#ch 215

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

Hello! I recently reread part of Alabasta in translation into my native language and was surprised to see that in Chapter 215, Bon Kurei's crewmembers address him as "Ms." (or more like "ma'am"), while in the English translation, which I read first, they use "Mr.". Which gender do they use to address him in Japanese?

bon kurei's crewmates address him with the highly respectful honorific -sama, which is gender-neutral. so both masculine and feminine terms of respect could be accurate!

[i-have-no-enemies]

Me, seeing chapter 215 is up: yay! New chapter. I hope we’ll see Thorfinn again. I hope things at the village will at least get a bit better. Vargar is strong and he supports Thorfinn, he will take care of this situation.

Me, reading it: I HAVE REACHED MY BREAKING POINT

[nezuchuuko]

[lloydfrontera]

Do you think Javier wants to be hailed a hero? We know he wants to be a knight or considers him a knight which is why he saves people. But would he want to have the glory that comes with it? What if there was a monster attack or war on the different side of the kingdom and only he was requested by Alicia to help would he go?

Do you think Javier wants to be hailed a hero? We know he wants to be a knight or considers him a knight which is why he saves people. But would he want to have the glory that comes with it?

eeehh not really!

A knight who was always sided with the weak. A hero who pursued justice over immediate power. Lloyd suddenly recalled Javier's appearances throughout the original novel. Yes. Right. I forgot because he's with me all the time, but he was always like this. Javier preferred a conversation in front of a bonfire to a luxurious banquet. He preferred to use the money for a extravagant meal to buy dozens of bread loaves for people in need. He didn’t hesitate to act and didn’t come to regret his decisions. This aspect of his personality remained unchanged even when he became the grandmaster in the novel. If he really wanted, he could have attained all the power and wealth he wanted. If he really made an effort, he could easily have had his own kingdom. But Javier didn’t. He’s really quite the man.

javier doesn't care about power or glory. he easily could've gotten those if he wanted. heck, we outright see him reject the queen's offer to become commander of the royal guards and we're told the same thing happened in tkobai!

“She wanted to see me separately right after the investigation. Her voice was serious.” “What did she say?” “She told me that the position of the commander of the royal guards is open,” Javier explained. “Did she promise to offer you the position? The queen?” “Yes,” Javier nodded as he spoke. Then he added, “So I told her I don’t want it.” “And?” Lloyd stared at Javier intently. “She asked why.” “What was your answer?” “I told her that my only master is Baron Frontera, and no one else.” Javier’s voice grew more serious as if he felt assured by his own words. “Thankfully. Her Highness understood my heart. She smiled and said that she envied the baron. I am very relieved,” said Javier. “Yes, truly, it’s a relief,” Lloyd couldn’t help but smile, and he thought Javier’s reaction was very much like his. The same thing happened in the novel, I think. In the novel, Javier turned down the offer from the queen and the emperor to work for them. And the reason he gave them was pretty much the same as what he just gave. I think it was about how there was only one lord for him, and that was the late Baron Frontera. With such talent, Javier could’ve lived a life of fame and luxury, but he rejected all those good things for the sake of loyalty. Seriously, he’s an impressive guy.

at no point does javier ever express that he wishes to be known as a hero or that he wishes for the glory that would come from it. and his actions do not betray a secret desire for it either. he could've gotten any of that at any point he wanted but he doesn't really care for it. he just wants to keep the family he loves and his home safe.

What if there was a monster attack or war on the different side of the kingdom and only he was requested by Alicia to help would he go?

mmmhhh i'm,,, not sure. on one hand, i literally just put a quote of him outright rejecting alicia's offer to work fo her. but on the other,,, he does have a very strong desire to help people. to the point where he's willing to sacrifice his life and leave his charge behind (at a relatively safe distance) to do so.

i'm gonna go with,, a tentative no. not without having arcos and/or lloyd's blessing or orders. not if it isn't a direct threat to the frontera estate. i don't think he would abandon his duty to the fronteras even if asked by alicia.

but i say 'tentative' because i do believe that if the threat was high enough that alicia, a highly skilled swordmaster with thousands of soldiers at her disposal, requested for javier's assistance, then it would be a threat dangerous enough to put the entire kingdom at risk, including the frontera estate. so like. maybe javier would see it as part of his duty to defeat the threat so it doesn't have the chance to reach their territory. but even so, i just have a very hard time seeing him leaving without arcos or lloyd's permission.

