#I love the Shibuya Reapers so much

[scramble-crossing]

Good Evening hope this finds you well and alive. I would like to ask about Lady Konishi question 1 and 12 please.

:)

Yaaay I was hoping someone would say Konishi!!

1. What do you like or dislike about this character? I didn't really think much about Konishi for the longest time, but then one day I wrote her pretty much by chance and developed a fondness for her from there :] I like how almost every scene she has leading up to W3 is her going "Yes sir of course sir right away sir" whenever Megumi makes some weird out-of-pocket remark or request and then turning around and thinking to herself "Wow this is a sinking ship if I ever saw one. Thank god I'm the smartest one here and will surely make it out of this alive." I like how she acts like a perfectly loyal, professional underling on the outside while on the inside she's always trying to work out a loophole to exploit if things go well and an escape route if they don't. She's very Quintessential Reaper that way, acting on ambition and ambivalence rather than outright malice towards her coworkers (at least how I see it. I don't think she particularly minded working for Megumi or had any desire to see him fail, she just worked out that it was the most likely outcome and sought to benefit from what was probably already a foregone conclusion).

Really I think the only thing I don't like about her is her Noise form.

It's cool, but it could have been done better. It's a bit too anthropomorphic, which irks me when her male counterparts all have very distinctly animal bodies in their Noise forms

But nooo she's gotta have the cleavage and the six inch waist :/ She looks more like a circus performer than a monster, which I wouldn't even mind if that was the theme, but it's not, and the more I look at her side-by-side with the others the stranger it gets. Oh well. All that said I do like how she reclines with a bored/annoyed look on her face and her claw up like she's taunting Beat and Neku.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character? She's actually closer to Megumi in age than Uzuki, Sho, or Kariya. She died in her mid-to-late-20s under a lot of pressure to find a husband and have kids, something she adamantly didn't want. She's incredibly pissed that she now has to spend her afterlife wrangling three of the world's shittiest teenagers.

(Uzuki's the one she tolerates the most. She sees something of herself in her. Kariya she can't get a read on and it unsettles her, especially since he's been around even longer than she or Megumi have. She cannot STAND Sho. Had she survived the fight against Beat and Neku she would've thrown him under the bus the moment she got the chance.)

Also, I like to think that her erasing 777 wasn't necessarily an act of malice or payback, but a strategic move on her part to curb any potential rebellion. The UG's got enough petty bitches, in my mind Konishi doesn't do anything without good reason. The Reaper's Game is eat-or-be-eaten. You break a rule, you face the consequences. No hard feelings, kid. Since no one ever fully trusts anyone else, that kind of "backstabbing" isn't considered particularly abnormal or even "cruel" in a sense, it's par of the course. 777 should have known better.

[randomszzz]

"love has always been the world's best secret ingredient" -> "I'd rather just get rid of them" Joshua kiryu

"there's only one way to stay alive in this shibuya: Trust your partner" -> "in a way, he's been alone all his life" Joshua Kiryu

[mageknight14]

Exploring the Parallels Between Our Favorite (and Only) Conductors

One thing I think is really cool about the Kitaniji and Shiba parallels is how they both idolized the Composers/Higher Plane members they were in contact with but take that idolization into different directions and how these are reflected in Neku and Rindo’s individual flaws.

First we have Kitaniji, who idolized Joshua and put him and his status as Composer on a pedestal, and thus, in an attempt to try and save Shibuya, conducted a plan to try and rob the city of its individuality and make it a hive mind to, in his view, appease the Composer. However, what Kitaniji failed to consider that what HE, as an individual, wanted was counterintuitive to what Joshua truly desired as shown by the rules/structure of the Shibuya Game and his various interactions with Neku throughout their week together.

Kitaniji acts in a way he presumes would please Joshua, thinking that initiating the human instrumentality project would be the thing to please him most when that's far from the truth, simply because he's unable to look past his ego. He thinks he understands Joshua best, despite not taking the time to actually get to know him (which sounds an awful lot like toxic idol culture) and only ends up projecting his own insecurities about human connection onto Joshua as desires that a god would share as well because hey, why would a god care about empathizing and connecting with people when they’re just so much better than them, right?

He failed to see Joshua for the flawed individual that he was as opposed to the almighty Composer and instead of trying to genuinely connect with him and perhaps convince him otherwise when it came to his plan to eradicate Shibuya, goes right into the brainwashing scheme, essentially doubling down on his flawed mindset. Kitaniji’s idolization makes him believe that he is something akin to a God as well; makes him feel closer to Joshua in a way. In short, Kitaniji’s idol worship is a conscious, agency-prone outcome mediated by the false relationship he has with Joshua.

Throughout the game, Kitaniji makes conscious (and unhealthy) decisions through his idolization of another person; he also believes he has a measure of personal agency and individuality that makes him more important than others, probably in part due to the "special relationship" he believes he has with Joshua (more idol worship toxicity) despite ironically being an empty individual and misinterpreting his intentions, which is what leads to his downfall. This in contrast to Neku, who due to his past trauma concerning his friend’s death, latches onto his flawed misinterpretation of his idol CAT’s words, only for CAT himself to set the record straight, causing Neku to realize throughout the game how he may have twisted his idol’s (Hanekoma) message to support his bias of isolation, and finally understand what CAT's words meant. This in turn is what allows Neku to finally get through to Joshua and convince him through his actions that Shibuya, and by extension humanity, can truly change for the better and gets him to spare the city. A happy ending that a Shibuya free of individuality wouldn’t have been able to achieve.

In NEO TWEWY, we have Shiba, someone who rises through the ranks of the Reaper hierarchy incredibly quickly and thus, became easy pickings for Kubo to try and manipulate to do his bidding; a man that has obtained so much power that he actually begins to idolize himself, thinking himself so strong and important that now he can whimsically make decisions about life and death, treat every situation as some kind of game, and judge people as he sees fit. Shiba only thinks himself as holding such an important role, which really belongs to Kubo's because of Kubo setting things up in such a way that made it so that Shiba's newfound powers would fuck with his ability to rationalize. Kubo fed into Shiba’s ego and slowly nudged him into the direction of shutting out his loved ones, which then leads into a cycle of Shiba becoming worse and worse thanks to the influence of his powers/Kubo and the Shinjuku gang isolating themselves from him. He becomes convinced that what Kubo wants is what HE desires as well, even if that’s not truly the case deep down, and throws himself more and more into his work to accomplish that, which, of course, only adds onto the cycle I described above more and more.

