#If his mangaka doesn't give him love we will

[gemgdynamight0]

KATSUKI WON THE FINAL STAGE OF POLL. they're gonna make a bronze statue of him. WE DID IT😭😭😭❤️🎉🎉

I mean he IS the symbol of victory. This was a perfect victory 😭

[zolo-san]

Love your thoughts on Law 🥰👌. I'd love to hear your thoughts on Sanji and women. Is he really a pervert? Why does he claim that women need to be treated with respect but goes crazy for their boobs every time he sees them? 🤔

Okay, Okay so I actually do have a lot of thought/opinions about Sanji and his view/treatment of women~ (gonna put think in a read more because otherwise this post is gonna be so long lol) Also, I just want to say, thank you so much for asking anon, I'm always looking for an excuse to ramble on about my One Piece character thoughts (And I'm glad you liked my thoughts on Law!!!)

Oda and Toei's Writing and it's Effect on Sanji's Character

In order to fully discuss this topic, we have to get a little more meta about it all and acknowledge Oda as a writer as well as common Anime/Manga tropes and gags and Anime filler to pad run-times

Sanji going crazy over women and tending to have over the top and often perverted reactions to them is very much a result of a common trope in Anime/Manga - It's meant to be a gag and not taken too seriously (Tho imo, that gag gets quite tired and escalates over time throughout the OP series) We see the same gag with Brook - it's normally not meant to be a defining character trait or something that's seen as harmful/predatory, it's realistically just a dumb (honestly immature) joke The pervert gag/trope has never been one I care for but alas, I choose to consume a type of media that is primarily written by men who think that type of thing is funny~ (I will give Oda a bit of a break since he started writing One Piece when he was in hi early 20s, so he was still pretty immature himself) I do think, however, that Toei is very responsible for some to the more obnoxious "Sanji pervert" moments Yes, Oda does write a good amount of them, but the writers for the anime will often take the joke and run with it to buy them some time and stretch out an episode (We see this a lot with the whole "Usopp is a coward bit" too) If you're not aware, a lot of anime of current, on-going, manga series will often add a lot of filler and gags to fill up their episode run time They do this for two main reason: The first being to swap off animation teams or give the main team more time (often times filler episodes are animated by a different team than the main story episodes) and the second being a way to give the mangaka time to write more chapters and insure that the anime doesn't catch up to the manga too quickly (both giving animation teams a break/more time to animate and giving time for more chapters to be written is also a huge factor in why shows go on hiatus as well) That being said, dumb gags like "Sanji's a pervert" and "Usopp is a coward" are very easy ways for the animation team to waste time in an episode (I would also like to point out that some of the more egregiously perverted shots and moments in general are really just a choice by the Toei animators and I have some beef with that, but we're not gonna get into that right now)

Now, I truly believe that a lot of Sanji's more perverted behavior when it comes to women is not truly meant to be a defining character trait I think this because when we first meet Sanji and right up until about Thriller Bark, his behavior around women is fairly harmless and more of an admiration and appreciation (I'm also talking about his cannon behavior that is seen in the manga, not the additions from Toei) Thriller Bark is the first time that we truly see Sanji say something that implies him to be a real pervert when he talks about how ever since he was a kid he became obsessed with the Suke Suke no Mi so he could sneak into a women's bath house and spy on them naked This is truly the beginning of, as my sister's fiance likes to call it, "The Sanji Character Assassination" While this addition is very 🙄, to me and feels a bit out of character from everything we've seen and known about how Sanji really thinks and acts around women, I can't help but feel like this and a lot of the following "Sanji Pervert" moments are mostly a result of Oda running the joke too long and finding a dumb joke a bit too funny

I truly fear sometimes, when it comes to Sanji and women, that Oda has lost the plot~

but I still stand by it all being a gag and not really meant to be a defining character trait or Sanji's real feelings While yes, we often see Sanji act a bit perverted at times, when push comes to shove and Sanji has to act, regarding a woman in any way that is actually plot relevant, he tends to drop the "pervert" persona and return back to what I feel is his true feelings towards women

Sanji's Real Feeling about Women

When we're first introduced to Sanji he's shown as a guy who has a great appreciation for women He treats them nice, pampering them, he talks about how beautiful and wonderful and graceful all women are He puts them up on a pedestal, but he also sees women as complex people We see this first with his reaction to Nami leaving and "betraying" the crew when it comes to Arlong park While he does swoon over Nami, he also doesn't hold her actions against her because he believes that she must have her reasons for doing what she did and he's proven right when Nojiko tells them about Nami's past (Something that Sanji is very sympathetic towards - he immediately recognizes her suffering and sees it as a valid reason for her actions) This same behavior is seen again with Robin during Water 7 Even though Robin tries everything she can do to get Sanji to hate her and leave her be, he refuses because he believes Robin to be a good person who must have her reasons for acting this was and correctly assumes that she must be being backed into a corner somehow Sanji forgives a lot of women throughout the series who act in ways that would push most people away or most people would see as unforgivable because he recognizes that most women don't have a choice He recognizes that women, in general, are not treated equally to men and that as a result they don't have as much freedom or self agency as men in the world And I think that's something that Sanji can relate to I think he truly understand how it feels to not have control over what happens to you and what you can and can't do He grew up (partly) in Germa after all...

I think that Sanji sees women as strong and brave while still being gentle and kind And I think he truly hates how often they suffer oppression and mistreatment And this is a major contributing factor to his over the top nice treatment and pampering of women Sanji sees the unjust treatment of women around him - people he views as so naturally good and kind - and he wants nothing more than to be able to do something to stop that mistreatment and he does so by trying to protect them at all costs, including refusing to ever hit a woman A lot of people give Sanji shit for this character trait, but I think it's much more complicated than him seeing women as "weaker" than men I can't help but feel that it's more motivated by a refusal to add to a woman's suffering

I also think there's an interesting conversation to be had when it comes to Sanji and "feminism" compared to other characters like Zoro or Luffy It feels like a gag when Sanji gets pissed at Zoro for fighting women, but I think there's something there~ A perfect example is the first time Zoro fight Tashigi in Louguetown and Sanji gets SUPER pissed about it He accuses Zoro of being disrespectful of Tashigi as a woman because he's fighting her, but I think Zoro sees his choice to fight her as just the opposite And I think a lot of that has a lot to do with the women in their lives that shaped them For Zoro, one of the most important and influential people in his life growing up was Kuina And I truly think that her not only being a better swordsman than Zoro, but telling him about her dream and the fact that she didn't think that she'd ever be able to achieve it due to being a woman really affected him and the way he sees woman and how they should be treated Kuina was someone Zoro deeply respected and I think he hated that the world made her feel that she was inadequate and unable to achieve her dream just because of her biological sex I think this felt like a great injustice to Zoro and he wanted to prove her wrong So while Sanji sees fighting a woman as disrespectful, I think Zoro would see not fighting a woman as disrespectful and an insult to Kuina's memory (I could go on about Zoro meeting women as his equal is further supported by many fights he has, including his later refusal to "help" Tashigi during Punk Hazard, but that's a different rant for a different day lol)

In a similar way to Zoro, Luffy also treats women as complete equals He doesn't discriminate He just sees them as people, choosing to fight them when necessary, befriend them if he feels it's right, and never putting them above or below himself And just like with Zoro, Sanji had scolded Luffy multiple times for fighting women because Sanji just doesn't see it that way

And I think that all of this: Sanji putting women up on a pedestal, wanting to protect them, refusing to fight them, viewing them as both angelic, but also complex people all goes back to the influential women in Sanji's early life

Sanji, Sora, and Reiju

*I'm going to give a quick disclaimer at the top of this part because I literally just started Whole Cake, so most of my knowledge here comes from bits and pieces that I've learned/picked up about Sanji's backstory and family (I'm not someone who seeks out spoilers, but I exist on the internet and have obviously learned spoilers for Whole Cake and Sanji's backstory/family)

For Sanji, two of the most influential women in his early life were his mother and sister And I think that they had a great impact on how he views women in general

Sora was clearly one of the few people in Sanji's life in The Germa Kingdom who truly loved him She loved him from before he was born to the point that she risked her own life for him She went out of her way to encourage Sanji to be a kind and caring person and follow his dreams even though that was something that she would never get to do herself She was such a good a caring figure in Sanji's life and I truly think that she is the main reason why Sanji believes women to be naturally good and caring people Sanji sees his mother in all women even if it's to his own detriment