especially after the ending! at that point javier's loyalties have shifted to make lloyd a priority above almost anything else. if lloyd refused to let him go then i don't see javier disobeying him or leaving him unprotected like that (nevermind that he has a bone dragon, four fantastical creatures, and a skelleton army but i digress).

so like. it would very much depend on whether the fronteras give him their permission or not. and if they don't, then it would have to be big enough threat that javier considered it a danger to the frontera estate if he doesn't go defeat it for him to disobey their orders.

also i just remembered @sunflowercider replied to an ask with a similar scenario and i agree with her! javier is loyal to one family only and if that family isn't in danger then he won't leave them behind queen's orders or not.

so. yeah aksjdlfd

[sunflowercider]

AHHHHHHHHHHHH

[ninhaoma-ya]

Chapter 1071 — A hero’s offensive

And we leap straight into the action.

a) Kuma is one big man. Look at ‘em tiny humans gawking!

b) Panels like these really show how sloppy Oda’s linework has become, which is a shame. It makes it hard to distinguish Kuma’s prostrate body from the ground in the middle panel and the people on both sides.

If we contrast with this panel of the crowd attending princess Vivi’s coming-of-age-speech:

The individual people are still visible (and individual), the lines are clean and neat and there is a weight behind the people as we see them disappear into the background.

Back to the story.

Welp, aren’t you a contrary little kittenpaw, Mr. Lucci?

The change from Enies Lobby is quite interesting. There he did whatever Spandam wanted, since he recognised the power Spandam wielded as designated chief of CP9. I wonder what makes him reject the government’s designation now? “Emperor” is still just a title given to people that can upset the balance of the seas and if they see Luffy as important enough, why is he rejecting their analysis?

Off on many tangents this chapter, aren’t I?

Vegapunk really is shameless.

And Kaku suddenly saw his life flash in front of his eyes. Again.

So Killer is their navigator? Iiiiiiinteresting…

And Garp is going to Fullalead to rescue Koby. Does this mean Luffy will keep as far away as possible or go there as fast as possible? Or will they go to Elbaf and fulfil Usopp’s dream?

Interesting question, that: will the crewmember’s dreams get fulfilled before or after Luffy’s?

The prevailing theory about All Blue is that Red Line will break and all the seas form one new sea, the All Blue, so Sanji will see his dream realised after that, which probably is the final fight. Brooks will also see Laboon once he can swim between seas. Zoro is the strongest swordsman once he defeats Mihawk (or Shiryu defeats Mihawk and Zoro defeats Shiryu) until someone else defeats him so his dream is on-going, in a way. Chopper’s is on-going as well, since new illnesses pop up all the time and they haven’t visited all the islands yet. Nami’s dream will take approximately seventy years and Franky’s dream is fulfilled when hers is, since both involve sailing the seas in the Sunny. Robin’s dream… is nebulous, but might get fulfilled once they reach Laugh Tale? And what even is Jinbe’s dream?

Nice little chapter, I give it a call for help and an answered prayer.

[every-monkey-d-luffy]

[every-god-usopp]

[gremlingirlsmell]

i think if this happened to me I'd just pass out on the spot

[blue-lock-rocky]

head empty only snuffy

[every-nami]

[every-chopper]

[psychewritesbs]

gege akutami is a menace to society actually

in case you haven't read, I'm talking about 215, so you can ignore me when you're ready

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he saw us have a little hope last week and had to send us tumbling again 😢

it's going to be a tough ride for sure ~

I honestly don't know how they'll be able to handle sukuna at full form bc even with the limitations, he was still countering. It'd be even worse if he's willing to work with kenjaku too. For some reason (denial), I have a feeling megumi's going to overcome this. I won't comment more on that because i feel like i'll spiral (cannot believe maki said its weird seeing megumi's face on someone being strong ���) On another note, sukuna and co's eventual defeat will be worthwhile for how much suffering they've caused and will cause. Sukuna's choice to leave yuji alive will definitely come back to bite him, but it's interesting that his joy comes from seeing yuji suffer and look pathetic than giving him death. He despises everything about yuji and I see him praising others and he calls yuji boring (he's not but I'll let you live today sukuna). I don't like theorizing too too much for fear of raising expectations, but I'm really curious about sukuna's life during the heian period.

