Sagako

"Sagako: Symbol of the end of Saga"

- Anna to Higashino, about the curse,

Sagako (サガコ, Sagako) were malevolent curses that appear during the Sagako Outbreak in the 1980s' an event covered in the Gaiden: The First Zombie manga.

They made their debut in the spin-off manga, Zombie Land Saga Gaiden: The First Zombie, and are currently manga-only characters. Although, their manifestations are also hinted at throughout the anime, albeit going unnoticed.

Description
During 1989, Saga's curse materializes in the physical forms of Sagako that manipulate and terrorize the residents of Saga. Although all Sagako are antagonistic to The Prosperity of SAGA, the exact manifestation of each individual curse varies in appearance and method depending on where they manifest. As such, the Saga Sagako Busters individually track, fight, and purify Sagako. The purification process is done by sealing the Sagakos inside an onion grown on the Hyodo family farm. When a Sagako's container is destroyed by means apart from onions, the souls are not purified and instead return stronger.

Saga's curse has changed forms over the centuries, and in 1989 it manifests as these creatures. The good times in Saga forced the curse to manifest as these creatures; the curse has manifested before as all sorts of disasters that have brought Saga to ruin. These curses are not directly intended to harm humans, but instead seek to eliminate those who bring prosperity to Saga. The Sagakos take the form of living or inanimate beings as a reflection of the power of a prosperous area in Saga.

In Yuko Hyodo's words, the Sagako have their reasons for appearing. According to her, the Sagako are not born to do evil, but instead borrow the forms of living things that they take for a reason. It is as if there is life in them. Sagako's purposes, while antagonistic to Saga's prosperity, are also antagonistic to the manifestation area. A Sagako that appears in an agricultural area will be antagonistic to the prosperity of the area, so it will seek to destroy or leave the soil infertile. While, a Sagako that appears on a disco club will have the purpose of seeking for a man who meets the requirements for a “Triple A”. So with all manifestations of this curse.

Apparitions
Sagako manifestations take place in places of great prosperity, since they have enough energy to manifest in those places. Their manifestations depend on the level of prosperity and cannot manifest infinitely as they have limited power. The power level of prosperous areas or areas crowded by people is what allows the curse to generate the Sagakos in these places. Likewise, the Sagako can only exist with Saga's energy, this being their source of power and what keeps them alive. If they leave the prefecture, for example, their power source disappears, and they die.



A Sagako's power level and appearance also depends on the energy of the area in which they manifest. However, there is a special type of spider-like Sagako that is undoubtedly bigger and more powerful than the rest; born from human hatred and anger for abandonment.

The first Sagako was born in the late 1960s as a result of a baby discovered by Tae's parents. This child (Magatsuhi) had strange properties, and they were responsible for raising her. Unknowingly, they raised a creature born from a curse. The Sagako took the form and appearance of Tae as a child, as a result of the negative energy emanated from Tae herself due to the negligence of her parents. Since the birth of this Sagako, the outbreaks throughout Saga have been increasing the more prosperous the prefecture is.



Keiji Higashino, by killing multiple Sagako, released their negative energy and allowed Magatsuhi to manifest again. For this reason, Magatsuhi was only able to manifest as her Sagako form after Keiji killed multiple of them, releasing their energy to be hoarded only by her. After the spider Sagako appeared, no Sagako could manifest because Magatsuhi also went after the power of prosperous places, taking away the power that allowed the curse to manifest. Born of human hatred and resentment, this Sagako needs more energy to manifest.

Although they are usually imperceptible to the inexperienced eye, they can cause great damage if their manifestation has been affecting the place for a long time. The Sagako can go to the point of physically and psychologically hurting their victims directly if they are very close, making them a great danger if it were not for the help of the Busters.

One thing is clear, if some prosperous place suddenly starts to decline, a Sagako is hidden somewhere. Defeating a particular Sagako might provide immediate relief to an issue, but it doesn't address the underlying issue that caused Sagako to manifest in that form to begin with. To effectively defeat a Sagako, they must be purified with special onions that grow at the Hyodo farm.



Purification and elimination
Using lovingly grown onions, Sagako's curses are properly sealed, causing them to lose their power through the Misogi power transmitted by the onions. By purifying them, their souls also become harmless. According to Yuko Hyodo, it would be possible to communicate with them if their onions are lovingly cared for, conveying her feelings to them. Purifying them not only removes their power and seals them, but the onions with Sagako inside, when cared for with love, transmit the sealer's feelings to Sagako's souls.



The onions act as incubators once sealed and purified. Thanks to Eikichi placing a blanket over them to keep them warm, the Sagakos contained in the onions are released from them. Yuko's feelings and message were passed on to the Sagako thanks to the onions, allowing them to help the Busters. The reborn Sagakos helped Anna and Hanako escape from Magatsuhi Prison and later reunite with Tae and Eikichi. In their last battle, they fought hand to hand with the Sagako Busters against the giant spider with all their might. Unfortunately, they are defeated by Magatsuhi's new form in a single attack. Being destroyed to the last one of them.

