#and of course I'm rereading the manga

[epickiya722]

JJK 🤝 MHA

"Five more chapters in 2024"

[xskyll]

$17.20 an hour.

My first job was in 2007 and I got paid $7.15 an hour. My uniform was not cute, and I didn't receive catgirl powers.

[thyandrawrites]

I love that "going crazy" is unironically framed as a necessary step towards character development and empowerment

This series is something else

[corduroykoala]

I don't know that I can articulate just how perfect of an ending this is for the show, particularly as an adaptation, but damn I'm going to try.

I recently reread the chapters covered by this episode in anticipation of rereading the rest of the manga after this. This sequence is only about three pages long and, for someone who knows what is coming, who knows that Frieren will meet at least some of these characters again, it didn't have much of an impact on the page.

On the screen, however, this sequence carries so much more weight. The flashback is reframed to be from Frieren's perspective, the montage is expanded to include other characters from her life—both living and dead—and, of course, the excellent EP is timed to deliver the maximum emotional impact. The entire show is filled with these kinds of changes that expand on and enhance what was in the manga, to say nothing of the beautiful animation.

The thing that stuck with me most when watching this, however, was what Himmel says: "I'm sure we'll run into each other again if we continue traveling. Tearful goodbyes aren't our style. After all, it would be embarrassing when we met again." This was not just a goodbye between characters; it was a goodbye between the show and the audience.

This, I think, is the ultimate expression of this show as an adaptation. In an ongoing manga—or three chapters into a ten-chapter volume—this kind of farewell couldn't work. As the end of a season with no guarantee of another, however, the message is made even clearer.

I very much want a second season of this show. I want to see these characters again, to see their journey continue. While I am sad to see them go now, all I can do is continue on my own and have faith that I will meet them again.

[huginsmemory]

Thinking about how deliberately colour coded the touden siblings are to the winged lion. Like they have gold eyes and blond hair, directly correlating themselves to the winged lion by colour scheme... And when they both become monstrous, they BOTH are represented with feathers around their neck and chest areas; as the red dragon has no feathers but chimera Falin DOES is interesting as it points to something specific to Falin... only to be repeated when Laios shifts and has the same feathers in the exact same area suggesting it's something unique to the Toudens. I mean whether that really has merit is obtuse really, but if we're going for the winged lion representation angle it makes sense. Interestingly, Marcille also has blonde hair but she has green eyes; not so obviously tied to the winged lion, even if she ends up becoming the dungeon master.

And I wonder if it's a representation within the touden siblings at how by the end they represent/become the lion. Laios is very clear; by consuming the winged lion, he 'becomes one' with the lion, in the most base sense of what you eat you literally are made of... and also in how incredibly horny the panel is. And then quite literally his result of eating the winged lion he's doomed to forever feel hungry and never feel sated; the same thing the winged lion represents, desire without end. He becomes in a way, the winged lion, a human representative of him, after his body also quite literally becoming the human representative of the winged lion, when the winged lion walks around in his own skin. The two of them are foils; both driven by the desire to consume, one a monster and with a desire to consume chiefly humans, while for the other a human the desire to consume monsters, and they in the end swap places; the human becoming a monster and a monster becoming a human, each granting each other their forms. They become in that way instrinsically twisted, and the tables turn on the Lion as the Lion instead of feasting on Laios becomes the one feasted on instead in the same way the Lion normally feasts; again, Laios becoming the lion. Of course, the lion represents more than just un-ending desire, chiefly the portion which talks about the issue of capitalism unchecked desire and consumption. But I think in a way, perhaps that's what is also being hinted too; the way within a community people can help check other peoples desires or help people have desires as is seen in the end with both Marcille and Mithrun. A non-destructive representation of the winged lion one might say. Also, one may say he also becomes the true 'lord of the dungeon' as the winged lion ceases to exist, Laios now ruling instead, taking the winged lions place.

In regards to Falin there's perhaps less obvious or deliberate foiling in comparison, but I think she still by the end in a way represents the winged lion. Chiefly, I think, by her in the first place, being alive; the black magic that brought her back is exactly what invited the winged lion to their world in the first place; without the winged lions existence through the tapping into outside reality, Falin would not be alive. In much the same way, her flesh was created from the red dragon, a creation of the dungeon, and so winged lion. She's only alive in the beginning because of the winged lion, so she represents in a way that no other person does in the manga the winged lion; not a prey of the winged lion, but a creation, or something saved through the winged lion. It's also interesting to see that what she retains is her feathers (even if they're white, not gold) once she's again revived.... squints suspiciously.

Anyways I think there's probably also a lot more coherent things that can be pulled from this analysis but I'm just rambling on about it tbh...I need to reread the manga...

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

octavinelle + mostro lounge exterior

[The images in this post are credited to Turtle Soup Scans! Please support the team and the work they do~]

I was rereading the Episode of Octavinelle manga recently and!! I don’t know how I missed these detail before 😭 Time to comment on them now—

When the mirror expels Yuuta, Jack, and the other students into Octavinelle, each of them is encapsulated in a bubble which grants them air. This definitely helps to make the in-game moments when the students appear to be just fine despite being underwater less awkward.

Ah, and I notice the outermost entrance to the Mostro Lounge resembles the mouth of Ursula’s cave, of course!

