#Chikazuko Tomoyasu

[bnha-fashion]

Outfit for Tomoyasu Chikazuko “Skeptic”

Y-3 Fall 2016

[ihatetaxes99]

The Skeptic Appreciation Post (Although He Is Kind Of A Dick)

Why am I dedicating a (rather long) post to a random background character in BNHA who contributes almost nothing and is honestly rather underused?

Because no one else will (and because it's fucking fun.)

That joke would work better if I could actually show the clip, but regardless, please gather round, for today I intend to take you on a journey that explores one of the most easily forgotten characters in the series. Hell, let's staple Vigilantes on and say he's the most easily forgotten character in the franchise? Pop Step and the rest of the idols? They're at least unforgettably annoying. Mustard? He scored pretty well in recent popularity polls for a character who hasn't appeared in 200 plus chapters. Muscular? He actually appeared again and at least has a cool prosthetic eye and relatively flashy Quirk. But Chikazuko? I almost never see anyone discussing him and in my humble opinion, the gangly fucker deserves some time in the spotlight. Especially considering he's technically the only remaining MLA executive and thus, will probably play some sort of important role soon.

Anyway, spoilers below, continue at your peril and enjoy the Skeptic Appreciation Post.

Tomoyasu Chikazuko. What is there to say about him? Well, as fate would have it, a decent amount. First of all, who is he? Well, from what he know of him, he's a man whom I would speculate to be in his late twenties to early thirties (he has that general hipster vibe) and serves as a key executive on the Meta Liberation Army, later becoming a Lieutenant in the Paranormal Liberation Front. As of now, we know nothing of his backstory or how he joined the Army. This can obviously open the doors to a lot of fun speculation about his character, but I'll hold off on completely baseless theories for now. We also know that he serves as a board member of Feel Good Inc., a presumably rather powerful tech firm. I think it's worth noting that he is only a member of the board of directors, as opposed to say, being the company president, meaning he is not someone who would have the final say when it comes to important decisions. Right away, this opens up some interesting implications that I shall get into later on in the post.

Chikazuko is a man of extreme intellect as well as a short temper, as we see when he harasses Giran. At first, his role in the story is to act as the MLA's main source of information, using his satellites to track the League as well as being the one to recover Giran's client list (the anime has potentially retconned this fact in the first episode of MVA, or at least removed the confirmation that he was the one who recovered it, but I'm going by the manga here, since it's what I know more and frankly, it's better.) Essentially, it's made quite clear that the Army would not be in such a powerful position over the League at the start of MVA without him. We can also see that he's a grand puppet master, controlling an army of goons that follow his exact word. His mannerisms are exaggerated, more like a cartoon character than perhaps anyone else in the series, and he seems to, much like Compress, have a flair for what he does, albeit a more sadistic one.

Now, with the basic information out of the way, it's time to address the elephant in the room:

Yes, Skeptic is undoubtedly a massive walking Gorillaz reference. Specifically referencing Demon Days, judging from the company name and his general design, looking like a cross between Murdoc and Demon Days era Noodle. Now, this is something that I absolutely adore. Gorillaz is personally my favourite band and as someone who wasn't spoiled on the events of MVA before reading it, I would be embarrassed to admit the squeal I made when I first came to that splash page introducing the members, with the Feel Good Inc. building in the background. However, I personally believe that the callbacks to a British virtual band that hasn't been particularly relevant in ten years are not just because Horikoshi likes the band, although I'm sure that plays into it. I'm not a huge Star Wars person, but I can tell that some of the references in BNHA use the context of the references to enhance the story through the context, and I think it is a similar story with Gorillaz.

So, what is Demon Days, to the less informed who may be reading this? Well, simply put, it's the second album by the band Gorillaz and notably their most popular one to date, really being the only album by the band to break into the mainstream consciousness, at least over here where I live. Chances are, most people reading this have probably heard Feel Good Inc. or Clint Eastwood or DARE on the radio before, even without realising it. But what is Demon Days about? Well, essentially, as an album, it focuses on the theme of societal decay. It explores the idea of increasing moral degeneracy around the early to mid 2000s, with songs covering war, the entertainment industry, drug abuse, the growing desensitisation to violence and apathy in general. Now, how would this tie back to our poorly-groomed friend? Well, I do think that if you pay attention, you can pick up on how Skeptic, to an extent, represents some of the main themes of the album.

