#Soichirou Yagami

[oatmealcrisp-freak]

AU where Soichirou is actually home when Light gets back from confirming the Death Note is real and Light cracks and tells him everything and has a complete melt down, is institutionalized or shut up into his room or something tortured genius style. Soichirou, after also making his own confirmation, turns the notebook in, and

Light's concerns turn out to become very, very real. BRB, I'm Patient Zeroing Light Yagami.

[raviniaraven]

Bruh just go full Iron Chef

(edited my own post to clarify: he bites a bell pepper at the beginning of every episode. I realized scrolling past it again that it looks like an apple :/)

I think the worst part of being allergic to apples is knowing that if I ever become a supervillain, I won't have anything to eat while I'm monologuing

[monakisu]

@mifink: sorry for the like spam, i just love your artystyle. it's so cute and pretty, reminds me of 2000/2010s comics on the internet but in better quality. i plan to get into death note more soon and because your light is just so precious <3 do you plan to draw more death note characters in the future?

WOWOW THNK U‼️‼️ AND I ALSO DONT KNOW WHY IT WONT LET ME ANSWER THIS “SUBMISSION” NORMALLY (apparently submissions are different from asks??) but ya… YA MORE DEATH NOTE FOR SURE!!! (๑˃̶͈̀∇˂̶͈́)و⁾⁾˚*🧨💥 nowadays the only way i can fall asleep is by imagining light & ryuk doing goofy shit hahaha i feel like i have their characterizations seriously skewed but it makes me laugh so that’s all that matters!! ჱ̒ ｰ̀֊ｰ́ )✨ and i want to draw tons and tons of misa and get better at drawing L and also draw the whole yagami family because i wrote out MULTIPLE silly comic scripts for them but am too scared to draw soichirou… ＿|￣|○

thanks for ask! um. submission!! here’s a yotsuba light yagami wip for u!! or 2 light yagamis idk lol. the more light yagamis the better—is what i always say!! (i dont. say that.) also GHOST “appetite of a ppl pleaser” pfp?? PEAK. ( ¤̴̶̷̤́ ‧̫̮ ¤̴̶̷̤̀ )🧡🧸🪸

[agerye]

age regressor reader & death note headcanons

L lawliet

completely unphased when he finds out, he already knows what age regression is. asks you to please let him or watari know when you're slipping and not push yourself because it may hinder the investigation, and, of course, he wants you to take care of yourself

offers to get you whatever you'd like when regressed. pacifiers, sippy cups, stuffies, toys, etc. nothing is too much to ask for

he's very busy so he doesn't interact with you as a little much, but when he does he smiles more and always offers you some of his snacks

will apologise or try to make up for it if he upsets you but still talks like normal and doesn't baby or worry about you like the others do

doesn't mind you being next to him when he's busy as long as you're mostly quiet, he'll sometimes offer you the hand he usually stims with to hold. he likes to try goading you into making fun of light

not very affectionate, but will pat your head or shoulder if you're showing him something you made/like

designates matsuda to take care of you

matsuda touta

found it weird at first, he didn't know what age regression was and had to have it explained, but he adjusted to it pretty fast as he spent time with little you

very doting and praising and is genuine in all of it

he colors with you and compliments your art so much, the task force made fun of how much worse his drawings were than yours until you got upset at them

absolutely loves and gets attached to you because you're so nice to him (unlike everyone else lol)

goofy big brother figure, he's naturally silly but dials it up with you to make you laugh

"kiddo" "angel" "cutie" "little one"

really good at playing together and making up stories

light yagami

was surprised at first because he didn't know what age regression was, but was respectful about it

"you can tell me too, if there's anything you need" after L offers because he, of course, has to be important

as busy as L is, so he can't interact with you much but he's almost perfect with you (he definitely didn't do lots of research to come across well)

if you're regressed the occasional times he takes a break he'll spend some time playing with you before going back to work

when he's with you he somehow always knows what you need before you do

pulls you into his lap when you're talking to him and lets you sit in his lap while he's working if you promise to be good and not distract them (especially loves to do this when misa is in the room so she can't)

the best at settling you down when you're fussy, always keeps his cool and is good at explaining things or compromising with you

"sweetie" "sweetheart" "little one"

reliable big brother

soichirou yagami

he doesn't really get it and finds it hard to wrap his head around but tries his best to be respectful

nice but very awkward about it, kind of like an uncle who loves you but doesn't know how to talk to kids

checks in on you a lot at first, you always have to remind him to just treat you like normal when you're not regressed

he tends to keep out of your way when you're little but will always smile when he interacts with you and praises you or pats your shoulder

it takes a while, but he eventually becomes more comfortable with you being little. he thinks it's sweet when he sees you and matsuda playing together

watari

checks in on you frequently and makes sure your needs are met

like L, he offers you whatever you'd like. he's more strict towards you than he is with L though, knowing you're not adjusted to a diet of only sweet treats even if that's all you want to eat

very patient and understanding

if you stay the night at task force headquarters because you're regressed, watari will take over matsuda in caring for you

helps you wash and dress if you need it and tucks you into bed, he'll read you a story if you ask

[exam-ao3]