This was actually always visible on the Octavinelle map, it was just hard to notice at first because there’s so much other stuff to stare at. Circled in red is where the Mostro Lounge is relative to everything else.

The Mostro Lounge seems to occupy a separate building in Octavinelle. It can be reached via a longish winding path, which is where I think the corridors with great glass walls where you can peer into the surrounding sea are. However, that's not visually indicated in the map (circled in green) so maybe I'm wrong on that.

The inner hall of the Mostro Lounge is decorated similarly to Ursula's lair too. All the… seawead?? Squiggly things dangling from the ceiling…

We also get to see the door that goes straight to the Mostro Lounge. The name and many tentacles preside over the entrance.

I love the amount of detail the manga's able to express. With the game alone, we had a much more limited scope of how locations like the Mostro Lounge are structured both inside and out. It's great that the manga can expand on that~

[canmom]

Comics mini-Comints: Dungeon Meshi

reread dungeon meshi through to the end. still such a great manga. here are immediate thoughts - if I end up having time and energy I hope I can write something that goes deeper!

ironically i was only a few chapters from the end when I stopped keeping up, but I was struggling to remember all the characters and context, so reading it through in one go was definitely an ideal way to achieve maximum impact there.

ryoko kui does a very elegant job of handling a transition from 'silly antics' to 'big dramatic fantasy' while still keeping the central thematic throughline - eating and being eaten, belonging to an ecosystem, the significance of sacrificing others to achieve your own desires. a lot of setups pay off in a way that feels meticulously planned - and of course the crux of the final showdown revolves around characters attempting to eat each other, of course the big payoff is a huge feast that symbolically unites all the conflicting factions. it is maybe a bit too neat and happy for my taste, but it's undeniably tightly executed - it never loses sight of what it's about. especially compared to something like Frieren, it's an incredibly coherent serialisation, up there with e.g. Fullmetal Alchemist.

kui's art style deserves all kinds of praise - it feels effortlessly simple, but it clearly communicates all sorts of different shapes and body types and it's really fun to see her play around with remixing the different visual elements when she switches the races around. in general Laius's autistic monster loving ways clearly reflect kui's own deeply felt appreciation for all the ways people and animals live (accentuated further by all the extra sketches the scanlators tuck in). in a way you could kinda call it like Parts Unknown the fantasy manga.

the stakes of the final conflict are interesting - there is much to be said about the framing of 'desire' and its fulfilment, of this occult idea of 'the infinite'. lots you could put in relation to other manga, and also buddhism. (in particular I really want to develop a comparison to Made In Abyss, there are so many parallels, it just might be too spicy for tumblr lmao).

one thing I really like about it is how much its fantasy dungeon-exploring setting owes to D&D and other TTRPGs, rather than videogames. monster ecology has been a fascination of that game since the early days of Dragon magazine, and Kui sharply zeroes in on some of the intrinsic conflicts baked in to that fantasy milieu, notably the lifespan thing, while smartly avoiding the traps of 'evil races'. there's some really fun nods to the weirder monster manual entries. and in a story with so many characters and factions, it does a genuinely incredible job of furnishing everyone with understandable, reasonable motivations, conflicts drawn from their context just like the monsters are explained by their ecology.

and one thing that I particularly appreciate is like... how much it is able to simultaneously understand and sympathise with a character and also show us how and why they'd rub others the wrong way. it's impossible not to like our main group, they're all such charming dorks and the manga leads you along with all the crazy rpg party shit they do, but at the same time you definitely find yourself thinking 'guy's got a point' in the kabru chapters lmao. I'm projecting hard bc i don't really know a thing about ryōko kui but laius def feels like the sort of depiction of having an autism that you can only do if you've lived it.

but yeah, it's a fuzzy ending where it all turns out well. but what's the deeper thrust of it all? there's a funny moment where marcille is like 'maybe in the end our journey is about learning to accept death' and the grouchy old gnome guy completely laughs this off as naive, because death doesn't mean anything. and indeed their big plan pays off, and falin does indeed come back just fine. but still, through all of this it asks you to bite the bullet that being a living creature means eating to survive, at the cost of other creatures, with the other side being that one day you too will be eaten. in contrast to this honest way of being is the beguiling fantasy of infinity, where all your desires are immediately fulfilled - this is shown as a dangerous path of corruption that produces madness and manipulability. having limits and rubbing up against the wishes of others, or 'doing things you don't want to do' as izutsumi's arc puts it, becomes necessary for having some kind of definition as a subject. the thing that makes the demon concrete as an entity is a desire, or appetite, that can't immediately be fulfilled.

of course we can connect this to the idea of narrative conflict. a standard advice for putting together a plot is to ask what each character wants and why they can't get it. wanting something implies movement. and indeed over the course of this story, we see that while having too many desires fulfilled too readily leads to incoherence and callousness, equally a character who is left catatonic as their desires have been eaten by the demon must be reawakened to activity by finding a new desire.

it's kinda Buddhist innit. neither the opulence of the palace nor asceticism. desires are what tie you to the world. but mixed with ecology: what a creature does to find the energy to live is what defines its lifestyle, its form.

this is probably where I'd start talking about entropy gradients and shit if i wasn't typing this on a phone at 1:30am lmao.

but yeah - it's a powerful move to go from 'D&D monster recipe show sendup' to 'living with the inherently violent nature of being an organism fated to live in a finite sum game' and yet Dungeon Meshi makes it feel natural and convincing, while remaining tremendously charming and funny throughout. ryōko kui is definitely some kind of genius, and I can't wait to see what her next act is gonna be. it's all definitely making me appreciate the act of eating a lot more.

next story on my plate is probably The Flower That Bloomed Nowhere, which sounds like it will present a very gnarly thematic contrast.

