#arc manga damn it

[cometrose]

i could ramble on about kagurabachi but i really like its storytelling so far and the nature of the villains.

Sojo represents Chihiro's relationship to the blades. The blades are weapons of war and while they may be tools for justice they can easily be tools for destruction and slaughter and Chihiro ultimately has to accept both conclusions despite how much he cherishes the blades.

Kyora definitely plays into Chihiro's relationship with his father. Kunishige clearly loved his son, while Kyora sees his kids as nothing but pawns and pieces. Chihiro is shocked to see how easily the kids are thrown away. Hakuri is abandoned, Tenri is killed, and the rest of them are just pieces to stall him and Shiba and use up Cloud Gouger. These kids mean nothing to Kyora even his heir apparent. And for Chihiro who grew up with a loving father its shocking to him.

Throughout the story we consistently see him wavering during the moments the resonate with his own life. He often struggles to come to grips with the people who fight for these blades. I really like how these villains represent important elements of his life and his pursuit of revenge.

For a character like him, who is naturally very loving and gentle, getting those blades back is more than just killing mafia, but also reevaluating the fundamental pieces of his life and how he sees the world.

[vendettasfanfictioning]

"ENGAGEMENT RING" WAS NOT SOME WAYWARD TRANSLATION BUT AN ACTUAL LINE IN THE JP MANGA?????? I always thought the reason some translations said, "engagement (ring)," where others used, "prenup," for Illumi and Hisoka's contract was because it was one translator's whim to cause chaos???? Like. It could be read as either of those, but was not necessarily the whole definition.

(x)

But no, I've input the kanji into every translator I could find and they all said roughly the same thing—prenuptial contract. Meanwhile, the furigana (AKA the reading aid consisting of smaller kana printed either above or next to kanji or other characters to indicate their pronunciation), spelled out engagement ring.

I know this might be old news to some but I was today years old when I found out it was so literal????? Togashi really spelled it out in a way ensures we can't misunderstand yet somehow the implications still fly over a few people's heads???????

Idk about y'all but if I was an assassin born and raised on the ideology that an assassin does not need friends and some powerful magician mf just dallies around, telling every person he fights that he's my friend—I'd have killed him by now. I wouldn't trust him with my family secrets. I wouldn't do him any favors.

Or if I was a power-hungry fighter always striving to grow stronger, who grew up in the literal slums and betrays people left and right, I wouldn't put my trust on this pretty assassin either. Even if it's all just manipulations in the end, I wouldn't have any reason to call him, and only him, a friend. I wouldn't give him many, if not all, of my earthly possessions if I were to pass away—even if he isn't the one to kill me.

That's the thing about the contract too, Illumi gets his, "engagement ring," regardless of who kills Hisoka. Illumi's insured, whatever the outcome of this fight may be, so long as Hisoka dies. The funny thing about prenups is it could also be treated as a will of sorts—should one person die, I think it's more commonplace for prenups to include that all valuable assets be given to the widow by default??

Hisoka really did not need to do that, in order to hire Illumi???? Does this mean Hisoka knows and accepts the inevitability of his death on the Black Whale??? Or did his touch with death after fighting Chrollo open his eyes to the fact that he still needed a beneficiary, someone to take his belongings when he dies???? Either way, it's telling that he chose Illumi, of all people, to uphold this extremely important contract...

Anyways. Whether you wanna acknowledge it or not, Hisoka and Illumi have grown to become a pair in the Hunter X Hunter universe, have become the most unlikely, if not terrifying, friends and while the, "engagement ring," or the, "prenup," may not be explicitly romantic, the connotations and the possibilities are still there.

In conclusion, these insane mfs are gay and married, good for them!! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

[tekitothemagpie]

Zoro getting carried around is my favorite thing.

[haikyuustuffs]

Those who have seen the movie....

Can we all talk about how they animated the last point?!

[cxtori]

so i finally decided to get caught up in reading BSD because, y’know, i haven’t read it since season 5 ended. read chapters 110-118 and ummm…

what the FUCK

[gildedmuse]

Coworker: The last page of the newest chapter is god tier. Like Wallpaper worthy. You have to see it.

Coworker: *Sends full page panel featuring way too many unfamiliar elements*

Me: That's a whole lot going down compared to how little I understand what is up.

Me: I did manage to identify and isolate what I believe to be of centeral importance.