For an example, I would like to introduce the song O Green World, one of the first in Demon Days. The song, at least to me, embodies a message of complete societal collapse, with 2D being stuck in a world where only the tortured squawks of crows feasting on the earth can be heard. Overall, in a less literal sense, I perceive the song to be about nihilism, about a person who has become disenfranchised with the world and sees it as no more than a rotting husk, with no one left to care, only crows that feed the disgusting nature of what is left of the world. And yes, I do believe that Tomoyasu at points represents this edgy bullshit. His infamous rant to Giran after lamenting on Curious' demise seems to show a certain level of disgust for most people. Anyone who isn't Destro is filth to him and since Destro's death, which he notably laments as being tragic, things haven't been the same.

But anyway, this is a bit of a stretch as it is, honestly just my own speculation, and I can't sit here writing about an old British band forever, so I think it's time to move onto something more concrete.

An interesting point when it comes to Chikazuko is that it appears he doesn't have much respect for anyone, as I said before. However, this seems to extend beyond his enemies and underlings, as it is implied that he doesn't even hold respect for his leader, Re-Destro.

Look at these panels here. First of all, he has his phone out at the dinner table, which for me at least, has always been one of those things you just don't do. When you're eating a meal, assuming you're a typical polite person, the idea is that you focus on the food and making conversation. This goes double for a meeting with your boss and co-workers. But Tomoyasu has no trouble bringing it up to either play a few rounds of Angry Birds or check with his contacts. It's an interesting display that seems to show an inherent lack of respect for his leader, an idea helped by the crumbs of food still around his mouth, implying a level of sloppiness. And then, of course, there's what he says next. 

"Your word is as good as Destro's." Not "Your word is ultimate" or "I shall follow what you say", he insists on comparing Rikiya to his ancestor. Now, on one hand, this may make sense, as Re-Destro has literally named himself after the original, but it seems here like Skeptic respects Rikiya only for his blood and no other reason. 

And then of course, there's this:

Tomoyasu, as we have seen up until now, is extremely loyal towards the ideals of liberation and the Army. So, who the hell tells the leader of an organisation they respect to "think about what you're saying" and "amend that statement"? Even Rikiya himself seems shocked and it's completely unprofessional. I mean, if I went to school and told the principal to pick their words carefully, I would probably get suspended at the least. It shows a clear disrespect towards Rikiya as a person. Because he doesn't see Rikiya as a person, just the next Destro. Furthermore, just before this was when he was annkuncing Curious' death and, unlike Re-Destro who sheds tears, he shows no emotion. It's all clinical to him. A close ally died. Whatever. It happens. No, he's far more annoyed about Giran's half-delirious state. That's a man who has his priorities in order.

And this can be seen even further at the end of the arc when he comes to collect the League to go to the meeting:

It's clear from this that he holds a lot of resentment towards the League still and does not consider them his equals. While Hanabata is more reasonable and willing to respect Rikiya's decision, Chikazuko is not. We even see this later on during the war where his immediate reaction to the hero raid is to blame Bubaigawara. Because it can't be a problem with him or the Army. No, it has to be the League of Villains. They must be responsible for this mess. He would much rather blame them than himself or the Army. It makes you wonder how he would react if the original Destro had appointed Shigaraki as the new Grand Commander. Would he be more accepting? Perhaps.

So, this is an interesting development for his character. We can see here that although he holds dear the ideas of liberation, he doesn't seem particularly open towards anyone he comes into contact with, including the man who is making his dream a reality. I'm curious to see what will happen now that Re-Destro has been arrested. Will he perhaps denounce Rikiya as a fraud, as someone undeserving of Destro's legacy? His allegiance does seem very shaky at best. But I suppose time will tell.

