention to him in life, focusing instead on the idea of fixing the clock and reviving the real Tsukasa. Tsukasa lived with this his entire earthly life. Whether he tried to convince his family otherwise or resigned himself to it, the outcome is clear: no one's opinion of Tsukasa has changed. Under these circumstances, the only solution seems to be to bend to the circumstances. Or rather, the lack of a solution.

After all, Tsukasa, as I wrote, often bends over backwards for them. And how does his villainous persona manifest itself? For example, in how he doesn't explain his goals regarding Mitsuba, instead simply responding with "just because." Perhaps he didn't want to go into detail; Kou already sees him as the villain who "destroyed Sousuke." If, after all of Tsukasa's explanations about how helping Mitsuba develop works, Kou still thinks it was all unnecessary and creepy, then does it make sense to keep answering more questions to someone who doesn't expect to hear that kind of answer?

Tsukasa also pretends to be an anarchist, or is actually almost convinced that he is one — his copy-paste-inflated desire for freedom is, in fact, limited by the conditions and his behavior. Generally, it seems to me that "destroying the boundaries of worlds" only benefits the broadcasting club, and Tsukasa is merely agreeing with them again in the hope that he, too, will benefit in some way. He basically agrees with this friendship between people and supernaturals, having "befriended" the entity within himself, but is this very destruction of boundaries his personal motive? We know that Sakura needs this first and foremost. It's ironic to watch Tsukasa speak of complete freedom from any rules, while acting solely by them, according to the principles and demands of the entity. Tsukasa is well aware of these laws of nature, so he accepts the fact that former Mitsuba is no longer there, explains that fear is remembered best by people, and explains to everyone how and what works in the system of the other world. Of course, one must be well-versed in the underbelly of what one is going against, and yet, were it not for Sakura's motivation? Would Tsukasa have engaged in such things is an open question. He already spends so much time coping with his brother's problem. Most of Tsukasa's motivation revolves around him, rather than any larger issues.

Tsukasa also supports Mitsuba's self-identification as a supernatural who desires to become human, based on the idea that Mitsuba at least has some choice, some attempt. Tsukasa never had such a choice; he was branded a monster from childhood. This false belief on Mitsuba's part that he can do it may well be a desire for his protégé to achieve what Tsukasa himself could not. After all, Tsukasa is, in many ways, like a parent to Mitsuba-mystery. Mitsuba is a flawed being from the perspective of mystery politics, and Tsukasa was also hated for his flawed nature.

Tsukasa also simply doesn't believe anyone could perceive him differently. He doesn't understand that Kou and Nene came into the house because they were worried about the crying child inside. He tells Kou that people only come here for their wishes, so he should probably say his own.

Tsukasa no longer believes Amane loves him, so it's easier for him to help him quietly, using his own methods, rather than seek his understanding. If his brother thinks he's weird, there's nothing he can do about it.

Blackmailing others to push them in the right direction is also a form of exploitation. Tsukasa uses his intimidating aura to influence Mitsuba, Amane, and Nene. Ultimately, even if they hate him, the important thing is that he can benefit others. After all, Tsukasa doesn't really care about public opinion, and secondly, the principle of "effectiveness over morals and appearance" also applies here. His loved ones aren't public opinion; of course, he'd like them to understand everything, but can Tsukasa explain himself? Does he even believe they'll understand him? And has he even tried? Deep down, Tsukasa could very well be as much of a coward as Amane.

Besides, Tsukasa doesn't consider himself all that terrible; he simply accepts the false name, but he hardly defines himself as a monster. For him, his actions make perfect sense; after all, he's the one doing them, knowing his intentions. When Natsuhiko demands that Tsukasa stop teasing Mitsuba at the welcoming party, Tsukasa replies that he's not teasing at all; on the contrary, he likes Mitsuba. That is, he doesn't view his behavior toward Mitsuba as purely humorous bullying. He feels the same way about the game of tag with Nene over the clock keepers' boundary. For Tsukasa, it was primarily a game; remember the take about the big cat and the kitten? Tsukasa asks Nene why he can't get close to her, because he didn't see himself as someone to be so afraid of in that situation. In those same chapters, we see his lyrical mood, his patience with Nene, and he even shares bits of his past with her. This is a side of Tsukasa that others, and even readers, rarely see. Tsukasa is portrayed there in more than just his usual eccentric personas.