Coworker: Is it Rob Luc-

Me:

[The full piece is spread across two (2) full pages, contains twenty (20) characters - including pigeons - thirteen (13) speech bubbles, seven (7) of the most powerful men in the world , five (5) bad ass black coats, four (4) old white guys desperately attempting to cling to their power as the world government, an uncountable (??) number of potential questions I can't even begin to know to ask, and yet for all that only one (1) cocky, satisfied smirk that could cut straight through Dracule Mihawk completely untouched, steal Trafalgar Law's heart right out of his chest, and leaves Monkey D. Luffy entirely - err... "Too rigid to bend" .]

Full Panel (warning: contains all sorts of spoilers I can't even begin to realize are proper spoilers) Behind The Cut:

[Like I told you, just a crazy amount of shit I don't understand is happening. But what I do understand? How fucking aces Zoro looks. Also, how nicely placed that particular speech bubble is considering my boy definitely looks like he takes "psycho" as a compliment.]

[kozmicmizuu]

guys i’ve watched the newest episode of demon slayer and im not well

GIYUUUUUUU 😭😭😭 MY BOY

more sabito and tsutako content but at what cost… urokodaki too….. them…

this ep made me FEEL and WIGGLE in my bed guys am i truly neurotypical??

sigh either way giyuu looked so pretty in this ep so that’s a coping mechanism at the moment

and silly, giyuu is so silly with his lil brother

tanjiro was so silly too

i don’t want to spoil you all so ima keep it at this…. but my mind is exploding…

[everyryuujisuguro]

[saph-yells-into-the-void]

this dialogue is interesting....

now that we're finished (most likely) with kunigami's time in NEL, its got me thinking about the purpose of his character and honestly..

it makes sense why his arc hasnt happened yet.

it feels like this is something theyre trying to build up, and i feel like kunigami's story with the wc will tie in with the meta of both blue lock and its ideology. after all, his existence in itself was now and then a direct contradiction to it. i can even see further depth on ego's character, his ideals, and his backstory being built from it.

ive seen people criticize kaneshiro for the writing of kunigami thus far and while i understand them to an extent, its not like kaneshiro abandoned kunigami completely. he's left hints and pieces for what his arc may entail to: lines that seem off, moments where the old kunigami shines through, panels that raise questions. all while kunigami disappears into the background, always overshadowed by the other characters whose egos are being put on full display. who have had their 'protagonist' moment. meanwhile, kunigami is being told to put his away. to 'abandon' his ego.

and yet, there are moments where it feels like kunigami is trying to fight that. when he tries to make a goal on his own, tries to steal the ball, after being gone for chapters on end. like the story is trying to sideline him, but kunigami keeps pushing his way to the front.

its not that his arc has been neglected; it just that it hasn't happened yet. or rather.. this neglect is part of his arc.

i have a feeling that when kunigami finally gets the focus, its going to be something incredible.

[theclearblue]

Is it bad that I feel personally victimised by WCI or am I just being dramatic?

I don't think so anon, I think the themes of family in WCI are some of the most personal and nuanced Oda has ever done and while tragic in so many ways, I think results in the best way of conveying how powerful found family is but also how someone can have complicated feelings towards their blood family.

Throughout all of One Piece, you can see this through line of found family and how blood relations isn't what matters in who you consider family (The ASL brothers, Bellemere and Nojiko for Nami, Kuina for Zoro, Zeff for Sanji, Saul for Robin, Tom and Iceburg for Franky, and while not a strawhat, Corazon and Law deeply affected me as well). This is obviously a trope Oda has liked writing for a long time and one he does well, but (with somewhat the exception of Marineford/Post-War arc with Whitebeard and Ace), WCI is the first time he really dives into these themes of what family is, and what I really appreciated, how messy it can be.

(I uhhh wrote a lot after the cut so be prepared for that)

And it's not just Sanji in this arc (I'll get to him though don't worry), from Germa, from the Big Mom Pirates, and the Firetank Pirates, so many characters are acting as narrative foils to Sanji and dealing with family related trauma, and responding to it differently. The ones that really got me were Pudding and Katakuri though, and they're pretty similar to each other as well. I've talked a little bit about Pudding already here so I'll talk a bit more about Katakuri instead, but it hit me really hard when he made a temple for himself, and he lets the rumors fly about "his back has never touched the ground, he's praying to a god of war, no one has seen him eat" and it's just. Him laying on his back, eating donuts happily. And the scene is kind of silly and funny right, but I kid you not my New Year's resolution this year was to just, try to be more comfortable in my living room/kitchen without thinking everyone is going to judge me for, what? Eating? Watching a show I like? Completely normal things, but if you've ever grown up in a house where just, EVERYTHING you do is picked apart and criticized by family, it's easier to just shut yourself away in a room and hide it. And isn't that tragic? Katakuri projecting this image of strength that his family asks of him so much that he feels he has to hide completely normal things like lying down and eating? I could go even deeper into this character but this is just one example of a character's complicated relationship with his family, where he hides so much of himself for them, but also it stemming from a place of love after what happened to Brulee when they were kids.