Loving people doing reblogs of hc and meta of Death Note as being perhaps thoughtful commentary on the Japanese criminal justice system. I'm not entirely certain it's written from that angle but it can be read with that lens. As in, I don't think it's protesting the State as corrupt or something. I think it's more interesting than that. That these things (the fallible police are the end word) are addressed uncritically and as immutable because that's perhaps the experience of Ohba. Japanese police don't put people in custody for criminal behavior on simple suspicion. They take them in when almost completely positive that they've done whatever they are being accused and it has been this way for decades. As L does to both Misa and Light: he takes them in when he's certain they have both acted as Kira. So you have a cultural lens here, not of innocent until proven guilty. It's the opposite. It's also why Light's father acts with seemingly out-of-character desperation and, frankly, in ways that shock Westerners into believing maybe he really doesn't love his son or something else kind of dark is going on there. (I disagree because of the pressure points I'm about to talk about) This system is set up where the assumption is the people with the power to make those decisions of who to send to trial are careful, have accounted for all the evidence in advance and are unerringly correct. There isn't the same feeling to hearing someone is going to trial for a criminal offense when you are in Japan as much of the West. It's not a feeling of hm wonder what could be unearthed here that may turn things around. It's, hm, this person is certainly going to jail; possibly getting the death penalty if the crime warranted that by the local standards. As Light is being looked at by L as Kira to Soichirou his son may as well be Kira. Near is later able to narrow who Light Yagami is by Soichirou's speech about killing Kira and then himself though he doesn't mention Light by name.

[truestfeeiing]

it's easy to tell i'm a soichirou stan because he said very explicitly in volume 3, while knowing Very Little about kira btw:

there's always this debate whether light yagami was evil, or whether it was the notebook that made him so. merely the mechanism of memory transfer and yotsuba arc proves that it's the note book. with the exact same personality, light was capable of becoming his own #1 opp: idealistic, with a strong sense of justice, high reverence for the police force and his father, etc etc. yet As Soon as he gets the power to kill, as soon as he bites the forbidden fruit, he turns "evil" again.

"the real evil is the power to kill people"

i'm quite sure the rest of the series supports this fact. there is actually little to no room for discussion of this point.

[raviniaraven]

I remembered the Iron Chef intro and how Chairman Kaga bit into a whole bell pepper like an apple, and it made me remember that he played Soichirou Yagami in the Japanese Death Note movies, so I'm just giggling to myself at 11 PM bc I'm thinking about how dramatic eating just runs in the Yagami family.

Like there's Light:

And then there's Light's dad:

[bnhaobservation]

Sure I'm open to discussion! (though the day after tomorrow I'll have to leave for a travel, I'll be pretty busy and I won't have with me my pc so I'll likely won't reply to messages or, if I'll manage to they'll be pretty short).

I think you're under the impression I don't live in the west. I do, by when I was born. And I've seen the opposite. On the news I've seen families still sticking for their criminal relatives, not forgiving what they've done but wanting to still be there for them. I worked in a area near to an ex-prison. The houses there used to be all of people who had a relative in prison. They moved there to be close to their familiar because otherwise visiting became too troublesome. I've known of people who kept visiting their loved ones in jail.

I've even seen people who're not relative forgive the one who murdered their loved ones.

And I've heard way too much people should forgive. Forgive, forgive, forgive. Not condone but forgive.

I'm a bad sheep, an odd one as I'm not really pro forgivance in real life. It's not I don't understand it's importance and all, it's just not my cup of thing.

I don't know if I would be capable to forgive a relative if he were to end up in jail and I hope I'll never find out.

Of course you can complain I've generalized maybe a tad too much. The west is a BIG area. Countries in the west are more similar among them than with countries in the east but they're pretty different among them.

And people in the same country are different among them.

In truth I don't know if there's a country in the west in which people who has a criminal son would find normal to do like Yagami Soichirou and say 'fine, I'll kill him and then kill myself' (BTW, just to play safe, I've said I'm not forgiving but I still wouldn't be all right with this either).

So I guess the best thing we can do is to agree our experiences are different and formed our opinions, instead than trying to tell each other who has the experience that's more valid and general and fitting of the rest of the west population or who of us as an opinion that fits the most of the fandom and therefore can talk for the whole of it for this little discussion.

Now... could Enji save Touya or not?

I think you agree with me that the story want us to believe that Enji loved Touya. We have this as a common ground.

Now here it's were our experiences differ.

My experience teaches me that people who love other people have an extremely hard time letting go of them. They insist on doing CPR even when there's nothing to do, or are at the hospital and are told the hospital will shut down the machine that keeps their loved ones alive because there's no hope and they don't just get the memo and insist they can't. They search for crazy ways to heal incurable diseases, everything as long as there's hope, they dig into the dirt to pull out people who were buried under a building crash and keeps on digging even when there's no hope to find them alive.

My family experienced it, losing someone and refusing to just accept it at first.

Credits, when it's due we have some people that accepts death calmly... but they're considered uncommon.

This is of course a story and in the story Horikoshi wanted Shouto to save the day so no one else could do something but, for me, Rei's attempt at cooling Touya, which is impossible from the start because Rei just has nowhere near enough power, is much more my cup of tea than Enji's 'okay, nothing can be done'.

What's more BNHA is not a story of a consequential series of facts that happened to real people.

It's a story split in more arcs, in which the characters are tasked with accomplishing something.

In Enji's specific case he was given an arc of atonement toward the family members he had hurt. His role as a character is this, in the same way as Luke has to face and 'save' Darth Vader.

Narratively speaking, Touya being a mass murder who doesn't want to repent and wants to ruin his life and murder him is an obstacle in Enji's arc of atonement to his whole family (which includes Touya).

In the same vein Darth Vader being a giant size mass murder who destroyed planets and lead an army that invades them and put people under a fascist regime is also an obstacle. Dath Vader too doesn't want to redeem himself, he asked Luke to join him, he told him if he weren't to join he would try it with his sister.