[diminuel]

I'm rereading the chapters on Luffy's childhood, so let's do some Dragon criticism ;3 (I love questionable dads, so don't take this as hate. I obviously don't hate this guy *lol*)

We learn that Sabo, Ace and Luffy were rather infamous in Grey Terminal and their names were even known in the Capital City. If that was the case, then how come that Dragon didn't know about the ties between Sabo and Luffy (and also Ace?)

Here he was, with an amnesiac child on his hands (that he knows was born a noble and that he also has the name of as we learn later) and he did not bother to do the bare minimum of research into who this kid is? If he did, then Luffy's name would have come up. There's of course the option that he did do his due diligence, found out that this kid was a friend of Luffy's and made a choice not to do anything about it.

Both options aren't great...

Then there's also this thing the RA does that rubs me the wrong way a little bit and that is to make it sound like being saved is conditional. Why do you tell people who are stranded on the shore, flames surrounding them, carrying small children, with nowhere to go but the ship in front of them "Those of you who wish to join me in a battle for freedom board my ship"? Betty does that too and I don't like it X'3 I'm sure he wouldn't have left them standing there to die if they didn't want to join him but it's still not great X'D

Two days pass after the burning of Grey Terminal and we know that Dragon was sticking around because he does get Sabo out of the water. I can imagine that maybe Dragon was staying behind not necessarily because he wanted to catch a glimpse of the Celestial Dragons. He might have been checking in on Luffy. But Luffy wasn't in Windmill Village. I wonder if he just kept looking and came across Sabo by accident? Or maybe he knew from Garp that Luffy was with Dadan? Either way, if he did check in on him and saw that he was hurt, maybe he'd be angry at himself for not making sure that Luffy was far away from Grey Terminal because apparently the man had time to stroll around the city...

Dragon must have known in advance that the inspection of Goa and the World Noble visit would be happening, so he had plenty of time to make any kind of preparation to make sure that Luffy was safe. And yet??

And then he takes a random child back to Baltigo (and we're back at the first issue.)

Just... don't know what's going on in this man's head. X3

Also, in the digitally coloured manga they gave him markings/ tattoos/ scars. It looks just like folds in his shirt in the original black and white manga (you can't see it well in the middle image *lol* Also, Dragon's face is distracting, I know. Crocodile's beautiful husband~)

[baby-xemnas]

Before getting into op I used to think the zoro dicksucking memes floating around on twitter were funny but exaggerated to the point of annoying cuz he didn't give off that vibe at ALL from the tidbits of info and fanarts i'd come across. And then i started reading the manga....I'm at ch 50 rn and I could've never for the life of me guessed he's such a glazer?? I want to yell at my screen every three chapters because of how down bad he sounds and how bad he wants to act nonchalant despite it. Now everytime he sighs himself into enabling luffy all i could think is that he's just gin without the pathetic face

THE MEMES ARE ALL ACCURATE

its genuinely obscene, every time i reread/rewatch old bits im also like 'holy fucking shit there he goes again" HES SO LIKE THAT

its disgusting how day one zoro just spoils and enables luffy at every step like ouggh can you be any fucking louder (yes he can, you'll see)

"gin without the pathetic face" laughs yeah its the "yes honey of course anything for you" of it all

[super-paper]

Rereading the early chapters of MHA, and tbh I think we can pin this scene as the exact moment Tomura develops his fixation on Izuku.

Everyone in this scene assumes that All Might doesn’t need any help and starts wandering off, leaving All Might to face Kurogiri and Tomura alone. Izuku is the only one to intervene, "offering help that no one asked for." Of course, Izuku is the only one with actual insight into All Might’s condition and realizes that he's in danger— but from Tomura’s perspective, Izuku is some rando kid that's throwing himself into danger to help someone who doesn’t appear to need any help. And the emphasis on everyone else being willing to just sit back and do nothing while All Might handles everything is something we know ties directly to one of Tomura’s biggest traumas:

Tomura: "Don't just watch. Help Me. Someone please look at me. Don't just tell me not to cry. Don't just smile and pretend that everything is alright. Don't pretend you don't see me." MHAReddit: Ah, I understand-- obviously, the series is saying that Tenko is dead and we can beat this guy by punching him harder! :)

I gotta stress that Shouto and Co. are kids and I'm not faulting them for deciding to let an adult handle the situation (and I don't doubt in the slightest that they would have also chosen to intervene if they were privvy to the same information abt Toshinori's health as Izuku)-- but from Tomura's perspective where he holds pretty much everyone equally responsible for society's failings, this act was enough for him to start subconsciously singling Izuku out.

