#I wouldn't think of myself if I was Tanabe

[blueberry-chick]

OMG me too! Kinda like in a tokusatsu series where the fight would require a second encounter or more with the monster villain that they couldn't defeat, keeping our hero characters on edge, and questioning their fighting capabilities and teamwork.

[Specifically in Jetman, the characters concern themselves with the relationship they have with each other and how that affects the team's fight against the villains, and their need to have a good relationship or at the very least (in the beginning between Ryu and Gai) a truce be able to cooperate for the sake of protecting mankind, & as well as for their friends. They also concern themselves with how another teammate treats the other, like with Gai and Ryu. ]

Like how Karasuma was being too harsh on Kamoda for not being able to fight back properly, or tweet (use telepathy) to not give away their strategy to the enemy.

The way they treat each other is important, to not misunderstand their feelings and struggles.

Possible changes to add~

So, let's say Irene got picked up by her agent and her Bolt didn't get melted away yet. (This would add Eden having a bit more control over her, not necessarily caring for her).

So, the characters are given time to regroup and think over the fight they just had. Pressured on how soon she might attack next.

I think their could have been more time for Kamoda to express his feelings of not being able to tweet like the others, feeling not well integrated with his piers. It's prevalent in chapter 26 how he really wants to join in, attempting to use tweet.

[A feeling of being stuck playing the monkey in the middle].

A conversation between Umino and Kamoda.

I would have Umino express the same sentiment to Kamoda, and how similarly she struggles to arrive on time and feels left out. (Reason why back on ch 23 she personally asks Karasuma Eishi to tweet for her, as she is situated far away from the rest of the Bird Club).

And Kamoda would reassure her that's not a fault of hers, because immediately after she arrived she managed to saved a boy in trouble, unlike him he couldn't fight back at the time where 'his' friends were in trouble when he was right there. In Umino fashion, she cheers Kamoda up, having a sweet character interaction between the two.

(Image)

It also serves having them interact more, other than the time she kicked him in the nuts. ( :D) Which was their last interaction back in ch 17.

A conversation between Karasuma and Sagisawa of how he acted back there.

Giving a bit of self reflection for Karasuma towards how he treats his friends and not necessarily meaning ill intent, but as a leader character, he needs to learn to know what to say to help his teammates grow.

Sagisawa clearly sees Karasuma cares for Kamoda despite the way he verbalizes it. For example back in chapter 19 when Karasuma awaken his Bellwether ability, he leaked his true feelings when Kamoda got shot despite acting somewhat composed.

I'm not saying he should use "nice words" but actually know what actions should be best to direct according to their abilities of the situation.

(Image of Karasuma being Kamoda's Pokémon trainer)

Even so, Kamoda never took Eishi's verbal insults as an issue, it was the way he was trying to get him to do things that weren't working. Basically trying to force him to use fiscal ATTACK moves against an opponent with high evasiveness as well as having their accuracy being staggered.

It kinda bothered me how it's not explored here, despite noting Karasuma's actions here, being forceful. It's very underlined and is dismissed going forward immediately after Kamoda gains his new ability, like it solves itself.

Second encounter with Irene

And now, what if on a second encounter/battle with Irene. He apologizes to Kamoda in this scene, as soon as Kamoda gets hurt protecting him, Karasuma fiercely expresses guilt of leadership and his angry toward Irene (like in the original). It would add greater value Kamoda obtaining his awakening this way, specifically for his type "life stealer". With a funny bit of Kamoda responding to Eishi's apology by tweet, and reassuring their bond to us the readers.

Takayama's participation

Like in the original, Takayama would be mostly absent in their first fight with Irene, because he was at the time saving people from the train incident.

However, after Umino joins in, they still find themselves in a pickle against Irene, and just when she has the upper hand, without any need to overdose, Takayama swoops in to defend everyone but by attacking fiercely back. It would be cool if he started using his wing mass as blades like he demonstrated before (ch 5), but now for action.

I like Irene's concern for Bolt, so somehow Bolt is pinned down when she's not looking, but not by our "Bird Club fellows", instead by Eden agents (I mean, how did they transport Bolt in the first place?! The cat's big!). By then she's taken away from the fight as she states she was close to winning and threatens them for their next encounter.

Afterwards. They would devise a plan to prepare her next attack on them.

I would've really wanted to see them use Takayama's linker ability more in the story (before Umino takes on the role).

They could have used it to trace Irene's next attack. Start learning how to work around it with school or blackouts, improving their sensing abilities despite the distance between each other, more meetings about hero work with the profesor, right before Takayama leaves the team in the following chapters.

Show a stark contrast on how they depended on his ability to know when & where to save people in need. I mean they talked about being heros and their need to make society their ally for their own protection even after Irene's fight (mentioned in ch 30-31).