In real life Enji has the option to say 'who cares, I don't have to atone to someone who's doing me that, actually scratch this, I don't have to atone to anyone, no one is pointing a gun to my head. telling me to do it'.

In real life Luke too has the option to say 'nope, not going there' or 'fine, I'll kill him'.

In the story, that's their role and if they try to escape, they're failing their role. It's game over. The story can tempt them because that's what are stories for but they've to overcome temptation.

The real question in Enji's arc is WHAT CAN HE DO TO ATONE TO HIS FAMILY FOR WHAT HE DID?

WHAT CAN HE DO TO ATONE TO TOUYA?

If we start to say 'no, but afterward, Touya did this so Enji doesn't have to atone to him anymore...' we abort Enji's quest.

If anything what Touya does afterward enriches Enji's quest because it made it more difficult. It's not much of a quest with Rei and Fuyumi, who basically immediately say okay, but in itself is not much of a quest with Natsuo either as he just say 'stay away from me'.

It's Touya who's the challenge and, at the same time, the consequence of what Enji did (by the way, I'm keeping this reply specifically about Enji, there's more to say about Touya but that's not the place).

Some people who complain he didn't do enough aren't necessarily Enji haters... they just wanted to see him do even more. I've met some people who wanted HIM to be the one who were to save Touya, not Shouto, they wanted another quest for Shouto.

Sometimes you just want a character to get a perfect score in his arc. Each of us is different.

Enji's actions had drastic consequences for his family but, at first, no real negative consequence of equal value for him.

Enji's sorry now and I think it's beautiful because in real life too few people get sorry about it. But in order to atone for what he did, he had to narratively pay a huge price. That's why he gets the harsher ending out of all the Heroes. Because he had all the power in his family, the family he was meant to protect, that it was his duty to protect, and instead he hurt it beyond belief.

For some the price he paid might feel enough. For others it will never be enough. It's not biased, it's life.

If I hadn't misunderstood you, you wouldn't forgive a murderer. Another person can chose not to forgive an abuser, even if said abuser says he's sorry.

I'll also clarify that I don't think Enji is forcing his presence upon Touya. I'm sure Touya wanted him to be there. I've said this in another meta. Horikoshi foreshadowed Touya wanted more time to talk with his family, Touya said he wanted his family to see him, his heart speeding up is clearly a sign the fact his father is willing to keep on coming to see him touches him, the fact he ultimately talked to Shouto showed he was willing to engage... but again between you and me is a matter of different experiences.

I've read way too many takes of people saying he's forcing himself upon his son to assume my take is the one of the majority.

Yes, undoubtedly there are many bad takes on Enji, fanfictions love to pin on him crimes he hadn't committed... or, on the opposite, completely absolve him saying Rei was actually the abuser and he was a poor victim and a perfect dad (some even went and blamed one or all the kids).

There's extremes in everything, bad takes are among both his lovers and his haters, and there's not really just two sides of the fandom, there's not my part of the fandom and yours.

I've noticed that too many think if you like one character you can't like the other, if you like Touya you can't like Shouto or Enji, if you like Shouto you can't like Enji or Touya.

In truth we can like multiple characters or just one, we can agree on something and disagree on something else and our opinions can shift, change.

I find all the Todoroki characters EQUALLY interesting.

I don't find Enji boring or hate him as a character.

And I think that understanding his culture (or trying to as I'm not sure I've a good grasp of it) and where he comes from help to understand him and why he does things a certain way or why he doesn't get punished in a certain way, which doesn't mean you can't like him even if you don't understand Japanese culture or that you can't hate him even if you understand it.

And funny enough in this blog I often end up talking about him instead than all the other Todorokis... it's not a complain it's just it feels a little odd.

Said all this, yes, I'm open to talk if people are willing to be polite about it. Comparing opinions, even different opinions, broad perspective and improve the understanding of a story. Though as I said at the start, I'll soon be away for a while so I might end up finding hard to do it until I'm back home.

Did Enji atone to Touya (and his family) and stepped up on his role as a father?

Boku no Hero Academia has a grave 'flaw'. The fact that's strongly tied to Japanese culture and Buddhism makes it a very interesting work but also makes it a hardly international work because way too many cultural things are left unexplained because they're assumed to be a given. Only they're not when the work is read by foreign readers. And this lead to confusion.

The Todoroki plotline is an example of this.

In the west many feel Enji did nothing for Touya or did too little because the little he did is a given in the west. The point is... it's not a given in Japan. In Japan is a BIG DEAL. So let's go though it.

First, the fact that he doesn't want to kill Touya even though he's a criminal

Todoroki Enji ‘Ore wa ikinobite mo... ENDEAVOR wa shinda. Tairyō satsujinsha (read: musuko) to tatakaenai.’ 轟炎司「俺は生き延びても...エンデヴァーは死んだ。大量殺人者（むすこ）と戦えない。」 Todoroki Enji “Even if I survived... Endeavor is dead. I can't fight against a mass murderer (read: my son).”

Let's compare it to these two scenes of "Death Note" and see how Yagami Soichiro, a policeman, is taking the idea his son might be a killer and how, although Misa protests, the story doesn't present it as him being crazy but as it being his duty.

That's why Hawks doesn't want to send Enji, who's on an atonement path, to face Dabi, because Enji might end up in a situation in which he would have to kill his son and he would refuse... which is more or less what happens.