And now to talk about Sanji. Ohhhh where do I even start with this guy. As kind of a sidenote, if you've seen any of my posts from Thriller Bark through Punk Hazard, I was really struggling to like Sanji as a character and I didn't make that a secret. Which was upsetting to me because, from Baratie-Enies Lobby (and really good moments at the end of Thriller Bark and Saoboady) he was a favorite of mine! And at times I thought his character was done pretty dirty where he was stripped down to a singular gag and Oda leaned into it way way way too hard. But it's immensely satisfying to me to see all the little seeds Oda planted for so many years come to fruition in Zou and WCI, to the point I think he's turned from being the most one note strawhat to the most nuanced and layered in the span of a singular saga. And that was incredible to see.

I think what really captivated me about Sanji from the beginning were how strong and rigid his convictions are, and that even though he's kind of a rude brat (I say that with love lol), he's so undeniably kind, even to a fault. And with his first backstory we see how a lot of his rigid rules he's made for himself come from, it's from Zeff. He doesn't hit women, he'll feed anyone who's hungry no matter what, and he learns to fight to protect people he cares about, but he isn't really a fighter in the same way Luffy and Zoro are, and that's made clear in his desire to protect his hands in a fight so that he can do what he really loves, and that's to cook. A lot of what makes Sanji who he is today is shown here, but Oda was smart in showing aspects of Sanji that clearly don't stem from Zeff without telling the audience why for the longest time.

He shares the dream of the All Blue with Zeff, but where did it come from? Zeff is kind of similar where he has this hard exterior but underneath is kind as well, but it's taken to another level with Sanji where it becomes self sacrificial. Throwing himself down the mountain on Drum Island, taking the lightning bolts from Enel for Nami and Usopp on Skypeia, boarding the water train alone to try and get to Robin, and most prominently, at least for me, him trying to take Luffy's pain at the end of Thriller Bark instead of Zoro, where he very clearly places more value on Zoro's dream and life than his own. That was the moment to me that made me really realize he does not see value in himself, unless he's providing something he deems useful. And if the situation calls for it, he'll throw his life and dream away if that makes him "useful" not realizing that the crew don't see him as this dispensable thing like he sees himself.

And all of Sanji's strengths and flaws as a character just come to make this perfect storm and mess that is Whole Cake Island. And the kindness that is Sanji's most definitive trait is so clearly not in this family, at least not seen at first. His brothers are made to have no zero empathy and beat down on him constantly, verbally and physically, and Judge just watches and doesn't care, eventually just hides Sanji in a cell and pretends he's dead. Because he was physically weaker and human. And yet he continues to cook because he loves doing it, he remembers his mother's kindness, and his dream of the all blue is formed in a small dark room and just. This got to me big time. Not to get too personal but the set of expectations put onto Sanji by his family, ones he can never live up to and finding passion in something his family finds to be worthless and a waste of time. Finding an escape in books and finding his dream there even though everything around him is hell. Slowly realizing the extent of cruelty that his father will go to as he grows up. Very unfortunately for me this might be the most relatable character I have ever come across in regards to my own experiences. I'm someone to voice my thoughts on things even if nobody else cares (hence why I've been liveblogging on here since Drum Island I think lmao) but while watching Sanji's backstory it affected me like nothing else ever has. It's not even something that made me cry really, I was just in shock after watching it for awhile. And Reiju saying to Sanji, "There are people out there who will accept you for who you are, you need to get out of here" which is so similar to what Saul said to Robin and even similar to what one of my sisters said to me growing up. Yeah. I also felt personally victimized by Whole Cake Island lmao.

But the end result of Sanji's arc is so beautiful and amazing. Sanji putting on this act of looking down on Luffy, and once again trying to sacrifice himself to protect those that he cares about, but Luffy just cuts through the bullshit because he knows that isn't really Sanji talking in that fight. Luffy's speech as Sanji is being driven away where he says that he can't become the pirate king without him by his side. This isn't an original thought but Sanji and Zoro both kind of represent different aspects of Luffy's dreams. Zoro with a seemingly impossible ideal and putting 100% of yourself into it. "I will become the greatest swordsman." "I will become the pirate king." But Sanji's dream of finding the All Blue reflects Luffy's dream of finding the One Piece. They both don't know if either of those things are even real (the audience at this point knows the one piece is real, but to my knowledge and where I'm at, Luffy doesn't). Yet there's this childlike wonder they both have about these dreams, because, what if it is real? Luffy knows that Sanji is irreplaceable because of the ideals that they share, not because of what Sanji can provide or be "useful" as.