The story seems to take Takayama's involvement of the train incident as enough proof for society to be on their favor, but for me it could have been more meaningful for the rest of the Bird Club characters to actively do hero work, even more so after chapter 31 stated it as it was going to be a given.

We could've had them react to a small bit of a growing fanbase in the public eye. Like people identifying 5 distinct birdmen in Tokyo, idk saying which ones are their favorites, making a joke on how Karasuma is visibly the shortest birdguy of them. It could be funny, them experiencing being more popular~.

(Really, I would be just adding stuff to spice up the content between the arcs, not necessarily changing it, but because I haven't fully read everything yet. I also want to be respectful towards Tanabe's story. I'm currently rereading the story and so far I'm on the 8th volume. I just really like thinking of what if there was an anime adaptation, and what aspects of the story could be fleshed out more in an animated format? I keep daydreaming of getting to watch episode one, but it doesn't exist (┬┬﹏┬┬)).

Extras~

I'd add a joke where they mention at least she didn't take out some weird cat minion foot soldiers or something, as she was already a handful with Bolt.

(Image of the cat boys parodying tokutatsu series)

Also, a bit of a missed opportunity here not having Bolt, a big cat, hunt them down like little birds, cause you know, they're birdmen~

And this would also greatly add towards the lack of action in the series (as I've seen people have said).

There can be so much more space for more character interactions and growth in interesting ways.

[thepantsuexplorer]

None could top me. Not in chess, not in academics, not even in Martial Arts. I was just the #1. Always. Gazes, be it of jealousy, praise or curiosity, all pierced me like sharp daggers. The one to always meet expectations. But the eyes that spied me, the eyes that have never been close to me in any existing aspect a human could achieve, never tried to understand, nor give any thought to what I've wanted, thinking that with my capabilities, I could obtain all the glory I'd like, all the things I'd set eyes upon. But what I've been searching for, was something they would call a disadvantage. Something that they would not be able to comprehend. I wished for the very same thing all the best gladiators of the arenas were looking for; someone to compete with me. Someone who could do the same things I did, as well as I did. Someone who forces me to push myself to the limit in a 400m race, someone who can take me down in Judo at least once; someone who can beat me.

It's lonely up here. As the only people that are level with me in competition venues are the spectators, I feels as if I am a man flying above the clouds, being kept company by the planes soaring over the sky. Being a valedictorian in every activity, I wholely despise competitions and tournaments. No, I have not gotten bored of recieving gold medals, gold trophies. My garage is full of them, and I do not intend to stop gaining more 1st place prizes until I find my match. But I have never gotten used to recieving one thing out of these races; judgement. The backbiting of those not bathed in the light of victory. In the aftermath of every single competition I win, I can only feel hateful presences. The jealousy of the lot of my enemies. I'm unsure whether they do this in order for me to hear them or not, but the whispers and murmurs of the guardians of fellow competitors make me sick. "Of course he'd win, he's known nationally for that," never have I gone through a day without hearing that. When will they understand how lonely it is to be the only one singled out in every aspect? Every day, I pray for that day to come, the day they don't complain that I'd have won by default.

The inside of an airplane is cold. But compared to the stage, it's as warm as the embrace of my mother. A trip to Tanabe, motherland of the Aikido martial art, for an international Tomiki Aikido tournament, to find the teenager best at the art. Everything went on naturally, of course, while waiting before matches, many people's pupils were locked onto me. This tournament tested your ability to defend, while leaving your attacker unharmed, in the form of Randori, with participants taking turns. Measuring the time taken, form and flexibility of the techniques, the competitor with the best of those would be the victor. After the opening of the event, the competition began.

I'm surprised. Moved. It's the first time I've felt this much sweat running down my back, and my forehead. My match's back was that of a lady. She wasn't all that tall, and you wouldn't guess her to be a fighter with those frail-looking limbs. And yet, with a beautiful taisabaki which even my eyes could not grasp, a transition of gotai to jutai which one would never expect, and the fewest moves I've ever seen in a Tori, it was painfully obvious who of us is better, topping it with the fact that I was dragged to the floor with the gentleness of the highest angels. When did the floor feel so soft? Laying on the ground, I cried. But these were Tara of joy, and I was smiling the widest smile done in Japan. I've finally found the one to beat me. With the announcement of the winner, she looked back at me, pathetic as a cockroach, and for the first time in my 6 years of being 'best in Japan at everything,' I made eye contact with my opponent. And those were the same eyes I wore every moment of my life before I met her. Dead, lonely, misunderstood. We were just alike. And with the empty face she wore leaving, I finally understood. And I didn't want to see what I looked like on another person.

(I hurriedly studied Aikido to write this so I'm probably very misinformed. Haha)

“There’s always someone better.“ It’s you. You’re the one who is always better, whether it’s better at tobogganing or better at playing the kazoo. And man, it’s lonely at the top.