Joesara

Joesara is the het ship between Joe Tazuna and Sara Chidouin from the Your Turn To Die fandom.

Canon
Joe and Sara are classmates at Sonobeno High School. Before the events of the game, Sara gives Joe a dog keychain that Ryoko won at the arcade. Joe keeps the dog in his breast pocket during the events of the game.

Chapter 1
At night, Joe comes back to their school to meet Sara as she is leaving. He claims his intention was to brag about his date earlier, and walks home with Sara. When walking together, Joe asks if she wants to hold hands, and expresses his concern for Sara's well-being due to her stalker. When questioned as to whether that's why he walks home with Sara, he is caught off guard and states "D...Dummy... I just wanted to brag...". Joe says goodbye once they reach Sara's house, but when she finds her mother collapsed, Joe suddenly appears again, telling Sara to stay calm and asks if she's called for any help. He offers to do it and again tells Sara to be calm. He then hears Sara screaming and runs upstairs to help, and is faced with Sara's stalker. He does his best to fight them, but he ends up unconsious too.

After getting kidnapped, Sara and Joe wake up together in a strange room, which they learn is their First Trial. Joe finds a key in his pocket and Sara tells him to hurry and use it for himself. She expresses her faith in Joe that he'll figure out a way to save her too. Joe manages to unlock Sara's restraints and the two escape the room. They fall down a large hole, and after Sara blacks out, Joe carries her into the Central Hall.

When she wakes again, she rushes over to Joe, but he doesn't recognize Sara. He quickly breaks his facade, though, and teases Sara, asking if she's the one who is a terrible swimmer. Sara gets a little upset, saying it's not the time for jokes, and Joe laughs it off.

After introductions, Sara can choose to try to partner up with Joe, only to be surprised by Joe saying he's searching with Keiji. When exploring, Joe playfully teases Sara about her height, saying a painting on the wall of the blue room is just barely out of her reach. Sara states that she grew a centimeter since the previous year, and jokes that she'll grow taller than him. Joe also tells Shin Tsukimi to keep watch of Sara for him.

After some of the participants are locked in the Blue Room, Joe comes up to Sara to ask if she is hurt. When told the rules of the Russian Roulette game, he asks if the challenger will be safe, and after being told yes, he immediately asks if Sara will be the challenger. Sara thinks that she needs to tell Joe she's confident, because she counted on him during the First Trial, and now she needs to do the same. Joe seems happy to be a target as long as it is definite that she survives. He also encourages her to show that she's worth trusting, telling her to ask him if she's not sure, and that they can "stress about it together."

After Russian Roulette, Joe offers to search with Sara as Shin had disappeared. He also offers for Sara his shoulder for her to rest on and relax, when she tells him that she was feeling drained from Russian Roulette. It is evident that Joe cares a lot about Sara's mental and physical wellbeing.

In the second part of Chapter 1, Joe shares his doubts about Keiji Shinogi and asks Sara her opinion on him, the conversation ending with her agreeing to look into it and Joe telling her not to push herself too much. For most of the investigation they take separate paths, though they see each other again before the main game and talk about Ryoko Hirose and Joe's date. He says they got on to talking about Sara a lot on the date.

Joe isn't a major force at the start of the main game, but still mostly attempts to support and encourage Sara, as well as making observations to back up her points ("The blackboard in the bar..."). In the final round, under the impression that he's the sage, Sara wrestles with herself as to whether she should confess this or not. Pressured by everyone else, Joe claims that Sara is the Keymaster. When his true card is revealed, he apologizes to the group, then directly to Sara for tricking her. Some of his last words are "I love ya, Sara! You're my best friend!"

Sara is shocked and in disbelief, begging to die in Joe's place.

Chapter 2
Upon reaching the third floor, Sara begins experiencing hallucinations of Joe, formed by her heavy guilt, believing that she is the reason Joe died. Various things remind her of Joe, and each time she does, memories of Joe's execution flash through her mind and her mental state worsens. Upon first reaching the Monitor Room, Sara notices that all the participants have a photo of themselves on the back of each monitor, meaning they have an AI in that monitor. She searches rapidly, searching for Joe's, only to be angered by the fact that there isn't one.

