Sese Kitsugai

乞骸（きつがい） セセ Sese Kitsugai kit͡sɯᵝɡ̃a̠i se̞se̞
Sese in Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle
Character Titles
A Corpse in Search of Themself
Information
Species	Gashadokuro
Abilities	Knowing the underground, conquering the above-ground
Music Themes
ムクロマンサー　～　抜け殻の夢 (RMI) 无現にて棲む者 (RMI) ネクロマスタ (BPoHC)
Appearances
Reactivate Majestical Imperial Stage 1 Midboss, Stage 1 Boss Extra Stage Midboss Extra+α Stage Boss Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle Prologue Playable Character Possible Stage 3 Neutral Boss Possible Stage 4+ Midboss

Sese Kitsugai (乞骸　セセ, Kitsugai Sese) is a gashadokuro that loves excavating underground. Their goal is to find their corpse from when they were alive in order to regain their true power.

General Information

Sese is the first stage boss, Extra Stage midboss and Stage Ex+α Boss of Reactivate Majestical Imperial and later re-appears as a possible stage 3 boss on the Neutral route of Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle. Sese uses their powers as a gashadokuro in order to search for their corpse. However, they have no memories of when they were alive and much less of their corpse's location. It's stated they are actually a great youkai who lost their power somehow and wants to find their bones in order to become strong once again.

Despite being a gashadokuro, which are traditionally depicted as being made up of a number of skeletons, Sese was only made up of a single skeleton. The bones visible on their body represent the parts of their skeleton that they have recovered.

Personality

Sese is a cheerful, happy youkai, but they get easily depressed when things don't go their way (which is very often); typically when they fail to find their corpse or get defeated by the heroes. They're very childish and speak in third-person. Sese is very determined to get stronger and, as of Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle, trains every day to beat the protagonists.

Abilities

Knowing the underground (Conquering the above-ground)

Their ability is to know what is underground and control it. In combat, they can throw bones at their enemy. After absorbing souls, they become so powerful that their ability gets upgraded to that of conquering the above-ground. Each form has a different appearance.

Temporarily gaining power

Sese has been shown to be able to absorb souls to temporarily increase their power, and it is known that they can do the same using other people's bones as well.

Background Information

Origin

Sese is largely based on the youkai gashadokuro, a relatively modern invention first seen in the 1968 children's book "Complete Collection of the Word's Bizarre Thrillers 2: Monsters of the World" (世界怪奇スリラー全集2 世界のモンスター), where they are described to be "a large skeleton youkai born from a massive gathering of skeletons of those who died in war and didn't receive a proper burial, animated by their desire for vengeance".

The gashadokuro was further influenced by the legend of Takiyasha-hime (滝夜叉姫), specifically a mythologized telling of her story first found in the 17th century yomihon novel series "The Tale of Utou Yasutaka's Loyalty" (善知安方忠義伝) by Santō Kyōden. In the story, Takiyasha-hime and her half-brother Taira no Yoshikado secluded themselves in the ruins of the old Sōma palace after Taira no Masakado's death, where they started recruiting those still loyal to Masakado's cause. When cornered by Ooya Tarou Mitsukuni, they summoned an army of skeletons and controlled them to fight back at Mitsukuni and his men.

Based on the story, Utagawa Kuniyoshi made this famous woodblock print, where Takiyasha-hime is shown to have summoned one giant skeleton instead. This giant skeleton was then used as the model for an illustration of a gashadokuro in the 1972 children's book "The Most Detailed Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Japanese Youkai" (いちばんくわしい日本妖怪図鑑), firmly cementing the idea that Takiyasha-hime summoned a gashadokuro to attack her enemies.

This explains why Sese claims that they belong to royalty and has the same green hair as Fumikado, while the gashadokuro's relatively modern origins may explain why they're a young youkai that just gained self-awareness recently that can still mature.

Name

Their full name is Sese Kitsugai (乞骸　セセ, Kitsugai Sese). In their surname Kitsugai (乞骸), the first kanji means "beggar", whilst the second kanji means "bone", "body" or "corpse", put together they can be interpreted as "begging for a corpse to return", which is what officials would ask for if they wish to retire from serving the Emperor and return home in Chinese courts. "Sese" (セセ) isn't their real name; it was a nickname that they thought sounded pleasant. JynX was asked if their name has a special meaning, but they responded with "you can theorize away!". As "Sese" is written in katakana, it might be from Latin, a word that could mean "self". Yabusame Houlen cannot remember Sese's name, so they call them "Boney" (ホネっ子, Honekko).

According to JynX, "Sese" is written as "讓讓 (simplified: 让让)" in Chinese, in which an individual character means "to allow", "to yield" or "by", while two put together has no inherent meaning.

Design

Sese has green eyes and green, shoulder length hair. They wear a skull on top of their head that's shown to be detachable. They dress in grey clothing and white bloomers, where their hat and gloves contain numerous bone-shaped ornaments. They're fairly short and are around the height of Sukune Katano and Shion.