When sukuna and uraume laughed at yuji, I felt like I was laughed at too. I guess we'll be seeing his bath scene next.

Anyway, thanks for reading !! Have a good day/night.

(Will I ever go off anon? We'll see one day !!)

HOLA! Happy JJK-Sunday!!!!

Ok. hang I'm just going to go ahead and...

gege akutami is a menace to society actually

There... I felt like it needed to be said louder for the people in the back who may still be on the fence about getting into JJK.

Ok brainrot about chapter 215 under the cut!

Ah yes, no worries about chapter leaks lol. My weekly routine involves checking leaks first thing Wednesday and Friday mornings and nerding out with the moots about it 😂.

Like I am for real worried about JJK ending because what am I going to obsess over when it ends?!!!!!

WHAT KIND OF NORMAL EXISTENCE WILL I BE FORCED TO ENDURE?!!!!!!

But anyways, I did hold off on posting my reply to you until today (Sunday) for those who follow this hellhole of a blog of mine and don't actually read leaks.

he saw us have a little hope last week and had to send us tumbling again 😢

it's going to be a tough ride for sure ~

Yesssss I was hoping we'd get to see Megumi inside the inner domain wrecking Sukuna or at least inflicting some sort of damage 🥲🤧. SOMETHING! ANYTHING!

Regardless, Megumi fighting Sukuna from within whenever his friends are in danger is so... this boy is so beautiful and he doesn't even get it.

To your point about this being a though ride, Frenchie is my voice of reason when it comes to my fatalist fear of Megumi's death. @justafrenchlondoner recently said some good stuff about how Gege is probably trying to get us to feel like all hope is lost before something good happens.

After all, it isn't uncommon to see events continue to escalate in a sort of "it's going to get much much worse before it gets better" kind of way.

For some reason (denial), I have a feeling megumi's going to overcome this. I won't comment more on that because i feel like i'll spiral

Riiiiight so I'm still rather unwilling to let myself hope Megumi is surviving for the mere fact that I don't want to be hurt. That's just my nature tho.

If I break my heart now then I won't be heartbroken later on if it turns out that Megumi is not surviving.

Sound logic as you can see lol. I have a tendency to come up with worst case scenarios.

Despite that, I think the idea of Megumi surviving this ordeal to carry on and change the Jujutsu scheme of things makes a lot of sense. Not to mention having to carry the burden of responsibility for the memory of the people he cared about but lost along the way, quite possibly because of his own miscalculations.

Ugh... depressing.

It's so "Watanabe-ending" in its execution but far, far more depressing, brutal and cruel.

gege akutami is a menace to society actually

On another note, sukuna and co's eventual defeat will be worthwhile for how much suffering they've caused and will cause. Sukuna's choice to leave yuji alive will definitely come back to bite him, but it's interesting that his joy comes from seeing yuji suffer and look pathetic than giving him death.

Yeeeeeeessss. I really like the idea that Sukuna's continued underestimating of Yuji will come back to bite him in the ass. I personally will not be surprised if Yuji takes Sukuna back into himself and then kills himself in a self-sacrificial fashion.

Very Pisces of him. Very dying on the cross for our sins symbolism.

I was also thinking about the idea that Sukuna feeds off of other's suffering too. This whole idea around him being a hedonist with no regards for others takes on a whole new dimension when you consider he might go out of his way to cause suffering because it brings him joy.

It feels like an exploration of a demonic being which made me realize that I think that I've taken for granted that JJK is a horror story and that Gege may be using horror tropes.

This only become clear to me as of late when Sukuna possessed Megumi's body. It was a total execution of demonic possession where the person who gets possessed has to be mentally weakened in order for the demon to take over.

Also, from my understanding of demonic entities, they are said to feed off of negative emotions and actually orchestrate situations that cause suffering precisely so that they can feed off of these emotions.

When sukuna and uraume laughed at yuji, I felt like I was laughed at too.

I couldn't have said it better...

I have to admit that this is one of my favorite panels ever because, as you say, it's SO DESPICABLE of them to laugh at Yuji when he's so utterly broken after having miserably failed at saving Megumi.

I have personally been fascinated with the reactions this panel has gotten because it speaks to something very real.