What's interesting here is that Shiba doesn’t draw any implicit or explicit motivations from his relationship with Kubo; he’s just another guy to him. We can make the argument that Kubo as a character symbolizes a particular substrate of toxic idolizing in that he represents status, a constituent of success that Shiba clamors for in the hopes that he can idolize himself. However, with that being said, the relationship between Shiba and Kubo itself in the story has no bearing on the former’s personal drive the way Kitaniji’s relationship with Joshua does. Rather, what Shiba’s idolism represents is the corruption of one's sense of self when they fall too deep into the cesspool of influencer stardom/corporate corruption; the overinflation of ego that becomes a malicious byproduct of commanding such an effect over large numbers of people.

If you remember, Shiba initially started off in Shinjuku promising change and a better lifestyle for his fellow Reapers, which they clearly took to heart and gladly followed after him, speaking volumes about his charisma. But then when he got a taste of his newfound power after the conclusion of the Shinjuku revolt, he became more and more detached from the people and found himself sinking into the singularity of his own self-indulgence.

This can be considered an almost 1-to-1 parallel with influencer behavior and in a way, Shiba is kind of what Motoi was hoping he'd be before he found some clarity by actually having to look into the face of the fan he was nonchalantly treating as a pawn to stardom and came to realize just how damaging his actions were overall.

In contrast to Shiba, we have Rindo, who also has the flaw of internalizing someone else’s thoughts and opinions as his own, something that gets repeatedly shown off in his interactions with Swallow and Motoi/an0ther. Hell, it gets to the point that Sumio, Motoi’s second-in-command, is able to play on Rindo’s need for validation from his idol and trick him into helping him (I love how Beat in the last pic here sighs in his sprites because he knows that Rindo fell for it, hook, line, and sinker)

However, what truly cements the parallel here is this convo Shiba has with Tsugumi in the Last Day Intervention.

Shiba here basically flat out admits that he was afraid of having to face the consequences of his decisions. Of having to own up to the fact that his self-destructive actions were causing harm to himself and others and so, in an effort to try and suppress that feeling of insecurity, he saw it fit to run away from the warning signs and trap himself in his own self-isolating bubble in order to avoid taking responsibility.

Now, who does that remind you of?

Now, at first glance, this comparison might seem like a stretch, but there are a couple of things to keep in mind. First, let's think back on what Nagi said about Shiba at the end of W3D3 after Kanon's erasure.

When we reflect on what Nagi said, you start to realize that the majority of Shiba's actions throughout the third week was due to his feelings of anger and hurt following what he feels is a personal betrayal from the people he cares about the most and how he then takes out that anger on the people below him. First there's his calling out Shoka personally out of anger of a mix of betraying him and the others by switching to Rindo's group and blaming her for HIS encouraging Ayano to take drastic measures such as personally infecting herself with the Plague in order to try and get Shoka to come back.

Which then leads into the next day where Shiba, out of anger concerning Ayano's erasure, sends out more Plague Noise to target the remaining teams so that they can feel the grief he's currently going through, which ends with Kanon, the Twisters' most supportive ally, getting caught in the crossfire and subsequently erased, which Nagi's analysis on Shiba alludes to when she comments on his wrathful energy in the morning announcment.

Combine this with him sending out Plague Noise that take on phantom images of the Twisters' failures and traumas and him getting so pissed at Susukichi betraying him in a previous timeline on W3D6 that he causes the Inversion a day earlier than intended and you get the sense that Shiba is lashing out at the others for what he views to be their fault, while never reflecting on his own fault on the matter due to a combination of the Dissonance affecting him so deeply and his refusal to see just how much he's hurting the people he cares about the most.

Much like how Rindo tends to lash out at others whenever he feels pressured to make a decision or face the possibility of having to take responsibility of his actions, Shiba's actions can be considered an example of what can happen if that flaw was taken to its worst possible conclusion. Both Rindo and Shiba are afraid of having to face the consequences of their actions and try to avoid facing them by either pawning off responsibility off of someone else or just outright tuning out the warning signs altogether. They put the people around them at arm's lengths, often taking them for granted, and become paranoid around others out of fear what will happen to them if they get too close. However, Rindo eventually starts becoming more savvy to his idol’s intentions and actively seeks out the truth about him, resulting in him breaking away from Motoi’s influence and slowly becoming more assured in himself and his decisions. He becomes more aware of his friends' struggles and will often try to do right by them (as shown with his talks with Shoka and the contrast between his and Fret's conversations at the beginning and end of the game). This is shown off in two ways, with Rindo and Shiba's confrontation at the end of W2D7 and W3D7 being flipped to have Rindo and Shiba trading places to show who’s on top, Shiba utterly alone in contrast to Rindo being surrounded by others, the Wicked Twisters dominating the screen while Shiba can only shrink back in defeat and Shiba being invisible in the Crossing (despite being surrounded by all those people) while Rindo is literally embedded in an ever-expanding Social Network.

By the end, Rindo actively takes accountability for his actions and achieves the happy ending he strives for, even helping with bringing Shiba back to his senses. Shiba on the other hand, once his influential power gets to his heart, begins to devalue the significance of the wants, needs, and individuality of the people who followed him fervently, and it's not until he gets his ass kicked and then is forced to face his number one fan/the person he cares about most, Hishima (another parallel with Rindo and Motoi), does he come to terms with how his actions have affected people he cares about, and is able to break out of his own self-idolizing and begin his path towards reformation, taking responsibility for his actions much in the same way that Rindo himself does.

To recap, Kitaniji becomes convinced that what he’s doing is what JOSHUA wants while Shiba becomes convinced that what KUBO wants is what he actually desires when that’s really not the case and I find these parallels to be incredibly fascinating. Kitaniji and Shiba are considered to be the ideal of what a Reaper should be in their respective cities and what's especially interesting is how while the values each game tries to instill does have merit when applied to our lives, they also show off the downsides of what those values can have if you're not especially careful.

On one end, you have Kitaniji, who is the "ideal" of a Shibuya Reaper. Highly unique and imaginative, has a very strong sense of self and sense of identity. Is an individualist but is also very isolated as a result. Tellingly, when Joshua starts to force his hand and basically tells him to come up with a way to save the city or get fucked, Kitaniji starts going down a dark path and tries to rob the citizens of Shibuya of their individuality in order to save the city from becoming destroyed, unknowingly increasing its countdown to its inevitable destruction and became twisted into a raving madman that insists that he’s saving humanity and is shepherding them into a new ideal utopia.

By contrast, when you take a look at the flashbacks and how the others speak about him before he got his new powers, Shiba is shown an be incredibly charismatic individual and this goes hand in hand with his role as the most powerful of the Shinjuku Reapers. His leadership and connections are his strength. He’s a social butterfly (his Noise powers and pendant are themed for a reason) and is considered the ideal of a Shinjuku Reaper. However, thanks to his new powers getting to his head, he’s pushed away all of his remaining allies and now has just about no one but himself, the emotional isolation being incredibly damaging to both himself and the people he cares about .Susukichi, Rindo, and Neku even talk about this, speculating about how he must be lonely and how his new powers most likely contributed to this.