Meanwhile, the sports festival just reinforces Tomura's budding interest bc it reinforces that Izuku is actually batshit crazy and Tomura's response to this is to ask ".... how crazy we talkin'? 👀"

Oh, Izuku, you were definitely gonna get kidnapped at some point 😭

Anyway, stuff like this is also why I feel that Horikoshi likely planned on having Izuku save Tomura from the very beginning (And I've seen ppl argue that Hori had planned to have Tomura be the final boss and get defeated/killed because of Nine's existence, but let's be real-- Nine was an AFO expy parading around in a Yoichi expy's body and ya'll know it). There's a lot of set up for why Izuku is ultimately the best person to save Tomura scattered throughout the early stages of the manga, like, literally starting from the very first page:

Izuku: *crying the biggest and ugliest tears mankind has ever seen, snot pouring out of his nose, sweating a frankly concerning amount, and fighting back his own tears because he just can't ignore the tears of others* I GOTTA SAVE THAT CRYING BOY....!!! Shigaraki Tomura, famously a freak, inching himself closer to Midoriya Izuku's splash zone with every chapter: ....... :) :) :)

Izuku saves others despite being a sobbing, snotty, sweaty mess--often times while he's being a sobbing, snotty, sweaty mess. It's antithetical to All Might and Nana's beliefs about saving others with a smile and about cultivating an "image"/"mask" meant to reassure others-- but that's not a bad thing, and the whole series is built around showing us why it isn't a bad thing.

Izuku cannot separate his own inherent humanity and desires from his heroism and is driven by impulse/ego/pain the same way Tomura is. He remains a crybaby who wears his emotions on his sleeve throughout the entirety of the manga-- and the lesson he ultimately learns isn't that he should "just stop crying and hide all his fear behind a smile," it's that he shouldn't run from that aspect of himself because it's the part of himself that allows him to empathize with others. Izuku saves a piece of himself every time he gives his all to save those who are in tears, and he's become the exact type of hero who would've given it his all to save his child self.

This might not be the sort of hero Izuku fantasized about being-- but it's exactly the sort of hero Tomura needs after a lifetime of having his own tears downplayed and ignored by everyone.

on that note, the anime having Tenko and Izuku's "masks" basically evaporating to reveal their soft, sparkly, shoujo-y centers in that one season 6 OP remains one of the most on-point visuals the anime has ever given us lmfao. can't wait to see what they do for s7.....!

[rose-void-789]

Okay but the biggest thing for me that has always kept me from liking Izuocha is that I come from fairytail. I know shonen romance isn't boring. I know what it's like to see the two main leads love and fight and admire each other. And that's the thing that I always wanted for Ochako. I wanted badly for her to have what Lucy has.

And I did ship them at first because they were cute and I thought oh the hero name. The helping Deku win his entrance exam. Her having her own goals. Being broke the friendship. it seemed so much like Nalu. Better too because I could see Izuku blushing at her too.

And then someone says something about twin stars. About Izuku and Bakugou being intertwined. About win to save save to win. And then I see the second movie and my mind explodes. I reread the manga and realize what Katsuki did. Izuku was always pushing chasing looking at him. And that wasn't to say that izuocha couldn't happen but that interconnection I saw with Nalu wasn't it more with bkdk. And it kept getting worse. Ochako kept getting sidelined to better explore the relationship between Izuku and Bakugou.

Izuku never looked at her like she did him. Never thought about her like she did him. A blush or two wr got at most. But Ochako whole character started to soley revolved around her feelings towards him. She was the only one carrying the romance plot.

Mha isn't a show about romance but neither is Fairytail. And yet Lucy never got sideline in fact even with all the stuff on Zeref and Gray Lucy found herself interconnected to Natsu through her own bloodline. And they always had moments ones where he's scared of her getting hurt, of catching her from falling, of going berserk because he thought she died, of protecting her, of finishing a big villan off together, of being on missions together. Hell when he ran away shes the one that found him. When Izuku ran away bakugou found him. When Ochako was in danger Tsyu was there or any number of other heros, when she almost died Toga held her safely. Nalu gave me such a high expectation for shonen romance and female leads. So of course it's so frustrating seeing people call the obvious love intest boring when it can be anything that. To act like the female lead has to carry the romance plot and contribute nothing else. That the male lead can just walzt up to the that stupid clif and say that he loves her and that he always has when it was only ever iluded that he even thought that much about her in the last half of the war. And for her to so easily accept because when her whole arc is about her feelings for the guy isn't it only fair that they end up together.

Where is the interconnectivity, the care from him. Where is him looking at her the same way she looks up to him. How is the fanservice show better at writing a strong heroen! A strong partnership!

I'm so tried. I'm so sorry to everyone that's watch shonen and are expecting this out of female characters. That it's typical for the romance plot to be given to the girl and the big moments where I seen love intrest shine are given to the "rival." Ochako deserves better.

[king-paimon]

Houseki No Kuni Chapter 108 Thoughts: Everything Stays....

Hello all. I hope the month of April was good to everyone. It was alright for me, though I'm just in awe by how fast it went! Time really goes by too quickly as you get older.

Speaking of time, would you look at that? The final chapter of Houseki no Kuni was released! 108 chapters over the course of 12 years. And I've been following it for nearly 5 of those years! Wow! That is quite the feat, Ms. Ichikawa.

I'd been waiting for this day for a long time, and the feeling is bittersweet, with the overlaying feeling of relief. This emotional rollercoaster that Ms. Ichikawa had sent us on has finally reached it's dock.

Phos's story is finally complete. What a ride it had been!

Now the question is: Was I satisfied?....

I'll do my best to answer this. I don't know how long this post will be, but I'm hoping that it won't be too long (edit: Oops. I was wrong.) And as always, please feel free share your own thoughts if you're interested!

