Yuji Sakai

Name: Yuji Sakai

Gender: Male

Age: 15

Birthday: Between May and July

Height: 165 cm

Favorite food: Chocolate

Voice actors: Satoshi Hino in the anime, Masakazu Morita in the drama CD

Yuji is a first-year student at Misaki High School in Misaki City.

At the start of the story, the original human Yuji has already died before the main plot begins.

He was consumed by a group of Crimson Denizens from the Crimson Realm.

What remains is a Torch, an artificial substitute made from the residue of his existence.

Yuji is not an ordinary Torch.

He is a Mystes, a Torch that carries a treasure tool within itself.

The treasure tool inside him is Midnight Lost Child.

Its power restores his Power of Existence every night at midnight.

Because of this ability, Yuji does not disappear like normal Torches.

He is also unaffected by the effects of a Seal, which makes him highly unusual.

He possesses extraordinary sensitivity to the Power of Existence.

He can sense the heartbeat of Torches that even Crimson Denizens and Flame Hazes fail to notice, and he can detect subtle inconsistencies even in carefully disguised spells.

After learning the hidden truth of the world and discovering that he is no longer human, Yuji becomes involved with Shana and Alastor.

Together, they fight Crimson Denizens threatening Misaki City while Yuji searches for meaning in his own continued existence.

At first glance, Yuji seems quiet, gentle, and somewhat unreliable.

He comes across as a very ordinary boy.

That impression changes completely in a crisis.

When the situation becomes serious, he displays insight and deductive ability superior even to veteran Flame Hazes.

He can bluff dangerous enemies to buy time even when victory is impossible.

He also remains calm under pressure, to the point that the more serious the situation becomes, the more composed he gets.

Outside tense situations, however, Yuji can be surprisingly dense.

He often fails to notice obvious emotional matters, especially in romance.

Hayato Ike describes him as someone who seems efficient but is somehow still a little airheaded.

That sums him up well.

Yuji tends to think in rational terms rather than acting purely on emotion.

This can make him look cold, and at times he really is capable of harshly practical choices.

One striking example is his willingness to devise plans that consume large numbers of fellow Torches if that is what is needed to lure out an enemy.

Because of this, Wilhelmina Carmel suspects that the core of his personality may lie outside ordinary emotional patterns.

At the same time, Yuji is sincere and idealistic.

Once he makes a decision or a promise, he tries to keep it no matter what.

He is especially weak when dealing with love.

Part of that comes from his own existential crisis as a Torch, which leaves him little emotional room to sort out romantic feelings.

Shana often dominates their daily dynamic, and Yuji usually cannot resist her forceful personality.

Even so, he does speak his mind when it matters.

One of his representative lines is: "Do not throw it away. Make it live."

Torch and Mystes Nature

Yuji is a Torch, meaning he is a temporary replacement for a human whose existence has been consumed.

Unlike normal Torches, he is a Mystes and therefore houses a treasure tool inside himself.

His treasure tool, Midnight Lost Child, restores his Power of Existence every midnight.

This makes his survival possible even after severe depletion.

Resistance to Seals

Yuji is unaffected by Seals.

That immediately marks him as abnormal and draws the attention of powerful enemies and allies alike.

Perception of Existence

One of Yuji’s most important abilities is his sensitivity to the Power of Existence.

He can perceive hidden distortions, detect disguised spells, and notice signs that others miss completely.

This sensitivity often allows him to identify the core of an enemy’s plan before anyone else.

It becomes one of his greatest tactical strengths.

Tactical Intelligence

Yuji is not a frontline powerhouse in the early story.

His real weapon is his mind.

He excels at analysis, deduction, and situational planning.

In emergencies, he can produce bold and effective strategies almost instantly.

Later Combat Growth

As the story progresses, Yuji gains far more than tactical ability.

After absorbing the severed arm of Sydonay that remained inside him, his amount of Power of Existence exceeds that of an average Crimson Denizen.

He later succeeds in manifesting a Seal himself.

Its flame color is silver, the same as the mysterious Denizen known as Silver, which deepens the mystery surrounding his existence.

Yuji initially lives an ordinary life without realizing he has already been consumed and replaced.

That changes when he becomes caught in another feeding incident and is nearly captured after being recognized as a Mystes because he can move inside a Seal.