Both TWEWY games can be read as a cautionary tale of idolism; of influencer status; of becoming so disillusioned that you either close yourself off to others or deem yourself so important that other people matter far less. Last but not least, they emphasize the importance of being accountable for one's own self, especially in a society of influencers because at the end of the day, it's important that you believe in your own views and can uphold them responsibly; it's important to not blindly follow others, especially if your self-worth hinges on it and ESPECIALLY if they become like Shiba or Kitaniji.

[homoeroticbetrayal]

Iconic Homoerotic Betrayal: Round 1

Round 1 Directory

Context for TWEWY below. Beefleaf fans, drop your summary in the reblogs.

You play as Neku Sakuraba in this video game, who is in the Reapers' Game, fighting for survival and partnering up and with amnesia. Turns out you're dead! He doesn't remember how he died. His first partner gets taken from him so he ends up partnered with Joshua for week two. He's an asshole and rude but also has hidden depth to him, and really connects with Neku (who remembers everything EXCEPT how he died, now).

At the end of week 2! Joshua dies for you! Takes a blow to save Neku's life!

And then at the end of the game he shows up a-okay and says HEY IM THE ONE WHO KILLED YOU, I PUT YOU IN THE GAME, YOU HAVE TO SHOOT AND KILL ME OR IM GOING TO DESTROY THIS CITY YOU'VE COME TO LOVE, AND ALL YOUR FRIENDS TOO, KILL ME OR I WILL RUIN EVERYTHING

(AND NEKU DOESN'T SHOOT, AND NEKU DOESN'T KILL HIM, AND JOSH CHANGES HIS MIND BECAUSE NEKU CARED ABOUT HIM ENOUGH TO SAVE *HIM* TOO)

Josh is also very flamboyant and teases neku gayly. I love them your honor

Extended summary for Josh/Neku. Excellent read:

Okay, buckle in, because we are going on a ride. Player One: Neku Sakuraba. Dead kid extraordinaire. He woke up in the Reaper's Game, a game hosted in Shibuya's Underground, or UG (essentially the afterlife, it's a plane of existence on top of the Realground, or RG, which is the plane of the living), where freshly-dead souls partner up and compete for a second chance at life, with no absolutely no memories of who or where he was, much less how he died. Still, together with his first partner, he managed to win the Reaper's Game... but was denied a second chance.

The Conductor, who runs the Game, told them that the Composer, essentially the god of the Underground, had decided only one of them could return to life, and that was his partner, so Neku re-entered the Game for a second week in a row. Enter Player Two: Yoshiya Kiryu, but Mother and Father call him Joshua and, well, he supposes Neku can call him Joshua, too, seeing as he's his dear, dear partner. Joshua is annoying, grating, the manifestation of all of Neku's worst traits, the thing he could be if he refuses to grow, and he's constantly giggling and flirting with Neku. He's definitely hiding something, and eventually admits that he's still alive, playing the Game of his own accord. His ultimate goal is to become the Composer, as whoever defeats the current one takes their place and Joshua's status as a living Player makes him significantly more powerful. Plus there's the issue of the current Game Master, who seems to have taken an interest in Neku and causes headaches whenever he's around.

Partway through the week, Neku receives a flash of memory, the memory of his death. He was shot, and Joshua was behind the trigger. This information leaves Neku in a difficult position, as he can't win the Reaper's Game without a partner, and in fact, if his partner is erased, so is he. And he needs to win because his partner the previous week was taken as his entry fee, he's playing for her and he doesn't know what will happen to her if he loses. So he has to get along with his murderer for the rest of the week. Joshua, meanwhile, gleefully dances around the subject, never quite confirming or denying whether he killed Neku, even when confronted.

On the final day, they have to defeat the Game Master in order to win, and just before the fight, Neku receives the same flash of memory as before... but this time, it continues. Joshua pulled the trigger, but Neku didn't die. He didn't shoot Neku; just behind him lurked the Game Master, holding up a gun of his own. Joshua never killed him, Neku realized. He had spent all week distrusting his partner, when all along, he had been trying to protect him. And after they defeat the Game Master in the present, he releases one last attack, one that would certainly erase both of them. But Joshua pushes Neku out of danger, taking on the full force of the attack himself, leaving Neku alone with the guilt, of his distrust having pushed Joshua to figuratively take the bullet for him.

And once again, Neku is forced to play the Game again, but this time, he teams up with his new partner to use the clues Joshua left them with to find the Composer themself and bring an end to all this. And they do! As the city falls into chaos around them, denizens of both the UG and RG falling victim to mind control that must be the Composer's doing, Neku and his partner fight until the last day, until the only thing standing between them and the Composer Himself is the Conductor. And just as the fight is about to begin, Neku hears that familiar giggle. Joshua is alive. He calls the Conductor by name. But Neku barely has time to process this, because the Conductor fuses with Joshua for one final battle. And in the rubble of that, as the Conductor teeters at the edge of erasure, he asks Joshua what will become of the city. It turns out, one month prior, the Conductor made a deal with the Composer, who thought Shibuya had become stagnant and needed to be destroyed before its negative influence spread elsewhere. The Conductor had a month to prove that the city wasn't worthless, to turn the people into something more suitable - thus the mind control. To make it fair, the Composer decided that He was going to play with a hand-picked proxy in His place. But the Conductor failed. As he dissolves, erased, Neku finally gets to ask Joshua what's going on. "Hee hee... It was me, Neku," Joshua says. "I'm Shibuya's Composer." And Neku was his proxy. Finally, he returns Neku's memory of his death in full - the Game Master raised his gun, but he wasn't aiming at Neku, he was aiming at Joshua. And every bullet he fired was frozen mid-air, until he was turned to turn tail and flee. Then Joshua turned his gun on Neku once more, and shot him.

And now, Joshua, the Composer of Shibuya, decides to give Neku one last chance. They'll have a duel, and whoever wins gets to decide the fate of Shibuya. Neku doesn't get the chance to agree or disagree; Joshua gives him a gun, and the countdown begins. 10... 9.... Joshua raises his gun, smirking. Like he doesn't care. Like their time as partners meant nothing. 8... 7... Neku cries. He just stares at the ground, gun in his hand, and cries. 6... The sorrow turns to rage, and Neku raises the gun, aiming at Joshua with shaking hands. His eyes squeezed shut. 5... 4... He can't do it. 3... 2... Despite everything Joshua has done, despite killing Neku, lying to him, manipulating him and forcing him to play his sick Game, faking his own death, forcing Neku into this situation, planning to erase the entire city... Neku can't shoot him. Joshua is his partner. And Neku trusts him. 1. He lowers the gun. BANG. A single gunshot rings out, and Neku falls to the floor. The last thing he sees as his eyes close is Joshua's smiling face.