Second, Enji acknowledges that what Touya said is true, Touya is his son and Enji did what he did. In such a situation many would lie. Dabi's video proves nothing. He is a Villain, they had a doctor in the team who could create Nomu, the paternity test could be fake, even if Dabi were to provide a sample of his blood or skin they could insist that's fake.

Society didn't want the truth, they don't want Enji to confess, they wanted him to reassure them, they even commented he should have lied because yes, that's what's done often.

Basically he put his honor on the chopping block. A public apology like this one is a BIG DEAL in Japan. It's much more serious than in western countries and he does it when he could have spared himself and say Dabi lied but that would have meant to deny his son.

Third, it connects to the first in a way. While Enji is unwilling to kill Touya, he's willing to die with him. It's ‘shinjū’ (心中 Lit. “Mind/heart center/inside” but more likely means “oneness of hearts”, probably reflecting a psychological link between the participants) and it’s a word used in common parlance to refer to any group suicide of two or more individuals bound by love, typically lovers, parents and children, and even whole families. People who commit shinjū believe that they would be united again in heaven, a view supported by feudal teaching in Edo period Japan, which taught that the bond between loved ones would continue into the next world, and by the teaching of Pure Land Buddhism wherein it is believed that through shinjū, one can approach rebirth in the Pure Land. By volunteering to die with him, Enji is basically agreeing to remain with him in their next reincarnation.

For us it's crazy, it's Enji giving up on saving him. In Japan it sounds like 'I love you and I want to be with you'.

Forth, he'll apologize to Touya. As said before it's a BIG DEAL, especially since Enji is the family head and, although for us most of what he did is wrong, in Japan most of what he did is well within what he can do. Marrying a woman you don't love in a combined marriage to expect the child who'll be born from it will fulfill your ambitions and not really bothering to raise it because that's a mother job, well, things are changing in Japan but none of the above is a crime. In a not so distant past it was actually the norm. Yet Enji apologizes even though normally a family head wouldn't.

Fifth it's a bit in the first point and in the second but it'll drag on through all the story, Enji won't reject Touya. He's the only one (except Fuyumi who however doesn't get to say much) who never calls him Dabi after the reveal, and he won't strike him out of the family register but will keep on considering him his son.

Look at the Tobitas instead and at how they kick their son out.

Don't think Hawks is cutting strings with his parents solely because they were abusive, the Tobitas show us how you should just cut strings with a criminal. Same as the Togas.

Have "Theseus no fune" in which a man accused to be a murderer, send a birthday gift to his son and watch the reaction of his wife.

They don't want to keep contact with a criminal. It's scary because they'll be mistreated if they are discovered to be related to him.

And, in this vein, the fact he wants to go see him, that he'll keep on seeing him till the end instead than turning his back on him, is seen as important. It's seen as him being his father.

To many of us it seems as if he's forcing his presence upon Touya. Actually, from a Japanese perspective he's instead not abandoning him like many others would.

And since Touya is dying, very likely the talking will be the talking that's done in a Buddhist culture when someone is dying. Death should occur in a calm and peaceful environment, with close friends and family in attendance. Together they should reflect on the good deeds the dying person has done throughout their life, in the hopes it will help them in their next reincarnation. Additionally, family and friends can perform good deeds on behalf of them, which they believe will be of merit to the deceased.

So, since Touya is dying he won't get a scolding like Chisaki, they'll all only tell him nice and soothing things so he'll die peacefully.

Now... in the west all this is absolutely way too little, and in some points even feels wrong. Dying together instead than insisting in trying to save him? Deciding unilaterally to show up every day? Not our thing...

We can totally say 'thanks, I hate it' because we grew up with Darth Vader who instead gave his life to SAVE his son. All this accepting that Touya instead is going to die so Enji can at best die with him or keep him company until he does... well, it's mostly not our cup of cultural tea.

In in Japan though, all Enji does is important. Enji is doing something for Touya as a father, something important many fathers wouln't do for their sons.

Does it would satisfy a Japanese audience? They'll get the message better than us... but things are changing and anyway it can still feel too little. "Death Note" is dated 2005/2006 and back in it Misa was already questioning the idea of a father killing his son and then killing himself. BNHA is more innovative as Enji doesn't think to kill Touya but he still goes for the 'let's die together' route... and Horikoshi subtly criticizes it by having the rest of the family decising they'll try to stop the fire before just giving up. They're willing to die, but not before trying.

Enji represents plenty of old theories after all, which Horikoshi acknowledges were moved out of wrong beliefs, not moved by mean intents... which, is possible, would still not be enough for Japanese readers either because among teenagers, the target audience, there's an increasing number of teen who, in Japan, are forced to leave home (the Toyoko Kids) and often ends up committing crimes to survive and the league seems to be based on all the kind of homeless people Japan has.

While for a kid at home with a loving family being told that your father will die with him if he messes up instead than just dumping him might be comforting... for a kid that was abused and forced to leave home this might feel not enough.

People want to be saved, being told it's too late to save them, might be a lesson for those who hadn't done anything wrong yet so that they won't do it, but it's surely not a hopeful message for who instead got himself into troubles.

But well, that's something for the Japanese audience to ponder.

There's also to point out that, even though the message is not hopeful, Horikoshi is seeing the homeless people and acknowledging they should be helped.

Japan in regard to the Toyoko kids is mostly like the old woman who pretended not to see Tenko but that, in the end, helps that new boy.

I think Horikoshi's message desperately wants to be hopeful even for them, that he wants BNHA be like Midoriya's final stand, something that will push people to acknowledge they exist and reach out to help them.