And here it's important that much also depends on the artistic presentation of Tsukasa. Aidairo deliberately portrays him as mysterious to this day, so it goes without saying that the main character's doppelganger was meant to be genuinely intriguing at the beginning. Since this is, after all, a bit of a horror manga, the reader should be left with a corresponding impression. Tsukasa is so chaotic, such a maniac, isn't he? He smiles so cruelly when he does the wrong thing, he laughs, his gestures are so crude.

However, much of what Tsukasa does visually is also done by Amane, who, in the public eye, is more normal. But Amane, too, has plenty of quirks and dark sides. And it's all about the visuals. Amane, just like Tsukasa, hides negative emotions behind a smile, and also smiles frighteningly when he does something questionable. His darkened face with black eyes when he throws Nene by rope into the Yako's boundary. His unnatural smile in volume 6, all the time when he says Nene will actually die and when he fights Kou over it. His next cheerful smile is when he tells Nene that Aoi died in her place, so everything is fine.

This is inherently no less frightening than Tsukasa's actions, if not more so, because Tsukasa immediately comes across as a chaotic person from whom you can't expect peace. Amane, on the other hand, pretends to be normal.

Amane also often attacks and/or destroys various ghosts in the same manner, as well as those who might be pitied by others, like Sousuke or Mitsuba. He just does it gracefully, using a knife and a calm expression. Tsukasa, on the other hand, fights with his bare hands and feet, which visually gives him a feral and dangerous look. But they both essentially perform the same job as the seventh mystery.

Just imagine the scenes with Tsukasa; if he moved like Amane and used a knife, would that make it any easier to process? And would it make it any harder to process if Hanako killed Sousuke's ghost, attacking Sumire, Mitsuba, and Kou with nothing but his bare hands? The visual effect would change, even slightly.

Tsukasa and Amane are similar, like brothers, even in their flaws. They're certainly tactile, sharing a love for katanuki, dinosaurs, and donuts, and use similar gestures. They also both hide their pain behind smiles, harbor many dirty secrets, and have trouble understanding each other. They're both willing to sacrifice themselves to save their loved ones, willing to disappear without meaning to, and both are better at giving attention than receiving, due to their lack of accustomedness to being loved.

When considering Tsukasa, it's impossible not to compare him to Amane. It's ironic how Amane finds Tsukasa's behavior strange, incomprehensible, and bad, when he himself behaves the same way. At least when it comes to the fake smiles.

Is Tsukasa truly evil twin, or is he simply a second Yugi with his own motives? I wouldn't say Tsukasa is much more gray moral than Amane, who's so famous for being self-aware and understanding what's going on, and therefore everything he does is a deliberate decision — all his murders, his emotional roller coaster ride with Nene, his shady plans. Tsukasa was cast as the evil twin, drawing attention early in the manga, but he's long since been explored in other ways.

Tsukasa simply embodies various tropes, playing with them. The damsel in distress who rescues herself from her tower confinement. The protagonist's dead wife, for whom he does all this and is even willing to turn back time, and whom he constantly looks at with the same expression Kou makes at Mitsuba. You know what I mean. A man in the traditionally feminine role of kannagi. The evil twin trope is also played with. There are no winners among the Yugi twins, that's the thing.

If you approach Tsukasa with an open mind, the results will be different. Mitsuba succumbs to fear of Tsukasa, and Tsukasa easily manipulates this fear. When Nene becomes hysterical and her fear gives way to stubbornness, Tsukasa suddenly realizes something new is happening. He begins to look for new ways to communicate with her. Sakura generally sees him as "a kind child inside, despite all his chaotic behavior" (character survey after Volume 16).

She also describes Tsukasa as reliable, which is confirmed by my research into his work ethic.

Natsuhiko is immortal, unafraid of the dangers Tsukasa poses, able to put him in his place, and Tsukasa even begins to perceive him as an authority figure, something he lacked in life. Of course, Tsukasa isn't easy to tolerate, and Natsuhiko is lucky, but this shows that attitudes breed inverse attitudes. It's all about how each person chooses to see Tsukasa for themselves.

And how do you see Tsukasa? I hope my analysis has helped you at least understand some of Tsukasa's traits and draw your own conclusions. Of course, Tsukasa is complex character, but that's what makes him interesting. Just as Amane is a truly complex person with ambiguous morals — the Yugi brothers were created that way simply to make them interesting to explore.