If you got here, know that I was very tempted to put joshneku in a threeway duel with komahina and akeshu but decided to split things up a bit.

[dj-of-the-coven]

Top 5 Beat moments!! Predictable but also you're like the go-to Beat blogger and I want some Beat appreciation

It is almost physically impossible for me to choose the BEST Beat moments simply because he has too many such moments to count, but here are five of my favorites in no particular order: 1. Beat's words of comfort for Fret

Not only is this advice incredibly sweet, I think it's an amazing bit of characterization about the way Beat processes grief. This both works as a callback to how he handled Rhyme's death (keep goin'--for her sake) and as a parallel to the death of someone else who was close to him, a passing that he's still dealing with at that point. I love that he's matured enough to recognize his struggle in Fret and give him the same words of encouragement that he needed when he was that age: keep going, no matter how hard it gets. Somebody has to.

2. Beat on the rooftop

this image goes hard. next entry

(This one is mostly about the picture, but on a more serious note, I think this scene drives home the fact that Beat really does have deeper emotions than everyone seems to think he has. The dude is seriously introspective. For a guy who's allegedly pretty head-empty, he's able to describe his emotions incredibly well to Neku when the time comes, and I think that his reflection on those feelings didn't just start in the moment. If not earlier, I think he might've started here.)

3. Beat resolving to protect the Twisters

The fact that Beat considers the team to be his responsibility is really heartbreaking, honestly. He does so much and still falls short for basically everything that he cares about, both in the original twewy and in neo: he never really was a good reaper, he couldn't rescue Rhyme/save Shibuya without Neku's help, and here, in neo, he falls short of the expectation of the "legendary player" that was placed upon his shoulders when he was being hunted. In spite of the twisters' generally positive attitudes about his joining, Beat is still technically a consolation member; in short, a failed goal. He places the care of the team entirely on his shoulders for no reason other than that he cares. There is no expectation of him to carry that weight, but he wants to, and he tries to, no matter what kind of recognition he receives for it.

4. Beat sacrificing himself

Beat's first instinct when it comes to the ones he loves is to put himself between them and whatever tries to hurt them, be that a car or a massive taboo beast noise. If he loves you, he will die for you, without hesitation or fear.

5. Beat reuniting with Neku

He is such an incredibly expressive puppy, I fucking swear. I know there are a thousand more moments to care about and analyze but I just have to put a spotlight on my boy... he's so happy to see Neku again that he starts to CRY

(I also love that Beat's soft side, particularly his habit of crying, is framed over and over again as a very endearing quality rather than making him weak. He's such a sweetheart and every moment that showcases it is my favorite.)

[tea-of-destiny]

hi friend I meant to send you this ask a couple days ago I think but. I know it isn't really (twewy) canon, but I'd like to hear about the TWEWY characters in KH3D, if you'd tell me about it? I don't have any intention of playing KH myself, I don't think it's my kind of video game in general, but I'm still fairly curious 👀

ajlksjdfhalsjkd I think this is normally a question where I'd go back to the source material to confirm what I'm saying, but this has been sitting in my inbox too long so I'm just going to write off the cuff and pray something worthwhile comes out

Um, as a whole they're pretty fun! Maybe not totally accurate to the canon of their own game, but they're presented in a way that makes you (or at least me) want to check out TWEWY to find out what their story is. I am so determined to play TWEWY for real eventually, but I don't know how soon that will happen since there's... so much else I want to do aha.

Neku's personality is more that of his first week in the Reaper's Game--he's still kind of standoffish and self-centered, which makes him a stark contrast to a protagonist like Sora, but Neku is already in the process of learning how to trust and befriend other people. He evidently cares about Shiki a lot. I don't remember if he's shown to have much attachment to Joshua or Beat yet in KH canon.

Shiki is a part of one of my favorite interactions in the series; it's actually where the quote in my header image comes from! Riku defends Shiki from a swarm of Dream Eaters, and then he's ready to just run off again to finish his mission, but Shiki says something to the effect of "Hey, you can't chat a girl up and then just ditch her! Aren't you supposed to be my knight in shining armor?" To which Riku kind of panics and says, "Knight? You've got the wrong idea!" aro king So they make for an entertaining pair of companions.

I love Beat. He and Rhyme have a great sibling dynamic. Beat makes some rash decisions that put people in harm's way, but he really means well and has a big heart. There's another scene where Beat's acting tough to Riku like, "We don't need your help!" But Rhyme pipes up like, "Really? 'Cause not five minutes ago, you were whining, 'Where's Riku? We gotta find Riku!'" And Beat gets really flustered like, "Gwaah! Don't say that in front of him!"

All I can really say about Joshua is that he's not enough of a bastard in KH canon lmaooo I need him to shoot the ancient embodiment of Darkness or something

One other thing I'll mention is that as of the Kingdom Hearts 4 trailer, Sora has gone to an alternate reality, and he wakes up in a city resembling Tokyo. There's been speculation that he's specifically in the TWEWY version of Shibuya and we'll see Sora reunite with the cast. Some fans are really excited by the possibility of extended TWEWY lore; others don't want it to be the case because they worry that TWEWY will get subsumed into KH instead of standing as its own thing. I'm not sure how I personally feel, except that I really hope whichever path the developers take, they spend the necessary time to make the game compelling and enjoyable.

I hope this kind of answers your question, even if it's been a while? And thanks for asking!

[voicefromthecorner]

...What.

WHAT!?

SHOKA IS SWALLOW!?

...SHOKA IS SWALLOW!

Okay, let’s back up here! Everybody be cool! Give me a sec to process this!

Alright, so to touch base on Swallow theories, I had been almost completely convinced Swallow was Joshua until someone told to me I was misgendering Swallow the one time I forgot to refer to them as “they/them” as a result of being convinced Swallow was Joshua.

So as a result of that, I became almost immediately convinced that Swallow must be Coco. My logic thus far has always been “Swallow = major character from behind the scenes” because if Swallow was someone close by, we’d obviously know that, right? Right!?

But then we actually met Coco in the story and I realised at once what a blitheringly stupid theory that was of me to have because there’s obviously no way it’s her. The same encounter discounted the idea that it could be Tsugumi somehow.

Honestly, after that, I just kind of stopped thinking about it. Almost forgot about Swallow with everything else that’s been happening. But I never would have thought for a second that it’d be someone in the party, let alone Shoka! I mean, “Rindragon”? It can’t have taken her long to figure out that it was Rindo she was talking to. The coincidences would have piled up. She’s definitely known for a lot longer than Rindo did, since he’s just finding it out now. I had always assumed that if it was someone in the party, they would have said something, and Shoka in particular became really close to-

Oh.