Shana saves him, and Yuji learns the true nature of the world.

He also learns the terrible truth that he is already dead and will eventually vanish, taking all traces and memories of his existence with him.

The shock is enormous, but Yuji does not collapse forever.

Instead, he chooses to help Shana stop the plans of Friagne.

He correctly identifies crucial points in Friagne’s scheme and helps force the battle into a favorable direction.

In the end, Yuji and Shana stop Friagne through mutual trust.

Yuji nearly disappears due to exhaustion, but Midnight Lost Child restores him at midnight.

After that, Shana and Alastor decide to remain in town for a while because Yuji’s treasure tool cannot simply be ignored.

Yuji then begins living alongside them while trying to decide what to do with his future.

He trains because he wants to support Shana, but his early efforts show little result, and his frustration briefly worsens their relationship.

During this period, he encounters Lamis, a rare Crimson Denizen who does not feed on humans.

He also becomes involved in conflicts with Margery Daw and in battles to protect Misaki City from Sorath, Tiriel, and their ally Sydonay.

Although Yuji contributes to protecting the city, new mysteries emerge.

The defenses placed on Midnight Lost Child are strong enough to break even Sydonay’s arm, and Sydonay clearly came searching for it.

Misaki City becomes heavily distorted after many people are devoured by several Crimson Denizens.

At this time, the Flame Haze Khamsin Nbh'w arrives, able to tune and level the distortions.

At the same time, Dantalion appears to exploit those distortions in an experiment.

Shana, Margery Daw, and Khamsin fight fiercely, while Yuji uses his understanding of the tuning process to expose the enemy’s plan and propose an effective countermeasure.

The incident is resolved, but the aftermath is deeply personal.

Kazumi Yoshida, who had become connected to the conflict through her relationship with Shana, learns the true nature of the world and discovers that Yuji is already dead.

Yuji struggles with the question of whether he has any right to respond to the feelings of a living human when he is only a remnant shaped into a substitute.

Kazumi still accepts him as a person, and Shana, who had long denied any romantic feelings, also begins to show clear affection toward him.

Yuji becomes grateful to both girls, yet even more uncertain about what he should do for their sake.

Meanwhile, he repeatedly dreams of a black shadow asking what he truly wants.

He spends time studying with his friends Hayato Ike, Keisaku Satou, and Eita Tanaka.

He also enjoys fireworks and ordinary daily life, and these peaceful moments make him think about the future he may one day leave behind if he travels with Shana.

Then another major change occurs.

Because he absorbed the severed arm left inside him by Sydonay, Yuji’s Power of Existence rises dramatically, and Shana tells him that he has truly crossed beyond the human side.

Soon after, Wilhelmina Carmel reveals that the previous owner of Midnight Lost Child had been attacked repeatedly by a powerful Crimson Denizen.

As a result, a mysterious spell had already been embedded into the treasure tool before it passed to Yuji.

Realizing that Midnight Lost Child is tied to a vast conspiracy, and warned that Shana may also be dragged into it, Yuji makes a vow:

"I will protect Shana. I will."

As Yuji trains to control his expanded power, he eventually succeeds in creating a Seal.

The flame is silver, matching Silver, the being sought by Margery Daw as the object of her revenge.

Since Yuji should normally burn with pale blue flame, this suggests the unknown spell affecting Midnight Lost Child is changing him.

The mystery deepens again.

During the school festival, the former partner of Midnight Lost Child’s previous owner, Fecor, arrives.

Her interference with the treasure tool causes Silver to emerge from within Yuji.

The incident escalates further when Hecate and another major member of Bal Masque are transferred into the scene.

At this point, it becomes undeniable that Bal Masque is involved in the plot surrounding Yuji.

Shana’s side attempts to contact the support network of the Flame Hazes, but Sydonay’s secret actions have already devastated its central structure.

Since Bal Masque had not launched open campaigns for ages after losing its leader long ago, the organization is slow to react.

Because the spell carved into Midnight Lost Child means that wherever Yuji goes the attack will follow, even destroying him and transferring the treasure tool would no longer solve the problem.

There is no option but to prepare for Bal Masque’s arrival in Misaki City.

