Tsubaki Kasugano

Tsubaki Kasugano (春日野 椿, Kasugano Tsubaki) is the Sixth diary owner. The high priestess and oracle of the Omekata religion, Tsubaki is known as the Sacred Eye for her apparent powers of clairvoyancy, although this is actually the ability to her Future Diary, the "Clairvoyance Diary".

Appearance & Personality
Tsubaki is a pretty young woman, but has poor vision, leading her to spend her entire life living in the Omekata temple. She has long dark blue hair, some of it pinned up with a butterfly-shaped hairpiece, while the rest hangs loose, part covering the right side of her face. She wears a red kimono.



Tsubaki is introduced as a polite, considerate and friendly girl who fears for her life and requests that Yukiteru Amano becomes her guard until the time for her predicted Dead End passes. She is quite intelligent and relies on her own intuition, believing Yuno Gasai will be Yuki's undoing. She forms a friendship with Yuki, describing him as cute and harmless. However, she forms a tense rivalry with Yuno, both trying to pull Yukiteru from one direction to another.

When Tsubaki's backstory is revealed, so are her true colours. Bitter, angry and emotional, Tsubaki really hates the world, the Omekata religion and her life, planning to become God to destroy the world and recreate it. She is quite manipulative, having manipulated Yuki, Yuno, Keigo Kurusu, Minene Uryu, and Yomotsu Hirasaka into coming to the temple in order to eliminate all of them easily. She falsifies her damsel in distress act to easily lure in Yuki, using his habit to quickly trust people against him. Upon revealing her true self, she thanks Yuki for protecting her and then gives him a crude kiss just to watch Yuno squirm.

Twisted to the point of performing immoral acts, Tsubaki tries to rid herself of her own pain by forcing some on Yuno when she held prisoner, suggesting to several of her male followers to gang-rape Yuno to lure in Yuki. When Yuki does arrive, Tsubaki is surprised but undeterred to kill him and Yuno. Being very attached to the handball her late mother gave her as a child, Tsubaki's anger stems from losing it during her torturous time as a sex slave for the religion's members. Upon reuniting with her ball seconds before her own death, Tsubaki is drawn to tears, although they are of anger in the manga, cursing her ball for only showing up seconds before her death. In the anime, she cries sorrowful tears.

Diary & Abilities
Her diary is the Clairvoyance Diary, appearing as a long green scroll. It predicts Tsubaki's future through the eyes of her followers, which gives her great control of her surroundings and any area her followers are in. Given the different entries they can see, Tsubaki can read them all and with the diverse information, carry out the best course of action, with this diary Tsubaki can be considered a tactical leader. However, it has several weaknesses. Given its reliance on her followers it can be disrupted via internal sabotage, such as when Yomotsu Hirasaka hypnotises the followers, leading to all the entries to reveal the same thing, even though followers are at different locations, which can confuse her and being unable to tell lie from truth. Given that the Clairvoyance Diary is in fact a scroll, when used it becomes easily the most susceptible of the diaries given its great size when in comparison of cellphone-like diaries. This in turn leads Tsubaki to protect her diary instead of herself which can leave her vulnerable to attacks.

Given that she was capable of luring three participants and manipulate them into protecting her from The Twelfth she can be considered a skilled manipulator.

Despite her half-blindness, she seems to be able to discern things rather well and act accordingly. Also despite her crude past, her followers do obey her every word, implying she is a respected leader, even though she has made well clear that she will destroy the world.

History


Tsubaki was born and raised within the walls of the Omekata temple by her loving parents who founded the religion. Because of Tsubaki's poor sight, they kept her in the temple for her own safety. She became known as the Sacred Eye, the oracle and figurehead of the religion, her parents telling the followers Tsubaki possessed clairvoyant powers. Although worried that this lie would have an affect on their daughter, Tsubaki's parents kept up the act for many years. Tsubaki's mother gave her daughter a handball, which became Tsubaki's most treasured possession.

Eventually, around two years before the events of the survival game, Tsubaki's parents decided they would dismantle the religion and remove Tsubaki from the temple. However, Funatsu, the second-in-command of the religion, secretly attached a makeshift bomb to the underside of the car belonging to Tsubaki's parents. Obsessed to keep up the act, Funatsu took Tsubaki's parents for a drive only to abandon the car which exploded, killing Tsubaki's parents and leaving her as the figurehead and head priest of Omekata, and Funatsu as her second.