Oh......

Oh Rindo and Shoka’s relationship just got so much better.

Shoka’s motivations were always a set of conflicted feelings about her love for the city and her family dynamic with the Reapers. She was definitely inspired by the success of the Wicked Twisters and that led her to betting her career as a Reaper on them for sure.

But in the midst of those conflicts and feelings was her dynamic with Rindo, which started off as a bunch of barbed teasing that always seemed to have led to her developing an honest liking for Rindo, maybe even a crush, that caused her friendship with him to seem particularly personal from the start.

That always seemed believable enough on its own, but now it makes even more sense! Somewhere during Week 2 at the latest, she figured out that Rindo was her FanGO friend, a longtime friend of hers for the three years that she’s been in Shibuya! She switched sides and developed a very close bond with Rindo because she knew what Rindo’s learning now - that they already had a bond!

And of course she didn’t tell him. She’s Shoka. The awkwardness of it aside that she’d likely want to avoid, she was probably hoping to save it for after they were in the clear, if she said it at all. Though from what she says here, it sounds like she was hoping the two of them could play it together IRL. A humble hope for the future like that is honestly so sweet!

I always thought Swallow being Rindo’s friend starting from 3 years ago was suspicious and made it likely that Swallow was a Joshua-like figure in the story that was manipulating Rindo. But it’s better than that. It is a coincidence, but Shoka/Swallow found Rindo on FanGO shortly after coming to Shibuya while looking for a new friend in her new city. And that new friend happened to be a friend that Rindo really needed in his life.

And now the two of them in their respective circumstances have met in real life, fought together until they’re the last two standing and are currently dying together in the destruction of the city that they met in.

I’m not sure when I’ll be getting over all of that, but today is not that day!

[todayimgonnaplay]

Today I'm gonna replay: NEO: The World Ends With You

It's been two years since NEO: The World Ends With You (NEO) released, and two years since I played it too. I remember feeling very hyped for it, and enjoyed it a ton! I decided to replay the game shortly after, and today, I finally beat the game!

The World Ends With You (TWEWY) has a very special place in my heart, it's one of my favourite games of all time. I played it as a pre-teen, the message of Neku's story didn't really stick with me much, because I was mostly into just cool looking characters and loved anything Square Enix put out (also Joshua was my favourite character back then). When I replayed that game years later, I was captivated by the characters and literally everything about it, from story to music, to its overall cultural features of introducing Shibuya to the world. When NEO and the anime got announced, I was over the moon and wouldn't shut up about it to my friends. And after playing NEO, I didn't shut up for a good while either! And since then, I've been wondering: Which one do I prefer more? NEO or TWEWY? Now that I have my hype glasses off, I can probably evaluate my thoughts about this better.

I've seen a number of people online point out about how the journey of the protagonist in TWEWY was more prominent and impactful compared to NEO, and to that I do agree that I feel more connected with Neku than Rindo. People have also pointed out that NEO's point this time around is more about character/group dynamics rather than a singular person, and I think it does that very well! Seeing the chemistry of the group as they go through the Reapers' Game is such a delight to watch, as new members get added over time. I think it's hard to compare which game does 'characterization' better when they both have different objectives. But if I were to talk about just NEO, I was really hyped to see what Rindo would be like prior to release, and I did like him when I first played it. But while replaying the game, I felt my affinity for him...wear off? The replay made me realize that the highs that I felt for the characters came from the OLD cast, rather than the new ones. Don't get me wrong, the new characters are far from bad. In fact, I was expecting to hate Nagi when she was first revealed, but after playing the game, I think she's an exceptional character! But maybe the focus on group dynamics made me like the chemistry more than the characters itself...which I never realized could happen. That being said though, my favourite character from the new cast only appears briefly in one scene. But why is that?

The character designs and art in this entry are top notch, as usual from TWEWY. And they just draw me in so easily! When I saw the black hooded guy that was shown with the new cast, everyone went wild speculating who they were. His outfit was barely shown, but something about that mysterious aura just got me (he's also become a favourite for me in NEO btw). And maybe that's the case with why I have a favourite. And why I was hyped for Rindo. I may not feel for his character, but he's got such a drippy outfit, I can't dislike him or anything for it. Maybe it's weird to like a character just for how they're dressed, but for some reason, this game does that to me. I've also seen the concept art for some of the pictures, and I reaaaally wish they were real characters. The character design team just really nailed it here!

Music is part of the TWEWY series' soul. Without it, I don't think the games would have the same impact as it does. I love both titles' music, but they seriously ramped it up with NEO. The remixes for the older titles, and the new originals are huge earworms (in a good way) that I often listen to it while I'm working out or doing something productive. Takeharu Ishimoto never misses when composing for TWEWY.

Now, there are two factors that made me realize I prefer one game over the other. The first is: Gameplay The original TWEWY which was released for DS, smartphones and the Switch all encompass touch input in some way but make use of what the device offers, especially for the DS. If you want a game that completely takes advantage of the DS hardware, TWEWY often comes up. I mostly play TWEWY on my phone nowadays, which I know some people call it to be a ''bad port'', but honestly, I think it handles itself very well and it is a more accessible port compared to the other platforms. The switch was also criticized for poor controls as well as a new story segment meant to be a sequel hook. NEO on the other hand, makes use of all buttons on the controller (except the D-pad) and uses multiple playable characters on the field. Even though I played it on PC, I didn't really test out the keyboard input much, so I can't say much about that. Since NEO doesn't have much access to additional peripherals like a touch screen, stylus, microphone or motion sensor like the DS, this gave NEO more limitations in gameplay variety compared to the vast variety the DS game had. What you end up getting is something more...repetitive. I don't mind button mashing as I like games that do have it, but this leads to the second factor: Pacing Without trying to spoil, both games are split up into a number of segments. I prefer to call it early-game,mid-game and end-game. In TWEWY, the mid-game tends to offer some downtime by introducing some minigames that are also intertwined with the lore. It's also where the story starts to change direction a bit due to Neku and his interactions with another character. This mid-game is often lauded as the best part of the game. There's a sense of rest while still keeping the player occupied with story progression. NEO on the other hand, only focuses on combat with a tiny sprinkle of puzzle segments. You spend most of your time just grinding through enemies just to progress the story. And the activities that do get added in only involve more grinding. There's no rest, but there's also bouts of not much story progression either. And when it does occur, a LOT of it gets dumped on you, especially later on in the game. It's a lot to take in, and I cannot imagine the confusion that a newcomer would feel when seeing things that they're somewhat expected to know because it comes from the first game (reminder that NEO is a sequel). My hype playing it the first time around got me to beat the game in 4 days. My replay of the game took me two years. I was busy, but I still had some time to play games. I kept telling myself to finish NEO, but just thinking about it made me groan. I then realized that the grind and slow pacing of where I was in the game was the reason why I felt that way. Does that make the game bad? Not really, especially for those that enjoy grinding will like this. And I don't really dislike grinding. I've been replaying Persona 3 Portable lately because I didn't finish it and forgot the story, (which people say is a bad port apparently? Anyways I might write about this game too in the future) and somehow I've not gotten sick of Tartarus at all. But that's mostly due to its pacing, I'm not really forced to fight all the time if I want to progress the story. I can do other things too. And I think that's what NEO lacked. Let me do specify some nice things about the combat though. I really like the number of combinations you can use! I think NEO is much more customizable, and flexible with how you want to play. Prior to my replay, I wondered about having one button control two Pins, and turns out that's a thing! I really enjoyed using that in my replay. Same goes for the fusion combinations! Sure it's not very flashy like the first game with the transitions and all, but I like that it's much more functional this time around. Maxing out the fusion and button mashing enemies to death is still fun to this day! And some pluses to the story is the dialogue,

