Taro Sasaga'e

""This is bad, Jinny... THIS SORTA QUALITY IS REALLY EXPENSIVE RIGHT?!""

Taro Sasaga'e (タロ＝ササガエ) is a close friend of Mai Natsume, Jin Kisaragi, and Akane Teruhiko. He was Jin's bodyguard during his days at the Military Academy, and is a member of the Mutsuki family, being the cousin of Kagura Mutsuki. He fights using Ars Magus threads, and stays loyally by the sides of both Jin and Mai.

Taro first debuted in BlazBlue: Remix Heart. He was revealed for BlazBlue Alternative: Dark War on October 14th, 2021.

Appearance
Taro is a tall young man with dark skin, red eyes, and messy black hair. He wears an olive green jacket over his shoulders, never wearing it properly, and has a white shirt with numerous patterns near the collar. Taro also wears jeans, standard shoes, and black gloves with which he controls his Ars Magus threads.

In the Military Academy, Taro dressed nearly identically, except he wore his uniform over his shoulders and had a striped belt. He wore numerous white shirts with different logos on the front.

Personality
Initially, Taro may seem naive and slightly dim-witted, but he has a gentle heart. Taro cares for everyone around him, and will do anything to protect them, even if it means placing himself in danger. He can get easily distracted, however, and has been known to feign ignorance, being much smarter than what others may credit him with. Taro is outgoing and prefers to be doing any kind of physical activity as opposed to paperwork, which was something he constantly dreaded doing in the Military Academy. He enjoys cooking, sometimes making dinner for Akane and Jin, and also enjoys playing card games with large groups of people.

He cares greatly for Jin and especially Mai. It's heavily implied that he has romantic feelings towards the latter. Although Taro is on good terms with Kagura, he does not agree with his cousin's womanizing. He has a tendency to create nicknames for new people, such as Jin being referred to as "Jinny".

Powers and Abilities
Taro is adept in the use of Ars Magus threads, using them to ensnare opponents. His fighting skills are enough that he managed to protect Jin from numerous assassins from his time in the Academy without either him or Akane properly noticing. He also knows an Ars that allows him to erase a person's weight so he can carry them long distances. He has to wear special gloves when using his threads. In battle, these threads are either used to bind opponents directly or orchestrate their movements through terrain to raise ragged shards of earth. These strings are sharp enough that just swinging them can slash at opponents.

Although he is comfortable with the Ars that he fights with, Taro can be naive and doesn't know some simple Ars, like one used to open sealed letters. Whenever Taro's strings snap, a new one has to be woven.

BlazBlue: Central Fiction Library Entry

 * Taro

''A mentor to Noel and Makoto at the Military Academy, who also happens to be Jin's roommate. His full name is Taro Sasaga'e, and he used to call Jin by the nickname, Jinny.

BlazBlue 10th Anniversary Official Site Profile
''A third-year in the upper division of the NOL's Military Academy. Jin's roommate.''

BlazBlue Alternative: Dark War Official Profile
A soldier who makes use of a "Thread-Weaving" Ars Magus. He's a cousin to Kagura Mutsuki, a high-ranking Colonel who presides over the NOL's soldiers.

During his school days at the Academy, Kagura gave him orders to protect his classmate Jin Kisaragi.

Trivia

 * In the BlazBlue 10th Anniversary Character Poll, Taro placed 37th out of the 84 candidates. He scored one place above Trinity Glassfille and one place below Carl Clover. He had 504 votes.
 * Sumeragi, the illustrator of BlazBlue: Remix Heart and BlazBlue: Variable Heart, has stated that she designed Taro to be, aesthetically speaking, her "ideal man".
 * Taro was not originally supposed to be related to Kagura. It was only after Sumeragi commenting on his likeness to Kagura while speaking with Mori Toshimichi, the series creator, that the latter made them related.
 * Taro has been mentioned three times in the C-Series of games. First was in BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma when Noel Vermillion and Makoto Nanaya noted his disappearance. He was also alluded to by Kagura. In Chrono Phantasma Extend, Taro was mentioned by Kagura when he talked about Jin's academy days. Finally, Taro was mentioned in BlazBlue: Central Fiction by Mai if she wins against Kagura.
 * By the time of Central Fiction, Taro's whereabouts are unknown by Mai.
 * Many of Taro's skills in Alternative: Dark War refer to weaving, sewing, and textile crafts.
 * Taro is illustrated in the following Grimoire for BlazBlue Alternative: Dark War:
 * 生徒会 (Student Council).