Komi Theory - Kometani has a crush on Manbagi

Hello internet, welcome to Komi Theory! The only post on Tumblr that attempts to ship two characters that likely won't even end up together in the narrative!

While Wakai/Manbagi seems like endgame at this point, Chapter 414's left enough openness with the pairing that anything can happen to it. And, despite not doing much right now, I'm convinced Oda has Kometani in his back pocket for their upcoming arc.

Anyways, this post's gonna be pretty long, so I'll cut it for length. Otherwise, let me explain my reasoning!

At a glance, Kometani getting a crush on someone like Manbagi seems far-fetched. He's the type of person to snark at everyone around him, and even admits in Chapter 286 that he prefers "a reliable girl", pointing to Isagi as the girl he likes most.

However, exactly two chapters later, there seems to be a wrench thrown into his response. As a recap, this is the one where Manbagi and Kometani ended up partnering with one another on the trip to America. And, while most of it's spent explaining why she screwed up the rigged partnering, the framing between the two's... strange.

Additionally, this marks the second time we see the iconic Kometani Smile™️, something that's instigated by hearing Manbagi's ridiculous way of getting cold feet. Considering the first time it was shown was during a smiling competition, and even their group's usual hang-out sessions didn't get so much of a grin out of him, this seems pretty big imo.

It should be noted that he knew about Manbagi's feelings for a while, so that makes me wonder a couple of things. Is this reaction to her something he developed specifically during this moment? Has he liked her for a while but refused to say anything? Keep in mind that Chapter 286 had Naruse disingenuously claim he liked Komi more than Ase, so it's entirely possible Kometani did the same thing.

But obviously, he serves more as Manbagi's wingman after he reveals how much he knows, going on to help clear the church Manbagi planned to confess in during Chapter 293. However, the Valentines arc seems to hint at something, particularly due to one little easter egg.

As a bit of set-up, Naruse proposes to walk with the boys after school's over, with Tadano rejecting for school council duties. Notably, Kometani declines as well, which is treated as a small aside.

Long story short, Rumiko blows her chances of being with Tadano due to her big-heartedness, with the entire class coming in to comfort her over it. And hidden away from the audience, we can see a certain someone attending.

This seems to be a very deliberate choice since, despite being a huge wingman for Rumiko up to this point, the narrative never once focuses on him consoling her.

This arc also has a more ambiguous piece of evidence to this theory: someone rejects going to Manbagi for karaoke with the class. And, while the message lacks the asterisks at the start of the sentence, the stoic manner of speaking matches Kometani perfectly.

This is a super small detail that Oda didn't need to add, making me think the reason for this rejection will be established later down the road.

Skipping a bit later, when Wakai's arc starts out proper, you'd assume Kometani isn't central to it at all due to the obvious pairing Oda's trying to do. However, Chapter 345 has both him and Katai end up befriending him, which goes on to be a small side friendship in the following chapters.

While normally I'd say this is just a small subplot to give the boys from the Komi-Tadano harem, Naruse's absence makes me think there's significance to it just being these two.

Katai's inclusion is pretty obvious, since he's mistaken for Manbagi's boyfriend and shows off his character growth. Kometani, meanwhile... noticed him pass out. He doesn't even use his fourth-wall-breaking-shenaniganry to deduce Wakai can't talk to girls.

And, sure, there's enough credence to the idea that he's being set up to be a matchmaker again, but I don't think Oda forgot about Chapter 288. Specifically, because this moment from 413 exists:

Sure, this is just a subtle little gag and everything, but he's clearly oggling her chest, c'mon. He's at least attracted to her physically.

This chapter's also the one directly before Manbagi shooting down Wakai's confession for the time being, meaning that Oda knew exactly what he was doing.

With all of this together, I'm being painted the idea that Kometani has some level of interest in Manbagi, but is keeping it subtle enough that it doesn't get in the way of her and Wakai. However, with Wakai and him becoming friends, this aspect will finally come to the forefront in some shape or form.

As for why this is being played so subtly, I personally think Kometani realizes he likes her, but is trying to avoid his feelings due to "the narrator not interfering with the story" or something, resorting to matchmaking her with people instead.

But regardless, we'll see if anything happens with this in canon! For now, that's just a theory. A Komi Theory! Thanks for reading!

Okay, so this is defiently not correct, but instead of sleeping, my brain decided to theorize about how Fyodor isn't dead(I don't even like the guy that much lol). This is gonna be really rambly since Im tired but hopefully it's coherent enough and makes sense lol.

He got stabbed by one of the vampires and then blown up in the helicopter. They pulled his arm from the wreckage of it but not his actual body, we all know this yada yada.