I'm so thankful that TWEWY as a series has not missed in terms of that. I had a good amount of laughs and getting my attention at some references, and seeing callbacks to the first game had me scream with joy! All I can say is that despite some gripes, I can see the love and passion poured into this sequel, and I'm so glad we got it after 14 years.

Terms exclusive to the game: Pins - Skills you can use to attack, or heal yourself. Fusion - Special attack that causes great damage to enemies.

[scramble-crossing]

no please tell us your joshua thoughts i insist

You’ve hit me at a crucial moment of procrastination and utter dread. ON HIS BIRTHDAY.  Ideal circumstance to talk about Joshua.

Right off the bat though I’ve gotta say that a lot of this is probably not the most canon-adherent stuff and also only Josh-adjacent in some cases since I tend to focus on how he relates to other characters + the series’ worldbuilding over his actual self-contained character. I like him and all I just have the most fun using him as a narrative tool for the characters I like a little more ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

First of all, I usually put Joshua as having died and become Composer sometime between 1900-1920 following a near-and-dear headcanon that Kariya became a Reaper during the cultural shift of the 1920s with the advent of the salaryman lifestyle-if you’re going to sell your soul for guaranteed work it might as well come with the perk of being able to spend most of your existence lazing around the city instead of being boxed up in some itty-bitty cubical.

However this is mostly based on the assumption that Joshua predates all of the Shibuya Reapers. Otherwise they would recognize him, right? In opposition to this I really really love the headcanon that all trace of a person’s existence is erased from both the RG and UG upon becoming Composer (or any position higher than Conductor). In that case I think it’d be fun if Joshua came shortly after Kariya. They knew each other at some point.

^When Kariya confronted him and Neku in W2 Josh had a brief moment of “Holy shit does he remember me?” before Kari said he was alive and he got the biggest, shit-eatingest grin on his face. Yippiiiiie!!! Oily Josh has wriggled his way out of consequences once again!!!!

(Kariya is aware that there was a change in Composer sometime during his run as a Reaper. He sensed the city shift with it. The way it sings now, it’s almost…familiar? He doesn’t think about it too deeply, it saddens him a bit if he does)

Speaking of Josh & Friends, @starocide has a ton of very very fun ideas about Joshua and Coco being partners during their Reaper’s Game and it being the connection mentioned in That One Interview. That’s gonna be a whole separate essay one day, suffice to say for now that the Joshua from A New Day was reminiscent of the person he used to be, but twisted by Coco into a mocking caricature of himself.

(Coco doesn’t remember him, but she knows who he is. Joshua remembers her perfectly, but it doesn’t matter anymore.)

The Toxic Shithead Squad continues with Minamimoto. I have a LOT of thoughts about Joshua and Minamimoto.

By far the most interesting thing about W2 for me is just how much Joshua talks about Mina. Not just talks about, describes. He’s a math fetishist (rude) he’s an attention-seeker (rude…but fair) he’s the magic word I’ve been thinking about for the past two years: lonely. I think it’s incredibly interesting how many judgments of character Joshua makes about this guy despite the fact that we’re given no inclination to treat him as some sort of cat-whisperer or someone who’s in a position to understand Minamimoto at all. For the pure intrigue of it I like to see a lot of these calls as being accurate (idc if it’s cliche or corny, imply to me that Sho, somewhere in his heart of hearts, craves companionship and I will eat that shit up) but I also think that it’s equally interesting to question why Josh’s making these calls in the first place. Where's this stuff coming from? Why does he keep acting like he knows exactly what he's thinking?

I think Joshua sees a lot of himself in Minamimoto. Here’s a kid who’s deeply dissatisfied with the world around him, someone who thinks so little of other people that he, in his arrogance, is willing to reject every different thought, opinion, and action, shunning the people around him, treating them as little more than bugs he’s willing to step on in his all-consuming quest for the power to make something better than before: the world as it ends with him. Minamimoto isn’t just pursuing Joshua, he’s following his every footstep. Joshua sees this, recognizes it (though maybe not consciously) so that when he erases him he isn’t ridding himself of a potential threat or batting away this annoying little gnat that keeps interfering with his plans, symbolically he’s destroying himself. And if anything, isn’t that an act of mercy? Wouldn’t it be better to be dead than to waste away on his throne, watching a world he no longer recognizes slowly pass him by? Isn’t that what he wanted all along?

I think Joshua's story ended perfectly with twewy. I don't think there was anything left unresolved about it, and frankly I'm glad he barely had anything to do with the plot of neo. He made his choice. Was it the wrong one? Was there ever another option? Did he ever have a chance? Who knows! He's a walking worst-case-scenario and I love seeing how detached and apathetic he's become in neo, how he never let himself connect with Neku even though he gave him the chance (which was so, so much more than Joshua could ever have asked for), how Neku doesn't even seem to trust him anymore, how he's become little more than an anecdote in his life and the lives of is friends, a passing comment, a joke, a distant, sour memory. It's fantastic. I love Hachiko gang. I love fan content where they're all friends and Josh is this cryptic little sillyguy who has fun pushing all their buttons but is deeply unequivocally loved at the end of it all, but I hope that never happens in canon. I hope he stays a tragedy.

Happy birthday you little freak <3

[crownshattered-moved]

@lollipopsandgunshots​ inquired: "I think you're fine the way you are." - Uzuki, to Shoka

???—No Longer Accepting

Shoka wasn’t used to compliments. Things felt warm in the past with the Shinjuku Reapers, but it had been a while since then. All Shoka felt recently was just duty. They weren’t a family anymore, but they just had work to do. It felt almost like the Shibuya Reapers…before Uzuki took over again and made things better for them, of course. Regardless, Shoka was used to being distant and deflecting positivity with indifference. Complaining, being flippant, whatever she needed to do to remain “cool”. But…her new friends were so much kinder. It was weird, but Shoka found that she kind of liked it.