Reiju also had a very big and interesting impact on Sanji as a kid She was never anywhere near as kind to him as his mother, but she still reached out a had to him and was the most caring of all of his siblings Despite how she really felt about it, however, just like Sora, Reiju was trapped She was unable to escape her family or her upbringing, she was forced to become what was expected of her and to, at the vert least, assimilate into the family in order to survive And I think that it is because of Reiju that Sanji has the belief that women are complicated people He saw his sister, who was clearly a good person at heart, forced to act a certain way and abide behaviors she clearly did not agree with simply to protect herself She was forced to act and become what their father and brothers made her for her own safety She didn't have the strength or will to defy them, but despite all that she still found kindness for Sanji in her own way Reiju was far from perfect, but she did what she could manage and I think that meant a lot to Sanji and made him very aware of how often women are forced into a corner like his sister and mother were

And I truly think this is why in Dressrosa, Sanji is so willing to first help and then later forgive and continue helping Viola even after everything she does to him I think Sanji sees his sister in Viola and would do anything and endure anything to help a woman in such a terrible situation like that Yes, when Sanji first sees Viola and swoons over her, it feels like the "woman crazy" Sanji gag, but as things develop it's clear that Sanji very genuinely wants to help her He sees a woman who is clearly trapped and asking for help and he can't refuse her Then once she betrays him, he's still unwilling to believe that she isn't still trapped, he saw genuine good in her and a genuine call for help (just like he saw in his sister all those years back) and this time he can actual do something about it

So yes, while there are for sure some real moments where Sanji seems like he's just a little horny pervert when it comes to women, but I think there is a lot of evidence that that is not his real feelings toward women and more of an overplayed, and frankly out of hand, gag

Even if you look at moments like when Sanji is in Nami's body during Punk Hazard While yes, Sanji does initially have the pervert response of "Ohhh!!! Boobs!!" I think that the more notable moments are when he stops and considers how he needs to be careful in Nami's body (he's the only one involved in the body swaps that really does this too - rip Chopper, Franky really fucked him up lol) Despite his obvious anxiety, he refrains from smoking until Nami gives him permission He makes an effort not to get Nami's body injured in combat And even considers and how fighting in his normal way and using techniques that his body is accustom to would probably hurt Nami and tries to avoid it when possible (tho he does push Nami athletically to a degree that makes it clear that she's much more physically capable then I think even she realizes lol) I personally feel that the moments that Sanji is considerate and respectful of Nami's body far out weigh the moments when he's not (He's also far nicer to Nami's body than she is to his lol)

To summarize, I don't think that Sanji is just a pervert, I think Oda just thinks the pervert joke is funny~ There's much more evidence (especially during character defining moments for Sanji) that Sanji has a deep respect for women He appreciates their beauty and believes them to be good and kind All he wants is to be able to protect them, especially now that he is actually capable of doing so He understand the inequality, injustice, and oppression that a lot of women face and understands that in part due to all that, many women must act in ways that seem, on the surface, to be unforgivable He sees women as complex people who often times have to make difficult decisions for the good of themselves and others and Sanji gives them grace for that

[earthtodora]

btw the idea of the epilogue giving ozawa screentime doesn't piss me off because i'm a delusional itafushi shipper who convinced herself that it was gonna be canon (it's shonen jump, of course they're not gonna make two guys kiss), but because it feels cheap, unearned, and out of place.

first of all, gege didn't even want to include that chapter in the manga. it was his editor who convinced him that there was need for a slice-of-life chapter, and something that will make yuuji's character even more lovable and show his kindness and humanity. the chapter did exactly that. it showed that even though yuuji's type is a tall girl with a big butt, when he's forced to pick (forced, because at first he says he doesn't like anyone, so it's not like he was harboring a secret crush on ozawa) he picks ozawa because he notices certain qualities in her that others don't, and that's what matters in the end. yuuji's type doesn't mean he's superficial and doesn't value personality.

second of all, the fact that gege didn't force romance on his characters is part of what makes jujutsu kaisen great. i think yuuji's arc is very compelling without any romantic subplots. it doesn't take anything away from his story if he doesn't have a love interest. it makes his journey feel much more genuine and relatable, and also shows that romance doesn't have to be part of everyone's story to be considered a complete one. if it had been built up and hinted at during the series, i'd have no problem with it, but to give him a love interest after the story is already over, and a completely random one at that, is a disservice to his arc. it doesn't feel earned. it just feels like "oh, i forgot to add romance so let's stick a girl in here and make her confess to the main character."

third, the only explanation i have for ozawa being added as an epilogue character is that it's supposed to be fanservice. like, it's common in shonen manga for the mangaka to address or confirm the romantic interest of characters in an epilogue or at the very end. we saw this recently with mha, we saw it happen with naruto, and now it might happen in jujutsu kaisen. the difference is, in jjk, there wasn't any sort of set-up apart from a long forgotten chapter about the female character liking yuuji. now, if it's fanservice, i'm thinking, how about considering the fans? cause, the most popular ship for yuuji isn't itazawa, i can tell you that. if you're gonna throw the fans a bone, give them the bone they want.

anyway. i know it's silly to rant about the epilogue before we even know what's in it. but, realistically, what other purpose could ozawa have in the epilogue besides the one above?

so yes, i am worried about the epilogue, but i'll keep my expectations low and hope for the best.

[aokuro-san]

Regarding chapter 293 of Blue Lock… (Comment/Personal opinion)

Okay, I think… I have some things to say about this chapter ending because I see that, in general, the vast majority of fans are quite disappointed. However, I don't think that it's the author's fault (or the authors, in this case). The problem is our own emotionality (which is not a bad thing, but we have already seen that the author leans towards rational and logical decisions when playing a game). We have the point of view of ALL THE PLAYERS, and that, whether you like it or not, provokes a certain empathy in you (if you have it). But the authors DON'T GIVE A DAMN about this. It is said from the beginning: HERE THE IMPORTANT THING IS TO WIN. Nothing else matters (although for us IT IS NOT LIKE THAT, okay).

But going to the chapter…

Without a doubt, I would say that it is one of the most consistent mangas that I have read in a long time. And the mangakas know their characters perfectly and how they are going to act.

Oh, yes, I also wanted Ness to score. Or Kunigami. BUT BECAUSE I EMPATHIZE WITH WHAT THEY HAVE SUFFERED (especially Kaiser's mockery of Ness in front of Isagi… Ugh. I get pissed off just thinking about it. And look at how Kaiser has suffered too! But he is such a son of a bitch, that he doesn't deserve to win right now, honestly. Of the two, I think that Kaiser is a much worse player than Ness, honestly, and I think that Ness, without him, has more chances of getting ahead).

However, CHANGING IS NOT THAT EASY FOR EVERYONE. Isagi is the KING OF ADAPTABILITY, just as he has been defined in some panels (and he also loves to win -like Ego, haha- and he is quite a fighter and impulsive; a guy determined in his objective). And it is NATURAL that HE is the one who can most easily intercept a goal. Especially because, even though Ness tries, IT IS NOT THAT EASY TO GET OUT OF A CONTROL AND MANIPULATION THAT HAS LASTED FOR YEARS (from the beginning, Kaiser went after him to turn him into his subject…). But we EMPATHIZE, we feel BAD (I confess that I cried my eyes out -this is very hard for me, okay?- with the end of the U-20 because I wished with all my might that Rin would score… But it didn't happen. And it hurt like hell, haha, and I scored volume 17 with one point less just because of that, hahaha). That makes Isagi's goal take away from us, rather than add to us. Although it is LOGICAL and COHERENT that HE IS THE ONE TO SCORE THE GOAL OF ALL THOSE PRESENT (how this boy has improved, haha) due to his ALREADY DEMONSTRATED SKILLS (oh, and he is also quite manipulative -although I don't think he is one hundred percent aware of it-…).

Regarding PxG vs. Bastard München being the worst game of the League, blah blah… I don't agree at all. For me, this one and the one vs. Machine City HAVE BEEN AWESOME. I think the problem lies in the fact that reading the manga in one go is not the same as reading a chapter every X time. So you always have to keep that in mind when reading something published weekly in my opinion. Because if you read the game in one go, I'm pretty sure you'll see the epic battle that was created here, honestly (which is also logical, because we're facing the two best teams in the league and, whether you like it or not, that has influenced why it lasted so long: we're facing very good players (in general) who will give anything for the game… And it has been proven in spades).

