Taisha

The **Taisha** is an organization of people who oversee the worship of the Shinju-sama. They are known to keep secrets for the benefit of worship, such as Sange. The Taisha wear masks and all have the same article of clothing, and wear stickers with a standardized symbol over their real Harmony Marks.

## History

The Taisha was founded sometime after the Vertex invaded the Multiverse, and started working on the magical warrior system. Said system was first used in 1000 B.H.

A thousand years later, a prominent change in structure came when the Mikos Hailey Blanc and Nicole Miles revealed their "Oracle" that all Mikos' words were to be taken with the same value as the Shinju, effectively putting them in control of the corrupt priests that made up the organization. Unfortunately, during the first days of Arcturus's Great Rebellion, those two Mikos, along with their fellow Miko friends who aided the magical warriors, were killed in action, forcing the Taisha to temporarily move headquarters to avoid possible killing of more members. After the Great Rebellion ended, the Taisha ultimately allowed Dream Pixies to be part of the System to help the Incubators and their contractees with protection, although it's notable this previously applied only to the main magical warriors.

In 1980 HE, the Taisha (for the third time, the first being in *Cherry Magica 2*, and the second being in *Tart Magica*) worked with Melody Harmadale to find new Chosen Ones - with help from Kyubey, of course. Like last time, they told Melody to keep the secret of Sange from her "recruits," knowing they wouldn't cooperate. Later, they paid for the fundings of the replacement phones and an extravagant dinner during a beach trip the magical warriors took.

When one of Elfreda Thornbush's classmates used her powers to call Elfreda herself and Melody, they went looking for her and almost attacked the two girls until the classmate commanded they stop and treat them with respect. Bowing, the Taisha waited patiently. Later, when Melody did find out about Sange, the Taisha went to the Queen of Yumesora (whom Elfreda's classmate is actually serving, to her shock) and asked her to help out with her rampage, of which she declined. Much to their disappointment, Melody soon witches out, causing a certain Priestess to begin having second thoughts.

In the year 330 DE, a group of Taisha priestesses visited Cynthia Moonpath and asked her to take on the role of the bride for the Shinkon, in a last-ditch attempt to boost the Shinju's barrier. Cynthia accepted, and they assisted in her purification ritual, not knowing the Shinkon is one factor that'll cause her to make a wish that would change everything. Priestess Seren was sent to speak to Katy Daisy-Porter Livonne and Evelyn Porter II, the other remaining magical girls, about this decision, and task them with protecting the Shinju as it "wed" Cynthia.

The Taisha originally then disbanded as most of its members became sacred wheat as a result of the Shinkon event, but when Cynthia makes the wish to erase all Witches, they are instead seen reformed in the new timeline under the leadership of Sandra West.

## Trivia

* Starting after the end of Arc 2, the following households are the highest ranking families within the Taisha, likely due to their ancestors' significant contributions to its formation:
	+ West family
	+ Blanc family
	+ Daisy family
	+ Porter family
	+ Starruby family
	+ Starsapphire family
	+ The two highest-ranking Magis among the Taisha are Melody Harmadale and Gemma Firesplash, both because both of their parents are each from one of the highest-ranking families *and* because a sentient cosmic force was involved with them - Melody was created by the Light of Hope and Gemma was stillborn but was made alive by the Magic of Friendship. However, Katrina and her descendants are also considered to be rather high-ranking among the Taisha as well due to having the Divinity's power.
* The location of the Taisha's headquarters is kept confidential, but it is implied to be in Mount Coronet, near the purification waterfall seen in *Nina Magica*, *Dawn Magica*, and *Katy Magica*. This is also hinted to be the location closest to the Shinju.
* There have been a few times where characters have tried to kill the Taisha - such as somecreature first finding out about the sange or being dissatisfied over not being a Hero.
	+ The one who mainly does this is Jim, a Puer Magi who often tries to kill them for various reasons:
		- The Taisha deliberately threatens to kill him due to him being a cyborg and their relationship with his two organizations are rather rival-like. He immediately aims his assault rifle for self-defense.
		- They call him "hideous conglomeration of biology, technology and magic", which offends him and results in him pulling out a revolver and aimed it at them, telling them not to do it.
	+ After first becoming a Puella Magi and becoming *extremely* upset over not being a Hero, this is subverted when Elizabeth instead says she wants to *hack* (not kill) the Taisha's magical warrior system so she can transform and help instead of getting an error message.
	+ Syren throws a ginormous tantrum over being a pure Miko rather than a Hero with combat power after first becoming a Puella Magi and says she wants to poison the Taisha... by feeding them too many cupcakes.
* The Taisha has a rival-like (if not, hostile) relationship with GDI and Porter Corporation, as the former saw the latter two make use of technology more often than magic and sees it as grave heresies to them, and initially *protested* the Magic of Friendship and the Shinju-sama's decision to choose him since he's not a child. This could explain why the priests go down the streets engaging groups of GDI soldiers and P-Operatives in fights when they saw one member wandering around, much to the two founders' dismay. However, Aiko (Cherry Lovedream's Perserver form) always has to stop them before the *Magis* can get pulled into the fight (or even worse, Multiverse-wide riots, conflicts and gang wars between the 3 aforementioned organizations).
	+ It is implied that the magic-technology relationship obviously has something to do with those conflicts.
	+ There is one instance where it was too late for the Taisha to even scout for Chosen Ones, and Homura Akemi quickly turns back time to prevent this.
* Like YuYuYu, the Magis sometimes are seen emailing the Taisha. Like said series, they often dodge questions in their reply emails or give vague answers.
* During the Shinkon, the priests' heads explode onscreen when turning into wheat, much like the canon YuYuYu season 3 episode. Priestess Seren, however, escapes this fate, though she loses an eye due to her starting to turn into wheat before the ceremony is stopped.
* The Taisha are aware of Nova's true identity, but they keep it a secret until the last minute. They are also the ones who gave Katrina's Dream Pixies to her after her disappearance due to the fact her Dream Pixes didn't disappear since they were outside her phone when she was brainwashed, but for currently unknown reasons, they and Nova are physically incapable of telling others about Event Horizon's true identity, and the former also partly lost their memories about what happened to Katrina.
	+ They are also the ones to introduce her to the other Magis in the second chapter of *Madoka Magica*.
* The Taisha priests surrender to Queen Vera at the end of the adaptation of episode 197 of *Sailor Moon*, "Ruler of the Multiverse: The Menace of Queen Vera," being given bracelets that brainwash them and keep them alive in the absence of souls which they gave up. In the next chapter which is the adaptation of SM episode 198, "Dying Stars: The Taisha's Last Stand," Elizabeth and Nova are forced to *fight* them, and the priests end up dying anyways because their bracelets get destroyed. Luckily, they get revived along with the killed magical warriors and Pokémon in "Freeing the Most Powerful Puella Magi." Not counting the priestesses whose last name is "Seren" (or "Aki" in the Japanese version), this is the only time they are seen without their masks, although the camera angles and scenery conveniently blocks the viewers from actually seeing their faces.