When they absorb all the spirits the heroes had been collecting during Reactivate Majestical Imperial, Sese wears a gray and red dress with detached sleeves and spider lily motifs. In this form, the skull on their head becomes bigger and resembles more an actual gashadokuro. After the spirits left their body, Sese reverted back to their original form, but they grew a little and became much stronger.

On 17 August 2015, JynX stated that Sese is undeveloped. When asked why Sese is not at a large size as a gashadokuro would be, they expressed that Sese could be bigger if their "body is perfected", but said having them smaller is cuter.

Appearances

Sese in RMI, with their Ex form

Reactivate Majestical Imperial

Sese's role is rather limited, and they're not connected to the plot in any way. While looking for their corpse, they caused trouble at the graveyard of the Human Village, so there's a bounty for their head. They aimlessly wander around the Shrine Road, hoping to find their corpse. Instead, they bump into (or rather, annoy) the heroes and end up being defeated.

They return after finding some parts of their skeleton next to the Harujion, the soul-eating flower. When the heroes defeat Tenkai Zuifeng, Sese absorbs all the spirits the heroes had been collecting and temporarily transforms back to their true self. With their new powers, they attack the heroes but are defeated for the third time. After that, the spirits left Sese's body because it lacked a cranium.

Sese in BPoHC as a boss

Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle

Tenkai Zuifeng is worried about the upcoming war between the Dragonfly Army and the Imperials. They go to warn Yabusame and Tsubakura about it, but the two were already gone. On the way to the shrine, Tenkai encounters Sukune Katano and Sese, who were plotting revenge on Yabusame and Tsubakura, and now they want Tenkai to help them. The barrier builder finds themself dragged by the two youkai around Mugenri, as they find out more about the war and what caused it.

After the spirits abandon their body in Reactivate Majestical Imperial, Sese gains a new form, which is a composite of their old form and their empowered form. They are still obsessed with finding ways to become stronger in order to become a great youkai. It also seems that they took Yaorochi's words to heart and is training to become stronger.

In all routes, it's revealed that Tsurubami and Tenkai were either feared, hated or respected due to being the dictators of Mugenri and their immense power. Sese doesn't understand much about what's going on and just attacks anyone in order to become stronger. At the end of the Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle routes, Sukune and Sese don't care much about the war between the Dragonfly Army and the Imperials. In the end, they meet Suzumi Kuzu, the one responsible for the words about the "The mirror of Heaven shall split" in order to lure Tsubakura. Suzumi reveals their intention to make Tsubakura's life a living hell and after a hard fight, Suzumi erases their memories again (with Tenkai being the only one who vaguely remembers).

Relationships

Yabusame Houlen & Tsubakura Enraku

After being defeated twice by the Senri priests during the events of Reactivate Majestical Imperial, Sese has come to view the two as their rival of sorts, and wants to become stronger in order to defeat them.

Sukune Katano

Sese and Sukune became friends after the events of Reactivate Majestical Imperial, as they teamed up in order to defeat Tsubakura and Yabusame once.

Tenkai Zuifeng

Sese made friends with Tenkai during the events of Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle, forcing them to come along with Sukune to train and become stronger so that the three can defeat Yabusame and Tsubakura together.

Jun Amanomiya & Shou Amanomori

While it is unclear what their relationship is, Sese knows of the two and that they often hang out together.

Additional Information

• They may be the most persistent Len'en Project boss, appearing as a midboss in two stages, and as a stage boss twice in one game.
• They're the second character that has a more powerful form for the Extra Stage, besides Lumen Celeritas.
• Sese has the lowest number of spell cards as an extra stage boss, having only 5 spell cards.
• Sese is one of the only three recurring Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle bosses to have new sprites rather than reusing those from their first appearance (the other two being Tsugumi and Lumen).
• Sese was able to correctly guess that there were more than one Suzumi Kuzu, due to their apparent constant monologuing. Although Arde dismisses it as a lucky guess, Hamee remains unconvinced.

Gallery

• 

  Sukune Katano & Sese drawn by JynX for Halloween [1]

• 

  Joke screenshot of a large Sese in Interview with JynX (2015)