It just that... it gets lost in what I'll call the 'litteral translation'.

No one explains us how we should jusge the scenes and, since we lack the cultural background, to us they are perceived differently because to us things work differently.

And, personally, even when I think I figured out the author's intent and can see the positivity of it, the cultural filter is still too tick and the picture gets blurried.

It's like being beginner at speaking a foreign language and having to constantly translate it in your head. The message loses its natural beauty, get simplified and not fully grasped.

I think I understand how Enji's atonement work in regard to Touya... it still doesn't feel fulfilling to me. But enough about Touya.

'Now,' you might rightfully say, 'fine, I'll bite, let's assume what Enji has is an atonement arc for Touya. It doesn't work at all in the west but let's give it a pass. What about his other kids?'

Natsuo and Fuyumi's wishes are in conflict.

Fuyumi wants the five of them to be a family (at the time she doesn't know Touya is alive), Natsuo doesn't want to be part of a family with Enji.

Enji's solution is giving Fuyumi a house in which she can welcome her mother and live with Natsuo (and Shouto when he comes home), while he removes himself from the equation. The solution fulfills Natsuo's wish of not seeing Enji because it makes him feel bad. It only partly fulfil Fuyumi's wish because it'll allow her to have her mother back (Rei couldn't bear meeting Enji either) and to stay with her siblings... but Enji takes responsibility for it, he doesn't tell her it's due to Natsuo that he can't live with them, so, in theory, it won't be Natsuo the one who's stressed to be at home when Enji is there and the one who has to leave home because he can't stand the sight of Enji.

There are many things I can say on how this is not a good solution (it doesn't make Natsuo feel better, it just stops him from feeling worse), but there are two points to consider. The first is that Enji is getting old and it would be his children's duty, due to filial pity, to take care of him, instead he's basically giving them the means to leave and take his wife with them.

Actually, since Natsuo is now the oldest MALE, it should fall on him specifically. Yes, Enji always intended to have Shouto inherit his mantle but this doesn't free Natsuo from his duties. Instead Enji is letting all his children free.

Even with Shouto, he doesn't insist anymore for Shouto to learn Flashfire Fist as his heir but just as an intern.

I take this is big in Japan.

Here again, not so much, especially in the countries in the west that think kids should leave their parents' home as soon as possible and we don't think our children are obliged to inherit our mantles.

Note how the story implies that this was meant to be the end for the Natsuo/Enji arc.

Natsuo made clear he didn't want to meet Enji again, he does it solely because they've to stop Touya and, once they've stopped Touya, he makes clear he doesn't want to see him again.

If we want though, the fact he's leaving the family can be seen as a concession in a way.

Since apparently Rei wants to stay with Enji (and likely their old house was devasted because that's what happens to relative of criminals) Enji can now move with Fuyumi and Rei and Natsuo won't have to see him because he'll leave home... to make his own home.

As for Shouto... Horikoshi answered his request by basically showing him Enji being a father for Touya and then promising he would protect them from the fiery fallout, which Horikoshi doesn't show at all because it's another thing that's a given in Japanese culture, it'll be hell for Enji to protect them, but not for us.

Just to get an idea of the fiery fallout here are some images from "Theseus no fune" again showing you how bad is this sort of thing.

Back to Enji, Horikoshi gives us verbal confirmation that Enji is now being a father by being willing to do this, by having Natsuo, who never called him as such, calling him father for the first time.

For Horikoshi that's Enji being a father.

Again, we've no idea of which hell Enji will suffer because that's not part of our culture. I've posted above screencaps of "Theseus no fune", that's how the fallout should be so not pretty at all.

So the fact that Enji will try to protect them from it is, again, BIG.

So yeah, Enji did do BIG things to atone and keeps on doing them and if he'll ultimately get forgiven by Natsuo (the rest of his family wanted to forgive him way before he were to do something), that's up to Natsuo... Horikoshi likely left this as open ending because he wanted to let it up to readers so as not to make them feel they were forced to forgive Enji.

In the general hopeful theme of the manga and with Natsuo acknowledging him as a cool father I guess his idea is that Natsuo too will eventually forgive him because he's kind.

I don't want to say that Natsuo forgiving Enji would be a culture clash because there's people even here that forgive their horrible parents and that's valid. Forgiving is a personal choice and one has the right to make it even if said horrible parent did nothing to deserve it.

It's up to you.

But sure is, if again we take the story at face value and not in its cultural contest, we can't see what Enji does to atone, because for us is nothing big.

It's even made worse by how Horikoshi doesn't show at all the hell Enji will go through (as for him is a given) so for us IT DOESN'T EXIST. We see Enji as having it easy, talking big but not having to face anything at all.

Honestly though... I think this is a bit of a flaw of the manga as a whole.

Way too often it prefers to focus on the good than on the bad so that the bad gets sidelined to much to the point people forget it.

There were horrible Heroes who committed crimes and had no intention to repent or stop... and we never met them. Nagant killed them off but we never met them.

Mountain Lady, who became a Hero for money and fame, then sticks to the job even when it's bad. Desugoro, who left the job when it turned bad, then came back to help. Enji is on an atonement path and, anyway, on work he was always a good Hero.

In the same way Horikoshi prefers not to show Enji's hardship but focus on how he'll have the support of his sidekicks, driver and Hawks... partly also because it ties in so well with the general message of everyone reaching out.

The result is that the Midoriya plotline of everyone reaching out becomes more important of the Enji atonement arc and overshadows it.