Unfortunately, Funatsu altered the purpose of the religion. Instead of helping troubled people, Funatsu imprisoned Tsubaki in a confinement room along with the scroll which would become her Future Diary. He then declared the room would be use for people to cleanse themselves of their sins, using Tsubaki as a sponge. Tsubaki endured two nightmarish years as a sex slave, raped by countless men and possibly women, slowly going insane with only her handball as her one source of sanity. Eventually, Tsubaki's handball rolled out of the confinement room and disappeared, pushing Tsubaki over the edge, concluding everything on the "Outside World" beyond her sight and reach was evil, leading to her desire to become God when she joined the survival game.

The Sacred Eye Incident
Tsubaki is introduced in the manga and anime with the rest of the diary owners during Deus Ex Machina's first meeting of the survival game. Tsubaki specifically asks how the owners are meant to kill each other when they do not know what they look like. As the owners depart from the meeting with Yuki as their primary target, Tsubaki notes how she can see Yuki's fear.

On May 4th, Tsubaki's followers capture Minene Uryu after Yomotsu Hirasaka hypnotises several members of the religion to do his bidding. Yomotsu sneaks into the temple and keeps watch over Minene. Yuki, Yuno and Kurusu arrive at the temple the next day following a prediction on Kurusu's diary. Tsubaki acts normally, as if her time as a sex slave had never happened, remaining in her confinement room with her diary. Yuki, Yuno and Kurusu are led to her by Orin Miyashiro, actually there on behalf of Kamado Ueshita, the Eighth diary owner, along with one half of the Seventh diary owners Ai Mikami. Tsubaki quickly reveals she is a diary owner, claiming to have no interest in becoming God since she is already his messenger. She unrolls her scroll, revealing she has a Dead End flag which will occur later that night. Tsubaki makes a deal with Kurusu - to hand over Minene as long as Yuki remains as her guard until the time of her Dead End passes.

Yuno objects but Kurusu agrees to the proposal, Yuki remaining to be Tsubaki's guard for the night. Orin and Ai deliver some futons for Yuki and Tsubaki to use, Tsubaki informing Yuki her diary is not completely omnipotent, since it focuses on the views of her followers. She also informs Yuki that Yuno will be his undoing, causing Yuki's suspicions of Yuno to be intensified after he found the corpses in her house the night before. Yuno eavesdrops on Tsubaki through her diary, planning to kill Tsubaki at some point.

The futons suddenly ignite and burst into flames, trapping Tsubaki in her chamber. Kurusu runs off to turn on the sprinkler systems, whilst Funatsu rallies the followers to put out the flames. However, the hypnotised followers only make the fire worse with gasoline and another kills Funatsu. Yuki manages to enter Tsubaki's chamber using a fire axe just as Kurusu activates the sprinklers and puts out the fire. Tsubaki angrily berates the followers after they kill some of their own and banishes them from her chamber. Tsubaki thanks Yuki, suspecting Yomotsu's hypnosis powers were responsible for her followers' actions. However, she discovers her diary has been compromised, Yomotsu having hypnotised all of her followers to give false statements to her diary.

Yuki decides to remove Tsubaki from the temple for her own safety, although Yuno objects, accusing Tsubaki of deceiving Yuki to which Tsubaki objects to. Yuno realises the dead followers are faking death and promptly goes about killing them. The three diary owners escape the room and race for the entrance, only for Yomotsu to release the followers so he can personally confront the trio himself. Yomotsu along with four other hypnotised followers dressed in similar outfits to his, appear before Yuki and warn him that Tsubaki has indeed been fooling him and reveals the true intentions of Omekata. Yomotsu tries to kill Tsubaki, only for Yuno to identify the real Twelfth and kills him.

Tsubaki reveals her true colours, her freed followers closing the entrance doors to the temple and capture Yuki and Yuno. Tsubaki explains she does plan to become God after all and gives Yuki a crude kiss to see Yuno's reaction. Concluding her Dead End should have gone, Tsubaki discovers it hasn't. The enraged Yuno attacks Tsubaki, and chops off her right hand so she cannot handle her diary anymore. As Tsubaki collapses in agony, Yuno gives Yuki her diary and forces him to flee before she collapses from exhaustion.



Tsubaki's arm is wrapped by Ai, Tsubaki angrily challenging Yuki's devotion to Yuno. Deciding to make Yuno suffer like she did, Tsubaki allows her followers to gang-rape Yuno as they did to her and calls Yuki through a microphone to rescue Yuno. Yuki charges in, protecting Yuno and fending off the followers. Surprised by Yuki's return, Tsubaki challenges him to kill her. Yuki pulls out a throwing dart, choosing Yuno over her, reflecting on a choice Yuno told Yuki to decide on between (her or Tsubaki to live or die). Tsubaki becomes infuriated by his choice.