On the other hand… I think that sometimes we forget that at one point in the game THERE WERE SEVERAL PEOPLE, including MYSELF, who wished ISAGI TO SCORE (which hadn't happened to me for a long time). And now that he's here… It tastes bitter. Like most of his goals. Because we can't stop thinking about the ones we thought deserved to score; because we have feelings, at the end of the day. But… would we win any game thinking like that? Would we score any goal? Let's think about it seriously, because that's what it poses. Sometimes the objectives of one, unintentionally (or not) crush the objectives of others. Because we can't all be the best. And that's what Blue Lock offers us. A great manga in my eyes.

Anyway… That's what I think, I hope there's PEACE in the comments, because the last time I said something about a manga here on Tumblr they got down on me a bit, hahaha.

Have a nice day!

[algerian-lady]

Listen, his clothing style is completely random and tacky, but he makes it work somehow, maybe because he's excessively handsome? Jk, I think his style reflects who he is as a character, he can dress formally too ofc, when the occasion is offered, but otherwise he's just not interested in that, and his huge coats and oversized clothes as well as his large built and height, make him appear as this huge friendly bear, intimidating as a mafia should be, but also super warm and cozy when you get to see his smile and super soft personality.

I really love Dio's character in Khr, I love so many characters so it's difficult to pick favorites, but I'd have wanted to see him more (like not as a side character, but see his work, life, powers etc as an individual and the Cavallone family in general) that's why I wanna write smth for me abt him (prob gonna share it with my sis). And while I was looking back on his appearance and fashion choice, did I really start analyzing it, like ofc all khr is like this, it reminds me in a sense of bleach with how random the fits were, it's nostalgic to the 2000's style and I love it ofc, I love homey comfy clothes, they just put you in a different mood.

But since Dino is from the few characters who aren't attending school, and he doesn't give a shit abt official wear, that's why we get to see some of that clothing style ppl were wearing at the time. I'm saying it's the fashion sense of that period yes, but the author still gives their character their individuality, like Gokudera has a very edgy punk fashion statement, despite being in school he's always popping up with a new killer outfit and it's so interesting to see. (like I'm acknowledging here that they don't only wear their school uniforms, it's just what they wear the most, but he's still outstanding outside of that contrary to the others who made made forget they wore other stuff)

This is just a rumble and if I start talking about everyone and comparing, it'll be a mess, so let's just focus on Dino. The guy is at the head of one of the biggest mafia families of his time and at such a young age, all of his men are in uniforms to give their family a decent representation as a serious gangsta mafia unite, but their leader doesn't, he just dresses up like a hipster. The thing is he can clearly afford to dress up more richly, but he doesn't.

In manga and animes, I usually make a wild guess that authors may not know if what the person is wearing is considered fashionable,( like I'm an artist and have absolutely no idea how my characters will be perceived, I could think 'this character needs to appear fashionable' but ppl online will call them tacky and messy, especially generations later, across continents ) I have also a feeling that bcz it was so old the perception of fashion was different (as I have pointed many times) and lastly, bcz the Mangaka (s) is/are prob Japanese, they could have a certain image (right or wrong) over foreign fashion, esp from a country as fashionable as Italy, so that'd explain why they wanna give an impression with characters that came from there, like Gokudera his sister Bianchi and Dino, saying like look these ppl are youngsters from Italy, they wear like 2000's magazines. All of these are speculations, to say that those could be some reasons those characters wear this specific way.

If we put these aside, and consider that the Manga artist know exactly what they are doing and it's 100% what you think it is, in this case, Dio's décontracté objectively messy style compared to his men, has a clear message, he's saying" I'm your homie clumsy big bro, fuck étiquette, i'm the boss hanging out with my fam, let me live my age, I'm tired of this mafia stuff so I don't have time to dress up so I put on this mop I found on the trash bin." or whatever. But that appearance could also be 100% intentional, maybe he wanna look approachable to Tsuna sensing he'll become the head of the Vangolla and wanting to maintain a good alliance with them so he needs tsuna to like him, he also us aware he's staying around kids and don't wanna intimidate them with formal wear again because those kids are future mafia allies and he's counting a lot on their family in general. Or he just genuinely want to give a good impression because of he's a genuine guy and his family despite being mafia, have a pretty good reputation.

In conclusion. Dino can wear suits, we saw him in them, yet his appearance is mostly casual( but still gangsta, more like street gangsta, your local drug dealer not huge corporation like) , he still looks intimidating from a first glance until you get on his good side and discover he's a good guy. He could prefer this style over the other because it's cozier and more like him or because he wanna appear cozier and thinks that's the way to do it (altho he'd have made his men dress up to if that was the case). Whatever is the case, I just think it represents his personality a lot and his character in the series (as underrated as I feel it was) as well as the time era.

[angy-grrr]

more than repressing feelings, I think Izuku tends to not think about himself in general -about how others could actually be interested in him romantically for example- and usually keeps many things to himself, sometimes out of necessity. Its like he is completely clueless, truly unaware, and knows to put his feelings to the side in order to be good at heroics, but doesn't suffer from this decision as he lets himself feel those emotions.

To compare, Ochako did suffer from her feelings because they were dictating her career and decisions, who she was, and prefers to pretend she directly doesnt feel them at all; Izuku suffers from them when something really hurtful happens and becomes way too much to handle. Maybe Ochako's feelings arent that big, but they grow out of her repression; Izuku feels his feelings freely, but they are so big already he has trouble handling them.

But who is Izuku outside of it?

There's this misconception, out of translations and not understanding the clues of the original Japanese text, of him repressing and thinking his feelings for Katsuki are gross however turns out he likes them, he doesnt reject them at all. He knows others would see Katsuki's behavior as gross and inappropriate, and yet he acts like him instinctively. This is what he held back when he fought for the second time with Katsuki, and the reason why he lost.

When he had to stop thinking about Katsuki's death, it was the best decision to ensure he would fight against ShigAFO without losing control -it wasn't a negative thing from him, just the best option. This is why Katsuki told him in the memories ep to not think about unnecessary stuff, because he can't stop thinking about those; this is also why he had to get away from the Himiko Ochako Tsuyu fight, because he wouldnt be able to ignore those things.

Katsuki on another hand is able to fight while thinking of emotional memories, and while he died in that moment

I believe there's something going on with Katsuki tho, the little smiles he has given were strange in my opinion, like melancholic, and we still need to know what's going on with his heart just. Being able to handle so much when it exploded.

Idk if we will get a word about Izuku's reaction towards his corpse -sometimes mangakas and comic writers do that, using the rage moment on its own to explain what the character feels when a loved one is hurt instead of giving time to explore the MC's sadness.

Izuku is a hopeful character, but he has a big heart full of emotions and there's something he hid from Katsuki as we saw in their second fight, and I have no idea if this will be brought up. He seems to be focusing more on heroism at the moment -he is sending the message to Spinner like Shigaraki wanted, he talked with Ochako about the topic focusing mostly on a hopeful future more than expressing internal conflicts, and asked mentors and figures of authority about what could be done.

Some people pointed out these chapters are going back to the beginning, and I believe it would be a nice detail to go back to All Might and Izuku and, finally, to Izuku and Katsuki.

I would love to see a more "simple" approach with a bkdk scene; with this I mean to go to the beginning beginning, outside of heroics, just them and the river.

[nonexistentirl]

Can we get a Horimiya manga sequel?

I need to see ToruYuki end up together. Theirs was a slower burn romance than the main couple. It felt like their relationship had made some progress during the latter parts of the manga but then the series ended without giving them a proper closure.

We never got to see Papa Sengoku find out about his son's girlfriend either. He'd have loved Remi!

What happened with Chika and Shindou, whether they succeeded in convincing Chika's parents about their relationship or not.

Heck we never even got to see Miyamura's father! I think there was an illustration of him by the mangaka. That man was HOT! Too hot to not make a single appearance throughout the series.

And Sengoku finding out about Miyamura's tattoos finally! Now Sengoku's gonna just believe that bazooka lie for the rest of eternity.

If nothing else they should have at least given us Miyamura and Ishikawa calling each other by their first names! Remember how jealous Miyamura got when Ishikawa got on a first name basis with Yanagi before he did with Miyamura, when the two have known each other for longer?

Yeah, it kinda felt like none of the earlier plot points were properly wrapped up by the end. As much as I liked Yuna and Souta's romance, I'd have loved to have these in the main story as well.

And at the same time I'd like to talk about how the manga struggles with consistency.

Hori and Miyamura did the deed but Miyamura doesn't know her boob size?

Sengoku and Hori were childhood friends but she and Papa Sengoku couldn't recognise each other?

The matter of Hori's insecurities about being seen without her make up by her school friends is never addressed again. The early chapters Hori was so self conscious about how people perceived her and keeping up appearances.