By 1994, it is mentioned that no Sagako have appeared in Saga since Tae sealed Magatsuhi within her. Peace returns to Saga without these creatures. The curse, on the other hand, seems to have diminished its influence and power in Saga.

Inappropriate elimination
Using other means to seal the Sagako may be a temporary solution, but eventually, it will end up causing much more damage to the prefecture. If a Sagako is killed, their container as a body will be destroyed, but their souls will not be purified and upon rebuilding; the power of the curse accumulates and strengthens.

Higashino's savage actions caused great damage to Saga and Jofuku by killing several egg-shaped Sagakos in a matter of several days, causing these curses to multiply absurdly and deal even more damage than only one.



Appearance
Sagako's appearance can vary depending on where they manifest. A Sagako cursing a shop camouflages themselves with the environment so as not to be easily identified by Saga's inhabitants, or uses existing things to camouflage themselves with the naked eye. The Sagako take the appearance of objects or animals in the area in which they manifest. Therefore, a Sagako that manifests in a disco will take the form of something that already exists in the disco, while one that manifests in a Pine Forest manifests as a deer.

Abilities

 * Element Manipulation—The Sagakos can control the elements in the places where they appeared and use them both in defense and attack.
 * Resistance—More specifically to conventional low caliber ammunition.
 * Limb Extension—Limbs can be extended at will. This depends on the type of Sagako.
 * Mind Control—Sagako can control people directly if they come within a certain radius where they can be easily affected.
 * Emotional manipulation—They can also manipulate people's emotions and thoughts so that they fall under their control.
 * Bad Luck—When hidden in plain sight, they can generate bad luck events at different levels to demotivate those trying to bring glory to Saga.
 * Multiplication—An indirect consequence of not properly sealing a Sagako. If these curses are not purified they become stronger or multiply causing more damage.
 * Fusion—This is one of the direct consequences of multiplication. When a group of Sagakos from the same group receive a sudden burst of energy, their bodies unite into a creature of enormous size.



Weaknesses

 * Onions from the Hyodo Farm—Grown with the love of their landowners, the onions from this farm contain within them part of the power of Saga's prosperity. This power eradicates curses that affect Saga itself.
 * Firearms—In physical form, these curses are vulnerable to common attacks and have been shown to die if shot with a firearm. But this is only a temporary weakness, and using firearms is a bad idea eventually to take out the Sagako.
 * Perimeter—A weakness that is a product of being a descendant of Saga's power. As the curse is confined only to the land of Saga, all the entities that live on its borders will remain intact and active as long as they do not cross an invisible border that separates Saga from other prefectures. If an entity, such as a Sagako, crosses the border, it will immediately explode into a rotten black mass.

Etymology

 * The name Sagako comes from the union of the words Saga (サガ) and Child (コ). Which can be translated as: “Children of Saga”.

Trivia

 * In general, the Sagako are neither good nor bad; they have a unique existence based on the “Kami” in Japanese culture, an intangible spirit in nature. Without that kind of cultural awareness, it makes this manga look more like Ghostbusters than it is.
 * Although, they are neither good nor bad according to this perspective. Since they are curses from Saga's curse, their task is dictated by this superior force, and therefore, they must prevent Saga from being recognized.
 * The Ureshino hotel had a Sagako infestation, and it would explain why the pharmacist lady came out so scared; the legends of beings that roamed the place inflicted greater fear on the poor lady.
 * The Hyodo farm has the power to seal and defeat the Sagako through a power granted by Saga's prosperity.
 * In the opening of Adabana Necromancy and during one of the chapters of the original manga, a giant monster makes an appearance that may be a reference to Sagako.
 * Though, before the release of the Gaiden manga, it was only ever portrayed as a metaphorical monster.
 * Without being aware of it, Tae's parents raised the mother of the Sagako. Who, in her early stage, resembled a baby with strange properties. This is why Tae is so vindictive towards these creatures.
 * It is revealed in the spin-off manga that if a Sagako were to be taken outside of the Saga Prefecture's borders, they will explode, resulting in their demise.
 * Similarly, this is also hinted to be the case for Zombies in Kotaro Tatsumi's dialogue in “The Acoustic SAGA of Love and Youth” about rejecting work for Ai Mizuno that involves going outside of Saga.




 * Yuko Hyodo, alongside, Tae Yamada, are the only humans to have been fused with Sagako.
 * In her case, she was unintentionally fused with the Niji-no matsubara Sagako after she sealed him away in an onion whilst sacrificing her own body. After being released from the onion, she is revealed to have absorbed the antlers of the Pine Sagako.
 * Whereas, Tae voluntarily merged with Magatsuhi after reaching a mutual understanding, which also led to her death and Magatsuhi's demise.
 * The negative energy of the Sagako is contained and purified thanks to the onions. However, when Keiji constantly kills them, he frees it and makes the curse stronger. The negative energy released allowed Magatsuhi to regain her power little by little and manifest first as a human, and then as her Sagako form.

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