Here we go:

Phos's True End: Was It Satisfying?

I reread this chapter a few times to answer this question and to be honest, I still reach the same conclusion: It was fitting. Not absolutely bad or 100% amazing, but in terms of Phos's whole journey throughout this story, I think this was a fitting ending for Phos, and that's good. And if anything else, it's a little ironic.

I mentioned in my last post that I thought it was funny that the remaining piece of Phos had become the youngest/newest member of the pebble species much like how they originally were at the beginning off the whole manga. It seems though, the similarities don't end there because of this little interaction between Eyeball/Pita-pat and Pebble Phos:

I'm sure this was supposed to be a little cheeky conversation and Eyeball/Pita-pat didn't really mean it. But still, this was an interesting exchange to include in this final chapter, especially right before it's implied that Eyeball/Pita-pat passed away.

One intriguing story choice Ichikawa made was having Pebble Phos continuously fall apart near the end to the point that they become a small spec. To be honest, I was not sure how to feel about this part when I first read, especially considering how now there's hardly any of Phos left now. Like, after Eyeball/Pita-pat saved that last bit of Phos so they could have a nice life away from humanity, it'd be unfair for them to break apart again to nothing after all of that. But I did like how the pebbles decided to view Pebble Phos' changes; that their fragments surely became beautiful comets that would brighten someone's day. And that shot with original Phos was nice...

Also, I saw the post that implied that Ichikawa released this final chapter around the same time that a rare famous comet was supposed to be seen on Earth. I want to say that I think it was a pure coincidence, but I'm not putting anything past this author!

This chapter made me think of that one song from Adventure Time: Everything Stays. If you haven't heard of it, please give a listen. It's a song about life and the course of change. It focuses on how even if things appear to stay the same over the course of time, changes still occur, even if subtle. Phos certainly changed a lot throughout their story through intense mind and physical altering events. But I also think they changed subtly even during the less intense moments. I think the moments in this final chapter fit with this song, too. Phos was always evolving, even when it didn't appear so. Through their interactions and lack thereof with others and their environment, Phos was always changing and growing, ever so subtly. And even in this last chapter, Phos is still evolving and that'll likely never end.

Interesting... after thinking about it some more, I think I feel a little more satisfied with how this chapter/story ended. I'm glad that Ms. Ichikawa didn't pull some other twist near the end; that certainly would have ruined it for me. Am I 100% happy with how Phos's story ended? I don't think so. But to me, it's a fitting end.

But what do I think about the series as a whole?

When The Journey Ends: Was It Worth It?

There are very few manga or written stories that had me wanting to see how things end because more often than not, there aren't that many stories that I've read to completion. Part of it is because I don't want the story to end; basically, I'd have the thought process that if I don't know how the story ends, the story doesn't end! Perfect logic (sarcasm). Though this usually happens because I lose interest or because the story goes in directions that I don't like, I'd say one of the main reasons I end up dropping a series is because of how a story ends. How a story ends can completely change one's opinion of a story, and I've seen my fair share of stories that end badly. Sometimes the ending is abrupt and not satisfying, especially if it was lead by a big build up, or the ending is a result of a jarring story pivot that seems to come out of left field. It just seems that many creators don't know how to end their story well. And if I like a story a lot, sometimes I'm too scared to see how it ends. Partially because I don't want the story to end, but mostly because I don't want the end to ruin my experience.

Houseki no Kuni is a unique case for me. I know I've mentioned this before but I'll state it again: I don't think I've ever been so invested in a story like this before. Though that investment had dwindled over time, partially due to me developing new interests, life, and being occasionally dissatisfied with certain story choices, I wanted to see this how this story would end no matter what. And now that it's done, I'm glad I stuck it out.

Was this story perfect? No. There were several story decisions that I wish was either told differently or completely omitted that could have made the story stronger in my opinion.

Did I get a too invested in this story? During certain points, most definitely haha. I remember getting very emotional about certain chapters when I first started making this series of meta posts. I remember seeing some posts from people stating that they no longer liked the manga because of the direction it was going and in some cases, I could see where they were coming from.

Do I regret getting so invested in this story? No. No I don't. Despite not liking certain story aspects, I do not regret getting invested in this story. Though the story was not perfect, this was such a unique experience that I'm grateful to have gone through.

I plan on talking more about how I feel about Houseki no Kuni as a whole in another post. I intend to delve into what I loved about it and what I wish was different. While I could include that stuff here, I think this post is long enough. I've already started working on it, but I know it'll be a while before it's done; you bet there will be some parts with me ranting a little haha

But long story short, despite some grievances I have with some parts of the story, I feel satisfied with how it ended. And I'm glad that I read this series.

What Happens Next: Thank you, HnK Fandom

I want to thank those who've read, liked, and even commented on my posts! I didn't think so many of you would like, let alone read, my longwinded messy posts. I loved every feedback I got, even the ones that didn't agree with me. You made me love being part of this niche fandom. Like I said in the previous section, I have at least one more post that I want to make detailing everything I feel about Houseki No Kuni as a whole. I might make another one that's more for fun, but we'll see. I encourage anyone who's interested to share your own thoughts on the post! I seriously love reading different perspectives.