Spell Cards

Spell Cards

Name	Translated	Comments	Games	Stage
Total: 19
投骨「ホネブーメラン」	Thrown Bone "Bonemerang"		RMI	St. 1: E/N
廻殻「骸ヲ弄ブ骨」	Spinning Husk "Bones That Play With Corpses"		RMI	St. 1: H/U
骸牌「ムクロハート」	Corpse Card "Cadaver Heart"	Flash bomb	RMI BPoHC BPoHC	St. 1: E/N St. 3: E/N Use
兇牌「ネクロとムクロ」	Wicked Card "Carcass & Cadaver"		RMI BPoHC	St. 1: H/U St. 3: H/U
「まだらリブロース」	"Blotchy Rib Roast"		RMI	St. 1: E/N
「生死肉骨」	"Life and Death, Flesh and Bone"		RMI	St. 1: H
「死ヲ生カシテ骨ニ肉ス」	"Bring Life from Death, Put Flesh Upon Bone"		RMI	St. 1: U
墜骨「大骨回転ボーン」	Falling Bones "Giant Rotary Bone"		RMI	St. Ex
投骨「ホネブーメラン・Ｈ」	Thrown Bone "Bone Boomerang -H-		RMI	St. Ex
「がしゃドクロの胸の内」	"Within the Gashadokuro's Chest"		RMI	St. Ex
刺骨「アバラブレイバー」	Piercing Bone "Rib Braver"		RMI	St. Ex+α
輪唱「骨切り賛歌」	Perpetual Canon "Bone-Cutting Eulogy"		RMI	St. Ex+α
惨死「骨串刺しの刑」	Cruel Death "Punishment by Bone Skewering"	Upgraded Flash bomb	RMI BPoHC	St. Ex+α Use
髄砲「ボーンバスター」	Marrow Cannon "Bone Buster"	Bomb	RMI BPoHC BPoHC	St. Ex+α St. 3: H/U Use
骸牌「ネクロポーテンス」	Corpse Card "Necropotence"	The Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle upgrade is simply titled Necropotence (ネクロポーテンス).	RMI BPoHC BPoHC	St. Ex+α St. 3: H/U Upgrade
骨砲「ボーンスパーク」	Bone Cannon "Bone Spark"		BPoHC	St. 3: E/N
骨牌「スーサイドネクロ」	Bone Card "Suicide Necro"		BPoHC	St. 3: E/N
きゅ～～しゅ～～！！	Absooooooorptiooooooooon!!		BPoHC	Upgrade
ホネ串刺し	Bone Skewering		BPoHC	Upgrade

Notes

Official Profiles

Official profiles

Reactivate Majestical Imperial - Official Profiles

○１面ボス　自分探し中の骸 　　乞骸 セセ（きつがい　せせ） 　　Kitsugai Sese 　　種族：がしゃどくろ 　　能力：地下を知る的な能力 　　生前の自分の骨を集めるために各地を発掘しまわってる妖怪。 　　だが段々発掘の魅力に魅入られて発掘自体が趣味になってきたそうな。 　　生前の記憶は頭蓋骨を見つけられていないためか、 　　まったく覚えてなく、自分の本名すら知らないので、 　　押すと気持ち良い部分の名前を名乗ってる。

◯ Stage 1 Boss — A Corpse in Search of Themself Sese Kitsugai Species: Gashadokuro Ability: Something like knowing the underground They're a youkai who excavates the underground searching for their own bones from when they were alive. The act of excavation itself appears to have gradually started to fascinate them, though, and so it's become somewhat of a hobby for them. Perhaps because they're unable to find their own skull, they can't remember anything, not even their own name. Because of that, they came up with a nickname for themself that they thought was pleasant.

○裏EX面ボス　未だ戻らぬ大妖怪 　　乞骸 セセ（きつがい　せせ） 　　Kitsugai Sese 　　種族：がしゃどくろ 　　能力：地下を知る的な能力、地上を治める的な能力 　　妙にデカイ花の近くで自分の骨をいくつか発見し、 　　さらに結界の穴から出てくる霊たちを取り込み、なんだかんだで 　　本来の力をほんのちょっとだけ取り戻した大妖怪モード。 　　けどまだ頭蓋骨が見つかってないのでどうせ長続きしない。 　　ずっと遡れば今回の騒動の元凶とも言えるかも。

◯ Hidden Extra Stage Boss — A Great Youkai Who Still Hasn't Quite Returned Sese Kitsugai Species: Gashadokuro Ability: Something like knowing the underground; Something like conquering the above-ground They found some parts of their skeleton close to a big and strange flower. Moreover, they somehow recovered a bit of their real strength after absorbing the spirits that were coming out of the hole in the barrier and transformed back to their true "great youkai" self. However, they didn't find their cranium there, so it won't last for very long. If we were able to trace back forever in the time, maybe we could also say that they were the main culprit of this time's riot.

Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle - Official Profiles

自分探し中の骸 乞骸　セセ Kitsugai Sese ●種族 がしゃどくろ ●能力 地下を知る 　　　　　　的な能力 自分の骨を探して彷徨っている骨っ子。 一度は大妖怪になったものの、 バカだからすぐに戻った。 しかしそれが切っ掛けで少し成長できたので、 以前よりだいぶ力はついてきている。 最近は強くなるために修行中、 大妖怪への道はまだまだ遠い。

A Corpse in Search of Themself Sese Kitsugai ●Species: Gashadokuro ●Abilities: Something like knowing the underground A bone-kid wandering around in search of their remaining bones. They turned into a great youkai once before, but since they're pretty dumb, they turned right back afterwards. However, it did allow them to grow a bit, so they're now a lot stronger than they were before. Even though they've recently started training in order to become stronger, the road to becoming a great youkai is still a long one.

Official Sources

Official sources

• 2014/10/09 Reactivate Majestical Imperial - Official Profiles, Stage 1 Boss, Extra Stage Midboss, Extra+α Boss
• 2016/12/01 Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle - Official Profiles, Prologue, Preschool Team scenarios, Possible Stage 3 Boss