#anyway x2 it's sad to say but i really have doubts that even a second cour could've saved this

[crehador]

unfortunately it was like this

[cupkayke]

Cupkayke Rewatches/Liveblogs Boueibu!

Season 1, Episode 6

I have no explanation for the stupidly long wait for this one other than the fact that I am a lazy motherfucker. BUT. CHALLENGE TIME- I’m in the midst of a mini vacation from work so when I’m not working on cosplay I WILL BE WRITING. Er, analyzing. Er, plotting. Er, SOMETHING.

Anyway! Onto the episode where Io pissed me the fuck off but still managed to be a loveable asshole in the end, anyway! Also LOTS OF UNDER THE SURFACE SHIT! YAYYYYY. 

I also apologize if I miss responding to some comments on these; with as sporadic as my time on tumblr is these days (90% is on mobile) I can’t fucking remember what replies I’ve reblogged or not OTL

Firstly I haven’t really thought much about it but what’s up with the title for this episode? “Love is something you wear on your back?” Is that a reference to the “so generous he’d give you the shirt off his back” phrase? If that’s meant to apply to Io in this episode for his “loyalty” I think they missed the mark there...

Yumoto eats a lot apparently- damn son stop growing!

Was that a sex joke?

THAT WAS DEFINITELY A SEX JOKE BOUEIBU NOT 2 MINUTES IN I AM SURPRISED AT YOU alsolololololololololololololforever

FANCY STUDENT COUNCIL IS FANCY omg they’re so fucking rich why do they even have this setup it’s so ridiculous

I sometimes get the feeling that this is a wealthy private school, similar to Ouran academy, with scholarships for low-income students (IE Yumoto). The parallels are there- but as established later in the episode, why the fuck would Yumoto be given a scholarship because it’s definitely not academics.

Maybe the Hakone family is actually wealthy but they just live modestly because their parents are gone and Gora wants to make the fortune last?

I MADE MYSELF SAD.

Finger bowls????

Apparently I’m an unultured swine because I had to look it up. You dip your fingers in the bowl to clean your hands between courses really???

Can’t we just... y’know... use hand santizier? This is like... 2015 for you guys right?

However it’s hilarious that Kinshiro decides that FINGER BOWLS of all things are important enough to have for the three of them at lunch so he wants to see if they can afford it.

ALSO I JUST REALIZED THE FORESHADOWING HERE WITH IO HOLY SHIT-

I SMELL RIVALRY

Kinshiro is a grumpy butt. Look at his face. Eat a snickers, Kinchan. You get micro-managey when you’re hungry.

So we’re halfway through the season and Wombat is seemingly trying to point our boys in a particular direction. HMMMMMM. 

Seriously I would love to know just how much of this is Wombat talking out his ass for the sake of the reality show and how much of it is shit he actually believes and he actually wants the boys to do a good job and ‘protect the earth’

I for one am on Wombat’s side because he’s fucking adorable but I do love the conspiracy/manipulation theory~

Ryuu and foreshadowing in 3...2...1.. WRITERS I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE

Dat dead body smell

Even disgusted Akoya STILL manages to be gorgeous like whoah

Someone get this boy a modeling contract

PINKS THROWIN’ SHADE

I feel like this is the most lines that Akoya has had the entire show

I also realized during his little speech here that EVEN COVERING HIS NOSE his VOICE is still GORGEOUS.

Modeling contract AND record deal, PLZ 

So smug

Who knew pretty could be so evil~

I mostly just laughed at the cap of the DC all like ‘SHIT HE’S ONTO US’

So smug x2

Also this is where I started PINKSHIPPING

Like seriously I will go down with this ship even tho IoRyuu is OTP PINKSHIPPING MAKES SO MUCH SENSE

Just the rivalry and the pettiness sign me the fuck up for some angsty, angry making out in the SC bathroom

Whoops I just wrote a mini fanfic

Anyway this is why Cupkayke can’t decide on OTPs for this series because multishipping is fun

Wombat looks fluffier this episode

Too many Yumoto cuddles?

Pink kohai and dad-senapis!

Seriously I love the idea of these three hanging out together it’s adorable

And En is apparently really fucking smart

The entire conversation about Yumoto’s academic abilities is really interesting-

Apparently he has very good spatial awareness (child show me your ways I cannot directions for the life of me) but poor language skills

I don’t know if I am qualified to speculate about his cognitive state but perhaps it wouldn’t be so far-fetched to say that from that tidbit, Yumoto perhaps has a learning disability?

But then again, here it’s played for laughs/Yumoto’s just lazy and doesn’t see the value in school

Perhaps though he’s not motivated because he’s never really been able to get an instruction style that jives with him? So on certain subjects he’s over being discouraged and just accepts that typical academic instruction just isn’t for him?

This entire scene is fascinating from the lens of a future educator (albeit I haven’t taken any development or learning courses yet) but as someone who likes school Yumoto is the type of person (if he doesn’t have a learning disability, that is) who would confuse me IRL lolololol

“What? You don’t like the rigorous structure and inherent validation system of grading that even though it causes me undue anxiety and stress it gives me a sense of self-worth and purpose and without people giving me deadlines I cannot function?”