So maybe he managed a quick escape right before impact. The arm might be his, or it could just be a fake one made to look like his(I'm feeling really conspiratorial rn I guess🤷‍♀️ anything besides sleeping 😂) whatever, doesn't particularly matter. What does matter though, is that he's in rough shape and would defiently bleed out from that stab wound alone unless he gets medical treatment.

And wouldn't you know it, there happens to be someone with a special ability made just for situations like this. A certain person who was oddly MIA pretty much the whole time shit was going down at the arport with the ADA & hunting dogs. Like, they went out of their way to show us every other member of the ADA was alive and okay, but they didn't show us Yosano.

My drama-craved mind is low-key hoping for some kind of big twist revel that she was working for Fyodor all along(okay, maybe not the WHOLE time) but that doesn't have to be the case(blackmail and other things are possible).

Given her ability to heal people from life threatening injuries, it would kinda just make sense given how badly injured Fyodor is(even if Im completely wrong(and I probably am lol) Im sure he'll probably be back to cause more chaos(or he'll at least continueto haunt the narrative 🤷‍♀️)

Assuming if Mikasa does indeed die by Eren's hand in the anime, I wonder how that will happen. Maybe he regenerates after she kills him? If Levi also dies, I wonder if they'll still keep the "Mikasa, stay with me" by having Levi hold Mikasa in her dying moments before Eren kills him too. I've also seen Tensa seaparately theorize that Mikasa may die from an arm injury like her Muv-Luv counterpart Sumika did. What do you think?

YES okay you brought up the “Eren is alive and well” branch of a theory too — a lot of people think that Eren lives even after being beheaded, due to 1) Reiner’s ability to transfer his conscience throughout his body to save his life when getting his vital point cut (mirrors Eren’s beheading) and/or 2) Jaw Titan ability to operate a full Titan with powers while being in a crystal underground… Just seems like Isayama builds and creates such OP Titan abilities for no reason…? And if anime-Eren actually intends to live, wouldn’t he exhaust all means he learned before accepting defeat? (The way he utilized Annie’s fighting style once he learned it too!)

All that to answer your question — I could totally see a route in which everything of manga is animated normally (including Stay With Me, etc!) to the death of Eren as it happens in the manga, making everybody think oh shit, maybe this is just going to be an exact manga adaptation……..

only for him to be shown to actually survive. BOOM, a cliffhanger where the Part 1 episode ends.

Then Part 2 happens and it’s where all hell and chaos lets loose.

You brought up the Sumika arm death with the butterfly wings!! I’ve seen this comparison too and I never stopped to think about how exactly that would play out. It would make sense, maybe, and honestly probably makes for a more emotionally impactful moment, for a slow death of Mikasa. Who knows if it’s exactly arm injury tho, since ripped butterfly wing could just symbolize any type of deadly injury. But knowing how specific the image is, absolutely it could be exactly that. Pure tragedy especially if her death happens in Eren’s arms, as some other theories suggest which is my next segue…

The AOT song theories are insane as a whole but let me bring up 1 specific song, written and sung in Mikasa’s POV: Clean Earth.

Clean Earth is quite literally a death song — if you’re into Les Mis it’s also very much like “A Little Fall of Rain” where Eponine ignores her slow death after being shot, only wanting to soak in being in Marius’ arms to the point where she doesn’t even finish the song. Pls read the full lyrics of these songs but here is how it ends:

This is getting long LOL sorry, but yes — long story short, I believe if Mikasa’s death happens it will be caused by Eren injuring her to the point of bleeding to death, and she will die in his arms while speaking. Because after all, just being by his side was enough for him (ugh). It will be the most tragic ending; Eren doesn’t want to have to do it, but he knows it’s the only way for him to achieve real freedom from these deathly timelines she is somehow able to start, and it never ends bc she can’t fully let go of Eren.

Isayama also always said he always envisioned a tragic ending for AOT, too. How much more tragic can it get than THAT 😢

Throwing Levi into the mix… 100% I could see Levi giving his life to try to save Mikasa and the others. If Eren lives to complete rumbling I don’t see the alliance living 😭 And when it seems hopeless, Captain Levi who defended and protected them for so long would do exactly that til the very end. Fack.

IM SORRY @chrissythisissforyou

THIS IS A NOVEL, HERE U GO

(I’m also half falling asleep so hopefully this all is coherent enough)

((Real talk, I’m excited to have all of these written down because if all of this does freaking happen!!!! I have references!! LOL))

SPN 15X15 Observations

The saga of my shitty cable/internet provider continues. This week I was again watching it on my computer through the streaming app since TV still isn’t getting reliable reception, and my internet connection kept dropping! (Luckily, I’ve also set it to record, so I was able to re-watch the episode after it aired.) So, my notes are much less coherent probably, and I’ve had a long day so my after-episode thoughts probably are too. 

