#the flashbacks in the manga and anime always make them look like the same age tho
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According to the Wiki, Gai is two years younger than Ebisu and three years younger than Genma
#that makes Gai the baby of the group#the flashbacks in the manga and anime always make them look like the same age tho#team choza#gai maito#might guy#ebisu#genma shiranui#naruto#naruto fanart#naruto age thingy
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whats yr headcanon about gary's parents?
ok confession: i don’t really have specific headcanons about gary’s parents except like. They’re Dead JFKDFJDKXJ but i have some ideas about gary’s childhood that would relate so i can share those!
probably 80% of my headcanons are actually derived from texts that were at some point at least considered canon in some respect (not necessarily canons derivative of the anime specifically - while their character Trajectories are very different, game/anime/manga counterparts are still fundamentally The Same Character imo. which means blue’s lore from any other source is free real estate for my garyisms :p). first one is pokemon zenshou, which says that gary/blue and daisy’s parents died in a car accident.
then, there is takeshi shudo’s novelization. which says that gary, though he lived with his grandfather (presumably), attended school in a different town/city. at this point, it’s only conjecture - but my thought on this is that by the time his parents died, gary was already in school. and some people have pointed out that it seems probable too that his parents wanted him enrolled in a specific school (e.g. a private school, or just a more academically streamlined one). and that makes a lot of sense to me! tangentially, i taught in a school like that - and yeah, most of the kids are the children/grandchildren/etc. of professors, administrators, dentists, lawyers. a lot of them commute from one end of the city to another, upwards of like. 2 hours one-way. and as someone who actually grew up in the middle of nowhere where there was only one (1) school everyone in the town could even go to, that was a weird experience, culturally. so i think it makes a lot of sense for his family to want to keep him at the school he’s already at.
personally, i always read that as a “not wanting to take him from his friends” thing - but i also don’t think he had many, if any, friends in school. especially not after he’s moved away and has to commute that far. so it makes me think that his parents either didn’t talk much to professor oak about gary, or didn’t know much about gary’s school life. my guess is the former. i expect they were actually fairly involved in his academics (whether or not they were involved in anything else, it’s hard to say, but i have no reason to think he wasn’t deeply loved - honestly probably a bit spoiled - by his parents, even if they did also push him to do well at school). i don’t know what kind of work they did, but i don’t think either of them would have been researchers (if they had been, i think this would have been an easier decision for gary to make. instead, he struggled with feeling like he didn’t measure up - to his grandfather. it seems to have little to nothing to do with his parents).
i also don’t know what i think of his parents’ backgrounds generally. i expect at least one of them is from cerulean city based on professor oak’s teaching background there (and he’s not very old, so it would make sense that he started a family there and then moved back to pallet town later). but as for gary (and his sister - i know she’s not in the anime, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t exist. dengeki pikachu is based off the anime and daisy (well. may) exists in that. so everything else going on in that manga aside, i’ll claim it lmao), i think they’re from viridian city. don’t know what happened in the in-between, but i just think like. blue has a relationship to viridian city - he becomes the gym leader - and arguably so does gary, à la os064, so i like the idea of him having grown up at least partially in viridian city. having gone to school there. etc.
so with the school thing, i think gary’s parents died when he was probably around 7 years old, maybe even 8. this isn’t entirely inconceivable - the one true “childhood friends” scene we get is a flashback from ash in ag in lights, camerupt, action! where he remembers the last time he watched a movie. they LOOK younger in the flashback, but he actually just says that it was sometime before he left on his journey. so them being like. 8 or 9 there isn’t a crazy leap. otherwise, all their history is like…obviously meant to be shortly before they get their first pokemon. that doesn’t mean they’re not childhood friends. it just means they didn’t know each other necessarily when they were really young children.
re: gary’s sister, my headcanon is that since she’s older than him, and takeshi shudo stipulates that age 10 = adulthood in the pokemon world, she doesn’t move to pallet town when their parents die and instead decides to go out on her own. in my big gary study fic i’ve been writing since i rewatched the os, i had her move to cerulean city to train to attend a school for pokemon breeders (based on daisy’s aspirations to be a breeder and then a groomer). so that’s another reason why i think gary was around 7 when his parents died: it doesn’t create a huge age gap between him and daisy but still justifies why she’s absent in the anime.
i think that’s pretty much all i’ve got? would love to hear other people’s ideas or expand more on something here though!! thanks for asking! :’)
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Hello, what do you think about the parallel between
Hikaru Kamiki—Airi Himekawa to Aqua—Akane
And
Hikaru Kamiki—Ai Hoshino to Aqua—Kana.
If Aqua as Kamiki so they said Akane is Airi because they both a famous actress and Kana is Ai because she is famous idol.
Will the story repeat itself? will they have the same story? but i didn't think so. The patterns are similar but the stories are different.
But seeing from the storyline, Akane—Aqua is similar to Kamiki—Ai. Akane and Kamiki come from the same theater and they are both very talented actors and actresses who have star eyes. And Ai—Aqua came to Lalalai when there was a project workshop.
I also found Akane's lines and the lyrics of the same Idol song. Where Akane says "Lies turn into truth" and is also present in the lyrics themselves, broadly speaking the core meaning of the song and Ai's own story match very well. Where Ai also wants the lie to become the truth. So far I've only seen "lies become truth" in Akane and Aqua's relationship. This can also be seen clearly from the development of the story between Akane and Aqua.
Indeed, the Kana-Aqua relationship looks similar but it looks more like Goro-Ai. Aqua and Kana have the power to motivate each other. Kana who hides her potential as an idol and actress is motivated because of Aqua's support. Meanwhile, Aqua, who no longer had any interest in becoming an actor, was motivated when he saw Kana and Himekawa Taiki's acting. The funny thing is that Aqua entered the world of actors (again) thanks to Kana's request. and Kana entered the Idol world thanks to Aqua's request. Their pattern never looks to romance (only on Kana's side and no reciprocity from Aqua).
Meanwhile, Akane and Aqua seem to have reciprocity and their relationship is developing towards romance. I'm neutral and care about the storyline. This is from my perspective as a manga reader and anime viewer ONK. I've read the manga many times and the thing I caught was like this.
And also some people believe that Aqua—Akane—Kana similar to Tokyo Blade relationship between them. And will be like that in the story.
How about you? Your opinion always blows my mind. You are a neutral person if it goes to the storyline even though you are an Akane stan. It's rare to find an open-minded ONK fan.
Hi there anon, thank you for the thoughtful message! To be honest with you, I'm holding off from drawing any parallels between Ai-Kamiki and Aqua-Anyone because we just don't know enough about their dynamic yet. I feel like once we finally see this Ai in motion, we'll all be able to have a clearer outlook about her relationship with Kamiki.
For now, I get the feeling that when she met Kamiki, Ai found that "somebody to practice [loving] with".
It's hard to tell whether Kamiki was looking for the same thing because we don't know enough about his background just yet, but it's safe to assume that he was every bit as broken as Ai was—likely even more so, if his murderous streak is anything to go by.
But yeah, all in all, I'm kind of stuck here waiting for more information. I don't really like trying to predict Aka because he can sometimes do things on a whim, like the fact that Ai wasn't supposed to die at all when ONK started serialization lol
I'm actually kind of shocked to learn that people are already trying to draw parallels between Kamiki-Airi and Aqua-Akane though, because we haven't even gotten a single flashback involving them. The only thing we know is that there was a very inappropriate age-gap between them, which seems to imply Airi was a very messed up individual who took advantage of a child. I fail to see how in the world people can relate that to Aqua and Akane.
As for Tokyo Blade, I do think it's more complicated than some make it seem. Akane plays Sayahime, who was supposed to be Touki's love interest until the mangaka caved in and started pandering to fans, but Akane doesn't fit that role in the actual story. She was never presented as the main heroine, so Tsurugi never stole her place. If anything, Akane's role in the story for the longest time was to be Aqua's ally, so she is the one playing Tsurugi's role.
Yet, Kana doesn't quite fit Sayahime's circumstances either, because her screen time didn't lessen and most people do seem to ship Aqua and Kana over Aqua and Akane.
So I don't really think either girl is a 1:1 fit for either role. I do, however, think Aka's biggest meta commentary was this panel right here:
This is the way people saw Akane up to that point, and Aka knew it so he lampshaded it. He even has Akane acknowledging that if she allows things to carry on that way, she won't stand a chance:
It's also interesting to note that from this arc onwards, Akane truly steps up to be the one standing by Aqua's side. So once again, it's a matter of seeing where Aka is going with it, though I completely agree with you that Aqua and Akane are the ones who have gotten all the big development milestones.
Even when you isolate their moments and simply put them side by side, the magnitude and intimacy jumps out to the eye.
I feel that we can objectively say that there is just no comparison. Aqua and Akane are out there saving each other's lives, getting to know each other, guarding each other's secrets, hugging, kissing, dating, breaking up yet still fighting to keep the other safe, etc. Meanwhile Aqua and Kana seem perpetually stuck, the distance between them hasn't lessened. Their relationship hasn't evolved.
Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean that they won't end up together either way, because this is a fictional story after all and the author can do whatever he wants. But it does beg the question of why in the world has Aka kept his supposed endgame so static while Aqua and Akane got all the mutual development lol
Thank you once again for the compliment anon! I think it's because I've won and lost love triangles many times, so I've learnt to recognize the signs that point towards both sides of the equation 😂 There's also the fact that I'm in this for Akane, so whether or not she ends up with Aqua is besides the point as long as Aka does justice to her character and to their dynamic.
edit:
I forgot to mention that Tokyo Blade-wise, I've always felt like this scene may be foreshadowing! If anyone is mortally wounded, I am fully expecting Aqua to get his miracle (be it through his own medical merits, through the Crow Girl or by any other means).
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182 Days of TPN - Day 37
Chapter 37: “Escape”
I originally only wanted to point out yet another Ray head pat, but then I noticed the adorable scene with the kids is the exact hallway we see burning up. Yes it took me this long to make that connection. Hush.
Leslie!! You sweet boy, do not play with butterflies! They're a bad omen in this series! But oh you’re so lucky to have a literal angel descend upon you like that. Pfftt okay that may be pushing it; I know Isabella has done some pretty horrible stuff, but that’s all in the future! Right now she’s a totally innocent and adorable kid!
I love Isabella with all my heart and soul (as if that wasn’t obvious enough) but I still believe they should’ve gave Leslie the credit he deserves for his song rather than have everything be named and referred to “Isabella’s Lullaby,” especially the mandolin version from the first season ost! They could’ve easily named that after him instead! Yeah the significance it holds in regards to her and Ray’s relationship is huge, but at the end of the day it’s still Leslie’s original melody.
Let me get it all out of the way and just say the anime handled Isabella’s entire flashback so much better. It has an unfair advantage since we can actually hear the song, but also because her emotions during Leslie’s shipment make way more sense. The boy she loves is leaving the house forever so naturally she would be upset! Why the manga has her waving and smiling as she says goodbye instead is something I’ll never understand. But hey, that panel helps show that the mandolin wasn’t a totally random addition to the anime when they decided to have Leslie use one in the previous scene rather than sing as he did in manga.
I know Isabella had Ray at 19 (or 20 actually..? it might be that, whatever) and whether she was that age or not when she was finally granted a mom position, I’m in awe that she looks as just as beautiful as she did back then as she does when the series starts. It’s like she didn’t age at all.
I know people will always call her a bad mom because of how she walked the kids to their death and sorta used them for her own survival, but then that logic applies to all the moms & sisters of the story as well since it’s basically in their job description. Despite all the women having the same goal, Isabella strives for perfection for the children’s sake as well. Pardon me for quoting myself in order to save me some time (y’all will see this a week later but currently writing this post out while I wait for my copy of TotK to arrive.. happy release day!):
“She provided her children with a normal lifestyle, not only to keep up the orphanage facade, but knowing that their lives would all be cut shorter than they anticipate. She gave them love in hopes that no one would ever have to feel the dread she felt after Leslie’s death and/or finding out the truth. She tried to delay that horrific fate by encouraging them to learn all they can (like teaching the trio about strategy and chess) so they could achieve higher tests scores and (unknowingly to them) add a couple more months or years onto their lives. Yes it was her job to raise these children to such high standards but she excelled at it for their sake too.”
Of course the glaring difference between Ray retelling the deal flashback and Isabella remembering it is their own emotions. In all of Ray’s flashbacks up to this point, Isabella was cold, threatening and beyond confident, but when we see it from her perspective, she is completely terrified (if only briefly) as she find out Ray is her son moments before he offers the deal to her.
“All those years spent perfecting a fake smile and emotionless exterior like she was trained to have and her son shatters it in an instant... That one moment of weakness speaks volumes to me.” -me, once again being lazy.
The fact the anime had a handful of opportunities to animate this moment from Ray’s perspective and chose to show us Isabella’s memory instead.. aahh, it’s a good move. Granted, Ray never delve into his mother-son relationship whenever he mentioned it previously, so saving that critical information for Isabella’s flashback made the reveal hit so much harder.
Isabella’s desire to survive is a valid reason to accept the mom position, but doing so out of pure spite against the demons so they couldn’t have her as their next meal is incredible and just fits her personality so well in my eyes. Of course the big downside to all that is leading other children to their own demise, but in no way was she ever ecstatic about it. While I think no death made her as distraught as Leslie’s did, she loved all the kids she raised and I have no doubt sending them all off to their own shipments was still extremely hard for her. As we saw in ep1, Isabella was humming Leslie’s song while walking Conny down to the gate and as we learned in this chapter, our lovely lady sings that song to stay strong.