Whether it is the experience of being bullied or our unwillingness and complete rejection of the very same evil that exists within, I feel like Gege struck a deep cord with the execution.

gege akutami is a menace to society actually

And this is one of the things that have been on my mind about Gege lately--his execution of events as of late has been far more brutal and cruel than before.

Idk how to explain but the events in Shibuya were bad and shocking... but #things right now just feel hopeless and it feels like Gege is unleashing his self-loathing onto his characters--and his self-loathing is cruel and brutal.

With mangaka like him I always have to wonder about their psyche. i.e. CLAMP's Nanase Okawa has an uncanny ability to take you into deep pits of relatable grief and meaningless despair right along with her characters.

All of the above said, I also agree with Frenchie about how I both hate and love Gege for the execution of this moment.

The fact that Gege was able to depict a deep experience of despair through Yuji and then elicit hate from the audience, it speaks to his ability as a story-teller and how the story he's telling resonates deeply with the audience in a cathartic fashion.

Also, not sure if you've seen this post by littleholmes but it includes a photo of what might be the Harima statue in question.

And like... the despair this child statue seems to be experiencing and expressing is so palpable, and I love Gege for making a reference to it because it speaks to Yuji's inner child's grief and helplessness and suffering for not being able to impose his will upon his environment.

Not sure if Spooky will write about it in more detail but I also love what @linkspooky said about the idea that Yuji trying to "Shonen protagonist" his way through things usually doesn't work out.

It's a nice twist on how Shonen mcs just barrel their way through #things with their typical Shonen mc single-minded determination, and everything works out because of the power of friendship or something like that.

Not to sound like a broken record, but this is why I don't understand the idea that JJK is cliché Shonen. There's so much happening underneath the surface that is so rich in commentary on common shonen tropes.

Anyway, thanks for reading !! Have a good day/night.

(Will I ever go off anon? We'll see one day !!)

Thanks for stopping by and sharing all the #thoughts once again!

If you ever come off anon I am looking forward to it. If you don't... well, I'll be looking forward to hearing from you again regardless.

Have a happy JJK Sunday!

[omi-boshi]

it's the way iizuna's injury was such a pivotal moment for kiyoomi.

prior to that, kiyoomi had a very streamlined, and in my opinion, naive way of thinking; hard work ensures success, that he'll get the results he wants if he puts in the work and if the result is unfavorable, then it simply means he wasn't prepared enough.

however, by the end of ch.394, we come to learn that kiyoomi grows out of that rigid mentality, factoring in luck and hard work instead of just the latter. now, instead of working hard to get an ideal result, he was working hard so that when his time on court does end, when he runs out of luck, he can leave knowing he put his all while he was still capable. it wasn't a matter of winning or losing anymore. it was a matter of being content, about self-satisfaction.

but when did that click for him?

i think that his change in mentality was a gradual thing, culminating to a singular moment.

we can see the manifestation of his ideals in ch.215 when he confronts kageyama about shiratorizawa's loss. he was in disbelief and immediately assumed ushijima was just not in good condition. he interrogates kageyama afterwards because what could have possibly gone wrong when ushijima was just as, if not more, hard-working as kiyoomi?

then in ch.394, it starts with ushijima telling kiyoomi how his capabilities were a product of both hard work and luck.

his is when the idea of luck working together with hard work is introduced to kiyoomi verbally (that i know of).

i'm sure that this was met with skepticism, especially if one has such a fixed way of thinking. i don't think kiyoomi was convinced from that conversation alone but i feel that it did get him contemplating.

then, he learns ushijima doesn't make it to his last spring tournament; he watches hinata collapse mid-game and karasuno lose to kamomedai; and his own team loses when their captain, iizuna sustains an injury.

for all the hard work ushijima puts into volleyball, he was just unfortunate enough to have lost.

in hinata's case, it is inevitably his lack of regard for his health that puts him out of the court but he was lucky enough to have been able to play the match for so long.

both situations showing that preparation and luck go hand-in-hand.

and it all culminates to the exchange kiyoomi has with his captain.

that's when it finally clicks for kiyoomi.

hard work and preparation can only take you so far, and that's why it hurts more when something that you've put your heart and soul into slips away from your grasp simply because fortune did not favor you.

kiyoomi already understood that there will always be regrets if you don't put in the work, but is only now realizing how bitter that regret is when you know you don't deserve it.

his exchange with iizuna not only cements that hard work and luck are intrinsically connected, but it also makes him think of the future, of what his final game would look like.

and the conclusion he comes up with is that he wants to leave the court with no regrets.

he will put in the work and do as he's always done and when his time is up, he can leave content and grateful to have been on the court for so long.