It takes so much for Sanji to go running back to Luffy, and even when he does, he obviously gets insecure again and starts listing off reasons why he isn't worthy enough to go back to the Sunny and to the crew. And God is it satisfying to see Luffy absolutely rock his shit for saying that and asking him to just SAY what he really wants. And Sanji breaking down and saying how much he misses the Sunny and the crew and also airing out how he feels backed into a corner and doesn't know the way out, that he wants to help his family even though he doesn't consider them family and he KNOWS it doesn't make sense, he is being kind to a fault again. But Luffy smiling at him and saying "Well, that's just how you are. Let's go crash the wedding." That's when I started sobbing lmao, because there is such unconditional love and kindness in that statement that Sanji has so desperately needed ever since his mother died. Someone who just accepts him and all his faults wholeheartedly, and is that not the most beautiful representation of family??? His relationship with his blood family is so messy and complicated and full of mixed feelings(and that's very common), but his feelings about Zeff and Luffy and the rest of the strawhats are so clearly full of adoration and unconditional love for them, and they feel that same love for him as well! How lucky all of them are where they found their people, and how everyone else in this world has that opportunity to find the space and people they truly belong to, not tied down by blood. Whole Cake Island's themes on family were so well done and also fundamentally changed me as a person I think.

[splickedylit]

i've never read Eyeshield 21 but I took one look at this spiky sharp bastard and I've decided that I love him

so spiky

AND YOU'RE CORRECT lmao. That's Hiruma Yoichi, he's a menace and I love him. Every manga should have a dangerous weirdo with a book full of blackmail who drives the plot forward by being an absolute crazy person. Eyeshield 21 is a football manga, and he's just out here blackmailing and scheming and being an audacious chaos gremlin.

ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE IN THIS MANGA MIGHT HAVE OUTLANDISH PROPORTIONS OR FEATURES BUT AT LEAST THEY LOOK LIKE HUMANS!! Hiruma why are you like this?!?!

[yearnoyama]

Is it just me or the given fandom doesn't deserve ritsuka uenoyama AT ALL

[bnhatrashsideblog]

If you think of it, many of the people in this fandom keep proving Monoma right and making his character have so much sense- like guys, class 1-B is not the lesser class. They aren't weaker than class 1-A, the classes weren't assigned by strength or anything like that. The only difference between the two classes is that the fucking MC is in one of them, which automatically makes them the center of attention. If Midoriya got assigned to class 1-B then no one would fucking think they're lesser than class 1-A lol.

"How Hagakure/Mineta/whatever got in class 1-A?" girl the question is how they got in the hero course, not class 1-A (which is a talk for another post, not this one). Them being in class 1-A doesn't mean they're automatically stronger than everyone in class 1-B

[shannonsketches]

i am never not thinking about freeza trying to win vegeta's loyalty back by offering him goku's kill shot and when vegeta's like 'eh pass sorry' he really says 'fine how bout this and a promotion'

that will never not be the funniest thing to me

[aeroplaneblues]

Loving the anime but half hating the manga is weird spot to be in as jjk fan

[raelyn-dreams]

Okay so Twinkle Kuuchuusen is AMAZING (as expected and I will try to gather my thoughts about it later), but THE SOLOS OH MY GOD THE SOLOS AND THE LYRICS I'M!!!

They both reference 2x2 a lot, and you can see their development so much from their previous solos! There's a big theme of acceptance and both and they're driving me crazy with it!

Hinata's '"street" being bathed in blue and how he accepts it as a part of himself before declaring he's going to light it up with colors because he'll love himself even more!!! The way he doesn't try to gloss over the negative but decides he'll stick to his positive worldview while taking everything in stride! How he knows now that no matter how far they drift their hearts will always reconnect!

And Yuta walking the line between two worlds confidently, not looking back into the shadow of days past and pushing ahead into the unknown! Going all out and no longer suppressing his feelings, engraving them into his heart and making bold decisions as himself! The way he connects their worldviews with their differing light, knowing someone will always be at his back no matter what!

If there was ever any doubt within me about the future of 2wink, I feel like these solos resolved it. They really have come to a temporary truce and peace with each other, they'll stay together while continuing to push and compete in their separate ways. These songs feel like letters to each other almost, about how they're able to move forward with their own worldviews without shame, but will always hold the other close. And even if they do come to that breaking point in the future, after the dust has settled, they'll still be there watching the night sky - in a much better place than where they started.