But after those posts, I don't know how involved I'll be in the fandom afterwards. I may repost some art and other people's meta posts on occasion. But when it comes to meta commentary, these will likely be my last posts about HnK. I have other fandoms that I like to follow, though I don't make posts about them. Perhaps I will, though I know they will be nothing like the posts I've made about Houseki no Kuni. This was the only series I've ever felt compelled to analyze so deeply, which makes it special for me. If I were to post anything about the other stuff I'm into, it'll most likely be of fanart that I made for my own personal enjoyment. I know scare many of my followers away since they'll not be HnK related. But who knows? I haven't made any HnK art in a long time... Maybe one of these days, I can try to make some HnK art again. I have some unfinished pieces on my computer that's now years old. Yeah, I should finish them when I have the time. That'd be a fun little send off.

Anyhow, if you are interested, please hang around for my final HnK meta posts! And when it's out, please please PLEASE share your own thoughts in it! Don't be afraid to share your opinions. I promise I don't bite.

So that's it. These are my thoughts of the final chapter of Houseki no Kuni. I might add more to it, but I'm fine with what I put out. Wow... I still can't believe I got into this series 5 years ago! So much had changed in my life since then. Despite everything, it was worth it.

Thank you again for reading my jargon. It means a lot and I can't wait to post my true final meta posts about Houseki no Kuni.

What a ride this was.

Until next time...

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

Rereading the manga, I notice something really interesting. If you go back to chapter 59, you'll find All Might explaining how AFO and OFA as quirks were born. That's the first time Toshinori explains the history of AFO too.

The interesting part is the way he tells the story of Yoichi, the first user of OFA. It reminds me a lot of Tenko's story. It can be just me, but please read it for yourself:

" The man had a quirkless little brother / the man had a quirkless younger brother.

The little brother was small, and frail, but he harbored a strong sense of justice...! / This brother was small and fragile, but he had a strong sense of justice!

His brother's actions panged his heart... and he opposed him / and the deeds of his big brother pained him... So he opposed the tyrant. "

( A quirkless little brother asking why the world is so unfair finding out he actually has a quirk when he decides to oppose his abuser? Of course, here the difference is that Yoichi was older than Tenko when it all happened. He was not a confused 5 years old trying to understand why and how.... )

" Yes... He who was thought quirkless, did in fact possess one prior. / Yes... It turned out he hadn't actually been quirkless from the start.

Though neither he himself nor anyone around him had ever noticed / thought neither he nor anyone else has known it. "

That means there is a previous instance in which a young man thought quirkless had indeed a quirk: Yoichi himself!

It also makes me think about how Tomura/Tenko's control over decay depends on his emotional and psychological state.

The night his quirk awakened, we saw that Tenko had no control over it; everything that touched the ground he had contact with decayed. After he was "rescued" and after he was given the hands of his deceased family, AFO noticed that Tomura had unconsciously restrained decay so he would only affect the things he directly touched. Later on the story, Tomura was able to expand his quirk, evolving to decay without using all his five fingers during My Villain Academia. He was able to decay things at will during the War arc!!!

Could it be possible that Tenko had unconsciously repressed his own quirk for years before the night he killed his family?

Maybe when he tried to repress his own feelings about what was happening at home, Tenko also repressed decay without knowing. If he kept all his negative feelings in check as to not upset his family, it'd be an option.

If we wanted to reaaaally go crazy theorizing, we could even make a case about how Tenko having a previous quirk before AFO implanted decay on him is a possibility (within the frames of the bnha narrative). I'm not going there, but I think that fic authors would appreciate the prompt.

[flowers-of-buffoonery]

I've been thinking about fukuzawa a lot recently and now that I'm rereading the manga I'm falling in love with him all over again. fukuzawa just... trusts his people with things. it's an integral part of who he is, and this is shown right from the very beginning of the story, when he lets dazai decide what to do with atsushi after his entrance exam.

leaving a decision such as whether to let a new person join the ada or not to one of his agents is perfectly in line with fukuzawa's character – dazai is the person who picked up atsushi from the street, so of course he gets to decide.

but is it as obvious to dazai? how does it make him feel, after years working in an organization where to trust is to be foolish, where the boss lets or makes people do things? how does it feel to be trusted with no hidden agenda, no secret test to be passed? dazai has been with the agency for a while by this point, but it's the first time he's bringing a potential new member to the team (because he's an orphan and he's at the ada to save the weak, protect the orphans, we know) and fukuzawa lets him handle the entire thing, not doubting his judgement once, not second-guessing dazai's intentions with this.

this man is actively curing wounds people might not even realise they have and I love him so much for it

[epickiya722]

Do you think that when Gojo first heard that Itadori ate a cursed object he was instantly reminded of Geto? Do you think that somewhere in his heart he knew what was going to happen because nothing good came to the person, his Suguru, who ate curses. Do you think that's why Gojo was so insistent on helping out Itadori, because in some cruel way every time he looked at the teen he was reminded of Geto? Of Geto and how he didn't notice his best friend lover spiralling until it was too late already? Do you think--?

I mention a few spoilers later in this answer!

I don't doubt that he did! Satoru did become a teacher to help guide the new generation and to make sure their youth isn't stolen from them.

I'm sure Satoru was reminded of Suguru because Yuji ate a cursed object, but even more so later down the line when he starts interacting with him more.