We should have had more development on that front as well with their friends coming over to the Hori house and seeing her in her comfort zone. It would have contributed to her character development. I think throughout the entire series, other than Miyamura, only Yuki and Sengoku got to visit the Hori household. Sengoku is her childhood friend so he doesn't count. But they should have had the whole gang come over to her house at some point. Maybe a girls sleepover with Yuki, Remi and Sakura.

The thing with her parents too. In the beginning one of her biggest issues was her parents being absent all the time and her having to take care of herself, her brother and the house by herself most of the time. But as the story progressed the whole thing went to shits because the Hori parents are home pretty frequently. Kyoko never confronted them about her feelings after being left alone as a child. The issues with Miyamura, like the bullying and stuff, were addressed and dealt with pretty decently as the story progressed. But often times it felt like Hori's character was completely butchered for the sake of funny. Hori did not deserve that, tbh. While Miyamura's character developed for the better, Hori's went through the biggest downgrade of the century.

As much as I love this series, I also have many gripes with it. Despite running for the course of 9 years, the ending somehow felt rushed and incomplete to me.

[class1akids]

Hey. I just read your "Class A never leaves anyone behind" and I remember you saying years ago that Deku being a hero (in the traditional scene) while quirkless was the best outcome for his character. Do you still think so? I loved your story, how you portray the characters and the dynamics within, and I loved how much effort the whole class put in, and my favorite thing is that, well, you make sense of the canon, if you know what I mean? But I confess that I still think it's a little weird that they made a (very expensive) suit for Deku without really asking what he wanted, just presuming so because they thought he wouldn't have been honest about what he wanted. And I really liked the scene between Bakugou and All Might because yes, Bakugou's reasoning should be questioned, was that really about Deku or about him instead. But, do you think there was any other way of doing this? This being Quirkless hero Deku? Or maybe, the mangaka should just have persisted with Teacher Deku instead?

Thank you! I wrote that fic in sheer rage of fandom dissing Class A after 430 (and especially Shoto and Momo), and I wanted to develop a canon-compliant-ish scenario for the suit that didn't fill terribly ooc to me.

Yes, I still think quirkless tech hero Deku is a great outcome to the premise of Izuku's story, but no, I don't like how the manga implemented it.

I think there were several terrible writing decisions around it:

Sacrificing OFA being Kudo's plan instead of Izuku's.

OFA being sacrificed leads to Tomura's death instead of saving him.

Have Deku losing OFA be a plot-point for BAKUGOU(!!) and focusing on Bakugou's feelings about it rather than exploring at all what Deku thinks and feels

Not even showing the last of the embers

Not showing at all Izuku's decision to give up on being a hero and just opting to be a teacher

Have Izuku be fully passive in the suit - just waiting around like Cinderella, until Bakugou (!! - again it's HIS plotpoint - why?) drops it in his lap.

Obviously the "pity suit" doesn't play well with the audience, so Hori walks it back in 431 saying Izuku only uses it on the weekends and wanted to be a teacher "even if he had OFA"

Basically writing himself out of the pity suit narrative, into another plothole / character assassination, where Izuku seems to use a billion-dollar suit his friends hustled 8 years of their careers to develop as a hobby.

Obviously, it didn't need to be this way. If Hori could stop drawing Uraraka for a second, he could have focused on Izuku - about his feelings about losing his quirk, about the changing society, about his place in it, about his new definition of what a hero is.

We could have seen him struggle in the hero course and either decide that there are other routes to be a hero (teacher) or take an active role to prove that even quirkless people can work as pro heroes and have him really be at the center of the suit.

I think it would have been more meaningful for Bakugou to confront him about his dream, to encourage him that he can do it, to tell Izuku that he's worth it and he's entitled to reach for his dream. A DvK3 - but a talk instead.

[sarahjtv]

My Hero Academia Chapter 428 Spoiler Talk: Did Kohei Horikoshi Just Blueball Us???

So, that just happened, huh? Not a bad chapter by any means. It was a solid, slice-of-life-ish chapter that continues to give us our beloved Class 2-A kids some idea of how life is going to be like now that the war is over:

The chapter starts off where we left off 2 weeks ago with the new first-years (the new Class 1-A) fangirling over Shoto and Bakugo. Iida has to step in to stop the chaos while Bakugo and Shoto hide behind him like little kids using their big brother as a shield 😂! It's cool to know that our kids have fans now and seeing them as Senpai to new Kohais is a nice idea to think about. I also like that there's a panel of Shinsou in the class to remind all of us that he's part of the main group now.

There's also a tall 1st-year who is inspired by Deku and wants to be like him after seeing him fight in the war! I love that for him 💚! I don't think Deku's really had any fans outside his classmates before, so it's nice to see how people are looking up to him like how he looked up to All Might.

A little later, we see our Class 2-A working to help clean up the wreckage from the war with Fat Gum, Best Jeanist, and Edgeshot who FUCKING SURVIVED (BRO, HOW???) and is now just a big strand of string with a face and tiny string arms 😂😭! It's a funny visual for now, but Edgeshot says that he'll be better than ever hopefully which makes Bakugo show a wobbly, awkward smile 🧡.

I also love how much Bakugo has changed in general. It has been a slow, general progression, but it's clear that he's softening up and opening up more to the people around him. It's such great character development for him. I love this dude so much 🧡

It's also cool to see the kids work and use their Quirks to help clean up all the rubble. We've seen them do this a little before during the Provisional License Exam, but it's good to see it again because it's a good reminder that there's more to Hero work than just beating the bad guys and saving civilians. I can absolutely see how a lot of their Quirks can help out with clean-up duty, but I can't help but wonder how people like Jiro, Shinsou, and Kaminari use their Quirks though can already think of some ideas. Actually, Kaminari can restore power to towns and cities, but he can't use his Quirk to help pick up rubble.

The civilians and even the new Class 1-A kids come along and are more than willing to help clean up the mess too. The heroes are being trusted more again and then getting help from the people who they thought lost faith in them is a great sign for that bright future everyone hopes for. I also have high hopes for the new UA kids. They're already heroes in their own right by wanting to help during their first few days at the school. I also really like the look of the few new designs we get out of these kids. As expected of our mangaka!

Later that night, we are told that the students at UA aren't forced to stay at the dorms anymore, probably because things have calmed down after the war. This is good to hear because while I know the kids loved life at the dorms, I'm sure they missed their families too. I won't be surprised if some students in general decide to stay home for a while. I'm sure this also gives Horikoshi an excuse not to draw so many characters in one panel because god knows this man has his work cut out for him over the next 2-3 weeks.

The last couple of pages boil down to beautifully drawn panels of Ochako who's still keeping up that fake smile and optimistic façade and Izuku and Tsuyu worrying about her because something is CLEARLY wrong. Ochako does eventually break down remembering Himiko Toga and her fate. This chapter doesn't outright confirm nor deny what happened to Toga, but I'm pretty sure she's dead. I don't think Ochako would be this sad if Toga was alive in any capacity. It sucks because Toga had a change of heart in her final moments and I think she would have been given something of a second chance had she lived. But, maybe not because I don't know how society would really treat her if she was allowed to go out in public again. I would love for Toga to be alive, but I'm betting my gatcha money that she isn't... Still, this is a big loss for Ochako and I feel for her. I still can't help but feel we got blueballed on Toga's fate, though and I'm not sure how to really feel about that.

The final page shows us that Izuku used some embers of One For All to get to Ochako who's on the same hill back during the "We're Weird" conversation they had before the Final War. First off, Izuku bby 🥹💚. Second, this absolutely sets up Izuku and Ochako finally talking to each other since the Final War ended. I assume some kind of love confession is going to happen, but I'm not 100% sure because I don't know if now is a good time for that or not. Ochako definitely needs a shoulder to cry on and Izuku needs to talk to someone about what happened, so we'll have to see where things go from here.

Regardless, we have 2 chapters left and something has to happen before the end. It's going to be bittersweet next week though because we are getting the Cover and a Color Page in WSJ! These will be the last ones we get, so I hope they're special. Knowing Horikoshi, the art and coloring are going to be immaculate and I am going to cry happy tears for the next 2 weeks.

We will also get a 16-chapter tie-in chapter for the new You're Next movie by Yoko Akiyama, the mangaka for the spin-off Team Up Missions manga! I love her art so much! It's very similar to Horikoshi's, but the style and the coloring especially is so soft and cute! It's perfect for a slice-of-life-esque spin-off like TUM and she hasn't disappointed me yet. Plus, I'm 99% sure she did the manga tie-ins for the 2nd and 3rd movies too, so this was expected.