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.215 thoughts

[Fashion, Put it All on M-wait, did I do this joke already?]

(Contents: character analysis - Tatiana/Chikara, narrative analysis - Negator tragedies, predictions - arc progression, thematic analysis - Clothing as Freedom)

Tatiana's Characterization

After all these years, we finally get to see Tatiana living a normal life, and just like with the rest of the cast, I'm pleasantly surprised to see how much better fleshed out she's become as a character!

In L100, she was always pretty bratty, but this chapter gives her attitude quite a bit of depth! She's blunt and demanding, yes, but it's clear that she's also considerate and kind; she fired her bodyguards specifically because they failed to perform (reasonable), but also understood that she was the one who put them in that position in the first place, so she gave them an out that wouldn't impact their livelihoods going forward. An excellent example of the "kind but not nice" archetype

We see glimpses of this through the rest of the chapter too. She snaps at Fuuko whenever her attention isn't on her but also values her opinion, and later yells at Chikara for taking photos during rehearsal only to give him the photo back with an autograph once she sees how good of a shot he took, acknowledging his skill as a photographer. She isn't cruel or mean-spirited, just kind of abrasive, whereas in L100 she had a bit of a tendency to be petty and disparaging (refusing to share her dolls with Fuuko, calling Chikara names, etc.)

I think that Tatiana is a good demonstration of nature vs. nurture; she was likely always going to be like this, her kindness and abrasiveness being an aspect of her soul, but her ability to connect with people is vastly different between L100 and L101 solely because of the kind of life she's been able to live in the interim. Before, she literally lived in a bubble from a formative age, which greatly inhibited her chances at socialization, especially since the only people she got to be around from then on were the Roundtable members of the Union and maybe some of the rank-and-files. Now, she certainly has (or had) friends in school while she was growing up and has a much better understanding of how society and relationships function, even if she can be a bit unpleasant in how she presents herself

Of course, being a celebrity does seem to be having its own impact on her, as again she's being led down the path of isolation specifically because her fame is causing her to become separated from what she really wants: her family. I think we'll probably get another opportunity to examine that next week (or the week after) when her tragedy strikes, as I would expect it to be heavily tied to her catalyst

Tatiana's Tragedy

Speaking of, I do think that Fuuko's prediction that Tatiana's tragedy will occur during the fashion show may be a bit off. I've seen a few people discussing it already, but unless her parents are going to be attending the show and in danger, it really does seem like the personal stakes are lower if all that's at risk is a bunch of strangers. Sure, that tremendous loss of life would still be tragic, but accidentally killing 1000 people you don't know is not emotionally comparable to the weight of accidentally killing your own parents

In fact, even last chapter when Untouchable almost spontaneously manifested, it wasn't because she was surrounded by people; it was because she was reminded of how alone she was. The people around her were keeping her away from what brought her joy; in the moment, it was Pan-Panda, but that was a microcosm of her insecurity, that she was being slowly separated from her parents, who she ironically entered this lifestyle for. She sought to become famous for them, to make them happy, but all it did was put up a wall between her and them and make her miserable. That momentary shift in perspective was the catalyst, not the number of people who stood to be victimized

I think that Fuuko's misapprehension comes from the same place as ours, that she believes God is deliberately choosing "the moment to strike" rather than laying a landmine to be tripped. Of course she thinks that the opportunity for the numerically biggest tragedy is God's goal, she's seen Negator abilities take out entire towns before! She figures that the abilities just come at "the worst possible time," because hers manifested when her parents got on a plane surrounded by 200+ other people. She wasn't emotionally mature enough to understand yet that the real catalyst was either a) the joy she felt kissing her parents goodbye, or b) the fear she felt separating from them as they were heading to the airport

She has no way of knowing that Gina killed her townsfolk because she was despairing about the massive changes in her life that she couldn't control, or that Top killed his friends because he was actively denying the part of himself that enjoyed running, or that Shen killed Mei because he truly wanted to save her and was afraid he would lose her. It was never about anyone dying, it was about the emotions wrapped up in the moments that those people died