Can I please hug whomever it was on the anime staff that had the brilliant idea to have Isabella let her hair down because DAMN she is so GORGEOUS!!
The anime is superior in so many ways for this scene. Not only because of how beautiful Isabella is right here (though it is a real big reason for me), but with everything else previously mentioned too. I swear I’ll never get over this though.. oh what I wouldn’t give to see Demizu draw this woman like this just once.
Go ahead and catch me sobbing over all of this!!
Simply amazing how she somehow concluded that Phil was in on the whole plan as well. But look at her, openly caring for the children without even worrying about her caretaker status anymore. Seems no different from before, huh? That’s because she’s always cared! If ya listen closely you can hear the broken chidoroki record saying “best mom” on repeat. And I certainly can’t forget to mention the comforting head pat as well. Aahh, no wonder your son does this so much to the other kids too.
Okay well, hate to burst your bubble here sweetie, but just because you won’t personally see the shipments, doesn’t mean they’ll all stop completely. I assure you they’re still happening in the other plantations, even with Isabella reducing the frequency of them once she becomes Grandma. And the whole idea of not watching others die.. ohhh, I wish I could be hopeful for you about that but unfortunately y’all are still gonna witness some hard loses and countless close calls soon enough.
I truly am so proud that the fifteen of them managed to escape that harsh reality they were forced into. And as much as I don’t wanna mention the anime anymore after this because of that unspeakable second season, it’ll probably still happen. I enjoyed all the comparisons so far since both medias just had relatively small changes here and there, but with the second season however.. yeah there’s gonna be a ton of complaints. (I do praise it occasionally, but it’s still a huge upset.)
Favorite panel/moment:
There’s so many I wanna choose from thanks to all the Isabella moments, but I really love this entire page. Seeing her sing Leslie’s song to the children to calm them (& probably herself) down is so sweet. I wish the anime had given us that. They had the main theme playing which includes the song’s melody anyway, so I can’t really complain too much about that. But learning she indirectly helped the escapees by retrieving their ropes so the farm doesn’t know exactly where they escaped from is also wonderful. She really didn’t care about her life anymore once she accepted defeat, which is kinda sad in a way, but still so wholesome that she’s prioritizing everyone’s needs and happiness above her own.
Oh, you know how Isabella sings the song to keep herself strong? Ya ever wonder if Ray’s done so for the same reason? Yeah he used the song to help confirm he was Isabella’s son, but the only other time we hear it from him was right before Emma finds him waiting in the dinning hall. Just imagining him being that scared to finally put his crazy pyro plan into action to end his own life and using the song to try and calm himself down.. ow, my heart.
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okay so, there are a few brainrot ideas of a jjk × hp crossover that are currently occupying my head so i'll just dump right here before i forget (just in case i either want to actually write this myself or if someone wants to write it— please go ahead!)
for now, these are all gojo-centric because he's a little shit and i love him for it <33
[ p. s. as you can see, i am too lazy and demotivated to cook my own food /hj ]
1. gojo (ends up in the hp world and) goes to hogwarts :
a. as a student - okay, this is probably going to be a bit hard to pull off, considering the man is literally almost 30, but hear me out
i could see him in either the hp generation or the marauders generation (but mostly the former)
could be an age regression thing where he gets bombarded with a curse that propels him into the hp world and for some reason he's back to his younger self (child or teen, who knows, just as long as he's around the same age as the protagonists of that era)
or maybe an exchange student program (au where jjk sorcerers and hp wizards both coexist in the same world) so maybe when he's 15-16 he's a "spy" trying to learn things from the wizard side of things?
clashes heads with harry AND draco from time to time; harry because of their different morals and draco because he probably pokes fun at him
come to think of it, who WOULDN'T gojo beef with actually
the student teachers think is gonna fail because he looks so uncaring and aloof and then proceeds to be one of (if not) the top scorers on the board
probably bothers snape constantly in his office (and probably also gets detention from time to time for being so annoying to him)
minerva also being irritated on the outside but also heartwrench on the inside because he lowkey reminds her of the old marauders in a way
every time he comes across voldemort face-to-face, he will not hesitate to make fun of him (like he did with jogo)
gojo : haha you're such a loser. voldemort? really? that's your name? you couldn't have picked anything better? *freaking fortnite dances or some shit like that*
voldemort officially has an extra child added to his hitlist after that
b. as a teacher - some of the earlier points of him as a student also apply here, except he's obviously more mature and wise in this instance
possible mentor of harry? like i said, would bond over being the chosen ones
the teacher that is either well-loved or hated (both teachers and students alike)
always the one popping in and out of the faculty with new tea and gossip to dish out
tries to hold back a little bit on the hogwarts students because they're not his students but is still absolutely relentless to them (displaying powerful demonstrations and also teasing them a bunch)
mcgonagall and snape being his favorite staff members because they remind him of utahime and nanami (idk would be close in personality to shoko tbh, then again she has the same type of dead air energy as snape but feel free to correct me woohoo)
ironically probably beefs with albus bc they are kind of similar in a sense but idk hmmm (they could also have some tea on the weekends too)
gojo : i once had a person i loved dearly that turned out to be heavily racist towards the normal human race for something they can't help and we had a messy breakup to boot
albus :
2. gojo is reincarnated as/ends up in the body of harry potter - not gonna lie, i'm more of a fan of this idea because you could do so much with this + it would be funny as HELL
harry grows up "cocky" and "prideful" (obviously still with some trauma and kindness attached because it's gojo) and correlates to the next points :
dumbledore thinking that since the boy grew up in a muggle household that he'll learn to be humble and sweet and lo and behold, he was wrong
snape getting vivid flashbacks of james from gojo!harry because of how cocky he is (gojo doing this unintentionally by being his authentic self)
even better if gojo!harry ends up in slytherin LMAO
dumbledore also getting flashbacks but of a different person : he doesn't want another tom riddle to happen (esp if gojo!harry vocalizes his want to change the world) so he keeps a very watchful eye on him
from the earlier point : gojo!harry not missing a fucking beat trying to make fun of tom "tommy boy, voldymoldy the oldie" riddle every time they meet (and not hesitating to name drop him in almost every conversation out of spite)
okay obviously he'll have some form of self-control over it but i have a feeling he'll do it just to test him and his patience
i feel like he would be SO CLOSE to triggering the underage magic alarm (or maybe he does and that's a drama for a whole chapter)
i feel like he would absolutely have a habit of disappearing and reappearing (even without magic) and he does that alot at the dursleys (especially when he's older)
gojo realizing he could talk to snakes, and he gossips to them whenever he can
moreover, it would be interesting if he sometimes has conversations with the horcrux inside his forehead (back-to-back mockery)
gojo knows somewhat quickly maybe because the signature is likely the same as sukuna in yuji's body
a really crack idea where gojo solves (one of) the horcrux problems by just hollow purpling the darn thing (wouldn't push it pass him to do it in the battle in the ministry of magic tbh)
either never gets fooled by the quidditch cup or immediately rectifies it by being able to teleport back (a good idea for a crack fic, but maybe for a more serious one he could either be serious or really dazed/overstimulated from the previous events to even think of doing so)
3. gojo ends up in the same body as harry potter and acts as a co-resident — ngl i am warming up to this VERY idea because i know it would become HELLA chaotic
i composed the original draft of this post ages ago but what gave me this idea is this amazing jjk!/bnha crossover fic titled "a hero without limits" by anonymous567 (if you haven't already, please read it because it's absolutely AMAZING)
idk how this would happen considering the shard of voldemort in harry's head (third participant forced to watch maybe) but shhh
basically gojo popping in harry's head either from the start or a from an event that happens to him later on (like the inspo)
he also makes commentary from time to time in his head and harry's like "shut uppp" — and sometimes people look at him and go "yo what's up with him""boy who lived shenanigans maybe"
it sounds stupid but i like the idea of gojo manifesting either on harry's body like sukuna or his image and his spirit manifesting on reflective surfaces like mirrors (his friends going "WHO'S THAT" while they point at the mysterious man in the mirror)
harry's magic "retaliating" and defending him when he's near death which is just a shadowy, smokey manifestation of gojo with the brightest most piercing lights as his eyes
very curious about the chamber of secrets section bc now harry probably doesn't even have look at the darn thing ("don't worry harry, sensei's got it covered!" or smth like that idk)
harry automatically deciphering the sussiness of almost every sus character because, like i said, live gojo commentary (probably would have solved the pettigrew problem faster tbh)
any adult that was around during the marauder's era straight up being reminded of james from time to time, especially the times when gojo is in control
i can imagine gojo knowing the jig is up with the horcrux in harry's head, and maybe as part of a crack idea, "seals the soul" from time to time which is the magical equivalent of taping the webcam lens with a piece of paper
gojo and the hat duking it out with rebuttals during the sorting ceremony and harry slowly going insane because of it
commentary of the black family being similar to the zenin's in influence, attitude and power (feel free to correct me); in short, gojo noting down funny coincidences and similarities to his old world
anytime someone tries to use legillimens on harry, gojo goes "uh uh uh *wags fingers*" and promptly kicks them out, promptly leaving the caster confused (gojo being harry's built in occlumency security guard <333)
idk if i want him to still have six eyes and/or limitless when he's reincarnated as harry (because it doesn't feel like gojo without them, but also he'd be so op— then again he already is by default so why not)
i think i would keep them since they're both the core ability aspects of his character but obviously in this instance, he doesn't have the hang of six eyes yet (major sensory overload as a drawback if he doesn't cover his eyes with a blindfold or a pair of dark sunglasses) and he doesn't unlock limitless until he's a teen (maybe during the gof or ootp plotline)
either way, i'm sorry if this plotline is too ooc, and please pitch in your own ideas in the comments or if you want to correct me!!
+ a little sketch of #3 because i've grown really attached to the idea JENDJEJDJ
#glycherriirambles#jjk#jjk gojo#gojo satoru#harry potter#gojo the little shit#i still love him dearly#that's why i made this post#glycherriiart
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thoughts on volume 6 of real:
look at this color page!! hi loser!! i am going to be so sad when he cuts his hair. i know this is a depression hairstyle and when a character in this manga gets their hair cut it's a sign of acceptance and change and moving forward and all those thematic elements but takahashi is really cute with his hair like this. and look!! a smile!!
reading this series has made me realize that i outgrew shonen a long time ago. i don't fucking like action sequences and high stakes!! i like complex characters and internal conflict and themes and motifs!! anyway this volume was SO cathartic to read. here's my thoughts on the themes and motifs:
FUMIKA'S BACK!! finally. and it seems like takahashi's finally coming around to her. even if her way of coping with his disability is. sub-optimal.
this stays with him through the rest of the volume. he keeps turning over that dog in his head. i wonder if it's a commentary on how people seem to have more empathy for animals than they do for other humans. like you think a dog in a wheelchair in a viral video is cute but you won't make eye contact with a man in a wheelchair. it also might be takahashi finally learning that all the hate he has for himself transfers to others--if he's like the dog, and the dog didn't do anything to deserve all that hate, then what does that mean for him? i'd love to think about this some more but fumika's dog's name is my deadname so this limits my analysis a bit.
oh but the family issues are hitting full swing for him. we have another trip outside that ends poorly and another instance of takahashi vs stairs wherein the stairs win. but it's log cabin episode time otherwise known as what i did every other weekend from the ages of 14 to 18 otherwise known as Spending Three Days With Your Absentee Father. and considering that it takes two people to get takahashi in and out of a car or up a flight of stairs i'm a bit worried about him. it's come up a couple times actually that takahashi can't use the bathroom by himself and i wonder if that will get touched on again.
but first! kiyoharu. some more internal strife within the tigers. i hope nothing bad happens here.
and they BETTER win their next tournament because they've made a bet to shave their heads if they lose and even though kiyoharu would still be quite cute bald i'd prefer that not to happen.
i love when the characters get drawn like this.
especially when there's a beautifully detailed close up shot of someone's face in another panel on the same page. some much-needed lightheartedness in the middle of takahashi's journey through the five stages of grief. and it looks like he's in the depression stage now.
i can't tell if i'm relating so much to takahashi's family issues in this volume because he's similar to me or because i'm so invested in him that i can feel his emotions through the page. a combination of both i think. the actual history of his family situation is different from mine but this reunion sequence. just. you can tell your parent is better Now and they're trying hard Now but you needed them Then and they failed you Then and you've been living with the effects Ever Since.
i love the way the bad parents are written in this series. they're never just complete one-dimensional monsters. there's always something they do that shows that they care on some level about their kid. kiyoharu's father has all that stuff going on but when kiyoharu was still on the track team he'd come to the meets and there's the scene where he massaged kiyoharu's legs before nationals. takahashi's mother obviously loves him a lot and wants him to recover but she's just like him in a sense, she's got her own expectations for what's going to happen and when they're not met she breaks down. takahashi's father walked out, we see that in the flashbacks in this volume, but he's had his own character arc in that time and now he's putting in an effort to reconnect with takahashi, and he's presented as a genuinely good guy who made some mistakes in the past.
and takahashi hates him for leaving and he's allowed to hate him for leaving. because takahashi's father leaving is the tick that set him down the journey of becoming the complete douchebag that he was at the start of the story. but takahashi is starting to have more and more moments where he recognizes how other people must be feeling, or takes into consideration what other people are doing for him. i smell character development on the horizon.
