Cw. Stillbirth, miscarriage, child loss, me being fucking insane and transforming one piece of information into an entire unofficial backstory. For those interested, anon is referencing this post.
Okay so it's not so much as direct parallels as it is my own interpretation and theories for Yaga's lore that can be set alongside Toji. We know Yaga was at some point married and we receive no other clarification about the relationship. I've been searching for the specific translation of the interview where Gege was asked the question, but I cannot for the life of me find it. Either way, when I read the translation, Gege said "there was a time, but now he is a one time divorcee/has been divorced". This means his ex-partner (most likely wife) is still alive and that Yaga chooses to be on his own afterwards. I think, from the fatherly disposition he possesses and the behavior he shows towards his puppets, he and his wife at one time had a child.
I believe that Yaga and his wife somehow lost this child (my specific theory is that it had been a stillbirth or a miscarriage) and- in the despair of this loss- the relationship had been completely demolished in their grief. There's the chance that his wife could have just been a non sorcerer that couldn't keep up with the toll that would be a marriage with a sorcerer, but I think too much of Yaga's themes point to the former.
Yaga has many direct moments of being the first one to try and guide others out of complete hopelessness/lack of direction (Kusukabe and his sister, Satoru, Shoko, Yuji, Gakuganji).
Every older character is trying to learn from the mistakes of their past when we first get into the world of JJK. I think Yaga's "mistake" was being unable to pull his wife out of her own darkness and it led to the crumbling of what was most certainly the most important relationship he had. It even adds a deeper meaning to Yaga's "curse"; the knowledge of his own technique. I think he struggled with the thought of sharing his curse with his wife. He has the power to bring back their child, but that would mean his wife would have to know the truth of what he has and always will hold (putting his wife in severe danger). What would be more important? To pursue the danger of happiness or live in the consuming misery of safety? I believe Yaga was so torn by this decision that he himself couldn't get out of his own despair and, in doing so, emotionally isolated from his wife in a time where they needed each other most.
Yaga and Toji both share the "burdern" of knowledge. Where Yaga's creation is a curse, Toji's is a blessing. Their last words are even passing their creations onto someone who will bear it (Gakuganji and Satoru). The curse of Yaga's creation does not kill Gakuganji, but the blessing of Toji's creation is Satoru's death. Toji's own paternal struggles and Megumi's (his blessing/creation's) abandonment manifested into a curse while Yaga's paternal struggles and CT (his curse/creation) manifested into the blessings that were- essentially- his children (his cursed puppets). Toji is abused and shunned by the jujutsu society, Yaga excels and holds importance to it. Yet, in the end, they're both killed by it and, in their last moments, do what they can to tear it down if even by a little bit (with or without knowledge of that fact). It's fucking spectacular in every sense of the word, but the fact that it could just be me grasping at straws fucks with my head big time.