Enji's atonement arc ends in 426, chap 430 doesn't feel the need to tell us if Enji is keeping up with it despite the hardship, nor how his family is doing. It feels the need to reassure us that people will reach out for him even if he's in hell, that even if he had to give up on his family, he now as a new found family.

It's thematically consistent with the theme of reaching out but... the fact it overwrites the atonement arc honestly FOR ME doesn't work so great.

I think it's an overall problem of the 'reaching out message'.

While in itself is beautiful... it saves nothing I was lead to care about.

In Enji's case I was interested in his atonement arc, in how he could help his kids. I wanted more of that, partly because his atonement arc is so far from my culture, partly because it touched characters I cared about, I wanted to be reassured he would keep on working on it and that his family would be well.

Yes, he should be in hell, but the story didn't really work hard on trying to make me worry for him as it established already a support network for him. The story made me worry for the kids, for Touya, who was dying, for Fuyumi, who wanted back her family and won't have it, for Natsuo, who's marrying an unknown character so young, for Shouto, who has to cope with the loss of the brother with whom he wanted to connect.

I don't really care Burnin, Onima, Kido and Hawks are willing to continue to protect Enji, to reach out to help him, I knew they would, I wanted to be reassured Enji's kids are safe, well and protected. I wanted to see ENJI reach out and help them.

In this vein I don't really care the old grandmother saved a nameless abused kid, or, at least, not as much as I cared for Tomura to be saved. It's nice she saved him, it's nice he gets to live the life Tomura was denied but honestly, he's a mob character with a super tragic backstory created deliberately to force us to emotionally connect to him.

The message he now will be saved is good, but my emotional investment to him is too little.

The same applies to Uraraka's Quirk counsueling program, we knew next to nothing about the Quirk consueling previous program beyond that it didn't work (a real problem in Japan as they have a school consueling program that didn't work... and changes are in progress) and that now it supposedly does.

To how Shouji now solves peacefully plenty of conflicts caused by Heteromorph discrimination, which Horikoshi tossed in later and never really showed how to solve (and, don't take me wrong, it's not solved even by Shouji, he just solves peacefully the conflicts, how is up to everyone's speculation).

Long story short, I think Horikoshi worked really hard for BNHA to have an optimist, hopeful message... but part of it goes lost in cultural differences and part of it goes lost in how the story didn't try to get me invested in the things it's now saving.

So yeah, I'm still sad for this little panel in chap 430

I guess I'll eventually get over it. Today though, it's not that day.

On a positive note... if we count the pages of all the chapters that should go in vol 42 they're only 132. The chapters that were meant to go into Vol 39 had 165 (which yes, Horikoshi further expanded once the volume was released).

So yeah, unless Vol 42 will be slimmer than usual or that he'll add to it some sidestory or extra story, it's possible we'll get more plot in terms of epilogue. We'll see.

(also yes, I'm not touching Rei in this post. Rei is another can of worm entirely and one, I fear, Horikoshi doesn't care about. The poor woman doesn't even get a profile while Ikoma Komari does. And really, I do think Rei is much more important than Ikoma Komari)

[burningarchitecture]

4D chess

[maripr]

Some things in death note aged worse than others

Soichirou: why do you have that bandage

Aizawa: Oh nothing I just had a fight with my wife

Excuse me??

[oatmealcrisp-freak]

spoiler alert for zetsubou billy the dyke ive figured out how i wanted to end it

like i had where i want to end it pretty well hashed out in my head. light and misa are definitely dying together and they're taking L with him... somehow. dont have the build up for that ironed out. but the big thing is that light takes a bullet or maybe even a few for misa. i need that to happen and then i need her to do her Kira Cackle and then she and misa escape

but the thing is is im thinking soichirou is the one who fires the gun. following off the mock execution ykno? he doesn't get the fatal shot. misa does, two for one special, after begging ryuk for the right to end light's life cus ROMANCE

so im thinkin

im thinkin

wheres Sayu in all this? whats the explanation when she comes home and gets to learn her big sis slash mother figure not only died but died in part because their daddy did the deed?

sayu getting the death note isnt an uncommon idea but i think itd be sooooooo cool here if she did that to continue light's legacy with ryuk at her side.

smthn like

"No. No, Light's problem wasn't that her plan couldn't have worked," Sayu said, voice low, eyes fixed on her sister's polished headstone.

The secret of Kira's identity had never been released to the public, or even to Interpol, only the assurance that Kira was no more. No mention, of course, of the man who died with Kira - L's reputation had been considered too godly to allow to die, and had been allowed to live on.

Not her sister, though. No. Never her. The Light Yagami that stayed in people's memories remained a shining, sparkling star without a single smear to tarnish it.

Even in death, Light could not be allowed her personhood. The things that Sayu had come to understand as she'd grown older - they'd been illuminating.

She breathed in deep and gave her head a shake. "No, Ryuk."

She turned and looked at the demonic monster hovering behind her.

"Light's problem? Why her plans fell through? She loved our parents too much. Light cared way, way too much," Sayu said, her voice shaking around a snarl no matter how badly she tried to hold it back. "About them, and about pleasing them. All for dad to shoot her in the back."

Sayu looked back at her sister's grave, her eyes hooding, her hands loose at her sides as the wind stirred through her hair. When Light was alive, this was a similarity between them that they shared.

"I don't have that problem."

But not anymore.

L's legacy lived on. The world thought Kira's had been relegated into the fine print of the history books. It was what everyone in charge had decided.

They'd decided, yes. Impetuously, perhaps hopefully so. And they'd decided wrong.