GET HIS ASS!!
i so love the interplay between takahashi and his father here. they're two deeply flawed people who are trying on some level to reconnect, but they're clashing and going up against each other and they're both right. takahashi's father is right to call him on his attitude, takahashi acts like a jerk to everyone. and takahashi is right to be angry with his father for failing at being a parent.
takahashi's monologue about basketball is interesting. i can't quite figure out what he's talking about when he says it wasn't fun. if he's referring to the fact that he was playing it because of his father and his father wasn't there to see it, or if he was so caught up in his own game of ranks and social status that he couldn't really enjoy the game like nomiya could, or if he genuinely didn't find it fun and only did it because it was something he was good at. maybe a combination of all three. i wonder if he'll even end up pursuing basketball again in the story.
it's interesting that he thinks of nomiya here. nomiya really does live rent-free in everyone's mind. nomiya, who inspires the people around him to change but is still lost when it comes to himself. it seems like nomiya's earned the respect of his co-workers at his new job now, but nothing in this manga is ever simple and easy like that so i'm more inclined to think they're bullying him. we'll see.
GET!! HIS!! ASS!!
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As a teenager and into my twenties, my face was covered in acne - every day was like a tower defense game trying to keep the zits at bay. I bought over-the-counter products to cover them up, which made them worse - and because of this, my face now bears the scars from my tower defense days. Back in an age without the Internet, we only had peers and local TV stations telling us that we should cover up "unsightly" acne. Fast forward to the present day, we now have the whole world telling us through social media that we are somehow inadequate if we don't have perfect skin. Even social media apps have filters to remove skin blemishes before posting them - further promoting that blemish-free skin is the norm. And then some brands beautify product photos creating an alternate reality that humans should strive for - through buying their products. Peers and organizations recommending that you cover facial blemishes don't deserve to be part of your life if they don't accept you for who you are. Have you heard of the "Regrets of the Dying" by Bronnie Ware? Bronnie cared for many folks who shared regrets in life just before they died. Among the most common five regrets was, "I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me." If you live a life of others' expectations, you are essentially living life as an NPC. An NPC is a "Non Player Character" that lives in a game serving little importance other than to make a street look busy - or be looted for some credits. The end game for an NPC is always the same - a life of regrets. Pride was created as a reminder that spending effort changing the way we are for the sake of others only takes precious time away from what's important - the importance of living a life without the risk of a regrettable flashback when it's end game time. Stay Proud. And some production notes! Pride is still in the prototype phase. While her face design will change slightly, acne will be featured prominently on her face. It's a technique that we are still learning to do with a combination of "floating" paint masks. #tokyo #smartdoll #anime #manga #doll #3dprinting #japan (at Mirai Store Tokyo) https://www.instagram.com/p/CfibXeOBIBx/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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I'm sorry, I might have been unclear. ^^;; I mean that when Bakugo is told for ten years he deserves to be arrogant and ambitious, it'd be hard for him to not be. But he picked All Might as his hero, whose compassion and saving people define him. In many ways I see a neglected kid lashing out from frustration before UA. He wasn't going to change until he was among equals in class, and adults who cared enough to tell/show him more than a simple 'you're the best bc you're strong'.
OH yes yes, sorry for the miscommunication! Yeah, we've definitely seen moments in his past where Bakugo's arrogance was stoked and I think those details are the cornerstone of how sympathetically each individual reads him. Does the reader focus on the actions themselves (bullying, encouraging suicide, recklessly fighting Izuku), or the environment that led to that behavior (doting teachers, his mother, peers who egged him on). It's that line between "Bakugo is just a kid. He needs the chance to grow" and "Bakugo is the perpetrator hurting other kids. His growth should not come at the continued expense of his victim." Which is where I think the structural issues of the story come in. Meaning, both takes are right — Bakugo does horrific things and Bakugo is also a teenager whose behavior is arguably stemming from his upbringing — but it's hard to balance both sides when he's in a story where he's attending school with Izuku, his relationship with Izuku is one of the most important, and he's set from the get-go to be a hero. By making Bakugo such a crucial part of the story in the form of a) being a hero and b) being Izuku's foil, reading #1 — he's a poor kid who just needs endless chances to improve — wins out. In a better story setup, Bakugo would not be training alongside his victim. He would have been expelled from U.A. for all the stunts he pulled. His future as a hero would have been seriously called into question until he learned that bare bones respect. As it stands, the structure of the story ensures that Bakugo (to my knowledge) never faced any actual consequences for his actions, pushing a lot of messages that fans are uncomfortable with: past behavior doesn't matter, any improvement is equal to reaching a standard expected of everyone else, the best thing is to forgive your abuser, talent is prioritized over empathy, etc. Since the apology dropped, I've seen a couple of fans arguing that whether to forgive Bakugo or not is Izuku's decision. It doesn't matter what the fans think because they aren't the ones who suffered. But Izuku isn't a real person. Izuku is a character, controlled by an author who gets to decide how he reacts, knowing that lots of fans want Bakugo's behavior to be acknowledged as serious as it was. I'm currently working under the assumption that Izuku will accept Bakugo's apology because the story has never been interested in actually making Bakugo face consequences for his actions. He was established as a hero from the start, despite his unheroic behavior, which created a contradiction that has hurt the story as a whole.
For me, what it comes down to is the reaction as opposed to the explanation. If I had a kid acting like Bakugo who I know was pushed to that behavior by others and also kid acting like Bakugo for seemingly no reason... they both need to learn the same lesson. Because, as established, that over-encouragement isn't an excuse, just a possible explanation (and I say "possible" because plenty of our other heroes were likewise praised for their talents and didn't turn out like that). What it comes down to is that Bakugo is not the victim here. Was Bakugo neglected? Arguably in some respects, but we know for a fact — seeing from the very start of the series — how much damage Bakugo has done in turn. And yet the story is focused on his pain, his struggle, the tragedy of what supposedly drove a teenager to encourage someone to jump off a roof, rather than the tragedy of a minority kid bullied to the point of someone encouraging suicide. That's the flaw imo. Both kids deserve to work through their problems and have their stories told, but doing that together — putting both at the heart of the manga, as equals in terms of their status as heroes — really doesn't work for me. It's hard to get invested in the supposed tragedy of a kid who was endlessly praised and decided to turn that into despising everyone "lesser" than him when the "lesser" person is right there, having his victimhood largely ignored in favor of unpacking how hard this is for his bully. That's the focus we keep coming back to. It's "poor Bakugo, realizing that Izuku isn't a useless nobody" rather than, "poor Izuku, forced to work alongside the guy who thinks he's a useless nobody." To be totally honest here, I never cared about Bakugo's supposedly sad backstory because it reads as so inconsequential compared to others in the class and compared to what he did to Izuku. Todoroki had his face burned by his father. Uraraka is becoming a hero to try and help her family financially. Izuku is right there... and Bakugo's great struggle, the struggle the story spends so much time on, is "Wow, other people aren't trash I can just walk over and hurt for the fun of it? And I'm learning this at a snail's pace while heading towards the prestigious career of being a hero? And the reason I'm like this is because people praised me too much? What fantastic development on my part!"
I get snarky, but I do honestly believe that Bakugo's story is one worth telling, just not in this context. The story of a kid so talented, and beloved that he developed an ego the size of his school and needs to unlearn that arrogance is a legit story to tell. Trying to tell that story at the expense of his victim, alongside kids his age who went through the same thing and turned out kind, went through far worse and turned out kind, all while having him train to be a hero without ever seriously questioning whether he should be allowed in such a profession is... a mess. It is good for Bakugo to be among equals and learn some humility, but I don't think the first half of the story did nearly enough of that and, even if it had, that struggle is hard for me to take seriously when the others have so much else going on.
Also, did Bakugo latch onto All Might because of his compassion? That always seemed incidental to me. Rather, Bakugo idolized him because he's the best: the most popular, the strongest, the one who always wins. I'd need to re-read flashbacks from the manga to be sure, but I do recall one of the scenes from the anime:
"You see that? I bet he'll dodge and then punch! Think they've won and then ha! Look, he totally stopped him! That's why he's the greatest. No matter how much trouble he's in, he's always the winner!"
Bakugo likes All Might because he's "the winner," not because he's presumably saving people during this news coverage. Izuku is the one who latches onto All Might because of his smile and ability to help. That's their crucial difference between them. Izuku fights for others. Bakugo fights for himself.
Is he slowly unlearning that? Yeah, sort of, but again, it comes down to who continually suffers to teach that lesson, how slow Bakugo learns it, how it compares to the struggles of his peers, and how this is situated in a story revolving around allowing him to be a hero in the first place. Cool character idea, bad context and execution.
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I've noticed after a while (and many posts) that you include Fuyumi-trying-not-to-resemble-her-mother in many of your tags, and I really want to hear your thoughts on that whole character dynamic. Or how you headcannon Fuyumi in general, I'd just like to know more and I haven't seen a lot of people delve into her character. It's always one of the brothers.
*vibrates at a totally normal speed* I would love to talk about Fuyumi yes
Warning: the following headcanons contain a decent bit of projecting. Is it me being a teacher? An eldest daughter? My complicated relationship with the idea of a "traditional family"? Probably all of it
First, if you don't mind a plug, I wrote a oneshot that has like 90 percent of all my fuyumi headcanons in it, The Walls Are Thin, and so. Obvious my headcanon that she's Touya's younger twin has been disproven but I like it a lot so,,, I don't care
So, there are some things about Fuyumi that didn't make it into the anime- manga!Yumi has blue eyes like Enji and Touya, and her arm was also bandaged in the flashback soccer scene when Shoto is talking about their abusive childhood which is very interesting to me.
Now, as for Fuyumi and Rei- I don't think Fuyumi hates her mother. I don't even think she hates her mother but is ok with full reconciliation like she is with her father. But I do think they have a very complicated relationship. Rei was institutionalized when Fuyumi was eleven, and from that moment on Fuyumi basically had to take over the raising of her brothers. Fuyumi lost her mother at eleven and then had to become one herself, because Rei burned her littlest brother.
Fuyumi was a child- and here's the thing. Rei's breakdown was sudden, but not surprising. She looked bad in the flashback right before it, she was begging her own mother for help. She looked sleep deprived and skittish. So even before Rei was sent away, I don't know how much she was actually mothering Fuyumi. Shoto can't really tell us that, and Fuyumi... Doesn't seem to want to think much on her past or give flashbacks to the two of them. So when Fuyumi is eleven, is ten, is nine- she's seeing this happen to her mother as a process. Rei is fading away, and Fuyumi is right at the age to actually begin to sort of understand it and be scared.
Shoto is aware that the marriage was motivated primarily to get a quirk like his. I see no reason that Fuyumi would be unaware of this ether, even when she was younger.
A lot of mental health problems can be hereditary- I remember my mother talking to me about her health history and her own mom's health history bc there's a looooot of problems there lol but Fuyumi didnt get that. She got to see her mother stuck in a hospital for a decade for a breakdown. She got to learn in school that those kinds of things can be passed down to children just like quirks. I'd bet anything that Fuyumi is terrified of having a breakdown like that. Of being like her mother- someone who cared for children that she couldn't protect from Enji for ten years or so, then being locked away when she finally snapped.
There's also her status as only daughter- besides the fact that all the wifely duties were put on her, there are still more expectations. Touya is dead, Natsuo is so ignored he didn't need to be disowned, Shoto is primed only to be one thing: the number one hero. Fuyumi, who has been mothering since she was eleven, would be looked to first for grandchildren.
This isn't to say that Enji ever expressed a single care about that- I doubt he did. But Fuyumi's grandmother was seen in some early flashbacks. I'm not sure if that was Rei or Enji's mother, but either way... Well, she'd certainly talk about how pretty she was. How sweet. How good to her brothers now that her poor mother is away. How obedient a daughter. And even if this grandmother doesn't talk about a quirk marriage explicitly, Fuyumi knows that she either raised a man who looked for one by the age of twenty, or was wholly complicit in her daughter getting one.
Even if, logically, Fuyumi knows her father wouldn't arrange her one- either because she's more useful at the house, or he doesn't pay enough attention, or he's going through a post Kamino character development- there's the fact that she also knows It's Not Impossible. She knows that if her family is as high up as it is and utterly rotten inside, there could be lots of people like that in their social circles. There could be someone who has that sort of interest in her.
Anyway, all that gives Fuyumi some very, very complicated feelings on motherhood and marriage. I don't think she wants either. Ever. She's a teacher, so she likes to work with kids- but we know a part of that is to make up for not being able to help her little brothers. She's full of guilt. I don't think she'd ever be interested in romance or anything else with a man, after seeing how it turned on and utterly broke Rei. And while I do sometimes have Fuyumi as lesbian, I also really think she might be aroace. This adds fun spice where she asks herself things like "wait is this just my trauma or my actual identity" and haha same I'm sorry I project on her a lot anyway sorry Fuyumi,,, you deserve a happy life. A normal life. But you don't get one ♥️
And the normal life thing- that's because Fuyumi is tired. She's tired of being a mother to her brothers. She's tired of having the responsibility of parenting without any of the power or control. She wants to be treated like a normal daughter and sister. And that can't happen if her brothers, esp Natsuo who she saw even more, keeps fully crediting his raising to her. Even if it's the truth, and even if Natsuo loves their mother and had no problem with her- he certainly wouldn't claim Rei influenced him more than Fuyumi did. That's why she's so desperate specifically for him to reconcile.
