#4 would be really depressing if it didnt piss me off so much. like saejima's plotline is soooooo. urghh. bawling

[skrunksthatwunk]

probably 3 or 5 imo (leaning towards 5). 3 is the first time we really see kiryu out of the dark underbelly of kamurocho and in like. his dream life. he's taking care of his family, it's pretty low stakes, the beach is calm and pretty, he's got friends, the community is nice. he can just take it easy breaking in his dilfy button ups. go crazy

but then this drastic physical distance isn't enough, and when you see that fail, when he has to go back to the bullshit and he still can't protect people which is why he left in the first place it fucking CRUSHES kiryu (re: the death of rikiya and thus the spirit of okinawa, the rude awakening from that dream of an idyllic haven away from kamurocho). like. oughh. it's also just kinda heartbreaking seeing what he's leaving behind and what he can't have because of it (esp majima but even friends like date and yuya and kazuki and whatever). and then. mine. and daigo. fucking OUGHHHGGGHHJZJGGJDJAAAA

5 is kiryu's depression arc and it Shows. he's trying another move, this time without the ppl he's doing it for, and he fucking hates it. it sucks. he's miserable. and it's not enough anyway and then his son shows up and he can't be there for him now and he couldn't be there or wasn't before and he can't fix that and he knows that so just hurry up and get out of here don't make me choose again i can't keep doing this and they won't leave him alone and he keeps shrugging them off and they keep chasing him and why can't they just let him waste away and they fucking. killed majima. they fucking killed majima. and so whether or not he's actually dead he has to investigate. and he puts the suit on again. again. after months away from his family and the only shit he cared about, away from the future he was stupid enough to think he could have, it's worth nothing. people are gonna die again. people who need him.

majima's getting old and saejima's going away again and the tojo's far from worth fighting for and has been for years but they gotta keep going. daigo and kiryu need them. wherever the hell kiryu is. who fuckin knows. and then all the shit with baba happens and fucking MIREI AND HARUKA and i just. oughh. plus shinada's story is sad, though i think it's got a pretty happy ending. but haruka fights her way to the top of a fickle and often poisonous industry knowing that's what's keeping her and her fellow morning glories' only dad/father figure away and it all feels so distant and small and like it doesn't matter at all. and then haruka gives it all up to find him, to seek him out even though he's running away, because more than anything she wants him to stay, even if it's dangerous. and she finds him in the snow, dying. broken. and he can't even believe she's there, it's too good to be true. he thinks he's dreaming. she knows he loves her so, so much he's willing to hurt them both terribly to protect her. but he's back. it's alright. he'll live, and they'll be together again.

but, of course, it's not that simple. and with the hindsight of 6 (though you could argue that's more about 6 being sad than 5, which is fair), knowing it was all for nothing, and that they'd be torn apart again, and that kiryu would once again run away, this time in such a complete and heartbreaking fashion it's just. aghhh

Fuck it, counterpart poll