“R-Really..?” Shoka asked, an embarrassed blush upon her cheeks. She didn’t know how to handle compliments... She just wasn’t used to them. Growing up, she was criticized for expressing herself her way. Her dad complained, and she didn’t want to disappoint her mom by dressing up in dark outfits... It wasn’t until she became a reaper that she started doing something for herself. She never bothered changing herself to fit into a group, but now, she didn’t want to disappoint her friends. She just didn’t realize that friends would love her for who she is at heart.

“Th-Thanks, I guess... But none of the others in our group dress like me. I don’t want them to think I’m weird, you know?” She didn’t want Rindo to think she was weird... 

[strawberry-barista]

⚅— @insightful-mother asked: —⚅

⚅— ¥ (for normal verse and Reaper Verse. Ifthatisokay!) —⚅

Rating Meme

— ★ ⚄ ★ —

⚀ Decaf to Emi:

Looks: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 "Emi is gorgeous, really. It's not always that the outside shows the inside so well, ya know? She could be a model if she wanted to, but she does perfectly well making art as opposed to musing it." Personality: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 "Right up there with her looks. Emi is sweet, strong, and she's got a great attitude. The only thing I'll say that takes marks off'a this is that she works herself too damn hard and worries too damn much. She needs to learn how to relax from time to time." Attraction: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 "As much as I love her, I love her like a sister. I'm not attracted to her in any way." Would they date them: yes | no "That's just not the relationship we have, ya know?" Favorite thing about them:  "I love how she supports me. It doesn't matter what I'm going through, I feel like I could talk to her about it, ya know?" Least favorite thing about them: "... That being said, it's not like I always want to go that route... She's such a worry wort, and I feel bad putting that kinda pressure on 'er shoulders. I don't wanna do that to 'er."

⚀ Espresso at Reaper!Emi:

Looks: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 "Emi is like a goddess of the sun. She's got a beautiful face and a beautiful figure, and her sense of style is damn good. That's not even mentioning that brilliant soul'a hers. It's crazy for a human like her. Well, I guess she's a reaper now, but you get it." Personality: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 "Super sweet and caring. She's always lookin' out for the people around her. She works hard for everyone because she genuinely cares so much, and I can't help but love that about 'er. Ah... Too bad I struck out, eh?" Attraction: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 "I love her. I love her so much it kills me sometimes. I would love her even more if I could make her love me back. But hey, that's alright. She was real nice about putting me down, and we still get to be friends, so I'll be alright, yeah?" Would they date them: yes | no "The only thing that holds me back is that she said no. But I respect her decision, so I won't do anything without her consent." Favorite thing about them: "Gotta be that creative spark, yeah? I don't know why she didn't reincarnate with a spirit like that. She would be good for Shibuya." Least favorite thing about them: "Mmm... I guess it'd have to be how she never seems to give herself a break. Even reapers need vacation sometimes, ya know?"

[beatsfacemask]

look. listen. have some hcs. beat/neku/josh, twisters coming soon

beat fully fell for neku week 3 but didn't say anything/realized the second coco shot neku and has regretted it for three years

neku meanwhile has basically took the time to really think about himself and his feelings (with the entire population of Shinjuku, coco, and occasionally that bitch josh but y'know)

that's why he's so chill in neo he sorted out his coping mechanisms and figured out who he was (also pure calm brought on by trauma, he absolutely needed a few days to Readjust and Breathe)

neku has two hands and hes determined to, after a good couple of punches to god, hold both joshua and beats

beat is easy, .5 seconds after shiki is done with her hug it's beat's turn and the man is so full of love and relief he kisses neku right there in front of hachiko and everyone (including eri who takes one look at neku mixing their brand with another and is Not Impressed)

shiki, eri, and rhyme think its hilarious that beat went from supportive friend to scaring off someone trying and failing to flirt with rhyme to kissing someone he's been emo about for three years. beat cant bring himself to care. he's got neku back. neku kissed him back.

neku is half embarrassed, half overjoyed bc everyones okay and hes home. (the embarrassment is from eri's judgement. a powerful force.)

neku is taken in by beat, who moved out when he turned 18, and gets a job at gatto, eri quickly deciding even though he's useless with fashion, he's pretty good at getting customers to come into the store with that face plus neku's grafitti art goes awesome w some of their peices. the collab line is a hit and since neku hates the spotlight, all the attention is on gatto

(shiki: are you okay with the fact that we're using your bf for a thirst trap in our store? beat, staring at neku: huh shiki: great talk buddy)

neku still has...dreams though. nightmares? he can't tell. it's nothing concrete, only feelings. powerful ones. a melancholy song, a lone instrument. he keeps reaching out, only to find whatever it is just out of reach. he doesn't feel much like getting up those days, everything too overwhelming, emotions and memories paralyzing him

meanwhile after josh does nothing sees everyone again, he avoids everyone except uzuki and kariya bc the poor girl cant run this place alone, even with kariya actually helping, because most of the other reapers were murdered, josh, you dipshit

-mr h from angel jail, shaming him into working

he wants to go check on neku. he does. he really really wants to bc shinjuku was his fault. he sent him there and then couldnt get him back for a long time bc the higher beings were jackasses

(mr h: no excuse for abandoning your city, j josh: shut up i was rebelling)

then, on the eve of neku's first birthday alive, coco materializes in his office and threatens him to show himself to neku or her and tsugumi were going to kick his ass.

joshua isnt scared of two teenage reapers but he says he will to get her out of his hair (hes absolutely scared, both of them teamed up might actually kill him and he could not let them be in charge of shibuya. coco esp.)