And she did see Natsuo more- but I think Fuyumi is also very close to Shoto. Closer than he thinks. Not just because her first two appearances are just her trying to protect Shoto by warning him when Enji is pissed off or when he will be, though that certainly helps- she's rather attuned to that stuff, and at least sorta used to Shoto sometimes listening to her about that kind of advice. But Shoto is being shaped deliberately to basically be Enji 2.0 . He has no choice but to be a hero. He has no choice but to train hard and get strong. He's supposed to beat All Might in a rivalry. All that stuff. Fuyumi, likewise, is shaped to be Rei 2.0. Take care of the children. Be soft. Not cut out for heroics. Not able to stop Enji from doing anything. Support Shoto. Cook. Clean. Take over when the housekeeper leaves, because why hire another one when there's a fourteen, fifteen, sixteen year old who can do it? Don't go to anyone for help, because no one who can help you will believe you or want to help you.
Shoto is supposed to succeed where Endeavor failed against All Might.
Fuyumi is supposed to succeed where Rei failed in going against Enji.
And all this, in a house where "like Rei" is an insult that her father shouts- to have her mother's constitution is a terrible thing. It's why her first two brothers were failures. Being "like Rei" means you are weak, and useless, and going to break down, going to be sent away.
And Fuyumi is supposed to be "like Rei", but without any of those bad parts.
Anyway wow this is such a long post.
That's why I think Fuyumi has a complicated relationship with her mother and with her appearance! If Fuyumi had been a boy, there always would have been a housekeeper there. She could have been a big brother- a big brother overly relied on, yes, but not a father. Fuyumi is not a boy. She is "like Rei." She is like Rei, who poured boiling water on a child because he had red hair, and a blue eyes.
So I think Fuyumi looks in the mirror, and sees red lines in her hair, and blue eyes behind glasses that neither of her parents need. And I think she keeps her hair shorter than Rei, and doesn't let it hang long like her mother prefers. And I think Fuyumi looks in the mirror, and sees that she's not just exactly like one or the other of her parents- and I think she says "thank God"
#.... that was really long#ahem#sorry i love fuyumi!!!#and you're right. no one talks about her enough#it's a lot about the brothers#and maybe fuyumi with her brothers#but not fuyumi and rei which really i think it's kinda the juicy one#sure rei 'left' the boys too#but she 'left' her responsibility to fuyumi and that's really different#i think long before Fuyumi decided to forgive Enji- or at least to move on with Enji- she decided to forgive/move on with her mother#in a way that was harder than Shoto forgiving her for one single incident#and very different from Natsuo who never needed to forgive rei#anyway!!! that's everything now i think.....#pocket talks to people#owlf45#meta
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Picking up gofushi crumbs from the manga pt. 3
Disclaimer: Beware of anime/manga/fanbook/light novel spoilers. This is just me commenting on the manga with the lenses of a gofushi fan. So... it’s just my opinion.
This section runs from chapter 26 to 79.
About character developments, gofushi first meeting, “Oh, nothing <3″, and others.
[Chapter 26]
Bless Yuuji’s imagination creating gofushi material LOL
[Chapter 32]
Megumi’s disappointed and nonchalant face when others connect “that moron” to Gojou www :surprisedpikachu: it’s even more funny when it’s Megumi who says that.
[Chapter 33]
Megumi being sharp at noticing changes in Yuuji. If he’s that keen, would he have sensed anything different on Gojou after Getou’s death?
[Chapter 45]
“You really can tell even with that guy’s drawing” Dang it, now I have to add great artist to my list of type standards.
Well, Gojou can do almost anything as stated in the fanbook, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that he can communicate well with art as a medium. Ack, is that why Nobara said he had high standards.
I like how fast Megumi is able to dial Gojou’s number here www
[Chapter 55]
If Megumi never tells them anything, what do they think about the gofushi dynamic? Domestic feeling? lolol
Especially Yuuji, who can be perceptive (when he noticed that Junpei was being bothered by his teacher).
[Chapter 56]
Knowing Gojou’s schedule again.
[Chapter 58]
Aaah it implies that Megumi doesn’t usually ask Gojou to train him :(
"Is it that annoying? To ask me?"
...either doesnt want to ask him because he is annoying and/or because he doesn’t want to feel more indebted to him ;-;
I like the face that Gojou makes here haha like: eeeeh~ why is that? what’s wrong that you don’t want to ask me
Did Gojou realize Megumi’s self sacrificing tendencies from just the bunt? or did that already confirm previous suspicions? I liked the anime adaptation of it~
Of course Gojou would be so angry at that that his finger flick made Megumi's forehead bleed. Megumi who isn't growing up in the correct way to be strong enough as was asked from Gojou during their first meeting:
“You better get strong, don’t get left behind.”
And also Megumi throwing away his life in such a manner after Gojou protects him so much ;-; Gojou knows Megumi has plenty of potential but isn’t tapping on it effectively. Disappointment.
Then follows it up by asking him to be selfish so he can grow up strong (it's ok to ask your sensei for training! ;-;). Megumi freeing himself from the chains that bind him to a lesser self valuing is such an amazing character development.
Adding to it is that this flashback was used as the base for Megumi’s change aaaah
I also wanted to add that Ep23 was released 1-2 days before this post and it was such a great adaptation of this chapter with the sunset, the shadows and if that wasnt enough gofushi food, they went with the jujusanpo and and violinteacherhomewreckersformationbgaaah
what is formation a??? or c??? the gofushi interpretation of megumi’s gomeeeeeeeen?andsorrythatepisodewastoogoodImenjoyingthenewgofushiviolinarts
[Chapter 59]
A suspicious dude with white hair who is tactless.
Yaaay way to go with first impressions :D It's funny how Gojou hasn't changed and is still disrespectful in his speech XD
[Chapter 79]
Gojou guessing that Megumi already manifested his cursed technique...
While the fanbook said that he wanted to recruit a talented person, I also fancy believing that Gojou didn’t want Megumi to grow up under a harsh Zen’in training.
Ah. I like how Gojou kneeled down to talk to him about his father’s death. Imagine a 190+ cm tall stranger coming to you, a 6 year old, and telling you from that high up that he killed your father lololol
At this height, Gojou is near Megumi’s stature or at least close to seeing him eye to eye. That pose is also less threatening and even seems childish in Gojou manner lolol but that’s sometimes how Gojou approaches serious things: in a joking way.
Gojou has such a similar reaction where he doesn't say what he is thinking directly, but masks it. In the chapter where Todou says that they should continue with the exchange event, he questions Todou’s age XD and here he asks if he really is a first grader.
That right panel tho... what was going through his mind in that moment? Surprise? Pity? This kid is not normal.
Akutami-sensei Q&A mentioned that the one to tell Megumi about his father was going to be Gojou... and I wonder how it’s going to go? also, Gojou getting out of the box? aaa-
I wonder how it must have felt for Megumi... when the suspicious dude with white hair actually did take care of things. The fanbook with the following Q&A for Fushiguro:
Q: How did he become so insightful?
A: Maybe it's because he has negative thinking and doesn't just trust people.
Source: JJK Official Fanbook (fan translation)
Oof, his own upbringing made him like that. Especially with how he regards himself...
When it says that he “doesn’t just trust people”, Megumi then probably didn’t expect much from Gojou after their first meeting and is surprised when Gojou comes back :(
His father and mother leaving him, but Gojou coming back... although the situation doesn’t get better when later on Tsumiki goes into a coma and Gojou is sealed...
He will take care of things after a hehe~ ;-;
---
Oh, yeah and:
Q: Has he known Maki and Mai even before entering the school?
A: Yes. When Gojo was working on Megumi and the Zenin clan issue, he took him to the Zenin house, so I think that's when they first met.
source: JJK Official Fanbook (fan translation) (same as above)
Seems like the Zen’in house is in Kyoto? Because of Maki and Mai’s birthplace not to mention Naoya’s kansai dialect. So... did they go on a trip to Kyoto? :D
---
Then, Gojou counting on shotagumi to work extra hard.... so he can be strong ;-; and maybe become part of his nakama group to change Jujutsu's society huhuhu
On the topic about being granted a choice, I only came to realize it after reading this excellent work, Close Your Eyes (To See) it’s a lovely soulmate fanfic, please consider reading it if you haven’t ^^. Megumi usually goes on about unfairness randomly granted on people, so to be given a choice about going to the Zen’ins or not is quite big. Particularly when it comes to how the Zen’ins would have treated Tsumiki, a non sorcerer. It’s too good.
The look when he says that ;-; counting on Megumi to get strong enough to rival Gojou? Then Gojou wouldn’t be the only one going against the conservative higher ups.
When Gojou closes his eyes, it seems to convey regret/resolution where he sets in motion his plan to reform the Jujutsu society so that no more sorcerers go stray or overwhelmed by duties following a rigid doctrine ;-; as if preventing them becoming like Getou. And thats so aaah because while I knew what Gojou's wish was, I didn't know the why behind it, and that would be a great reason. Megumi has been with Gojou since the start (or near the beginning of it), so it’s even more beautiful.
That transition from closed to eyes to the present where the 1st year trio wakes him up. Was he recalling all those events during the nap?
I- I just love Megumi's pouty face here. But it's still not that angry looking, more like, he is used to it (as always). Then my gofushi brain telling me that there is a hint of concern in Megumi's look- its almost affectionate. Could it be concern because he is worried about how much sleep he gets.
About Gojou’s sleep:
Q: How many hours does he sleep?
A: Seems like only for a short while.
source: JJK Official Fanbook (fan translation)
And Megumi being aware of his tendency to eat sweet things:
“When he’s busy, Gojou-sensei tend to eat more sweets like these, after all…”
source: JJK First Light Novel - Chapter 1 (fan translation)
aaaaaaaaaaah
Gojou lifting his blindfold to look at Megumi with his left eye because Megumi is on his left side.
Wait... it’s the same left eye from the second opening of the first season.... is that a hint.
The legendary “Oh, nothing <3″ with the heart~
Is he being fond of Megumi because of dreaming about their first encounter or because Megumi did get strong, or, or, both of those. aaaah what if it was from recalling everything that happened in the 9 years they've known each other? Calm down! Probably because he got strong comrades now! ;-; i-it’s not just because of Megumi! ...but I like how he has his body turned to Megumi only...
It's a "Megumi has been with him all this time (9 years) while he is trying to achieve his dream and he became this strong"
They... they just look so good together ;-; my gofushi feelings... Chapter 79 is special grade.
[Part 4]
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Blue Exorcist 10th anniversary book Q&A session
The 10th anniversary book has a section where Katoh answers 100 questions submitted by fans on Twitter, so here they are translated/paraphrased! May contain manga spoilers up to the recent flashback arc, so be warned.
(Note that I’m playing it very fast and loose here because there are A HUNDRED OF THEM, so not exact wordings, but it should capture the gist. Lemme know if there are any you want elaborated on)
1. Katoh likes the feel of traditional drawing more than digital but is impressed with how far digital has come
2. Meph THOROUGHLY ABUSES spacetime to watch all his shows and ensure that he gets all the merch he wants
3. Did the girls take all of Yukio’s school uniform buttons in middle school? Yes, they did (apparently it’s like A Thing for girls to ask for a button from their crush at middle school graduation, based on some sad movie from the 60s where a guy who got drafted as a kamikaze pilot gave a girl one of his uniform buttons to remember him by)
4. Rin's tail is about a meter long
5. There are tons of servants working at Mephisto's mansion. Belial is in charge of them
6. Katoh borrows from all sorts of neat real locations when making settings
7. Katoh identifies with pretty much all the characters the most! Except Lucifer.
8. Demon designs she's proud of include the impure king and hachirou, pretty much anything that was the main one in an arc
9. Katoh lists a bunch of her favorite musical artists/music she’s listening to recently: King Gnu, Official Hige Dandism, Kenshi Yonezu, BAD HOP, Sakanaction, Keyakizaka 46, Hypnosis Mic, Aimer, B’Z, Queen Bee.
10. Awww the rabbit manga that characters are often reading isn't just Robo to Usakichi, it's an even older one that she drew as a little kid
11. She likes industrial style interior designs
12. Rin and Yukio alternated who got the top bunk growing up, because they couldn't agree on it lol
13. Katoh cares a whole lot about panel layouts and speech bubble positions, might even be her favorite part of the process (it shows!)
4. Katoh does NOT have a mashou, lol
15. Rin has probably been practicing in secret so he can learn to carry stuff with his tail
16. Izumo probably got into shojo manga around 1st grade, her mom had some around the house
17. Specialty dishes: Rin - lots of stuff but especially nabe Yuri - stuff you can throw together quickly Shiro - stuff he learned from Yuri and/or cookbooks, alongside teaching Rin Yukio - Does. Not. Cook.