That's why Feng's tragedies never involved death, at least not directly. Because his tragedy wasn't about loss, it was about the emotional value he put on his own strength, either the despair at its loss in L100 or the joy and pride he felt achieving the pinnacle of martial prowess and believing his peers would always be there to push him even higher

I could go on and list the emotions that preceded everyone's tragedies, but I think I've made my point; the catalysts are never the circumstances alone, they are always the feelings associated with those circumstances. I'm sure there are moments that don't seem to fit, like Chikara simply crossing the street in L100, but we weren't really told what was going through his head or what was happening in his life at the time, so for all we know it's similar to him trying to express his desire to become a photographer to his parents in L101

The main point is that Tatiana's previous tragedy took place on her birthday because of the joy she felt being with her parents, possibly because of the hopes she carried in her heart as she made her birthday wish (one twitter user suggested she may have wished something related to being with her parents forever), so while she definitely enjoys being on the runway, I don't know if the joy she'll feel here will be comparable to that she feels being with her parents or the despair she feels worrying she won't get to see them

As it happens, Tatiana's birthday is mere days away in this chapter, so either her tragedy strikes now and her birthday will be a moment where she's shown that her life hasn't been ruined by Untouchable OR Fuuko is wrong and her tragedy was never meant to happen at the show at all. I'm personally expecting the latter, though I'm sure Tozuka will make it work either way

Tatiana's Philosophy

If the tragedy does occur during the show, I would expect the catalyst will have something to do with her philosophy as a model, that both her and the clothes need to be good to make for a proper performance. The smiles (or lack thereof) that she sees from the crowd are the deciding factor, so we're entering this phase of the arc with the implicit understanding that Tatiana does place emotional weight on how other people feel

Tatiana's phrasing that "the clothes are wearing me" also brings up a philosophical quandary I've had for many years - what makes someone "attractive?" When someone wears a stunning outfit or nice jewelry, we typically say "you look good with that on" or "it looks good on you," but don't those have opposing connotations? Did they not look good without it on? Will it look bad on anyone else? The phrasing of a compliment on aesthetics carries a lot of implications, intentional or not, and that's something I've personally been grappling with since adolescence when I was first learning how to talk to girls

Tatiana, being a model, is definitely thinking about it from the other direction, always striving to strike the balance between both forms of compliment. It's all well and good for Tatiana to be cute or for a dress to be beautiful, but if someone compliments her, then what's the point of the dress when she would have gotten the same compliment no matter what she was wearing? If someone compliments the dress, then what's the point of her as the model when any model would have gotten the same response?

I don't know what wording she's looking for exactly, but it's clear Tatiana wants to do the dresses justice by bringing something to the table that they aren't capable of on their own, that she doesn't want to just be an interchangeable mannequin serving as nothing more than a vehicle to get the dress to the other end of the runway. She has value to give to the dress, and the dress has value to give to her; it needs to be a synergistic partnership where neither overshadows the other

...Hm? A partnership...with an outfit? That sounds kinda familiar...

Clothes

Ah! Clothy!

"The clothes are wearing me." "I'll tame these clothes before the show"

"Once I've (Clothy) entranced you with my creation, you'll be my walking mannequin!" "Well I'll be, you took [Clothes] and made him your servant"

The wording is obviously different, but the spirit of the ideas is remarkably similar. I've seen a little bit of speculation already that Clothy would be making his reappearance in this arc, and I'm inclined to agree that it would be a great opportunity for him to do so since not only is it aesthetically appropriate, but also thematically

In much the same way that long hair is a symbol of isolation, I think that clothes in UU are a symbol of both restraint and freedom. Not only are Clothes a literal Rule that everyone must follow, but the ability to decide how that Rule is followed is a privilege that a good chunk of the cast is denied. Tatiana is the most notable example in that she can't wear clothes at all once Untouchable manifests, but Fuuko is forced to wear clothes that cover up as much skin as possible, a sentiment she makes clear as far back as chapter one. Isshin hides in her armor, Top's outfit is liable to be destroyed by his ability, Victor tried to force Juiz to wear armor for her protection, etc. etc.