[maripr]

freshman year vs senior year

[thebadchoicemachine]

OH AND ALSO Matsuda and Soichirou Yagami are son and father and you can’t convince me otherwise <3

Correct

[amusedyan]

The Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Dinner

As he walked through the night, feet moving entirely on autopilot, Shirou reflected on his life, and the many choices that he'd made to get into this situation. As well as how to get out of it.

Shirou Sato liked Sayu Yagami very much. She was pretty smart, pretty nice, and even pretty pretty. He could really see them having fun together and going steady. And he liked to think that he was something of a catch too! He was in the top 10 of his class, he played on his school's soccer team, and he even liked to think that he was also pretty pretty! He'd even been scared off of pirating music since Kira showed up!

They'd been going out for almost a month, and Shirou was actually pretty excited to be at least meeting Sayu's mom, even if Sayu's Dad was working. It was a sign that their relationship was moving forward.

And then. They arrived.

Soichirou Yagami. The Father. Light Yagami. The Older Brother. And for some reason, some freak called Hideki Ryuga, who was a friend or boyfriend of the Older Brother?? He actually had never gotten a straight answer from anyone about that.

At any rate, the three of them had only just sat down to dinner- it had been katsudon, and it had probably been pretty good even if Shirou couldn't actually remember if he had managed to eat any- when the other three had shown up out of the blue. Which, fine, for two of them it was their own home and they didn't need an invitation. But apparently it had been over a month since they'd been there? Weird. 

Shirou knew in his heart that Light Yagami had taken one look at him and just. Loathed him on sight. He hadn't done anything but smile and ask questions the entire dinner. 

So do you go to Sayu's school?

Yes, and-

What is your class rank?

Uh, tenth, but-

How nice. Tenth. 

Um, yeah, Sayu and I study together a lot-

Do you.

Yeah, I help her with math and she helps me with english-

Math. How nice of you. 

The entire dinner had been nothing but one question after the other from the guy. Where are you from (Tokyo all my life). What do your parents do (My dad works for the Yotsuba Corporation in Marketing. My mom stays at home). Are you in any school clubs (soccer). What is your prior relationship history (?). What are your university plans (??). Where do you see yourself in five years? In ten (???) Does your family have any congenital medical conditions (???!!?)

And the rest of them just. Sat there. Chatted in the twenty second breaks they could pry from Light’s barrage. Nodded and smiled while Light Yagami stared him down with his ridiculous hair and preppy clothes and a perfectly polite smile that did not go away even while he was chewing. HOW.

And with every answer that Shirou gave, Light Yagami would toss out a little side remark. Like it was nothing.

I was first in my class. Always.

I was a tennis prodigy, did you know?

I had three girlfriends at once and not only did they all know about each other I managed to dump them all when I got bored and get away clean from it. (So he hadn’t said it it exactly like that, but that had been what Shirou had gotten from it)

I’m going to the premier university in Japan.

I’m going to be a member of the police. I’m going to run the police one day, probably within ten years.

We have no history of being predisposed to any illness of any kind on either side of our family.

Everything that Shirou said was picked through. Everything that Shirou was proud of himself for was shoved down underneath the weight of another's accomplishments. Light Yagami hadn’t even said a word about table manners and Shirou knew that he was being mocked about his, just by the prissy way that Light handled his chopsticks and his napkin.

Mr Yagami had plowed through half of the katsudon nodding and smiling. Mrs Yagami had fluttered between her husband and son, nodding and smiling. The Boyfriend? Rival? Cousin? (WHY WERE THEY HANDCUFFED. NOBODY WAS MENTIONING IT BUT WHY WERE THEY HANDCUFFED TOGETHER) hadn’t eaten anything but had also smiled like Shirou was a dog that had learned a new trick the entire time.

And Sayu. His girlfriend.

She’d just sat there. Nodding and smiling. Eating with the same precision as her brother. He wasn’t going to lie, it had hurt that she didn’t do anything to defend him. But honestly? After the dinner he’d just gone through, Shirou was thinking about finding a way out of the relationship anyway. Sayu’s brother was crazy, her wired cousin was crazy, and her parents were probably the craziest since they thought all this shit was normal.

Yeah. Pretty girls weren’t worth this.

(Streets away, Light told his sister “I don’t think I see your relationship with that boy going anywhere. Sayu, you should think about whether you want to tie yourself to that sort of person.”)

(Sayu nods. And smiles.)

(“I know you liked him, Sayu. But I only want what’s best for you.”)

[parchmentedscrolls]

Chiyoko and Hayato Yamada! What do you think of your daughter? Her friend(s)? What do you do for fun? Do you have friends besides Sachiko and Soichirou Yagami? Ever considered getting a pet? What do you do for a living?

“What do you think of your daughter?”

Chiyoko hums thoughtfully. “Kimiko’s a bright child, definitely, and she’s got a bright future ahead of her. Honestly, I’d never initially wanted to have a child, but she’s an absolute gem – though I’m sure all mothers would say that about their kids.” 

She pauses, expression softening. “Kimiko’s a strong girl – sometimes, she’s a bit too headstrong and independent, but that’s definitely something she got from me.” Chiyoko then sighs, looking away. “But … while I’m proud she can handle herself, there’s a lot she doesn’t tell me. She is mature, yes, but … sometimes I see her with this look in her eyes that seems to say that she’s scared of something big. I wish she’d tell me about it, but she always clams up whenever I ask.”

“I … I wish I could have been around longer for her,” Chiyoko admits softly.