We're finally at the penultimate and final chapters of the series. I still can't believe it's ending. Just 2 weeks to go starting this Sunday.

[animentality]

I'm not looking forward to season 3 of Blue Lock.

There will be good moments sprinkled here and there, like Bachira doing his monster thing, Chigiri stealing from Kaiser, Nagi and Reo getting re-married, but the Neo Egoist League Arc is way too long. It's gonna be like 25 full episodes, since the entire arc is over a hundred chapters long, and most of them will be Isagi beefing with Kaiser against players we don't care about.

Plus, all the matches are basically the same. Isagi's team wins every one, and he gets the final goal.

Also he calls Kaiser a bitch.

It's not that I hate Kaiser, I actually love him, I think he's the best character introduced in the NEL arc, it's just that the first arcs of Blue Lock knew not to focus on just one rivalry all the time.

We got new rivalries all throughout the First Selection.

We had an even dispersal of, ok Bachira's a new rival, now here's Kunigami, now here's Chigiri, now here's Nagi and Reo - these were all interesting characters who had space to breathe and develop personal relationships with our MC.

They all had matches where they got to shine as the main play makers. Kunigami got super goals. Bachira outdribbled an entire team on his own. Chigiri had the most epic First Selection moment, when he broke the chains weighing him down. Reo and Nagi were introduced as a demonic duo, and had an entire match to show how good they were together.

Even that side ass character Kuon had an interesting moment...hell, he had two. He fucked up two different games, betrayed his team, and then redeemed himself.

He wasn't even a major character, but he had a singular story to tell, that didn't rely entirely on the specific match he played in, or the goals he scored.

But the Neo Egoist League Arc is like...a rushed mess, that somehow managed to take up 40% of the entire manga at the same time.

It's got the dense, complicated character juggling of the U20 arc, except not good, lol. U20 had high stakes. It was intense, and every character was juggled, sure, but at least they all had their time to shine. That's 22+ characters who had to get some focus, plus the substitutions. I'd say Kaneshiro did a banger job of maintaining the tension, while still moving us around from person to person with consistency. But NEL?

The stakes were immediately lowered by the fact that winning the matches doesn't matter, scoring does.

And it like, cycles through every important character, gives them a single goal, and then proceeds on to the next player who needs to get a goal. Then it neglects that character for another twenty chapters.

There's no even pacing here.

And what's worse is that most of the players on these teams are...not that interesting. Karasu and Otoya, most of the European team members, who basically don't exist... I personally don't like Niko, who just does the same thing Isagi does, or Yukimiya (although at least Yukimiya's backstory is depressingly real, and kinda compelling, even if he himself isn't utilized that well).

I like Hiori, but Nanase and Kurona and Kiyora...I mean, they're kinda just there to give Isagi assists...

They're not quirky and weird and relatable like the freaks of First Selection. They don't get the time and spotlight they need for me to really care.

Like any of these characters could probably be great if the pacing was better, but... it's like the mangaka will just speed through a backstory before one of them passes to Isagi. And then that's it.

The only true spotlight is given to Kaiser or Isagi.

Now Isagi is the MC, so that's alright, although can I just say, he's kind of unlikable during the NEL arc, like, Jesus Christ, was he...awful when he was against Man City...if he hadn't apologized to Yukimiya...hmmm...and after an entire match of calling Nagi and Reo slurs too, lol...but I digress...

And Kaiser is good, he's great, but can you imagine how boring the First Selection arc would've been if it was entirely dedicated to Isagi just beefing with Barou?

Like come on.

It's basically just a glorified training arc, that abandons what made Blue Lock interesting in the first place, which is the high stakes, but then doesn't have the decency to at least still give us the great character drama that we've come to expect from BL.

And that's a shame.

It's also fucking ridiculous for a training arc to be so long.

God.

I hope it ends soon.

Please get back on track.

[mahou-shoujo-dandelion]

Translating Magical Girl Dandelion (threads by the translator Mei Amaki, or @raintreemei)

First thread

"Before #MagicalGirlDandelion comes out next week, I thought I'd share some very surface-level thoughts about the English translation so far. I generally believe translations should speak for themselves, but I guess showing a tiny peek under the hood here and there can't hurt!

I translated chapter 1-3 together. Of those chapters, the hardest line for me was in Chapter 2. It's easy enough to write Shade with his signature bad boy attitude, but it was hard at first to maintain his characterization when he was being sincere. The key is wording.

An earlier rendition of this line was something like "You can be sure that I'll step outta the nearest shadow. So, if you need someone to keep you company..." It's not the worst, but just not quite SHADE.

Tanpopo's catchphrase was really hard too. At the start of a series, you can only guess how it will appear in other contexts. Plus, we have a lot of moving parts. Armor almost treated like a "seed" that must be cracked so it can bloom as a flower? I think I did all right, though!

Chapter 3. This is a "modern fantasy," so it can't sound like a "medieval fantasy." With that said, I got my inspiration for this line as I was rereading Tales of Earthsea by U.K. Le Guin. She used "foul" in some chapter, and it was a eureka moment!

Also, a friend noted that Peony is a lot like Inspector Javert from Les Misérables--which, wow! Yeah! Not that I try to incorporate that in the slightest (if the author doesn't intend it, neither shall I), but it's just a fun similarity in how the char is portrayed by Sensei.

Some funny typos. At first, I had trouble writing "fiend" consistently, and often wrote "friend"...which would have been silly, and absolutely terrible LOL! The same thing happened with "Peony." I kept writing "Pony" at first... I immediately added them to my review checklist.

Some thoughts about terms. I love trying to spin existing terms into some sort of cool magical equivalent, where appropriate. In the case of "magic quotient," the original Japanese was basically "magic amount," which gave a lot of room to come up with something that fits.

"Magic quotient" comes from "intelligence quotient!" Then we have "Blood Magic Content." It is so hard to see, very tiny! This one comes from "blood alcohol content!"

Anyway, I hope that was interesting! I am admittedly shy when it comes to this kinda thing, so I am always at a loss for words... In any case, back into my tiny little cave..."

Second thread

"Under a week away from Magical Girl Dandelion chapter 7! Some surface-level thoughts about the translation so far. If you can't tell, I'm going out of order...

It isn't really possible to express in the translation, but Alice's fiend name (Alice) and his human name (Arisu) are pronounced the same exact way in Japanese--different character usage though! It's just that Arisu also happens to be a Japanese name...!

(Mangaka commentary: "Alice's real name, "Arisu" (有栖), is written in kanji as "栖" and "有る", meaning "to have a place to belong". Alice's parents may have given him this name in the hope that he would be surrounded by friends and find his place in life")

"Give her the boot" and "expel" are the same word in JP! The difference in translation comes from the grammar and tone. Shade is a bad boy, he uses grammar that makes him sound like one. Peony is self-serious, at times extremely grave, so her grammar reflects that too.

The same word can be translated many different ways depending on how the character is supposed to sound, the tone of the scene, the way that the words should flow together as dialog, the fact that Japanese has a higher tolerance for repetition than English, etc...

The Japanese here was originally Ta / n / po / po. However, you can't really have an "n" by itself like that here. Of course, we could have also put an ellipses instead of a "no" for the last balloon, but the way he's talking is very jerky (not the "mean" kind, hah hah)!

So, when you have more balloons than you do words you want to put in them, it's not uncommon to let the meaning of the preceding or subsequent lines bleed into that extra balloon. Here, I took the next "stay back" and started it in the last balloon we see below.

Another upside to this translation technique, is that when you're short on space, you can use the surrounding balloons to unpack more of the meaning than you could in the balloon it was actually said in. Of course, you have to be careful still. The dialog comes in a certain order for a reason so you can't just change up the order willy-nilly. Generally, this technique is used sparingly, when there is no space, when the original order of the information isn't tied to the visuals and changing the order would make more sense for how English is usually worded...

It's a common saying that when you translate from Japanese to English, you translate from the back of the sentence. This is often (but not always) necessary as the two languages frequently present information in the opposite order from the other. However, this is a visual medium, so the order of information is often key to how the author wants to guide the reader. It's vital to respect the order in which authors want to reveal information. As such, compared to literary translation, manga translation generally only adjusts this order within single dialog sets--like I did in the above example. Sorry, a shorter, wordier thread this time around, but I wanted to lightly unpack one of the ways manga translators get around the limited physical space in which we have to write our translations".

