#and jsyk i’ve seen this take on Hitoya from several other fans! it’s not my original analysis at all i just rly like it

[overheaven]

i really love the take that Hitoya is pretty emotionally stunted and that’s why he really connects well with Jyushi and Kuko. some people like to call him their dad figure but i’ve always (half-joking, half-serious) said he’s their babysitter. like someone who’s maybe not totally secure either, but at least older and thus wiser about the world. i don’t think he’s immature, but yeah i get a lot of “it’s alright, i’m 35 and i don’t know what i’m doing either” energy from him.

compared to Jakurai who has war trauma and literally adopted and effectively lost his own kid, Hitoya is (imo) a pretty neat example of a character who has less “shocking” or w/e you wanna call it trauma that has discombobulated him. death of a loved one and bullying are very overt trauma, but there’s something unique about how that type of trauma is contained to settings like the family unit, school, etc. It’s more pervasive and less shell-shock. If that makes sense. Hitoya and Jyushi both lost a caregiver / older loved one; Jakurai, a parent, lost his child. Different dynamics of maturity.

Jyushi is, of course, also coping with very similar trauma, but he’s only 19 and he has an older friend who’s been through that already to help steer him towards a more effective path of healing— which Hitoya only knows because he’s already made the mistakes, suffered alone, and built a whole new life path because of the devastating events in his past. He did it all on his own! How many years of study and hope (years of young adulthood!!) did he lose when he threw his original goals into the trash? And now here he is, a successful adult with a really illustrious career, but like. Has he really healed? idk.

i could probably make a case for Hitoya’s “he likes money” character quality being born of insecurity rather than greed or anything too tbh but the best contrast for that is Rei and we honestly don’t know what his real deal is so LOL we’ll postpone that idea

and i have similar feelings about Sasara and Rosho and how they navigate the emotional trauma of neglect but that’s a whole other post because i’m very invested in DH and could write a lot more in-depth meta about them lol

anyways that’s my thoughts on Hitoya since he keeps saying hi to me in ARB, cheers 🥃⚖️💜