I do feel like Satoru may have always wondered how Suguru was feeling about swallowing curses, but given how he was at a teenager (a little less sympathetic), he didn't bother to ask. But probably didn't want to trouble Suguru with questions because he wasn't sure how he would react, but at the same time kept close to at least shine some of his silliness into Suguru's life to at least get some smiles out of him. It works given all those scenes we see of Suguru smiling at him.

It's like "I can't do this, but I can at least do this for him".

So, yeah, Satoru probably doesn't intend to repeat the past. With Yuji, he's taking that second chance.

Personally, I don't think Satoru was completely at fault with what happened with Suguru, but Satoru probably feels he is.

When I think about it right at this moment, it's interesting to me how kind of similar Satoru and Suguru interact comparing to how Satoru and Yuji do.

As I said before in other posts, Suguru and Yuji share common traits. Other than the obvious one of swallowing curses, they both cater to helping (weaker) people.

Satoru probably caught that when Yuji says he'll consume Sukuna's fingers if it means less lives are lost. Suguru also consumed curses, doing so to save lives.

Peep also how Suguru and Yuji act towards Satoru compared to everyone else.

They match his energy. While everyone else tends to come back at Satoru in a more annoyed manner, they tend to play along with his antics. Suguru is just more on the line of banter and sass, but still retaining that familiarity of being his best friend. With Yuji, they really are two peas in a pod. Yuji also tends to make remarks towards Satoru that even he sometimes is like "oh". Like when Yuji recalls to how Satoru said he was the strongest. There's that brief silence before Satoru continues on about cursed energy. (Episode 6)

I think back to the Juppon audio dramas (you can find them on YouTube). Yuji is quick to participate in the game whenever Satoru brings it up while everyone else is like "ugh".

What makes this even funnier is that when Yaga was a teacher, he would propose the Juppon game. Satoru actually wasn't for it. Meanwhile, it's Suguru who doesn't mind playing the game. (That audio drama I can't find anymore. I think the poster has to re-upload it.)

There's also Satoru's reactions to anything involving Suguru and Yuji.

When Suguru deflected and Satoru heard about it, Satoru was yelling, getting aggressive, clenching his fists. Man was downright distraught.

The only other time I can recall him having a reaction similar to that is when Yuji first dies by Sukuna's hand.

While he wasn't screaming and just a bit more calmer, he indeed was clenching his fists and visibly just as angry as he was about Suguru the time before. It's telling that as Shoko walks into the room, she comments how Satoru isn't that emotional usually.

Even later in the manga when Satoru returns, Satoru is composed when he faces Sukuna possessing Megumi. Of course, he's still upset, but the way he reacts kinda throws me off whenever I reread that part.

I say that because I would have thought he would have a screaming episode like he did before because it is Megumi, the kid he took care of for years. But I suppose he didn't want to act that way in front of Sukuna, someone I guess he wouldn't want to show a "weakness" in front of anyways.

Although, it still just a little odd to me that when he does meet Sukuna again for their fight, Satoru taunts Sukuna about how did the other expect for him to hold back because he has Megumi's face and notes how he can go all out because it's Megumi, so he'll worry about him after he has killed Sukuna.

It even gotten to the point others questioned if Satoru remembered saving Megumi.

There's even a point during that fight Satoru has a thought of Yuji, vowing he'll bring Sukuna closer to death more than Yuji was back when Sukuna ripped his heart out. Satoru really wanted to not just crush Sukuna's heart. He wanted his liver and lungs, too.

Makes me wonder if Sukuna was still possessing Yuji, would have it been the same? (As in his behavior and words. Of course, the fight would be different.)

Now, I don't think Satoru has a favorite student and I do think he does care about Megumi. With every one of them, he has a different relationship, but equally he cares about them, sees their potential.

When it comes to Yuji, it's like having Suguru around again because who else treats Satoru the way Suguru did? Again, everyone else sees Satoru as "the strongest", an annoyance or even if they're on more friendly terms with him, they don't give back the same vibes.

Yuji does. He treats Satoru as a friend who just also happens to be his teacher. Think of that scene when just before Satoru fights Sukuna, everyone was unsure how to approach, but Yuji comes out and tells him to move his Infinity out the way so he can pat him on the back and Satoru obliges.

Think of it this way! If SatoSugu would have raised a child, Yuji would have been the result. A child that thinks like Suguru but acts like Satoru.

[gofancyninjaworld]

Meta for the Ninja Arc (so far)

I thought about reviewing the chapters 195-202 (fan numbering), but summarising the action was annoying me, so let's just skip to the good stuff! This arc has been a grower: what it lacks in up-front showiness it makes up for in depth once you take the time to reread and think about it. I'm just going to pick up on a few things.

Recontextualisation

I have been thinking a lot about how much what we make of the information we receive depends on what we already understand [1]. I've written a bit about ONE's use of salience within the story. This arc though, I'm going to talk about recontextualisation and how important it is to be able to look back and understand events and even people anew in the light of new information.

This has been a huge thing for Flashy Flash. Many years ago, he and Sonic sneaked into a forbidden section of their village and saw many strange things that made no sense to them at the time. It's only very recently, after hearing about the enemy that is 'God' and Blast's efforts to counter him (chapter 173) that things started to make sense to him.