While investigating the passageway in the rubble room, Keiji asks Sara if she liked Joe, which she can give a number of responses to. It is evident that she really cares for Joe and misses him.

At the end of the second Main Game, Sara's vote determines who dies.

If Kanna is voted for, Shin activates a malicious AI of Joe for Sara to see in the Room of Rubble. While Sara knows that it can't be real, because there shouldn't be an AI of Joe, she ignores that and is ecstatic to see Joe again. At first he seems harmless, but he quickly turns cruel. The Joe AI psychologically torments her, and images of Joe's death flash rapidly on the monitor. Sara passes out, and upon waking up, does not remember who Joe is.

If Shin is voted for, Shin realizes Sara isn't a bad person after all and uses his final moments to activate the real Joe AI. Sara is so happy to see him again, and breaks out crying. Joe is surprised and asks her what's wrong, and Sara laments that she couldn't do anything in the end and killed him. Joe comforts her, and tells her those tears don't suit her. He reminds her of many memories they had together, and asserts that she always make choices he can trust. He assures Sara that he'll never hate her. He puts his hand to the screen, and mirroring his last words before he died, says "I love ya Sara. You're my best friend!" Sara matches her hand to Joe's, and reciprocates the words. Finally, the Joe AI switches off. Having gotten closure, Sara's hallucinations of Joe cease.

Chapter 3
On the fourth floor, Sara finds a replica of Joe's dog charm in the classroom that looks like hers and Joe's from school.

Later on, Midori reveals to Sara that the only reason Joe got involved in the Death Game was to balance out Sara's high win rate. Sara gets extremely angered by this, and tries to assault Midori, begging him to bring back Joe and everyone else. In the Shin route, she only refers to Joe as "her best friend", and not by name, as she had forgotten about him.

Manga
In the official manga, it is implied that Sara holds a small crush or secret admiration for Joe, as she silently states her jealousy towards Ryoko when Joe walks her home, and when she states what she believed would be her last words in the First Trial ("Joe, you know I..."). In chapter four, Shin mistakes the two as lovers, much to Sara's embarrassment. As well, in chapter 13, after Gonbee is released due to Joe's instigation, Reko says to Sara that her "boyfriend" is an interesting guy, to which Sara says they're not like that.

Nankidai Twitter sketches
February 18, 2018: Sara injures her butt on a traffic cone, and Joe is in shock. Sara weakly reaches out to Joe, asking him to listen to her without laughing, and to stop taking pictures.

March 13, 2018: Joe finds a doll of Sara, and draws on her face. He's a little confused at what exactly he's trying to do, and then it turns out to be the real Sara.

March 21, 2018: Joe and Sara play basketball with each other. Joe taunts Sara, saying her moves are amateurish, and Sara gets annoyed.

August 23, 2018: Sara practices saying "This is it!" for discussions, and Joe watches. He praises her for being the type to do her homework.

September 16, 2018: Joe declares that Sara is a fake, which Sara is confused by. He explains that since she is not afraid of the sight of the traffic cone, she can't really be Sara. If she remembered the traffic cone incident where she hurt her butt on one, she wouldn't be able to stop shaking. In countering, Sara flattens the cone and, while flaming, tells Joe she is better now than she was back then. Joe is shocked but impressed, and notes that this kind of ambition makes it evident that she is the real Sara.

September 26, 2018: Joe feeds a mini-Sara some jam. Then Sara finds out it is not actually jam, but miso. Joe apologizes, but explains that the more nutritious it is, the more her body might recover to its original size. Sara gets annoyed and steals his dog keychain, making Joe quickly say he's kidding and ask for it back.

October 17, 2018: In a lighthearted mood, Joe starts undoing Sara's braid, but she seriously tells him to stop. Sara's hair goes of of control, and she tells him to leave. As Joe's consciousness fades, he thinks, her hair has a really nice scent and it's a completely different grade from what he has at home.

October 30, 2018: Nao tries to get Sara to wear a specific Halloween costume with her, but Sara is worried that Joe will make fun of her.

December 16, 2020: Joe and Sara have a battle, and prepare to attack each other with charged energy balls. Sara is determined to defeat Joe this time, and Joe says that's his line.

May 31, 2021: The scene is described as a highlight of Kimi ga Shine, for those who don't remember. Sara drew some animal very badly and Joe was prepared to die because he could not guess what it was.