Now, what about his name? Specifically his codename. Well, Skeptic is one of the easier members of the MLA to understand the meaning behind their codename, alongside Curious. Obviously, his name refers to the emotion of skepticism. Someone who's always doubting, always refusing to accept things at face value. Now, doesn't that sound familiar? Indeed, many of the things we have already discussed could be connected to his namesake. His unwillingness to accept the League, his disrespect towards his commander, his inability to accept that he may hold some blame in Hawks' betrayal and that it was someone else's fault, he certainly seems like a very skeptical person.

But then, what about the scene? You know the one. Arguably Skeptic's big defining moment and, if my belief is correct, the reason why he hasn't been written out of the series yet.

Yes, his grand failure. The one time that he has failed in his life. Just what is it, exactly? Well, we know that this failure is likely not something Rikiya is aware of, judging from how Tomoyasu speaks to him about it. It was also possibly something big, considering how he reacts at the memory. Is this failure the cause of many of his less savoury traits? Perhaps he lost a loved one. Cliché, but a possibility. Or maybe something that compromised his position within Feel Good or an unknown company that he may have worked for in the past. We just don't know what this failure is, unfortunately, but I do think that from how it's showcased, it is something that will likely be answered soon. After all, why else would he still be around when inarguably more important villains like Re-Destro and Compress are now gone from the spotlight? Although, I will say, I hope he didn't do something that got him rejected as a hero. Between Gentle, Dabi and Tenko, I think the idea of potential heroes who fell from the mark has been explored enough in the series. I'd prefer something different. 

Now, earlier I also mentioned that he is stated to merely be a member of the board for FGI and not the main head honcho. Now, although this isn't necessarily tied to him specifically, it does make me wonder if all of the company is corrupt. We know that he was able to use their satellites without much issue, so is the whole board in bed with the MLA? If so, what potential did Skeptic show that led to him becoming the only executive? Do they have something to do with his one failure? How have they reacted to Tomoyasu's exposure? Hell, for that matter, what about Detnerat? We know that Hearts and Minds dissolved less than 24 hours after Hanabata's arrest (which is bullshit, by the way), but I'd be interested to hear what happened to these other companies that had high-ranking members involved with the Army.

But regardless, what more is there to say? Well, there seems to be a lot of parts to Tomoyasu Chikazuko's personality. He's nihilistic, he's narcissistic, he's loyal not to people but to causes and he has a clear anger issue that I doubt we've seen the full brunt of yet. What a charmer, am I right? In all seriousness, when I first read MVA, Skeptic was the second least interesting MLA member just above Geten. However, upon re-reads, I've come to discover there's a lot more to him than I and perhaps a lot of people give him credit for. I'd say after all of this, I actually now like him more than Curious, probably on the same level as Hanabata. But, unlike all of those, Skeptic has a chance. A chance to reach his full potential that so many of the Liberation executives missed out on. He's not licked yet. Thanks to Sako, he's still out there, and I highly doubt he was only rescued so that not all of the MLA were captured. I do think there was a reason he's still with us, Horkoshi has a habit of planning things quite far in advance (see both Chikara Yotsubashi and Oji Harima.) So, I do believe we'll see more of him in a major role soon. And I hope that if we do, then he gets the appreciation that he deserves.

Well, this was a bit of a ramble. My apologies for being a bit all over the place, I've never done a long form discussion of a character before and a lot of it was rambling about things that I find neat. Maybe I'll try this again another time, hopefully in a refined manner. Either way, thank you for reading and have a good day.

[bnha-fashion]

Outfit for Tomoyasu Chikazoku “Skeptic”

Rick Owens Fall 2011

[bnha-fashion]

Outfit for Tomoyasu Chikazoku “Skeptic”

Y's Yohji Yamamoto Fall 2016

[bnha-fashion]

Outfit for Tomoyasu Chikazuko “Skeptic”

Coperni Fall 2020

[bnha-fashion]

Outfit for Tomoyasu Chikazuko “Skeptic”

Y-3 Fall 2016