[sheep-sorbet]

meep meep meep! OP i am metaphorically kissing u on the mouf, your hc are SO good and your ship dynamic is literally how i see nagisho, your brain is so fucking galaxy tier, incredible. do u have any specific requests for the scenarios for og hanging out and/or nagisho? if not i'll just pull something outta my voluminous asshole but if you have any particular scenes that you'd like to see written, hmtfu (hit me tf up). also LEGIT thank u for the ramble, it's so much fun to see + read ____〆(✧ω✧)b

aaaa tysm!! i'm so glad i wasn't boring you (xwx")

svdkhskxng HMM my head is always so full and yet so empty...

for the OG gang hanging out: i always like to see reunion-type stuff! i think neo really missed the opportunity to go hard on how much everyone's grown in the last few years, and how badly they missed each other; i wish we got more on what everyone's been up to and how they've been coping without Neku. i especially feel like we didn't get to see nearly enough of Shiki. like, girl owns a BUSINESS now?? that's seemingly successful?? where's Eri??? (it's my personal hc that Shiki and Eri are running the business together, share a place, and are fairly well-off. Not mega rich or anything, especially cuz we don't know how far gatto nero reaches outside of Shibuya specifically, but i think they're doing really well for themselves... and that Shiki helps Neku initially afford a place now that he's back hdjdhjfy.)

with the OG gang, it's v comparable to when you meet someone in an unexpected place, hit it off, and then you don't get the chance to see each other again for a long time, maybe even ever. You had so many memories in such a short period of time and you can't help but wonder what life would be like, sometimes, if they were still in it. i think Shiki, Rhyme and Beat would have that feeling about both Neku and Joshua; wondering where they are, what they're up to, if they're safe, wishing they were here, etc. Perhaps moreso Neku than Joshua, since Joshua is a shithead and seemingly left a pretty iffy impression on them? but I'd like to think that they all consider him in a well enough light deep down, that they'd be open to getting to really know him.

As for NagiSho... i already rambled a bit about how i headcanon their relationship would be in nature so i'm not sure i have much new to say on that front shdjhdg. i think any noodle-incident type scenarios with them are gold, they're at their best when they're causing problems or being openly weird together (we love to see aut4aut representation).

OH a hc about sho that i've incorporated that i think you'll find funny: So, yknow how in a new day, Ramen Don is Sho's dad? i think it's most funny for that to still be the case in the regular twewy universe, and it just doesn't come up because he's too busy trying to murder some slightly younger teenagers. He still visits Don for the holidays, and he doesn't know Sho is dead or a reaper or anything; He was concerned about Sho disappearing for long spans of time, and all the Tattoos he was showing back up with, and freaked out thinking his son became a yakuza. He's FAILED as a FATHER. Sho gets a thorough lecture before finally cutting his dad off and saying he's not a part of the fucking yakuza, he's just an artist, and god dad you don't understand me at all--

And then suddenly he shows up with his girlfriend and then leaves after like 40 minutes of arguing because it's all so annoying and he didn't actually care to tell Don about Nagi because it's not his business and it becomes like a Whole Thing. And Nagi is just sitting there eating curry like what the fuck do you mean this is your dad?! i've been eating here every week for the past month!!! i was in his brain and you weren't there at all!!! what's going on!!!! she's dying inside.

ANYWAYS... no specific scenarios for them unfortunately but i trust you to come up with something regardless of what u go with, tysm!! i can't wait { @ ò ꈊó @}

[mundanemiseries]

@/anon |

🗝 + how he feels about shibuya, in contrast to his hometown

"Well...admittedly there's a lot I don't remember about my hometown anymore. But from what I still remember...they both feel kinda similar, in a way. Both big, bustling cities, especially further downtown. It made Shibuya not too hard of a place to settle into...language barrier aside."

"Though...similarities aside, back in my hometown I was basically living my life one foot in the closet at all times. Figured I had to to avoid starting anything with my bio family."

          A fear that eventually got confirmed...a rotten last memory of his hometown.

"...so...as much as I just...hate what I’ve done in the reaper’s game...as much as all of that’s weighed on me. Shibuya definitely has that over my hometown...as least I can be more freely myself here.”

“And...as much as I love my hometown...I don’t think there was anyone waiting for me back there. I...lost my family when I left...can’t remember if I had any friends back there either....I guess that’s why I chose to stay here.”

SEND 🗝 TO FORCE MY MUSE TO TALK ABOUT A TOPIC THEY NEVER WANT TO SPEAK OF

[happyendingsong]

au where shiki spots joshua at hachiko first and forces a pact with him, just as neku gets taken out by a frog noise

[greysfall]

If the Composers stayed to talk for a bit more, what would they talk about? (super long strip)

This strip took me a whole week working full time on it. I had so much fun because I was able to pour all my love into every panel, for Josh and for the game as a whole. It should be part 1 as another strip is part 2. I’m not sure I can do part 2 but I’ll try my best, as each would centers around a different theme. 

I had a very simple idea at first, but I figured Josh wouldn’t talk unless Haz somehow pushed his nerd button and he went on to rant a lot, being direct and cryptic at the same time. 

While it’s a popular fan interpretation that Joshua had been lonely and sad, I think that he has drifted quite far away from having emotions like that - though he is not entirely unattached. To be honest, the reason why he never saw value in his RG life was probably not only because he could see the UG, but also due to his nature as an individual that strived towards something more thrilling and out of the ordinary. He himself admitted to having “hang-ups”, mostly from his deep understanding and interest in humanity and for one time as we know, in a human companion.   

As how I view it, the Composers have an unusual link. It’s not like they’re closer than usual business partners or neighbors but it’s that kind of relationship in which the perfectly handled distance and awareness about each other makes it more interesting. They are equal in power yet they approach their jobs with different attitudes. 

Both are high-ranking Angels but it’s very interesting that Josh sometimes evades the label of an Angel, there are hints that he used to be human so in my opinion, he just likes to stay in between planes and is an oddball out everywhere. Meanwhile, Haz seems like he has never been human at all so I guess that’s why he finds interest in Josh’s strange ways of doing things, or in his understanding of the lower planes. I really like the game’s depiction of Angels. They’re pretty close to how I imagine Angels overall: ruthlessly righteous, neutral in everything and ridiculously powerful. You can read the hints in their names even, "Yoshiya” has the words for “ever-increasing justice” while "Mikagi” can be read as “the key to govern”. 

Both Composers are associated with the motif of rebirth and prosperity. Josh’s name contains the word for “Paulownia”, which is connected to the Phoenix in Japanese myth and somehow hinting at their role in the plane between life and death and to build, destroy and rebuild all over again.

The rule of the Shibuya and Shinjuku games are different in how the former focuses on individual growth, while the latter seeks power and government. As a result, the Shinjuku Reapers have grown stronger and more organised, but their system might have peaked and subsequently went so deep into corruption that Haz decided to erase Shinjuku via Inversion - which left no trace nor characteristics of the city at all. Note that a normal erasure as Josh planed for Shibuya in the first game, would still leave the base upon which a new UG could be rebuilt with relatively the same core. That might be why Megumi accepted his defeat with grace because even if Shibuya was erased it would carry on to exist in another form, while the Shinjuku Conductor was desperate until the end. 

Josh could be pretty direct to Haz, even more than he is to Hanekoma sometimes and the Japanese dialogues indicates that they’ve been on that terms for a long time. It feels very special to catch the chance to see them interact in the same game and even have a casual conversation with each other.

If Haz could someday find a game as good for himself as Josh did and finally found the answers he is looking for, I hope we’ll get a chance to see that too.