Everything else under the cut for those who wish to avoid spoilers and all my rambling:

- Connor isn't going to last long. - wtf? (freaky teddy bear!) - "she and I used to have a thing"? Seriously Dean? - Cas: "Sam?" (aka "Please be the reasonable one.") - soooooo much salt from Cas. - "Agent Swift!" - BABY YODA!!!! - I think the crossroads thing is Cas just making a phone call more or less. - Cas, there are NEVER "too many cats". - LOL I love Cas' literalness - Eeeeee..... love them bonding. - Hrm. So there's definitely a karmic element to these killings. I mean, "Lair" seemed like a bit of a stretch for the other kid, unless the "lie" was in him agreeing with the snobby girls. But I have a feeling this lady here is going to end up with something like "thief" carved into her. (So, thoughts: Avenging Angel? Just Deserts? Probably something new.)

- Also I feel like there was maybe something in that "previously" scene that I don't remember seeing before. (Was talking about Dean going into detail about needing to take Amara out as well as Chuck. I remember part of that conversation, but some parts felt "new" to me? Though I've only seen through this current season once, so I might just not be remembering everything right.) - Sam's worried/concerned about Jack! <3 - "At least this time it's not you and me." Oh man does that feel like foreshadowing. - Not sure I trust the pastor. - I've been watching this show too long. They all feel sketchy. Especially the girl with the headband. *LOL* - Oh man. Are they really going "Torture Porn" on us again? (Apparently) - His (Jack’s) Mom died 3 years ago too. - "I have more dads than most." <3 - "Put your trust in God." Wow. *LOL* Poor Jack. - Cas, you're totally one of his dads. But yes. It is complicated. - Ahhh. Maybe that's what the "Liar" thing was about. (Connor being gay and hiding it?) - Hi Amara! (My cat wants to get into my closet.)

- Amara's still in relatively light colors.

(Stupid internet signal is being a pain)

- I wish I knew what was going on.

(Aaaaand more internet problems)

- I love Cas! (still confused about what's going on.)

- So, what's with the random demon in the squad car? - Dammit.... I had a feeling Jack would end up having to die to kill Chuck and Amara.

(OKAY! Now that the episode is over, I'm going to re-watch parts of it so I can find out what the hell I missed! (still irritated))

- Jack HAS one of those teddy's! I wonder which one got it for him.... (My guess is Sam or Cas) - Maybe it was Zack in the cop car at the end? He DID say he was really bored. - Reason why I was thinking it might be something supernatural was because the one who did it seemed to know in advance who they were going after, but that lady just now stole from the poor box. So, how did the daughter know? Unless she'd done it before? Hrm. - Minor note: "We've been on the road almost two days." WTF? SPN doing somewhat realistic travel times?! *LMAO* - Trying to tell what's in her other hand. Looks like it's duct-taped closed into a fist around something. A transmitter maybe? It's an odd detail that I don't think gets explained. - So, did she call him a "liar" because she saw the two of them as having dated and then he came out as gay at some point? - So, they're just gonna leave the Impala there while it's gassing up? *LOL* - I still love Cas for this part. Sharing his "Journey". - Okay, got to see the guys' talk with Amara. (At least the first half of it.) I still think it's risky for Dean to tell her about Jack even being a player on the board. Though I get that he had to give her SOMETHING so she would get that the threat is credible. That they actually CAN do something against Chuck. - Also, SPN can't settle on its history. *LOL* But that's nothing new. Back in S5 it was God and Death and Death couldn't remember who came first. Then at the end of Season 10 we got an updated version with the Darkness (Who didn't seem to have met Death prior to her imprisonment.) Now, Darkness and God were twins. - Ewwwwww.... dead guy. - Wow.... They actually textualized that. (About Mary.) - He sounded like he meant it when he said "I will never hurt you." - I still love Cas being a subtle badass. - Jack... it's NOT the only way... (And I'm pretty sure Sam HAS forgiven Jack. But I don't think they've really talked.)

SO.

I apologize that my "notes" this time are a train-wreck, but so was my internet connection, so sadly, this is what happens when I watch part of the episode, miss some important bits, and watch most of the rest of it (while still missing more bits) and then when it's finally over I can finally go back and re-watch the bits I'd missed. And I wound up mostly just re-watching the whole thing again anyway. And some things definitely made more sense, and I definitely noticed some things I hadn't caught the first time.

I know a lot of people aren't going to like it because it mostly featured Cas and Jack while being light on the brothers. (But there WAS some good brother content!) I did enjoy it well enough though. (Like, it's not gonna make my top 10 total episodes, but I liked it better than a lot of the ones earlier this season.)

