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Saigyou Ayakashi

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Note: This article is about both a Bestiary entry and a Character.


西 (さい) (ぎょう) (あやかし)
saigʲoː ajakaɕi (♫)
Saigyou Ayakashi
The Saigyou Ayakashi
Sprite of Saigyou Ayakashi in every game it's been in
Species

Youkai cherry blossom tree

Abilities

Charming people into resting in peace under its blossoms, then draining the life out of them

Age

Over 1000 years (actual age is unknown, but is known to be older than Yuyuko Saigyouji)

Occupation

Bewitching people

Location

Gardens of Hakugyokurou

Appearances
Official Games

"At any rate, with just a little more spring, the Saigyou Ayakashi will soon reach full bloom. The small trace of spring that you've brought here... will give us the last step needed."
Youmu Konpaku (Perfect Cherry Blossom Stage 5.)


The Saigyou Ayakashi (西行妖 Saigyou Ayakashi) is a youkai cherry blossom tree and the largest in the gardens of Hakugyokurou. It has existed in the Netherworld longer than the Ghost Princess, Yuyuko Saigyouji, herself. Some of the spirits in the Netherworld remember the Saigyou Ayakashi having the most beautiful blossoms they had ever seen, but the cherry tree has not bloomed for ages. There currently seems to be a powerful seal within the Saigyou Ayakashi, leaving it unable to blossom at all during spring. Whether the tree is sealing something or whether the tree itself is being sealed remains a mystery to most outsiders.

Backstory

A long time ago, there lived a divinely talented poet who traveled around Gensokyo. When the poet became aware that the hour of his death drew near, he chose to begin his eternal rest under the most beautiful cherry tree he could find. After the poet's death, word of the beauty of the cherry tree began to spread across the land. That cherry tree has grown even more beautiful since then, charming many people into choosing to rest in peace beneath its blossoms.

After absorbing the blood of so many people, it turned into a youkai cherry tree with the ability to lure people to their death on its own, and came to be known as the Saigyou Ayakashi. Eventually, the beautiful blossoms of the Saigyou Ayakashi were sealed away, using the bodies of Yuyuko and several others buried beneath it, and now remains within Hakugyokurou.

Character Basis

Name

The poet referred in the Saigyou Ayakashi's story is likely Saigyou, an ancient Buddhist poet who often sung of his love of cherry blossoms and his desire to die beneath flowers. Ayakashi is a general term for supernatural beings, very similar to youkai (the kanji for ayakashi [] is identical to the you in youkai []). The tree's name would mean something like "youkai tree of Saigyou".

Design

Shown on its sprite, Saigyou Ayakashi is simply a very large cherry blossom tree which never fully blooms. It has no leaves in it.

Story

During the events of Perfect Cherry Blossom, Yuyuko Saigyouji, the ghost of the human Yuyuko, attempted to overpower the seal on the Saigyou Ayakashi in order to both see the legendary blossoms and to resurrect the soul that was sealed within. However, Yuyuko was unaware that the sealed soul was in fact her own, and thus all of Yuyuko's attempts to unseal the soul failed due to her unconscious self-preservation.

Relationships

Yuyuko Saigyouji (Sealed soul)

Yuyuko's corpse was buried under the Saigyou Ayakashi after she committed suicide.

Youmu Konpaku (Gardener)

Additional Information

Official Sources

Official sources