[roses-bel-air-darling]

In one way, at least Touya’s end is kind of ambiguous so we can make our own ideas! I mean yes, there are the implications of him dying and such. I won’t deny it still sucks considering Endeavour and all. But, in one way at least he will be able to talk with his family, reconcile with them. I like to think (might be wishful thinking on my part) that eventually he gets better and maybe lives with his family again, or something, to give him a chance at normal with his family. He might be under house arrest or something, unless he still stuck in a tank after all those years, or did die. But if he did, I like to think he and his family made peace before he did.

Idk, it’s just unfortunate how the Todoroki plot wrapped up, but at least his family didn’t push him away. Honestly I’m probably in denial with it all because maybe he is dead considering he wasn’t shown in the flashbacks, but who knows?

Toga and Shigiraki’s deaths were unfortunate, HK really fumbled on the end. Honestly I dipped when the last chapter released, and when I came back, I realized that a lot of people/blogs didn’t have many thoughts on the end. Almost unanimously it seemed everyone was in radio silence 😅

I am so sorry that this is long!

That's the tiny bit of hope I have for touya. Although, I'm trying not to be a negative nancy. There is the last volume and the official fanbook both coming out this December. We could possibly get a final update on touya. Good or bad.

Hori confirmed that he forgot to draw a few things in the final chapter and is going to put it in the final volume.

I'm not going to be cautiously optimistic. I'm just going to expect something.

Personally, before the manga ended, I was on the villain trio big save train. I was so sure they were going to get a 'happy' ending and heading towards their bright futures as it was intended to throughout the story. (Note: I won't elaborate on the whole villains bad, must die arguments. It's tiring and gets old super fast the moment those sentences are used to justify the deaths of toga, shigaraki, and touya. Different topic, different day.)

Now, looking back, I just want him to have a peaceful death with his mom and siblings there by his side and knowing he's not alone and loved. I don't want him to be alive and be a part of the society that still rejects someone like him, toga, and shigaraki. You must be a good victim to be accepted back into said society, and bad victims don't deserve a second chance, sympathy, or to be heard. Doesn't matter how much pain and abuse you have been afflicted. No redemption. Death is the only option.

Onto the last parts, with the todoroki family plot. I hated that dabi, shouto, and the rest of the family became plot devices for endeavor's "redemption."

Shouto and dabi's moments are being overshadowed by endeavors, constant apologizing, and yapping. Over and over.

Hori didn't know what to do with endeavor and it showed.

Poor shouto's arc being ruined.

The unnecessary parts of the final todoroki chapter of endeavor's talking as if touya is still a villain by accepting his invitation to Dabi's dance and natsuo's comment about that was the only time he thought his dad was a badass. It felt so off and OOC of natsuo to say that.

I lost interest during the entirety of the ACT 3 of the manga. I only cared about the villains at the time. I think hori in the end. He just wanted to end the manga. There were a bunch of breaks during Act 3 due to his health and stress, and it affected the story. Hori deserves a long, long vacation as being mangaka is draining. I also hope he recovers as well.

I'm sorry for yapping, but I felt the same that I wish we didn't get these endings for the todoroki family and the villain trio. I would say more on toga and shigaraki's outcome, but I would make this reply WAY too long. Almost a 20-page essay. 😂

Lastly, with the blogs I follow on tumblr and Twitter on the reactions I saw to the last few chapters. It was mainly negative. And yet other bigger blogs in the fandom it was crickets. I agree I think the silence was loud and clear too. I'm like... 😬

I don't go on the BNHA reddit as the posts call the ending bad cause people's ships didn't become canon. Which with shipping vs. story arcs, themes, and narratives. I only care about the story in general when I read. Shipping? Nah.

For real, tho, I just wish the manga ended on how it was originally going to.

My headcanon is that the league is in an island somewhere, just soaking in the sun and having fun. Spinner and shigaraki brought a whole TV and gaming consoles to the beach, toga swimming and teaching twice how to swim, dabi cooking some BBQ while texting shouto asking how's he's doing. Compress is getting a tan and scolding shigaraki and spinner for bringing electronics to the beach. Big sis magne is not with them as she modeling in a big fashion show.

Just a happy little misfits being a family. 💗

Sorry anon! For the long reply! I wanted to share my opinions on the ending as well. Take care!

[cocktailjjrs]

So, Chapter 112 is out.

We don't exactly get much of explanation or distinction from S5 ending ep.

Mori, he really just glued in the fangs for FUN! What even is the Mafia! (Plus, Dazai Laughed!) We had old man Yaoi. I am not going to talk about it as we already know what went down there. We got Kunikida, Atsushi and Tanizaki. And Gogol man being sad (it broke my heart again to see his reaction). Ngl, even i would be sad if someone killed my Situationship But not Chuuya calling out that Situationship, lol (That was my exact reaction when a friend of mine told me she was in one and how it works) SKK bickering, still. And Fukuzawa being handed the greatest responsibility.

All in all, everything we had seen so far, only an added reaction here and there.

Next chapter will most likely also follow through the rest of the episode. But nothing much is left, so chances are that we may get new content. Or latest by April.

This all seems well and good, but I'm suddenly feeling anxious about how things are going to progress further.

I've said time and again, BSD takes 'it can't get worse than this' phase and just proves it wrong again and again. We reach new rock-bottoms every time.

So, things looking up now, gives me anxiety that something is going to go horribly wrong. (Cue the flashback of the 'Two hours later' bit)

All things that can horribly go wrong:

Everything with Soukoku at Meursault. I find it so weird that we are not getting detailed explanation of how things are proceeding there. We have seen Dazai and Fyodor play mind games for so many arcs now, there is always an explanation at the end of each one. But this doesn't have that 'satisfactory' level of explanation yet. Yes, Chuuya again came to Dazai's aid, but how? How did Dazai knew that the Vampires were turned in his favor. Would killing Fyodor (if he actually is dead) really be wise? How is he sure that it was Fyodor plan all along to get killed and he played right into it? You know when things are kept ambiguous, as most things related to Prison break arc are, it means there will be some facts that will come in light later. And that's what I'm scared of because it can be anything! It does not help that Dazai is yet to take that antidote! What if it doesn't work? What is Nikolai goes for revenge? Since he love's loosing himself and that's why he fought, so what if he continues? Can Chuuya's gravity manipulation even be effective against someone like Gogol? He can just go from one place to another, dodge all of Chuuya's attacks. We also know he can use his ability with Dazai as long as he isn't touching him. What is he takes the antidote form the case before Dazai can take it? That makes him such a kryptonite for Soukoku.

Then we have,

The Shin soukoku's battle against whatever that (Fukuchi) was. Two hours, if you think about it is not a long duration of time for things to start fucking up suddenly. There must be something already laid in waiting for it to start going shit when time comes. We are yet to get the details of how the Vampirism is going to wear off. Because it does, Akutagawa was back to normal when he was fighting with Atsushi. Sskk teaming up is well and good, but can they stand against that being? They had a hard time dealing with Fukuchi only a while ago, this enhanced being will be much tougher than them. What if this also is set for failure? only for the world to be purged into more chaos? Maybe i'm being a bit to pessimistic, but i've lost confidence in the mangaka's they always do the unexpected and kill everyone's favs, fr.

That also makes me think

Will taking on the role of Mankind's leader, lead to Fukuzawa on a deeper end? We know he struggled earlier, before founding agency, with his assassination work. He had refused to work in the war for a reason. Won't this be undoing everything he's worked for so many years? Also, taking in that honor from their government (or officials, i don't exactly remember what it was. I'm talking about the appreciation symbol of katana'?' they received at the beginning of S4) that basically led them to take on that case that declared them terrorists. Won't taking the role of Mankind's Leader also make Fukuzawa susceptible to be declared as the Mankind's Enemy? This seems similar to that previous situation. Reminds me of how Ranpo called this responsibility, or last wish, a curse. And Ranpo is always right, so there's that. Maybe that's how they are going to introduce the next adversaries?

Too much uncertainty and what-ifs.

[maoam]

do you think there’s anything romantic between gojo and geto in jjk or is it all just the shippers making things up

Hello.

Since last time this was being discussed I have delved more into jjk and can give better answers about it as well. Jjk isn't a love story, but something like that doesn't automatically stop a mangaka from writing elements of love into a story.

First chapter of volume 0.

Last chapter of volume 0.

The way volume 0 is written, how at the beginning Gojo talks about love being the most twisted curse (my 'personal' theory) and how at the end he tells Geto something that isn't shown to the audience, to which Geto replies "at least curse me a little at the very end" is a very interesting connection... To add to this, the ost that plays during this moment with the two of them in the movie version is called "This is pure love". And Gege was apparently very involved in making the movie (and the anime, he apparently helped write anime only scenes for the series too and we know he storyboards the juju scrolls).