It's only after seeing Gale Wind and Hellfire Flame, not as monsters, but as the former security guards who had trounced them for trespassing that 'where' he'd seen the cube before came back to Flashy Flash, as did the significance of the sights they'd seen. And then it all started to fall into place, reinforced by his going back to the Village to find it destroyed in what he had now come to recognise as Blast's signature attack pattern.

Of course, Flashy Flash has terminal Main Character Syndrome, so he's tried to organise things so that he's the one who takes down Empty Void and reaps the accolades. It's kinda backfired but we'll come back to that in a bit.

There's another bit of recontextualisation that is not so explicit but I think is just as important. It's clear that the Tenninto were no match for Flash and that he could have killed them any time. It's also been established that Flash has never hesitated to kill anyone who came after him. It's been his policy after all. So what gives in his sudden rush to mercy?

As the chapters have gone on, it's become clear that Flashy Flash has come to see the Tenninto as fellow victims of Evil Void's dehumanising process intended to turn them into potential vessels for 'God'. Something else that Flashy Flash is probably responding to is that rehabilitating Village members was once Sonic's dream, and there's a part of him that would love nothing more than to help make it happen. Of course, if you point that out to him he'll tell you to stop being stupid.

It's amazing but Flash is outraged at the way he and his fellow victims are seen as things to be used, abused, and discarded as Void pleases, and he's looking to get justice for all of them.

Ah yes, Sonic. It's been clear that Sonic has been a much better friend to Flash than he has to Sonic, and yet, yet it would seem that Sonic is the one person he cares most deeply about: anything bad happening to Sonic would devastate him. He just has a funny way of showing it.

An irresistible vision. To think that in his heart, this is what Flashy Flash most wants.

We hope he comes to do better.

Insight

Let's talk about Sonic now. For many years now I have been hoping that something would happen to shock Sonic out of his futile rounds of attacking Saitama, being beaten by Saitama, training maniacally, attacking Saitama... his world has become very small and circular, like a round circle.

I had fantasised about maybe Genos grabbing him mid-attack and stuffing him into a narratively-convenient bin without so much as breaking stride. Something so outrageous that he could no longer ignore the need for him to change. The webcomic has sidestepped solving this problem by gifting Sonic some magic scrolls and a sword and just not having him cross paths with Saitama again. The manga is tackling the problem head-on.

Something I have loved, loved, loved about ONE is that he hasn't hesitated to give characters what they've earned. There's been enough morons bellyaching about the two not being neck-and-neck in skill like they were in the webcomic. Sonic's not weak in the manga -- Flashy Flash has experienced more battles and has had to struggle and learn more and so he's been able to progress to the point that he's left his friend in the dust.

Translation: The Back Of A Friend I Once Stood Shoulder-to-Shoulder With. There'd have been a lot less bellyaching if the translators had translated this bit.

That's the shock Sonic needed to open his eyes to the stupidity of his actions. More than that shock, seeing what Flashy Flash has been able to achieve has given Sonic the inspiration to strive for, achieve, and surpass what Flash has accomplished. His fire is back in a good way.

More than that though, the disrespectful way in which Sonic was offered more monster cells rather than a more interesting vision peaks to two things, external and internal.

Externally, it speaks to the way that we tend to think that people are only what they first show us while we understand ourselves to be complex creatures with many competing moods and wishes. Empty Void had heard that Sonic had once reached for a monster cell and assumed that he knew the sort of guy Sonic was: someone whose inferiority complex was such that he'd reach for any offer of power. But of course, that's not Sonic. Sonic has been the stubbornest person ever, who has been able to keep his sense of self despite the Village's best efforts. He reached for a monster cell because even the strongest person can despair, at least for a while.

Internally, man, the bleakness of Sonic's life is such that he doesn't have anyone to offer him a nice fresh monster cell and the monster cells must perforce cook themselves to offer themselves to him... he looks to no one and believes in none. That's painful to see.

When we think of how close he and Flash used to be, the bitterness of his mocking the prisoners for depending on each other grows sharper every time we learn a bit more about him. I don't know if he'll ever forgive Flash for betraying him.

Yes, there's a betrayal right on screen now: that of Blast by Empty Void. Blast thought they were in the business of putting God out of business but Void was using him to obtain cubes so as to raise an apostle of God.

Longer Blast: I'm not mad. I'm just very, very, very disappointed.

That said, I'm not going to let Blast off the hook entirely. He has some explaining to do!

Complicity

Blast has a lot of explaining to do. Sure, he's been refreshingly honest about what he's been doing with monster experiments, and his link to 'That Man'.

I have a feeling that Flash has been too quick to absolve Blast of blame.

We know that Blast and Empty Void went back at least 20 years. And yeah, we can just about buy that he didn't know his partner was fixing to betray him. However, given that we know that the Village takes young boys and that there were at least 43 graduating classes before Flashy Flash escaped years ago, that means that the Village had been a thing for at least 50 years. How long has Blast known about Empty Void's activities? Did he turn a blind eye to it? Or was it not a problem until it bit him in the ass? [2] What else is Blast permitting that shouldn't be?

We need answers.

I am very invested in seeing how this arc ends and what else it'll lead to.

Asides

[1] A very neat non-fictional example: this man escaping from his pursuers by lying down and thus changing their understanding of him to 'homeless guy'.

[2] A part of me notes that Blast falling out with Empty Void and beating the shit out of him coincides neatly with the time Blast's son was born. Maybe shit became a bit too real for him to ignore.