18. Can't pick a favorite place she's been on research, but there's no place like Japan
19. Kinzou's band isn't currently meeting because demons, but he's probably still thinking of new songs
20. Hardest characters to draw: anyone with detailed flowing hair. Hardest to write for: Lightning and Gedouin. She had to go read books about serial killers specifically for material for Gedouin, lol
21. Suguro actually gets a dorm room to himself, though allegedly Yukio is technically assigned as his roommate, lol. Didn't end up that way what with Yukio being a teacher and also Rin’s whole...situation
22. Shiemi makes some of her own hair accessories! Cute
23. Katoh doesn't mind if you include stuff with fan letters but check with the editor first
24. Time for making each chapter: Planning/storyboarding: 1-5 days. Sketching: 3-5 days. Drawing/inking: the rest. Just...the rest of the time
25. Neither Suguro nor Izumo have dated before and neither is currently dating. But that's probably just because things were hectic for them! It could happen
26. Yukio breaks 5 or 6 pairs of glasses a year, someone get this kid a strap or something
27. How many spare glasses does Yukio have? Check the fanbook lol it's in there (dang it Katoh)
28. The demon she wants us to pay the most attention to is Lucifer. Because plot.
29. What's under the Order's big meeting table? It's a BOTTOMLESS PIT and if you fall in it you DIE that's what makes it COOL (laughs)
30. What are the job requirements for the angelic legion? Literally just Arthur liking you and inviting you to join
31. She WANTS to do more character profiles but just hasn't gotten to it
32. Rin's tail feels like a cat tail, texture wise
33. The "red Assiah fire" is literally just actual fire nothing special
34. Rin's current hair color is light blue fading to white at the ends
35. Thoughts on Rin's growth: she likes that he stays positive in awful situations and she also thinks it's very main character of him to face the past instead of avoiding it
36. Mephisto didn't purposely surround Rin with stuffed animals when he woke up after going crispy. Mephisto's bed is just Like That
37. Kurikara was based on a cool sword she found in a sword book, but that one was technically just a ceremonial sword. The symbol on it us a Sanskrit letter kaan (sp?) associated with Fudou Myouou
38. Kuro can communicate with normal cats and hangs out with them often
39. Sometimes Shiemi's skirt is extra fancy around the hem what's up with that? Apparently it's an optional accessory that comes with the skirts help I haven't noticed this and don't know any fashion terms in any language
40. When coloring, Katoh always tries to have an overall theme in mind ("emphasis on blue" etc) so it comes together in the end
41. Yes the twins are genetically related to Shiro because of Goro (she says they're like his nephews but I say GENETICALLY at least they'd be indistinguishable from his children)
42. Strongest mom of all the strong moms around here? Yuri! Did you SEE her give birth??
43. Are you careful about your own health Katoh-sensei? Not particularly! Her mom has had to bring her food at work sometimes! Don't do this at home kids
44. At the dating events Shura goes to, does she drink cocktails in moderation? Yeah, she probably downplays her normal drinking habits at these things. But normally she's down for just about any kind of drink
45. Lucifer just really likes oysters okay
46. How many pages of manga does Katoh draw in a day? If she's being good about self-care: three. Maximum number ever: TEN
47. Mephisto is one of those folks who can eat like a garbage compactor and never gain weight. Possibly because his body resists that sort of change the same way it resists aging etc
48. First food Rin cooked: fish burger type patty. Yukio's favorite things Rin cooks: fish simmered in soy sauce, yellowtail with daikon radish. It's fish all the way down
49: Did Rin ever get more monthly allowance from Mephisto? It doubled! He gets TWO 2000 yen bills now (rip) [T/N: That's uh, that's USD $37.26 a month or 33.10 euro]
50. Why isn't Rin more popular with the girls? He gets nervous talking to them, plus he's too oblivious to notice even if he DID have some fans
51. Why change Suguro's hair? She gets bored with keeping everything the same, and she wanted a visual representation that he was getting serious and going into kind of a training arc
52. Things Katoh pays extra attention to when drawing: trying to capture the feel of whatever she's drawing (like "that looks warm and soft" or "I bet that guy stinks" cough Lightning cough)
53: Does Rin take after Yuri more? (He's got her eyes!) Katoh tried to draw Yuri so she looks like both twins. Personality, too - Yukio has her smarts and Rin has her optimism
54: Do you ever wanna be like Mephisto? Well she'd like to be able to get away with just ANYTHING EVER, but no, let's not be like Mephisto
55. Konekomaru not only carries around a cat toy in case he meets any cats, he MAKES cat toys to carry around based on what he thinks the cats would like
56. How'd you come up with Shima? Go read the fan book!
57. Do the kids have Twitter/Instagram accounts? Rin - probably not. Konekomaru might be on some social media. Paku and Izumo are totally on instagram
58. Is there something Rin makes that you wish you could try? All of it! That's the whole idea! He's good at cooking!
59. Will we ever have a (G-rated) reveal of what ALL of Mamushi and her family's tattoos look like? Maybe! She'll think about it
60. Does Arthur have a repertoire of different hairstyles? Not really, he just puts some of it up on the top. Heck he might even have people to do that for him
61. If you wrote a shojo manga what would it be about? She'd have to do a lot of research before even coming up with a story, since there are so many style differences between the genres aside from just the subject
62. The other two of Mephisto's top 3 favorite foods: Cup ramen and....f-fried bubblegum?? Is that a THING???
63. Where do you start when drawing a character? Usually the outline of their face but if it's a complex pose/composition she'll start with whatever's in the foreground (like hands)
64. If Katoh could have a familiar, what demon would she choose? Mephisto. As the all-powerful author, she might actually be able to command him as a familiar!
66. If you swapped Yukio and Rin's relationship around what would change? not much, you'd pretty much have Rin going to the Illuminati and Yukio going to the past
67. Top 3 foods/souvenirs to try in Kyushu? Well she doesn't know what’s good CURRENTLY but when she was there she always used to like burdock tempura udon, hakata torimon (a kind of manju with white bean paste inside), and Chikae style cod roe. today I learned Katoh went to high school in Kyushu
68. Katoh listens to music a lot while she's storyboarding, then when she and the assistants are all drawing and inking they put various videos/movies and stuff on in the background
69. For all his hitting on girls, is Shima actually popular with the ladies at all? He's got enough girls in his life that he probably COULD find a girlfriend if he really wanted, but the double agent thing tends to get in the way. He still wouldn't be as popular as Yukio though (side thought/translator’s note: Shima would be proud of being number 69.)
70. Katoh has the ending planned out in a big-picture way, but there are still a few details here and there that she's fretting over
71. It's cute when the boys put their ties over their shoulders when they're working on something! Where'd that come from? She just figured a tie might get in the way and that seemed like a realistic way to get it out of the way
72. Looks like Yukio is getting some facial hair! What about Rin? They're both about the age for it, but maybe Rin can't grow a beard yet. Maybe a little peach fuzz here and there
73. Katoh's favorite blue exorcist merch? There were some exorcist licenses a while back, and the exorcist pins. Basically it's really cool that these little accessories she drew ACTUALLY EXIST NOW, LIKE YOU CAN HOLD THEM IN YOUR HANDS
74. Okay realtalk how long do we have left, I don't want the series to end yet? We're solidly in the second half by now but it's not, like, ABOUT to end yet
75. Katoh would be a Knight meister, based on what characters she likes to play in games and such
76. How many people in the whole exorcism cram school? More than you think! She doesn't give a number but apparently licensed exorcists also attend classes for new meisters, etc, so there's a wide age range attending
77. How's Arthur feel about, like, studying Taming on the way to becoming Paladin? He's at least mostly accepted that you have to use demons to fight demons effectively
78. Konekomaru started wearing glasses in his first year of middle school, so like 7th grade (more recent than I thought!) He has one spare pair, in contrast to Yukio lol
79. Katoh's current obsessions? Ghost/scary stories! She's even been going to live readings of them recently
80. Media Katoh consumes for inspiration? A wide range of foreign teen drama, horror/suspense, shojo manga, light novels, anime, etc. Special focus on things where two boys are in conflict or there are brothers involved
81. If they weren't exorcists what jobs would they have? Rin - chef. Yukio - doctor. Shiemi - uh, florist?
82. Inspiration for the design of True Cross Town? Katoh and her assistants gathered up a bunch of references, picked out stuff they felt matched the tone, and mashed them all up together
83. Did you use any references etc for the school/exorcist uniforms? She says she probably should have but she just kind of made them up before publication
84. Favorite part of drawing? For color pages, picking out a color scheme. For black and white, drawing in all the little details (though she doesn't always get time to lately)
85. Once again confirms the demon kings' weird hair is a representation of their horns. ADDS THAT PEOPLE WHO CAN'T SEE DEMONS CAN'T SEE THE WEIRD HAIR
86. Now that Yukio's at the Illuminati, where's he gonna get his Jump SQ and spare glasses? Well he probably never planned to stay for long, but hey it's a big ship and they might have an optometrist and/or newsstand there
87. Do you base the demon characters on any references etc? Not really, she just gets a general idea of popular demon designs and then makes up her own in her own style
88. Merchandise Katoh personally wants to have made: stuff that an adult could just use in their day to day life. Also, it's not gonna happen, but if her favorite figure brand made AoEx figures she could die happy
89. If Beelzebub's host body was a beautiful woman, how would Shima react? Would the womanizing win out over the bug phobia? Katoh replies that Shima would probably just faint from being near a girl that pretty, before the bugs even got involved
90. Will the twins ever get to smile and eat dinner together again?? We'll just have to wait and see!
91. What do you check at a "scenario check"? what's a scenario check man I dunno They check for people being out of character or the setting feeling off. They had a lot of these checks for the anime, but they also do them for the drama CD, games, and all that other stuff where multiple authors are involved
92. Why does Shura use baldy as an insult for people who are clearly not bald? She feels like they have some kind of metaphorical, mental kind of "baldness" and she's calling them out on it. Whatever that means
93. After Blue Exorcist ends, what do you want to draw next? She has SO MANY IDEAS, SO MANY
94. Did Katoh make up the Shinto chants that, for example, Izumo used against Gedouin? They're assembled from bits of actual Shinto prayers according to what feels right in the scene
95. Yukio reads the Jump SQ, right, and, just hear me out here, he likes gag manga, right? Does this mean he reads Salaryman Yukio? It's something he would read, but let's say that in the AoEx universe there's just a very similar manga that he finds oddly relatable
96. What do Yukio and Shima do in their free time on the Dominus Liminus? oh my god you guys this ship has so many amenities. Yukio probably spends time reading in the library, which they totally have. There's also, like, a gym, and a movie theater, and a THEATER theater, all of which are free. Shima probably hangs out at the pool (!) and goes to the movies, and hits on illuminati girls, lol
97. Easiest character to draw? The ones with boring simple hair, lol. Lightning gets an honorable mention for ALSO not having eyes in most shots, but Rin wins--he was specifically designed to be easy for Katoh to draw because that's what you want in your main character
98. How do demons understand gender? They just possess whatever feels like the best match to how they feel in Gehenna, whether that's a man, or a woman, or a rat, or whatever
99. Where do you start when you're coming up with a story? She starts with character design and how the characters relate to each other. Currently she's just continuing an existing story, so she works on splitting up the overall plot into episodes and fleshing it out with scenes and information about characters
100. When do you feel most happy? She honestly feels like she lives a very happy life overall. Mentions noticing a lot of little things, like how nice her cats' heads smell when she cuddles them or taking a nice cold refreshing drink of water. There's happiness in everything. aww.
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that was the winter anime 2021 that was
Still not quite ready for a dozen posts about how terrible the likes of Combatants Will Be Dispatched are, sorry. Watch Vivy though, it owns. Here’s some more things that are (mostly) good. As always, worst to best.
Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki S3
Yatogame has long run out of hot Nagoya facts and its ensemble comedy never amounted to much, so now it seems mostly content to just spam more and more wacky character designs. About the only thing that it has left going for it is that 3 minutes a week are more effort to drop than to watch, so I expect them to make a movie next. 4/10
Go-toubun no Hanayome S2
Quints is a weird one. S1 was a barely good enough (i.e., well above average) implementation of the ages old harem chestnut. S2 is actually better at the core of its appeal, since it gives all the characters a sharper profile (things like taking Nino from joke to badass and making Ichika a villain are no mean feat), but it does pay a steep price for it. You see, to deliver a steady drip feed of meaningful character moments it apparently has to rush through the source material at a breakneck pace, which completely wrecks the "story" part of this story and makes every episode seem like a recap. And it still keeps wasting precious time on vestigial nonsense like its framing device and the Kyoto flashback scenario that was already the worst part of S1. But by far the most annoying aspect is its insistence on keeping all the options valid, since it prevents any real progress and makes everything seem arbitrary and pointless. So sure enough, after a season of much ado we still don't end up anywhere — you can't really raise the stakes if all at stake was "who wins" to begin with. It's watchable and even enjoyable scene-for-scene but it's getting harder and harder to call it a solid show overall. 5/10
Skate Leading Stars
I was watching this primarily because I didn't like Yuri on Ice much and wanted to see if something that is a blatant attempt to cash in on it would be better — because while YoI delivers on one aspect (being hella gay), it really is an absolute shambles of a sports show. And sure enough, Skate Leading has none of the auteur appeal of YoI, but it just works much better. In particular I appreciate how it managed to make me care even a little about a cast of assholes, which is a nice contrast to the nauseatingly ingratiating way YoI tries to make you love its characters. Also, Skate Leading is just generally cheap and unambitious, so not susceptible to trying hard and painfully flaming out on the presentation side like YoI is. But at some point you gotta let go of these comparisons and on its own Skate Leading is... just fine, I guess? Competent, mildly engaging, not very memorable. And that's probably where it loses to Yuri on Ice in the end after all, even if I think it's "better". 6/10
Idoly Pride
Idoly Pride sold itself on me with a really good (and hilarious/tragic) first episode that was just too bizarre to ignore — I mean, how can you ignore GHOST IDOL MANAGERS. Well, the majority of the show isn't like that. It's a competent and solid version of the idol franchise show, yes, but it really had more potential than that. Especially midseason, it gets lost in these dozens of characters, and while they're all likeable, it does seem like a waste of a good story just centered on Mana/Kotona/Sakura. By the end it comes back around to the heart of the matter with a Maeda-style sob story, which could be a disaster but seasoned veteran Jukki Hanada makes it work anyway. Overall, there's quite a bit of ridiculous hacky melodrama in this, but quite honestly that's the best part and I wish it would concentrate more on it. The rest is just okay. 6/10
Yuru Camp S2
Yuru Camp is still likely the best pure iyashikei show when it gets down to business. Compared to S1 though, this seems to happen less and less. At its peaks (i.e., basically any quiet moment with Rin) it's at least as good as ever, and there's some good cast additions like Mini-Inuko, but it appears that Yuru Camp simply has run out of things you can do with camping and it fills up the time with other... stuff. This stuff includes the generic school club shenanigans it was never particularly good at, and a gigantic helping of crass consumerism. Yeah, I would say the majority of Yuru Camp is just a straight up infomercial at this point, which itself ranges from the perfectly acceptable (which cute anime isn't about food constantly), to the sketchy (I don't know whether the Izu tourism board cut this production a fat check, but if they didn't, Yuru Camp still gives its best effort to make it seem that way) to the highly irritating – I am aware that camping requires gear and you can't just ignore that, but you most definitely do not require whole arcs dedicated to talking about raising funds for the purposes of acquiring the Lamp of Comfy Happiness at your friendly local Caribou™ either. Not to mention an arc where the aforementioned lame school club does the same, for double irritation. Make no mistake, this show is so riddled with scenes that beg for a solution to embed affiliate links in video files that it makes me wish I was watching something as anticapitalist and underground as Love Live. And irritating really is the last thing a show with this core concept, as stellar as it is at that, can afford to be. Bummer. 6/10
SKOO the Infinity
Skoo has one really huge asset: ADAM, its magnificent villain. It also has one really huge liability: Reki, its not magnificent protagonist. To be more specific, it's very good at anything outrageous, physics-defying and silly, such as most scenes ADAM is in, and quite bad at anything serious, dramatic (in a serious way) and down to earth, such as most scenes Reki is in. So, what's the verdict? Well, the rest of the cast is more ADAM-like, and Reki's co-protagonist Langa is fine as the straight (yeah, right) man. The tedious buddy drama is a comparatively small part of this show, and at least it pays off quite well in the end. Seriously, I was ready to give this a 6, but the final episode is probably the best one of the show, in all of its aspects. That's really not something you see often. Skoo's a great time. Except when it's not. 7/10
Non Non Biyori Nonstop
Speaking of the rare good ending, what about we gave one of those to a slim and inconsequential slice-of-life show? NNB has always been solid, comfy and amusing quality with a couple of standout moments (usually something with Renge), and Nonstop has that plus an ending as conclusive as any show of this type is ever going to have. Besides, it does a lot of things right by focusing on more characters than the central 4 (especially Konomi has great material in S3), it expands the universe just enough to not get stale, and it moves things forward — It's definitely a lot better than the movie, is what I'm saying. Apart from that, well, we're three seasons in, if you have any interest in this you probably don't need me to explain what's good about NNB at this point. Bonus points for being nothing but an ad for the manga. 7/10
Wonder Egg Priority
Oh boy, so here's the big one. Wonder Egg is the rare Meaningful Arthouse Show About Real Issues You Guys, as you might have heard. And well, the long and short of it is that it's a very good show with quite a few glaring problems (besides not actually being finished due to production issues, but what we have is enough of an ending to be able to meaningfully talk about it). In particular, one problem: WEP is, at its core, one of these metaphorical Magical Girl-ish series that are just a thin layer of abstraction over coming-of-age or societal problems. The issue is that "metaphorical" in this case means "literal" and "thin" means "basically nonexistent". This show is not subtle regarding what it's about, at all. This is a double-edged sword — on the positive side, some things really should just be said aloud, and I'm really, really fucking tired of the Ikuhara style of "here's some wacky things, maybe a blog post will eventually tell you how it's actually about the most important thing ever" obfuscation — if it's really so important, just spell it out. On the other hand, there are limits to this and when a second, different Ai appears I don't really need a voiceover line telling me that yep, this show is about parallel universes now. WEP spells out many important things, but it also spells out many things that are implicitly clear or better left vague. Not to mention that with being so obvious up front, the show's tendency to leave figuring out what it's actually saying about it up to the viewer can leave the wrong impression. Again, I settled on the opinion that it's subtle after all where it counts the most, but you might easily get the impression that it pulls its punches (Ikuhara does this the exact other way around — once you figure out what the fuck he's talking about it's abundantly clear what he's saying about it).
In fact, this show is so good at subtle, quiet character moments that it calls into question the need for big huge fighting fantasy layer in the first place, especially since I'm not a fan of the fantasy designs and the fights aren't great. Sure, they look impressive on a technical level (this show is very good looking in general), but the lack of actual impact or rhythm makes me think this is not made by people who are very familiar with action and maybe they should have asked some seasoned shounen veterans for this — or just, you know, not do it. They can (and do) impress with character acting in quiet scenes just the same. And while Ai's character story actually does pay off quite nicely by the end we got, and Momoe and Rika are also handled well, Neiru's backstory is significantly less good, not to mention the whole Frill subplot regarding the show's mythology that they introduced just before (and that's the part to be resolved at a later date), which is a huge can of worms. We'll see how well they handle that, I suppose, but as it is it's a weird and vestigial detour that doesn't add much besides thematic headaches.
But yeah, apart from all that — I like it, a lot. Great character writing in the details, cool looks for the most part, tons of ambition, and a message that I consider to be appropriately handled — for the most part, and for now. Not quite ambitious arthouse anime at its finest, but also not a pretentious disaster like Sarazanmai, Monogatari et al. 8/10
#anime#review#winter2021#Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki#Go-toubun no Hanayome#Skate Leading Stars#Idoly Pride#Yuru Camp#sk8 the infinity#Non Non Biyori#wonder egg priority
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(This is technically in response to the post right below this one, as world building totally counts for it, right?)
Anywho, more fandom thoughts, but for BLEACH this time. I recently started rewatching the anime again for the nth time as part of my language practice (and having the Japanese subtitles on while watching it in Japanese is an experience) and reached that episode where Aizen and co. get rescued by Menos Grande after declaring their intentions to Soul Society. And then a few things hit me.
The first: Rukia says, the first time Ichigo sees her sending someone on via Soul Burial, that one neither feels hunger nor gets sick in Soul Society. We know that this is false for a few reasons.
Those who can become shinigami definitely need to eat and all souls need water which implies that they can suffer from thirst (and perhaps heat exhaustion).
Captain Ukitake is suffering from an unknown disease that makes him literally cough out his lungs. I’ve read something about it being a defect in the make up of his soul that is only not killing him because of the pact with the Soul King’s arm, but I cannot recall if this was canon or fanon (as the Blood War arc was just like that). If so, does this mean that sickness does occur in Soul Society, but so rarely as to not be mentioned? Or does it occur more in the outer districts? Why does it occur?
Hisana died from a sickness as well. Yes, it’s stated to be exhaustion, but I feel like that doesn’t make sense? Like, the flashback in the anime has her abandoning Rukia after she collapses while carrying her around. And she collapses later when she regrets this and goes to look for her sister. And then she dies.
Seriously, why does it occur? It’s weird. And it cannot be an Aizen thing as I’m pretty sure Aizen is younger than Ukitake. Is it because of what happened to the soul king? Does it have something to do with when people get sent on (like if they were close to being a hollow)? Is it because they died while sick? Is it because of their resolve?
...Do we never see sick souls in Soul Society other than them because they usually just. Die pretty soon after arriving?
And if spiritual power leaking is what causes spiritual pressure, and the “vents” can be closed... do people in the districts sometimes close them by mistake and then blow up? Is spontaneous combustion a thing in the afterlife?
The second: I’m pretty sure “Ichirin no Hana” is a love song that Byakuya is singing to Hisana’s memory.
Someone has probably stated this before, but the lyrics of the song literally say how some one, a “single flower,” is precious and can’t be replaced. How that flower bloomed despite being stuck somewhere dark and how they looked lovely but like they were about to wither away. And that the singer would accept all of their pain if only that person would smile and stay with them...
The title of the song also matches the title of the chapter in which Byakuya reveals to Rukia the secrets he’d been keeping from her about Hisana. He uses the same words, “ichirin no hana” to describe the season in which she died
Literally his whole dilema during this arc, the entire way he interacted with Rukia up to this point, was that he was conflicted between his sense of duty (to his parents, his wife and keeping his word) and his feelings for his beloved Hisana. Rukia’s physical resemblance to her sister is almost uncanny and the lie she is told when she asks why she was adopted was, “You look like Byakuya’s late wife.” How much must he have hated that? A person whom he had sworn to protect that, had she arrived two years earlier might have saved his wife’s (after)life? A person that looks just like his beloved, who reminds him of her every time he sees her (for those first 50 years), but is not and never will be Hisana. And then. To know that she’s going to be executed for crimes, that she felt she could not rely upon him enough to even let him know she’d encountered trouble in the human world when he’s been doing his best to ensure she’s safe (because that is one of the few reasonable explanations for why Rukia hadn’t been promoted yet, and then was promoted during the 3 year gap)? To see her stripped of her rank, her strength even (with that collar and the stone of the prison tower). To see a small form who so resembles his beloved all listless and soon to die, wearing a white yukata like his wife had in her last days...
Watching it again made me feel things, okay? Like yeah, it seems like it’s a stupid dilema from some perspectives. Especially considering Central 46 had a run in with Aizen by then, but. Byakuya was raised in the Seireitei. He was raised knowing that his life was the Seireitei’s tool. That his duty, his reason for existing was for the sake of his family’s honor, so he must be composed, must act as the family and Soul Society bid him. That’s some mighty powerful brainwashing/indoctrination right there. And he broke it once already to marry some nobody from the slums. He did something not only against the norms, but something selfish. Maybe if she’d had high spiritual power this would have been accepted, but she was sickly and likely did not. He went against the clan elders who had probably instilled obedience in him since birth and was afraid of doing it again.
(And if you count the filler arcs, you can bet that they held that one Kuchiki who went traitor against him too. Like: “he married that Hisana girl against our orders? What next? Will he betray Soul Society too?”)
And maybe I’m making a bigger deal out of his upbringing than I need to. Maybe it wasn’t really like this. But I feel like it really was. (Moreso with the filler arcs and what I’ve heard of the light novels.)
Also, this song and the way that the opening animation fit together really solidifies the whole “Ichigo and Rukia were always meant to have a tragic romance” vibe that I kept getting the first time I encountered this series.
The third: Rukia was likely younger than six months (physically) when she was abandoned, but I’m pretty sure that she was older than three months when she and Hisana died.
Her blanket was pink in the flashback.
Sure, the above might not seem to have much significance but it’s been proven in canon that clothes are part of oneself. I reblogged a post a while ago that went into detail, but to sum it up, clothes are part of your self image and your self image determines a bit about what you look like when you die.
Babies are usually no longer swaddled by the time they’re six months old, and some places recommend that you stop by the end of their second month.
Babies have pretty bad vision when they’re born. They take four to six months to reliably track objects in motion and use binocular vision decently. They take about four months to see across a room, and about two months to see farther than maybe 30 cm away. And around the three month mark, they start having decent color vision. Around then is when babies supposedly start showing color preference.
Babies tend to have poor long term memory. (To be fair, they’ve got a lot going on compared to being in the womb and sensory overload sucks.) Their memory by the age of six months is only a few weeks. Two months old had a memory span of a few days.
If she’s been consistently wrapped in a pink blanket, then by the time she’s old enough to see color, she would be old enough to remember what color her blanket usually is— or if it was a different color that particular day.
The fourth: when Gin raises his spiritual pressure on Aizen’s orders, Chad remains standing. This raised a bunch of questions as Gin is stronger than Yammy (to the best of my memory).
Chad remained standing. Yes, his whole fight with Captain Kyouraku was about his resolve and how he would stand by his friends and fight for their safety/ideals but. Like. Earlier that year, his spiritual strength was on par with Yuzu. He’d been friends with Ichigo for years which was why he was even that strong. He’d been in a Hollow attack maybe three times before Rukia was arrested and could only barely see them the time Ishida pulled a stupid and used Hollow Bait. Sure, he has experience fighting and he’d trained under Yoruichi, but it feels sus considering how the others fared.
Orihime fell to her knees pretty quickly after Gin turned up the pressure. She’d also fought against high-ranking shinigami at that point, and trained under Yoruichi, and fought off Hollow (alone even! And she was the reason why Sora moved on, despite Ichigo’s Blade purifying him) before. And yet... It could just be a lack of resolve, as that had come up in earlier chapters but it doesn’t feel right.
Ishida is excused from this due to circumstances.