Yuki, having found Tsubaki's handball whilst hiding, tosses it into the air as a distraction. Tsubaki is in awe for a moment upon seeing the ball, but discovers that all of her followers are looking at the ball and not at Yuki as he throws the dart. Tsubaki goes to protect her diary, only to realise she has just one hand left; the dart pierces her diary at that exact moment. The handball lands nearby, Tsubaki bursting into tears and asking why the ball returned to her just at that moment, concluding it arrived too late, and she is erased from existence.

Future Diary: Paradox
In the spin-off manga Future Diary: Paradox, where Aru Akise and Muru Muru replace Yuki and Yuno after the former is wounded by Takao Hiyama and Yuno died, the same events at the temple are followed at first.

Akise learns of Funatsu's presence and that the only way to join the religion is to have sex with Tsubaki. Deciding to alter reality against Muru Muru's wishes, Akise turns to Ai and Orin for help. Orin reveals her own objections to harming Tsubaki, aware of her tragic past whilst Ai shares her feelings but knows one day she may become her enemy. Akise decides to help Tsubaki by showing her the world outside of the temple. Akise initiates his plan, personally approaching Tsubaki and asks to "elope" with her to get her out of the temple.

Tsubaki objects, but Akise launches the next stage of his planning, having Tsubaki and Ai swap clothes to fool Funatsu who observes the room with his surveillance cameras. Akise causes a blackout to disable the cameras before escaping with Tsubaki disguised as Ai. Tsubaki objects to going outside, but Akise sweet talks her into agreeing. However, their plan falls apart when Ai is found out, and Akise runs past Muru Muru as she has lunch with Kurusu. Funatsu confronts Akise and Tsubaki, challenging Tsubaki to choose between her life or those of her followers. Akise steps in and chooses Tsubaki's life. Akise manages to escape with Tsubaki when Yomotsu starts hypnotising the followers.

Muru Muru appears, angry at Akise for altering the future. Akise vaults over a wall, out of the temple and lands in a convertible where Reisuke Houjou happens to be sitting. Akise takes Tsubaki to admire a view of Sakurami City, where she admits she cannot trust Funatsu and believes he killed her parents. Muru Muru calls Akise, revealing with help from Yomotsu, she has captured Funatsu and orders him to return Tsubaki to the temple or she will lose her chance to avenge her parents.

Akise, Tsubaki and Reisuke return to the temple, Akise planning a two-pronged attack to get a confession out of Funatsu. Whilst Akise and Tsubaki act as distractions, Reisuke goes off to convince Yomotsu to end his hypnotism. Orin and Ai aid Tsubaki, but they run into Muru Muru and Funatsu. Tsubaki demands Funatsu to confess. Believing all of the followers to still be brainwashed, Funatsu admits freely that he did kill Tsubaki's parents, only to realise Yomotsu has ended his control over the followers who heard everything. Reisuke and Yomotsu arrive, Yomotsu having turned against Muru Muru to aid Akise. A member of the cult angrily punches Funatsu, knocking him out.

Afterwards, Akise, Tsubaki, Kurusu, Reisuke, Yomotsu, Ai and Orin have all made peace with one another. Tsubaki kisses Akise as a thank you, much to his surprise. Later, as Akise tries to stop Muru Muru from rewinding time to erase his efforts in creating a better future, Tsubaki, Reisuke, Orin, Ai and Marco Ikusaba arrive to help him fend off Muru Muru and a brainwashed Yukiteru. Tsubaki escorts Akise to the memory bank of the Mecha Muru Muru robot to discover Muru Muru's secret, where Akise thanks her for everything before he jumps into the memory bank. However, Muru Muru succeeds in rewinding time and Paradox's events are erased.

The Third World
When Yuno, Muru Muru, Yuki and Minene perform a time leap to the third world, Tsubaki is alerted to their battle at Sakurami Elementary School. As an aide enters with the news that Funatsu is taking her parents for a drive, Tsubaki tells them to wait. The aide later finds Funatsu's bomb under the car, exposing him as a criminal. Funatsu is taken away by the followers, while Tsubaki declares that the religion will help those in need, and not used for giving in to sins. This also dodges her future of becoming parent-less and hardships as a sex slave.

In the final chapter of the manga, Tsubaki is shown walking out on the streets of Sakurami City with her parents. She appears to be eying Akise with interest, possibly hinting that some elements of Paradox survived in the third world.

Trivia

 * Tsubaki is named after either the Roman god Apollo, associated with the Oracle of Greek and Roman mythology, or the Roman spring goddess Proserpina, who was imprisoned in the Underworld every few months.