Around this time, Yuji learns that he will have a younger sibling.

He also learns that the "two" in his given name reflects the existence of a stillborn twin elder brother.

This gives him a profound new perspective.

He begins to understand the significance of fighting to protect the future of children yet to be born, and he discovers a personal wish of his own.

His thought can be summed up as:

"If we keep trying, maybe someday, in the future we protect, we can bring this battle with the Crimson Denizens to an end."

On Christmas Eve, Yuji receives a joint love letter from Shana and Kazumi Yoshida.

He has already resolved that he must answer not out of calculation or obligation, but with his own genuine romantic feelings.

Before he can reach the promised meeting place, Bal Masque agents appear.

Yuji angrily but calmly sees through their strategy, communicates his situation indirectly to his allies, defeats a weaker enemy using his training, and disrupts the plan.

But even that was within the expectations of the powerful Denizen Sabrac.

Sabrac’s overwhelming strength drives Yuji, Shana, and Margery Daw into a corner.

They survive only because Wilhelmina finishes a countermeasure born from her old grudge against Sabrac, and because Yuji identifies Sabrac’s true nature.

After Sabrac is driven off, Yuji moves toward making his choice between Shana and Kazumi.

Then the black shadow from his dreams appears before him directly.

It addresses him as the one worthy to walk beside it.

Becoming the Vessel of the Serpent of the Festival

At the moment Yuji tries to go to the one he has chosen, Shana, the final stage of Bal Masque’s long plan is triggered.

The mysterious spell embedded in Midnight Lost Child was the last piece needed.

The first phase of the Grand Order was to create a vessel through which the will of the Serpent of the Festival, the God of Creation of the Crimson Realm, could act in the human world.

Originally, Midnight Lost Child’s Mystes host was to be discarded and the treasure transferred into an artificial body prepared for that purpose.

However, the Serpent of the Festival takes an interest in Yuji.

It judges him a human whose way of thinking can synchronize with its own.

As a result, the plan changes.

Instead of replacing him, Yuji becomes the vessel while retaining his own will and body, fused with the will of the god in a blended form.

The black shadow in his dreams had been the Serpent of the Festival speaking to him through fragments of the virtual will forming within Midnight Lost Child.

Using the treasure tool Emergency Exit, Yuji is transferred to Bal Masque’s headquarters, the Star Palace.

There, Midnight Lost Child, already transformed within him, merges with another treasure tool called Tyrant II, and Yuji becomes "Serpent of the Festival" Yuji Sakai.

At the same time, all of his former relationships are erased.

Many people, including his mother Chigusa Sakai, forget him completely.

By that stage, the only ordinary people who still remember him besides Shana’s side are Kazumi Yoshida, Keisaku Satou, and Eita Tanaka.

His flame color also changes to black, matching the Serpent of the Festival.

In this form, Yuji wears the crimson armor and robe called Moya Armor, and a black dragon tail created by Dantalion extends from behind him.

He keeps Azure, a fire-warding ring once picked up after Friagne’s defeat, as a pendant.

Later, through Margery Daw, he also comes to wield the great sword treasure tool Blutsauger, formerly possessed by Sorath.

As the vessel, Yuji can display immense physical strength and durability.

He can also use the Serpent of the Festival’s authority over creation and control mentally, without moving the divine body itself.

One example is creating a Divine Gate, a feat that requires the Power of Existence of tens of thousands of humans.

Opposing the Flame Hazes

After the new year begins, Yuji appears before Shana and the others.

Following a battle in which he wins by a narrow margin, he abducts Shana.

He seals her power and imprisons her in the Star Palace.

As the vessel of the Serpent of the Festival, he now acts as a member of Bal Masque and fights openly as an enemy of the Flame Hazes while advancing the second and third phases of the Grand Order.

The second phase of the Grand Order succeeds despite attempts by the Flame Hazes to stop it.

Then the Serpent of the Festival, together with Yuji, announces the true content of the third phase.

The goal is to create a new world in the space between worlds.

This world would mirror the current one, but it would overflow with limitless Power of Existence for Crimson Denizens.

That would overturn the long-standing condition that Crimson Denizens must consume human existence to survive in this world.

For Yuji, this is not abstract ideology.

It is a way to protect the people important to him.