July 18, 2021: Joe gives Sara a jump boost so she can try and save Ranmaru from floating away. However, it doesn't work, and Sara only manages to grab his pants, causing Joe to apologize since it was his idea.

July 4, 2022: Joe does Sara's tie for her and says he did a pretty good job of tying it, despite it being tied around her head like bunny ears.

September 9, 2022: Joe approaches Sara while holding a shinai and asks Sara to teach him kendo.

Official 4-koma comics
 # 02: Joe and Sara have arrived together to the Central Hall. Joe begins to introduce themselves as classmates, and Sara thinks to herself that in addition to being the only one there she knows, Joe is her best friend. To Sara's surprise, Joe starts talking about what seems to be Sara's three sizes to the other men, and then reveals it's actually his own measurements. Sara giggles, thinking that's just like him to make a joke like that.

 # 08: Joe and Sara are in their First Trial. Sara tells Joe to look for the key, but Joe can't find it. The bed starts to fold, but Sara endures and tries not to let herself get folded. Joe then goes over to Sara and starts tickling her, causing Sara to laugh uncontrollably and beg him to stop. Sara ends up folding Joe in half so he'll stop and she escapes.

 # 27: After hearing from Gin that Joe was bullying him, Sara whips a frying pan at him, asking him what he did.

 # 32: Joe enthusiastically comes up to Sara while she's reading a book, and asks to play with her. They play badminton, with Sara returning the birdie with one hand while she reads. After a close call where she almost got hit, Sara tells Joe to stop and smacks birdies into his face.

 # 55: Joe and Sara play the Stay on Target attraction together. Joe loses his footing, but Sara catches him before falling to the monster. Sara holds him in a bridal carry, and Joe covers his face in great embarrassment.

S2 #10: Joe notices that Sara dropped something, which turns out to be her braid. He witnesses it wrap back around her head, and Sara scarily asks him if he saw that.

S2 #24: Presumably after their First Trial, Sara falls down the hole in the corridor. Joe asks how he can help, but she's able to crawl back up by using her limbs against the walls. Joe excitedly says it's as expected of Sara.

Quotes
"...You know... We were hanging out all the time before we even knew it, huh? Having stupid talks on summer break, buying junk food after school, getting Ryoko laughing at us... And when my grades tanked, you were the one freaking out, Sara! Never asked to go studying. Oh, and I remember all those dumb requests you made me sing at karaoke! I sang with all I had, so you were cracking up! ... Every day was super fun, man. And when bad stuff happened and it wasn't fun, you were there talking to me. Sara. I feel nothin' but gratitude for ya."

- Joe AI to Sara (Kanna Lives route)

"...Sara. Believe in yourself. I'll always follow ya. Y'know... like a dog!"

- Joe AI to Sara (Kanna Lives route)

Songs

 * PRAYER | Your Turn To Die
 * Sara reunites with Joe (Kanna Lives route)

Fanon
Joesara has a lot of popularity among fans, being one of the top ships in the fandom. This is likely due to the two already being close as well as the fact that as the protagonist, Sara's thoughts and feelings towards Joe are shown to the player. The ship mainly sailed due to the two being so close and because of some popular/cute tropes that they fit into; for example, a more serious character x a wild, fun character. Joe is commonly associated with dogs, and Sara sometimes with cats, which is a dynamic in their shipping. Some like to give Sara a cat keychain to wear, like the one in the manga, to match with Joe.

There are many fan-scenarios that explore what might happen in the Death Game if Sara was the Sacrifice instead of Joe, or if either Joe or Sara died in the First Trial.

Some people in the fandom see this as more of a close friendship or an unrequited love on Sara's side, considering that Joe canonically is dating as he states multiple times in media such as the 4komas and Twitter sketches, and as the two of them went on their first date together before the start of the game.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

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Gallery

 * Main article: Joesara/Gallery

Variations

 * High School Sweethearts refers to the ship between Joe, Sara, Anzu Kinashi, Kugie Kizuchi, Ranmaru Kageyama, and Ryoko Hirose
 * Joesaramaru refers to the ship between the Joe, Sara, and Ranmaru Kageyama
 * Ryojoesara refers to the ship between the Joe, Sara, and Ryoko Hirose