Tatsuki has been friends with him for ages. Sure, it seems like they weren’t as close after his Mom’s passing, but by then they’d already known each other for quite some time. I’m pretty sure that they were hanging out semi-regularly through junior high/middle school, at which point he got close with Chad and she got close with Orihime. She also has experience fighting (admittedly in martial arts rather than the street fights Ichigo and Chad get dragged into). She experienced at least one hollow attack during Ishida’s Stupid Day. But she collapses as soon as Yammy shows up? That feels off.
In contrast, Ganju was struggling about the same amount. He was born to a noble family— who are known to typically have decently high spiritual power, like his older brother Kaien and his cousin/uncle Issin. He was raised in the Rukongai, meaning he likely came across Hollow attacks. (And those definitely occur.)
Makes me wonder things about Karin’s strength. Like, she managed to escape from the hollow who attacked their house to run for Ichigo’s help (manga) or lived long enough while alone with it that Ichigo and Rukia could come save her (anime), both of which are quite impressive for an eleven year old. She also kept up with Hitsugaya when they played soccer and he’s a captain. Based on Ichigo’s experience, it’s likely that she too will become stronger as she grows up. And does she have an inner hollow too, or is that Ichigo only? If White was simply a parasite and decided to stick to Ichigo I could accept it. But as a hollow Ichigo is a Vast Lorde, and hollows of that level can split into parts (like Starrk and Lilynette).
Does Yuzu not really have any spiritual strength because she inherited more of the Quincy genes from her mom and the hollow genes she inherited don’t balance out that same way it does in her siblings...? Food for thought.
TLDR: how and why is sickness as thing in Soul Society? Byakuya listens to rock music and I’m p. sure the third opening song is him angsting over his wife’s death; it also gave me strong feelings about how he was prolly brainwashed growing up so his angst over Rukia’s fate is not actually stupid. I continue to have IchiRuki feels. Rukia and Hisana died when Rukia was about 3 months old. And I am more confused now about how spiritual power works than I was before I started rewatching the anime for language practice. Also, more questions have arisen about hollows.
#bleach meta#bleach anime#remind me to look into Japanese textiles and dyes during Meiji era#maybe I should have split this into multiple posts...#long post#wish I knew how read mores can be put in on mobile#this is more than 3 sentences#bleach
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YGO’s royal family and Akhnaden’s motives
So I was making a little spreadsheet to procrastinate help while fic-writing, which keeps track of how I’m romanizing names, character stats like ages and heights, etc etc, and I in doing so I noticed something I thought was interesting.
While I was adding Akhnamkanon (mostly for the name thing), I had all these blank spots for the rest of his info and was like oh, he and Akhnaden are twins (in the anime, at least), I can use Akhnaden’s stats for some stuff like age. So Akhnaden’s canon age is 46 (that’s a hard-lived 46; all the genocide probably isn’t good for your skin), which means Akhnamkanon would’ve been 46 too if he were still alive.
So then I was trying to figure out how old he would’ve been when he died, and it’s implied it was about five years (ish, since nothing in YGO can be nicely explicitly states) before everything with Zork, so he might’ve been 41 when he died. Okay cool, but then I was like wait a sec, he would’ve been 30 or 31 (depending again on vague canon) when Atem was born, and that stood out to me as potentially very interesting.
We know Atem was probably an only child, since there’s never any siblings mentioned and his first cousin Seth is considered (only by Akhnaden, but still) to be the next in line for succession. It could’ve been that Atem was the only child born to the Great Royal Wife and he has half-siblings with different mothers, but it’s really unlikely that they would’ve never been mentioned in canon at all, especially since sibling bonds are so important in Yuugiou as theme.
And, speaking of sibling bonds, it’s stated in the anime Akhnamkanon and Akhnaden are twins (though I don’t think it ever says if they’re identical or fraternal, and in the manga Akhnaden may simply be younger, but I’m going with anime for this since it’s more detailed.) Akhnamkanon is chosen as the crown prince, indicating the twins were the first born sons of the previous pharaoh. Again, there are never any siblings mentioned (male or female) and since the relationship between Akhnamkanon and Akhnaden is an important part of the plot, it seems pretty unlikely they had other siblings themselves.
So basically, it seems like Akhnamkanon and Akhnaden were the only children of their father (and were born at the same time, being twins; if they aren’t twins in the manga, then they were still the only children but were born at different times), and both Akhnaden and Akhnamkanon had one child each (again, if Seth had siblings it surely would’ve been a plot point considering present-day Seto and Mokuba, and there were no older children shown in Akhnaden’s flashback about leaving his family.)
Seth is slightly older than Atem (he’s 19, and I’m using Atem’s official age of 16 for this, even though he should probably be slightly younger than that), so Akhnaden had Seth at around 27, and Akhnamkanon had Atem around 30 (again, give or take a year on all these ages due to unclear dates, rounding months, etc etc.)
That certainly isn’t too old for either of them to be having kids, but is is unusual in terms of ancient Egypt, and especially unusual for the pharaoh. This leads me to wonder if this family might’ve had trouble with conceiving or, more generally, having healthy children.
If so, that might suddenly make Akhnaden’s resentment of Atem have more layers to it than it did before. It’s a little out there for Akhnaden to legitimately think Seth should’ve been pharaoh (aside from Akhnaden feeling cheated about not becoming pharaoh himself), but if Akhnaden might’ve had reason to believe Akhnamkanon would never produce an heir at all, he might’ve started to believe Seth would be in line. If Akhnamkanon couldn’t have children and never produced an heir before he died, Akhnaden would likely be the next pharaoh and could then pass that onto his son. What would’ve originally been an unattainable, slightly delusional dream of his son being pharaoh could’ve looked for a time like it might have a chance at, against all odds, being reality.
Except then Atem was born, and that ruined everything. Shortly afterward, Akhnaden created the Sennen items and, in the process, decided he had to give up his family to do so. So, for the second time Akhnaden felt cheated out of being pharaoh and passing that power down to his son, but this time he’d gotten so close to it happening only to end up losing even more than he already had.
The possibility that this might’ve intensified his resentment toward Atem (and Akhnamkanon, probably) feels like it would fit, and it could explain why the moment it looked like he could use Atem’s disappearance for his own benefit he jumped on the opportunity; instead of it having always been a foregone conclusion that Akhnamkanon would have children and one of them would inherit the throne, Akhnaden had truly deluded himself into believe he and then Seth would be pharaoh, and then Atem had ‘taken’ that from them. But now Atem was gone, so why shouldn’t Seth be pharaoh? Not only was he Akhnaden’s son, but he was high priest and that also put him in line for succession. It was perfect. Somehow everything was falling into place.
Only Atem wasn’t dead after all, and just like that, this vision of the future that was miraculously within Akhnaden’s grasp was gone once again. But this time, especially with the power of Zork on his side, Akhnaden wasn’t going to just accept reality; instead, he was going to take what was ‘rightfully’ his.
And, of course, Akhnaden does eventually get what he always wanted in the end: Seth became pharaoh. It just came at the cost of almost everyone Seth had ever loved, including his cousin, but that was okay; Akhnaden’s got what he wanted, and that was always more important than family anyway.
#yugioh#akhenaden#akhnamkanon#atem#high priest seto#high priest seth#there's too many ways to spell everyone's names#I give up on tagging them#but yeah it's hating akhnadin hours again#goddamn does he suck#my posts#yugioh meta#also please forgive mistakes#I watched this arc as it aired in japanese#I've rewatched it since then but#it's been a long time#I'm way overdue for canon review
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Hellsing Liveblog Ch. 51-56
This is the “Seras Coming of Age” part of Hellsing, but the chapters are all one-off titles: “Last Mission”, “Get Away”, “Yaksa”, “The Man I Love”, “Ogre Battle”, and “Angelous,”
Last time, Zorin Blitz’s company invaded the Hellsing HQ, and Seras managed to kill them all except for Zorin herself, and then she used her psychic whammy, forcing Seras to relive some traumatic moment. We saw one of the Wild Geese get this same treatment, and he briefly saw his dead daughter before Zorin killed him. As for Seras, she relives the deaths of her parents. Years ago, two guys barged into their home and shot them. The circumstances aren’t entirely clear, but they must have had some forewarning, since Seras’ mom hid her in a closet and told her not to come out no matter what. But when she saw what they did to them, Seras became so enraged that she attackedthe men and stabbed one in the eye with a fork.
The other guy shot Seras, and while she must have survived, she remembers laying on the floor as the guy she stabbed decides to rape her mother. I’m not even sure “rape” is the right word, since she was already dead, but the guy doesn’t care because the body is “still warm.” You’d think he’d be too upset about losing an eye, but maybe he’s high on cocaine or something.
I don’t think you need me to tell you this, gentle reader, but hol-ee shit this dark. We knew Seras’ parents died when she was young, and it wouldn’t be hard to speculate that they died in some violent crime, but Seras watched it happen, and she stabbed a dude in the face, only to get shot herself, and she watched her mother’s body getting molested before she passed out.
And this gives us some insight into what Alucard saw in her that night in Cheddar. There, Seras was surrounded by ghouls, many of them her comrades in the police department, and a vampire who promised to rape her before drinking her blood. Alucard found it remarkable how she persevered in this horror, but now we see that may not even be the worst thing that ever happened to her. It’s not even the first time she got shot!
And from the earlier flashback we saw, Seras was hellbound to become a police officer like her father. After a trauma like this, it’s amazing that she’d want anything to do with the police, since those men killed her father for digging “too deep” into whatever they were involved in. But Seras quietly, defiantly chose to follow in her father’s footsteps, only to suffer a similar fate.
Because, let’s not forget, Seras is dead. She died in Cheddar, because Alucard had to shoot through her to kill the vampire who had taken her hostage. Then she agreed to become a vampire like him, and join the Hellsing Organization. Once more, she has quietly, defiantly, chosen to carry on in this life of public service.
But none of that matters to Zorin Blitz. She just wanted to dredge up all this trauma to keep Seras preoccupied long enough for Zorin to do this...
Oh, also she lopped off Seras’ left arm, but I liked this impalement panel better.
On top of that, Zorin slashes Seras’ eyes, which was pretty gruesome and shocking. When I started watching the Hellsing Ultimate OVA, I couldn’t wait to see what happened next, so I trawled YouTube for clips of Seras, so I had a pretty good idea where the character was headed, and noticed that late-story Seras was missing a left arm. So Zorin cutting it off didn’t surprise me much, but everything else she did to her was a surprise.
Then, just as Zorin seems to be ready to finish Seras off, Pip Bernadotte gets the drop on her and whacks her with the butt of his rifle. Machine gun? Semiautomatic? I don’t know from guns. He hits her with it, is my point. Then he shoots her with a different gun to put the exclamation point on it.
There’s two other guys left in the Wild Geese, and they toss smoke grenades to cover Pip as he tries to carry Seras to safety, but he’s wounded, and then a Millennium soldier wakes up and shoots him in the thighs. Was that guy playing possum? The Geese take him out, and Pip even makes it back to them, but I’m not sure what good that does anybody. Then Zorin gets back up and cuts him down with her scythe. I don’t think she chops him in half or anything, but he’s not getting back up again, that’s for sure.
Seras calls out to him, and he steals another kiss. I guess he forgot about the last time, because he acts like he “finally” managed to do this. Then he asks Seras to drink his blood, which will allow her to win. I guess someone must have explained enough vampire lore to Pip for him to have figured this out. Maybe Seras herself told him how it worked, which makes it doubly-meaningful for him to say this to her now.
And Seras starts wailing with grief, before Zorin finally mocks her for it, calling Pip an insect. I’ve seen a few people poke fun at this scene, because it’s kind of weird for Zorin to just stand by while Pip and Seras have this final moment together, but Zorin’s a sadist. Much of what she’s done in these past several chapters has been about reveling in her enemies’ suffering. She took her sweet time with Seras earlier, which was the only reason Pip managed to help her, and now she’s taking her sweet time again, like she’s enjoying this drama.
So Zorin uses her psychic whammy again, but this time it doesn’t work on Seras. Maybe because Seras is already in the middle of a terrible trauma in the here and now. She couldn’t do anything to avenge her parents back then, and she was powerless against the Cheddar Priest, but this time? This time she knows exactly what to do.
VENIT AEVUS ILLE, O MESSIAH, O MESSIAH
YUDULIYA-VELE YUDULIYA-VELE
EN ESE MOMENTO ZORIN BLITZ SINTIO EL VERDADERO TERROR.
So yeah, this rocks. The anime version does this cool thing where all the blood soaks up into her clothes and stains them red. Maybe the manga was going for the same thing, but it’s harder to tell in black and white. I find it kind of strange how Seras’ eyes grow back, but her left arm does not. I’m pretty sure she could reform her arm, but chooses not to. Instead, she’s got this black ectoplasm-y thing, like the same black stuff that Alucard uses when he’s not holding back as much.
Then Seras starts slaughtering Zorin’s men. Didn’t she already kill them all? Yeah, but there’s more. The anime tries to cover for this by having Zorin explain that some “late arrivals” showed up. Well, they did have to enter the building single file to get past the mines, so it makes sense that Zorin would keep some in reserve in case there were more traps inside.
Seras is my favorite character in this whole thing, and since these pages of her kickin’ ass speak for themselves, I guess I’ll talk about why I like her so much. I’m pretty sure I saw a cosplay photo of her on tumblr, and I found the design intriguing. She’s a vampire, but dressed in something like a military uniform, kind of like the “Bridge Bunnies” in Macross. I looked up Seras to find out what she was from, and I was like “Oh, Hellsing was the show Team Four Star has been abridging, I guess I need to watch that anyway so I can watch the Abridged version and get the jokes.”