It is also a way to protect Shana from the endless war she would otherwise be fated to fight until death.

Bal Masque had long understood the threat posed by Alastor.

In an earlier war, Alastor had easily destroyed the poem central to the Grand Order, proving the terrifying power of a god capable of killing gods.

For that reason, Bal Masque’s plan originally prioritized killing Alastor’s contractor above all else.

That policy changes only because Yuji is accepted as the vessel of the Serpent of the Festival and can produce a rational argument for keeping Shana alive.

Her abduction is part of that logic.

Had Yuji lost to Shana, Bal Masque would simply have returned to its original strategy and prioritized killing the Flame-Haired Blazing-Eyed Hunter.

Yuji is not brainwashed.

He is not drunk on self-righteousness, either.

He consciously chooses to stand with the Serpent of the Festival because his wish, his logic-driven nature, and his willingness to adopt severe methods all align with the plan.

He joins fully aware that battles along the way will certainly cost human and Flame Haze lives.

Because of that, Yuji already expects that he must one day punish himself for accepting so many sacrifices.

If he is ever to deserve walking beside Shana, he believes it would only be after creating the new world and then taking on the nearly impossible task of achieving coexistence between humans and Crimson Denizens.

He views that future labor as both punishment and atonement.

Drawing from books left behind by the ideological Crimson Denizen group Reformation Group, which sought explicit ties with humans, he intends to wander the new world alone.

In the end, after a fierce final struggle, the new world is created with the principle that Crimson Denizens cannot devour humans.

Yuji then separates from the Serpent of the Festival and, accompanied by the loyal Sydonay, faces Shana in battle.

Shana

Shana is Yuji’s closest partner throughout most of the story.

He begins as someone she saves, but gradually becomes an emotional anchor, strategist, and eventually one of the most important people in her life.

Their bond develops through trust, daily life, conflict, and shared battles.

Although Shana often dominates their interactions, Yuji deeply influences her growth and worldview.

He ultimately chooses Shana as the person he loves.

Even after becoming the vessel of the Serpent of the Festival, his desire to protect her remains central to his actions.

Kazumi Yoshida

Kazumi Yoshida is one of the first people to sincerely care for Yuji as a person rather than as a mystery or a battlefield asset.

Her feelings force him to confront the painful question of whether someone like him has the right to answer human affection.

Yuji is grateful to her, and her kindness matters greatly to him.

Her role is essential in bringing his romantic conflict into focus.

Alastor

Alastor serves as a source of warnings, harsh truth, and strategic perspective.

Although their relationship is not always warm, Yuji takes Alastor’s words seriously and is changed by them.

Wilhelmina Carmel

Wilhelmina understands aspects of Yuji that even he does not fully grasp.

She recognizes the unusual, almost nonstandard structure of his personality and becomes one of the key figures guiding him through the dangers surrounding Midnight Lost Child.

Hayato Ike and Friends

Hayato Ike, Keisaku Satou, and Eita Tanaka represent Yuji’s ordinary school life.

They are a reminder of the human world he wants to protect, and their friendship grounds many of his choices.

Midnight Lost Child: The treasure tool within Yuji that restores his Power of Existence every midnight.

Azure: A fire-warding ring once owned by Friagne, later worn by Yuji as a pendant.

Blutsauger: A great sword treasure tool formerly held by Sorath, later used by Yuji.

Moya Armor: Crimson armor and clothing worn in his form as the vessel of the Serpent of the Festival.

Emergency Exit: The treasure tool used to transfer him to the Star Palace.

Tyrant II: A treasure tool in the Star Palace that merges with the transformed Midnight Lost Child.

In the parody setting of Shana-tan, Yuji is portrayed in an exaggerated comic fashion.

There he comes off as a masochist and a pervert.

He suffers absurd treatment such as having Shana sit on his head, scatter food around him, and even pull out his hair, yet he seems oddly pleased by it.

He is also dragged into bizarre scenes involving suspicious older men and is even called a pervert by Hecate.

Yuji is often associated with labels such as dark hero, final boss-like protagonist, and Serpent of the Festival.

He stands out as a rare lead character who evolves from an ordinary boy into a rational, morally complicated figure positioned against the heroes while still pursuing what he believes is salvation.