Like, that is admittedly suspect. Like these are choices that Gege made when writing.

Also this dramatic break up (in front of KFC no less). What I find funny is the songs that Gege chose for Gojo, one is a bitter break up song and the other deals with loneliness, loss and bittersweet memories. Both of the lyrics make me think about Gojo's relationship with Geto, or should I say Satoru's with Suguru lol. Like who else has he had a break up with other than Geto... His fall out with Geto and the fact he had to kill him by himself affected Gojo immensily. He's a lonely character, and the fact Geto had an inferiority complex compared to him probably hurt him, made him feel even lonelier. And the fact he didn't notice what happened to Geto until it was too late. Geto is his biggest regret!

It was also a very cool moment when Gojo said "my six eyes tells me that you're Geto Suguru, but my soul knows otherwise". And how Geto tried to stop Kenjaku from sealing Gojo by strangling him after Gojo called out his name. They have a very deep connection.

Geto never answered Yuki's question so we don't know what is his type.

As for Gojo, we know women find him attractive and Gojo himself knows women find him attractive. But he doesn't seem to pursue women. Yuta even made fun of him for that.

So yeah I don't think fans are pulling it out of nowhere. I think Gege does like the ship and he likes making fun of Gojo for it too.

Recently they also revealed that the season 2 opening has connection to Geto and Gojo. [link]

"Get lost in me" you say? Well he did enough to be sealed I guess. 😅 It also ties up nicely to the first point... Geto is like a curse that haunts Gojo.

[miwhotep]

Today is my birthday 🍰, so I decided to celebrate it with finally doing my long-time planned Milverton beauty appreciation post.

This is not an analysis, this is just me fangirling over my favourite panels about my beloved evil guy. Normally, I don't let my simp self get in the way of my meta, but today, let me do some shameless fangirling (and pretend that I can get him for a night of non-sexual intimacy without getting murdered by Ruskin :))

Here we go, proceed to your own risk. 🥰

I love that he somehow looks more manly here and he is so beautiful when he is angry. His facial features seem more soft on other panels, making him look younger, but here, he is just a very evil and very serious businessman. And I am all for that!! 😍 His eyelashes are also so long and pretty!!

He is always so hot when he gives evil speeches (and he does it a lot so I am well-fed 🥰 Milverton evil speech-ranking post coming soon) And I just love this pose of his hand, he has very sexy fingers. And those two locks of his hair falling into his face makes me always wanting to grab them so hard. Ruskin surely takes a good care of his hair. I often wonder why Milverton just let those two locks like that, unordered. Don't they bother him in front of his eyes (or does he know that he is sexier like that and outward appearance is also a useful tool for manipulation, so he just leaves it? Anyway, the mangaka did a very good job with Milverton's design. No one before - or even after, I am sure - will just go and make the King of Blackmail look sexy. I saw lot of Sherlock Holmes adaptations, I saw pretty Moriarties, Sherlocks and Watsons before, but never a sexy Milverton. I can't be thankful enough for it 😍) And I am happy that he wears a pince-nez, not usual glasses. I can see more from his face and eyes ❤️

He is also so pretty when he is just silently malicious and doesn't give speeches about it. And the way he holds that tobacco pipe with his teeth, aww, I wished for more scenes like that.

I really love his profile too (okay, what I don't love about his look? I hardcore level worship every single details of him 😅), his strong chin and again, his hair! HIS HAIR! I cannot praise his hair enough, I just LOOOVE how the mangaka did his curly locks, I just want to brush his hair with my fingers. Curly hair + glasses fictional guys were always my type so I am so happy that one of my top 3 all-time favourite villains looks exactly like I want a fictional man! 😭 I really love Milvey, I am not sane about it, I just pretend (and possibly fail with it - once someone mentioned that they screenshotted several of my Reddit comments and saved it as "Milvertonsimping_vol 1 and so on" for a meme - I was totally fine with it, for the record, it was a funny meme 😂)

His smiles always make me go crazy. I love his wide, evil smile (and his serpent-like pupils when he smiles like that), when he smiles more provocatively or when he just smiles because he finds something amusing. The smile on the right is not even malicious. It is so rare when he smiles like that in the manga, I wanted to see it more. I honestly find it very cute 🥰

And this "Act selfishly? Oh my..." scene is just... if he would ask me out for a date like that, I wouldn't say no, even as an aroace. Oh, I just love this look on his face! 😍

And THIS ONE PAGE HERE. I am afraid I already used too many capital letters to express myself, but this one page is totally another level. First, Milvey with his eyes closed is just so ETHEREALLY BEAUTIFUL. I can imagine Ruskin just staring at him for the whole night, not sleeping at all, and I 100% understand why. Also, the tongue a panel below. THE TONGUE!!!! You have no idea how many times I just looked at this scene and it immediately inspired me to write some smut fic. And he licks his lips like that while he corrupted Whiteley. He is so deliciously evil, I love him so much! ❤️

And his eyes - his beautiful serpent eyes could even get their own post ( hmm, I already did that post, just forgot about it for a moment 😅) with all the symbolism hidden within the beauty. I am not a big fan of the animation of the anime, but there are some very pretty moments about his eyes. I go mad for these few screenshots. That striking yellow and gold is something I would die for.

Sadly, there were just two colored Milverton pages in the manga, but I deeply treasure both. I have the left one as a big poster in my room. I look at Milverton whenever I wake up. It makes my days better. ❤️

And the musicals fed me so well with sexy Milverton, too (THE POLEDANCING SCENE! THE POLEDANCING SCENE! 😭❤️) Ray Fujita played him so perfectly and his songs were also so hot (Devourer of Souls has my heart forever - I will definitely rewatch Op 3 and 4 today, Milverton/Ruskin is another level of sensual bonding in Op 4 compared to the manga/anime). That bromide is my favourite one from the ones I collected yet (there is another package coming, hopefully today it arrives - it is my birthday, so please, please, I need more Milvey merch in my life 🙏) That rose is surely from Ruskin - but I would give him a rose, too (then run away before Ruskin hurts me out of jealousy 😂)

After all of this, happy birthday to myself and I really, really love you, Milverton-sama ❤️.(Ruskin, let me borrow your husband today, you will get him back tomorrow, for Valentine 🌹)

[p3ta]

gotta send Ryoji Mochizuki

Thanks for the ask! Hope your day's going well, fellow Ryoji enjoyer.

Spoilers below for P2, P3, P4, and P5R.

Send me one of these here!

First, I want to give some thoughts on his character as a whole. For the certain type of character he is (doomed, remorseful harbinger), Ryoji Mochizuki is perfect. I don't think there's a better Persona twist than his reveal as the the Appriser/Death, the thirteenth Arcana Shadow. Just because a twist is easy to see coming doesn't make it less impactful, and I particularly enjoy the way Persona 3 distills information to the player in allotments. Even knowing that, Ryoji managed to surprise me with how much more he was. And fittingly, a lot of Ryoji's characterization bounces back to the P3 Hero, and vice versa.

On top of that, Nyx Avatar is my favorite final boss in the entire Persona series and unsettled me out the first time. I'd still say that Nyx Avatar causes me more fear than the Reaper, who I'd comparatively describe as inciting panic rather than fear.

Ryoji is frequently compared to Kaworu from Neon Genesis Evangelion (NGE), and, well. Yeah. I believe I read that in a developer interview that the P3 dev team deliberately took inspiration from NGE but I'm unable to find a source at hand, so don't quote me on that. Between the two, I prefer Ryoji. He is the strongest out of the character type for me.

favorite thing about them

His layers! Ryoji is one of those late game characters who comes in and recontextualizes all the information you've learned thus far. It's why I love watching the Dictionary update throughout a playthrough. I understand why people are put off by the way he's introduced as a serial flirt, but Reload made it much more textually clear that this isn't his true personality, nor his intentions. Ryoji is proto-Teddie (Japanese Teddie, anyway); a fully formed individual who sprang into existence seeking connection. However, where Teddie's isolation and lack of identity are his defining characteristics, Ryoji's are moored in how connected he is with P3 Hero.

Ryoji ultimately only exists because of that connection, that little bit of humanity he's been given, but that's also what prevents him from being fully human. He's had a role to play since his inception, and he can't avoid that even with his newfound connections.