Mostly, I just like the idea of a vampire with a very professional mentality, as opposed to the whole Lost Boys/What We Do in the Shadows/Buffy kind of aesthetic. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but we see that sort of thing all the time. I’ve also seen a lot of “reluctant” vampires in my time. Vampires who try to avoid doing any vampire stuff, or going about their business like the vampirism is just this inconvenient obstacle. Hellsing presents this other option, where vampires like Alucard are used for the purpose of anti-vampire countermeasures. He’s been turned into a weapon, but he’s basically just Dracula with a fresh coat of paint. Seras is more firmly rooted in the concept. Alucard was a vampire who became a sort of cop, and Seras is a cop who became a vampire.
And while I liked the idea of Seras being like “Oh, well I didn’t want to be a vampire but I’ll try to make the best of it”, I quickly found out that she wasn’t just a cop with pointy teeth. There’s moments where she can be scary and creepy too. “Sir, yes sir, my Master.” It sums her up very neatly. This is a vampire who can be polite and respectful and professional, but she can also get very deep into the more horrific aspects of this thing. She’s got layers. Zorin Blitz tried to peel them back, and look how that’s working out for her.
Once the rank and file goons are dealt with, Seras goes after Blitz, and just wrecks her shit. Blitz tries to punch Seras in the face and it does nothing. Seras just bites all her fingers off and spits ‘em out. Then she announces that she refuses to drink Zorin’s blood, not a single drop. This is important, because Seras was always reluctant to drink blood. She said she feared that drinking blood would mean the end of something inside of her, but now she’s crossed that Rubicon. One might suspect that she’d suddenly want to drink more blood, but no. She drank Pip’s as a means to an end. Zorin’s blood would serve no higher purpose, and I think there’s an implication that she doesn’t want to dishonor Pip’s sacrifice. Desperate, Zorin tries to use her power on Seras a third time, and then this happens:
Okay, so at first Zorin sees Seras’ memories, like before, but now there’s all this stuff from Pip’s memories, and then Warrant Officer Shrodinger, of all people, shows up. Zorin is confused by this, but he explains that he’s “everywhere and nowhere,” which means he can appear in this psychic vision just as easily as he can teleport between Brazil and England.
Schrodinger is here to pass along a message from the Major. See, Zorin disobeyed his orders, and he would normally punish her for this, but he and the Doctor are busy with a “most interesting toy”, so they’ll just leave it to Seras to take care of punishing Zorin.
Yesterday, I think I figured out what Zorin’s disobedience was. Before I was confused because she didn’t start attacking until Seras opened fire on her blimp, and that only happened because Seras was shooting at the rockets fired by the Major. Everything that Zorin did afterwards could be considered a matter of self-defense, but therein lies the problem. Namely, what was Zorin’s blimp doing in the line of fire to begin with?
Because once Seras shot her down, everything Zorin did next was sort of her only option. She pretty much had to attack the mansion, and brave its defenses, whatever those happened to be. And the Major knew that this was a big unknown. He warned Zorin about Seras Victoria and while he didn’t seem to know exactly what her abilities were, he regarded her as an “arch-enemy” on the same level as Alucard. That’s why he wanted Zorin to hold off and wait for the rocket attack. It was intended to probe the mansion’s defenses, and once it became clear that they had anti-aircraft guns, and that Seras was eagle-eyed enough to shoot down their rockets, then the Major could have ordered Zorin to find a different way.
But instead she was too close and gave Seras a target, which precipitated everything else, up to and including this:
Yeah, Seras just drags Zorin across the walls until her whole head smears apart. Cool!
With Zorin dead, Seras delcares her intention to take the fight to the enemy, and the last three Wild Geese salute her before she leaves. One way or another, they realize that Pip has become a part of Seras now, and they pay their last respects to him through her.
Then Seras flies toward London, using her left arm-thing to make cool bat wings. And this is a good illustration of what Seras is all about. Once, she might have been horrified at the thought of doing something like this, but now she sees it as a way to carry on with her duty. This was what Alucard had been trying to get her to understand, but sometimes you just have to work these things out in your own way. Seras is about utility, and now that she has a use for these vampiric powers, she’s finally prepared to embrace them as her own.
In London, Schrodinger reports back to the Major and informs him of Zorin Blitz’s death. He’s not surprised, and even declares “our ruin has begun”. Schrodinger points out that he’s leading everyone, friend and foe alike, into destruction, and the Major simply observes that this is war. Millennium didn’t come to London to win, they came to London to fight.
Then the Ninth Crusade shows up. Recall that, earlier, Enrico Maxwell organized a military response to deal with the Millennium invasion of London, but he hasn’t come here to save the civilian population. Instead, he’s treating them as enemies, just like the Nazi vampires. Somehow, there’s still living people in the city, and as dawn approaches, they see Maxwell’s helicopters putting off some sort of light show. I don’t know what you call this, but the people on the ground think it’s angels, and then Maxwell orders his men to open fire.
I want to point out that the newly promoted Archbishop Maxwell is riding into this battle in a special truck with a glass box for him to sit in. He’s surrounded by microphones so he can address his troops and the people below. Also the truck is hanging from a helicopter. It’s stupid and pointless and over-the-top, so naturally the Major is highly impressed with Maxwell’s style.
#2021hellsingliveblog#hellsing#seras victoria#pip bernadotte#zorin blitz#the major#warrant officer shrodinger#enrico maxwell
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Okay I'm not pro-bakugou, but I'm not an asshole that's going to sh*t on you for liking him, but here are some reasons on why I really dont understand people shipping BakuDeku or liking Bakugou Katsuki in general. Not hating on you just stating some canon facts. By the way I tried to censor myself but I just stopped because I got so frustrated with the amount of abuse that Bakugou got away with in just the first few chapters of the manga.
1. Bakugou is abusive towards Izuku both physically and emotionally.
1. The first freaking page of the manga starts out with Bakugou punching Izuku (while probably using his quirk).
2. Page 12 of the first chapter Bakugou slams his hands onto Izuku's desk and uses his explosion to the point it blasts Izuku out of his desk.
- Also note Izuku's body language he is trying to be as small as possible because he already is acclimated to this treatment. He is also seen trying to be as small as possible.
3. Page 15 Bakugou destroys Izuku's notebook (destruction of property).
4. Page 16 Bakugou burns Izuku's shoulder. From the looks of this and Bakugou's attitude towards Izuku this appears to in some way be a common occurrence. Because obviously this is NOT the first time he burned Izuku.
5. Page 17 Bakugou tells Izuku and I quote from the VIZ My Hero Academia Volume 1 10th Printing September 2019 "You wanna be a hero so bad? I've got a timesaving idea for you. If you think you'll have a quirk in your next life... go take a swan dive off the roof!!" After this Bakugou makes small explosions on his palm in a threatening way and Izuku left in the classroom shaking in fear. Even his friends tell him that he went too far.
6. Of course you have the name Deku. Which when used in the context that Bakugou does in the anime means Defenseless Izuku and also uses it as the abbreviation of Dekunobou which roughly translates to "good for nothing."
7. In the flashback of Izuku and Bakugou after getting praised by their principal(?) Bakugou basically grabs Izuku by the collar of his uniform and shoved up against the wall all because Bakugou was jealous and mad that he was not the first and only student to go to U.A. from their middle school and mad because he thought Izuku was hiding his quirk all this time.
2. Izuku is still traumatized.
1. I've hinted at this above, but I don't think I would allow someone with a quirk that makes them sweat a nitroglycerin-like substance to put their smoldering hand on me. Seriously just that scene makes it clear that Bakugou has used his quirk to either frighten Izuku or to injure Izuku.
2. When going in for the entrance exam on page 2 of the third chapter Izuku is shown to turn away from Bakugou and appears to be even more nervous then before.
3. Izuku also thinks to himself about how he has to "stop flinching instinctively." Guys he flinches away from just hearing and/or seeing Bakugou. If you think this can become a healthy and stable relationship......??? Also a few pages after when everyone is gathering around their assigned testing locations someone says "he flinches at the slightest touch" after Iida grabs his shoulder.
- If you think that is freaking natural someone watching that unfold already freaking knows it's not f u c k i n g natural for some to be terrified of another person grabbing their shoulder when they even see the person performing the act. Startled perhaps, but not the way Izuku flinched. Once again in this scene (and like most throughout the first volume) Izuku tries to make himself smaller than he already is by tucking his chin towards his chest and looking away from Iida (who by the way is trying to meet Izuku's eye.) Izuku is so used to being physically abused by his peers that he flinches on contact.
4. Before entering the 1-A classroom for the first time Izuku prays that neither Bakugou or Iida would be in the same class and depicts Bakugou in a pretty demonic way.
5. After the meeting with the principal(?) Izuku instinctively raises his arms to try and block any explosions near his face.
6. After Izuku uses OFA through one finger in Aizawa's assessment test Bakugou is furious and when Izuku sees his barreling towards him he screams in fear. And guys this must be the first time someone has actually STOPPED Bakugou from tormenting Izuku because the look on Bakugou's face is pure shock. Meaning in the years (probably near a fucking decade) nobody has stopped anyone from bullying Izuku. Like that says it all, doesn't matter if you're pro-Bakugou or not Bakugou traumatized Izuku because his abuse and torment went from when they were just little kids after finding out Izuku was quirkless to right after the Sludge Monster.
Do I need to continue into Volume 2 with the whole Bakugou versus Izuku fight? But I will say this...
Izuku has started to heal.
As the manga and anime continue Izuku stops flinching everytime someone calls his name or touches him. He stops raising his arms to block a blow that won't come. He stops trying to sink in on himself. I think the best comparison of this is when Izuku first "raises" his hand in the first chapter to the one during Ectoplasm's math lesson where he stands up confidently and gives an answer.
But healing doesn't erase the past. Healing mentally doesn't erase physical scars (once again it is pretty obvious that Bakugou used his quirk on Izuku.)
Not to mention Bakugou has yet to confront what he did to Izuku. Hell he hasn't even changed much. The only change he did was not always call people somewhat derogatory names instead of their actual name. Don't give me that shit of "well he was kidnapped and felt guilty over All Might's retirement." That's just making a fucking excuse about why he should be forgiven. Was he held against his will for almost a fucking decade? No it was a handful of days and who got him out? Shockingly, but sadly not shockingly the one he decided to torment for years. Don't give me that shit about how apparently being a kid gets you out of trouble. Sure some of it was when he was a kid, but want to know something people age. Hell by the time he told Izuku to kill himself he would have been 14 and most likely almost 15. Which means he should have fucking known better! The only actual excuse I will allow to somewhat slide is the fact that as mentioned AIZAWA SHOTA WAS PROBABLY THE FIRST ADULT TO STOP BAKUGOU FROM HARMING IZUKU! Meaning every fucking adult that saw the way Bakugou acted didn't do jack shit which meant he was raised in a toxic system for years being told what he was doing wasn't something worth being punished for. But still Bakugou should have known better.
The fact that Izuku idolizes Bakugou shows how toxic even this "friendship" is. He is literally idolizing his abuser. And yeah Bakugou is an abuser sure he can be called a bully and a tormentor but he is an abuser. "A person who treats another person or animal with cruelty or violence, especially regularly or repeatedly"- the fucking Oxford definition of abuser. I mean repeatedly throughout the series Izuku talks about how he has come to view Bakugou as an image of victory.
You want a character to be dating his past abuser? You really want that? I don't give a shit if you write a "they have a talk about their past" before they start dating in your story.
The fact that Bakugou's abuse and the trauma it did to Izuku hasn't been talked about yet in canon is also something that angers me a bit (hopefully Horikoshi has something planned for this). Because it's obvious from their fight during finals and their fight after the provisional license exam that they need to at least talk about it. And then get them both into fucking therapy because yikes they both need it.
And I do not fully agree with Bakugou being forced out of the Hero Course (as some people do), but at least some temporary removal. Mainly put him on probation for a while. Because I believe there are rules in Hero Society that prohibit even middle schoolers from using their quirks against someone(? Right these exist?)
Also if you think for one fucking second that Bakugou did not abuse Izuku and having them in a relationship is not toxic go read the manga and watch the anime both from the beginning because you are missing some cues.
I know that this is was supposed to be about why I don't see how people can ship this and it turned into a rant. I never really care about what other people ship but just think about this. I wrote this mainly because I have seen some people around saying that anti-bakugous overexaggerate and say that Bakugou want not an abuser when ah clearly he is. Like I could go onnnnnnnnn about how much damage Bakugou did to Izuku. We aren't exaggerating you just need to go back to the beginning and see how shitty Bakugou treated Izuku.
If you want to make an argument about how Bakugou is a good guy and how he has learned and changed and it's all good now come @ me I have volumes 1-23 and the other manga chapters on stand by and my Hulu is up and ready.
Not actually looking for an argument but I could have made this post longer but it's now almost 8am I haven't slept a wink and I'm tired.
#bakugou katsuki#bnha#boku no hero academia#my hero academia#Bakugou is a bully#Bakugou is an abuser#midoriya izuku#not hating just stating canon facts#anti bakudeku#anti bakugou#anti Bakugou Katsuki
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