“What do you think of Kimiko’s friends?”

“Kimiko’s got quite a few friends at school, and they all seem to be lovely, but she does spend an awful lot of time with Light and Sayu. Of course, he does live next door, so it makes sense. I’m glad she has a friend of her mental calibre, and both the Yagami kids are sweethearts.”

“What do you do for fun?”

“Fun, huh…” Chiyoko thinks for a moment, then says, “Ah, well, I personally have a pretty huge liking to history, so I love looking at old historical monuments. Actually, being in Japan’s pretty great for me, since I finally got to see so many places I’d been dying to see back when I lived in Winchester. My favourite was probably the Meiji Shrine.”

“Do you have any friends besides Soichiro and Sachiko?”

Chiyoko smiles, but her lips are pressed together firmly. “I prefer to keep a smaller circle,” she says, but her voice is tight. “I do have some friends back in Winchester … though, I guess they’re colleagues, too. Oh! And I do keep in contact with some of Micchan’s classmates’ parents, but they’re just acquaintances.”

“Ever considered getting a pet?”

“Goodness, no!” Chiyoko shakes her head. “A pet would simply be too much to deal with. At most, perhaps, a fish would be fine, but anything larger than that would be a hassle, since both Haya and I work, and Micchan’s always been content with just us and the Yagami family.”

“What do you do for a living?”

“I actually work as a teacher,” Chiyoko says. “I used to teach full-time at an orphanage here in Japan that was sponsored by a friend back home, but now I only go there occasionally, since I’ve started giving online high-level English classes.”

“What do you think of your daughter?”

Hayato sighs. “Kimiko’s an exceptionally bright girl. And spending time with Light’s only strengthened it, really. I couldn’t be prouder of her, as her father.” He smiles, but there’s no joy behind it. “Not that I’ve been much of one, lately. I’m … I’m glad that she can handle herself, at the very least. And that she’s got Light on her side.”

“What do you think of Kimiko’s friends?”

“I’d say she’s got good taste in people. I’ve met a fair few of her school friends, and they’re all pretty good. Now, if you’re asking about Light, specifically …” Hayato’s eyebrows draw together in an expression akin to pity. “Light’s a great kid. He’s polite, well-mannered, smart, and put together, but he …” His face falls. “As blessed as that boy may seem, he’s cursed.”

He shakes his head. “Kimiko knows it, too. If I know her, she’ll be trying her damnedest to ‘save’ him. And Light in turn tries to protect her from it.” 

“What do you do for fun?”

“For fun … ?” Hayato stops to think. “Well, I do like travelling, and I tend to enjoy music, especially concerts, but I think the most fun thing for me would have to be being able to spend quality time with my friends and family.” 

“… Not that I can do it anymore.”

“Do you have any friends besides Soichiro and Sachiko?”

“I do, but not too many. A few of the guys I knew back in high school still meet up, so there are times I spend time with them. Ah, man, at some point I think we wanted to form a band, but that never ended up working out. They’re cool, though.”

“Ever considered getting a pet?”

“Ha, not a chance. Pets are just too much to take care of, and besides, I’m not home enough to be able to look after one. Kimiko’s got enough on her plate already, with school, entrance exams, and Light. There’s just no way we could take care of one.”

“What do you do for a living?”

“I work as an international representative at a company, so I end up making a lot of trips and making business deals. For the past two years, actually, there’s been a lot of friction with a branch in L.A., so I’ve been heading there a lot to mediate. It’s not all that interesting, but the travel makes it worth it.”

[sagittariuseyed]

Tagged

I was tagged by @namikawas thanks honey x Rules: Answer 20 question and tag 20 followers you want to get to know better Name: Olwyn Nickname: On discord and irl by a few of my friends, Owl, because of the spelling of my actual name. My family also has called me Lolly since I was a baby. Zodiac sign: Sagittarius Height: 5'7 Ethnicity: Irish Orientation: bisexual Favourite fruits: berries and apples Favourite season: it took me far too long to arrive on an answer, but probably autumn Favourite books: Shutter Island, Black Water Lillies, The Book Thief Favourite flowers: magnolia, lady's smock, white clover, cherry blossom Favourite animals: cats, foxes, sloths Favourite beverage: Perisecco iced melon Average hours of sleep: anywhere between 4 and 8 hours Favourite fictional characters: L Lawliet, Light Yagami, Mello, Naomi Misora, Misa Amane, Touta Matsuda, Watari, Reiji Namikawa, Stephen Gevanni, Wedy, Aiber, Soichirou Yagami, Yuri Plisetski, Victor Nikiforov, Yuuri Satsuki, Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, Kaneki Ken, Touka Kirishima Number of blankets you sleep with: 1 duvet Dream trip: South Korea, Japan, Russia Blog created: February 2014 Number of followers: 1,009 What do I post about: Death note, things I find funny, things I find pretty Aesthetic: pink skies with lots of clouds, silhouettes, pastel colours, flowers, thigh high socks and skirts, house plants, sketch pads and pencils, hair dye Favourite band/artist: I don't know...I don't really have one, I listen to bits of everything. I don't pay much mind to the artist in all honesty Favourite character I'd date: Mmmm...Light Yagami (I'm an idiot, I know) Touta Matsuda, L Lawliet (again, I know I'm an idiot), Naomi Misora, Wedy, Stephen Gevanni Hogwarts house: Slytherin Tagging: @lawliette @deathnotoriety @fightmejeonghannie @mercurial-ghost @lane-1313 @lightimagayaf @andagelessdaughters