Tsubaki Kasugano
Tsubaki Kasugano |
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Kanji: | 春日野 椿 |
Rōmaji: | Kasugano Tsubaki |
Nickname(s): | Sixth |
Rank: | 6th |
Characteristics | |
Race: | Human |
Gender: | Female |
Age: | 13 (Manga) 12 (Anime) |
Hair Color: | Dark Blue |
Eye Color: | Purple |
Birthday | ~Early 1999 |
Professional Information | |
Affiliation: | Omekata Religion |
Occupation: | Diary Holder High Priestess |
Personal Status | |
Status: | Deceased (First World and Second World) Alive (Third World) |
Relatives: | Mother and Father |
Debut | |
Manga: | Chapter 2 |
Anime: | Episode 4 |
Voices | |
Japanese: | Eri Sendai |
English : | Kate Bristol |
Diary | |
Number: | 6 |
Type: | Clairvoyance Diary |
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— Tsubaki Kasugano
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Appearance & Personality
Tsubaki’s full appearance.
Tsubaki Kasugano, the sixth diary owner, is a slender, striking figure with red eyes that hold a muted shine, reflecting her poor vision. Her long dark blue hair, pinned with a red butterfly-shaped accessory, cascades down her back, reaching her hips and partially veiling the right side of her face. She is often seen wearing a red-orange kimono fastened with a thick white ribbon at the waist. In the anime adaptation, her appearance differs slightly—her eyes are purple instead of red, and her right eye remains closed, hinting at past damage or loss. Her hair is also noticeably longer, extending to her ankles.
Tsubaki initially appears to be a courteous, gentle soul uninterested in the violent Survival Game, focused solely on avoiding the Dead End foreseen by her diary. Thoughtful and perceptive, she shows a strong intuition and doubts Yuno’s motives with Yukiteru, whom she finds harmless and even “cute.” This perspective, however, pits her against Yuno, forming a tense rivalry as each seeks to influence Yukiteru.
Her true personality, though, is gradually revealed to be far more dark and complex. Tsubaki harbors a deep bitterness and resentment towards the Omekata religion, the world, and her own life, fueling a desire to attain godlike power to reshape existence as she wishes. Manipulative and strategic, she plays the innocent “damsel in distress,” baiting Yukiteru with her helpless façade to exploit his trusting nature. Her bitterness manifests most strongly against Yuno, as she pushes boundaries to provoke her. She even kisses Yukiteru to incite jealousy in Yuno and later attempts to lure Yukiteru by threatening Yuno, leading to confrontations that ultimately seal her fate. Underestimating her adversaries, Tsubaki’s provocations ultimately motivate Yukiteru to stand against her.
One of Tsubaki’s most treasured possessions, her mother’s gifted handball known as Temari, plays a central role in her backstory. Losing it during a temple ritual, Tsubaki’s anger and despair worsened, her hatred festering as her handball remained lost. In her final moments, upon finding Temari too late, Tsubaki is filled with regret—tears of anger in the manga and of sadness in the anime—as she realizes the treasure’s return cannot change her fate.
History
Tsubaki’s past comes to light.
Tsubaki Kasugano was born and raised within the confines of the Omekata Temple by her devoted parents, the founders of the Omekata Religion. Due to her impaired vision, her parents kept her within the temple walls for protection, eventually establishing her as the “Sacred Eye”—the supposed oracle of their faith. Though they worried about the effects of this fabricated role on Tsubaki, her parents upheld the ruse for years, telling followers she possessed divine clairvoyance. Her mother gifted her a handball, which became Tsubaki’s most treasured possession, symbolizing the connection to her family and a rare comfort.
Roughly two years before the Survival Game began, Tsubaki’s parents decided to dismantle the Omekata religion and bring her out of the temple. However, Funatsu, the ambitious second-in-command, resisted this decision. Secretly, he planted a makeshift bomb on her parents’ car, abandoning it as it exploded, killing them and positioning Tsubaki as the new head of the religion.
Under Funatsu’s control, the Omekata religion changed drastically. Instead of providing solace, Funatsu turned the temple into a prison, confining Tsubaki in a solitary room alongside the scroll that would later become her Future Diary. Funatsu declared her the “sin sponge,” subjecting her to torment for years as he warped the faith into a vessel of abuse. Isolated and suffering, Tsubaki clung to her handball as her only source of solace. When it eventually rolled out of her confinement, she felt a crushing loss, cementing her belief that everything beyond her reach was corrupt, fueling her desire to destroy the outside world.
One day, Muru Muru appeared in Tsubaki’s cell while she was transcribing her followers’ reports on her scroll. Startled by the unexpected visitor and her eccentric behavior, Tsubaki questioned Muru Muru, who finally revealed that she had been chosen as a participant in the Survival Game. Shortly after, Tsubaki’s scroll transformed into the Clairvoyant Diary, which automatically recorded her followers’ observations.
Whether Deus or Muru Muru understood Tsubaki’s true ambitions for godhood remains uncertain, though they may have found her dark motivations intriguing enough to take the risk of her winning—even if it could mean the end of the universe.