Well that got too deep oops I apologize for the too much in-depth taste of Cupkayke’s psyche

Someone more qualified than I am feel free to analyze this scene

Now back to your regularly scheduled magical boy blogging

Lolololol Gora wanting better for Yumoto - such a good big brother

“DON’T BE USELESS LIKE ME” - wait a second

IS THIS A LOWKEY REFERENCE TO GORA’S MAGICAL BOY PAST? Considering Maximum Gorar’s weapon is an axe and he has lots of chopping attacks.... hmmmmmmm did I just discover another layer?

Obviously Gora doesn’t know about the Battle Lovers just yet (or does he?) but still- interesting.

En trying to make them feel better haha such a sweetiepie

Atsushi get out of here with your logic

SWEATS NERVOUSLY

SCREW MONSTER FORESHADOWING

En and his ragging on Yumoto. I wonder when he goes from finding Yumoto annoying/exasperating to actually being that caring senpai? I mean, he could just be trying to be playful, but with his face here especially it comes across as he’s annoyed

Idk it’s kind of fascinating tho how he did not care for Yumoto at first

YUMOTO I HAVE NO WORDS

T________T

Revelation; Io is popular

Somehow I didn’t get that until this point in the series, but then again Io isn’t the type to care about his popularity unless it makes him money

So I guess he’s just admired from afar like this lololol

Io has a stalker- complete with creepy monologuing!

More screw foreshadowing!

Yellow phone for Io! They’re actually really heavy-handed with the color coding but most of the time it’s in ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ moments. It’s like a fun game of I spy!

I can see where the headcanon that Akoya has a crush on Io started- the fact he goes out of his way to compliment Io is a bit telling.

Buuuut I still ship the Pinks over IoAko; but with the caveat of the Pinks both pining over Io and having their feelings unrequited! Oooooh the angst!

The cute evil is scheming

IO HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT SO EASILY

THEY WEREN’T EXPECTING YOU TO SAY YES EITHER LOOK AT THEIR FACES

...maybe you do get along with the SC Io you seem just about as evil and scheming as Akoya here-

WAIT WHAT AM I SAYING

WOMBAT IS SO CUTE IN HIS TITLE CARD AWW

I love how Ryuu is trying so hard look at him

Io what’s with that face! How can you betray them all so easily???

It makes no sense!

Creepy glowing Hedgehog

I still don’t know how Yumoto can get a ZERO in Japanese. Is it his grammar? Conjugation? Is Japanese like English is in the US where they go over literature and like Atsushi said he makes logic leaps that no one else does so he misinterprets the text? I AM CONFUSED. Wouldn’t he at least get some points? 

Look at this adorable fucker thanking his boyfriend friend in English!

En is really fucking smart, though I doubt he guesses ‘everything’

This could play into En’s self-consciousness on how he’s percieved (see his panic about looking ‘old’) and perhaps he also only wants to be percieved as ‘lazily intelligent’. 

It wouldn’t surprise me though if En did study a little bit, just to brush up on some things, or took school seriously but didn’t need to study because he’s really good at regurgitating info on tests

Either way, it seems like he doesn’t want people to know whether he actually cares about school or not so he just says he ‘guesses’ and gets 100s

Idk maybe I’m looking at the wrong angle but that’s not that far fetched I guess?

….Io… I am a very disappoint

Like this entire episode is out of character for him or at least my understanding of his character

Like, it’s not like he’s particularly very close to any of the DC except for Ryuu, but he doesn’t seem like the type to just up and ‘fuck you guys and everything we’ve been through’

Like it’s no secret he finds the Battle Lover thing bothersome but it’s likely he’s well aware of the fact that if he quits the DC he’s not going to stop having to wear the loveracelet and he’s still going to have to do all the embarrassing superhero things until he stops getting shocked by the thing

And like even if he’s really only in the DC because their ‘meetings’ give him enough downtime to invest in his business ventures I find it highly unlikely that the Student Council would pay him enough to make up for the loss he’d suffer because of his free time getting cut. And Io probably knew that outright.

Unless he is actually a teenage boy liable to acting without thinking! GASP.

Look, Io, you pissed off the Pink.

Really pissed him off! Ryuu sees through your bullshit.

Okay. Unpacking here- Io’s face in that cap says to me that he is well aware of how he’s being percieved. He’s well aware that he’s betraying the DC and the person who he would consider his best friend is calling him out on it. That look screams guilt.

However, what he says here- and here is where I am pissed the writers didn’t give us more context- he says ‘money is important/money doesn’t betray’. 

Which if you take him saying this to its most logical conclusion, he’s saying that he feels the DC will betray him at some point. Being involved with the DC, which doesn’t directly make him any money, will hurt him in the long run to the point where he would feel betrayed.

He’s said this before; money doesn’t betray. I can’t remember which episode (which is sad because I just did a write up on it) but I know the context of the conversation was when they were talking about the concept of ‘Love’ with Wombat. Everything Io does is for money. Relationships seem to do jack shit for him. 