Ryoji's present throughout the entire story. You've got Pharos at the very beginning with the contract running errands for the Velvet Room (I like it more and more that I think about it. Picture Elizabeth or Igor having to explain to this terrifying child what he has to say. Or maybe he knew what to say all along! He has been waiting ten years), Thanatos tearing himself out of Orpheus (by far the best Persona awakening in the series and a textual highlight for what an alien force he is), and a crucial lynchpin event for Yukari's backstory, Mitsuru's backstory, as well as the crucial event for Aigis and P3 Hero.

There is no version of Persona 3 without Ryoji and I'm all the happier for it. Genuinely, if something's confusing with P3's story, there's 90% chance the answer is Ryoji or one of his many numerous forms. The remaining 10% is the Kirijo Group. That said, we don't get a lot of time with Ryoji. Ultimately, he's a part of P3 Hero and you're left to extrapolate exactly how much of each other you believe they've influenced.

Sogabe, the P3 & P4 mangaka, chose to highlight how similar Ryoji and P3 Hero look. I consider it an essential element of their relationship together.

least favorite thing about them

It'd be cheating to say nothing, wouldn't it? I'd say that his design is easy to mock and hard to get right in fanart. Between Ryoji's forehead and very Axel Kingdom Hearts approach towards long limbs – and legs in specific – the movies did not help with this. I've read reviews saying how the higher budget allowed for the characters to be more consistently on model, and thus look better, but I fervently disagree. That boy is mostly leg. Late 00s and early 10s anime art Looked Like That, though. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a soft spot for some of it.

But I love how Ryoji looks and wouldn't change it for the world. Silly slick-backed hair boy. It is funny how whenever Persona wants a villain with sympathetic qualities, they slick back the protagonist's hair (Philemon and Maruki come to mind).

Reload fixed ("fixed") this anyway but making him much fluffier in his portraits and giving his skin some color! He's achingly soft in that game.

favorite line

There's many iconic ones I could pick but I'm going to go with a new one from Reload:

It's so small, it's so playful! I like that if you choose to start an exchange he finishes the bit. It says a lot about him in such a succinct way.

Even more so when you consider the reason he came here was for Junpei's sake. Being able to balance joking around while keeping a touch of concern endears me beyond belief. Thank you, Reload.

brOTP

Junpei & Ryoji. It's not even close. This was the one element I was hoping Reload would show more and I was not disappointed! The dynamic is good for a variety of reasons, but chief among them is that despite Junpei's Persona being Magician Arcana, he is not the P3 Hero's Magician Social Link. Junpei is not the male protagonist's best friend. He clearly wants to be, but his frustration is palpable. The P3 Hero is cool, charming, and everything that Junpei plays second fiddle to, but he won't even acknowledge him. But what if there were a more likeable version of the Hero?

Instant friendship. Those two are besties from day one, where Ryoji has all the qualities but none of the knowledge, and so their dynamic is a much more even one. To me, it indicates how well Junpei and the P3 Hero might have gotten along had he not carried Death inside him for ten years. It's a brief window into another world.

There's also the fact that Ryoji, Death, befriends Junpei so close to when Takaya shoots him and he perishes. His character arc is defined by change, this act being what radically transforms his soul, and what's one of the meanings of the Death Tarot? It's like universal foreshadowing. It's funny to me too that the Magician Arcana Shadow is the one Thanatos tore to pieces. Growth for Ryoji too.

As an aside, I miss the dynamic movements from the PS2 cutscenes. Junpei being so quick to drown Ryoji is nowhere comparable to him covering Ryoji's mouth.

OTP

Hmm. This might take a second. I wonder what pairing I might like with Ryoji. Here's an unrelated picture of Messiah:

You know, Messiah is one of those Personas that has only grown on me more as time passes. My favorite of the final protagonist ones, due in part to how you have to fuse him yourself. Orpheus, the starting Persona, combined with the power of Thanatos, the penultimate manifestation of the Death Arcana. They compliment each other beautifully, and regardless of if you the player create him, he is always the true final Persona, the final result of the Judgement Arcana.

They are inevitable.

Of course it's Ryoji and P3 Hero. How could it be anything else? These two make me sick with joy. Death has a clear favorite and in the end, gets to keep him forever.

nOTP

It's funny, because I can't think of any serious pairing with Ryoji that I wouldn't view as a crack ship? I can't see any version of Ryoji with anyone but the P3 Hero nor can I take that relationship seriously. The only other being Ryoji has an established relationship with is Aigis, and that ship comes across as black comedy. I mean, there's also Ryoji and the P3 Heroine, who he is undoubtedly head over heels for, but I see her as heavily preferring Aigis. Oops.

Wait, I did remember one! Ryoji and Junpei! I'll admit, maybe it's the sheer "dudebro" vibe of their relationship, but people pairing these two was not an outcome I expected from Reload. I've seen it enough to know those who like it aren't joking, either.

It's funny, because they're both soul-taken at the tail end of their friendship (Ryoji with P3 Hero and Junpei with Chidori) so I guess I wasn't looking for it? Then again I can't see Junpei Iori kissing a man in general. If there's a Ryoji pairing that isn't my thing, these two are the Most not my thing.

random headcanon

Ryoji memory backfill!

I've seen multiple interpretations for how Ryoji's sudden transfer, housing, and parental situations were never questioned. I like exploring this for myself, especially from Ryoji's perspective. Ryoji fully believes himself to be human until 12/2's Dark Hour. So, how does he reconcile his own situation?

This headcanon states that whenever Ryoji is prompted to answer on where he lives, what he likes, or where he went to school before, he'll often "backfill" what memories he think should be there. If it's something he should reasonably know, it'll be there.

In-game you can see a couple instances of Ryoji being stumped at simple questions, like where his class trip was going to be, but excelling at others, such as when he asks Mitsuru out to a restaurant date. According to the headcanon, he failed the class trip question because it wasn't something he anticipated, but he knew a date location because it was essential to his personality. Ryoji Mochizuki is a hearthrob, it wouldn't make sense if he didn't. So he does.

I like to think Reload Ryoji's phone is another example of this backfill, though this one spills over into material items. Ryoji thinks he should have a phone and knows he should ask for others' numbers, but when he reaches for it on his first day it isn't there.

His inconsistencies are fun.

Rapid fire small ones: his favorite color is blue, he likes sunrises but not sunsets, and he's good with children.

unpopular opinion

This may be the most unpopular opinion I have in general, but I don't believe Ryoji is bisexual. Or rather, I don't necessarily believe he must be bisexual. It's not like I'm trying to shirk representation, but I think there are so many fascinating ways that you can analyze orientation for a character. Same with gender.

Ryoji, through my interpretation, is someone who could only love the protagonist. And it doesn't have to be a sexual kind of love. There's an entire spectrum of identities in our culture that we've labeled for what Ryoji's experiences could be. It brings me joy to be able to think about how – even if Ryoji knew about these identities – he'd define himself. On top of that, would how he define himself be accurate? Would he have misunderstandings about his own identity?

There tends to be a large backlash when someone even suggests a different label for a character with one widely agreed upon, which means my gender and sexuality thoughts stay hidden away. I'm more than aware of those that insist any hint of same-sex attraction is obviously platonic and fans are reading too much into things. I'd never want to take away from an individual identifying with a character for what a fandom settles on calling them.

Though one note: it's interesting to me that from the collective opinion I've seen, people have latched onto bisexual as a label rather than pansexual despite them ostensibly meaning the same thing. Something something changing social climate. Anyway. Play around with character gender and sexuality. It's good for you.

song i associate with them

Auld Lang Syne.

For old acquaintance be forgot

And ne'er brought to mind

Should old acquaintance be forgot

In the days of auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear

For auld lang syne

We'll drink a cup of kindness yet

For the sake of auld lang syne

-

It's a traditional New Year's celebration song. Auld Lang Syne essentially means "for old time's sake". It originates from a precursor to Scottish, and exists as a fossil word inside this otherwise Standard English prose. I find it sweet how this little, historic piece gets to survive through something that redefines it.

favorite picture of them

Well, that was a lot. If you have a keen eye, you might've already noticed I've been dropping in pictures so I'll keep this part concise.

My favorite pictures of Ryoji are his portraits:

Sweet. Fluffy. Endlessly endeared by the way his hair flairs out. A much clearer heart shape for his face. Perfection. Special mention to his startled expression. His eyes get small and I get happy, simple as that.

Although, I'll never forgive Reload for dropping his Messiah pose:

There's an element to this portrait that's a little more unearthly, but earnest. Visually, his eyes are also a clearer parallel to Aigis's in this version.

Thank you for reading all the way through! And thank you again for the ask. I'm not sure if you were expecting an essay, but I think that about sums it up.

Have a picture of Ryoji nui + charm!