On the flipside, other characters without those limitations use their clothes as a method of self-expression, like Gina emulating Japanese schoolgirl fashion, Ichico refusing to cover her breasts, Billy dressing like a cowboy, and of course, Andy being perfectly comfortable being naked at any and all times. Even when Clothy becomes bound to him, he never allows the clothes to wear him, he is always in control of what outfit he's wearing and how it looks on him. Ruin does this too through his partnership with Blood and Shadow, suggesting that he and Andy are two of if not the most free characters in the series (though that may be an illusion that we'll see broken later)

With how Tatiana's talking in this chapter, I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up being the one to tame Clothy this time, using his "perfect outfit" ability to bypass the Untouchable Rule ("I want an outfit that's intangible and not affected by Untouchable" or something to that effect) and keep Tatiana clothed at all times. Andy'd be out of luck, but with his high level of soul manipulation, I wouldn't be surprised if he can just project an outfit if he really wants. Bonus points if Soul gets mad at him for using his soul for something so mundane (though thinking about it, is that where the Master Rules get their clothes from?)

Tatiana's story really does lend itself to a friendship with Clothy better than Andy's, honestly, especially since there's nearly zero chance of Clothy taking damage with Tatiana and 100% chance of damage with Andy. While I never would have anticipated Tatiana becoming a model based on her story in L100, now that we're here, it's so incredibly obvious in retrospect. Perhaps Tozuka could have done a little more to foreshadow it, but I think the fact that it feels so natural is a testament to Tozuka's character writing

Tatiana's role as a model also provides that same retrospective justification to another character whose role changed between loops, but who I always thought was implemented in a slightly more awkward manner: Chikara

Chikara

While I understand the imagery of Chikara becoming a photographer, a tangible representation of both Unmove's effect and activation requirement, it was never stated that Chikara had any interest in photography in L100. We never heard anything about his extracurriculars or interests, whereas at least Tatiana's inability to wear clothes was a point of insecurity for her

This lack of explicit cohesion made me feel like Tozuka thought of it after the fact as it just happened to fit well, but seeing Tatiana as a model now and the compatibility between those two interests, I'm inclined to believe that Tozuka was planning for this to be the outcome for them for quite some time, especially since he's clearly been angling to make them a ship since at least ch.98, if not from the very beginning

If absolutely nothing else, that moment of Chikara reflexively taking a picture of Tatiana and her subsequent acknowledgment of his skills does way more for endearing me to their relationship than the *checks notes* near total lack of interaction between them aside from him seeing her naked and her calling him a pervert in L100. It doesn't help that Tozuka still isn't making it clear how old Tatiana is, especially since we no longer have the excuse of her growth being stunted by living in a ball, but again, I'm just glad to see that they have at least some chemistry this time around to make their feelings a little more believable/relatable

I do hope that they'll continue to get more cute interactions, cus I'd truly hate for Tatiana to get hit with the same complaints that people have about Leila not being enough of a character to justify Rip's decision to marry both her and Latla (a complaint I understand but wholeheartedly disagree with, by the by). Since Tatiana is an actual Negator and a major recurring character, I envision she won't get that treatment, but I would have said the same thing about Kururu

Predictions

At the very least, I expect that Tatiana's manifestation will result in Chikara awakening to his soul, possibly giving him the ability to perceive the boundaries of Untouchable and apply Unmove to it directly. It seems like the current plan is for Gina to use Unchange on some smoke or dry ice to make it visible to Chikara, but I expect it won't work out quite so well

I also think that with her own soul awakening, Tatiana will gain much greater control of the shape of Untouchable, either being able to mold it to her own form or to allow things she wants to touch to pass through and disallow anything she doesn't want (by the logic that she wants food and air and thus has the tube leading to her mouth, while also giving her the ability to prevent poisons or amorphous monsters from entering it). Kururu's soul let her aim Unchaste, so reshaping Tatiana's barrier should be easy enough, especially since she could already do that to some extent previously

As for the immediate next chapter, I think that it would be fun if Clothes showed up the same way that Color showed up at Chikara's graduation, making us think that he's going to be the catalyst for Untouchable only for him and Tatiana to become friends. Then, a few days later at her party, she either just happens to manifest it from her emotional state or a Master Rule shows up and prompts it, leading to more moments between her, Chikara and Clothes

As always, I'm probably nowhere close to what's actually going to happen, but I'd like it if I'm even remotely in the ballpark

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

[sunflowercider]

complete side note - i now have at least two instances lined up of lloyd happily plying treats onto javier he knows he'll like.