But it appears here that this move is premptive. You have to do some inferring but it’s not so far fetched to say that Io has found himself caring for the DC (and potentially the Battle Lover thing) a lot more than he originally thought he would. And perhaps, based on previous experiences (what, we don’t know) he is afraid that they will betray him. Whether in terms of finances, emotions, or both, isn’t clear.

I feel like in the snow episode of s2 there’s a throwaway line about Io making Igloos that might have had some more under the surface about his past- for some reason I inferred he was often lonely as a child. I can’t remember why, though.

But I guess what I’m trying to say here is that this scene would be a whole lot more poignant if we had the entire narrative. Io is making this move, on the surface, because of money. But that’s foolish, especially for someone as smart as him, for the reasons I mentioned above. Even as rich as the SC are collectively, they probably wouldn’t be able to pay Io enough for his treasurer services to make it more lucrative than investing in his downtime with the DC. 

So it seems like he is trading his relationship with the DC- a personal relationship with feelings involved- for a relationship with the SC, one that is primarily business-focused. From their outer appearances, Io definitely knows that ‘rich kids’ like himself don’t tend to focus on friendship, so he’d be relatively safe to keep things strictly business.

Which means Io finds the idea of a business-only relationship more appealing/safer than a relationship based on friendship.

And supposedly, by extension, even if he did have to keep being a Battle Lover, he could keep that relationship strictly business too, by simply showing up and helping fight monsters without actually spending any time with the DC.

But without the context, this is speculation. Is there anything in the novels/comics/games that add to this???

Ryuu is rightfully pissed off! But the look Io gives here says again ‘I know what I am doing is hurtful, but I made my decision in my/everyone’s best interests’. Supposedly.

GAHH I NEED MORE CONTEXT.

Supporting my theory that Io is simply being a stupid teenager! Which I suppose could also play into the slightly deeper motivations I speculated about. Buuuuut still... a bit of a cop out.

Monster that makes its own sound effects! Or one that’s attempting to be a Pokemon!

I love when the boys other than Yumoto get into the fight! Yay!

I guess they have time for full transformations since they’re missing one! (or they need to pad the episode runtime, MAGICAL BOY STYLE)

Such an empty yellow spot

Ryuu… you ran right into it... it’s like you weren’t even trying.

Well that sounds suggestive

THIS MONSTER IS RIDICULOUS I LOVE IT

EVEN THE OTHERS REALIZE IT

Poor Ryuu- I’d cry if I was tickled that much, too. I probably would have also pissed myself.

Io jfc you can’t just stop being ticklish because an enemy decides to tickle you!

Nonetheless, boyfriend is pissed

Oh wait- Io transformation by himself. More screentime padding!

In other words- “GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY MAN”

DAYUM IO- punch the monster through a fucking WALL. Somebody’s been working out.

Also idk why the color is so off in this action scene- it’s so daaaaark

“I’m so humilated and my pants are probably ruined”

“It’s about time you got your head out of your ass and saved my ass or I was gonna kick your ass!”

Yayyyyyy they made up!

Why is the monster adorable?

Sassing Yumoto, a DC pastime

PFFFT YUMOTO MY SMOL PRECIOUS CHILD NEVER CHANGE

Seriously why is a screw monster so cute

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before but it so looks like the CA’s pants are actually leeggings

Maybe that’s why Kinshiro wears a cape he’s self conscious about showing off his ass ffffft

DUN DUN DUN SPOTTED

Pssssssssssh you all are cosplayers at heart

Oh… is this why Yumoto’s bad at Japanese???

DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN (x2)

I love this conversation- even without the underlying context it basically supports my theorizing (except for the implication that the SC would have potentially been more profitable)

Ryuu is right; he knows Io should have been able to calculate which was financially a better deal in three seconds. He probably knows that Io was struggling with something emotionally.

Io’s ‘I can’t tell you that’ is cheeky but I can take it 2 ways actually. Potentially, the SC was more profitable money wise, but the DC is more profitable for Io emotionally. So it could mean both of those things. Or like I thought earlier, the DC could be both emotionally and financially profitable and Io is just being a little shit because he second-guessed everything but doesn’t want to admit why.

Buhhhhh these boys.

Pshhhh En YOU DID NOTHING AND YOU’RE TIRED

OHHHH YOU GUYS AGAIN - interesting implications fufufufufufufufufu

You look like a cat Kinosaki

And lastly.. Dat face

Kinshiro has the evil villain glare/’stare into the camera like you’re on the office’ look down PAT

Well then! I don’t know if my ramblings about Io’s motivations made much sense but that’s like, the ONLY thing I can think of that justifies his willingness to leave other than he was just being a little shit and following the yen for no reason. Again, if there’s any other canonical evidence from other media that explains this episode please point me in that direction because I am confused! This explanation makes sense but... I don’t understand how the writers wanted the audience to take this episode. Reminds me of Tokyo Mew Mew where Zakuro repeatedly threatened to leave/actually almost did leave the Mew Mews, sometimes because of her own insecurities and sometimes because Mint was being a little shit and Zakuro wanted to kick her ass into gear. I don’t get that Io was playing with the DC to make them realize anything- this was he was working through something that we just weren’t privy to.