Organizing my thoughts is gonna be a bit hard (I've had a long day) but I'll make an attempt here.

Cas and Jack's arc: It definitely had a more old-school SPN horror vibe to me, though more like some of the newer horror movies (like Saw and the like) and I think both characters were written well. We had two awkward angels who still don't get all things human, but they obviously care. There was also a lot of talk about God in a way that I felt made both of them feel awkward considering their perspective on Chuck. I do still wonder though about some of the details of what Sylvia was doing. Like, I get how she'd probably been stewing about the one boy for a while. But the lady (could never quite tell if it was Valerie or Mallory) had literally JUST stolen from the donation box when she stepped outside into the trap laid for her. So, was this maybe a habit of her's? How would Sylvia have known about it beforehand? And also, what was with the crossroads demon at the very end posing as/possessing a police officer? Is he going rogue because he's bored? Is he acting on some weird kind of orders? I saw some theories about maybe the Dad made a crossroads deal to spring his daughter, but... I dunno. Unless it's supposed be a tease for something to come later, it feels odd and random.

Overall, I did really like Cas in this episode. I thought his blend of salt, cluelessness, and altruism was good, and I loved what he said about his past, and how he found his new purpose. Because he has been drifting quite a bit since he lost his original purpose. But he definitely seems to have found it again with Jack. So naturally he gets to find out that Jack is fated to die taking out God and the Darkness. *sigh* Dude CANNOT catch a break! Also, JACK! I love him so much! (And honestly, I'd had suspicions already that this is what had been troubling him. I'm glad he finally told one of his dads at least.)

Also, just wanna reiterate, I loved that bit at the beginning when Dean suggests Cas and Jack go tackle this case "that probably isn't anything (supernatural)" and he turns to Sam like "Please be the sane one here." (My hope/headcanon is that Sam encouraged him to go because he knows something has been troubling Jack, and if Jack won't open up to Sam about it, maybe he was hoping he'd open up to Cas at least. Then maybe SOMEONE could help him. But I don't know if the writers are thinking that deeply about Sam.)

Speaking of Sam and Dean... Okay, overall I thought their part of the episode was okay for what we saw. Like, the brother talk in the Impala, mild bickering about driving times and regular mundane stuff. Also their talk with Amara had some GOOD emotional beats in it. For Dean and Amara. Sam was mostly just there. And then he wasn't even there for the main part. So... *sigh* It's not that I begrudge Dean having that moment. I mean, he definitely had more of a connection to Amara than Sam did. But it still feels like not much really happened with him besides being a soundingboard and showing some concern for Jack. Hopefully we get more of him actually being important to the plot in upcoming episodes.

But let me reiterate that I DID like the talk Dean and Amara had! I'm glad that she textualized something that I know a lot of fans have theorized about Mary and her purpose narratively. That prior to her resurrection she had been put on this pedestal, but Dean and Sam were actually able to get to know the real woman. That the real woman was better than the memory because she WAS real. Flaws and all. (Not that I blame Dean for being angry.) I'm just glad that it was said outright. Because I got the feeling from some of the things Samantha Smith has said at cons that that was part of the point of Mary's character since S12, to make her real. And I know a lot of people couldn't see past her flaws and still hate her. (I DO think some things could have been handled better with her character, but that's not the point of this long rambly post today.) Also, when Dean said that he could never hurt her? It felt like him telling the truth. Maybe he was able to get that feeling across because technically he WAS telling the truth, since the plan is for Jack to be the one doing the hurting. But I dunno.

Anyway, overall I thought it was a decent episode. It had some good character moments in it, and considering I thiiiiink the next episode is going to be very Sam and Dean heavy, I'm not gonna begrudge Cas and Jack some screentime in this one since things are likely going to be getting dicey here fairly soon.

(And again, I apologize for how scattered this is this time.)

P.S. Oh, and one last thing before I forget. Especially after last episode, I find it odd that Jack still thinks BOTH brothers haven't forgiven him. I get why he would think that about Dean. The dude outright said it was going to take some time. But Sam, as far as we've seen has been shown to be supportive of Jack. So, I wonder if it's because Jack still hasn't forgiven himself? Or if it's because maybe he and Sam haven't really talked about that whole issue, so maybe Jack thinks Sam is just avoiding it? (Or if the writers are just lumping Sam&Dean together again because WHY would anyone see them as two separate entities? *salty*) Because if anyone in this show SHOULD be aware that the brothers don't always think the same it should be Jack. Because from the start Sam has tended to hold a different stance in regards to him than Dean. *sigh* Ah well. We'll see how things fall out. Especially considering what Cas (I’m assuming anyway) told Dean about Jack and Billy’s plan.